I don’t think anyone would argue that Walt Disney Animation Studios is going through a rough patch the last few years. Films like Wishand Strange World have failed to connect with viewers while Encantoand Raya and the Last Dragon were victims of the pandemic. With this track record it makes sense for them to return not only to the extremely profitable sequels of the 2010s but to their huge hit Moana from 2016. I have no doubt Moana 2 will be highly profitable for them especially given that it was originally going to be an animated series for Disney Plus; however, whether it is good is another question.
I have been more forgiving on some of these sequels when compared to other animation fans and critics. You can read my review of Frozen 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet here. I went into this screening for Moana 2 with an open mind and even did a video about the reason I had to be optimistic
Unfortunately all my high hopes were for naught because Moana 2 proves to be another misfire from a studio that seems to have truly lost their way particularly in the story department.
Without giving spoilers it’s hard to talk about the particulars of the story but basically Moana is sent on a mission to find other human settlers. I realize Moana’s island nation is a fictional land but my understanding is it was within the bounds of Polynesia. While there are some more isolated islands in this area it’s unlikely they would have absolutely no interaction with other humans. It was like they were on an alien planet instead of a fake island on Earth. It reminded me of Themyscira in Wonder Woman which is just a bizarre way to approach a story like this.
Things get even weirder when a long sequence is spent in the underworld facing off against a goddess Matangi. I realize Maui was a demi-god in the first film but that was just one character on an otherwise relatable journey. This doesn’t even have worldbuilding that we can understand or connect with. If we don’t understand the world she’s facing how are we supposed to feel tension or any stakes from this kind of villain?
As the movie goes on the plot becomes more convoluted and the challenges Moana faces more confusing. Things aren’t helped by Moana surrounding herself with a troupe of supposedly quirky characters that only distract from her relationship with Maui and go nowhere leading to frustration rather than pleasantness.
Compounded on to these problems is the constant remember berries from the original film. They even have lines about how Moana has to see ‘how far I’ll go.’ Yes exact lines from the first film are repeated expecting to get a response. Characters like the kakamora resurface for no reason except they are in the first film and pretty much all the songs are warmed over retreads of the original songs. For example, instead of “How Far I’ll Go” in the first film we get “Beyond” in this. Instead of “You’re Welcome” we get “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” in this. Come on Disney you can do better than this!
At least when Disney used to do a rare sequel it would try and be something different. For example, Rescuers Down Under moved all the events to Australia with a completely different tone, setting, villain and everything else than the original. In this you even have a cameo I won’t spoil as if to say ‘see we brought him/her back too…’
In the end Moana 2 is a convoluted mess when it tries to tell a new story and a bland forgettable retread when it leans on the original. Basically it’s a Disney sequel I will quickly forget about which is very disappointing as I really did enjoy the first film. Oh well. Hopefully they can be inspired by the work of their contempories and climb out of this hole. I am sure this film will make a boatload of money so I suppose they will at least have that to buoy their spirits. Either way it’s certainly not getting a recommendation from me.
Hi everyone! I figured with the stress of the election everyone could use a laugh in November so it would be fun to have a comedy blind spot pick for this month. I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I’m very sensitive to vomit scenes so had avoided their final film Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life. Now I have seen it and was right to be nervous about the vomit scene- it is a doozy! However, it is also very memorable and while uneven the film has enough laughs to be worth a recommendation. Here is our episode on the film:
Both Manda and I agreed the middle of the film is the strongest especially a series set in war with a very funny gag about the soldiers giving their captain inappropriate gifts for a battlefield (like a grandfather clock!)
There are other jokes that either go on too long or fall flat for a modern audience but I do appreciate the irreverence of all of the pieces. It doesn’t feel safe or scrubbed clean like much comedy does today and even the vomit scene is exhilarating for how bold and crazy it is.
I would definitely recommend other Monty Python films and episodes over this one but if you’ve seen those than give this a watch. It’s wild but entertainingly so.
Smile Worthy
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Hi friends! I hope you are doing well. I am so behind on film reviews I’m afraid I am going to have to cover a ton on this post and hopefully go back and do some longer reviews later this week. For now the mini reviews will have to do:
ANORA-
Unfortunately having not been admitted into NYFF this year I’ve had to watch the film festivals from a distance and looked with anticipation as I get a chance to see some of the movies getting buzz from these festivals. One such a film is Anora directed by Sean Baker. I recently reviewed his film Tangerine for Blind Spot series.
Going into it this film had been sold for me as an ‘indie Pretty Woman.’ I like indies and Pretty Woman so this seemed promising. I was also told it is a comedy, which after having seen it is completely baffling. I will make sure to not trust any of those people for comedic advise going forward.
