The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

scanned DVD case

Film: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Release: 2005, theatrical
Starring: Martin Freeman, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def
Directed by: Garth Jennings
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: 12 minutes before the Earth is destroyed to make way for an hyperspace bypass, Arthur Dent's home is about to be demolished to make way for a bypass of the amazingly incredibly hugely fantastically ginourmously more mundane variety.

Hans' thoughts:

Before Martin Freeman played the role of hapless hero on a fantastical journey in The Hobbit, he played the role of hapless hero on a fantastical journey. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the story of the somewhat dimwitted but overall very mundane Mr. Arthur Dent, Mr. Dent is unaware of quite a lot of things one of the more important things he's unaware of is that in 12 minutes his home planet and all that he knows will be completely obliterated by a race of unpleasant aliens with a love for bureaucracy and simple facts. Thankfully for the sake of Mr. Dent another fact he's blissfully unaware of is that his best friend isn't from Earth but actually from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and it just so happens that he has knowledge of the impending doom. The way I wrote all that may seem like a bit of a mushy mess but that's the tone of voice that's used by the ever present narrator (voiced by Stephen Fry) throughout the film. The film is of course, based on the book of the same name written by Douglas Adams. 

The best way to experience the film properly is to take it at face value: A lot of information will be thrown at you rapidly at different points of time and you will be forced to simply accept whatever is happening and go along with it. Very much akin to the attitude of the very English Arthur Dent himself. My planet blew up? Well that's a spot of a bother innit? What do I do now? Oh well no need to rush to much about, about it. That may seem very odd and a bit inhumane but to perfectly honest it feels incredibly liberating. We can't do anything about it so let's not worry about it and worry about the next thing instead. Despite both our main character and the main villains being complete caricatures of modern era European society and the people living in it. This is of course helped by both actors and voice cast doing a really good job at delivering their lines none better though than Alan Rickman voicing Marvin the manic-depressive robot with an abnormally large noggin.

Visually, there's some very pretty stuff in there. The special effects team is in tip top shape (as they well should be) as they treat you to incredible panning shots of planets and the universe surrounding them. Entire civilizations believing the universe will be destroyed by a handkerchief, whales popping into existence. All that weird good stuff tied together nicely by our main characters quest to not die and probably get a cup of tea on the way is brought to life by effects that I feel hold up pretty darn well.  The theme seems to be that life moves on, with all the twists and turns that comes with it and it is a nice message, though a little buried beneath all the stuff going on almost constantly. There's no really quiet moments in the film, as there's just too much at stake at all times. What is going on? Why is it going on? Where is it going? You will probably be a little confused a lot of the time but stick with it because there's some truly great moments in it just waiting to be experienced.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Film: Hot Fuzz
Release: 2007, theatrical
Starring: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Previous in the series: Shaun of the Dead
Next in the series: The World's End
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Ace police officer Nicholas Angel is sent to the sleepy English village of Sandford because he's so talented that he makes the other officers in London look bad by comparison. There, what should have been an uneventful stationing turns out to uncover that the village of Sandford may not be as innocent as it appears.

Hans' thoughts:

Two things that British entertainment is known for is really good comedy and really good crime stories. So obviously they will be brought together from time to time and so they have in "Hot Fuzz" - The tale of an overqualified police officer who has to deal with one of the weirdest mysteries a small town in England can offer.  Following the success of "Shaun of the Dead", writer/director Edgar Wright brings back comedy duo of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in the second installment of what would later be called "The Cornetto trilogy". A series of film not connected by narrative but by the reference to Cornetto Ice Cream throughout all three, well that's one way to ensure a marketing deal. 

Hot Fuzz is not only a funny movie when it comes to the dialogue, tons of little snippets of information and running gags are thrown into the movie that you might not all catch up on in the first viewing, this makes the movie rewatchable i close succession without it being redundant which is something you don't see happening to a lot of movies - it's definitely not something I would call a common goal of film directors. Another thing you'll notice right away is also the editing, the film deals in very rapid editing which results in making every scene seem heart pumping - even if the main character is just doing paperwork in the police station. The movie also has that distinct Anchorman quality to it, being extremely quotable and littered with hilarious and memorable moments. I also have to commend the writing for this one, a lot of comedies relies on the excuse that something just kinda happens but in this film everything has a setup and everything is kept tabs on throughout the tale. You will definitely be missing out if you don't pay attention while watching this.

All main characters are also given their own character arcs, as well as even some of the fairly minor ones. Characters will learn to doubt everything they thought they knew and it's all delivered incredibly well by a cast that may not be starstudded but is very talented and manages to deliver even the smallest jokes with timing only backed up further by the editing. The way jokes are set up is almost reminiscent of a sketch comedy show or a really well-written sitcom. Some jokes are thrown at you in rapid succession while others are set up and very carefully executed. Hot Fuzz is in conclusion a very funny and over-the-top take on the action movie genre and the knack for mysteries. With a genuinely surprising twist as well as a great cast of actors the film is for anyone who likes a good laugh, and who doesn't?

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)

Film: Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
Release: 1964, Theatrical
Starring: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck
Directed by: Nicholas Webster
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Descriptions: The children of Mars have started to obsess over TV-shows from Earth, oddly fascinated with the concept of "fun" & joy". In order to make their children behave normally again, Kimar the emperor of Mars and his elite council goes to kidnap the source of joy on Earth: Santa Claus.

Hans' thoughts:

On the planet Mars, children are given learning helmets from birth turning them into adults in children's bodies. It's an effective way of creating a logical society for sure, but when the video screens of Mars become able to watch Earth programming, the children stops eating and functioning at all causing the emperor of Mars to decide that Mars must have a Santa of their own, so why not kidnap the one from Earth? It's a completely ridiculous concept but somehow the movie just kind of - works.

