The Queen's Corgi (2019) - Movie Review

Oh, nWave Pictures; welcome back, old friend. Having covered two of this studio’s previous features, and considering their 2013 effort The House Of Magic was part of my rather formative initial year at this reviewing biz, I can make a pretty solid claim that they are one of the most unnecessary animation houses working today.

At their worst, they can provide aggressively annoying nonsense meant to placate kids, and even when they find their groove, they usually only end up shining when it comes to animating chase scenes. Everything else ends up in the realm of dead-eyed plastic (or, in the case of The Wild Life, dead-eyed pottery). With all this in mind, their latest is somewhat of a surprise, as it’s definitely a lot riskier than their usual. However, chasing that risk results in one of the most horrifically misguided ‘family’ films I’ve ever watched.

Top 100 Favourite Films: #50-41

#50: The Shawshank Redemption – It pays to play the long game

A man is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. For the next ten years, he bides his time inside Shawshank Prison, making allies where he can and waiting for the moment when he can finally escape his confines. Frank Darabont, co-writer of the previously-discussed Nightmare On Elm Street 3, has a penchant for bringing the works of Stephen King to the big screen, but he tends to stick to the less recognisably-Kingian stories. From this to The Green Mile to his later work with The Mist, he not only chose decidedly different material but also showed a startingly amount of understanding of the text to bring it roaring to life on screen. This film, more so than anything else he has touched to date, accomplishes that goal.