Yes, Anora proved to be another movie from 2024 that is highly praised which I did not enjoy. Mikey Madison can be quite charming in the lead role but the plot proved both uninteresting and repetitive, and I was completely uninterested in the relationship between Anora and her new husband Ivan.
I also think the movie ends in a way that was strange and not in an intriguing way. I won’t spoil it for you but it seemed like it was supposed to be empowering in tone but it actually was quite troublesome and bizarre.
Others seem to be enjoying this film more than I do. It looks nice and has some engaging performances but the story was just not something I cared about or became invested in.
Frown Worthy
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER-
I was very curious how director Dallas Jenkins would bring together a new adaptation of the classic play/book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to the big screen. I’ve seen it several times in person and was especially concerned about the portrayal of the Herdmans and how it might be watered down for 2024 kids. Fortunately Jenkins and his team have created a wonderful family film, loaded with heart that seems destined to become a new holiday favorite.
What surprised me the most is how accurate to the play the screenplay was. They even had the Herdman’s smoking cigars which shocked me. Now-days you can barely have villains smoking cigars so that’s surprising.
They also kept the events of the film set in the past and didn’t modernize or update it much to pacify modern audiences. It ended up with big heart and a Christmas message that actually focuses on the sweet and simple message of the birth of Christ. How refreshing is that! I know some can feel anxiety about seeing a faith-based film but this one does it right and I can’t imagine any religious person or Christmas celebrator disliking it. Go see it!
Smile Worthy
HERE-
I don’t think there is a director who has fallen more out of my favor over recent years than Robert Zemeckis. Nobody can take away his incredible win streak in the 80s but movies like his recent Pinocchio or The Witches were so disappointing. Unfortunately his latest Here can be added to that pile of frustration.
Here starts out with an intriguing premise. The idea is a the point of view of the storytelling is looking into the living room of a house over several millennia (going all the way from the dinosaurs to a modern African American family in 2020.)
Unfortunately the whole experience becomes so cloying that after about 30 minutes I found myself ready to leave the theater. It’s liike Zemeckis saw The Carousel of Proect at Disney World and decided to turn it into a feature film. There isn’t enough exploration of the various eras or people we get introduced to so it becomes frustrating and shallow.
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reteam up with Zemeckis for this one but I just wish they had better material to work with than the thin gruel Here presents. No thanks
Frown Worthy
EMILIA PEREZ-
Anyone who knows me knows I am usually a huge softee when it comes to musical movies. Even if the plot and the characters aren’t perfect I often feel the music helps elevate things to be watchable. That’s why I was intrigued when I heard about the new film coming to Netflix, Emilia Perez. In the film director Jacques Audiard has a million creative ideas that alone could have made for an intriguing movie. The problem is he combined them all into the same movie.
Zoe Saldana plays a lawyer who gets an offer from a cartel drug Lord who needs her help to retire and transition from being a man to a woman. In addition to this premise the movie is also a crime drama, a relationship melodrama and most surprising of all a musical.
Unfortunately despite the Saldana giving the performance her all the experience of Emilia Perez feels muddled and frustrating. It also doesn’t help that the characters are unlikable and give us little reason to root for them and the songs are uniformly forgettable and bland. It all amounts to a tedious 132 minutes I cannot recommend.
Frown Worthy
VENOM: THE LAST DANCE-
Believe it or not I’ve actually been a fan of the previous 2 Venom movies. I enjoyed the buddy comedy elements between Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his Venom creature. They were short and sweet and good for a laugh which in this day of bloated comic book movies was quite refreshing. Unfortunately this latest entry forgot that tradition and became another self-serious bore that is frankly no fun.
Tom Hardy is still enjoyable as Eddie and there are some amusing scenes like a sequence where they take over a horse and fly through the Nevada desert but the film expects us to feel sentimental and even weepie at the end as if this had been an emotional set of films with real stakes. Juno Temple is not engaging as a scientist with an obvious and bland character arc and Chiewetel Ejiofor is given nothing to do as boring grumpy army guy trying to stop the symbiots. There are so many tedious sequences including a long section where Eddie hitches a ride with a group of hippies led by Rhys Ifans and long sections of action I’ve seen a million times in better movies.
I watch these movies to laugh. How can they not understand that? Unfortunately laughs are few and far between in Venom: The Last Dance.
