Tag: Animation

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – K – Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) Movie Review

Director: Sam Liu (Meander)

Writer: Brian Azzarello (Screenplay) Alan Moore (Graphic Novel)

Starring: (Voice Talents)

Plot: As Batman hunts for the escaped Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime attacks the Gordon family to prove a diabolical point mirroring his own fall into madness.


Tagline – The madness begins.

Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Never Gets Going

Story: Batman: The Killing Joke starts with Batman taking Batgirl under his wing while tracking down criminals, this leads Batgirl down a dark path because the man they are hunting Paris takes a shine to her, showing how she can become vulnerable, forcing Batman to take her out of the loop.

When Paris is captured, it gives The Joker a chance to escape and reign terror on the city once again, targeting the Gordon family, making the battle against the Batman just as personal as ever.

Thoughts on Batman: The Killing Joke

Characters – Batman is committed to protecting Gotham, no matter what, if people help him and he senses danger for them, he will tell them to leave, he wants to be the only one that risks anything for the city, only this time he will return to battle The Joker as his next plan comes to play, with his own closest allies becoming the target. The Joker has been waiting and planning for his next battle with the Batman, we do dive into his past as an aspiring stand up comic with a pregnant wife waiting for him, he is drawn to the life of crime to make a different in the world, now he will do anything to make sure he gets what he wants. Batgirl has been working with Batman, she is learning on the job, which sees her getting the thrill out of fighting crime, which is the worry for the Batman, she gets drawn into her first personal battle, which is why Batman tries to get her out of the fight, until she becomes the latest victim of it all. Commissioner Gordon is working with Batman and even after everything he goes through, he wants him bought in the correct way.

Story – The story here follows Batman going face to face with the Joker once again after his latest escape from the Asylum and targets the Gordon family. This is a story that does do a couple of things well, first diving into the Joker’s back story is interesting to see, having Batman in the mentoring role is good too, only it does seem to much of do what I say, not what I do. When it comes to the weaknesses, it starts off with the fact the Joker’s masterplan doesn’t seem that interesting or even made that clear, it could seem too dark for the usual, with certain parts of what the Joker does, seeming more about shock value over anything else. The length of the film is also a big question because it is later into the film before we even meet the Joker.

Action/Crime – The action in the film is very basic, we could have seen a lot more from an animated movie, with the crime side of the film being more about trying to get to the bottom of what the Joker wants this time.

Settings – The film is set in the locations you would expect to see the criminals active in, while we never seem to get to see Bruce Manor which is one of the more iconic locations for Batman.

Animation – The animation looks top notch throughout, it gives the Batman films the look we are all familiar with too.


Scene of the Movie – Joker’s backstory.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Just not much going with the Joker’s plan.

Final Thoughts – This is a basic Batman animated story which does everything it needs too, even if this one does try to push the boundaries at times.

Overall: Simple Batman film.

 

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – J – Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) Movie Review

This is under J because of director Jay Oliva.

Director: Jay Oliva, Ethan Spaulding

Writer: Heath Corson (Screenplay) Bob Kane, Lew Schwartz, John Ostrander, John Byrne, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Len Wein, Luke McDonnell (Creators)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Kevin Conroy, Neal McDonough, Hynden Walch, Matthew Gray Gubler, Troy Baker, Eric Bauza, Chris Cox

Plot: Batman works desperately to find a bomb planted by the Joker while Amanda Waller hires her newly formed Suicide Squad to break into Arkham Asylum to recover vital information stolen by the Riddler.


Tagline – Get ready to root for the bad guys.

Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Bloated, But Great

Story: Batman: Assault on Arkham starts as Batman takes down the Riddler, interfering the arrest by Amanda Waller, which sees her turn to the Suicide Squad, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, Black Spider and Killer Frost in an attempt to get their hands on the plans from Joker, who might be ready to take the city down once and for all.

The suicide squad must operate without attracting the Batman’s attention as they look to break into the asylum to break Joker and the Riddler out to make sure the bomb doesn’t become a threat.

Thoughts on Batman: Assault on Arkham

Characters – Batman will always be the central figure for a film set in Gotham, he is the hero that everybody who does something illegal is scared off, no matter what the bigger cause is going to be. He is hunting for the truth and is always trying to stop the squads plan. Deadshot and Harley Quinn are both members of the suicide squad who know they need to elude the Batman, while doing the job they could die doing just for their own freedom. Joker is the man that has planted a bomb in Gotham threatening to blow it up, with the Batman trying to get the truth. With the Riddler knowing the answers to everything, only keeping his answers secret in his riddles. Sadly, neither of the two biggest villains are used enough in the film, instead of us focusing on the suicide squad side of the characters.

