In an ALL NEW video format!!
Agent White takes a look at the latest Blockbuster hit, and tells you if it really lives up to the hype
4 December 2010
27 August 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs the World - 2nd Text Review
This months selection of films at the cinema has made a massive improvement over the overall sub-par releases last month, the major one so far being the release of "The Expendables", having a powerhouse action cast and pulling in the greatest profit going by opening weekend sales. However, today I'm not reviewing "The Expendables", and this is for one key reason, but I'll get to that later on. Today's film is Scott Pilgrim vs the World, a film based upon the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Now, this film has been met with a lot of varied criticism and once you see the film it's easy to see why; This film has a little bit of everything. You've got romance, comedy, action and drama all combined into a single movie, and every part of it is superbly written, and while the pace at times is a little iffy, it's hard not to appreciate the sheer charm that movie presents. And I'm here to review it today, so let's dig right in.
First off, a summary of the plot. Our protaganist, Scott Pilgrim, is living a fairly happy life, he's in a band and dating a pretty high school girl, until in his dreams, he encounters a strange girl, Ramona Flowers, rollerblading through and she turns up in several aspects of his life, appearing a parties and while on dates, until he bites the bullet and talks to her. While initially awkward, the two enter into a relationship until Scott is ambushed during a concert by someone declaring to be "Ramona's first evil ex-boyfriend". From then on, if Scott wants to continue dating Ramona, he has to fight and defeat her Seven Evil Exe's, while simultaneously juggling his normal life, which seems to have taken a turn from the normal ever since he encountered Ramona, and he's got to get it back together and really see what's important. From there on, it's into spoiler zone, so I'll avoid and move onto the next part.
Now we're gonna look at the characters and cast. Our male lead is the titular Scott Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera. 22-year old Scott is introduced as a bit of loser, being bass player in his friends' band, Sex Bob-Omb, in between jobs, sharing an apartment with his gay roommate, and as of recently, dating a high schooler. He's not a totally pathetic person, but he seems thoroughly... average at first glance. Cera does a fine job in this film as Scott, and while there a number of places I could suggest improvement, fundamentally, there's nothing wrong with this casting choice, and I am thoroughly happy with him. His girlfriend at movie's beginning is one Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong, who Scott finds a satisfaction and happiness with, while Knives devlops a sort of obsession with Scott. Her whole mentality throughout the film is similar to Scott's, although where his mentality is what grows and develops throughout, Knives as
a person really grows up throughout the movie, which really shows at it's culmination. Our female lead and something of an unwilling competitor for Scott's affection, Ramona Flowers, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Ramona is shown as something of an uncaring personality initially, only appearing to give Scott a chance so that he'll leave her alone, until the movie goes on, and some of the reasons for her keeping herself aloof make themselves known, and she warms up to Scott after a while as their relationship progresses. Winstead out of these three I feel makes the best performance. She has the character down to a tee, and really brings a somewhat lifeless character to life.
The supporting cast in this film is quite possibly the best I have ever seen, and the actors all show a great degree of enthusiam for their parts. Aside from several big names that litter the cast such as Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman, the various other actors that play the support cast closer to the central characters do phenominal jobs. Scott's close circle of friends, Stephen Stills, Kim Pine and Young Neil make themselves outright individuals right from the off. Stephen Stills is the self-described "talent" of Sex Bob-Omb who ends up with awful self-confidence issues just before a show. Kim Pine is the cynical, very pessimistic drummer of the band who has known Scott since High School, Young Neil is something of a fan of the band who lets them practice at his house. The support character who absolutely steals the show is Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells, portrayed by Keiran Culkin, who acts as something of Scott's mentor, is at times absolutely shameless, at one point steals Scott's sister's boyfriend at Scott's concert. I had worries about this the second I saw Keiran Culkin on the cast list, as Wallace is one of my favourite characters from the graphic novel, but he blew me away with how well he actually pulled it off.