Frown Worthy
THE CARPENTER-
As a critic I try and be open to as many genres as possible including faith-based films. In fact, I recently recommended Faith of Angels by director Garrett Batty. I even interviewed him for Hallmarkies Podcast and enjoyed getting to talk with him and actor John Michael Finley for that film. Unfortunately I cannot be so accommodating for his new film The Carpenter. I hate to be harsh on a small production like this but it truly was a bizarre experience to watch this strange combination of MMA style fighting and Biblical settings. It might be for some people but it definitely wasn’t for me.
I can’t overstate how much boxing is in this Biblical film and yet Jesus is a major character and it includes a long period including seeing the resurrected Lord. I get that the Romans had boxing and sometimes quite brutal fighting but combined with the tone of an inspirational family drama it just felt off. It also didn’t help that all the performances felt modern as did the script and almost no attempt is made to be historically accurate in customs and traditions. For example the lead female Mira is seen at the boxing matches surrounded by the men unchaperoned, which seems highly unlikely.
I am sure the intentions are all for the best with The Carpenter but it was simply too strange a combination of elements for me to recommend.
Frown Worthy
CONCLAVE-
I try to always be authentic with my response to movies but there are times when I wonder why my reaction is different than many of critic friends. Such is the case with the latest Oscar hopeful Conclave. While the performances are well done and the film looks nice I found the picture to be an experience that left me cold and I am completely baffled at anyone calling it a ‘thriller.’
In this fictional tale the Pope has died and Ralph Fiennes is responsible for running the conclave to select the next pontiff. The problem is the script only allows us to really come to know Fiennes’ character and everyone else is only presented intermittently making the whole thing feel procedural and bland. I literally saw almost nothing in this that could be called a thriller.
I guess this is one of those Oscar bait films I just don’t connect with and that’s alright. If it sounds like something you’d enjoy give it a shot. Conclave wasn’t for me.
Frown Worthy
So there you have it. My movie update. Let me know what you think if you’ve seen any of these movies.
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Another Halloween has come and gone and I hope you had a great time with your friends and family. My friend Jacks was in town, and we went to a lot of theatre and had a blast. We even had a theatre themed costume (angel and devil Evan Hansen lol)
This month for blind spot I actually ended up checking 2 movies off of my list from director John Carpenter: 1982’s The Thing and 1998’s Vampires. You can hear my discussion with Manda about both movies below:
The Thing
It’s interesting how certain films can grow and evolve over time. This is certainly the case with John Carpenter’s The Thing. When it was first released it received mostly negative reviews including a thumbs down from Roger Ebert (Siskel gave it a mild recommendation.) Since then it has grown in estimation but I had heard it is a very gross movie so I put off seeing it. Now the blind spot series was the perfect chance to check it off my list, and I’m so glad I did. The Thing is a movie that keeps things simple but is extremely effective in that simplicity.
In the film Kurt Russell plays a man named MacReady who as a scientist at Antarctica comes across a parasite-like alien that when implanted in an organism becomes a deadly mimic of its host. This is what makes the film scary because the things they trust are actually infected and the characters don’t realize it until too late.
It’s hard to believe The Thing wasn’t at least respected for the craft on display. The incredible creature designs by Rob Bottin and cinematography from Dean Cundey immerse the viewer in the experience and we are never left bored or distracted from the experience with Bill Lancaster’s incredibly tight screenplay.
That said, I don’t know that the film is saying anything profound like most good scifi horror like this does but sometimes its perfectly fine for a movie to just be a fun time and that’s what The Thing is. I really enjoyed it.
Smile Worthy
VAMPIRES
I would say John Carpenter’s Vampires is less successful than The Thing but it is still overall a fun time for fans of vampire flicks. In both movies Carpenter keeps things simple and entertaining. The Thing just has better central characters than Vampires.
In Vampires James Woods leads the cast with a lot of charisma as he and Daniel Baldwin seek to take down a vampire leader named Valek. There’s some fun action set-pieces and fights that go down and Thomas Ian Griffith plays Valek with a lot of energy.
The problem is so much of the plot depends on Baldwin’s infatuation with a bitten woman he just met named Katrina played by Sheryl Lee. He’s supposed to be a master vampire hunter; thereby, making a lot of his choices nonsensical and frustrating when it comes to Katrina.
Still, Woods has a ton of fun with the role and at under 2 hours Vampires doesn’t wear out its welcome.
Smile Worthy
At this point I have seen 4 Carpenter films and have recommended all of them (Halloween, Big Trouble Little China, The Thing, and Vampires.) I am sure he has his clunkers but he is definitely one of our strongest directors and certainly one of the best in the horror genre. What’s your favorite Carpenter film?
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