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Reviews
Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999)
A staple of my childhood, still fresh after all these years...
Courage the Cowardly Dog has been one of my favorite Cartoon Network shows ever since I was a kid. It was dark, it was hilarious, and I couldn't get enough. Having rewatched the full series recently, this show still holds up. Series creator, John R. Dilworth delivers that Tim Burton-like charm that would actually make Burton proud himself.
The animation is spot on, no doubt! It suits the show's dark tone very well. Something also tells me that Cartoon Network executives loved some of the episodes everyone came up with that they decided to give the animators enough budget to do some smooth frames, some of it reminiscent of Richard Williams' work, more specifically Who Framed Roger Rabbit, like that one scene where Courage battles Di Lung's aunt in "Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog."
The writing has very good pacing, and it allows the viewers to keep up with the storyline and characters. The only problem is how much they cut back on Courage's dialogue after the first season. Having Courage talk was very suiting considering the show's wacky but dark nature and the presence of other talking animals like Katz and Le Quack, not to mention the wife of the Chicken From Outer Space. We don't know why you chose to cut back on that, Dilworth. Since this show is turning 25 years old next year, maybe you could take care of that issue in a continuation comic. A televised revival won't be happening because of Thea White's (Muriel's voice actress) death from surgery infection back in 2021, but there's always a chance for a comic.
The voice acting is incredible by far! What I love most about the voice acting is Thea White's incredible performance as the sweet and grandmotherly Muriel Bagge. Crazy thing, upon watching a YouTube video where a guy had the opportunity of video chatting with Thea, she's actually the same kindhearted and grandmotherly person her character was. No wonder Dilworth's casting agency chose her! Muriel was also Thea's only role, other than the crossover movie with Scooby-Doo, which she never got to see finished, sadly, she's just as sweet as Muriel!
To quote the final line of the series, and to end my review:
"Perfect!"
Mummies (2023)
"Mummies" was actually a good movie... Not what I was expecting!
You know, when I first saw the trailer for this movie, I had my doubts. Warner Bros. Discovery has made some petty decisions ever since their merger; removing Cartoon Network shows from HBO Max (animation is art, animation is cinema), delaying the release dates of several movies, Velma... But "Mummies," wow! What a surprise from WBD!
This film began blowing up on animation channels across YouTube, like KinoCheck, and upon seeing those videos, I thought to myself, "What's so special about this Spanish animated movie, anyway? Is it because it's got Sean Bean in a small, supporting role, or is it just another attempt by big-shot corporations telling people that animation is 'kids' stuff?'" But after watching it for the first time, I was very impressed with what these Spaniards did.
The animation is pretty good. It's very reminiscent of an ESMA short mixed with a 2010s DreamWorks Animation film like Puss in Boots or How to Train Your Dragon 2. All I gotta say is, nicely done!
The plot is very creative. The movie follows three Egyptian mummies travelling to the modern human world in search of a royal wedding ring stolen from an eager archeologist. Hilarity ensues as they try to learn how the modern world works. One thing I appreciate about the storyline is that it doesn't try too hard to be "hip" and "cool." No BTS or Among Us references, no unneeded internet celebrity cameos like Ninja, Dream, or DanTDM, no TikTok trends, none of that. All I can say to these writers is, thank you for staying away from these modern trends. The idea of an exclusive afterlife populated by Egyptian mummies is one of the most creative concepts ever made for one of these "Fish Out of Water" stories.
The characters are quite likeable in a similar fashion to Fly, Stella and Chuck from one of my all-time favorite animated movies, "Help! I'm a Fish!" Thut is an awkward and daunted ex-charioteer, who, after an incident with the fire bird Phoenix, is chosen to marry Princess Nefer. Nefer may seem like the typical "Disney Princess clone" in non-Disney movies, but she's actually pretty likeable. She just wants to make her own decisions and live her life, instead of the cliched "I want more." Thut's brother, Sekhem, is a fun-loving kid who looks up to his brother's hidden bravery and often encourages him to face his fears. Sekhem is also shown to be a fast-learner as well, adapting to the modern human world quicker than Nefer and Thut. The development these characters go through is nicely executed. Nefer and Thut don't have feelings for each other and both have a fear of commitment. As they venture out into the modern world, though, they start to get close to each other, and eventually, they accept each other's hands in marriage.