The acting throughout the film is consistently great. Cera and Winstead offer very convincing performances, and excellently carry the gravity of any scene, should the scene actually require, and can actually be suprisingly funny. Cera manages to act very well as something of a geeky loser, but the reality is that Scott Pilgrim is a jerk. While he is essentially a nice guy, the way he acts and how he handles things really demonstrate the emotional immaturity of the character, creating a really interesting devolpment of both himself and Ramona. Ramona on the other hand, as more and more exes bite the dust seems to become more and more unlikeable, and even Scott himself sees this. Of course, in the graphic novels, this is fleshed out much more than what the movie could realistically shown us, but it's still really interesting to watch. The first scene which Cera and Winstead share at a party is absolutely priceless, as it shows just how much of an idiot Scott really is, considering he uses the same line on both Knives and Ramona, both of them reacting in two very different ways.
Now we go to the technical point. The editing in this game was cranked up to the max to give this film a very similar feel to the graphic novels. There are cuts that resemble comic panels, sound effects written on such as "PHWOOOOM", and even little notes next to each character as they appear giving small description and ratings to humourous effect. At some points there's even a narrator who chirps in to give the background information on a scene. All this is done flawlessly without interfering with the actual scene taking place. For example, when we cut to Sex Bob-Omb's concert, a note pops up telling the location with the note: 'This place is a toilet'. There is a distinct style of humour that permeates this picture with is both subtle and in your face comedy mixing up and appearing when the situation requires. Some lines are cringeworthy, but in a good way, not the way that makes you just cry for the writers, but you laugh at how bad they are. You can't pity a director whose willing to poke fun at his own movie for the audience's entertainment. There are a ton of little references and jokes made in relation to old video games, such as the very opening. As the camera pans towards the house the guys are in, you can hear a faint music cue from The Legend of Zelda opening, infitting with the films tagline of 'an epic of epic epicness.' All these little touches and placements in the background, and the execution of the fight scenes in the small details and general appearance make this one of the most visually appeasing films I have seen this year.
Since this is an adaptation film, you are obviously going to loose a lot of detail that gets covered in the comics. For example, while I don't wish to ruin anything, Nega-Scott is handled so differently you will not know how to react, and lines seem to come from the 'wrong' character, so to speak, but if this film were to attempt to cover everything in the way it is in the comics, you'd end up with a convoluted, undefinable movie like "The Last Airbender". The thing is, this is a movie, and it just can't acheive in the space of 2 hours what a comic or a book or a video game can in the spae of far longer to develop its characters and story. As far as this is concerned, this movie has done a fantastic job.
I'm in lesbians with this movie. There is something here that almost everyone can enjoy, the comedy is hilarious, the story is gripping, engaging but still doesn't take itself so serious you can't enjoy it. This film could have been so bad, with 7 enemies made clear right from the start we were gonna have 7 fight sequences minimum. They could have been so repetitive, and so boring, but the chereography was amazing and varied, and that's the key; Variation. There's always something different to see with this movie, and watching it alone is an experience. All I can do is highly recommend this film to anyone who plays video games, who has read the graphic novels, or anyone who wants a genuinely unique cinematic experience. It's also great for dates.
Now, if you'll recall, I mentioned a reason why I'm looking at this film instead of "The Expendables". This reason is clued in by the title of this site. My job is to give you the low down on titles you should make the choice to go and see, and The Expendables simply doesn't fill that criteria. It's a "safe" movie. What do I mean by this? You go into this movie knowing that it's going to be an action filled gung-ho powerhouse of excitement, and while you don't know what the movie is about, you know what to go into to expect. Scott Pilgrim is a wild card title; you go into this movie on a gamble because you will most likely have no idea what it is really about. THAT is what I'm here to do. Of course you're going to see "The Expendables", but you don't know about this film, and I'm going to highlight this and recommend it to anyone I see. So once again this is White signing off, and hoping this helped you make the White Choice
First off, a summary of the plot. Our protaganist, Scott Pilgrim, is living a fairly happy life, he's in a band and dating a pretty high school girl, until in his dreams, he encounters a strange girl, Ramona Flowers, rollerblading through and she turns up in several aspects of his life, appearing a parties and while on dates, until he bites the bullet and talks to her. While initially awkward, the two enter into a relationship until Scott is ambushed during a concert by someone declaring to be "Ramona's first evil ex-boyfriend". From then on, if Scott wants to continue dating Ramona, he has to fight and defeat her Seven Evil Exe's, while simultaneously juggling his normal life, which seems to have taken a turn from the normal ever since he encountered Ramona, and he's got to get it back together and really see what's important. From there on, it's into spoiler zone, so I'll avoid and move onto the next part.
