Rango-review

Tom Selleck wants his shirt back!

            This movie is fantastic.  It’s got an existential character that goes through a great character arc in his heroic development.  It’s also a nod to the Dollars Trilogy made popular by Clint Eastwood.  I was very impressed by the adult dialogue that accompanied the slapstick style humor.

            The art style was amazing.  More and more computer animation impresses me.  Since “Legend of the Guardians” I have felt that certain movies are making the effort of showing us story and effort with a texture so beautiful and a film so stylized.  The animals are fantastic looking creatures that take on a life all of their own and make the story really fun.

The lost lizard is on an existential journey.  He comes across a town with a water problem and through a chain of events he realizes he can make up a life for himself.  He becomes the town Sheriff and there the comedy of errors spiral for him. 

 “Rango” takes an effort to look at the hero with no name from a more internal sense.  It even goes so far as to bring the character “The Man with No Name” onscreen with a really great impression of Clint Eastwood’s voice by Timothy Oliphant and ask why does he do the things he does in his journey to discover himself.   

If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.

If you are looking for something fun and a wee bit cerebral then this is up your alley.  It’s not really a kid’s movie since there is a lot of heavy dialogue and chock full of innuendos.  Maybe wait till they are hit that PG -13 age when you think they can handle some of the clever vocabulary and existential wit so the humor will be more to them then pratfalls and fart jokes.  They will love it for all that it is worth.

Megamind-review

Would you ever guess the loser on the left is Jonah Hill? Shocker!

            Like “Monsters vs. Aliens” it’s worth seeing…once and only once.  I don’t know why but DreamWorks just bottled gold with “Shrek” but other movies they have put out have been just by the book movies that will never beat Pixar for their creativity.   Don’t get me wrong this is a good movie and it’s really worth seeing but it doesn’t have much in the way interest fore extended viewings.

Hmmm. Will anyone believe I'm a villain?

            For example I am not sure whose bright idea it was to make Jonah Hill the antagonist.  Too say his name on the poster a dozen times like its drawing power does nothing.  I am not sure if there are that many Jonah Hill fans but I am one of those people that don’t really give a hoot in hell when it comes to a cartoon what celebrity does the voice.  If it were up to me I’d say cast nobodies and let the art and story speak for them selves.

            But America it seems rather likes paying more so that the crafty cat can sound like Cate Blanchett or some such person.  Markets are funny that way.  Still, I am getting off track.  “Megamind” has loads of in jokes and some neat gags that are pretty worthwhile but I won’t lie the whole superhero computer animated feature felt done with more style in “The Incredibles” this felt a wee forced sometimes and like it wanted too much to be something edgy like when you saw older people trying to be cool and you knew it just came off sad…that is sometimes how this comes off to me.

I admit this is a good gag.

            Still it’s worth a rental.  Oh and in the theater I had a moment that I can chalk up on my list of best things overheard yelled at the screen.  This one came from a little girl behind me when Megamind is driving a flying car at top speed away from a building flying towards him.  She yells “Just TURN!”  That is so brilliantly logical and I can see some little girl will grow to be a cynic like me one day.  Little girl I salute you.