Story – The story here follows the suicide squad as they must elude Batman to go on a daring prison raid to capture the Riddler and stop the Joker. When it comes to comic book movies we like to have a lot going on, this one has so much going on, it makes it so enjoyable, we have countless numbers of iconic characters from the Batman universe here, we aren’t only following the cape crusader, we have the middle of the road characters, the twisted villains, it is like a whose who of characters from this universe and it was a true pleasure to see how everything unfolds, with the darkness and bloodshed not being held back.

Action/Crime – The action is the big fight sequences, we get glimpse of what each villain or hero can do in combat which also leaves us feeling impressed with the crime riddled city that needs help.

Settings – The film uses the Arkham Asylum as the main setting, a place that become massive because of the quality of the video game, that also explains why we have so many villainous characters around the place.

Animation – When it comes to the animation, nothing looks bad, we know we are going to have a style which isn’t on the par with Disney, but one we can get behind easily.


Scene of the Movie – Everyone Unleashed.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t get enough from the massive cast of characters.

Final Thoughts – This is like having every possible villain thrown into one film, only not getting enough time to enjoy their menacing ways.

Overall: Enjoyable.

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Movie Review

Franchise Weekend – Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017) Movie Review

Director: Shinji Aramaki, Masaru Matsumoto

Writer: Edward Neumeier (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, DeRay Davis, Justin Doran, Luci Christian, Emily Neves

Plot: Federation trooper Johnny Rico is ordered to work with a group of new recruits on a satellite station on Mars, where giant bugs have decided to target their next attack.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Big Mission

Story: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars starts as Johnny Rico finds himself needing to work with a group of new recruits on Mars, ones with no discipline, this is his punishment for letting the bugs get to Earth in Invasion. When Carl tries to get an urgent message to Johnny through Carmen, Johnny finds himself ready for another big battle on Mars.

When Amy Snapp’s plan is released, Johnny Rico must take his rookies into battle against the bugs which have infested Mars, with Snapp’s plan to destroy Mars after the colony there don’t want to fight with the Federation anymore.

Thoughts on Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

Characters – Johnny Rico has been punished for his action letting the bugs get to Earth, demoted down to training recruits with Martian recruits who lack discipline, until he finds the bugs on Mars and must lead an assault on them to save the planet, he gets a visit from an old friend that will guide him after he is alone, to show him the way to take out the problem. This is back to the Johnny Rico we know and seeing him with the original friends is always the highlight of the series. Carl has learnt of the threat coming, where he tries to get through to both Carmen and Johnny to stop the destruction of Mars. He will do everything he needs to, to get the message through. Carmen is more of the middleman between the communication needing to make her own decision about whether to help Carl or not. Amy Snapp is the Sky Marshall who has set up her own plan to keep the federation together looks to get rid of anything she sees as a problem. While this is an interesting villain it does show the political side of the war on the bugs.

Story – The story here follows Johnny Rico who must go on his own mission with a new set of recruits to save Mars from the bug invasion and a threat from within. This does give us Johnny back in front and centre again, which is why the franchise is so popular, we get to see how the war has become more political and the bugs are kind of falling into what the Zombies are in the Walking Dead, a threat but not the biggest one. It does follow one long mission which is everything we needed to see to keep things simple and that’s all we need.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action is everything we have seen from the live-action movies, which works because we know the military side of the war. With the sci-fi side of the film focusing on the battle with the bugs, just like how we have seen through the franchise.

Settings – The film returns to a bigger setting, with the war being on Mars this time showing the opening landscapes with bugs crawling all over them.

Animation – The animation standard is still strong through the film, we know the blood is going to be splattered with everything showing this is a more adult animation.


Scene of the Movie – The battle escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough original material.

Final Thoughts – This is a solid addition to the franchise, it is all entertaining and continues to build the world of Starship Troopers.

Overall: Fun Sequel.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – H – Hodja Fra Pjort (2018) Movie Review

Director: Karsten Kiilerich

Writer: Karsten Kiilerich, Vicki Berlin (Screenplay) Ole Lund Kirkegaard (Novel)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Vibeke Dueholm, Peter Frodin, Erik Holmey Rebecca Ronde Kiilerich, Sonny Lahey, Thure Lindhardt

Plot: Hodja is a boy from Pjort, who borrows a flying carpet to see the world. In return he has to find and return “diamond” to her grandfather. The all-eating Sultan wants to get his hands on Hodjas flying carpet.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Nice Family Film

Story: Up and Away starts as small village boy Hodja and his goat dream of travelling the land, only for his father to want him to follow in his trade as a tailor. Hodja is given an opportunity to leave, when his neighbour gives him a flying carpet to take him to the big city to find a neighbour’s diamond.

