Rise of the Guardians

REVIEW: 3/5 STARS

This movie revolves around a magical character known as Jack Frost, who is unaware of how he really came to exist in the world. The only reason he even knows his name is because the moon told him (the moon in this movie seems to represent a "higher being" in this movie). Through fate and chance, Jack gets thrown into the world of the supernatural and classic fairytale beings, which include Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Easter Bunny, and the villain of the movie, The Bogeyman (with the character name of Pitch). This movie leads into an epic adventure in which these band of heroes must join together and rush to save the day before Pitch takes over and tries to ruin the imaginations of children all over the world.

Amazing and energetic animation is brought to life by the personality of each character, making for an exciting watch as the characters travel to different lands and supernatural worlds belonging to each fantasy character. However the story itself is very thin and seen often in other movies. The movie will definitely be entertaining for children with the brilliant animation to keep them focused, however parents and adults alike might possibly lose interest due to the lack of a really unique storyline. Overall, not a terrible movie, however it is also not a memorable movie either.

Check out the trailer below for a preview!

You can continue the fun by checking out http://www.riseoftheguardians.com which is an interactive website that contains videos, stories, badges, games, and more!

Wreck-It Ralph

REVIEW: 1.5/5 STARS

This animated cartoon is a cute movie for children and families alike as it follows around the life of a video game character named Ralph. Ralph is animated and lives inside the video game called "Wreck-it Ralph" (same as the movie title) and is considered the "bad guy" in this movie as his role is to destroy/wreck everything in the game. Of course, due to his personality, Ralph doesn't always like being the bad guy, as his better half, Fix-It Felix, is the hero and star of this game and is the one who always get to save the day. After being second best to him, Ralph decides to take matters into his own hands and journey through the different games of the arcade in order to prove his worth and establish himself as a hero in order to erase his "bad guy" nature.

During this movie, you get to meet a variety of different classic video game/arcade favourites such as Pacman and Sonic, which helps this movie cater to all audiences. However, it is the character of Vanellope von Schweetz, from the candy-coated cart racing game, Sugar Rush, that is the real key to the story as her world becomes threatened when Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that ends up threatening the entire arcade. The audience is left to question, will Ralph really be able to save the day before its too late or are all the characters doomed? 

While the idea to the story was unique (the inside lives of our favourite video game characters), I did not overall find the plot to be interesting and rather similar to most movies, which in the end, could not hold my interest for very long. A movie I'd watch just to say that I've seen it, but other than that, I would not watch this movie again.

Check out the trailer below for a preview!

You can continue the fun by checking out http://movies.disney.com/wreck-it-ralph which is an interactive website that contains a gallery, store, games, and more!

Corpse Bride

REVIEW: 5/5 STARS

Tim Burton's film Corpse Bride is a perfect choice for my special edition Halloween movie review post for this week. As someone who does not generally enjoy the classic horror film, this is a great choice for parents with children especially to watch in order to celebrate the Halloween spirit without scaring their children too much. The animation in this film adds a slight childish nature however still depicting a classic Halloween fright with its characters and the back-and-forth action between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

The movie centers around the main character Victor, who is to be engaged to the beautiful Victoria, with the impression that with this marriage, both families will gain wealth. The secret the audience learns however is that both families are actually poor. Although Victor and Victoria have never met before, it is love at first sight when they do. Through some clumsiness on Victor's part, he accidentally ruins the wedding and finds himself wandering a forest, trying to fix his mistakes. However, due to more foolishness on his part, proposes his vows to a tree and places the ring on a twig. The tree magically (in a horrifying sense) becomes a corpse bride who has now become his wife. Victor faces a series of issues through this movie as he has to come to grips about his new reality and new bride as well as how to get back to his real love Victoria.

I found the animation to be brilliant in this film and the character voices were perfectly cast, as expected from a Tim Burton film. Although the storyline is a bit typical at first, the added scary Halloween twist pulls you in right away and takes you to another world to explore, turning it into quite a unique movie. A wonderful movie to really watch any time of the year, but especially perfect during the time of Halloween to get you into the spirit.

Check out the trailer below for a preview!

Despicable Me 2

REVIEW: 4.5/5 STARS

The sequel to Despicable Me follows around the lives of our favourite main characters, Gru, Margo, Edith and Agnes. In this movie, Gru has officially given up his criminal ways in order to settle down as a father and caretaker to his three adopted daughters...or so he thought! Another dangerous criminal is on the loose and the good guys (The Anti-Villain League) need Gru's help due to his past experience in order to help catch the criminal. Luckily for Gru, he gets assigned an attractive partner named Lucy who assists him in finding the criminal. 

In Despicable Me 2, a top secret lab is stolen from the arctic circle, in which scientists were conducting experiments on a chemical serum called PX-41, which is capable of turning any living thing into a purple, furry, undestructable, mindless, killing machine that can destroy anything in its path. Another issue arises when Gru's minions start to disappear and are kidnapped through mysterious ways. Gru and Lucy, with the help of Margo, Edith and Agnes, all work together in this film towards discovering who the real villain is behind all the disappearances and secrets.

With Gru's humourous attitude and Lucy's giddy nature, their chemistry is amazing together, making for a film that is perfect for children and those who are kids at heart. The "happily ever after" conclusion also adds even more to the movie, which in turn, concludes and wraps up the series in a classic yet enjoyable way (that is, if you enjoy those classic kind of happy endings).

Check out the trailer below for a preview!

You can continue the fun by checking out http://despicableme.com/ which is an interactive website that contains fan art, music from the soundtrack, games, and more!

Monsters University

Review: 3.5/5 Stars

A prequel to Disney Pixar's Monsters Inc. comes in Monsters University, which explores Mike Wazowski's and James P. Sullivan's lives before Monsters Inc. and how they ended up becoming friends and working together.

The film begins with Mike as a young monster who discovers his dream to become a Scarer. Fast forward into his college years, Mike is accepted into Monsters University in order to make his dream come true. 

Along his journey, we meet get to meet some familiar faces as well as some new ones. The film perpetrates your typical college movie with the familiar college stereotypes such as the geeks, the slackers, the jocks, the party animals, the cheerleaders, however with a twist of keeping it age appropriate unlike most "teenage movies." The humour in this movie helps cater to both the original audience of Monsters Inc. as well as an older audience, making this film popular with children and young adults alike.

Within the college setting, Mike and James go through all the typical college activities including going to classes and studying, joining a Greek fraternity, taking part in work study, dealing with roommates and living on residence, as well as signing up for clubs. Through clashing and opposite personalities, Mike and James don't seem to get along at first, however through a twist of fate, are made to work together in order to make sure both of their dreams can come true.

Check out the trailer below for a preview!

You can continue the fun by checking out http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/ which is an interactive website created to mimic that of an actual post-secondary school website!