Part of that comes from the actors portraying the characters, aside from Bill McCutcheon that plays a dimwitted but kindhearted martian, all the actors play out this concept completely straight. They take it as seriously as a child feasibly would and that's why, despite the horrible effect and the absolutely stupid costume designs on the martians, I completely succumbed to the atmosphere of the film. I credit Leonard Hicks the most with this, while the other actors play it straight but with a hint of cheesiness between the lines, the sheer dignity and badassery of Kimar the Emperor just shines through in his way too serious performance. Maybe it's the addition of the cape, but Hicks looks like he's playing a character from a serious sci-fi or a crime drama. It also has, despite how stupid it is, some hints of cool concepts. Mars being a world of complete logic that has taken away the childhood of their people is a pretty interesting science-fiction concept and it sorta mirrors the dangers of the educational system. Younger children are expected to know more to fit into society these days and the danger of turning them into little adults are a bit of a dilemma.

Not to be forgotten is the awesome spectacle of Santa Claus facing off against an attacking robot or being kidnapped by martians. Like any kid, I've always loved the Santa Claus character but he's honestly never been the focus of all that many movies. Here in Denmark we have 24-episode daily television series each year leading up to Christmas eve where Santa Claus usually shows up in some form or another, but even in those he rarely makes a big appearance. Therefore, seeing Santa as the main focal point of a movie is a treat, and he's exactly what you'd expect Santa to be. Loving and kindhearted, laughing and hard at work at making sure Christmas will bring joy to children all over the world. John Call plays Santa in this film, and although Santa isn't one of those big complicated roles to portray I have to say he does a bit of a generic job that even some mall Santas might scoff at. However he carries the look pretty well and for what it's worth he works in this environment.

On the other hand, I was not a fan of the child actors either. There are four kids in this movie and they read their lines terribly. This might seem like a harsh judgement on behalf of how young they are but there are drama classes for kids around, the studio could have cast someone from one of those. This just seems like they did a quick coaching of the kids of the crewmembers and put them in front of the camera. This is also a strange movie to be complaining about this sort of things, but the characters weren't all that well-developed either, they don't actually seem to have something that looks like a personality and they just kinda go along with whatever is happening to them at any given time with very little resistance. Then again, how much would a kid actually complain if they got to get a trip on board a Martian spaceship? not much.

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians is worth a watch for that strange combination of holiday cheesiness and just plain bizarre concept. The film is kind of slow in the beginning but once they actually start having the Martians come to Earth the strangeness truly begins along with the dubious guilty pleasure of laughing at weird dialogue. If you wanted a science fiction christmas movie, well look no further! This is about as clear cut as the combination gets. I mean how do you get more in the holiday spirit than Santa Claus making sure Christmas gets to Mars? Easy answer, you don't. A curiosity of the space craze for sure, I'll say give the movie a try before you judge it too harshly.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Film: The Big Lebowski
Release: 1998, theatrical
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore
Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Jobless slob Jeff Lebowski, otherwise known as The Dude is thrown into a kidnapping negotiation when he's confused for a local billionaire with the same name

Hans' thoughts:

Between bowling tournaments, drug fantasies, riled up war veterans and one of the most complicated to sum up movies of all time, The Big Lebowski sits as one of those big quotable cult classic comedies. Made by the impeccable Coen bros., The Big Lebowski stars Jeff Bridges as "The Dude" a laidback slob that signs checks for ridiculously small amounts and whose only social outing is that of the ongoing Bowling league where he hangs out with his peers. The paranoid and quick to arms Vietnam veteran Walter played by John Goodman and the socially awkward loser Donny played by Steve Buscemi. Everything takes a radical turn for the complicated when The Dude is mistaken for a multimillionaire of the same name, said multimillionaire being the titular "Big Lebowski" whose wife owes a considerable amount of money to a local loan shark and pornography magnate and then seemingly gets kidnapped. The Dude will now have to balance the drama of being hired to negotiate with the kidnappers while fighting his own personal battle of wanting to win the local bowling league where his greatest adversary is the colorful sex offender Jesus Quintana played by John Turturro. This may seem like I'm spoiling the plot of the movie, but trust me that this is actually just the setup for a plot that will go further and further down a very strange rabbit hole. 

Acting wise the movie is great, The Coen brothers have always been a star pull and this time is no exception. John Goodman and Jeff Bridges as the movies leads make for a very funny oddball pair and every character in the movie is just so darn colorful that you can tell the actors involved had fun on the set. There's not really much of a limit to the utter cool of The Dude, he's a laidback guy who's just found his special sweet spot in the world and he very much channels the spirit of a grown up hippie who's never really gotten to the point of a formal career but instead decided to do whatever he wants. He may not be a big player in the political leagues or a hero in the formal sense but The Dude is nevertheless a man steadfast on his principles and he really just wants to go on existing the way he's done so far which is what makes him so relatable everytime he tries to call it quits on the strange version of The Hero's Journey he's been put on. Bridges does a great job of portraying the character and you can kinda see elements from his performance as Flynn in the 1982 movie Tron as he prefers pleasure to duty and is bare bones honest about it. The Dude is very much a hero of the era he exists in and would go on to become an icon of 20-somethings everywhere. The film is also littered with strange but compelling and well choreographed dream sequences where we explore the psyche of our very laid back character. 

While the plot may seem very complicated, it never goes too far and leaves the casual audience behind. Reusing many of the same characters and expanding on them while the movie goes along even minor characters kinda get their own little moment in the movie and we can kinda tell who they are even if we're never given all that much time with them or information about their past. It's very reminiscent of the Iceberg-style created by late author Ernest hemingway, a style where you're only shown the tip of the iceberg directly but it's a tip that you can really read a lot into thus revealing the rest of the iceberg hidden underneath. It's a very show-don't-tell style and one I feel really fits the visual medium but unfortunately never get's used enough. This is an independent piece and that use of style is a sign of it, I very much doubt that a film like The Big Lebowski would've been greenlit by a major studio. However the Coen bros funds all their movies themselves and the revenue always goes into the next project, they only really use the big companies like Universal Studios as in this case for the sake of distribution to a mainstream audience. That's a pretty hard thing to pull off, yet the Coen bros. have done so with all of their movies and it really speaks for the amount of talent that's behind them. Especially interesting to me were the political commentary inherent in the story. There are next to no innocents in this movie and everyone is portrayed as a bit of a two-faced buffoon with the only possible exceptions being Steve Buscemi's Donny and Julianne Moore's character whom shall go unnamed for the sake of spoilers. The Bowling imagery is a running theme in the movie and what exactly it means is thankfully left to interpretation, something I once again don't think a mainstream studio would've let slide.

