The Congress - Review

Director: Ari Folman Writer: Ari Folman Studio: Drafthouse Films Cast: Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sami Gayle Release Date (UK): 15 August, 2014 Certificate: 15 Runtime: 123 min

Ari Folman’s bold and ambitious but flawed vision of the future as seen in “The Congress” is a vision of two halves. The first half sees Robin Wright, star of such films as “The Princess Bride” and “Forrest Gump,” playing Robin Wright, star of such films as “The Princess Bride” and “Forrest Gump.” Only here, in an alternative present, she’s a little more washed up than in our reality: introduced as her agent, played by Harvey Keitel, chastises her poor career choices and difficult attitude, she’s out of work with no one willing to offer her a role. Jeff Green (Danny Huston), the slithering bigwig of the mischievously named Miramount Studios, gives her an offer: in exchange for a hefty sum, her body will be scanned, and her image, her voice, her emotions, and her very being will be uploaded into a computer system, to be used to star in any film they choose. The catch is that while the computer-generated Robin Wright stars in everything from sci-fi blockbusters to Oscar contenders, the real Robin Wright is not allowed to act in anything again for the rest of her life.

The second half sends us 20 years into the future, where an older Wright takes a drug and enters a strange cartoon world, a 2D-animated, psychedelic, pop culture dreamscape where people are not so much people as fantasy avatars. Take a stroll through this hand-drawn gallery of famous faces and you will see such surreal sights as the jackal-headed Egyptian god Anubis walking the streets alongside Elvis Presley and Queen Elizabeth I, a Tom Cruise caricature who’s nothing but a pair of sunglasses and a toothy grin, and Ron Jeremy motorboating Marilyn Monroe. This world, it transpires, is an illusory escape from the bleakness of reality, where many are starving and living in horrible poverty. The people of the future are given a choice: await death or hallucinate something better. Understandably, most choose the hallucination -- and who can blame them when Michael Jackson is serving up lobsters?

I’m not certain that these two halves fit together very well: the film begins as a scathing take-down of the Hollywood system and the soulless direction it’s supposedly headed, then once the animation kicks in, it suddenly shifts gears to a commentary on such topics as the inequality gap, dictatorships, celebrities as products, and the American healthcare system. Combined, they make for a film whose themes are rich but jumbled and whose structure is uneven. Individually, however, they’re fascinating. The second half, in particular, is enthrallingly berserk, an absorbing, kaleidoscopic head trip that’s crudely drawn yet has a fluid, luscious beauty. The first half is also absorbing, a sharp, subtly sci-fi inflected big-studio satire well performed by Wright, Huston, and Keitel, who together make up the three pillars of Hollywood: the actor, the studio, and the agent in between. For a follow-up to “Waltz with Bashir,” Folman’s animated documentary about his experiences as an Israeli infantry soldier, “The Congress” is certainly unexpected, though like it, it shows him as an innovative director with a vision that’s unique, uncompromising, and well worth a watch.

Rating: 7/10

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Review

Director: Dean DeBlois Writer: Dean DeBlois Studios: DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox Cast: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harrington Release Date (UK): 27 June, 2014 Certificate: PG Runtime: 102 min

DreamWorks’ gorgeously animated follow-up to their 2010 hit “How to Train Your Dragon” is a soaring success, a sequel which provides the same level of high-flying spectacle, rib-tickling humour and heartfelt poignancy as its marvellous predecessor while taking us on a new and exciting adventure through its mythical land. Of course, with the once-feared dragon community now trained and fully integrated into everyday Viking life, that fantasy world has gotten a whole lot bigger since last we saw it. Riding on the backs of its titular winged beasts, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” further explores the isles surrounding the village of Berk, and in doing so, widens the scope of its fantasy world, expands on the mythos behind its dragon species and throws new, intriguing characters into the mix. Though to give away too many details would be to spoil some of the surprises in store for one-legged hero Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and his dragon companion Toothless.

They’re a delightful pairing, our two intrepid heroes: Hiccup, the awkward outcast turned plucky and adventurous dragon rider, and Toothless, a handsome Night Fury who’s adorably goofy but also brave and unwaveringly devoted to his human friend and master. Together, they share a loyal bond that’s sweet and endearing, and watching them talk, play and ride through the clouds together is a real joy. In “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” they face a powerful threat, a fearsome “dragon master” with the formidable name of Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). He’s assembling his own dragon army with the aim of conquering all who oppose him. While searching for new land, Hiccup and Toothless stumble upon his plans for domination and band together with the villagers of Berk to put a stop to his evil ways.

