Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) - Laika's crowning achievement of animation.

With the release of Missing Link not too long ago, I figured it was a good time to look at my current favourite of Laika's animated line-up. While I didn't get the chance to see Kubo and the Two Strings in theatres when it came out, I got the chance to see it on DVD and it was incredible, quickly becoming one of my favourite animated features. But what makes this movie so amazing?

The plot is simple, Kubo and his mother are hiding from Kubo's grandfather, the Moon King. One night, Kubo accidentally stays out past dark and gets attacked by his grandfather's other daughters. After his village gets destroyed, his mother sends him away and enchants a monkey charm to assist him. Most of the movie is the adventure that Kubo and the Monkey guardian have, and what kind of locations and creatures they come across. They get joined by a origami paper doll of Kubo's father, Hanzo, and a beetle like man who is missing his memory, and they must retrieve three pieces of armour to help Kubo in surviving against the Moon King. The movie moves along quite nicely plot wise utilizing the montage very well, and when it's necessary. The plot is cohesive and smooth and let me with no questions after viewing.

The main characters are entertaining to watch, Kubo is very much a child in this movie, emotional, sometimes rude, maybe a bit naive, Kubo is one of the best child characters in animation I've seen. The Monkey Guardian and the Beetle Samurai are entertaining in the way they bounce off of Kubo and each other, and there is a lot of warmth in the side characters. The main antagonists are also really good. Kubo's aunts are really creepy in the way they're designed and how they speak, and the Moon King is rather clever, and I like the design of the beast that he turns into in the end. The characters are entertaining and you do get to understand their reasons for doing the things they do, which makes them more relateable than randomly giving them a single trait or interest like a lot of other movies do.

One thing I don't think I could ever criticize Laika for is how amazing they make their animation look. Like, forgetting the fact that it looks so fluid, the backgrounds and colours of this movie are often amazing, even places like a rotting whale carcass and a burned down village look good. The animation itself, it's incredible, while you can tell a lot of it is stop-motion, it's all so smooth and stylish that you get sucked into it anyway. The one small bit that gets me is when Kubo sets the sail on the leaf-ship he makes. I dun't know, but something about that one tiny clip is just so incredible. I also like how they animated Kubo's hair and other small details that one wouldn't notice on first viewing, like how when Kubo and the Beetle Samurai ask the Monkey Guardian for her story, the paper Hanzo also puts his hands together to beg. Laika does another amazing job with their animation, but what else is new there.

Being a Laika production also means one thing, a twist of horror in the film. These moments are small however, and are mostly used to emphasize the danger of the situation. There is a lot of humour to balance out the slow character moments and bits of horror. Humour wise, a lot of the humour comes from the characters, and rather than having them make painful and unfunny jokes, the humour often fits with the characters themselves, I don't want to spoil a lot of the humour, but while the movie isn't laugh out loud funny, it has it's moments. The humour is mostly there to balance the more serious stuff in the movie, and it's never intrusive or distracting.

I really do think this is Laika's best film so far, the animation was beautiful and spectacular, the humour was welcomed, the characters were warm and engaging, the horror elements were executed perfectly, and the movie as a whole is one of the best animated movies ever made, in fact I'd even go so far as to say it's one of the best movies ever made period. If you haven't given this movie a chance for whatever reason, I can not recommend it enough, Kubo and the Two Strings is a fantastic film for kids and adults.

The Prince of Egypt (1998) - An animated epic by meaning of the word

The second animated movie to come from DreamWorks Pictures was one of their riskiest animated movies to date, and possibly one of the riskiest animated movies ever to be made. The Prince of Egypt is an adaptation of a story in the book of Exodus, a big religious story, and it doesn't sugar coat a whole lot. DreamWorks took a large risk with The Prince of Egypt, and in a lot of ways, it paid off.

The story of Moses is a well known tale. After the Pharaoh of Egypt demands that the newborns of the Hebrew slaves be killed, a mother puts her infant son in a basket and sends it down the river. The infant is found by the queen, who names him Moses and raises him alongside Rameses. Years later, Moses learns of his true identity, not of an Egyptian prince, but of a Hebrew descendant, which causes him to run away, finding a new life and family. Eventually, God himself reaches Moses and tells him to be the deliverer of his people to the Promised Lands, which creates conflict between Moses and Rameses. It's a tale literally from Biblical times, and the plot is done beautifully here. While it does partake in the well-loved trope of "Time-skip Montage" the plot is mostly cohesive, and we see how each and every action leads to the other.

