I first heard about it lat last year and was like oh Avatar is coming out, wait… this isn’t Avatar with that bald kid that plays with wind, this is… what… blue… people…WHAT?  I was rather confused so I googled it and found that a movie called Avatar, just like the tv series, was being directed by the famed James Cameron, who I also didn’t recognize till I googled him as well.

So I started watching it and so far it seemed pretty cool, as it moved along I was like oh they put his mind in a body through computers… ok.  That’s an interesting concept.  Keeps going hmm ok he’s meeting a blue person and… I have to admit the graphics were awesome.  The creatures in this movie are cool, well designed and animated.  I kinda got lost in the cgi, and I knew it was cgi and not real but it worked.  Unlike Beowulf and some of the other mostly cgi movies this one works.  I dunno how they did it but they did.  The weight of the creatures, the texture, everything is really just great.  You know it’s not real yet it still seems like it could be.

The story, however, is kinda predictable and a bit TOO preachy.  It’s blatant there is an agenda which that did bother me a bit but the eye candy kind of covers it up.  I did find it lame that the blue people, yes I forgot their “species” name, can tap into living creatures via some kind of organic lan.  The “mother tree” I dunno how they called it in the film now… anyways houses all the memories and such of the past generations.  They can even pass souls through the tree to new bodies, but I won’t say much more on this before I give a big spoiler.

So the humans go through and want to tear down their forests to get this extremely valuable mineral/rock or whatever it is and they don’t care about the locals.  Typical humans are the bad guy type thing.  The few that get avatar bodies start to fall in love with the people and such and they don’t want all of it to happen, and at this point it reminds me of Disney’s Pocahontas.  Only they didn’t pawn it off as historical.  haha

So the main guy, who is an invalid, sent in on the project gets his avatar body and is addicted to the fact he can walk again.  He is sent in to win the trust of the locals to see if he can get them to move out so they can move in and harvest the planet’s resources.  However, in the process, he falls in love with the chief’s daughter, *gasp*  now you see why I said it reminded me of that cartoon.  He then tries to stop the “war” and the destruction of their habitat and tree of life.  Hmm yea sounding REAL familiar still, minus the invalid part.  I won’t say what happens next just to keep away from spoilers a bit more.

I will add that most of the characters were pretty well built up, they were either like-able or hate-able.  You felt for them when something happened which is kind of rare these days in movies.  At least I find it is.

I have to say James Horner did a nice job on the score.   Though it did sound like a combination of “A Beautiful Mind”, “Patriot Games”, and another film I cannot think of at the moment.  Although most of the themes were kind of recycled it is still pleasant to listen to.  I always have enjoyed his music, but I think he’s lost his touch in coming up with new and strong themes.  Amazingly the “Heritage of the Wolf” theme was not in there.  On going joke that he always slips that into his scores somewhere.

Ok so I’ll wrap things up finally with, I DID enjoy this movie.  The graphics and animation were quite amazing and although the story was too preachy at times it was interesting at least, even if I could correctly predict what happened next.  The action and what all went on kept me entertained and it didn’t feel like a two and half hour film.  Unlike *cough* New Moon *cough* where it felt like two hours was an eternity.  Anyways, I would recommend it to see in the theaters and especially if it’s 3D.  It’s worth seeing just for the graphics alone, I find it a shame the story didn’t match up to them, but ah well.  I enjoyed it well enough and that’s all that counts I guess.  I was entertained and that was the point of the movie.

The songs, they weren’t bad but they were just blah. Typical type songs, forgettable, but I find most of Randy Newman’s work kind of bland to begin with. This movie is no exception. Darnit why couldn’t they have snagged Menken? I also don’t enjoy jazz type music or that particular type style so I guess I’m also a bit biased there.

The story, it suffered badly from side-kick-itis. Too many side characters. There is one scene *oop spoiler* where the frogs are being “hunted” (I use the term loosely) by some southern… rednecks I suppose you could call them. It was a pointless scene, the characters were unneeded, and annoying. They could have had Tiana and the prince figure out they love each other through a better way but they just HAD to add in some “comedic” relief. Even though we already have the Gator and lightening bug. On a side note I really really loved the Gator and all his silly facial expressions.

The main characters are like-able. I like the polar opposite personalities the prince and Tiana have. I also like that it’s not just a typical princess movie. The woman doesn’t rely on the prince for everything etc.

The bad guy was pretty cool, I loved his design BUT he wasn’t really creepy or scary enough for the movie. At least my friend and I thought so. He had really great potential but fell a bit short. And most of the other characters in this film were “ok”.

The message in the movie was a good one, but for some reason it didn’t really feel like a Disney movie. It just lacks something, I can’t really put my finger on it. It has all the technical aspects a Disney film has, beautiful animation, good voice acting and decent music, I just think there was something lacking in the story.