Now we're gonna look at the characters and cast. Our male lead is the titular Scott Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera. 22-year old Scott is introduced as a bit of loser, being bass player in his friends' band, Sex Bob-Omb, in between jobs, sharing an apartment with his gay roommate, and as of recently, dating a high schooler. He's not a totally pathetic person, but he seems thoroughly... average at first glance. Cera does a fine job in this film as Scott, and while there a number of places I could suggest improvement, fundamentally, there's nothing wrong with this casting choice, and I am thoroughly happy with him. His girlfriend at movie's beginning is one Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong, who Scott finds a satisfaction and happiness with, while Knives devlops a sort of obsession with Scott. Her whole mentality throughout the film is similar to Scott's, although where his mentality is what grows and develops throughout, Knives as
a person really grows up throughout the movie, which really shows at it's culmination. Our female lead and something of an unwilling competitor for Scott's affection, Ramona Flowers, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Ramona is shown as something of an uncaring personality initially, only appearing to give Scott a chance so that he'll leave her alone, until the movie goes on, and some of the reasons for her keeping herself aloof make themselves known, and she warms up to Scott after a while as their relationship progresses. Winstead out of these three I feel makes the best performance. She has the character down to a tee, and really brings a somewhat lifeless character to life.
The supporting cast in this film is quite possibly the best I have ever seen, and the actors all show a great degree of enthusiam for their parts. Aside from several big names that litter the cast such as Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman, the various other actors that play the support cast closer to the central characters do phenominal jobs. Scott's close circle of friends, Stephen Stills, Kim Pine and Young Neil make themselves outright individuals right from the off. Stephen Stills is the self-described "talent" of Sex Bob-Omb who ends up with awful self-confidence issues just before a show. Kim Pine is the cynical, very pessimistic drummer of the band who has known Scott since High School, Young Neil is something of a fan of the band who lets them practice at his house. The support character who absolutely steals the show is Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells, portrayed by Keiran Culkin, who acts as something of Scott's mentor, is at times absolutely shameless, at one point steals Scott's sister's boyfriend at Scott's concert. I had worries about this the second I saw Keiran Culkin on the cast list, as Wallace is one of my favourite characters from the graphic novel, but he blew me away with how well he actually pulled it off.
The acting throughout the film is consistently great. Cera and Winstead offer very convincing performances, and excellently carry the gravity of any scene, should the scene actually require, and can actually be suprisingly funny. Cera manages to act very well as something of a geeky loser, but the reality is that Scott Pilgrim is a jerk. While he is essentially a nice guy, the way he acts and how he handles things really demonstrate the emotional immaturity of the character, creating a really interesting devolpment of both himself and Ramona. Ramona on the other hand, as more and more exes bite the dust seems to become more and more unlikeable, and even Scott himself sees this. Of course, in the graphic novels, this is fleshed out much more than what the movie could realistically shown us, but it's still really interesting to watch. The first scene which Cera and Winstead share at a party is absolutely priceless, as it shows just how much of an idiot Scott really is, considering he uses the same line on both Knives and Ramona, both of them reacting in two very different ways.
Now we go to the technical point. The editing in this game was cranked up to the max to give this film a very similar feel to the graphic novels. There are cuts that resemble comic panels, sound effects written on such as "PHWOOOOM", and even little notes next to each character as they appear giving small description and ratings to humourous effect. At some points there's even a narrator who chirps in to give the background information on a scene. All this is done flawlessly without interfering with the actual scene taking place. For example, when we cut to Sex Bob-Omb's concert, a note pops up telling the location with the note: 'This place is a toilet'. There is a distinct style of humour that permeates this picture with is both subtle and in your face comedy mixing up and appearing when the situation requires. Some lines are cringeworthy, but in a good way, not the way that makes you just cry for the writers, but you laugh at how bad they are. You can't pity a director whose willing to poke fun at his own movie for the audience's entertainment. There are a ton of little references and jokes made in relation to old video games, such as the very opening. As the camera pans towards the house the guys are in, you can hear a faint music cue from The Legend of Zelda opening, infitting with the films tagline of 'an epic of epic epicness.' All these little touches and placements in the background, and the execution of the fight scenes in the small details and general appearance make this one of the most visually appeasing films I have seen this year.
