Darkmatters Review: Tangled

Tangled (PG)

Dirs. Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Tangled is a fun new Disney big screen fairy tale-em-up which blends cutting edge 3D CGI animation with an old school adaptation of the Rapunzel. So we have a young princess with her magical 70ft of golden hair, trapped in a secret tower by an evil old hag, locked away from the world – including her royal parents.

This is the first ‘traditional hand-drawn style’ Disney release that is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the best that Pixar and DreamWorks Animations can produce. Tangled is a born crowd pleaser and it improves on the last Disney effort - The Princess and the Frog by a wide margin. My ten year old son surprised me actively wanting to see Tangled (he’s more of an A-Team kind of film fan these days) which is a testament to the power of a good marketing campaign. But despite my being slightly dubious, we came away having enjoyed a rip roaring sing along fairy tale, energised with a slick script and quality production values.

The only downside being that it all feels very familiar but that is because this is a strict addition to the classic Disney cannon. You know the tale of a young girl (voiced by Mandy Moore), having to come of age and decide if she will follow her heart when handsome and good natured thief Flynn (Zachary Levi) barges into her sheltered life. The basic Rapunzel’s story is enlivened here with a couple of nasty thieves who are after Flynn, a fun sidekick chameleon and a scene stealing horse named Maximus who is the character that stays in your mind most after the credits roll.

"Gotta love that horse!"

The computer animation continues to improve and it effortlessly blends the photorealist big-eyed characters with the primary coloured world. Stand out cinematic scenes include a jaw dropping dreamlike cascade of floating lanterns which ranks as one of the most unforgettable animated sequences I’ve witnessed. The 3D actually works well too – some of the younger members of the audience were reaching out and trying to grab the lanterns as the floated by which would surely please the animation artists.

What was most refreshing though was the lack of clever pop-culture references, bawdy humour or overt product placement. Tangled is a film that parents can take their younger kids to safe in the knowledge that it will deliver a fun, family friendly experience which is kind of what Disney has always been about surely?

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:


öööö

(4 - quality Disney fairy tale fun)...

Awesomeness ööö – the horseplay is especially genius

Laughs ööö – some nice laugh laughs

Horror ö – mild threat more than anything too horrible

Babes ööö – Rapunzel is a looker

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – true love wins

- - -
Second opinion - try Empire

"Mandy Moore - 'fit' to be a Disney Princess"

Darkmatters Review - Race To Witch Mountain

Race to Witch Mountain (PG)

Dir. Andy Fickman - The Game Plan etc

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Buckle up for a hyperactive boost of alien chase action – Disney style…
Race to Witch Mountain is a pseudo remake / update of the 1970’s Escape to Witch Mountain, the new version is every bit as good and boy it looks great – with big expensive special effects running rampant. The budget people at The Mouse House have really gone for the ‘let’s hit the screen with everything we can’ formula. If you sign up for the trip to Witch Mountain you’ll get flashy flying saucers, an evil intergalactic assassin (not a million miles away from a Terminator) and two cool / cute kids with unearthly powers, oh and lots of pile-em-up car chases.



"The clockwork orange experiments - the junior years"

AnnaSophia ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ Robb and Alexander ‘The Dark Is Rising’ Ludwig are Sara and Seth, two alien youngsters who have crash-landed at Witch Mountain in the U.S. Seems that their own world is dying due to pollution (Hhmm – could there be a moral for us being not so subtly squeezed in here?). Now the chase is on for them to recover a vital piece of evidence which might be the key for them to save their own planet. But in true ET style the Government are keen to apprehend and experiment on our young alien visitors.


"Is Annasophia Robb the new Keira Knightley?"

Who can the little lost extraterrestrials turn to for help? Why – only Jack Bruno (Dwayne ‘once known as The Rock’ Johnson) a loveable rogue taxi driver and handily on the scene UFO boffin Alex Friedman (Carla ‘Watchmen’ Gugino).