The Big Lebowski is one of those bizarre instances of good acting meeting good scriptwriting and magic just happening on screen. Between characters taking on a life of their own, really well-written dialogue and some fun imagery the film presents us with a strange journey taken by a strange man where he meets strange people. The film takes on nihilism, social status, the burden of keeping up appearances and the presidency of George Bush senior all seen through the eyes of a man who actually just wants to be left alone and live out his humble but comfortable existence. 

Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (1987)

Film: Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (Doragon Bôru: Majinjô no nemuri hime)
Release: 1987, theatrical
Starring: Ceyli Delgadillo, Mike McFarland, Laurie Steele
Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Previous in the series: Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
Next in the series: Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: The boy with the monkey tail, Son Goku, seeks out Master Roshi the turtle hermit in order to become his apprentice. However he gains a rival in the newcomer, a young but skilled martial artist named Krillin. Roshi decides he only wants one apprentice so he makes it into a contest: Whoever can save the legendary sleeping princess from the evil Count Lucifer's castle becomes his underling.

Hans' thoughts:

Continuing the trend set by Curse of the Blood Rubies, we're once again dealing with an alternate retelling of what is among fans known as "The Master Roshi saga". This is the story set immediately after the saga which Curse of the Blood Rubies was based on making this one of the few direct Dragon Ball movie sequels plus it's an indicator that at this point in the production of the tie-in movies they were trying to establish the movies as their own separate universe - but I'm getting ahead of myself. In this story, instead of telling how Krillin and Goku trained under Master Roshi the story turns into a fairy tale adventure with our heroes raiding a demon's castle. This is a step up from the former movie in quite a few ways, first off the setting is much more fantasy-like with the castle being larger than life and filled with statues of monsters - for a kids movie it actually manages to be very creepy even if most of it is just differently colored backgrounds. The setting of the movie being amongst demon's also allows for much more imaginative designs and while they didn't take the concept and run with it, it is a step-up from the very plain character designs of it's predecessor. 

A lot of modern fans tend to ignore this, but at this point in time Krillin was the closest Goku had to a rival, a spot that would later be taken by characters like Piccolo or Vegeta. While I love those two characters as much as any Dragon Ball fan, this movie reminded me of how closely Goku and Krillin used to resemble each other in strength. Other characters make an appearance as well, as an example Bulma does pay a small part in the story but for the most part it focuses on the adventure of Krillin and Goku. The villain this time is a Count Dracula type character named Count Lucifer, there's not really much to him - his motivations for doing what he does is barely explained and in a movie where most of the new designs are pretty interesting to look at he makes for the most boring design of all. I found myself being kind of taken aback by how boring he looks. At the very least the rest of the movie makes for much better entertainment so he amounts to a small failing at best.

The humor of the movie is pretty good as well, once again playing on how much more naive Goku is opposed to everyone else. The entire reason for Master Roshi to send them out for "The Sleeping Princess" in the first place pretty much amounts to him being a giant horndog so while the reasons behind the adventure on both sides are kind of dumbs, at least the actual action scenes, while not as good as in most other Dragon Ball stories, make for some pretty cool and funny moments. One of my main complaints for Curse of the Blood Rubies was the lack of the series sci-fi element and on that pedestal this movie is even lower, there is next to no indication whatsoever of the cool science fiction this series would later become in that most of it takes place in a medieval castle, however this time it didn't bother me as much because of the higher dedication to sticking to one setting in this film.

Artwise the movie is also a lot more vivid, the high amount of silly faces from the original series makes it mark in much higher amount here and it results in a bigger emphasis in carrying over the style - a lot of this actually looks like a Toriyama drawing instead of just an imitation by the animation studio in question. On the voice acting side I once again watched the dubbed version. While there is a pretty good performance from the regular cast I wasn't overly fond of the performance from most of the newcoming characters especially that of our main villain who, combined with a poor design, just came off as bland. This is really sad because the villain is voiced by Mike McFarland, the same person who voices Master Roshi with whom he actually did a pretty good job. Overall the film turned out to be a fun little fairy-tale adventure - however it fails to make the stakes feel all that high at all and that makes for a major problem in a show centered around a superpowered martial artist riding on a cloud.  I'd say watch it for a doze of that Dragon Ball humor but don't expect as good storytelling as in most other outings for the series. If not purely for curiosity's sake, there isn't much else to find here.

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986)

Film: Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (Doragun bôru: Shenron no densetsu)
Release: 1986, theatrical
Starring: Colleen Clinkenbeard, Monica Rial, Jeremy Inman
Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Next in the series: Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: In the mountains, a boy named Son Goku lives in total seclusion until one day he meets a young treasure hunting girl named Bulma - meanwhile in a small kingdom, the king has grown cruel and greedy in the hunt for the highly valuable Blood Rubies.

Hans' thoughts:

For kids all over the world, Dragon Ball has played the role of their first introduction to the shounen manga genre. The tale of a young boy, his friends and their action filled hunt for the legendary seven dragon balls that can fulfill any wish has proven to be such a popular genre the the series has spun off several video games, four cartoon shows, a slew of merchandise and of course a long line of movies. This time we're looking at the very first Dragon Ball movie, Curse of the Blood Rubies. The movie is centered around a small kingdom ruled by a king that has recently grown malevolent and has a extreme hunger he believes can only be removed by the magic of the dragon balls, he sends out his two elite soldiers to find the remaining balls he needs, meanwhile the movie also retells the first four or five chapters of the original series as we get the origin of Goku and Bulma's meeting, as well as a re-introduction for Master Roshi the turtle hermit, Yamcha the bandit and Oolong & Pool the two shapeshifting animals. As far as the retelling goes, I have to admit that while I perfectly understand their reasons for doing so I had far preferred they'd kept the origins out of the movie. The original stories the introduced the characters were pretty heavily grounded in the raunchy comedic nature of the show and some of the best moments have been left out - most likely due to the perceived age-rating of the film. However to their credit the writers of the film has managed to keep the spirit of the series very much alive and all the characters have their personalities intact. It should also be mentioned that this film has a running time of a meager 47 minutes, so it doesn't outstay it's welcome at all.