Since this is an adaptation film, you are obviously going to loose a lot of detail that gets covered in the comics. For example, while I don't wish to ruin anything, Nega-Scott is handled so differently you will not know how to react, and lines seem to come from the 'wrong' character, so to speak, but if this film were to attempt to cover everything in the way it is in the comics, you'd end up with a convoluted, undefinable movie like "The Last Airbender". The thing is, this is a movie, and it just can't acheive in the space of 2 hours what a comic or a book or a video game can in the spae of far longer to develop its characters and story. As far as this is concerned, this movie has done a fantastic job.
I'm in lesbians with this movie. There is something here that almost everyone can enjoy, the comedy is hilarious, the story is gripping, engaging but still doesn't take itself so serious you can't enjoy it. This film could have been so bad, with 7 enemies made clear right from the start we were gonna have 7 fight sequences minimum. They could have been so repetitive, and so boring, but the chereography was amazing and varied, and that's the key; Variation. There's always something different to see with this movie, and watching it alone is an experience. All I can do is highly recommend this film to anyone who plays video games, who has read the graphic novels, or anyone who wants a genuinely unique cinematic experience. It's also great for dates.
Now, if you'll recall, I mentioned a reason why I'm looking at this film instead of "The Expendables". This reason is clued in by the title of this site. My job is to give you the low down on titles you should make the choice to go and see, and The Expendables simply doesn't fill that criteria. It's a "safe" movie. What do I mean by this? You go into this movie knowing that it's going to be an action filled gung-ho powerhouse of excitement, and while you don't know what the movie is about, you know what to go into to expect. Scott Pilgrim is a wild card title; you go into this movie on a gamble because you will most likely have no idea what it is really about. THAT is what I'm here to do. Of course you're going to see "The Expendables", but you don't know about this film, and I'm going to highlight this and recommend it to anyone I see. So once again this is White signing off, and hoping this helped you make the White Choice
3 August 2010
Future Reviews
Hi there to the 2 people who I'm sure actually look at this blog. In the future, I plan on doing far more movie reviews than just the one that I've got here. I wasn't planning to start doing this just yet, but the oppourtunity to write the Toy Story 3 review was just too perfect. Anyway, I'm doing this to highlight a number of movies and games and such I plan on looking over. The transfers between various mediums, such as comic books to film, film to video-game etc. has interested me greatly, so I'll be doing a number of them when I'm not looking at the new releases in the cinema.
First up will be a review of Digimon: The Movie. Don't bother telling me that it's actually three films, I know, but I don't care. That's how I watched it as a kid. I may review Revenge of Diaboromon eventually, but that will be down to viewer input and whether or not I can get around to watching it at some point... god I feel old.
I'm going to look into some other Anime-based media, including a couple of Video Games (Most likely Some of the Wild Arms series) and two or three movies. No, I am not reviewing The Last Airbender or Dragonball Evolution for you. You know those movies are terrible, and the guys over at thatguywiththeglasses.com have already done reviews of both. Most likely they will be Death Note, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although that one will take a while) and Astro Boy. Keep an eye open.
As far as current movie reviews go... well, it's dependant on what available and prices. As a teenager, I don't have access to a lot of money, and I really don't like going to watch movies on my own. Me and a few friends should be going to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World, so watch out for that review, otherwise there's not a lot I can guarantee.
I'm also gonna start doing video reviews a la The Nostalgia Critic, or Linkara or Spoony. Whoever takes your fancy. If you have any requests for films, specifically the ones based from other source materials like Anime, Comic books, or even TV shows, lemme know in that little comment box down there.
So this is White signing off, giving you the info, and telling you to make the White Choice.
First up will be a review of Digimon: The Movie. Don't bother telling me that it's actually three films, I know, but I don't care. That's how I watched it as a kid. I may review Revenge of Diaboromon eventually, but that will be down to viewer input and whether or not I can get around to watching it at some point... god I feel old.
I'm going to look into some other Anime-based media, including a couple of Video Games (Most likely Some of the Wild Arms series) and two or three movies. No, I am not reviewing The Last Airbender or Dragonball Evolution for you. You know those movies are terrible, and the guys over at thatguywiththeglasses.com have already done reviews of both. Most likely they will be Death Note, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although that one will take a while) and Astro Boy. Keep an eye open.