This movie really shines with its characters, especially how they interact with each other. Seeing Moses talk with the pharaoh about the murder of the Hebrew children, we see and hear the emotion and weight in the conversation. Every talk between Moses and Rameses is incredible, especially how they go from the best of friends to the worst of enemies. On top of that, we also see how these interactions effect each character, how Rameses' treatment from his father turns him cold and ruthless, a "win no matter the cost" kind of person. How Moses' new life and meeting with God has made him more humble. To see these characters change and the catalyst for these changes is what makes this movie special, but a lot of the character is also given within the animation.

The problem with writing a blog of text is that, a lot of readers are going to have to take the word of the writer for what is said, unless they provide some kind of visual aid to show what they are talking about. The animation of The Prince of Egypt is one such topic that, anyone could write about, but without visual assistance, the reader can only take the writers word for how amazing the animation is. For how expressive it is, for how beautiful the movie is. To describe scenes like when Rameses and Moses first speak after years of having not seen each other, without showing it to you, would be a disservice to the scene. Scenes like the Burning Bush, Rameses laying his child to rest, the parting of the Red Sea, they are all visually stunning to witness. This is a movie that demands to be watched in the largest screen you can.

The animation also shine in the musical numbers. While the visuals are stunning though, the musical numbers are overall mixed. Songs like "Through Heaven's Eyes", "When You Believe" and "The Plagues" are all amazing tracks, but most of the others I kind of needed to be reminded of what they were in the movie. On the Orchestral part of the soundtrack, it really shines. The background music does what good background music should, it enhances the mood and atmosphere of the scene without being to distracting. The track for the burning bush scene is one of the favourite pieces in animation history, up there with "Last Agni Kai" from the series Avatar: The Last Airbender. This movie has an amazing soundtrack, and it always compliments the scenes perfectly, even in the darker moments.

Yeah, this movie gets dark. I think this is one of the last truly PG movies, as it gets disturbing sometimes and children really should have parents or legal guardians when watching this movie. This movie gets dark, it opens with the murder of the Hebrew infants, and while we never do see it happen on screen, we see mothers get pushed and shoved out of the way and a soldier raise a blade in front of a crib. A drawing depicts them throwing the infants to crocodiles, and the movie even shows the deaths of the Egyptian first-borns. The movie can get really intense at times, and I can not stress enough that this movie should be viewed with a parent or legal guardian in the room.

Despite the darker imagery, The Prince of Egypt is one the best examples of why DreamWorks is as prominent a name in theatrical animation as Disney and Studio Ghibli. With the amazing soundtrack, breath-taking animation, understandable and tragic character arcs, and some of the darkest scenes in animation, it can not be a question as why this movie is one of DreamWork's most well loved. It really is an animated epic, and a movie that nobody should pass up.

The Transformers: The Movie (1986) - An entertaining product of its time

In the 1970s, cartoons were heavily censored and not as profitable as they were now. To cut costs, Hannah-Barbera would recycle as much as they could to produce a show as cheaply as possible. This lead to a lot of bland and tasteless cartoons. This would change in the 1980s as television became deregulated, a move that both saved and ruined animation as we know it. Toy based cartoons were everywhere in the eighties, ranging from shows like G.I. Joe and My Little Pony to even the Rubik's Cube. One of the most popular of these shows was The Transformers, a cartoon about alien robots that can transform into other vehicles, machines or even animals. It was such a popular product that in the late eighties, The Transformers were given their own cinematic venture, simply known as The Transformers: The Movie.

After an attack on the Autobot City on Earth, leading to the death of Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the Decepticon leader Megatron gets summoned by a new threat to the Autobots, a massive planet-sized robot named Unicron. Now, the Autobots, scattered around other planets, and now lead by Ultra Magnus, must reunite and stop Unicron from destroying the Autobot moon base and destroying the matrix of leadership. The plot in this movie is a bit messy, there were times I could hardly tell what was going on. I got confused at how the Autobots became separated, and whether Megatron was turned into Galvatron or not, the movie didn't really make that part clear. The plot is not this movie's strongest aspect.