When the carpet is stolen from Hodja, it is given to the greedy Sultan who has been waiting for a flying carpet for years, Hodja must team up with local girl Esmeralda to retrieve the carpet and escape the city alive.

Thoughts on Up and Away

Characters – Hodja is a village boy that dreams of being able to go on adventures, he gets this wish, when his neighbour offers him a flying carpet to search for his granddaughter, Hodja new to the city make the typical mistakes around the city, but will show the passion to bring a fresh approach to the greed the Sultan has. Esmeralda is a streetwise girl that Hodja meets, she helps him navigate the city and to get the carpet back, even though she has suffered at the hands of the Sultan. The Sultan is the rich ruler of the city, he eats the food, takes what he wants despite being a dumb person, he wants the carpet so he can fly and anyone that crosses him will get fed to his crocodiles.

Story – The story follows a young boy that gets to go on an adventure of a life time to try and find the granddaughter of one of his neighbours, he travels to a big city where this could become possible and must learn quickly when it comes to dealing with the all powerful Sultan. This does fall into the typical reluctant hero style film, with Hodja getting to fight for the right thing. We do fall into the of just going through a pretty generic, safe storyline, one that the family could all enjoy, with moments of peril that never feel like they would be true, with the right level of humour to make everybody get something out of this story.

Settings – The film creates the powerful looking city of gold for the Sultan to live in with the rest of the city, living in the poorer areas of the city, showing the divide between rich and poor.

Animation – The animation does feel slightly clunky at times, but it is used to show a different technology than we are used to from the Western studios.


Scene of the Movie – Sultan’s carpet ride.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slightly too generic.

Final Thoughts – This is an easy to watch family film that gets laughs, has a strong meaning behind the actions and will not show too much peril for the younger audience.

Overall: Enjoyable Family Film.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – G – The Grinch (2018) Movie Review

Director: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier

Writer: Michael LeSieur, Tommy Swerdlow (Screenplay) Dr Suess (Book)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones, Pharrell Williams, Tristan O’Hare, Kenan Thompson, Sam Lavagnino

Plot: A grumpy Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: True Christmas Message

Story: The Grinch starts as we head to Whoville as they are preparing for Christmas the happiest time of the year for the town, only The Grinch sits above the town hating the holiday and everything about it with his dog Max.

AS Whoville is trying to have the biggest Christmas of all time, he plans to destroy Christmas once and for all, while a county Who Cindy-Lou is looking to ask for the simplest gift, help for her mother Donna that has been raising the children alone.

Thoughts on The Grinch

Characters – The Grinch is the grumpy who that lives above the town with Max the dog, he hates Christmas the most, he decides that this year is the year that he steals Christmas from the rest of the town, because of his own hate, this is a more cunning plan than the live action film gave us. Cindy-Lou is the one of the youngest members of the town, she wants to wish for help for her mother who is raising her siblings alone while working. She has a plan to try and capture Santa to make this wish in person. Donna is the single parent that has been raising her children alone, while working nights, she does well keeping things together without letting it show too much to her kids. We do have the other young whos that are helping Cindy, and we get Max who gets plenty of laughs with Grinch.

Story – The story here follows the Grinch who decides he wants to steal Christmas from the town who are always rubbing it in his face, while a plucky young girl wants to ask for something more than just a present. This is the second film version of the book I have seen, it is clearly a lot better than the Ron Howard version, holding together the clever dialogue Dr Seuss was famous for, it does ditch the personal back story of the Grinch which does help show him to be a wacky villain always planning, while giving the story a big heart with how the little girl wants what is best for her mother, this is a joy to watch because it is true to what Christmas is really about.

Fantasy/Family – The family message in this film is clear, this is the highlight of the film which is a joy to see, being together is important, whether it true family or people you can call family, while the fantasy side of the film is the world we are thrown into, which does work for the film.

Settings – The small town is always going to work for the film, it shows the unity within one town over the isolation of the Grinch that he is feeling.

Animation – The animation looks wonderful through the film which helps make the film more enjoyable, being able to give us the wacky moments and slapstick working in a way only animation can pull off.


