Quickie Movie Reviews

On Saturday, I watched Meet the Robinsons. Gotta say it was better than I expected.

The story follows an orphan who created (inadvertently) a time machine. It gets stolen, and a boy from the future arrives to help him retrieve it. The two flee back to the future where the orphan meets the odd Robinson family. They have an adventure, face their enemy, and deal with the fallout.

I found the film creative and entertaining enough for an adult (although I picked up on "the secret" pretty early on). The voices were the characters as opposed to easily recognized actors saying characters' lines. The animation was great. And it didn't talk down to kids. My 3 & 4 year olds liked it enough, and I would imagine any school-age kid would enjoy it as well.

Last night, the movies were all for me:

The first of my double-feature was Hot Fuzz. I liked Shaun of the Dead (a prior movie by the same talents) even though I'm not a fan of zombie movies (don't hate 'em, just am not interested), so I figured this one would be right up my alley.

In this film, Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, the greatest police officer in London. He graduated at the top of his class, has earned countless commendations and awards, and his arrest record is 400% higher than any other office on the force. In other words, he's making everyone else look bad. So he is made a sergeant and send to a rural town that hasn't experienced any crime in 20 years. He's assigned the police chief's buddy-cop movie loving son (Nick Frost) as a partner, and they patrol the quiet countryside. Then the town undergoes a rash of accidents...

The movie is a mix of British mysteries and America shoot-'em-ups. Whereas I thought Shaun of the Dead was funny, Hot Fuzz was just amusing. There's nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to laugh more. It was also pretty slow at first, and the ending (the obligatory massive gun battle) went on a little too long.

But being a big fan of BBC America, it was great to see so many familiar faces on the big screen.

And the movie poster kicks ass.

And, finally, I actually paid money (albeit only $4) to see Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Film For Movie Theatres. If you haven't seen the [adult swim] show, this is most definitely not a good entry point. Like the free-flowing Dadaist TV series, this film was all over the place. The show has a fervent fan base (small as it is), so they were probably having nerdgasms galore watching this, and I'm happy for them.

I, on the other hand, find the show funny but am not a huge fan and believe the ten-minute episodes on [adult swim] are about the perfect length. But the movie is just under 90 minutes, so it was hard to keep the flow going throughout. Just like the TV show, there was little plot holding it all together. Even worse: I didn't feel there were any more great lines in the entire film as there are in any given episode of the show.

I will give writers/directors/creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis credit for making the film in the same style and tone as the TV show. If you love the show, you should love the film. It was cool to see the guys not sell out-- even though the move will probably kill any hope for big box office. But then, rumor has it that the film wasn't even really greenlit. Maiellaro and Willis told the Cartoon Network execs that they had already begun making a movie, and they were allowed to continue since money, time, and energy had already been expended on it.

It was great to hear the voices again, particularly Dana Snyder as Master Shake. He's the highlight of the show as far as I'm concerned (he's the biggest dick, and gets the best lines). Dave Willis voiced Meatwad a little bit smarter than on the show, but his Carl (my second favorite character) was terribly underused (although his comment that his new "ZuBaz"-ish pants were made out of a material that wicks the sweat off his balls was the film's best line). And Carey Means did his usual great work as Frylock.

So anyway, check out the series at night on [adult swim] to get a feel for what this whole thing is all about, and if you love it, watch the film on DVD (I doubt the film will be in theatres much longer).

It, too, has a great poster:

So in the span of four days, I saw almost as many movies as I saw in the entirety of 2006. And Spider-Man 3 hasn't even opened yet...