Quick Takes: "Snow White", "Madagascar 3", "Return", "Romeo + Juliet"

"Snow White and the Huntsman" (*1/2)

Directed by Rupert Sanders

I took the effort to revisit Tarsem Singh's own take on the fable, "Mirror Mirror", before sitting in on "Snow White and the Huntsman", and though I don't wish to file comparison, it's pretty clear that the latter has much less enthusiasm in its cogs. I think it's pretty clear when a filmmaking crew is having fun, and when they're not. This film seems like rather drudging work. It takes real emotional effort to make something this cinematically dull. Lacking any color or levity, but not possessing any real emotional tether to proceedings, people die and battles wage, for no purpose. What's more, it feels like the actors are just too consumed by the ham of the dialogue and lacking intellect of the script to really put in any effort. This film just feels entirely effortless, and not in a positive manner.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (**)

Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon

Dreamworks has made a pretty good name for itself across the past few years for making wild and crazy films, filled with popping shenanigans, but not overtly kiddie as to not appeal to the adults. "Madagascar 3" shatters that a bit, throwing about the same shenanigans, but this time strictly playing to the children's crowd from which most of its box office is growing from. It feels like we're coming into a half completed story, and they don't feel the need to make us care about these characters any more. They don't put in nearly enough heart, which they quite oddly had plenty of in "Madagascar 2". It feels like a conclusion for the sake of concluding, and not for the sake of closure, or smart entertainment. The kids? They'll love it, and they already do. It's us who aren't gonna have a good time with it.

CANNES 2012 REACTIONS: "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted"

Wait, what? Oh yeah, there are plenty of out-of-competition films looking to gain popularity amongst the festival crowd, or at least a little bit of buzz ahead of their releases. Usually they fit the position of opening night, but seeing as that slot has been host to more indie oriented flicks lately, they've found other avenues within the festival. Suffice it to say that "Madagascar 3" is getting a great deal more favor than "Pirates of the Caribbean" did when it showed up begrudgingly last year. Of course there are going to be people too set into their serious festival goer caps to give this film the time of day, but it's not one to simply dismiss, especially given the positive words that have eked their way out. This one's looking to be a sweet little dalliance.

Justin Chang (Variety): "This is the rare animated property that has consistently improved on its ho-hum origins, as 2008's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" delivered unexpectedly fine character shadings and a less grating sense of humor than the 2005 franchise-starter. Given an extra-loopy comic spin by scribes Noah Baumbach (who previously ventured into animation writing with "Fantastic Mr. Fox") and Eric Darnell, "Madagascar 3" places a higher value on speed and spectacle than either of its predecessors, piling on the narrative lunacy to outlandish, even surreal ends."

Todd McCarthy (Hollywood Reporter): "Madagascar 3 is colorful, moves like the TGV rather than the slow zoo train on view and is over in a flash. But it’s dominated by the characters shouting over one another, repetitively reacting with alarm to anything that happens and overcompensating for largely unfunny material by overacting by about 300 percent. Yes, it’s a cartoon, but it’s conspicuously unmodulated, with the volume set on high and the pacing all but pushed to fast-forward."

Mark Adams (Screen International): "Charmingly the 3D works to impressive effect as the stodgy old-fashioned circus is gradually transformed into a bright, balletic and stylish Cirque du Soleil affair, with much emphasis put on how the animals’ hard-work and creativity pays off, with a spectacular performance set against singer Katy Perry’s foot-tappingly perfect song 'Firework' as the animals spin and leap through the air with joyful abandon."

For Your Anticipation: Lost Your Ball

I'm not often to completely and entirely dismiss a Dreamworks film, but I honestly don't find anything interesting in "Puss in Boots". The company is looking for any way it can forestall the complete apocalypse of its most lucrative franchise, so they've resorted to this. Puss was an effective one-off character in "Shrek 2". He didn't need to be kept on for the next two, which lacked any structure or payoff. He's lost his once strong flavor, and though I haven't exactly been following the latest film, it looks lacking in the needed static charge.

Film Review: "Kung Fu Panda 2" (***)

Last year was a booming year for animation, so this year has been more than a bit of a disappointment. Rio is the only animated venture I've even considered attending this year, but ultimately opted out of it. Seems more than a little too irritating for my tastes. Pixar is setting themselves up for another moderate dip with Cars 2, so we leave it to Dreamworks Animation to redeem this Summer. The tricky thing with Kung Fu Panda 2 is the expectations of this sequel, especially after the first film kicked off a trend of quality within the less than stunning animation company.

The film picks up some time after its predecessor, just as albino peacock Lord Shen returns to China in order to proclaim his rule over the world. As per usual, Po and the Furious Five head to Gongmen City to defeat him. Whilst this is all going on, Po begins seeing visions of his real family, and is reinvigorated in his hunt for Shen by his search for answers. Despite all their Kung Fu abilities, the group is rendered powerless against Shen's latest masterpiece of destruction: a unique fusion of cannon and fireworks.