If you're familiar at all with the show, you know pretty much the standard fare for what you're in for. Goku is our super strong but fairly naive and stupid hero that saves the day with the help of his more world-weary cynical allies that are pretty much only in it for themselves. As far as Dragon Ball movies go, the storyline for this one is pretty good - Dragon Ball is a very action heavy but also storyline oriented series so trying to make something that fits somewhere into the story can be pretty trying - most of the time, the movies will mix up who were alive and had what powers at a certain point of the series. That's probably why they initially decided to make the movie take place at the very beginning of the story, making this some sort of alternative plotline. The actual big bad of this plotline in the series was the vindictive Prince Pilaf, who is nowhere to be found in this movie.

The villains have very simple designs compared to almost all other instances this series has ever seen, a low amount of color and more focus on body type is also a witness of how early on in the run the movie was made. Our main villain is kept in shadow for most of it, and does look interesting one he's finally revealed but the villains we spend the most time with are just two people in uniform. It's simplistic, but in the context of the story it works very well. By this time in the series, we had yet to be introduced to the major science fiction aspects the show would later encompass, and as such the film as much more of a medieval fantasy feel to it with Bulma's Capsule Corp. technology being the only real reminder of the shows setting most of the time. The animation of the movie is also very simplistic, I imagine it was done on the same budget as the show as it makes high use of still-frames to tell it's story. While mostly good, there is the case of the character of a little girl made especially for the movie, she's the films main character outside of the series mainstays and while she has a simple and cute design very akin to the iconic Akira Toriyama art style, the animators decided to animate some of her hairs separately and that unfortunately gives off the effect of her looking like a glorified Raggedy Ann doll.

I watched the Funimation version of the film, so I was treated to the English voice cast. While it's certainly apparent that the cast has become much better since it actually turned out to be a decent enough dub. Of course at times the difference in sound level between the high quality microphones used for the dub and the background music did become fairly obvious but never to the point that it took me out of the experience. There exists some very horrible voice-overs of Japanese animation out there and you can do far worse than the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball that as to some people become neigh iconic and a preferred choice. That's the boat I'm in, as I have never been a big fan of especially Goku's original voice, while it's standard fare for women to voice main character in japanese animation, in the case of Son Goku I felt the actress let him be way too high pitched. As I said however, this version had the Funimation voice cast and they do a well enough job of conveying the characters and their emotions. 

Superior quality of the original series aside, this movie holds it's own among the dragon ball animated movies and is a fitting start for what would become one of the most popular animated series in the genre. A mix of a sweet and simple story, some nice comedic moments and a fair quality of the series staple of martial arts action scenes. Curse of the Blood Rubies may not be the greatest Dragon Ball story out there but it manages to be a fun animated kids movie and an entertaining nostalgia trip for long time fans.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Film: A Christmas Story
Release: 1983, Theatrical
Starring: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Ian Petrella
Directed by: Bob Clark
IMDB Page: Link opens in a new window
Description: The disillusioned 9 year old Ralphie Parker wants nothing more than a B.B. gun for Christmas and does anything in his power to get it while dodging the everyday problems of a kid

Hans' thoughts:

A Christmas Story is a movie that celebrates yet satires all the hijinks that will ensue when trying to celebrate the perfect holidays. Narrated by our main character as a grown-up, the story takes place in 1940's and shows us a rather cynical view of the commercial American christmas. It's mainly a childrens film, but it's probably the most adult childrens christmas special out there. If you're a fan of TV-shows like Malcolm in the middle then you know exactly what you're in for. The kind of sarcasm and observational humor in these kind of stories have never been as in tip top shape as in this piece, where our main character finds out the true meaning of Murphy's law - everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Our main character is played by Peter Billingsley, despite his young age he is played as a very observational and cynical person who puts way too much thought into his actions. Like a kid he is still kind of naive and have child fantasies but he seems much more reserved than most of the people he surrounds himself with.

The lead supporting characters is his immediate family, mother, father and little brother and you are quickly introduced to them in a way that you know exactly who they are and how they will probably react. It's that sitcomish observational humor but with well-written characters and excellent dialogue. My personal favorite character turned out to be the well-meaning but somewhat bumbling father who tries to be the perfect family father and is a lot of heart - but he's also a human being and some of the small problems he faces do manage to make him lose his temper from time to time. On the other hand, I wasn't all that fond of the mother character. While she was a loving classic mother, I kinda wanted her to lose her temper sometimes as well but for what we got the actress did a terrific job portraying a mother as she would have been seen through the eyes of a cynical 9 year old kid.

A Christmas Story is great in it's simplicity, there's no big looming danger at any point in the movie and all the characters seem fully aware of how dumb commercialised christmas can get - but it celebrates the small joys of togetherness and it doesn't try to make some kind of preachy story about how christmas isn't about the presents - our main characters quest throughout the movie is getting his hands on the perfect gift. Nothing more, nothing less. The movie understands that when you're a kid you understand all the good tidings that the television specials are trying to teach you, but at the same time you don't really want to be without gifts and you certainly have an idea about exactly what you want. Between a mix of heartwarming antics, good acting and a sweet story, A Christmas Story pretty much embodies what it's like to be a kid realizing more and more the cynicism behind his favorite holiday.

Scooby-Doo Meets Batman (1972)

Film: Scooby-Doo Meets Batman
Release: 2002, Video
Starring: Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Olan Soule
Directed by: Joseph Barbera, William Hannah
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window

Description: This is a DVD release of two films from the series called "The New Scooby-Doo movies". In "The Caped Crusader Caper", Mystery inc. is enjoying a nice trip to the woods when they run into The Joker & The Penguin who have kidnapped the bumbling professor Flakey, trying to steal his newest invention. In "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair", Mystery Inc. are on their way to a mystery club meeting when they run upon a counterfeit money operation being investigated by Batman & Robin. 

