Tag Archives: Animated Movie

Finding Dory Review

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Are you ready? It’s time to take a look at the Finding Nemo sequel. I saw the original quite a few times over the years and even purchased the game recently. It’s definitely a fun series. Finding Dory takes itself a little more seriously at times and makes Dory’s past a little sadder than is used to be. It’s a pretty solid film that actually has a great ending so don’t listen to the doubters. Everyone told me what a bad ending the film had so I was expecting something really sad or tragic, but it was actually solid. Ah well, maybe people weren’t ready for a happy ending this time.

Dory wakes up one morning and realizes that she has parents. She sort of knew this deep down, but now she realizes that she has to go find them. They’re over by the aquarium/sea world park that Dory used to be at. It’ll be quite the journey, but it’s worth it to find her folks. She gets Nemo and Marlin to help her out with this. Getting across the planet would be tough for most fish…but Marlin knows a guy. The three of them set out and prepare for a big adventure, but little do they know that the team will be splitting right away.

Marlin was surprisingly a great character here. Maybe he always was and I just forgot about it. His “I know a guy” line was easily the best one in the film thanks to the great delivery (Pause and slow build up) and the way that he looked to the side while saying it. Marlin’s a little more confident than he used to be and since he did rescue Nemo from crazy circumstances, he has a right to be. He also comes through in the clutch when it matters and shows that he is a team player. I can’t say the same for Nemo though. Nemo’s very annoying in this film as he constantly takes shots at Marlin and acts like a know it all. Any scene with Nemo is one where I had to wince a little inside. It feels like Nemo hasn’t improved at all since the fist film and if anything…he’s gotten worse.

Dory is a nice character as always. Her origin was especially tragic this time as he memory got a lot worse. It was mostly just used as comedy in the first film while it’s very serious and dramatic this time. I would have preferred if it wasn’t so serious, but Dory gets through her trials with determination and persistence. She comes up with a plan in the end and has her big moment. Dory may not be as likable as Marlin, but she’s a good character. Dory’s just not my kind of protagonist and I don’t think she can hold her own film, but the subplots had enough screen time where it wasn’t too much of an issue. I still think that this film should have been about finding Nemo’s Mom, but maybe that’ll be for the third film in the trilogy.

Hank is one of the new characters for the film and he is definitely great. Hank is one of the standouts here as he plays the tough James Bond esque role. He has a lot of experience and has seen things over the years. He just wants to give up and head to the land of peace, but Dory is in his way. He agrees to help her in exchange for a pass that will get him there, but it’s a tougher ordeal than he would have thought since Dory keeps forgetting the plan. He had a lot of the witty banter and great lines in the film. It’s safe to say that he made the film a lot better.

Dory also had other friends who appeared like Destiny and other aquatic animals who wanted to pitch in. They were a little too quirky, but weren’t bad characters in the end. They’re nice pals to have around and it was good for Dory that they showed up. Still, they could have been a little more interesting. The main cast from the first film are the ones who really had to hold the film on their own with the exception of Hank since he was a really good new character.

One thing that subtlety holds Finding Dory back is the character roster. Even the best characters are only pretty good. There are no downright great characters. The closest two are Marlin and Hank. The problem is that Hank’s character was already used in Zootopia, but handled better. Marlin’s character type hasn’t been done all that often, but while he is fun, he isn’t a show stealer. Aside from those two characters, the rest of the cast struggle to be passable. Some of the characters are just really annoying like the two seals and the bird. The bird should have been cool, but did the film have to give him the worst design possible? I actually had a problem with quite a few of the designs. Even baby Dory looked a little off as the eyes were so big that it looked physically painful.

The animation was good overall though so I don’t want to take shots at it. It’s the character designs that are to blame here. I can’t say that the animation is much better than Finding Nemo’s though and considering how old that film is…it’s certainly worth noting. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a soundtrack to be found here. You won’t remember any of the tunes afterwards, which is a little regrettable. On a technical level, the film is all right. It gets the job done, but nothing more to that.