As per the rule of the sequel, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is bigger than its predecessor: it features, for example, gargantuan, ice-spitting super-dragons so phenomenally huge they’d pick up Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla and gobble him up for breakfast. But as he did with the first film, director Dean DeBlois keeps the breath-catching spectacle grounded in the emotions of his characters, whose relationships he maintains a firm grip on. Hiccup and his remarkably burly father, the fearless warrior Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), again make a fully believable father-son duo, butting heads in the previous movie but brought closer now that Stoick's not all stabby-stabby kill-kill towards dragonkind (he's actually quite enthusiastic about them now -- he even has them race each other!). And there’s some seriously touching stuff in here, surprisingly so for a film aimed primarily at the younger crowd -- it's great to see an animated movie willing to enter really intimate and emotional territory. On two occasions I actually found myself teary eyed: I won’t spoil anything, but there’s a reunion in the film that’s beautifully handled and is one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen in an animated movie -- or, heck, any movie.

And all the way through, DeBlois impressively maintains the first film’s enchanting sense of wonder: John Powell’s score is again a spellbinding treat, and the scenes of Hiccup and Toothless soaring through the skies together have a real graceful beauty to them. The great Roger Deakins is credited as having been a visual consultant on the film; looking at the results, that’s not surprising in the slightest. DreamWorks have shown a knack for sequels over the years, with “Shrek 2” witty and hilarious, “Kung Fu Panda 2” exhilarating fun and “Madagascar 3” pleasingly brisk. Now in swoops “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” the best of the lot: emotionally resonant, properly thrilling and just plain flamin’ gorgeous, it's a triumph in family entertainment, just like its predecessor was. The question remains, however, as to why all the adults in this mythical world speak with a thick Scottish brogue while all the youngsters speak with squeaky clean American accents. Then again, one is very likely to become too swept up in the magic and majesty of the film to dwell on such silly nitpicks.

Rating: 9/10

The Lego Movie - Review

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Writers: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lego System A/S, Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Pictures Cast: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman Release Date (UK): 14 February 2014 Certificate: U Runtime: 100 min

ZOMG: “The Lego Movie” is awesome. Like, properly, amazingly, heart-soaringly awesome. Like, I-wanna-go-get-out-my-old-official-Lego-bucket-and-build-a-rocket-ship-with-some-brightly-coloured-interlocking-building-blocks kinda awesome. It’s so awesome its theme song is literally called “Everything is Awesome.” And this song is so infectiously catchy I can’t for the life of me imagine it ever vacating my earholes — not that I’d want it to. Sing it with me: everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team...

Ahem. But seriously, “The Lego Movie” is super-fun. It’s like bottled joy — a bottle made of Lego! Save your silly, cynical rants about commercialism and corporatisation and let “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller take you on an exhilarating sugar rush through their giant Lego playset. In fact, any and all cynicism should be quick to drown in the sea of awesome we’re invited to plunge into here; even the toughest and most doody-headed of cynics should have their veritable pants charmed off by the subversive wit and the boundless invention “The Lego Movie” boasts by the bucketload; not to mention the sheer, explosive enthusiasm bursting out from the screen and into your face.

The vividly vibrant and thrillingly hectic world of “The Lego Movie” is a seamless mix of stop-motion and computer-animation, and it is dazzlingly gorgeous. Living in this colourful land is Emmet, a sprightly but hopelessly ordinary Lego construction worker voiced by Chris Pratt who finds himself at the centre of an age-old “chosen one” scenario. Apparently he’s “the special,” the one prophesied to defeat the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who schemes to glue everything and everyone into place using a secret weapon called the Kragle. On his quest, Emmet teams up with the fugitive Master Builders, among them a kooky old mystic (Morgan Freeman), a free-spirited punk chick called WyldStyle (Elizabeth Banks), Lego Batman (Will Arnett), Lego Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders) and a robo-pirate called Metalbeard (Nick Offerman), and is pursued by a one-man good cop/bad cop duo voiced by Liam Neeson.