Hans' thoughts:

Let's turn back the clock to the 1970's, a time of more light-hearted superhero tales. Hannah-Barbera ruled the animated TV-industry, the defining version of Batman was starring Adam West, and Robin had yet to wear pants. During this time, one of most popular animated characters on TV was Scooby-Doo, and in 1972 this was celebrated with a TV-series consisting of 40 minute movies where Mystery Inc. met celebrity guest starts. People such as The Addams Family, The Harlem Globetrotters or as in this case: Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder! This is a double-feature, consisting of the two movies where Scooby-Doo would team up with the heroes while fighting The Joker and The Penguin.

The Caped Crusader Caper:

All of the Scooby-Doo movies play out basically like a longer episode of the original TV-show. Mystery Inc. is out on a camping trip in the woods as they run upon The Joker & The Penguin. Something you'll quickly notice is the huge difference in how this version of the characters look compared to how they look in modern movies and TV-shows. This was made way before Batman: The Animated Series which would come to define the Batman franchise with it's art deco noir-esque art style. Gone is the gothic scenery. In it place, we have the Batman characters very similar to how they looked in "The Adventures of Batman" and "The Superfriends", which were by the way also animated by Hannah-Barbera. As far as the classic "whodunit" goes, this is pretty much thrown out of the window immediately as The Joker and The Penguin is seen in one of the very first shots of the movie. This is kinda sad, as both Batman and Scooby-Doo are detective stories in their own right so a mystery that would require both of them could have held high potential for great writing. Instead we're treated to a lot of, sadly, bad running gags and really painful puns. That and alliteration, they really went overboard with the alliteration. Almost all of Penguins lines. What little funny jokes there are, are few and far inbetween and consists of physical comedy: one of Scooby-doo's strong sides. Why they decided to focus on sight gags is anyones guess, but it's a shame when you consider how strong the two properties were even then. Animation-wise the characters also tend to fall off model when making new facial expressions. This is particularly obvious with Scooby who seems to get almost a new look sometimes. IF you only have the attention span to watch one of these movies, I'd say this one was the one to skip.

The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair:

This is much more like it, opening once again like a classic Scooby-Doo episode this entire episode also feels much more like a story that befits both of the properties. Mystery Inc. is on their way to a Mystery fair when the Mystery Machine breaks down (mysterious, huh?). Coincidentally they stumble upon a group of counterfeiters and meet Batman & Robin, already on the case to stop them. This movie actually keeps around the actual mystery, though it may be a little easy to guess who the main culprit is, what exactly is going on and how The Joker & The Penguin is involved is a lot better. It's like a perfect balancing act between an old-school Batman action tale, and a funny Scooby-doo cartoon. The jokes are better, the lines are less repetitive and the slapstick is just great. It it such a contrast to the other movie and of such higher quality. The animation of the movie is also a lot more on character, while most of these shows were done with reused character cells (part of the marketing for Hannah Barbera cartoons was keeping a low budget due to reusing cells and backgrounds) there are also a lot of new art in this film, which keeps up with the original pretty well. Clearly a lot more effort was put into this piece than in the former. I also felt the voice work in this film was far less grating, in "The Caped Crusader Caper" one of the main characters is the bumbling professor Flakey whose gimmick was a really annoying speechpattern where he kept misspeaking. This film toned down the speechpattern jokes quite a bit asnd instead focused on one-liners and visual gags ("Sure Shaggy, we have Bat Milk and Cookies at the Bat-cave!" "..Bat-Milk?!")

Series of Events: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)

There's no cover for this release!

Series: Lego Marvel Superheroes: Maximum Overload
Release: 2013, Online
Starring: Laura Bailey, Dee Bradley Baker, Troy Baker
Directed by: Greg Richardson
Website: Link opens in a new window
Description: Bored by what's on TV in Asgard, Loki the god of Mischief decides to amplify the superpowers of the Marvel villains by using a mysterious force called the Nornfrost, 8 out of 9 realms don't recommend it.

Hans' thoughts:

A surprise entrance to the animated TV world is that of Lego, the well-known building blocks. While definitely varying in quality, Lego has had very good success in it's licensed video game series. The next release coming up is "Lego Marvel Super heroes" and taking an early step into the franchise we have a comedic mini-series, released for free on Marvel's own youtube channel for anyone to see, as well as being cut together into a 20 minute movie on Netflix. Every episode varies around the 5 minute mark and features Loki "overloading" a Marvel villain from his hidden palace in Asgard.

The series showcases a short, but sweet look at the kind of writing that's probably to be expected in the upcoming video game. As with Lego Batman: The Movie: DC Super Heroes Unite they're animated based on the Lego mini-figures. While an obvious ploy to make people buy the video game and by possible expansion they toys it's based on, I would be lying if I said the series was "bad". No, it's actually pretty funny. While nothing too advanced (as I said, it's 5 very short episodes) I found myself being kind of invested in the plot nevertheless. Most of the series focuses on the antics of Loki in his palace and curiously they've decided to give him Chitauri henchmen. While very generic in The Avengers, the chitauri becomes the center for some of the funniest moments in the series. Another focus in the series is Spider-Man, seemingly voiced by the person who voices him in the Ultimate Spider-man TV-show. He does a well enough job, however you can tell that the writers decided to focus more on making fun of him rather than have him be funny himself. Most of the other Marvel characters are given mostly what amounts to cameos, some larger than others. 

Short, sweet, funny and best of all: Free! Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload is recommended  for anyone who wants a funny little Marvel fix to hold them over until the release of the upcoming video game or those who just wants a laugh overall. It knows exactly what it is, it doesn't try to hide it by somehow being serious and it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Dead Heat (1988)

Film: Dead Heat
Release: 1988, Theatrical
Starring: Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, Lindsay Frost
Directed by: Mark Goldblatt
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: When investigating a number of strange robberies, it suddenly occurs to the criminal investigative team of Robert Mortis and Doug Bigelow that some of the corpses in the morgue are returning customers.

