Jan 17 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – Q – Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) Movie Review ‘Magical Family Adventure’

Raya and the Last Dragon – Magical Family Adventure

Raya and the Last Dragon is under Q because of writer Qui Nguyen.

Director: Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs, John Ripa

Writer: Qui Nguyen, Adele Lim (Screenplay) Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Adele Lim, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Kiel Murray, Qui Nguyen, John Ripa, Dean Wellins (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Jona Xiao

Plot: In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Raya and the Last Dragon starts as Raya tells the story of how Kumandra was split between five kingdoms after an attack which saw the dragons of the world trapped in stone. Years after this, one piece of dragon magic is left, holding back a common enemy the Droon, when the five kingdoms clash, the power is broken, leading the Droon returning and putting the kingdoms in danger.

Raya spends the next six-years searching for a solution, hoping to find Sisu, the last remaining dragon and reunited the gem pieces to bring peace back to the world, one where everyone isn’t fighting against each other to survive.

Thoughts on Raya and the Last Dragon

Thoughts – Raya and the Last Dragon is an animated adventure following a young woman who wants to bring the world back together as one, only to find herself unable to trust the people around her because of years of war between the different kingdoms, needing to let people in to help her succeed in her adventure to save what she might have lost. This is a film that gets everything right with the supporting cast giving us a chance to get a few laughs along the way, each with their own reason for joining Raya on the adventure, with everyone in this world being people that have lost something along the way. The world created with the animation is beautiful, with a mix of different ideas for each kingdom to have, using the different environments to make them standout. This is a film with a deeper message that would be important for everyone to understand, with a fun sense behind the world filled with defeat.

Final Thoughts – Raya and the Last Dragon is a delightful movie, filled with adventure, peril and an important message.

Dec 16 2021

Luca (2021) Movie Review

Director: Enrico Casarosa

Writer: Jesse Andrews, Mike Jones (Screenplay) Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, Simon Stephenson (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli

Plot: On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and a sea monster disguised as a human.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Luca starts when a young sea creature Luca finds his daily underwater routine getting boring, until he finds a human item in his home, leading him to investigate more of the surface, where he meets Alberto, who has been living on the surface for years now.

When Luca gets caught out in his surface activities, he decides to runaway to the local Italian town with Alberto, where they must learn to be around humans, making friends with Guilia, helping her prepare for a local race. The pair must keep the truth about themselves hidden, from a town that has been hunting for them for years.

Thoughts on Luca

Thoughts – Luca is an animated movie that will continue to give the life lessons about trying something new, learning to accept people who are different and most importantly, the importance of friendship. The movie will use the Italian culture to help show the traditions between the food, the buildings and the fears of the unknown within the waters, with sea creatures. The movies will beautiful, just like any of the Disney movies, giving us a visual treat from both one and under the surface. This is one of the most popular recent movies from Disney movies, one that is filled with all the heart of soul needing to make it stand out for years to come.

Final Thoughts – Luca is an enjoyable addition to the Disney animation world.

Nov 7 2021

The Castaways (2020) Movie Review ‘Enjoyable Animation’

The Castaways – Enjoyable Animation

Director: Francesco Dafano, Luca Della Grotta

Writer: Francesco Dafano, Andrea Nobile (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Rossy de Palma, Dave Willis, Marc Thompson, Tyler Bunch, Sam Haft, Billy Bob Thompson

Plot: Boxes, bottles, cans. Garbage. Abandoned, ignored, inert. Until nightfall. Slim is a resigned cardboard box. but his fate changes when a kid toy box, Spark, involves him and his pals in an adventure that will change their life forever.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Castaways starts when a new piece of garbage Spark, finds himself needing to learn quick of Slim about the world that he has found himself in, and when the suckers turn up, they go out of the safety of the kitchen they hide in, the find themselves in the open streets, on the run.

Slim reluctantly looks to help Spark find a safe place, a fable place, where he will need to fight against the Predators who hunt around for trash to destroy.

Thoughts on The Castaways

Thoughts – The Castaways is a fun little animation movie that dives into the magic of Toy Story, with the idea that trash items will find themselves needing to fight for their lives despite being thrown out by humans. Creating an underworld society there they look to get on with their lives, but know the dangers if they are caught. This is told in a way that will give us an unlikely group of characters coming together for the better good, while the evil figures might well look like a traditional big shader figures. With each location we get to enter into a location where the strangest places to find trash hiding away from the world. This is a story that has everything going for it with the journey being made, characters filled with good, to create a film that the whole family can enjoy and get the message about recycling in.