Sound fun? You bet your tiny plastic caboose it is. And the whole thing whizzes along at an unstoppably exuberant pace — in fact, it moves with such frenzied ferocity you half-worry it’s all going to crash at any minute but it never does and it just keeps going and it’s utterly thrilling. All the while Lord and Miller giddily undermine the clichés of the plot at every step — in one scene, Emmet daydreams through important backstory exposition, and it’s rather strongly suggested that the central prophecy was maybe, possibly, probably made up by Morgan Freeman’s mad mystic — and generate enough geeky (Lego-owned) pop culture nods and send-ups to keep any fanbase squeeing in their seats. Where else could you see Dumbledore and Gandalf sharing the screen together and Superman getting annoyed by a clingy Green Lantern?

It’s fantastic to see a family movie which values and promotes creativity, individuality and imagination so fervently, especially when it’s attached to the wise and surprising message that although being creative can be good, sometimes simply following the instructions works too. It’s also fantastic seeing a family movie which is just this funny and witty and clever in its comedy: with rapid-fire gags, Lord and Miller’s whip-smart script has a stonking laugh-a-minute hit rate. At the end, my sides were sore from all my hysterical giggling and my face was stuck in an expression of pure, child-like glee. Put simply, “The Lego Movie” made me feel like a little kid again, playing with my Lego blocks on the floor of my bedroom, building spaceships and supercars and making up wild and crazy stories. If there’s a funner film this year I will literally shit a brick (not literally). All together now: everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team...

Rating: 10/10

Frozen - Review

Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee Writer: Jennifer Lee Studios: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad Release Date (UK): 6 December 2013 Certificate: PG Runtime: 108 min

Disney’s “Frozen” is, for my money, the best animated film of the year — you’ve probably heard that already, from the countless rave reviews the film has rightly received across the US and now in the UK, all punnily proclaiming (for good reason) that it will “melt your heart.” You’ve also undoubtedly heard that it’s Disney’s best since their Shakespearian mega-hit “The Lion King” in 1994, and as an admirer of their subsequent “Mulan,” as well as their more recent “The Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph” I’m going to have to agree with that bold claim (incidentally, yesterday I happily rewatched “The Lion King” for the first time in years and fell right back in love with it, and straight afterwards I rewatched “Beauty and the Beast” cos, you know, it’s “Beauty and the Beast” and it’s awesome).

Watching “Frozen,” I got the definite sense that I was watching a proper Disney classic, like something from their great Renaissance period — and that, I have to say, is a great feeling indeed. Its story, which involves magic and princesses and a fantasy kingdom, feels like it’s been ripped directly from the pages of an old Grimm folk story or a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale (perhaps that’s because it’s loosely based on the latter’s 1845 work “The Snow Queen”). The story is that of a princess born with the uncontrollable power to turn all that she touches into solid ice, and it’s as enchanting a tale as the studio has ever told — it’s also quite possibly their most mature and human one yet.

The princess, voiced by Idina Menzel (“Wicked”), is named Elsa, and she’s kept locked away in her family’s Nordic castle after her powers very nearly result in the death of her little sister Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell — her frosty touch, she’s told, is far too dangerous and must stay hidden before someone else is put in harm’s way. But her true nature can’t be kept under lock and key forever, and indeed during her coronation ceremony her powers are publicly exposed in spectacular fashion: during a fight with Anna she accidentally freezes the grand hall and turns the water of a fountain to ice. Labelled a monster, she flees the kingdom and in a fit of rage, inadvertently plunges the land into a seemingly eternal winter.

It’s up to the excitable and naive Anna to find her beloved but distant big sis and convince her to reverse the curse under which she has placed the land. On her journey she meets three sprightly characters who tag along: Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), a hunky mountain man whose business of selling ice has significantly depleted since the sudden ice age (apparently he’s not so good he can sell snow to eskimos), Kristoff’s lovable reindeer Sven and a goofy, living snowman called Olaf, whose biggest wish is to finally see what summer looks like. As voiced by Josh Gad, Olaf is one of the most delightful supporting characters in Disney canon, full of life and innocence, and with body parts that move of their own free will. He even gets his own (hilarious) musical number, in which he fantasises about sunbathing on a beach (“I’m gonna tell him,” whispers Kristoff. “Don’t you dare!” barks Anna).

