MOVIE: Ice Age (2002)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Ice AgeYear: 2002Rating: PGLength: 81 minutes / 1.35 hours In an era where most CGI animated movies were coming out of either Pixar or DreamWorks, Ice Age (2002) was a strong contender for 20th Century Fox. While a comedy with talking animals wasn’t a particularly new idea, the setting of prehistoric times made for an amusing “road trip” film as these creatures set out to return a human baby to its tribe. The jokes are smart (which every parent always appreciates), but there’s a thin layer of darker tone that lies underneath that might make this movie a little scary for little kids. Star-studded voice casts had become common by this time, but the three leads of Ray Romano (Manny), Denis Leary (Diego), and John Leguizamo (Sid) are iconic and fit their characters to a tee. And while it was clear the setting was much easier to render in this era than something with grass or other high-detail backgrounds, the detail on...
Read More

MOVIE: Rio (2011)

by benmweilertNo Comments
RioYear: 2011Rating: GLength: 96 minutes / 1.67 hours When Rio (2011) came out, I felt it was pushed into so many aspects of popular culture that 20th Century Fox Animation was trying to make it a hit by sheer cross-branding. Heck, there was even an entire Angry Birds game made for mobile phones that was filled with plot from the movie. Re-watching this film more than a decade later made me realize how generic this movie truly is. That it had so many trope similarities to Fox Animation’s Epic (2013) which came out a few years later, shows how formulaic these movies are. It seems every movie dealing with rare animals always has some kind of poacher as the villain. Finding Nemo (2003) did this. Madagascar 3 (2012) did this. Migration (2023) did this. Additionally, most movies set in “foreign” locales play up their cultural touchstones as a strong bit of advertising to the tourists who might watch the movie (or at...
Read More

MOVIE: The Wolverine (2013)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The WolverineYear: 2013Rating: PG-13Length: 126 minutes / 2.10 hours It's nice to know that of all the X-Men characters to get a spinoff trilogy, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) was able to improve from one movie to the next. Of course, it's easy to surpass the peculiar X-Men Origins (2009) with a movie that explores what happens when Wolverine loses one of the core parts of his identity as a mutant. It also helped that this film (and its sequel, Logan (2017)) were directed by James Mangold—a solid director with a variety of different genres under his belt. I'm glad this little piece of Marvel recognizes there are other locations in the world other than New York City and San Francisco. Having the Japanese setting combined with a nuclear backstory (which also ties into the mutant nature of Wolverine) felt like a breath of fresh air for these superhero films. Because having Wolverine fight guys wielding katanas seems like a natural thing to happen...
Read More

MOVIE: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Deadpool & WolverineYear: 2024Rating: RLength: 128 minutes / 2.13 hours Ever since the early success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) proved how Marvel could successfully adapt their comics to the big screen, there was always this itch that couldn't be scratched. This was because certain properties like X-Men and Spider-Man were "trapped" at other studios like 20th Century Fox and Sony, respectively. Through mergers and other agreements, some of these franchises came back under the Marvel umbrella (via Disney), allowing Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) to scratch that crossover itch—finally. While this isn't the first time that 20th Century characters have appeared in a mainline MCU entry (with WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) having those distinctions), Deadpool & Wolverine felt like the proper send-off for these 20th Century characters. After all, it's likely we wouldn't even have an MCU if it weren't for the superhero films like X-Men (2000) that came before Iron Man (2008). In a...
Read More