I honestly didn’t know they were even making a sequel to “Bruce Almighty” until the first trailer for this film showed up in theaters a couple months back. It snuck in with little fanfare and wedged itself in during one of June’s down weeks in regards to blockbuster releases. Still, this sort of warm and fuzzy PG-rated comedy is a nice thing to have from time to time, and while “Evan Almighty” isn’t one of the funniest movies I’ve ever sat through, I found myself enjoying it.
Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is a newly elected Congressman from New York who has just moved to Washington with his wife and three kids. Out to change the world for the better, Evan is a genuinely good soul, albeit a little weird. Unfortunately, once on the job he finds himself in bed with corrupt politicians such as Congressman Long (John Goodman), who want to develop housing in America’s National Parks. Complicating matters to an astounding degree, Evan quickly finds himself receiving orders from God (Morgan Freeman) to build an Ark not only to save his family, animals and the people of his community from a great disaster, but to deliver a message of kindness and goodwill to the world. Evan, however, is not so enthusiastic.
With PG-rated comedies you typically know what to expect. They’re cute and funny, but they’re always more cute than funny. “Evan Almighty” wasn’t what I’d call a laugh-a-minute, and I didn’t even find myself laughing out loud very often, but the story and characters all had a charm to them that kept me enthralled.
Steve Carell brings his memorable brand of awkward and weird humor to the character of Evan. Much like how Jim Carrey’s character of Bruce in the previous film had his little quirk (“Its goooood”), Evan has his one of his own (he enjoys dancing like a doofus). Carell certainly carries the title role good enough. John Goodman doesn’t fair too well as Congressman Long, who’s merely your stereotypical corrupt politician and little more. I like Goodman and all, but he didn’t have much to work with as the movie’s lead antagonist. Wanda Sykes got on my nerves as Rita, Evan’s chief assistant back at the office. She existed mostly to provide sassy commentary throughout the film and felt more like an annoying person sitting in the theater yelling at the screen than an actual character within the movie. And lastly we come to Morgan Freeman, who once again could not be a better choice to play the character of God. Having narrated tons of documentaries and specials, he’s got the omniscient all-knowing voice down, but there’s more to it than that. Freeman just gives off this presence of gentleness and kindness that really sells the role.
I’ve heard some people bash these movies as being “heavy-handed Christian propaganda”, but I couldn’t disagree more. While there are certainly Christian elements to the film (this is a parody of a story from the Bible, after all), the lesson the film tries to convey is one of goodwill, not a straight-up endorsement of Christianity. Personally, I’m Agnostic and I didn’t find the film to be “heavy-handed” at all.
At its core, “Evan Almighty” is a family film and considerably less risqué than “Bruce Almighty”, so it’s a pretty safe way to kill some time with the kids. There are some unremarkable computer effects toward the end during the flood, but the montage of the family working with a legion of trained animals to build the Ark more than makes up for it. You’re probably better off waiting for this film to hit TV, but I’d still recommend checking it out.
Grade: C+
MONSTER SQUAD DVD Trailer!
One of the greatest movies in the history of time is finally coming to DVD…here’s the official DVD trailer for MONSTER SQUAD!
First Image of “Where the Wild Things Are” Online
AICN has posted an image from an MTV Preview of “Where The Wild Things Are”…I can’t say that I expected much from this movie, but this first image is exactly what I would expect a live action version of this story to look like. I’m officially interested in this film.
Surf’s Up (2007) – Review
I really wasn’t expecting much from this flick. I mean, firstly, I’m sick to death of CGI-animated comedy movies. What I wouldn’t give for a good old fashioned cel-animated feature film. Secondly, I’m sick to death of penguin films. “March of the Penguins”, “Happy Feet”…just give it a rest already. So naturally, my expectations were geared toward a tropical blend of loathing and disgust. And yet “Surf’s Up” managed to defy my expectations by actually being pretty good. Go figure.
Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) is an Arctic penguin who made it his life’s goal to surf after meeting the greatest surfing penguin of all time, Big Z (Jeff Bridges). His family thinks he’s an irresponsible loser who’ll never amount to anything, but Cody keeps his hopes afloat until the day Reggie Belafonte’s (James Woods) talent search discovers him and invites him to join the Big Z Memorial surf contest held at exotic Pen Gu Island. Cody’s hopes are quickly sunk, however, when he meets the competition: the tactless and ruthless bruiser known as Tank (Diedrich Bader). Cody’s on the verge of surrender until he receives a boost of confidence from his new pals: his lady friend, Lani (Zooey Deschanel), his best buddy, Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), and the enigmatic hermit known as Geek.
I think what accelerated “Surf’s Up” past other derivative dreck such as “Shark Tale” and “Antz” is that it decided to take a quirky and original approach to the plot. The entire film is from the point of view of a documentary film crew. The cameras and crew follow Cody and the cast around throughout the course of the movie, interspersing interviews, flashback footage, instant replays and various camera gags wherever necessary. This faux-documentary approach really kept the film fresh and provided a lot of clever jokes to break up the monotony of the predictable story and shallow characters.
