New Jurassic World Trailer

[Spoilers for Jurassic Park ahead]


There has been a new trailer released for Jurassic World. And I'm so excited! It looks great and has a lot of action and quite a few different kinds of dinosaurs. We learn in this one that Chris Pratt's character seems to be some kind of raptor "trainer/tamer", or caretaker. I'm all for that, that would be a natural step to take for a theme park/zoo place. I'm so ready to see some more interaction with the raptors. We also saw a glimpse of a tyrannosaurus, which is great because it wouldn't really be a Jurassic Park movie without it.

There were a few things I'm not loving, the first is the whole "she's killing for sport". That immediately puts her in a villain role, which means they have to kill/defeat her in the end. What I really like about the original is that the tyrannosaurus isn't a villain, she's probably just hungry and happen to come across some tasty humans with annoying flashlights every now and then. There is never any plan to "defeat" her, the protagonists are just trying to get away. And at the end she even saves them, though I'm sure that wasn't her plan. The Jurassic World trailer makes it feel more like Godzilla (1998), where you bring in the military to try to take the monster down. I think I liked it more when they were just trying to survive in a world of dinosaurs.

The second thing I didn't like was that they revealed what the super dino looked like. She looks good, very impressive and so, but I think they should've waited with the reveal for the movie. Going back again to Godzilla (1998), if you want to see the monster you have to see the movie. Asses into seats.

So I'm not totally loving the approach they're going for here, but the rest is brilliant. The park is looking great, good actors, lots of dinosaurs and the CGI is looking really good. The movie's already getting quite a bit of complains about the CGI, and I'd be lying if I'd say I didn't miss the live action dinosaur animatronics/costumes, but they weren't that great looking. It was just nice because they were really there. But these dinosaurs are looking so awesome, they look powerful and living and I'm all for the dinosaurs being CGI. I said it, sue me.

What I meant to say was: the trailer is very good, if a bit long, and I can't wait for June.

Another Live Action One: Mulan

"Did you hear we're being remade in live action?"

"I'm not being played by Jackie Chan, am I?"

It seems Disney is developing another live action remake of one of their animated classics, Mulan. This is unbelievable. Disney already has four remakes coming in the next two(!) years, and then there's Dumbo that hasn't gotten a release date yet and now Mulan. That's six remakes, plus the three that's been released in the last five years. I'm trying to think if any company has remade so many of their own movies.

What is the reason for them making remake after remake after remake? I guess money is the answer, the remakes have been grossing fairly well. But I don't want to think that the people at Disney are only in it for the money, there has to be more than that. I think a movie could be up for a remake if it's set in an older time, and you want to update the technology and set it in a present time. With all phones and Internet it could change quite a bit of the story, for example Romeo and Juliet would be quite different in present time. But here's the thing. The Disney classics are fairytales and they are being remade as fairytales, in the same time and age. Why do you update a story if you're not going to update it?

And the major thing is, we've already seen the story. We've seen Mulan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast. We want to see something new. Let me give you Disney's upcoming live action movies: original, original, Star wars, remake, sequel to remake, remake, original, remake, Star Wars, sequel, Star Wars, Star Wars. That's three original movies, two sequels, four remakes and four Star Wars movies. And I'm not even sure how many of the Star Wars movies are sequels. And then Dumbo and Mulan which are not on the list yet.

Not everyone will agree with me now, but I think a movie studio should have more original movies than sequels/remakes. I want to see more original stories from Disney, because I know they can be great. It hasn't happened often yet but I believe they can turn that around, like they did with their animated movies.

Image from here

Big Hero 6 Review - SPOILERS!

I finally saw Big Hero 6. It's been out in Sweden for over a month and I can't believe it took me this long to see it, but now I've rectified it. And my general feeling right now, five minutes after watching it is: disappointment. I'm sad to write that because I honestly want to love this movie, but I'm not sure I do.