Scene of the Movie – The present.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not knowing the book, so not sure if it is closer or not.

Final Thoughts – This is a joyful Christmas film that could be enjoyed by all, it hits the right marks through the film with ease and gets laughs whenever you need it.

Overall: Christmas Joy.

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Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal (2019) Movie Review

Director: Vladimir Nikolaev

Writer: Vladimir Nikolaev, Robert Lence, Anton Timofeev, Aleksey Tsitsilin (Screenplay)

Starring: (voice Talents) Graham Halstead, Major Attaway, Jason Griffith, Oliver Wyman, Billy Bob Thompson, Vanessa Gardner

Plot: Sheep and wolves live a peaceful and quiet life until two unexpected guests turn up. No one expected them to bring a deadly danger, which can be defeated only if they work together.


Tagline – Protecting the united town of sheep and wolves from the predators flock.

Runtime: 1 Hour 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun for the Kids

Story: Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal starts as we see how Grey the wolf leads the village of wolves and sheep in harmony, they support each other through each day, only a new danger awaits them when Gark a dark wolf is looking to change the nature of Grey and the other wolves.

Grey decides to fight back by leading the village in an attempt to defend the village from the new threat, to keep the peace and show that this way of life could tb the future.

Thoughts on Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal

Characters – Grey is the leader of the village a wolf that helps deal with threats from other wolves, until Gark starts making him question his own future as leader, someone he can’t stop on his own, someone he needs to learn the true meaning of leadership in. Gark is the leader of the dark wolves that is not happy with the life the species are living together and wants to change it before it becomes too common between them. We do meet the other village animals that are living the peaceful life as well as the other wolves that are just part of the pack following orders.

Story – The story here follows a village of sheep, wolves and other animals living together until one day a new wolf appears and wants to break the peaceful life they are living. This is a sequel that does show us how two species can live together and if you work together you can overcome the problems in life. This does keep everything simple in how the story unfolds, letting the comedy take control of the situations, giving us moments of slapstick humour, without making anything coming off offensive.

Comedy – The comedy in this film is mostly slapstick, keeping everything coming from how things don’t always work out as planned.

Settings – The film does create the settings to show us the small happy village in the sunshine, that goes opposite the darkness around the evil wolf land.

Animation – The animation does look good through the film, giving us the colourful designs for each of the animals.


Scene of the Movie – Fortress one.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The evil wolf Gark never feels like a true threat.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun film that kids will enjoy, while it doesn’t seem to offer enough to the adult audience.

Overall: One for the kids.

Signature Entertainment presents Sheep & Wolves: Pig Deal on Digital HD from August 10th

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – E – The Emoji Movie (2017) Movie Review

Director: Tony Leondis

Writer: Tony Leondis, Eric Siegel, Mike White (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick Stewart

Plot: Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: This Was Bad

Story: The Emoji Movie starts as we enter the Emoji city where each one has a normal life and work is them being placed on the wall of a phone chat, Gene is the meh emoji and has been waiting for his chance to get put the wall, today is his big chance and he gets scared and breaks the system.

Gene gets exiled and decides he wants to learn what his true emoji calling is really going to be, while the rest of the emojis are trying to delete him, teaming up with fellow outcast emoji HI-5.

Thoughts on The Emoji Movie

Characters – Gene is an emoji waiting for his chance to prove himself as a ‘meh’ emoji like his parents, he gets his big break and cracks under the pressure breaking the system needing to go on the run or face being deleted by the other emojis. He goes on an identity crisis journey. Hi-5 is an emoji that is slowly starting to see his place on the bar slipping away, he joins Gene on the adventure only to get them in trouble more often than not with his interest in anything. Jailbreak is the one that could help solve the problems the two are face, she has her own story to why she has been hiding from the rest of the emojis. Smiler is the one trying to track down Gene, she needs him deleted to save the rest of the emojis.

Story – The story here follows a young emoji that wants to find his place on the text bar only to cause more problems than he possible and must find his identity. Well this story feels like it just completely stole the whole idea of Wreck-it-Ralph just instead of video games, it used apps, most of which I have never used. It is hard to connect to a story that is all about emojis because I barely use them so I barely know what any of them mean either, it does seem to try and imply the emoji have the same emotions or activities as their own shape, while trying to fight individualism.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure does take us around the emoji world, which seems to be between apps on one phone, but the size of everything seems confusing at time, while the comedy misses a lot, mostly being James Cordon trying to do positive sarcasm.