Hans' thoughts:

When talking about cinema in the 1980's, it's no secret that a defining genre of the decade was the buddy cop comedy. A rag-tag duo of a serious by-the-book cop and his wisecracking partner with a heart of gold trying to stop some larger than life crime organization from whatever plot they have in the work is a pretty easy frame to put in whatever gimmick you'd like to. Normally it would be something easy for the audience to latch on to, like K-9 where a no-nonsense cop is paired with a dog who has a major attitude problem. The all-time greatest showcase of buddy cop movie conventions (as well as other urban crime action movies) would later show up in The Last Action Hero starring musclebound hero Arnold Schwarzenegger coupled with a movie-loving loudmouth kid. But enough about that, this time we're looking at Dead Heat.

Combining all the well-known clichés of the buddy cop movie with a zombie movie is a pretty unconventional move indeed, which is probably why this particular feature didn't receive much of a commercial success and only a limited international release. This can most likely also have something to do with the niche-nature of the zombie "genre" at the time of the movie's production. While zombie movies were certainly around at the time, Hollywood didn't think much of it and the movie was made long before it became basic practise to copy the kind of zombies (now considered classic) found in George A. Romero's Zombie series. No, these zombies are nothing like the zombies found in pretty much any other zombie movie. For starters, the zombies in this film retain their personality from their past lives, and the (limited) gore in the film comes less from epic fight scenes and more from a fault in the resurrection process. It's actually kind of fascinating to see something this different from the usual kind of mindless brain-munchers that show up in most modern media. No offense to the classic type of zombie, though you'll find no overwhelming hordes in this film.

Unfortunately the movie does have it's faults. Easy to recognize badly done stage falls, poor comedic chemistry between the two main characters and little to no actual character development are among it's most criminal offenses. Now, the actors are actually fair enough but they seem to be phoning in their performances, probably because of little regard for the material they're paid to deliver. The movie is also very "safe", throwing in a sudden action scene when movie's producers must've felt the audience was about to fall asleep. This wasn't a very popular genre at the time, so the fact that the writers felt the need to explain everything in the universe as quickly as possible must've been an attempt to at least have audiences keep up with the concepts. I'm not saying the movie is not entertaining, but unless the setup of the movie tickles your fancy to begin with, there is not much here besides spectacle. Boy is there ever spectacle, in a move that I have scarcely seen repeated in other movies, the resurrection technology appears to also work on animals. I'm not saying where this comes into play, but if you love over-the-top goofball spectacle this is worth a watch for that particular scene alone. 

If you like zombies and you want to see a very different kind of zombie movie, this could be it for your movie night. The buddy cop element of the movie may not be very good, I'd say average compared to other films in the sub-genre, this manages to at least hold your attention while the story is told. Perhaps with a cast that actually had an interest in the parodied material, this could have been a truly great comedy. As it is though, it makes for an excellent excuse to eat popcorn and enjoy those 80's special effects. Personally, this stands as somewhat of a "guilty pleasure" of mine, and if I could choose one movie to give another shot, this would probably be it. This movie was just not made for the era it was produced in, and perhaps a modern crew with more experience with the zombie genre could do the concept justice.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Film: Shaun of the Dead
Release: 2004, theatrical
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Next in the series: Hot Fuzz
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Shaun is an aimless middle class man who decides to turn his life around and get back his girlfriend, unfortunately the very same day a zombie plague breaks out in his small british hometown.

Hans' thoughts:

Perhaps the most unexpected combination of genres ever, Shaun of the Dead is a romantic comedy that just happens to take place during the zombie apocalypse. Kickstarting what would later be known as "The Cornetto Trilogy", Shaun of the Dead represents the best of modern British comedy, as well as a love letter to perhaps the goriest genre of all: The Zombie movies. 

To start off, Shaun of the Dead is "very British". Presenting drama in it's stories without taking it too seriously and being absolutely drenched in the kind of sarcasm and dry wit yet bizarre situations that British comedy has become known for internationally. If you're a fan of "britcoms" ala Black Books, Keeping up Appearances or Red Dwarf, chances are there is something for you in this movie. Simon Pegg does an excellent job as the duty-full but still childish Shaun who struggles to keep his priorities straight, this is only helped by the somewhat opposite of Nick Frost as the best friend who's been living on his couch, smoking weed for the last three years. Of course, a concept can be as good as it wants to be but nothing will work if the frame for the movie, the zombies, aren't done well and I'm happy to report that as far as zombie movies go. These are very classic zombies. Do not expect anything as bleak as a "serious" zombie movie though as the tone of the movie is pretty lighthearted and these zombies aren't all that gory. This is partially because the zombies haven't been dead for very long, which is a great detail. Normally in Zombie movies, the zombies will look incredibly gory and rotted away even after a few hours of being "turned". There are none-to few "running" zombies as well, and the concept of others being turned after a bite is kept around. Making the zombie origin story very simple would be considered a weak point in any other film but because it isn't the forefront of the movie at all, it makes a pass.

No, the "meat" of the story is very much a late coming of age story for Shaun. Here he is, too old for anything, being a middle-manager in a store where he has to take sarcasm from ambitious people much younger than himself and unable to break his daily routine of meeting up with the same old gang and going to the same old bar. His girlfriend is tired of him not being able to take the next step and make a serious commitment, or as other people would say "To grow the f... up". The focus on the romantic comedy element rather than the zombie lot is what makes this movie so approachable, I've been able to show this movie to people who don't even have a passing interest in horror and still seeing them laugh. 

If you normally just watch comedies and you want to get into the Halloween spirit, this could very well be the right choice for oyu. It has spooky elements without being scary, plus it has a easy-to-understand plot and some of the best comedic writing this side of the year 2000.

