UP 3D (2009)

Directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (co-director)
Written by Bob Peterson (screenplay)
Cast Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/



Reviewed by Sari
___________________________________________________________________

UP 3D is yet another 3D-animated film on the theaters and it's also the latest Disney-Pixar production from the makers of Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Cars. This colorful story starts from the early childhood of an old man, Carl Fredricksen (voices, young Carl by Jeremy Leary, old Carl by Edward Asner), who is the leading character in this animated film.

He once was a quiet little boy, who meets a rascal girl called Ellie (voice by Elie Docter), falls in love with her and finally marries her. So it's the classic love story, so to speak. Carl and Ellie are one extremely happy couple, and they share the same dream of going on an adventure to South America one day. They even dream about having their house at the edge of The Paradise Falls. But their life passes by and the adventure seems always to be postponed further. Until the day Ellie gets seriously ill and passes away.

Carl is now alone, being an 78-year old man and is facing the fact that the adventure they so wanted to experience never took a place in their life. But things start to change for him and one day he decides to literally "take off" and is soon flying high on the sky in his house, thousands of balloons carrying him to his destination, South America.

For his suprise a young wilderness explorer Russell (voice by Jordan Nagai) is going to share this experience with him and these two soon find they way to South America and face the most interesting situations and characters while trying to move Carl's house to the right spot, next to The Paradise Falls, that Ellie so dearly loved.

On their way to the falls they run into a rare bird species, a pack of talking dogs and end up inside a large cave, where Carl's childhood hero, the ultimate explorer Charles Muntz (voice by Christopher Plummer) lives and has trained all these obedient dogs. Carl is excited to meet him, but it's soon quite obvious that Charles is not a good man, but he is actually after something they possess and this leads into an exciting and intense chaise.

The story starts quite smoothly and takes you to the early years of Carl's life, giving you a nostalgic feel of his past. It's also quite funny to see him and Russell battling their way to South America flying on a house carried by colorful balloons, trying to find the perfect spot to that beautiful, old house. At some point the story gets a bit chaotic though, especially from the point where they run into a talking dog called Dug, and then into a whole pack of talking dogs, leading their way to an old explorer behind them, Charles Muntz. I wasn't sure if I understood the funniness behind the talking dog theme, but then again, I really loved that old man Carl and his little companion Russell and felt that those two were meant to be together on this adventure.

UP being and animated film is of course a film made for the whole family and especially children, so perhaps the storyline and all the peculiar characters will open up better for the younger age groups than us grown-ups. Visually the 3D-film is just stunning and I especially enjoyed all the vivid colors, the high-quality animation and all the 3D-effects, which we could all expect to be excellent after seeing all those previous Disney-Pixar films.

UP is an entertaining animation which you want to take your kids to see and let them enjoy all the craziness and chaos of this everyway colorful, animated film. And don't be suprised if you enjoy it yourself, too.

Bolt 3D (2008)

Animations made in 3D seem to be getting more and more common, and no wonder because the technology allows the makers do so many wonderful things these days. However, the fancy technology is not the only thing that makes a good movie. It is also the old-fashioned story that needs to be good to engage audiences with full force. No matter how shiny the picture is, if the viewers don't feel satisfied with the characters and the story, the makers have lost the magic touch of movie making.

Bolt is one proof that the magic still exists. It is a story of a super dog Bolt (English voice by John Travolta) who battles against the bad green eyed villain Dr. Calisco (voice by Malcolm McDowell) with his human girl Penny (voice by Miley Cyrus) - in TV. Bolt does not know he is just an actor and that his super powers are not real.

When an evil cat comes laughing at the ignorant dog, he suddenly makes a mistake escape from the movie studio, and ends up accidentally in the other side of the continent in New York. In New York he meets Mittens the cat (voice by Susie Essman) and gets tied up with her in his plans on returning to Hollywood to save Penny from Dr. Calisco. However, why his super powers don't work, he can not understand.


Bolt and Mittens start their long journey accross the country and in one trailer park bump into Rhino the hamster (voice by Mark Walton) who is Bolt's number one fan and likes living inside a transparent ball. Rhino wants to join Bolt and Mittens, and the journey continues all the way to Hollywood.


As a dog loving person I knew that I would like this at least in some level, but was pleasantly surprised with the quality of both the story and the technology. The animation just looks plain awesome in 3D - all those animals hairs look so real and the 3D really works beautifully by making the movie an enjoyment to watch.

The animal characters are incredibly cute, but they still have their own personalities and some edge. The dialogue is witty and charming. The version I saw was dubbed in Finnish so I can not comment on the original voice actors. However the Finnish version worked incredibly well with all those nice dialects some of the supporting cast was using.