Now, a lot of good movies tend to have their flaws, and I would like to list them out for you. For instance, it has a couple of musical numbers, which, despite being sung by singers with great voices, seem out of place. Another flaw I would like to posit would have to be a few animation errors (I think). In one scene, when Thut leaves Nefer at the royal palace, a shot shows Nefer's mother standing next to her, but in the next two shots, she suddenly moves without any animation. This may have been something the animators forgot to fix, but I'll let it slide. There's also a little bit of rude humor, such as Nefer's snoring and farting being pointed out by Thut in one scene. Thankfully, this humor wasn't abused throughout the film, and I have to say, that move was pretty smart.
This film, in a similar fashion to the original Luc Besson cut of Arthur and the Minimoys, isn't well known in the US, save for a few limited screenings. For a movie that's quite obscure in my home country, it's actually pretty good. Kudos to the Spaniards for pulling the old "Besson movie" and making a likeable animated movie. By the time this comes out on home video in the US, feel free to check it out (or maybe just use KissCartoon if you want to see it now).
Norm of the North: King Sized Adventure (2019)
A teeny tiny improvement, but still not good enough.
Just like the last movie, I still cannot believe Lionsgate thought it was a good idea to make a sequel. Admittedly, though, I saw that this NOTM sequel managed to tidy things up a bit. For instance, the animation is better. Not master-class-level, but at least at a Hoodwinked Too! Level. Another improvement is actually having a few decent scenes here and there, such as Jin and Dexter's backstory, along with that whole scene of Norm asking a goose where he can find the Beijing University; NGL, that was pretty clever. They also toned down the pop culture references, which, in an opinion from a guy who used to like Doogal when he was a kid, is actually not a bad move for a bad franchise like Norm of the North.
Now, we get to the bad parts. Despite the many improvements, this film still has, many classic Norm elements are still included. For instance, the plot holes. Where do I begin? Norm knows what Beijing is, Norm manages to get into the university without being bombarded by fans considering his POPULARITY. What about Dexter managing to pinpoint Jin's location? Did Dexter have a Jin-tracker on him, or was it a lucky guess? What about that one-scene wonder, or in my case, one-scene blunder, where Dexter's pet Komodos, Chaos and Mayhem, manage to USE A LAPTOP?1 Oh, wait till you hear the best worst part. In the ending, Norm and Jin defeat Dexter and find the hidden treasure which could only be seen for 100 years. Spoiler alert, the cave actually had an OPENING that lead in and out of the mountain, meaning that anyone could've accessed it anytime! What kind of junk were you on, Mike Young and Lionsgate execs?
There's also some bad problems. Fong, while still a confusing and unneeded character, gets turned into a butt-monkey. Additional plot hole: How can a rabbit like FONG attend business school? Why is he also the only animal other than Norm and Quinn that everyone understands, and why does he work among them? And as for Norm's son, Quinn. He's a total jerk when he temporarily takes over his father's position. What's worse? He NEVER learns from his mistakes. Worst. Role. Ever.
To anyone who wants to watch this with their kids, don't do it! Don't listen to the Dove seal, don't be charmed by its decent-looking poster, and DEFINITELY don't watch it at all costs.
Norm of the North: Keys to the Kingdom (2018)
Out of all the decisions you've done in animation, Lionsgate... A Norm of the North sequel?