I think character wise you have a decent collection. I would not say the characters are highly complex, I would even say some of them are pretty bland. While not terribly memorable, none of the characters in this movie were really annoying. Hot Rod has a couple moments of character, but nothing really stands out. Even Unicron, the main threat of the movie, what makes him stand out is mostly his voice. Not a whole lot about these characters stands out in many ways.

While I'm on the subject, the cast in this movie is excellent. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker do the excellent performances they're known for, Scatman Crothers returns for his final role as Jazz, and he does a fine job as well. Leonard Nimoy was unrecognizable as Galvatron, Judd Nelson did a good job as Hot Rod, Eric Idle was perfectly cast as Wreck-Gar, John Moschitta, Jr. did a fine job as Blurr, and Orson Welles did an excellent and menacing performance in his final role as Unicron. Cast wise, the movie has an excellent cast, though I do wish we got more of the original cast as well. It's hard to really say that cast members like Casey Kasem or Chris Latta (Cliffjumper and Starscream respectively) were in this movie because their roles were so minimal. Other than that, the cast did a fine job.

When it comes to the animation, this movie has it's peaks and valleys. On the one hand, it is a very detailed film, you can see all kinds of bits and parts and debris. Sometimes however, some scenes can be too detailed, which is only a problem in less than a handful of scenes, to be fair, but is still something I noticed. There is also a fair amount of bright flashing lights, so anyone that has problems with flashing lights would be wise to take precautions if you decide to view this movie. Aside from that, I noticed no animation flubs or any other major problems with the animation.

But let's be honest here, what really made this movie worth watching was the action scenes, and this movie has an abundance of them. All of them were really entertaining, and well done. A lot of the soundtrack matched perfectly with the action as well, and you see a fair amount of the carnage. Megatron stabs Optimus Prime with a chunk of rubble and you see not just it happen, but Optimus pulling it out and the damage it causes. You see characters get executed, an Insecticon's head get run over, a lot of this action is brutal, and I would recommend an adult be present if children are going to see this movie.

I think my only complain with the action is the odd choice of having a soft rock power ballad play during some of the fight scenes. It wasn't a terrible song, but it felt out of place hearing an 80s power ballad while being shown Megatron shooting Optimus Prime to death. It's a bit of a confusing decision is what I'm saying.

Overall, The Transformers: The Movie is one of the biggest products of it's time I've ever seen. Simple and messy plot, bland characters, soft rock power ballad and some fairly good, but still recognizable 80s art and animation. That being said, the action scenes were really what made this movie entertaining, it's a sickening and bloody sight that will entertain the young child that enjoyed blowing up spaceships in their backyard. It's a movie you have to have fond memories of to really love it, but as a newcomer, I was entertained by what I was given. I'm not sure if this movie is better than the Michael Bay live-action movie, the first one, but as a whole, I found it entertaining. If you have an hour and a half to kill and want to see some entertaining action scenes, there are worse ways to spend your time.

First Impressions: Missing Link (2019)

Laika returns with their latest in stop-motion animated spectaculars. This time, instead of having a horror element, this movie is a lot more comedic in tone, but is that this movie's downfall?

Laika is a studio that always seems to impress people. While I wasn't a big fan of Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings is definitely one of my favourite animated films, so I know Laika has earned the reputation it has. Missing Link is an interesting addition to their list in that regard because Laika usually adds a horror element to their movies, however, this movie chooses to instead focus on beautiful colours, a sense of adventure and some comedic tones.

I think Missing Link was a movie that one would go in with moderate expectations being met. The trailers didn't make this movie out to be on the same level as Kubo, but I think they knew that while making this movie. Missing Link does not hit the same highs as Kubo, but that isn't a bad thing. This could help Laika in the long run as not simply being a one-trick pony, sure they're known for films like Coraline and ParaNorman, but the question remains, could they do anything else?

Missing Link really does stand out with it's animation. This movie not only as some amazing animation, as to be expected from Laika, honestly Laika does stop-motion so well it's hard to tell that it is stop-motion. However, the movie also makes amazing use of it's cinematography. The one shot that impressed me the most in this movie was when Mr. Link was looking at his reflections, multiple reflections. The scene with context is really great, but the animation work was astounding. I couldn't tell if each reflection was painted on, a separate model, a digital effect or actual reflections, though I'm not betting on that last one.