Settings – The film is set in a phone between the apps, this does seem to show us how one person sees the apps if they were real not if they are real.

Animation – The animation style used doesn’t have any flaws in it, but could do with less flash at times.


Scene of the Movie – Just Dance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Bad jokes.

Final Thoughts – This is a bad animated movie, it just doesn’t have anything original in it and just seems to steal the Wreck it Ralph storyline.

Overall: Just bad.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – A – Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion (2018) Film Thoughts

Director: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy

Writer: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Christian Clavier, Guillaume Briat, Alex Lutz, Alexandre Astier, Elie Semoun

Plot: Getafix/Panoramix decides it’s time to pass the magic potion recipe on to a young, trustworthy druid. He looks all over Gaul with Asterix and Obelix as Demonix is out to get the recipe.

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun for the Kids

Story: Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion starts as Fetafix is looking to pass on his magic skills to a new druid, with him needing to travel the land in search for one, even though he finds a replacement that would be against everything he has been taught. When Demonix looks to gain the power for himself, it becomes a race against time to find a replacement, with Gaul needing to keep defending itself from a new threat heading its way.

Thoughts on Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion

Final Thoughts – When it comes to the Asterix franchise, be it comic book or animated series, it feels like you will need to be part of the back story behind the characters to get the truly enjoyable level out of this film. The story does show their wild adventures taking them across the land in search of a new person to hold the secret to the power of the people, with evil trying to gain control before it is too late. It doesn’t seem to have much magic in the story, with everything feeling overly stretched, rather than just having the adventures you would expect to see.

Overall: Animation 101.

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Movie Review

The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands (2018) Movie Review

Director: Robert Lence, Aleksey Tsitsilin

Writer: Robert Lence, Aleksey Tsitsilin, Vladimir Nikolaev, Aleksey Zamyslov, Andrey Korenkov (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Laurie Hymes, Samia Mounts, Marc Thompson, Devin Bailey Griffin

Plot: After a powerful king traps all the world’s magicians in the Mirrorlands, Gerda battles to keep magic alive through kindness and friendship.


Tagline – All Gerda’s friends and even old enemy gather their efforts to protect magic world.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Family Film

Story: The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands starts as we meet Gerda a young woman who sees her whole family having magic abilities, only she has none, they are all kind magicians using their abilities fo the better of the people of the town. The King Harald wants to eliminate the magicians from his world, sending them to the Mirrorlands, where he has already exiled the Snow Queen.

Greda must go on her own adventure to free the magicians from the Mirrorlands including her family and stop the evil plan of the King.

Thoughts on The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands

Characters – Gerda is the youngest member of a magic family, only she doesn’t know her abilities yet, she helps in the small family shop, is kind to the residents of the city, she must find a way to rescue her family and friends after they are taken to a hidden realm, she travels the land to first learn her abilities and secondly save the locals from the evil king. King Harald is the evil ruler that wants to eliminate magic from his world, turning to scientist for the improvements in his life and his kingdom, imprisoning anyone who has magic abilities. The Snow Queen is considered evil to the kingdom, trapped in isolation in the Mirrorlands, she freezes other people who are sent there, only she isn’t the evil most people believe, she is also a victim of the King. We do meet the other characters that are trying to help Greda on her adventure to save the people that have become trapped in the Mirrorlands.

Story – The story here follows Gerda, a young woman who is still waiting for her magical powers to be revealed, who needs to travel the land to save her family and friends from the king that wants to eliminate magic from the world. This is a story that focuses on needing to learn about your own importance to the world, with Gerda needing to wait for her powers to come out, while her good-nature will make her positive impact on everyone around her. This is part of a series, which might have references to previous films, which unfortunately I can’t tell you how important the last two were. It does have the clear message of seeing the world through other people’s eyes before judging them and accepting people are different in life.

Comedy – The comedy in the film does work well, with most being slapstick level, with how certain characters will always find themselves in situation they make mistakes in.

Settings – The film does create a beautiful kingdom for the events to happen through, we see just how they different locations are crucial for the next chapter of the adventure.

Animation – The animation through the film does look great, right up there with the best companies in the business today.


Scene of the Movie – Anders book.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not knowing if the previous films have plot points I would need to know about.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun animated movie that could be enjoyed by the family, it has a nice runtime for the younger audience to enjoy too.

Overall: Enjoyable.

Signature Entertainment presents Snow Queen: Mirrorlands in Cinemas nationwide July 10th