Yes, take away the documentary angle and you aren’t left with much to chew on. While James Woods is always a joy to listen to, his character of Reggie is just your typical greedy scoundrel who really provides little to the conflict, while the main villain, Tank, is just a two-dimensional bully stereotype. I did like the choice of actor for him, however, as Diedrich Bader has proven to be a terrific voice over artist in shows like “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” and “the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy”.
The good guys of the flick aren’t much more interesting than the villains. Chicken Joe’s stoner personality gets old rather fast, while Cody is your run-of-the-mill main character template (Wide-eyed and naïve – Loses self confidence – Realizes moral lesson of film – Saves the day at the end thanks to said moral lesson). While the characters aren’t much to write home about, their interactions with one another and character chemistry keep them from becoming boring. Watching Geek tutor Cody in the fine art of surfing and the misadventures there-in was a lot of fun.
Although the story is predictable and the lesson of “winning isn’t everything” is trite, this is a kid’s movie, after all, so you shouldn’t go in expecting an intellectually stimulating experience. Additionally, the writers seemed pretty self-aware that their ham-fisted lesson was a little gag-worthy and threw in a few jokes about it here and there.
As far as kid’s movies go, I found it much more clever and entertaining than the other CGI-animated flick in theaters as of right now, “Shrek the Third”. So if you’re down to a choice between the two, “Surf’s up” is your best bet. It’s a very fun kid’s flick with some nice animation, a decent cast of celebrities and a unique premise that keeps it from getting stale. Give it a chance, you might like it.
Grade: B
Super Mario Bros.: the Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach – Review
Believe it or not, back in the “good ole days”, America wasn’t the only country coming out with cartoons based on Nintendo’s iconic Super Mario Bros. In 1986, Grouper Productions (the same people who brought us Hello Kitty and her extended cast) came out with this OVA film which loosely adapts the storyline of the first Super Mario Bros. video game for the NES. Video cassettes of this anime can be rather hard to come by, and those that show up on Japanese auction sites can go for several hundred dollars. But god bless the internet: I watched it for free!
So, how was it?
Well, the premise is the same, though the story diverges in some key ways. Mario and Luigi are two brothers who own and operate a grocery store in (what appears to be) California. One day, while staying up late playing his NES, Mario is surprised when a beautiful Princess named Peach jumps out of his television and begs for his protection. She is immediately followed by the monstrous turtle-dragon, King Koopa, who effortlessly tosses Mario aside and kidnaps the Princess. The next morning, Luigi is skeptical of Mario’s story until a bizarre caterpillar-dog-thing enters their store and steals the locket Peach left behind. The Mario Bros chase it down a pipe and wind up in the strange world of the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon arrival, a mystical Mushroom Hermit charges them with the task of saving the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa’s tyranny and rescuing Princess Peach!
While some differences are immediately noticeable, the basic story is for all intents and purposes intact. Some changes are rather wacky, though. For instance, Luigi wears yellow and blue as opposed to his green and blue duds, and rather than act like a craven coward like he does in the games and in the American cartoons, he is instead a greedy sunuvabich. Good thing for him he winds up in a world where all you have to do is smash a rock open and gold coins fall out. Then there’s King Koopa. He’s much less sinister in this anime than in the US cartoons or even the more recent video games. His voice is rather whiney and high pitched (as opposed to the growly dragon voice we’re used to) and he’s kind of annoying. Probably the most perplexing change is that the character known as Toad in the US, along with all the other Mushroom Retainers, are girls. Noodle that one.
As far as the story goes, the OVA is aimed at kids rather unashamedly. It’s cute and funny, but only a little bit so. Some of the gags will have you smiling, but it’s a kid’s flick through and through, so don’t expect any “laugh out loud” moments. It probably could have been dubbed by the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cast and brought over to the US and fit in perfectly. As far as the animation goes, it’s no great shakes. It’s pleasant and not riddled with errors, but it isn’t what I’d call “visually stimulating”. It’s pretty much on par with all of Grouper’s Sanrio/Hello Kitty stuff.
I don’t mind it being a kid’s movie. I like kid’s movies. So that’s not what bugged me. No, what irked me was the over-the-top, “you’ve gotta be kidding me” product placement done throughout the film. At random instances, Mario with hit a block and Super Mario Brand Ramen will pop out and he’ll eat it and talk about how delicious it is. They even interrupt the final battle with King Koopa to hurl in some product placement. It’s rather annoying.
Overall, it’s a fun piece of obscure Mario media that’s worth watching, but not worth the insane prices it goes for online. Just about everything from the first Mario game is represented, from Lakitu and Spiney’s Eggs to the Hammer Bros. There’s even a nice twist ending that kind of breaks your heart (or Mario’s, at least). And fans of Super Mario 64 will instantly recognize the inspiration for the King Koopa boss battle from the climax of this film. But anyway, this OVA is only going to appeal to the hardcore Mario fans out there, and its limited availability doesn’t make it very accessible to a casual audience.
Grade: C+
And because I couldn’t find any other place to mention this, there’s a scene where Mario kills a Buzzy Beetle with a fireball. You can’t do that!