The action takes place mostly back and forth between Las Vegas and the Nevada desert – the Government goons chase doggedly, some nasty gangsters try to get in on the action and the alien assassin / bounty-hunter blows up lots of stuff. Nothing makes a great deal of sense but as I said before – it sure does look good.
Unfortunately, director Andy’ The Game Plan’ Fickman manages to fumble the action scenes (of which there are lots due to the film being co-written by Mark Bomback of Die Hard 4.0 fame). That leaves little else to impress although the kids try their best and will both probably go on to better things.


"The US Government apparently wants to 'probe' this young alien - how wrong is that?"

I did find the wry section set at a Sci-fi convention appealed to my inner sci-fi nerd, there’s a great moment when two Star Wars Stormtroopers get into Bruno’s taxi, plus there’s the obligatory Disney dog cameo character that raised a smile but overall Race to Witch Mountain is a fun but forgettable family friendly action flick. And it even sets up a sequel… If you are a movie buff, enjoy graphic design or other aspects of visual communication, pursuing an online bachelor degree can prepare you for the rigors of a career in Hollywood, and maybe you can make movies less forgettable than this one!?

Arbitrary Darkmatters final rating of: öööööööö (8 -fun while it lasts but won't be remembered)
Darkmatters quick reference guide:

Action 8
Style 7
Babes 7
Comedy 7
Spiritual Enlightenment 5

Not convinced? check out this review of the film over at The Guardian - best line:

"At one stage, the aliens explain that they are able to cover vast tracts of outer-space by using wormholes as a shortcut. This made me long for my own personal wormhole, right through to the closing credits."

Darkmatters Film Review - BOLT

Bolt (PG)

Dir. Byron Howard and Chris Williams

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

How awesome is your dog?
Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is a pretty awesome mutt by anyone’s standards – the brave and invincible, laser eyed star of his own TV show. Bolt might look cute but he’s all hero, willing to fight any enemy, risk any danger and face any peril to save his owner Penny (voiced by Miley ‘Disney tweenie singing sensation’ Cyrus).
This new 3D CGI animated adventure is the first release by Disney Animation Studios since they nabbed John ‘Toy Story’ Lasseter from Pixar. It certainly starts strongly with an impressive extended action sequence where Bolt battles the forces of the evil Dr Calico (a nicely sinister Malcolm McDowell). Trouble starts however when Bolt finds his way off the TV set which has been his life – the poor little guy really thinks he has superpowers because the TV producers keep him away from the real world. But believing that Penny has been kidnapped Bolt suddenly finds himself completely unprepared for realities such as not being able to leap from moving trains or head butt oncoming vehicles without taking so much as a scratch.
Facing up to the fact that he's just a normal dog is painful but he teams up with a streetwise alley cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a scene stealing hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton). This being Disney we are force fed the obligatory moralising sentiment that anyone can be hero even if they don’t have superpowers. And true to form young Bolt and his pals overcome a series of comical adversity in order to save Penny and find happiness. There are many fun minor characters thrown into the fairly predictable story – my pick of the bunch being a group of wise guy pigeons who try to pitch their plot ideas for a Bolt episode to him en route.
First time directing team Howard and Williams do a good enough job but opt to play it safe where a ‘true’ Pixar film might have taken more risks. It all looks sparkly and the 3D effects work well. There are some smart lines and enough pratfalls to keep the youngsters entertained even if adults might find it a bit tame overall.
My son James (8) said: “I thought that it was a great film, the action scenes at the beginning were brilliant even though it got a bit slow in parts. My favourite character was Bolt the super dog, I hope they make a Bolt 2. I’d give this 4 out of 5.”

Thanks son - I'm gonna give it an Arbitrary Darkmatters final rating of: öööööö (6 - Decent)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 7, Style 7, Babes 4, Comedy 7, Spiritual Enlightenment 6

+ Is it a bird, is it a plane? No... it's dog!?

Best lines: Bolt: "Stay back! If I stare at the lock really hard, it'll burst into flames and melt."Mittens: "Now I'm concerned on a number of levels."