Being a more comedic movie that the rest of Laika's catalogue, the movie will most live or die based off it's jokes. While this movie does have some dud jokes, and they fall hard, a lot of this movie was decently funny. Never to the point where I was rolling out of my seat, but most of the humour was decent, and had me chuckling more than twice.

If you consider Laika to only make stop-motion movies with a horror touch, I think you're gonna be disappointed. However, if you go into this movie expecting a decently funny movie with beautiful animation, you're gonna get what you go in for. While this may not be the best movie in Laika's line-up, it's still worth seeing at least once. If only just to see the amazing visuals of this movie, but you'll also get some decent emotional scenes, some decent humour and some entertaining action scenes. All in all, it's worth seeing.

And those were my thoughts on Missing Link, see you next time at the odeon.

Treasure Planet (2002) - A well made movie getting the recognition it deserves

Disney was at an all-time high in the late eighties and early nineties, releasing major hit movies like The Little Mermaid in 1989 and The Lion King in 1994. During the early 2000s however, Disney's success was waning, and at a terrible rate. Releases around this time were panned or heavily criticized and usually had low Box Office returns. It was around this time that the company released movies like Brother Bear, Chicken Little and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. This would continue until Disney released The Princess and the Frog in 2009. Though a few of these movies have become nostalgic and underrated classics to many today, but is that warranted? Well, to answer that, let's take a critical look at my favourite movie from this time, Treasure Planet.

After a stint with the police, Jim Hawkins brings a dying pirate to his mother's inn, where he is given a map to the rumoured Treasure Planet. Getting on a ship, with a crew hired by his mother's friend Doctor Doppler, he is put in the service of the ship's cook, Long John Silver. Who starts putting Jim to work, but also growing a bond with him. However, Long John is also looking for the fabled Treasure Planet and will let nothing get in his way. Plot wise, the movie is solid. The bond that Jim and John Silver grow seems natural, as do many of the relationships in this movie.

I'd be foolish not to mention the major shift between this movie and the original book "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Now, I have read some of the original book, but it is very different from this movie, and I honestly don't recommend the book too much. If you want a piece of classic literature you can read to your kids, I'd recommend Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. As for the genre and setting change, I honestly don't mind it too much. I find the idea of a sci-fi take on Treasure Island to be interesting, and while I do think they tried too hard to mix the original time-period designs with futuristic technology, often to the point of not really making any sense, I do think the change in genre suits this story well. I also appreciate the nod they gave to the original author by naming the ship "RLS Legacy" instead of the "Hispaniola".

When it comes to the characters of this movie, most of the main cast is strong. I like how the opening segment introduces Jim's character, he's a thrill seeker with a disregard for the rules. It is all brilliantly given to us in the opening scene with very little dialogue. Long John Silver is probably one of my favourite Disney characters of all time. A large portion of the movie, if not the entire movie, is based around the relationship between Jim and Silver, so both character would have to be strong for their bond to have any effect. Thankfully, both the bond and falling out between the two comes off as natural and their reconciliation makes for one amazing ending.

As for other characters, Doctor Doppler is amusing at times, though he also has his more serious moments which make him more than a comic relief character. Sadly this movie has two others, a cartoonish blob named Morph and Sentient Bio-Electric Navigation droid by then name of B.E.N. who has lost a piece of his mind. B.E.N. is loud, a bit clueless and fast-talking. Many have called him annoying, and I can personally see why, he is not the best character in the movie. As for Morph, honestly, Morph is one of the greatest things this movie has. Morph is adorable, but that isn't all he has going for him. The movie does show moments of Morph being of some help, and that just makes him all the better. I'm also very fond of the energetic and in-charge of everything Captain Amelia and the sinister and cunning Scroop. I think that when it comes to characters, this is one of the better casts Disney had in its modern era.

Animation wise, I don't think I'm alone in saying that this is one of Disney's best looking animated movies of all time. The characters are well designed and the space scenery makes for really good backdrops. Locations like the Space-port have interesting designs and the mix of CG animation is often really good, especially when it's cel shaded. That being said, there is a bit of Dated CG in this movie, and it does look really bad, kind of like a low-tier video game, but the rest of it, especially when it's on the characters looks really good. Also worth noting is that, around this time, Disney was putting more attention into subtle details in the animation. You can notice this in things like minor facial expressions, body movements and even things like Amelia's eyes getting bigger and smaller depending on what she sees. I don't think anyone would disagree that this is one of Disney's best looking animated movies.