Signature Entertainment presents The Castaways on Digital Platforms on 15th November

Final Thoughts – The Castaways is an animation movie the whole family can enjoy.

Nov 4 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Adventure – D – Dragon Rider (2020) Movie Review

Director: Tomer Eshed

Writer: Johnny Smith (Screenplay) Cornelia Funke (Book)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Felicity Jones, Freddie Highmore, Patrick Stewart, Nonso Anozie, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal

Plot: A young silver dragon teams up with a mountain spirit and an orphaned boy on a journey through the Himalayas in search for the Rim of Heaven.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dragon Rider starts when the humans start to move closer to the hidden dragon world, young dragon Firedrake wants to help find safety for the dragons, leaving with his best friend Sorrell in search of the Rim of Heaven. The adventure takes them to London where they find Ben an orphan who is on the run, who pretends to be a Dragon Rider.

The reappearance of a dragon has grabbed the attention of mechanical dragon Nettlebrand who has been waiting to feed on the dragons, leading to a race against time to save the dragons before it is too late.

Thoughts on Dragon Rider

Characters – Firedrake is the young dragon that has always dreamed of seeing more of the world, he wants to prove himself to his kind and when the humans start getting close, he decides to try and find them a new home, he is naïve in nature, too welcoming to the human and must learn to be the brave hero he was always meant to be. Sorrell is the brownie that joins Firedrake on the adventure, she is a tough fighter despite her size and doesn’t trust Ben at any stage of the adventure. Ben is the orphan that is on the streets committing crimes, who pretends to be a dragon rider to escape and along the way he learns about moving on from the tragedy he has been through. Nettlebrand is the mechanical dragon bulit to fight and destroy dragons, he has been waiting for years to find a new victim and chases Firedrake around the world for more dragons.

Story – The story here follows a young dragon that goes in search of a new home, wanting to prove himself to elders, in an adventure that takes them around the world, while being hunted by a dragon eater. This is a nice story about finding your place in the world, mixing the idea that the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ movies happened in this world, without people knowing the dragons are real. We do get a host of mythical creatures that Firedrake meets along the way, showing us that not everyone is the evil as they believe them to be. We get to learn that not everybody is who you think they are, and opening up can help find peace.

Themes – Dragon Rider is an animated adventure film that will take the mythical creatures around the world in search of a new home, on a journey which will let them meet other mythical creatures along the way. If you are a fan of learning about the creatures that might well have once lived, this will give you stories about them still being around.

Dragon Rider is a fun family adventure film that will get laughs and an enjoyable number of mythical creatures.

Oct 14 2021

Christmas at Cattle Hill (2020) Movie Review ‘Cute Christmas Movie’

Christmas at Cattle Hill – Cute Christmas Movie

Director: Will Ashurst

Writer: Ole Christian Solbakken (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Charlotte Reynard, Daniel Maley, Corin Silva, Gianna Carpenito, Terrence Mann

Plot: Klara the Calf is excited to spend her first Christmas on Cattle Hill with her Father, but when they arrive at the farm Klara is disappointed to see he has not attempted to decorate for the holidays. When her father is unexpectedly called away for work, Klara sees it as an opportunity to make Cattle Hill a Christmas paradise with the help of the cheeky Christmas elf who lives on the farm, but as Klara finds out it is about being together at Christmas which is the most important.

Runtime: 1 Hour 8 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Christmas at Cattle Hill starts when Christmas is coming to Cattle Hill and Klara is looking forward to her first Christmas here. The Christmas plans don’t go how Klara is expecting when her time with her Father are cut short, as Klara learns that her father tends to spend Christmas alone, hoping the people around the town, never decorating his place.

As Klara starts looking to bring together her family, she gets caught up learning about different legends that have been created in the town, ones which she might end up breaking or learning from.

Thoughts on Christmas at Cattle Hill

Thoughts – Christmas at Cattle Hill is an animated movie that will look to bring together the idea that Christmas is best together, rather than having the best decoration. We do get the likeable characters with the younger members of a family getting caught up in needing to fix Christmas and learning that she will have the support of her family to make things better, while bringing together the animals that are different. This will offer up some nice music that is focused on bringing back the meaning of Christmas in the purest way, one that is easy to watch and will have a few laughs along the way. The animation in the film is strong, even if the decision to use different farm animals, might seem strange for certain moments.

Signature Entertainment presents Christmas at Cattle Hill on Digital Platforms 18th October

Final Thoughts – Christmas at Cattle Hill is a cute and charming Christmas, with the true meaning of Christmas coming through.