The main issue with this movie is probably that it's way too short, it doesn't give time for anything more than the bare minimum story elements. This is a big problem when you have a cast of seven, five of them being big secondary characters. It's only Hiro that gets any character development, at all. Since the title is Big Hero 6 you'd think this was a team movie, like Avengers and Rise of The Guardians, but it doesn't do anything to make us really care about anyone else but Hiro, Tadashi and Baymax.

The character development is really underwhelming. What do we learn about the characters? Wasabi is pedantic, Fred has a rich family. There isn't much else there. They seem to like each other somewhat, but I don't really see any love except towards Tadashi. Do they hang out outside of school? I have no idea. I saw them briefly in the Hamada home when Hiro was building the robots, but where they hanging just for fun or were they helping? I felt no connection between them and Hiro at all, despite them being very excited about his project.

Another thing they could have explored a little more was Tadashi's death, or in particular, the mourning. Since the rest of the movie is based on Hiro wanting revenge, I'd like to have seen a bit more effect on him, and stayed in the grieving face a little longer. Also the scene where Hiro orders Baymax to kill the villain was good, but could have been made a lot stronger.

The scene where they decide to be super heroes was way too fast. Almost no one is objecting (except for "we're just us", which is such a set up line), no one suggests calling the police or even discuss what's happened for very long. They just decide to be super heroes and then they do it. No one seems scared, even though they were almost killed by the villain just an hour earlier.

Finally, Baymax "sacrifice". We all know this scene, someone sacrifices him/herself, then you're sad for two minutes and then you find out they survived one way or another. I didn't mind that there was a scene like that, but I think they should either have made it longer so you really have time to start doubting the return and be sad for a while, or made it very short so it isn't such a big deal. (Robot, remember?)

Let's get onto the good things in the movie. First of all, it's beautiful! The flying scene was gorgeous, the city looks amazing and the animation is top notch. Baymax is the perfect amount of fun without being distracting, and the movie has both a lot of heart and some humor. All the main characters are likeable, and it was interesting seeing a villain that wasn't just evil.

That's where my disappointment comes from I guess. Big Hero 6 could have been a really great movie, but as it is it's only very good. And I was hoping for, and expecting, more than very good. 

New Trailer for Inside Out

Just saw the new trailer for Pixar's Inside Out. It was fun. But I'm also a little disappointed. I had wanted to see more of the heart of the movie, not just the comedy. I don't doubt there will be heart in the movie, but I fear it will be pushed aside and the comedy will take over, like another movie directed by Pete Docter. Do all animated movies these days have to be advertised as comedies? Will people not go see them otherwise? And yes, I am aware that it's supposed to be comedy.

We don't really get to see a lot from the characters, other than Riley being a typical older child/going on teenager, the mother being the understanding caring one disappointed in the husband, and the neglectful husband who doesn't really pay attention. How many times have we seen that before? I hope there will be more in the movie that makes them unique.

The emotions are kind of fun. They are bringing a lot of energy, but I'm wondering if the whole movie will be like this. I'm going to guess no, but that leaves us with nothing as for how the movie will go, what the story is. We don't even get to know who the main character is, which you would think they would reveal in the second trailer.

The designs are good and the emotions are fun, but other than than I'm hoping that the trailer is not representative of the movie.

Christmas Present Ideas For an Animation Nerd

It's that time of year again. Brace yourselves, Christmas is coming. And with that all the Christmas presents. You might really enjoy giving presents to other people, or you might hate all the stress and wish you could just give hugs. Whatever your feelings on the matter is, I'm here to give you a little help with ideas. This blog post will be a gift guide for all of you that have someone in your life that's into animation. (Disclaimer: if your present receiver is a huge nerd, they may already have all the things listed below. You might want to consider a scarf.)

