SKADOOSH.
That being said, what I say about the movie now, may or may not be what I'll say in the coming days. Why? Well, the more I think about the movie, the more it grows on me. So, we'll first go through stuff then the bad then the good and then we'll wrap up.
The stuff: visuals, story, and acting.
So, after "How to Train Your Dragon" - one of my favorite movies EVER (no, but seriously, a serious contender for favorite movie of all time) - I expect nothing less than sheer brilliance from Dreamworks Animation in the visuals department. I'll really rave about the water visuals at the end, but I'll take this time to discuss the rest of them now.
I am thoroughly impressed with this film in how it looked. The hair was great, the details of the locations were great, the fire wasn't as good as I thought it would be (yeah, so I'm a critic), the cannon/fireworks/weapon/thing was both cool and cartoony, the lighting was very good, and I loved the actual cartoon sequences. It looked really brilliant. Gary Oldman's character was done brilliantly. Loved him a lot. Also, Master Shi Fu was GREAT. Quite good. And I love the ladnscapes. Very nice. So, over all, visually, the movie was grand.
Story: Confession time. I walked in late. I missed the set up so I Wikied it and read about the Shen-kills-the-pandas bit. Also, more confessions: I Wikied the story a few weeks ago when I was trying to figure out what movie to see. That being said, I cannot accurately say whether the movie is truly predictable or not. I will say that it arced properly. Po lost heart at the right time, he discovered his destiny bit at the right time, he beat the villain, and then did it again at the right times. It was good. The "inner peace" thing moved a bit quickly and the whole bit with Tigris and the "hardcore" thing was under developed. Also, Po's parents being alive at the end--what? Nooo. No, no, no. That's...meh. And how Shen tried to convince Po that his parents didn't love him wasn't handled properly. Was it because, what Shen was projecting his problems onto Po and trying to break him? Or did the writers just do a shoddy job? Whatever. However, I LOVED Po's "dad"--the stork. I loved it. I almost cried. It was touching. Overall, the story was fun, not deep, but fun.
Acting: Well, there's not much to say. It was good. Nothing too terrible. Admittedly, Jack Black was a bit flat at times, but that's about it. Angelina Jolie was okay. Again, a bit flat, but not bad. Dustin Hoffman was great, Gary Oldman--well, I'll rave later. It wasn't bad. I wasn't great, but it wasn't bad.
The bad: Let's talk dialogue.
So....yeah. Not great. In fact, it was a bit disappointing. It wasn't a very funny movie. I think I laughed more in "Super 8." It just wasn't...funny. Not even Jack Black was funny. The humor was just dumb. It wasn't very clever most of it; it was just stupid and ridiculous and ill-timed. That's not to say that their timing for delivery was off, but the timing of when the jokes were written. It was just...not great. The humor. Shen's dialogue was fine. Shi Fu's was fine, but Po's humor just wasn't great. I guess that my issue is not with the actual dialogue, but the humor. Meh.
The good: Let's talk music, water, and Gary Oldman.
Okay, so I have recently been on an anti-Zimmer kick. It's not a music problem per se, but more of a me-problem. Very complicated, don't ask. That being said, I still respect his music. He's very good even if he can't read music. He is still very good. Now, I LOVE John Powell. The "Dragon" score is amazing. I do cry on occasion when I listen to it. The song when Hiccup wakes up with the piano and the cello (sounds like a cello)--oh. Tears. But that's not what we're talking about. So when I remember that this is a Zimmer-Powell team-up, I'm thinking, "Brilliant. Zimmer's grandeur with Powell's depth--awesome." The score is not a deep as I would have made it though. Mind, that's just what I could hear while I'm watching the movie and I didn't notice the music a lot of the time; however, I liked it. It was big and bold and fun and Asian and grand! It was great! I would hear "Pirates" and, admittedly, "Dragon," but I can live with that. I liked it. I won't win an Oscar, but it was good.
Water. I mentioned this earlier when I talked visuals, but now I get to rave. The water was AWESOME. Now, for you who don't sit there watching the "how we made this" features on the DVDs like me, let me explain. Water is difficult. Let me reiterate: in a computer animated film, water is VERY difficult. "Finding Nemo" was just..goodness. In fact, they cut scenes in the "Incredibles" because of how difficult water is (the sequence when the plane went down). Now, I remember watching "Dragon" and seeing the water and thinking, "Nice. Verry nice, sirs." But in this movie I was impressed. Very impressed. How they dealt with the water on fur and clothing was great. And the reflections on the water were great. Loved it. I mean-YESSS. So. The water was, to use a phrase from a different film, "mint."
Now to Gary Oldman. Ah, Gary Oldman. So, his character was great. An unrelenting villain. No wishy-washy, "Oh, well, maybe I'll repent and turn good because my heart has been impacted by the goodness of the hero"--NO. "Happiness must be taken." BAM. Rubbish line, but great show of villainy. Love it. And his cool evilness. And that he is a peacock. YES. Visually, I love the red and the white and all the massive feathers. Excellent. Yeah, he got a bit kooky and crazy at the end, but he was great. And the accent--yes, please. His acting was, well, he;s Gary Oldman. It's difficult to go really wrong. I loved Gary Oldman--he was WONDERFUL.
In summation, visuals, story and acting: nice; dialogue/humor: meh--at best; and music, water, and Gary Oldman: great. It gets, well, see, here's the catch: when the movie ended I immediately thought, "meh. It gets a B." But now, I dunno. I mean, It's not an A. It's not THAT good. But I did like it. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Would I pay $7.50 to see it again? Well...no. Would I pay $3 to see it again? Well, maybe. So, I'm thinking, all things considered it gets a B+.
Also, I say again: SKADOOSH.
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