Big Top Scooby-Doo! (2012)

Film: Big Top Scooby-Doo!
Release: 2012, Video
Starring: Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard
Directed by: Ben Jones
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: When Mystery Inc. goes to Atlantic City, hoping for a bit of R&R, Fred's fascination with circuses gets them involved in a hunt for a werewolf who've been doing a jewel heist crime spree throughout the nation

Hans' thoughts:

The first thing that's going to pop out at you when you watch this movie is also one of the first things that hit the screen. This movie absolutely excellent music, peaking at an absolutely wonderful into-credits sequence. The whole sequence is done in such a way that it looks like cardboard cut-out dolls are on the screen, and the imagery combined with the twisted honky-tonk esque motif that many associate with the circus is genuinely creepy. Not scary - creepy. Which is exactly how a Scooby-Doo movie should be able to convey. That I applaud. Music like this, with the occasional exception, plays throughout the movie to varying degrees of success, none as great as the aforementioned sequence.

However, this movie has a pretty big flaw in it's monster. As sad as I am to admit it, I could not take the character design of the werewolves seriously as all. The snout looks downright strange and the eyes look way too fake. Now of course I know that the monsters in the Scooby-doo franchise are never real, but this made it to a point that it kind of distracted from what was going on, on screen. Which is a shame for the story is actually not half bad and the mystery kept me guessing as to who the perpetrator was throughout, even wondering at times if the movie was going the "monsters are real route" this time which Scooby-Doo movies have, unfortunately, done a lot. I will give the movie this though, the outcome took me by surprise.

Big Top Scooby-Doo! is, if a bit flawed, still neck and shoulder above some of the other direct-to-video and televised Scooby-Doo movies. As with Scooby Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon this feels less like a cinematic experience and more like an extended episode of the What's New Scooby-Doo? TV-show. Don't take that as a criticism though, because that is what I feel the live-action movie should have been. A well-written mystery with some good comedy starring characters that the audience know and love. Once again, the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies prove that they're able to give the human members of Mystery Inc. their own appeal that doesn't need to be backed up by Scooby's antics constantly - which is an achievement almost in and off itself. 

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Film: Wreck-It Ralph
Release: 2012, Theatrical
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch
Directed by: Rich Moore
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Wreck-It Ralph is the villain of a arcade game called Fix-It Felix Jr., on the 30th anniversary of his game console, Ralph starts reflecting on his role as a villain and vows to change

Hans' thoughts:

In the 1980's games were at a very different place than it is now. No, literally, home gaming was only just showing up so everyone were going to these mystical places called "arcades". I doubt a lot of kids today even want to go to one of these but to the people who grew up in those times, this was were you spent your allowance. If you had any. I'm from 1990 myself so around the time I was old enough to have enjoyed going to an arcade they were pretty much gone. So why am I telling you this? Well, because even though you may never had set foot in an arcade, you can actually relate to this story. This story is very much like Toy Story in that it's "what happens to the toys at night when the kids are sleeping" but also a bit like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, in that it has a lot of cameos from well-known franchises. Characters like Zangief, Q*bert and Kano all show up in this movie. For a short time anyway.

Thankfully however, this movie does not turn into "spot the character" as it could have. Instead of turning into a marketing ploy it actually has some compelling characters of it's own, playing in a pretty exciting story. The story is a pretty adult one, even if it is targeted towards kids. After 30 years of doing the same thing every day, the game villain Ralph goes on a soul searching journey to find out what it feels like to be a hero, if only just for a little while. Unfortunately, without it's villain the game he comes from can't really function and it stands in danger of being unplugged - the equivalent of armageddon in this universe.

Ralph is played like a very mellow person, he has a temper for sure but most of the time he just seems like he is the straight man to all the other characters antics. He's the audiences eyes after all, and he doesn't take anything too seriously. I have to admit that it took me a little bit to warm up to him, unlike the character Vanellope. Vanellope is most likely the popular character from this movie, she's a sassy little smart-ass who just wants to live out her greatest dream. Fix-It Felix is a very nervous guy like Ralph, but unlike Ralph he's also very conformed to the world he lives in - then again he's never really met any trouble and when he finally sees Ralph breaking out of character he has a hard time dealing with it. The last "main" character is the female officer from the game Hero's Duty, Calhoun. She's the stereotypical hard-ass female who just needs to find love again to warm up to people. All of the characters are archetypes for sure, but it feels appropriate since they're supposed to be characters defined by their role and their programming - a very meta comment about the state of character writing in the videogame industry.

Animation wise the movie is great, this could very well have been a Pixar movie judging by the quality but it's made by Disney's main studio. Being smooth as ever but as a nice homage to classic video games, some of the characters move in "jumps" like say, the bartender at the game tapters. On that note, seeing some of the classic video game characters reimagined in this artstyle was a nice little treat on the side. 

Wreck-It Ralph shows a lot of love for the subject material and it has some genuinely nice original content as well. The music is "digital" as it should be, and the meta gags combined with some pretty well done dramatic writing for a kids film just makes it all the better. 

Monsters University (2013)

Film: Monsters University
Release: 2013, Theatrical
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Dan Scanlon
Previous in the series: Monsters, Inc.
IMDB Page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Mike Wazowski is a young monster who've dreamt of being a scarer for Monsters, Inc. his whole life. Tons of challenges await when he starts his freshman year at Monsters University.

Hans' thoughts:

The thing about prequels is that the audience pretty much already knows what the outcome is going to be - so you better be able to pull a lot of very good red herrings. Which is exactly what this movie does!

Monsters University, or as I like to call it, Party at the Design Department, is a colorful and happy movie. If you watch this one and it's predecessor back to back you will notice quite a lot of changes. One thing I definitely noticed was the much better use of lighting. Okay granted, the original Monsters, Inc. had technological limits and I respect that but even going by that, this movie really had an ability to set the mood. This is a movie about monsters after all, and this is a very dark movie. As in, the blinds are pulled in almost all the rooms.

In fact, not till our main characters join a fraternity do we see a more light-hearted movie. Up until then the movie has been kinda silent, well for comedy standards anyway. It does have one wild scene before the movie "starts" but I'm not gonna spoil it. This is just a review after all. As you may have expected, we don't see a whole lot of actually going to school in this movie. It IS a kids film and our main characters sitting around in a classroom taking notes would be a horribly boring kids film. The plot of the movie is believable though, there's a passable reason for why this movie has all the energy that it has.

