Category Archives: Fantasy

“Toy Story 2” was the second movie I ever saw in theaters…I was about 8 at the time, and was totally entranced by the adventures of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and the rest of the memorable gang from Andy’s room. Although a lot of the emotional complexity was lost on me, I could still appreciate that it was more than just another animated kiddie-movie.

Ever since its inception, Pixar has had a knack for crafting brilliantly complex stories with cross-cutting demographic appeal. “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Up”…the list goes on and on. But “Toy Story” has been, perhaps, the most beloved Pixar series of all – a poignant series exploring issues of loss, abandonment, loyalty, and friendship. And “Toy Story 3,” the most recent entry in the franchise, is the outstanding crown jewel of this groundbreaking trilogy.

“Toy Story 3” begins with an action-scene spoof that’s really being played out in Andy’s imagination. It’s a charming introduction to a film that soon takes a surprisingly melancholy turn…Andy’s heading off to college, and the long-neglected toys are searching for some sort of relevance. After a narrow escape from the dreaded trash truck, they end up at the seemingly wonderful Sunnyside Daycare Center, where the strawberry-scented Lots o’ Hugging Bear (Lotso for short) offers them a permanent place to stay.

Unfortunately, Sunnyside turns out to be more of a prison than a paradise. Courageous cowboy Woody takes it upon himself to rescue his friends from Lotso’s sinister scheme – evoking imagery reminiscent of “Mission: Impossible” or “The Great Escape.”

I won’t say any more for fear of giving away plot elements…but suffice it to say that the film takes a series of very unexpected turns that are both unsettling and deeply moving.

I’ll start with the obvious: this is a fairly dark children’s movie. Most of the under-fives who see this movie will not be able to understand the underlying emotional complexity of the film, and thus will be disturbed by some of the scenes in the movie’s final act. Themes of death, sacrifice, and growing up aren’t exactly typical G-movie fare.

And parts of this film are truly heart-wrenching. Few movies have ever touched me as deeply as “Toy Story 3” did in its final moments. For a story about computer-animated toys, it elicits an unbelievable emotional impact. And that’s probably because it addresses such universal issues – a key reason for the series’ enduring popularity among children, teens, and adults alike. Pixar takes a step beyond the stereotypical or predictable “happy ending” by never flinching from the realities of life. In the context of a fantastical film, that’s a difficult balance to strike.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have its funny moments, though, because it does. Chief among these is a hilarious sequence in which space ranger Buzz Lightyear’s programming is reset to Spanish, transforming him into a mashup of Space Ranger and Zorro. A couple of new characters (Ken and Barbie) add a comic-romantic element to the series that ends up being immensely amusing (the mild innuendo present in the trailer is, for the most part, absent – the movie relies on clever humor rather than entendres and scatological humor).

Worldview elements are practically nonexistent. This movie is beautiful in its innocent simplicity – while characters behave in a way consistent with Christian principles of love and loyalty, the issue of God is never raised.

So, is it worth seeing?

I’ll admit that at first, it sounded like another little-kid movie. Happily, I was completely mistaken. This is a touching film that strikes a deep chord within the human soul – our need to be loved and accepted, and the pain of moving on to new stages of life. I wouldn’t take a four-year-old to see it, but I found it to be truly outstanding. Definitely one of Pixar’s finest pieces, and absolutely worth watching.

This one’s highly recommended.

VERDICT: 9/10
A near-flawless blend of humor, excitement, and emotional resonance.

Normalized Score: 7.9

Back when I was about eleven or twelve, my favorite computer game was Ensemble Studios’ strategy title “Age of Mythology.” In a nutshell, the game allows players to control armies of mythological creatures from Greek, Norse, and Egyptian folklore, pitting them against each other in a battle to the death. I remember thinking how cool it would be if someone eventually made a movie like the game.

That day has arrived.

“Clash of the Titans”, a remake of the 1981 fantasy-adventure film, is an ultra-violent, pulse-pounding, stupendously brainless mashup of classical mythology. As a longtime fan of films that involve gigantic CGI monsters blowing up the screen, “Clash of the Titans” was one of my must-see movies this year. After a busy few weeks, Pete and I decided to indulge in a little mindless action this afternoon and see if it was as good as the previews made it look.

The verdict? It’s exactly the movie the trailers depict – no more, no less. And that’s both good and bad.

The plot follows Perseus (the emotion-devoid Sam Worthington, best known for his recent role in “Avatar”), the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Angered that humanity is asserting its independence from the gods, Zeus – egged on by his power-hungry brother, Hades (played by Ralph Fiennes, better known as “Lord Voldemort”) – decides to unleash a legion of underworld monsters. His goal? To drive humans to their knees in prayer. (I’ll address the obvious worldview implications a little later on).

After the arrogant Queen Cassiopeia announces that her daughter Andromeda is more beautiful than Aphrodite, Hades promptly shows up to deliver a sinister promise: unless Andromeda sacrifices her own life, he will unleash the monstrous Kraken to destroy the entire city. Perseus decides to take matters into his own hands by killing the Kraken himself.

Easier said than done.

In his quest to obtain Medusa’s head (the only weapon that can defeat the Kraken), Perseus and his companions (who, with the exception of one character, are pretty much designated targets for unpleasant deaths) face off with a whole horde of mythological beasties. Among them are giant scorpions, eyeless witches, djinn (seemingly cribbed from “The Arabian Nights”), and a horribly disfigured warrior who happens to be Perseus’ sort-of-stepfather.

The movie is a slam-bang action extravaganza from start to finish. It never pretends to be sophisticated or intelligent – it’s all about swords, big monsters, and warriors roaring unintelligible things. (It never quite sinks to the stupidity level of last summer’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” however). And the action sequences are undeniably explosive – the final battle with the Kraken alone is worth the $8 price of admission. It’s violent, mindless, and remarkably entertaining.

From a worldview standpoint, there are a few considerations. Anyone who’s seen the trailer probably remembers the provocative teaser line “D**N THE GODS!” That irreverence is carried over into the movie as a whole – the gods are universally incompetent, disinterested, and deserving of revolt. And while that may be true in terms of the original Greek myths, a few of the rebellious statements made by Perseus come pretty close to swipes at the real-world God. The message of the movie is decidedly humanistic: man is completely capable of achieving heroic things by himself, and God doesn’t even really need to be involved.

But to be perfectly honest, I don’t think the filmmakers were intending to make an apologetic for atheism. While there’s definitely an undercurrent of anti-God feeling, philosophy takes a backseat to explosive stunts and big battle scenes. This movie is about monsters – the bigger the better – and the designers obviously spent most of their time making the city-size Kraken look phenomenal.

As expected, there’s a lot of violence (mostly bloodless). Countless soldiers and monsters are sliced, stabbed, drowned, crushed, burned, or turned to stone…but the PG-13 rating is never called into question. There are a few profanities, and one very brief suggestive moment, but no other offensive material. Anyone who’s seen “Lord of the Rings” won’t be seriously disturbed by “Clash of the Titans.”

So is it worth your money?

It was worth mine. But then again, I like this sort of thing. If fantasy monsters and sustained swordfights aren’t your thing…well, Nicholas Sparks’ “The Last Song” is playing in theaters right now…

I’ll stick with the Kraken.

VERDICT: 7/10
An absolutely mindless, yet marvelously entertaining, fantasy action film.

Normalized Score: 3.4