Well, I decided that two movies I've seen recently have been deemed worthy enough to review on this blog, so here we go. The first one's based off a classic (well, not yet, but it will be, mark my words) cartoon. The other took six years to make, is the second-most expensive film ever made, and for you Trekkies, Trekkers, and Niners out there, stars Donna Murphy, who played Anji in Innsurrection. So with out further ado, I will begin.
Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension in Fabulous 2D
Hey, it's a movie involving interdimensional travel, what do you expect from me? That movie about the rubberbands (shudders)? Anyways, for those of you who havn't heard or don't understand Phineas and Ferb, I'll give you a backdrop: Phineas and Ferb are two roughly ten-year-old step-brothers who decide to make the most of their summer vacation by building and doing fun things like making rollercoasters, time machines, giant robot dogs, machines that defy gravity, portals to Mars, and other cool stuff, along with their friends Isabella (who almost-secretly [everyone but her crush knows] harbors a crush on Phineas), Baljeet (an immagrant from India with a strange obsession with math), and Buford (a "bully" whose most frequent victim is Baljeet). They have a very nosy sister named Candace (the annoying attempt to inject teen melodrama into the show, yes we never get enough of that), who constantly tries to "bust" (unfortunatly, Disney never bothers to stray from that word, so it's practically a catchphrase) them to her Mom, with little success. The secret to this is that their pet platypus (yes, you read that right), Perry, is actually a secret agent who goes off to battle an inept evil scientist named Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Inadvertently, their battles cause Phineas and Ferb's inventions to be transported elsewhere, or destroyed. That is the series in a nutshell (though it probably would be easier and more fun to just watch the show to get an idea of how it works), although I did forget to mention that in almost every episode, a short song is sung, sometimes multiple. But, that's about it. On to the movie!
Our story begins with Phineas and Ferb celebrating the anniversary of their adopting Perry, and deciding to make platypus-like catupaults to play a giant version of bagdmitton. Meanwhile, Perry is being breifed by his superior, Major Monogram, on his mission of the day. He is also reminded that if his owners were ever to find out his identity, he would have to be relocated, as the situation would become much too dangerous for them. Then an unpaid intern (whose been working for them for 5 years and has somehow been below even that rank), Carl, meets with Agent P (for Perry) to give him tools he might need in the field in a sequence that James Bond fans will love. One of these tools is a new rocket car, which has a very touchy accelerator, launching Agent P right through the roof of his lair, just as Phineas and Ferb have launched their giant shuttlecock. The car and 'cock collide, crashing the car, and causing the 'cock, containing Phineas and Ferb, to be sent to the worst place possible: Dr. Doofenshmirtz's building. They crash into the doctors inator of the day (yes, almost all of them are called something-inator), and, not knowing the doctor is evil, offer to help fix his machine, and Other-dimensionator. Perry eventually arrives, but is unable to do much with the boys there. Despite his best efforts, the machine is completed and they all cross over into the 2nd Dimension. There, they discover that this universe's Doof has already accomplished the 1st Dimension's one dream: to be the undisputed overlord and master of the entire Tri-State Area. They all meet with Doof-2, who reveals that he has defeated Perry-2 and made him a cyborg leader of his robot army. Doof-2 then exposes regular Perry as secret agent, much to Phineas' shock and anger, and they narrowly escape a group of robots and the Platyborg. After discovering the remote they invented for the Other-Dimensionator is malfunctioning, they decide to find their counterparts, while Doof-2 decides to invade the 1st dimension, and tries to capture the regular Perry. That is the plot of the movie without giving away most of the middle, and the end.
The animation is regular Phineas and Ferb stuff, with a little CGI for the robots. The story is very good, and you can really see how betrayed Phineas felt that Perry kept a secret like this from them. That's really the heart of the film: Phineas and Ferb's relationship with Perry. The worst part is, Perry can't even tell them why he had to keep his identity a secret, because, well, he's a platypus. But it's very clear that they all love each other very dearly, and are willing to go to any length to protect each other. The only thing that upset me was the ending, but that was a fan moment, and I can let it pass, because the rest of it makes me forget that part entirely. Well, almost. It was at the end, and any Phineas and Ferb fan whose seen the episode "I was a Middle-Aged Robot" will possibly understand. And no, I'm not going to spoil it. Go watch the movie yourself, instead of being lazy and reading a completely unproffessional, unwarrented, and probably unwanted, review. Anyways, now onto one of the biggest parts of Phineas and Ferb: the music. This movie was no slouch when it came to songs, with a total of nine, rivaling the amount of only "Rollercoaster: The Musical!". Thankfully, they're all good as well. "Robot Riot" was a lot of fun, and "Summer (Where Do We Begin?)" is a perfect song to describe exactly what Phineas and Ferb is all about. And the regular Phineas and Ferb humour is here, including (of course) the reference to Meap. And yes, my knowledge of this show nearly rivals my Star Trek trivia, if not surpassing it. In conclusion, this is the best DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie for you laymen) in years, and I would heavily reccomend it to anyone who bothers to read this long, dull, and geeky blog (Have I bored you to sleep yet? If so, don't say anything.).