As far as current movie reviews go... well, it's dependant on what available and prices. As a teenager, I don't have access to a lot of money, and I really don't like going to watch movies on my own. Me and a few friends should be going to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World, so watch out for that review, otherwise there's not a lot I can guarantee.
I'm also gonna start doing video reviews a la The Nostalgia Critic, or Linkara or Spoony. Whoever takes your fancy. If you have any requests for films, specifically the ones based from other source materials like Anime, Comic books, or even TV shows, lemme know in that little comment box down there.
So this is White signing off, giving you the info, and telling you to make the White Choice.
19 July 2010
The 1st Text Review - Toy Story 3
This Month has not been kind to cinema. Seeing the release of Eclipse, the latest installment of the Twilight saga, is never a good sign, but when it comes coupled with the recent bomb of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, you'd forgive regular cinema-goers for having a slight sob to themselves. This movie provides a sound, definitive release from the heavily dramatic releases of recent times, while simultaneously providing a long awaited, much awaited three-quel. This is Toy Story 3.
This film honestly surprised me right from the get-go. I wasn't expecting this film to be any good whatsoever, and I expected this to run straight into the ground. I am exceedingly happy that this is not the case. I grew up watching the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and it has acted as one of the major sparks of my inspiration, and ultimately encouraging the wonder you have as a little kid about "what happens when you're not there". This was another major reason I worried about this film, as it had a great legacy to live up to in this respect. I am glad to say my distrust was entirely unfounded.
Let's begin on the acting. Was it believable, and did it accomplish it's intended result? On both counts, I'd have to say yes. Almost the entirety of the original voice-cast reprise their old roles from the first two films, and remain loyal to their original performances. The one exception to this is the voice of Slinky, Jim Varney, who unfortunately passed away shortly after the release of the second film. He was voiced in this incarnation by Blake Clark, who does an excellent job which is nigh indistinguishable from Varney's portrayal. Both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen do excellent jobs as Woody and Buzz once again. At times, Buzz's voice shows some noticeable signs of age, but this is only in minor instances, and you go into this going through the details with a fine-tooth comb (Guilty as charged...). The quality of the acting is also very high, as the actors hit every high note when they need to, metaphorically. What more can be said, really?
Now onto the plot. Without going into spoiler territory, the outset of the film goes through some home footage recorded by Andy's Mother, showing a very homely, secure chronology of Andy's history with his beloved toys. The time frame finally comes to the modern day, showing Andy as a 17 year-old teenager, and having outgrown his toys, who now reside within his solitary toy box. They seemingly accept their fate, and await a comfortable life in the attic. Their plans are suddenly interrupted when they get accidentally donated to the Sunnyside Day-Care, and upon their arrival, they get excited that they'll finally be played with again. All of them but Woody, who still feels an attachment to Andy, as they are his toys. They are greeted by Lotso, a cuddly bear who acts as a warden, or chairman of all the toys at Sunnyside. Upon arrival, they are all taken aback, as it seems like true toy paradise. Woody however still doesn't feel right at the day-care, and makes a point to return to Andy, even if no-one else will. The reality is brought forward to them all very harshly, when the toddlers arrive, and innocently abuse and torture the poor toys. Here they make their plans, and the storyline unfolds in many ways I couldn't have guessed.
Like I said, I really don't want to go into spoiler territory as this film is truly something to watch, but the plot takes so many turns, and retain the lovable charm that the previous two films have always managed to keep going. The first Toy Story was credited as a technological marvel, but in this day and age, the technology is far more common, so this film doesn't have that same argument to fall back on, leaving it all up to the content. Needless to say, Toy Story 3 does not disappoint on this front. The CGI effects are consistently amazing, although nothing I can't say that we're used to by now. The Story could have ended in one of many possible ways, and one of several points in the movie. Would the ending have had the same impact as it does? Well, possibly not, but that doesn't prevent the movie from having any less of an emotional feel to it. I doubt I speak for just myself when I say this movies confronts many of the problems we face while growing up, and after an 11 year break it feels as thought the ideas and story and characters have matured as we have. I saw the original Toy Story as a child, and I go back to see Toy Story 3 as a young adult, just like Andy, and it illustrates some of the hardships of growing up, and leaving those fond memories behind as we grow older. This film captures it spectacularly.