Lionsgate, you've done petty decisions with animation before. Make 7 unnecessary Alpha and Omega sequels when one was good enough, fund production for Santa, Inc., take over all the Rock Dog sequels from Summit even though I've never seen them, "I have the whole world tussy," but this... This is one of your worst decisions you have ever done in your company's history! After Norm of the North failed at the box office despite the (wasted) talents of Bill Nighy, Ken Jeong and Rob Schnieder, you decided to let bad films be bad films, right? WRONG! You got greedy, and decided to make a NOTM sequel? The animation is even worse than the first, and there's a bunch of laziness and plot holes all around! Norm's son is a recycled version of young Norm from the first movie, the design for Chinatown in the movie is so poor and highly offensive (it's just a generic city with Chinese lanterns hanging around), and some of the polar bears, when standing on all four but still grabbing things with their forepaws, don't have thumbs! No freakin' THUMBS! And what about the plot holes? Don't get me started. Fong is the world's richest anthro rabbit who runs the Bank of Chinatown, and he's the only animal other than Norm and his son that every other human understands? What the hack, LG? And what about Jim the seal? All the other seals in the NOTM movies can't speak, but Jim CAN?! And why let animals announce the hockey game if no one's gonna understand them? What about that old lady Norm just met after arriving in New York and why he suddenly cares for her like she's a long-known family friend? Did you drug the writers for this movie, Lionsgate? The only good thing I like about this movie is Rob Schneider not returning for this movie, because his career was already going under. It's not just Schneider I'm happy to see go from this movie, but Bill Nighy of Love, Actually and The Magic Roundabout (not Weinstein's HORRIBLE edit) fame, too. If Nighy ever reprised his role as Socrates, not that he'd want to, he would've been lynched by the Lionsgate hate-base and his own fans. My point of advice, court-martial Lionsgate from the animation industry and never trust any animated, no, better than that, ANY movie with The Dove Foundation's "Family Approved" seal. Burn all copies of this movie at all costs! Make sure it never sees the eyes of future generations!
The Room (2003)
This film made no sense whatsoever, and that's what makes it a disasterpiece!
The film was a jumbled mess. I've known about this film for a long time, and I decided to watch it for the first time after watching Franco's The Disaster Artist, which was about the movie's troubled production, and boy, I tell you, it truly deserves the title of "The Best Worst Film Ever Made." The film was littered with subplots that were never talked about again after the scenes introducing them, like Denny's drug and money problems, Lisa's mom having breast cancer, which she NEVER brings up again! There's even some confusing garbage in there too, like their adoptive son Denny, yes, you heard me right, he's adopted according to a later scene, wanting to watch Johnny and Lisa have sex when he has homework to do! What the fudge, Wiseau? That's not all, thanks to Google, I found out that Wiseau wrote a few songs for his movie and got some singers to sing them. That's right. Wiseau wrote four fudging songs for this personification of all that is bad execution, and released them for its soundtrack! Wiseau himself, was really terrible as Johnny. He sounds so bored all the time. Compare Wiseau's role as Johnny to Jon Stewart's role as Zeebad in Harvey Weinstein's unnecessary dub for The Magic Roundabout, or Doogal in the US, there is no comparison! (Okay, maybe a little). What's crazier is that the film is supposed to be about Johnny getting back at Lisa for cheating on him, but they threw all that out the window like Johnny did with the TV in the end just for unneeded nonsense that doesn't connect to the story! This is minor, but in one scene, I saw the Disney Store in the background of one of the scenes, and Disney didn't even think about suing Wiseau for not getting the rights to use their logo, though considering his unknown wealth, he probably bought the rights during the production. In Johnny's words, "YOU HAD TORE ME APART, WISEAU!" The end just doesn't make any sense! After Johnny dies, Lisa has the chance to live with Mark from now on, but then he blames Lisa for Johnny's death and leaves her! I've heard of half-baked redemptions, but a half-baked betrayal is a whole new level! No wonder Adult Swim aired this film for a few April Fools. In conclusion, this is one heck of a disasterpiece, and if you thought Foodfight! Was the worst movie ever made, that movie's actually the worst ANIMATED movie ever made. This, this is the worst LIVE-ACTION movie ever made, and everyone fudging loves it that way! So if you've never seen this, get your bleach ready for your brain, because you're gonna need it when you finish watching this!
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, not like any other talking animal films I've seen in a while
This film, is, no doubt, the greatest animated (hybrid) film I've seen this year. Sony pulls another one right out of the hat. For a while, I never knew who Shawn Mendes was until I saw this film. His role as Lyle is very suiting, and I am already in love with Mendes. What else is that unlike most other cliched talking animal films where the animal just talks, Lyle can only communicate by singing, and the family's reaction to seeing Lyle for the first time is actually pretty realistic, too. No fainting, no "it's a talking animal" line, none of that dumb cliché. But believe me, looks aren't all that matters for this crocodile, because his cuteness, his Weeknd-esque voice, courtesy of Mendes himself, will melt everyone's heart away. The writers of this film really took Lyle's animation seriously when blending it with reality in this movie. And I hope that we get to see more of this singing crocodile in the future. This film, in short, is suitable for both kids, adults, and those who read the original books in their youth alike.