Finally, another problem is that you’re just never invested in the film. It goes through the motions and you follow along, but that’s about it. The story isn’t boring or anything….but it’s just not that exciting either. This last bit of the review may sound rather negative, but it’s just because the film could have been so much more. As it is, it’s a good film that is good for a quick watch, but you probably won’t want to be re watching it anytime soon.

To end this review on a high note, lets go back to the ending. After everyone told me how bad it was, I expected the parents to either be A. really mean or patronizing once they were found or B. Dead. If either of those scenarios had happened, this could have dropped to a 5. Luckily, the ending was really good. I’m guessing people thought that it was too happy and perfect or something like that, but I could definitely get into it. I also ended up liking Dory’s parents. Their roles were naturally very small, but they were likable and I’m sure that a third film could find a good role for them.

Overall, Finding Dory was a good sequel. It’s not quite as good as the original Finding Nemo if you ask me, but the film goes along at a brisk pace and doesn’t get boring. The writing is certainly on point and I actually really liked the ending. It was a highlight. While this film won’t move you the same way that Inside Out, Zootopia, Frozen, and other big animated films as of late have, it is still a good movie. I’d recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. You don’t really need to watch Finding Nemo to enjoy this film since they recap it through dialogue anyway, but you should check out the first film as well. It’s a classic at this point.

Overall 6/10

Scooby Doo Mecha Mutt Menace Review

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Time for the next Scooby Doo special! This one looked a little more interesting immediately because we’re getting a Giant Robot Dog! Are you hyped yet? It’s essentially the return of the Zoids and as that was a very underrated franchise, it’s good to see it make a comeback. I can safely say that this villain was a lot more intense so get ready for some fights.

Scooby and the gang were having a good ole time when they happened upon the convention. They were aiming to win this one with Fred’s new trap that throws you into a glued net after disarming you of all metals. Instead he catches a shifty lady who is the daughter of one of the world’s greatest scientists. She quickly becomes the first suspect since all new characters foot the bill and she seems to want to make an enemy out of Daphne. (Unintentional I’m sure…) The Giant Robot Dog that her father owns goes on a rampage though and disappears. Her father dashes away and the cops aren’t so sure of what’s about to happen next. We also learn that the father didn’t actually invent the dog and one scientist is resentful of that. Hmmmmm. There’s also a creepy scientist who likes the daughter and isn’t afraid to admit it, but nobody takes him seriously and he makes a big mess of things whenever he is around. The show makes him as exaggerated as possible so it’s hard to find him even remotely likable.

Let’s get the technical aspects out of the way from the get go. The animation is good as always. We actually get some laser blasts and punches thrown so that’s always great. Everyone looks sharp and the character models are accurate. The soundtrack is pretty standard, but it gets the job done. That’s what count I suppose. Scooby Doo is technically consistent and has been for a very long time at this point.

Naturally, the big draw for the film is the villain. The giant robo dog is great. He can fire lasers and has quite the large amount of raw power. With one slap, he was able to knock Scooby Doo’s large dog robot through a lot of canisters and dented a wall. It was probably the most action packed moment that we’ve seen in Scooby Doo in quite a while. A good villain can always up the stakes for a film…and the intensity quite a bit. That’s what the robot did here.

One plot that wasn’t quite as good though was the one between the daughter and Fred. Why do we need a fake/forced romance here when we all know how this is going to end. At least Melanie played the friend zone card right away, but Fred didn’t really get the memo and it can get a little sad. Haven’t we seen this very same plot many, many times over the years. It never gets interesting to be honest, but it’s not as terrible as the Velma romance that we got back in the day. Now That was very wince worthy and hurt the film. This plot doesn’t really hurt the film since it’s not all that bad, but it doesn’t exactly help it either.