The first film dealt with some rather standard themes in kids films, with Po transforming himself from a simple juvenile panda into one of the greatest kung fu masters in history. This second film's plot isn't as openly inspiring, and it works on several different emotional levels. The main theme it deals with is identity, and who we make ourselves to be as opposed to who we were born to be, and how those sometimes work in harmony. Po's discovery of his past is played a little too dumb, because Po would have conceivably figured things out sooner. It didn't make things any less heart-wrenching when Po finally remembers how he lost his parents.

For Your Anticipation: Anyway, Where Was I?

Kung Fu Panda 2 is easily the film that I'm most looking forward to seeing this weekend, mostly because I won't be able to see The Tree of Life this weekend. I'll probably get to that sometime in the approaching weeks, but not now. Kung Fu Panda 2 offers us the same sorts of action and laughs as we've come to expect, and the fact that Charlie Kaufman did a touch up on the script is more than reassuring.

Teaser Trailer & Poster: Puss in Boots

So the Shrek franchise is officially done, but never doubt the capability of gargantuan-in-stupidity studios to drain a franchise dry to the very last drop. So, like every single teaser for a Dreamworks Animation film, the teaser for Puss in Boots offers really nothing except an easily recognizable pop-song for the main character to dance to. Or, in this particular case, the main character can do a stripper dance while giving his clothing to his many fans. Oddly turned on... Not at all turned on, this trailer does offer one considerable laugh, and that's of Puss standing on a horse. Way to capitalize on the fame of the recent Old Spice commercials. It doesn't really inspire optimism, but how could it? Really? The poster is slightly better, but the tagline does strike me as a bit dark.

Theatrical Trailer: Kung Fu Panda 2

The past two years of Dreamworks Animation have taught us to not to make immediate judgments based on their trailers, because quite often they show us the least important parts of the film. That's probably one of the most intelligent parts of their marketing strategy, and it manages to turn their films into pleasant surprises. This trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2 is no different, not showing much of the deep emotional plotlines that have been teased by producers, and instead just going with a few somewhat appealing, but not all that spectacular jokes, as well as some sweet visuals. I'm not saying it's necessarily going to be a great film, but don't judge the film based on this glimpse alone.

Awards 2010: Annie Award Nominations

Today has included a massive unloading award wins and nominations, and I can't help but hope this is the last one we'll be seeing today. The Annie Awards are often a mixed bag, as they have a tendency to skew towards Dreamworks rather than Pixar. These nominations are rather routine, and I feel hurt that Randy Newman didn't get a music nomination for Toy Story 3. Check them out below, that is if you have any sustained interest left at this point.

Best Animated Feature:
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Directing in a Feature Production:
Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist)
Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me)
Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars)
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois (How To Train Your Dragon)
Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3)

Music in a Feature Production:
Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist)
David Hirschfelder (Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole)
John Powell (How To Train Your Dragon)
Harry Gregson Williams (Shrek Forever After)
Pharrell Williams, and Heitor Pereira (Despicable Me)

Voice Acting in a Feature Production:
Jay Baruchel as Hiccup (How To Train Your Dragon)
Gerard Butler as Stoick (How To Train Your Dragon)
Steve Carrell as Gru (Despicable Me)
Cameron Diaz as Fiona (Shrek Forever After)
Geoffrey Rush as Ezylryb (Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole)

Writing in a Feature Production:
Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)
Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist)
William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon)
Dan Fogelman (Tangled)
Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons (Megamind)

For Your Anticipation: Extended Warranty

I must admit that Megamind has slowly been warming up to me. It has slowly edged its way to the top of my list this weekend, so I'm probably going to be reviewing it instead of Due Date. It has the advantage of coming from a studio that's just coming off their best film yet. It won't be nearly as good as that, but I think it will be good for what it is. It's a Dreamworks style spoof of the superhero genre, which should pack some nice comedy and action into that 90-minute runtime. I don't expect anything close to The Incredibles, as none should. I hope it will be good for what it is. Here's a clip featuring the three top actors in the film engaging in some hilarious banter about good and evil.

"How to Train Your Dragon" on DVD!

As of now, anybody who still thinks of Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon as a juvenile mess like most other Dreamworks films has obviously not seen it. The film is already tapped for a sequel, and it now seems like a television series is in the works. The latter is a point I'm not too happy about, because I worry that some of the delightful visuals will be lost in translation. Still, this film remains the first great film of the year, and I do hope it will endure on standard DVD. I'm quite obviously used to the 3D version, having seen it in theaters three times, but I'm sure it won't detract from the experience. If you're going to catch a film this weekend, it should be this one.

Comic Con 2010: "Megamind" Footage is now online!

I though that maybe the whole point of Comic Con was for it to be exclusive, but now it seems they're just releasing a bunch of the footage being released. So I was actually surprised by this footage from Megamind, Dreamworks' new animated action film coming out this November. If you were wondering why the theatrical trailers never showed much of the film's plot, it's because it's kind of dark. By kind of dark, I mean they kill someone within the first two minutes of the Comic Con footage. The protagonist is not only a villain, but a murderer as it turns out. So now I'm officially intrigued in this project, because it looks like something a bit edgier than Dreamworks usually goes for. So check it out. It may be one of the surprise successes of the year.

Megamind Comic Con Footage