The Art of The Incredibles by Mark Cotta Vaz

First off, this is a beautiful book. The cover is gorgeous and the art inside it is very interesting to look at. It has forewords by John Lasseter and Brad Bird, and about every other page has some insight to the creation of the characters and the world. This is a must for anyone who is interested in the design or is a fan of The Incredibles.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs knew he was going to die and asked Walter Isaacson to write a biography about him. A very Jobs-y thing to do, and you'd think that's a setup for a glorifying biography about the genius Steve Jobs. But it really isn't. Isaacson was allowed to write about both the good and the bad sides of Jobs character and life, which makes it a very well-rounded portrayal. I'd suggest this book to anyone, it's so interesting and really sucks you into the story. If you know someone who's interested in technology or Apple this will be the perfect book to give them, but I think most people can enjoy this one. It's a pretty long book at over 600 pages, but well worth your time.

The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David A. Price

This is one for all Pixar fans. Do you want to know how Pixar got started? This is the book for you. It starts back when Ed Catmull was studying at the university and moves through time to the production of Ratatouille, though an updated epilogue goes further. This book is really good, it's so fascinating reading about everything that contributed to Pixar being just Pixar. It's relatively short at 258 pages excluding epilogue, which is noticeable in some parts where they look over a few things a little fast. But it's good for those that aren't fans of very long books. I think it's a good marriage between too long and too short, but I would recommend the Steve Jobs book for further reading on Jobs part of it. All in all, a very good book.

Pictures from here, here and here.

The First Trailer For Peanuts

So, the first trailer for Peanuts, by Blue Sky Studios, is out. I gotta say, I feel pretty excited. I have to mention the look of the movie first, it's incredible! They really went in a hundred percent to make it look like the old cartoons, something that seems quite impossible with 3D. But they somehow succeed. It looks like a mix of 2D, stop motion/claymation and 3D animation, it's just wonderful to look at and it feels fresh. I think a lot of 3D-animated movies nowadays tend to have a sort of similar style, you know that "3D-style", especially if it's not from the big three. It's so refreshing to see something different, something new.

The classic Peanuts music is of course there and really sets the mood, but the other song I'm not crazy about. I don't think it fits the mood or action that is going on. If they wanted to go with the happy song, they could have gone more out with it. The few voices (okay there are only two) we hear sounds like the old cartoons, indicating that they have done a good job with finding voices.

As for the story... Well, they're not telling any of the story yet, which I thinks works fine for the trailer. I feel like most people going to see this are going because of the old cartoons, to relive that magical time. Though I am very curios of how they will fill up 90 minutes of runtime (I'm guessing, no runtime released yet.) But I do have a lot of confidence in Blue Sky succeeding in that. They have worked so hard to make it look and feel like the old cartoons, so my guess is that the story will take the same approach, to just be very close to the original. I'm very excited for this, is it 2015 soon?

Review: Simpsorama

I watched the Simpsons/Futurama crossover episode "Simpsorama", and I thought it was really good. It felt a bit short, but many of The Simpsons episodes lately feel that way, I don't know if it has to do with the shortened runtime. And obviously it will feel shorter the more characters you have to focus on, and with a crossover episode there's quite a few.

The story is a pretty good one, simple but gives most of the characters something to do and let them interact with each other. It was very funny with good jokes, and only a few of them was a wink to the audience, wich was nice.

The characters interacting with each other works really well. How the characters react to each other is very believable and I think it suits both shows. The Futurama part I feel is slightly too far out for a Simpsons episode, but it's not enough that it bothers me. I still considered this an in canon episode, though it's sort of a mix between the regular episodes and a Halloween episode. The characters feel true to themselves, which is the most important part of a crossover.

It's hard not to compare this episode to the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover, seeing as they premiered so close to each other. Simpsorama is a much better crossover, mostly because The Simpsons and Futurama could be in the same universe, they are not that far away from each other (unless you count a 1000 years as far) in terms of comedy and how the shows approach subjects. I think Family Guy would do a better crossover with South Park, they feel closer to each other than Family Guy does to The Simpsons.

Simpsorama was a very fun episode, a nice send off to a show that ended to soon, and just a good crossover, so check it out if you haven't yet.

Image: Fox