Another thing that I found a little iffy was how Shaggy and Scooby enjoyed the space food so much. I’m not saying that it’s terrible, but the goop just doesn’t look visually appealing. Give me a nice pizza or a Cheeseburger any day! They better enjoy it though because for 3 months that’s all that they’re going to get. Let’s ignore the ramifications of how this looks for the space station since it doesn’t really matter. Isn’t this a super tragic ending for the two? Being alone in space for 3 months without any supplies is really sad. They’ll have the food rations of course, but with their appetite, I have to wonder if it will last. Also, if this was going to be an unmanned rocket…then maybe there is no food. In that case, I’m going to assume that chronologically this is the final Scooby Doo film and they didn’t live through the experience. Ah well…better luck next time I suppose! Meanwhile, it was good to see Fred’s genius showed for once. He actually invented something practical and useful so just think about that for a second. He’s an excellent/capable leader as well as a genius apparently. No wonder he’s the leader of the Mystery Gang, he’s certainly earned it as this point.

Overall, This was another solid Scooby Doo special. The mecha fights were definitely the best scenes to be found here. The ending is also actually a little tragic when you think about it and was quite unexpected. I definitely recommend checking out this one. It’s really short since it’s also about 1 episode’s length so the pacing is always very smooth. You’ll be missing out if you miss out on this one.

Overall 7/10

Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow Review

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It’s time for the first of four Scooby Doo specials that I recently saw. It’s always interesting to see these because they are essentially really compressed Scooby Doo films. The formula is still in tact, but everything must happen at a very rapid pace, which actually turns out well since it captures the meat of the story without any of the fluff. It’s a little tougher to take a stab at who the culprit is though because sometimes you won’t see all of the suspects until it is almost too late. Even though the time varies a whole lot, I like to make my guess at the first commercial break and it turns out that I was right on the money for this one. It was a pretty proud moment in my rather impressive detective career.

So, the gang was having a good ole time as per usual when they find out that this town is having an issue with a Spooky Scarecrow. Legend states that this guy is no mere mortal and he actually survived being sliced by that fork-type weapon from the farms. As a result, Halloween is cancelled. The Mystery Gang is going to have to work quickly or else Halloween will never make a return and then they’ll have to go somewhere else for their candy.

There are a few suspects right off the bat. The Mayor is a little shady since he clearly needs more sleep to get rid of the dark rings under his eyes and the guy seems shady. There’s also the chief of police who is always ignored by the mayor so she may have an axe to grind about all of this. She is helping to block off the cornfield so the Mystery Gang can’t start sleuthing. That’s a little iffy eh? There’s also Billy Bob, or something like that. He’s always fairly cold to the heroes and only says “Yup” and “No” so maybe this guy has something to hide. Who do you think the culprit is?

As always, the animation is quite good for Scooby Doo. It’s not as if the company is hitting it out of the park or anything like that, but everything is smooth and appropriately detailed. It’s what I’d expect from Scooby Doo and it isn’t experimenting like some of the previous movies/specials. (Puppets…I don’t think so!) The soundtrack is also what you would expect at this point. It’s suitable for the scenes and that’s what I like to see.

The villain wasn’t quite as intense as some of the others, but the fact that he does have a pickax of sorts makes him a real threat. I would put him in my top 50 Scooby Doo villains….well, that’s not saying much. He was probably my least favorite from the 4 specials today, but at least he wasn’t a bad villain. Now that would have been sad! Meanwhile it was fun to see all of the corn snacks in the special. They’re definitely not very appetizing next to other tried and true classics like Pizza and burgers, but they will do.

On a final note for the analysis, it was good to see the Mystery Gang get some respect here. The police chief quickly realized that they were experts of sorts in the monster biz after they professionally handled the situation with a Net Launcher. That’s what I’ve come to expect from the gang and let’s face it…after about 30-50 years of catching ghosts from all around the world, their reputation should precede them at this point. Even in a small town like this one that doesn’t seem too heavy on computers, the legends of Scooby Doo and his friends should be quite well known.

Overall, This was a good Scooby Doo special. It played it close to the belt here as it is almost the definition of your average Scooby Doo adventure. It’s fun and goes by very quickly, but nothing really stood out. No worries, that will change for the other specials as they all typically have at least one gimmick that makes them fairly original. If you’re a Scooby Doo fan, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you’ve never heard of Scooby Doo and have no idea what you’re about to get yourself into..you should still enjoy it as a fun little mystery. Although you won’t be able to appreciate just how good of a tradition this series is either.

Overall 7/10