On the voice acting side, the returning characters have their voices intact. Buscemi, Crystal and Goodman all returned for this film. I'm actually pretty impressed by the voice-range of Buscemi, seeing Randall turning into the character we know from the original is quite the treat. Crystal and Goodman also both do a pretty good job, being able to convey the emotions well enough that you believe that these particular voices would come out of these characters. 

This movie also pumped up the imagery from the original. The original movie took place in a factory so there was a lot of walking through white hallways with not much to look at. This movie however, has some pretty well-designed locations and some very cool character designs. I'm especially impressed by the dean of the school, who plays a major part. She looked very imposing and could've been a creature from an actual horror film.

On the comedy side, this is a big step-up from the original. This movie has more characters to bounce off of each other and that makes for some very funny moments. I especially liked the character named "Don". This movie having more energy also makes for some very good physical gags. Monsters, Inc. was one of the least popular Pixar movies, so going ahead and actually making a sequel to it is a surprising move - if not a bit overzealous. I'm happy to say though, that this is a really good animated movie, capturing the spirit of the original as well as building upon it's lore.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Film: Monsters, Inc.
Release: 2001, Theatrical
Starring: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, David Silverman
Next in the series: Monsters University
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: In the world of monsters, everything is powered by the screams of children. One day, the energy company Monsters, Inc. is invaded by the most dangerous force in the universe: A small child.

Hans' thoughts:

After the success of Toy Story, people were pretty psyched to see where Pixar would go next. The answer? A sweet little story. So okay, maybe Monsters, Inc. isn't the greatest or most ambitious tale by the movie magicians at Pixar. Not for lack of trying though.

In the movie we follow the tag-team of James P. Sullivan, the company's most efficient scarer and his engineer Mike Wazowski. Everything is going quite good for the team, Mike Wazowski has a sweet girlfriend and Sullivan is close to breaking the record of the company. As far as work-type comedies go, this has a pretty decent setup and you definitely feel the chemistry between the two characters. 

As for the villain side, while intimidating enough you would have expected something just a bit more sinister with a setup like this. Randall is creepy, sure, but not as imposing as I would've liked. He's played out more like a bitter math-teacher that takes out his issues at home at the kids. Kinda like Crocker from Fairly Oddparents I guess.

The thing that sells this movie for me is two things, first off is the visual style. This story is about monsters, and you can tell the character designers has had at least a little fun trying to come up with all sorts of different looking colorful characters. A wide-variety of colors on screen is always a plus in my book. Of course you can't talk about the visuals in this movie without mentioning the room where they keep all the doors to childrens bedrooms. Mike and Sullivan riding a door into a giant room full of doors with lord knows how many stories is a sight to see. 

The second thing I like about this movie is the music, in particular the opening. The opening music for the movie is upbeat happy jazz, which is really pleasure to listen to and it goes surprisingly well with the setup. Before Wall-E, Sully and Mike were the oldest Pixar characters (judging by their actions anyway). Which makes them someone who might feasibly listen to jazz. Of course, this movie does have a weak point. I'm sorry to say that the jokes in this one are some of the weakest that Pixar has been involved with, it does get the occasional giggle but one particular running-gag just fell flat for me every time.

Monsters, Inc. is one of the weaker Pixar movies, but we're still talking Pixar so it really isn't saying much. The movie is still heads and shoulders above a lot of others in the genre.

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Film: Kick-Ass 2
Release: 2013, Theatrical
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey
Directed by: Jeff Wadlow
Previous in the series: Kick-Ass
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: 5 years after the fall of drug lord Frank D'Amigo, his son Chris is still seeking vengeance on the world's first costumed hero. Donning an all-new costume, he becomes The Motherfucker: The world's first super villain.

Hans' thoughts:

This movie is exactly what a sequel should be, instead of trying to do a formulaic repeat of success, it broadens out the universe and the story and takes the next logical step. From the first hero to the first villain, this move is the other side of the coin in a lot of ways.

Kick-Ass was a wild movie for sure, but it was also a little dramatic - trying to remind you at every turn that the story was still supposed to take place in the real world. To some extent anyways. Kick-Ass 2 on the other hand puts the pedal to the metal, this is very much a comic book movie and a good one at that. There's more action, more characters, bigger scenes, bigger events, bigger everything.

In this movie we not only get the first supervillains, but also the very first superhero team "Justice Forever". This team is lead by a completely unrecognizable Jim Carrey in the role of Colonel Stars and Stripes. But really, you could have told me it was someone else and I would've believed you - kudos to the makeup department on the facework and to Carrey himself for a excellent performance. He really managed to the take on the guise of someone else. Most of the members of Justice Forever - however likable, is kinda one-note archetypes. There's not much to them but they're likable enough to not become grating or feel flat.

This is more than can be said for The Motherfucker's team. While all his teammates certainly get backstories and each have at least a single moment of their own, only the character Mother Russia really stood out to me as a completely realized characters. Though the same thing happened to the heroes team, at least they managed to make me able to tell them apart based on more than the look. 

The breakout actor of this movie is definitely Mintz-Plasse as The Motherfucker, he really getting his acting chops fit into shapes and he had a lot of very cool moments - even in spite of the character itself being a whimp. He plays the wimp in such a way that you actually like him though, and I found myself kinda wanting him to succeed. This is mainly due to the two leads. While they certainly acted decently, Kick-Ass was just kind of around because his name was in the title, not having all that much to do in this movie before the final act. And while I love Moretz as Hit-Girl, she does not manage to pull off the struggling teenager persona all that well. This is in part because the actor who played Marcus, her caretaker, felt sort of bland to me.

Overall, Kick-Ass 2 did a lot more with the universe and has much better action than the original, I just doubt there is all that much more you can do with this property - though they seem to be setting up a sequel for it. I look forward to seeing just where they intend to go with it next and until then I will have had a very enjoyable experience.