This is not to say that I don't have a few complaints on the film. A few too many of the jokes rely on the premise that you've seen the previous two films, and while I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't, it does leave a few people scratching their heads in the audience. Regardless, the film does remain incredibly funny to watch, for both younger and older audiences. Another problem I had was with the 3D in this film. Now, this film, unlike M. Night Shyamalan's latest disaster, does seem to actually be made in 3D, and don't get me wrong, it works far better than the converted mess that is The Last Airbender, but it never really added anything to the movie, save for one or two specific scenes. If you want my recommendation, then I suggest you go and see this movie in 2D, so long as the detail is kept up. The bonus of 3D was the very minute detail, which does this film many favours, but if the same level can be reached in 2D, then I see no reason why you would want one way or the other. If you want to pay that little bit extra, then by all means go for 3D, but 2D won't detract from the experience. My final problem with this film is the occasional examples of what seem like just plain bad writing. I won't spoil and say which scenes I'm talking about, but I trust you'd recognize them.
I prefer not to rate film on a 1-10 scale, so I'll leave my rating as "a must-watch". If you have watched either Toy Story film, you owe it to yourself to make the effort to go and see this one. If you have never seen Toy Story... well, initially I question why, and secondly, I recommend seeing at least the first movie if not the second. Both can be picked up relatively cheaply nowadays, and both are for sale or rental on PlayStation Network if you own a PS3.
And that is my review of Toy Story 3. I'm hoping this has given you a bit of an insight into the film itself, and has helped cement in your mind whether or not to go and see this great movie. However most of all, I hope it has made you make the White Choice.
This film honestly surprised me right from the get-go. I wasn't expecting this film to be any good whatsoever, and I expected this to run straight into the ground. I am exceedingly happy that this is not the case. I grew up watching the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and it has acted as one of the major sparks of my inspiration, and ultimately encouraging the wonder you have as a little kid about "what happens when you're not there". This was another major reason I worried about this film, as it had a great legacy to live up to in this respect. I am glad to say my distrust was entirely unfounded.
Let's begin on the acting. Was it believable, and did it accomplish it's intended result? On both counts, I'd have to say yes. Almost the entirety of the original voice-cast reprise their old roles from the first two films, and remain loyal to their original performances. The one exception to this is the voice of Slinky, Jim Varney, who unfortunately passed away shortly after the release of the second film. He was voiced in this incarnation by Blake Clark, who does an excellent job which is nigh indistinguishable from Varney's portrayal. Both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen do excellent jobs as Woody and Buzz once again. At times, Buzz's voice shows some noticeable signs of age, but this is only in minor instances, and you go into this going through the details with a fine-tooth comb (Guilty as charged...). The quality of the acting is also very high, as the actors hit every high note when they need to, metaphorically. What more can be said, really?
Now onto the plot. Without going into spoiler territory, the outset of the film goes through some home footage recorded by Andy's Mother, showing a very homely, secure chronology of Andy's history with his beloved toys. The time frame finally comes to the modern day, showing Andy as a 17 year-old teenager, and having outgrown his toys, who now reside within his solitary toy box. They seemingly accept their fate, and await a comfortable life in the attic. Their plans are suddenly interrupted when they get accidentally donated to the Sunnyside Day-Care, and upon their arrival, they get excited that they'll finally be played with again. All of them but Woody, who still feels an attachment to Andy, as they are his toys. They are greeted by Lotso, a cuddly bear who acts as a warden, or chairman of all the toys at Sunnyside. Upon arrival, they are all taken aback, as it seems like true toy paradise. Woody however still doesn't feel right at the day-care, and makes a point to return to Andy, even if no-one else will. The reality is brought forward to them all very harshly, when the toddlers arrive, and innocently abuse and torture the poor toys. Here they make their plans, and the storyline unfolds in many ways I couldn't have guessed.