Bolt is highly recommended entertainment for the whole family - a story and characters that engage both children and adults served on such a beautiful plate.

Directed by Byron Howard, Chris Williams

Written by Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams

Cast (English voices) John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny), Susie Essman (Mittens), Mark Walton (Rhino), Malcolm McDowell (Dr. Calico)

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397892/

Hannah Montana: the Movie (2009)

Hannah Montana is a Disney -phenomenon that has a great deal of appeal on especially young girls. Understandable: Hannah is a superstar every girl would love to be because at the same time she is a superstar, she is just a normal girl with normal teenage problems.

Hannah Montana: The Movie is the story of a girl who is living a secret double-life. During the days she (Miley Cyrus) is a normal school girl Miley Stewart, who has a best friend Lilly (Emily Osment) and who lives with her father Robby Ray (Miley's real life dad Billy Ray Cyrus) and brother Jackson (Jason Earles). But every once in a while she transforms into a brilliant, young pop star called Hannah Montana and draws arenas of young fans. Hannah is a bit like Britney Spears in her early days.

Miley has made a promise to her single father (her mother has died when she was young): she will keep Hannah a secret and won't let the popstar affect her normal life. As soon as the stardom starts interfering with Miley's real life, she will quit.

Easier said than done. Being a superstar is like a drug: once you taste it, you'll keep wanting more and you don't want to give up. So when Hannah starts taking too much of Miley's time, daddy decides that it is time for a break, and takes her (against her will of course) to the countryside, to see her grandmother Ruby (Margo Martindale).

Miley rebels at first, but then realises how much she had missed the peace and quiet of the countryside and riding on her horse. When Travis (Lucas Till) from the neighbour turns in, she notices there are some things in the normal life she can't live without.

The story of Hannah Montana: The Movie with all the glitter and fuss is a bit shallow for a grown up, but I'm sure it will have a very different appeal on younger girls. After all, with all the superstar stuff, Miley is a normal girl and with all her rebellion she is still unconditionally loved and supported by her father. In real life that might not be the case.

The movie involves all the features a young, shy girl just about to grow up would love (I was once like that and when I think of myself at 12 years old, I'm sure I would have loved a story like this): popstardom, horses on the countryside, a cute boy from the neighbour and the loving and caring adult who is always there and understands the young.

Besides from the shallow story, what bothered me was the overly stupid scenes which try to make Miley/Hannah more adult, more Cosmo-girl, more funny - when she's fighting with Tyra Banks over a pair of shoes for example. The best parts are the ones with some deeper thought in them - when Miley is having a discussion with her father in the end is beautiful.



Directed by Peter Chelsom
Written by Daniel Berendsen, based on Michael Poryes, Richard Correll and Barry O'Brien's characters
Cast Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lucas Till, Jason Earles, Emily Osment
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1114677/

Tale of Desperaux (2008)

Tale of Desperaux is a story of a tiny mouse who has a heart the size of a knight's. It follows the lead of so many animations these days by using a very detailed CGI, making every single hair and texture in its animal characters look and act in a realistic way.

The story involves a seaman rat called Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) who accidentally ends up spoiling the Soup Day (the most important celebration of the year) of the kingdom of Dor. His actions cause the King of Dor to order all rats hunted down and killed. At the same time in the Mouseworld of Dor a tiny mouse called Desperaux (Matthew Broderick) is born. Desperaux is different from the other mice in many ways: he has huge ears and he is not afraid of anything.

As Desperaux grows older, his curiosity leads him to the library of the castle where he finds the fantastic world of books and stories. His little heart longs to be a knight in shining armor, and when he meets the Princess Pea (Emma Watson), he tells her he's a gentleman and becomes her friend - and being friends with a human is something to be punished for in the Mouseworld.


Desperaux meets Roscuro the Rat and they become friends as well. Roscuro is feeling guilty and after finding out about the friendship between Desperaux and the Princess, tries to make an apology. But things don't always turn out the way you would want them to turn...

The animation style of the movie is amazingly sharp and realistic, but it does not compensate the lack of the story. The story is very thin, like the viewer is waiting for the whole duration of the movie for the story to finally pick up, and it never really does.

Even though Desperaux has his name in the movie title, it feels as if he is just a supporting character, like there was no lead character in the story at all. The characters are all lacking something. Only the "pig girl" Miggery Sow (Tracey Ullman) who pretends to be a princess is somewhat interesting. The animals are cute, that must be admitted, but the humans look plastic.

Because of the cute characters Tale of Desperaux is best for young children. At least the school group of about 8-year-olds in the screening I went was cheering at the end of the film.



Directed by Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen
Written by Gary Ross, based on Kate DiCamillos's novel
Cast (English voices) Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420238/