This movie is decent, I would say go see it in theaters just to support 2D, but I’m not going to say you’ll be amazed by it. Disney is back, but not quite up to snuff with what they have produced in the past. It is a step up from their last 2D theatrical release, “Home on the Range” But it’s no “Beauty and the Beast”. It’s a fun, decent holiday movie. It’s worth seeing a couple times.

4. Beauty and the Beast

I’m sure everyone knows this movie so I don’t really have to explain it much.  The animation is beautiful, the characters are great and the music is excellent.  It’s another of the 90′s Disney classics.  I haven’t got much else to add about it so I’ll leave it at this!

3. Howl’s Moving Castle

This movie is strange but good. The story is something I never would have expected of guessed how it would end. It is so out of the norm from what I usually watch, but that’s one thing I love about it. Recently found out it’s based off a book too, I must get my hands on it. Anyways tis a great movie, good animation, music, and characters. Everything is memorable about it, I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys fantasy movies.

2. Toy Story

I always loved this one from a little kid on up. Although it sparked the fall of 2D. It is still one of my favorites. Great characters, nice story, excellent animation, and for the time ground breaking. The music is nice, even if I’m not a big fan of Randy Newman, the white man with a black man’s voice. None of the characters sing either! Yay! That would not have fit in the movie anyways.

1.  An American Tail 1&2

Ok yeah so it’s not just one movie but I  kind of clump these two together because they are equal in excellence.  I loved both of them, however their other sequels…not so much.  We won’t go there though.  The first was directed by Don Bluth and everything has the grungy type style that he is known for, the second was updated in the 90′s and directed by Steven Spielburg.  The animation isn’t quite as grungy as the first and the character designs have changed slightly.  I do prefer some of the designs in the sequel over that of the first one but overall they both have great animation.  Both stories are good, the first is more emotion driven and the second is more comedy.  Both have singing mice, but at least they are short songs and most are pretty good.  The scores are great on both, they are two of my favorites from Horner.  Not much else to say on that!  :)

9. The Road to Eldorado

Ok granted this is one of those typical buddy films but it’s funny, the animation is awesome, and the story moves along fast.  I really have always enjoyed it and I figured since it’s one of my favorites I would include it.  It does have a bit of adult humor, hence the PG rating, but if you don’t mind that I recommend it.  It’s a fun movie.

8. Hercules

The story is well typical hero, you know who’s gonna win, but this version is just so darn funny.  I love it.  It’s so colorful too.  It’s pretty unique in style.  It still looks Disney but there is a certain style  to the animation that separates it from the rest.  This is one of Disney’s best animated comedies.  The characters are enjoyable, although a bit cliche, but hey!  The music is pretty good, didn’t care for all the songs but most I liked or thought were funny.

7. 101 Dalmatians

I couldn’t leave this one out.  It was my ultra favorite film as a small child.  Then Lion King came out and that changed but I quite love it.  Even to this day.  The characters are great, the animation is nice and YAY no singing doggies!  It follows the book to a certain extent but then deviates, which works for the movie.  I still enjoy the animated version more than the live action.  It’s a Disney classic and I recommend it to everyone!

6. Gulliver’s Travels

This is a really old animated film, but it’s one of my favorites.  It was made in the 30′s but in color.  It has that old classic cartoon style, the animation is so old school.  I love it!  The songs are nice too.  The story doesn’t really follow the book closely but eh it’s got the gist of it.  It’s a fun movie for just about anyone in my  opinion.  I grew up with it though so I might be a little biased there.

5. The Emporer’s New Groove

I loved this movie from the time it came out.  It’s great!  The humor, the characters, the story, and the animation.  Overall it’s a well rounded movie and *gasp* another Disney with not much singing.  I think there are… two songs maybe, but nothing extreme.  I  like that.  What more to say… it’s like the only full length movie to revolve around a llama… I think… yeah.

SO that’s about it for now.
I’m busy with commissions and all that jazz so that’s why my blogging is kinda sporadic atm, but I hope to change that soonish. I’m gonna try to get some new animations done as well. I have uploaded a couple in the last month too if anyone wants to check that out if you haven’t already. Suggest an animal for me to animate too and I might just! No doggies plz. XD

Another Friday Five cause otherwise this post is too short!

1. If you owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
Hmmm Chinese, Italian, and all American! Just because I could.

2. What is your favorite restaurant and why?
Favorite restaurant is a hard one really. I like quite a few mom and pop type places…I cannot say really. XD

3. What is your favorite fast food place?
Burger King, Quiznos and Panda Express. Maybe Arby’s and Dairy Queen in there too…

4. If you had to choose only one type of food to eat for a year, what would it be?
Oh geez… one type of food, like veggies and fruits? Or just one food total. Well if it were a kind of food…maybe…veggies since they although kind of suck sometimes can be cooked in such ways that they aren’t so nasty and they are healthy for you and they never made me sick. XD Cept maybe peppers but we won’t talk about them… >.>
Though I do really love bread there isn’t much variety there.

5. What is your favorite cereal?
Cookie Crips! Or Honey Combs… Yeah that’d be about right. :B