Hi I'm Dranzerstorm
You may remember me as a regular contestant on the caption battle contest.
Welcome to Retro Retrospective, my world dedicated to the old guard of the Otaku world; expect some reviews of the old & obscure, and in-depth geeky knowledge with the occasional top ten and I now have a logo.
Little info about me
Well I'm British and I'm in to all things animated and nostalgia.
I've grown up with every cartoon going and have watched hundreds of anime.
Oh and to answer a question I was asked once, no I don't wear glasses in real life, I would wear Loke's sunglasses though.
I've been into Dreamworks lately so lets begin with Megamind.
The typical superhero setup is established as two intergalactic beings are sent to Earth, one following the path of good as Metro Man while the movie focusses on the blue skinned, big headed menace known as Megamind.
One day after the uptenth time of going through the battle between good and evil routine, Megamind actually wins the battle, destroying Metro Man in the process, giving him full control of Metro City.
But losing his sense of thrill in fighting a worthy opponent and falling for TV Reporter Roxanne, Megamind decides to create a new hero using Roxanne's cameraman Hal, while at the same time dating Roxanne in disguise but Hal's lack of heroics and failing to get Roxanne to love him turns him into an evil villain, leaving Megamind to try and save the day as the some how alive Metro Man refuses to do so.
The psychology in this film is clever, in Megamind we have a goal that's been achieved but nothing else to aim for leaving a feeling of emptiness, in Metro Man we have someone who feels he's been put into this position by virtue of his powers but isn't allowed to have a choice of being normal, in Minion he feels that he is losing his boss by the fact that he's being influenced by his own self loathing to make poor decisions, Roxanne doesn't know who to trust anymore as everyone from her cameraman to Metro Man to Megamind himself show sides to them that she wasn't expecting and Hal is a jerk who feels that he can get anything he wants because of superpowers because his own life sucks and somehow makes it worth it.
That's quite a lot to cover and in a Dreamworks picture that really doesn't get a lot of appreciation; its got a very strong set of characters and while the story can be a little bit weak in places, I never felt that it went for cliches or try to end on a "Business as usual" ending which could've ruined the whole film if it did.
Dreamworks is a worthy rival of Disney and films like this show that it can compete on equal footing.
Happy New Year everybody, now lets start the year by talking about snails. This is the Film Turbo.
Theo is a garden snail who dreams of speed and hopes to be like his idol, 5 Time Indy 500 Champion Guy Gagne, but his obsession has made him an outcast and his brother Chet has to pick up the tab for his misfortunes. But after a near fatal accident with a prize tomato, Theo runs away to be alone but another incident throws him through the nitrous of a dragster giving him the powers of super speed. After another bout of misfortune involving a kid on a trike, Theo and Chet get thrown out of their garden and end up in the run down strip mall of Starlight Plaza where they are captured by Taco worker Tito who brings Theo into the world of Snail Racing; amazed by his speed and encouraged by a gang of racing snails, Tito enters Theo into the Indy 500 to live out his dream.
Now this looks like an idea that would never work but it really isn't that bad. It's very cheesy but like films such as the Brave Little Toaster it takes an idea that has nothing working for it and somehow makes it work.
It does help that the characters are likable, the jokes hit their mark quite well and there's no bad cliches, it's just a film about a really fast snail.
Really Turbo is one of those films that hits the mark as a cult classic film, it's not overly groundbreaking but it doesn't need to be, it tells its story and that's all you need. If you want something more complicated then don't bother with this film, if you're only looking for fun then give this film a shot, you won't regret it.
Now lets try something mainstream, mainly because it leads to something more significant, so today lets talk about The Croods.
The Croods is a prehistoric animated feature about a family of cavemen who live a very sheltered life until the eldest daughter Eep ventures out of the cave one day and discovers Guy, a young caveman with great ideas who introduces her to new things like fire. Eep's father Grug, being the overprotective parent, grounds her, only for the cave they've been living in to fall apart following an earthquake forcing them to look for a new cave in a strange new land opened to them by said quake. It's only after a few more incidents that Eep calls Guy to help them navigate these lands, which makes Grug all the more jealous when his ideas get ignored over the new things Guy keeps coming up with. Eventually Grug loses it and fights Guy only to discover why Guy acts the way he does and through a series of events, learns not to be overprotective and accepts the new life he's come to learn.
That's pretty much it story wise, very simple story, not much to challenge you mentally. The art design is creative as standard for Dreamworks; the comedy is okay for it's target audience but the story has been done before and better by other shows.
I mention target audience for comedy and that's where Croods falls down the most;
The British Film rating system uses U - Universal for everyone up to 18 - For adults only with PG (Parental Guidance), 12 & 15 ratings in between. Croods was rated U - Universal for everyone but most recent releases have carried the PG rating including Frozen and How to Train your Dragon. PG's are more marketable because it seems less childish to an adult who ultimately has to pay for the movie ticket and they are the ones who are going to be the critics not the children watching it; it also taps into the young gen X adult market who view animation as a major part of their social development and aiming too young chases them away in an instant.
Croods is entertaining to kids but only kids and fails to tap into a wider audience, something I expected better from the likes of Dreamworks.
It's worth one watch but after that you're not going to see it evolve.
