2012 Animated Features: The Pirates! Band of Misfits, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, Brave, Wreck-It Ralph

2012 Animated Features: The Pirates! Band of Misfits, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, Brave, Wreck-It Ralph

2012 The Pirates! Band of Misfits

"Fire the long things that go bang!" -Pirate Captain

Darwin, Pirate Captain, Number Two and Polly.

I had not heard of this movie, but it was really funny.  It is by the Wallace & Gromit people, and features the always hilarious Hugh Grant as Pirate Captain, a pirate trying to win the long coveted Pirate of the Year award.  He is a long shot, not being successful at acquiring booty (I'm talking treasure, not women, just to be clear), but has the support of his loyal crew.  A chance encounter with Charles Darwin leads to the discovery that the ship's beloved parrot, Polly, is actually a thought to be extinct Dodo bird, and Darwin convinces Pirate Captain to enter Polly in a science competition back in England.  Martin Freeman is his devoted right-hand man, Number Two, and the voice of reason throughout the movie.  The villain of the story is Queen Victoria, who likes to eat exotic animals -a very different take on the character!  It's a very smart and funny movie, and I think Amelia enjoyed it, though not as much as Wreck-It Ralph.

Pirate Captain battles Queen Victoria.

2012 ParaNorman

 

Courtney: I just knew something like this was going to happen tonight.
Mitch: You did?  Wow, cause that zombie bit really threw me.

Alvin: Are they going to try to eat our brains?
Norman: I think you'll be safe.

ParaNorman was not quite as enjoyable as The Pirates! Band of Misfits, but it was still pretty good.  Norman is a young boy able to see and speak to the dead.  When his uncle dies, he inherits the task of keeping in check a witch's curse that threatens the town every year on the anniversary of her death.  He is assisted by a new friend (Neil), his friend's dim but buff older brother (Mitch), the school bully (Alvin), and his cheerleader older sister (Courtney).  The movie is a bit scary for kids, so I'm glad I didn't watch it with Amelia.  It was an interesting story, but the themes were actually rather dark and mature, so I think it may have served better as a live-action film more suited for an older audience.




2012 Frankenweenie

Victor: I was doing my experiment, my project, and the first time it worked great, but the next time it didn't.  I mean, it sort of worked, but then it didn't.  And I don't know why.
Mr. Rzykruski: Then maybe you never really understood it the first time.  People think science is here [points to his head], but it is also here [places his hand on his chest].  The first time, did you love your experiment?
Victor: Yes. [thinks of Sparky licking his hand]
Mr. Rzykruski: And the second time?
Victor: [Thinks of the invisible fish] No.  I just wanted it over.
Mr. Rzykruski: Then you changed the variables.
Victor: I was doing it for the wrong reason.
Mr. Rzykruski: Science is not good or bad, Victor.  But it can be used both ways.  That is why you must always be careful.
-Quoted from Rottentomatoes.com


I didn't love this movie -it wasn't on par with Tim Burton's classic The Nightmare Before Christmas -but the relationship between Victor and his adorable dog Sparky was really sweet.  This is basically a retelling of Frankenstein, but Victor Frankenstein in this version is a kid who is devastated by the untimely death of his beloved pet, Sparky, and brings him back to life.  This leads to other students deciding to try to revive other animals for less noble reasons (Victor tries to keep his feat a secret, but Sparky won't stay inside -he has a ladylove in the form of the next door poodle who must be visited).  Victor and Sparky must work to restore order to the town and save the townsfolk, who try to lash out at poor Sparky in their fear and anger.  It was okay, but nothing remarkable.

2012 Brave



King Fergus: Pretend I'm Merida...I don't want to get married, I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the Glen, firing arrows into the sunset!



Brave was better than I anticipated.  Merida, the teen heroine of the story, was about as annoying as I expected -rebelling and being obstinate and not listening to her parents.  To be fair to her, I wouldn't have wanted to marry any of the three candidates proposed as potential husbands either.  Still, teen angst is exhausting.  She mellowed as the story progressed, however, and she and her mother had some nice bonding moments.  In the end, they learned to listen to each other, compromise, and appreciate each other.  The mother turning into a bear was quite funny, and the little brothers and father were amusing as well.  It was, in general, good for a laugh, and worth seeing.



2012 Wreck-It Ralph




Sergeant Calhoun: Doomsday and Armageddon just had a baby, and it...is...ugly!

Vanellope and Ralph.

Rumor has it that Brave is expected to win the Oscar, but that Wreck-It Ralph should win, and that's probably pretty accurate.  Wreck-It Ralph was quite inventive, and it actually appealed to Amelia and Tyler both, which is a plus for an animated movie.  It's about a video game character named Ralph, who is the villain in the arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr.  He decides that he doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore -ostracized by all the other characters in his game and forced to sleep in a dumpster -so he sets out to win a medal in another game.  He obtains a medal in a game called Hero's Duty, but ends up stuck in a candy-themed go-cart racing game (Sugar Rush), befriending an outcast girl named Vanellope who takes and uses his medal to enter a race.  He has to help her win the race in order to get his medal back.

Felix and Calhoun.

Then, chaos ensues.  Ralph is assisted by a very funny Fix-it Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and Sergeant Calhoun from Hero's Duty (voiced by the always amusing Jane Lynch), who are trying to save Sugar Rush from aliens that have escaped from Hero's Duty, Calhoun trying to avoid her increasingly amorous feelings for Felix along the way.  It's really pretty innovative and fun, and John C. Reilly is great as the voice of Wreck-It Ralph.  Vanellope was a little annoying, but she grows on you.  Very clever.  Tyler says that it avoids the cliches that run rampant in Brave.  His words, not mine.