As a whole, I think Treasure Planet is a really strong movie. Taking a critical look at it shows strong and likeable characters, amazing animation and some interesting world-building that really should have been expanded on. While the movie has a few problems, I think they are minor enough to be overlooked. To answer the question I proposed at the start, I do believe that some of the love for this movie is warranted. There is a lot to grab onto her rather than just nostalgic connection. While the 2000s might not be remembered as one of Disney's high points, but I personally think that this was one of there best movies released in this time-period. It's certainly one of my all-time favourite animated movies as well. It's worth the watch, and it's definitely worth a second try, just maybe not as a live-action remake, though a TV series might be cool. As a movie though, I think it is one of Disney's better modern classics.

Charlotte's Web (1973) - A charming, but not very interesting movie

Have you ever seen a movie you wanted to like so much, but just couldn't? There are lots of movies out there that critics and audiences love, but you and I might not. I have a couple myself and sadly, I do have to admit that this is one of them. I'm not the only one to not like this movie though, E.B. White, the author of the original book also didn't like this movie. However, rather than dump all over a movie that many people more than likely have fond memories of, I'm going to look at both the good and the bad of the film, and see if there is anything that other viewers might latch onto.

Charlotte's Web tells the story of Wilbur, a pig that was born the runt of the litter. After he grows bigger and gets sold to a new farmer, he befriends a spider by the name of Charlotte, and a gosling named Jeffery and together, try to come up with a plan to keep Wilbur from being killed and eaten. Plot wise the movie is very cohesive, the film does not cut out the reasons for decisions being made. Wilbur must be sold because he's getting to big, Charlotte spins webs with words on them to keep Wilbur from becoming ham and bacon. Being based on a book, I would expect some level of cohesive narrative, so as a whole, the plot and narrative are solid.

As I haven't read the book in a long time, I won't comment on the changes between book to screen, I'm gonna save that for a different movie.

That being said, the plot does often take a back seat to the song numbers in this film. This movie loves to have its song numbers and very few of them are good. Not that they're badly written or sung, I really only found myself being annoyed by one song in the movie. That being said, none of the songs are really memorable, even the one song I kind of liked was not terribly memorable. While the songs aren't great, the background music is actually pretty good, setting the mood perfectly, and not overstaying its welcome like a lot of the songs do. I don't think this movie is very strong musically.

The characters of this movie are pretty strong. Wilbur is kind-hearted and friendly, I think most viewers can sympathize with his will to survive, though personally I cared a little more for the side characters. Templeton the rat is one of those, only out for himself kind of characters, which leads to him being a scoundrel. Despite this, he's one of the better characters in the film, getting excited over food and ultimately doing what is right, even if just for the reward. Though of all the characters in the film, Charlotte has to be my favourite. She is very kind and caring, but also stern and cunning, tricking Templeton into nearly getting eaten by a cat. Charlotte is a great character and is giving a very well done send-off.

I think animation wise, this film is okay. Backgrounds are well drawn and character animation is fluent, the movie looks good, but it also pulls a few cheap tricks in repeating animations. I also noticed some lip sync issues, but they weren't the worst I've ever seen, and whenever Wilbur would face the screen, it looked a little weird. Overall though, I will say it is a nice looking movie, it is pleasing to the eyes and never harsh or unpleasant to look at. I think, of the 1970s, this is one of the better looking American animated movies of the time period.

Objectively speaking, Charlotte's Web is a fine movie, but personally I found the movie to be a little uninteresting. While I did enjoy Charlotte's character and her interactions with Wilbur and Templeton, those are about the only highlights I can think of. Songs are forgettable, the rest of the characters aren't great, and it's not a very engaging watch. That being said, it is a classic animated feature, and I will admit that I have been spoiled by the standards of today. If I watched this when I was younger I probably would have enjoyed the songs and characters a lot more. I can't really recommend it based on my feelings towards the film, so take this review with a grain of salt. It's not a bad movie, just not one that grabbed me, though their are worse offenders in that regard.