Tangled
I'm beggining to see a pattern here. All right, I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Disney movies. I won't apologise for that. I can like whatever I want. And let's be honest, who is there alive that hasn't watched a Disney movie and enjoyed it? That can only be fifty people at most, and that's not very much. I will say, however, that Disney isn't infallible. Their T.V. channel proves that much. But I digress. I can honestly say that when I saw this, I was there because of Flynn and Maximus. I've never been that into Disney's Princess movies. Why, I defy you to guess, but some tend to think it's my gender. However that might be, I still wasn't a fan. I may have enjoyed Mulan (Which really isn't a Princess movie anyways), The Princess and the Frog (I think the music had something to do with that), and Beauty and the Beast (Because anyone who doesn't like this movie obviously only likes really violent movies or really raunchy ones), but I couldn't watch the rest (of the princesses, at least, in movies where they were the main protaganist. I can enjoy plenty of other Disney movies.). They just weren't for me. Then we saw this movie. And I'm still astonished to this day that it was as good as it was. I'll admit I was suprised that Rapunzel was as prominent as she was, but it didn't detract. Rather, I think I've gained a new appreciation for these kinds of movies, and I'm totally okay with that. Anyways, Tangled is about (be aware, this is a pretty long backstory, and I'm still suprised it went by so quick in the movie) how an old women uses a magic flower created from a sundrop to regain her youth. However, a nearby King uproots the flower to save his dying wife, who's currently preganent. The magic works, and a baby girl with blond hair (her parents have brown, so this is probably an effect of the flower) is born. The old women, Mother Gothel, sneaks in, and after discovering that the babies hair loses its power when cut, takes the child, and flees to a secluded tower in the forest, where she raises the child, Rapunzel, as her own, and imprisons the young Princess. However, the King and Queen launch thousands of floating lanterns into the sky every year on Rapunzel's birthday, in an effort to guide her home. Years later, Rapunzel is about to turn eightteen, and has still never left her tower. However, to keep her company, she keeps a chameleon as a pet, named Pascal. Try as she might, she still cannot convince Gothel to let her out to see the lights in person. Meanwhile, swashbuckling rogue Flynn Rider has just stolen the Princess' crown and is fleeing for his life in the very forest Gothel has taken refuge in. Upon seeing the tower, he climbs in, and Rapunzel, believing him to be a thug after her hair, knocks him out with a frying pan. Deciding that she needs someone to guide her to the lights and back, tells Flynn that she will not give him his satchel containing the crown unless he does so. Although reluctant, he agrees, and they set of on a journey involving singing pub thugs, a fight sequence at a dam, and a very overzalous palace horse named Maximus. Along the way, the usual things happen, and Rapunzel and Flynn begin to fall in love. But can they escape Mother Gothel's sinister plans? And do I sound too much like the blurb of a book?
Anyways, that's the plot of the movie. Nothing astounding, but it's there at least. I can think of a few movies right now that barely had a plot at all (I'm looking at you, Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny [You'd be suprised what you can get off RiffTrax]) The charecters are all very well-constructed, making them seem like living, breathing people. Gothel in paticular is very interesting as a villian, as she's either a very good actress, or does slightly somewhere care about Rapunzel (that just gets destroyed once Rapunzel leaves). And Flynn of course is a hilarious addition, masterfully voiced by Chuck's Zachery Levi. However, two of the most memorable charecters actually had no voice actor: Pascal and Maximus, who clearly steal every scene they're in. The humor of the movie is spot-on, and never feeling out of place, or resorting to the DreamWorks method of pop-culture parody that they have so clearly defined. Instead they rely on the situation itself, or the charecters ability to deal out one-liners. I'm not saying DreamWorks humor is bad, rather it's just their expertise, not Disney's. Disney can't do their type, and when they try to, it falls pretty flat. Thankfully, they avoid this, and make a much better film in the process. I especially loved Flynn's reply to Rapunzel correcting him on whether Pascal was a frog or a chameleon. "Nuance!" And the visuals were quite a sight to behold. While some films were made for traditional hand-drawn animation, this movie clearly knew it was CGI and used every chance it had to make use of that fact. The lanterns would absitively posilutely not been as amazing hand-drawn. All-in-all, it was definetley a film worhty to be Disney's fiftieth animated feature, and I daresay Walter himself would have been proud, if he were alive today. But the torch has been passed. BTW, all Disney fans and Phineas and Ferb fans should be on the lookout for news about an upcoming theatrical Phineas and Ferb movie. No gurantees it will be in Fabulous 2D though!