Like I said, I really don't want to go into spoiler territory as this film is truly something to watch, but the plot takes so many turns, and retain the lovable charm that the previous two films have always managed to keep going. The first Toy Story was credited as a technological marvel, but in this day and age, the technology is far more common, so this film doesn't have that same argument to fall back on, leaving it all up to the content. Needless to say, Toy Story 3 does not disappoint on this front. The CGI effects are consistently amazing, although nothing I can't say that we're used to by now. The Story could have ended in one of many possible ways, and one of several points in the movie. Would the ending have had the same impact as it does? Well, possibly not, but that doesn't prevent the movie from having any less of an emotional feel to it. I doubt I speak for just myself when I say this movies confronts many of the problems we face while growing up, and after an 11 year break it feels as thought the ideas and story and characters have matured as we have. I saw the original Toy Story as a child, and I go back to see Toy Story 3 as a young adult, just like Andy, and it illustrates some of the hardships of growing up, and leaving those fond memories behind as we grow older. This film captures it spectacularly.
This is not to say that I don't have a few complaints on the film. A few too many of the jokes rely on the premise that you've seen the previous two films, and while I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't, it does leave a few people scratching their heads in the audience. Regardless, the film does remain incredibly funny to watch, for both younger and older audiences. Another problem I had was with the 3D in this film. Now, this film, unlike M. Night Shyamalan's latest disaster, does seem to actually be made in 3D, and don't get me wrong, it works far better than the converted mess that is The Last Airbender, but it never really added anything to the movie, save for one or two specific scenes. If you want my recommendation, then I suggest you go and see this movie in 2D, so long as the detail is kept up. The bonus of 3D was the very minute detail, which does this film many favours, but if the same level can be reached in 2D, then I see no reason why you would want one way or the other. If you want to pay that little bit extra, then by all means go for 3D, but 2D won't detract from the experience. My final problem with this film is the occasional examples of what seem like just plain bad writing. I won't spoil and say which scenes I'm talking about, but I trust you'd recognize them.
I prefer not to rate film on a 1-10 scale, so I'll leave my rating as "a must-watch". If you have watched either Toy Story film, you owe it to yourself to make the effort to go and see this one. If you have never seen Toy Story... well, initially I question why, and secondly, I recommend seeing at least the first movie if not the second. Both can be picked up relatively cheaply nowadays, and both are for sale or rental on PlayStation Network if you own a PS3.
And that is my review of Toy Story 3. I'm hoping this has given you a bit of an insight into the film itself, and has helped cement in your mind whether or not to go and see this great movie. However most of all, I hope it has made you make the White Choice.
17 July 2010
Welcome to the White Choice!
Hello and welcome to the White Choice, a reviewing blog aiming to keep you, the viewers, up to date, entertained and well funded. How do I keep you well funded? I go out there, and watch the modern-day release films of the week, and tell you just what they amount to.
Over the coming weeks, months, hell possibly years, I want to keep this blog going, and really establish myself as an active reviewer. That's not to say I won't often look back in anger at the cinematic abominations that have plagued our silver screens for decades, especially when it comes to the dangerously derivative or outright offensively terrible.
So in short, I ask you to keep an open mind, bearing that I'm fairly new to being cynical in a way that people give two shits about. The review format will be in either text or video form, mostly text at the outset due to my lack of decent recording equipment. Once I establish myself a bit more, then I will probably move onto video based reviews, but until that day comes, you, the viewer, will have to settle for being able to read.
My first review should appear in the coming weeks, either on a cinematic release I see, or a film recent released on DVD that I've been wanting to rip to shreds for a while now. So in closing, I say to you, the viewer, to keep making the White Choice.
Over the coming weeks, months, hell possibly years, I want to keep this blog going, and really establish myself as an active reviewer. That's not to say I won't often look back in anger at the cinematic abominations that have plagued our silver screens for decades, especially when it comes to the dangerously derivative or outright offensively terrible.
So in short, I ask you to keep an open mind, bearing that I'm fairly new to being cynical in a way that people give two shits about. The review format will be in either text or video form, mostly text at the outset due to my lack of decent recording equipment. Once I establish myself a bit more, then I will probably move onto video based reviews, but until that day comes, you, the viewer, will have to settle for being able to read.
My first review should appear in the coming weeks, either on a cinematic release I see, or a film recent released on DVD that I've been wanting to rip to shreds for a while now. So in closing, I say to you, the viewer, to keep making the White Choice.
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