Yes, “Frozen” is a musical, and what a splendid one it is: the early “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is an absolute, spirit-soaring joy, and there’s a marvellous midway number (“Let It Go”) in which Elsa constructs her own grand ice palace while belting out a show-stopping tune about embracing her powers rather than holding them back. Here, “Frozen” reveals itself to be a firmly feminist film, as Elsa passionately refuses to hide her real self from society and let her true nature reign free. It’s powerful, heart-soaring stuff, and along with “Tangled” shows Disney handling their female characters in a way that’s respectful, intelligent and fiercely liberating.

And of course we also get some truly splendid computer animation, as gorgeously assembled by Disney’s crack team of artists: the snow-dappled land of Arendelle is beautifully rendered. Is “Frozen” Disney’s first truly great computer animation? I think it is: “Tangled” was terrific fun, but it didn’t quite have the nuance or the poignancy on display here. What I’m certain of is this: “Frozen” is spellbinding, and not only is it absolutely worthy of the timeless Disney classics it has been compared to, it’s a timeless Disney classic all on its own.

Rating: 9/10

Turbo - Review

Director: David Soren Writer: David Soren, Robert Siegel, Darren Lemke Studios: DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Michelle Rodriguez, Samuel L. Jackson Release Date (UK): 18 October 2013 Certificate: U Runtime: 96 min

After the fast and furious exhilaration of Ron Howard’s Formula 1 drama “Rush,” here comes another movie about F1 racers — with one key difference. “Turbo,” from DreamWorks Animation, sees Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Theo, a lowly garden snail with big dreams of becoming a world-famous F1 driver and the fastest snail in the world. Luckily for him, his dreams may be about to come true, as an all too close encounter with the supercharger of a drag racer leaves him bestowed with special powers. Chief among them: super-speed.

It’s a cool concept: a petrol-headed gastropod gains magical abilities that allow him to enter a Formula 1 tournament. But for a product from the studio that previously brought us “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” this isn’t up to the best of DreamWorks’ standards. Though not without a certain good-natured charm, there’s very little wit or invention on display here and not much of interest outside of the central, two-word gag: racing snails. Following the underdog (or undersnail) formula to a tee, it’s a by-the-numbers sports tale and unfortunately isn’t funny or exciting enough to make up for its step-by-step predictability. Younger viewers may find its colourful characters enjoyable, but when Snoop Dogg popped up as a rapping snail called Smoove Move, I kind of gave up.

Rating: 5/10

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Review

Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn Studios: Sony Pictures Animation, Columbia Pictures Cast: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Benjamin Bratt, Terry Crews, Will Forte, Kristen Schaal Release Date (UK): 25 October 2013 Certificate: U Runtime: 95 min

Sony Pictures Animation sequelise their delightfully creative 2009 computer-animated sci-fi comedy hit about a young, spirited inventor who creates a machine that makes food pour from the sky. The talented voice cast, including Bill Hader and Anna Faris, return as the leftover edibles from Flint’s machine spring to life and take over the evacuated island of Swallow Falls. Alerted by Will Forte’s world-famous tech genius Chester V, Flint and his ragtag group of friends travel to Swallow Falls to stop the monstrous “foodimals” before they make their way to the mainland and take over the world — but are the foodimals really as ferocious as they seem, and is the devious-looking Chester telling the whole truth?

Replacing original directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn have a ton of pun-tastic fun in cooking up the hordes of living foodstuffs: shrimpanzees swing between the trees and jellyfish sandwiches swim in the sea while our cartoon heroes do battle with enormous, snarling cheese fighters (hamburger tarantulas with French fries for legs and sesame seeds for eyes). Returning supporting characters, specifically the machismo Officer Earl (Terry Crews) and Flint’s fishing enthusiast dad (James Caan), remain a delight, while Forte’s new villain — think of him as a maniacal, floppy-limbed Steve Jobs — is wickedly funny. Perhaps a follow-up was unnecessary (it's certainly not as good as Lord and Miller's first film, lacking its breezy simplicity and clear focus), but like its lively predecessor, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” boasts a bouncy energy and a cheery spirit that help make it a scrumptious, if not entirely filling treat for all the family.

Rating: 6/10