Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) | REVIEW

Miles Morales as Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson — Screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham.

With 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a vast team of storytellers caught lightning in a bottle, as they managed to make a film that not only captured what makes superhero and Spider-man films so electric and fun to watch, but they had also made an animated film with a groundbreaking animation style. At the same time, they managed to introduce the world to Miles Morales — a once lesser-known Spider-Man — in a way that made him an instant fan favorite. Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best animated films of the 2010s and arguably the century at the time of writing. Since then, a lot has happened. The idea of a multiverse film has become so mainstream that the Academy Awards has even given Best Picture to a multiverse-focused film. To add to that, we even got a live-action Spider-Man multiverse film with Spider-Man: No Way Home. It would be totally understandable to think that the idea of multiverse storytelling is played out and that no one is clamoring for more Spider-People. Thus, recapturing that same lightning in a bottle was not anywhere close to being simple. And yet, that is exactly what has happened with Across the Spider-Verse, the direct sequel to the 2018 animated hit. Across the Spider-Verse is not just more of the same.

Continue reading “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) | REVIEW”

REVIEW: The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

The Mitchell family (voiced by Maya Rudolph, Abbi Jacobson, Michael Rianda, and Danny McBride) in THE MITCHELLS vs. THE MACHINES — Photo: Sony Pictures Animation / Netflix.

Directed by Michael Rianda (Gravity Falls) — Screenplay by Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe.

Sometimes it’s difficult to really gauge whether or not the hype for a film is justified or not. From the outset, what I had heard about The Mitchells vs. The Machines sounded really good. The premise was neat, I liked what I had seen of its animation style in trailers, but I wasn’t sure if it would work as a total package once I finally felt ready to sit down and watch the film, which had been on my watchlist for quite some time. The reactions that I had heard from my peers also made it sound like far and away one of the best animated films in years, which was overwhelming information that I didn’t know what to do with at that moment since I was a little bit too busy when it was released. I ended up waiting a considerable amount of time before I finally watched it, which meant that when I finally felt the urge to start up Netflix and watch their Lord & Miller-produced animated hit, the hype had sort of died down at least a little bit. So, having now seen the film, do I think the hype was justified? Well, yeah. Though I was trepidatious initially, the film more than won me over.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)”

REVIEW: The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part — Directed by Mike Mitchell.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s The LEGO Movie was, frankly, not just one of the best surprises of 2014. It was also one of the best movies of the year. The film’s first follow-up was the Batman spin-off, The LEGO Batman Movie, which, surprisingly, did not ‘exist in,’ so to speak, the real world like Lord and Miller’s hit did. The LEGO Batman Movie was a clever animated hit that I enjoyed greatly, though not as much as I enjoyed Lord and Miller’s LEGO-film. Then they released The LEGO Ninjago Movie which I couldn’t care less about when it was announced. I did see the film eventually, though, but it didn’t speak to me, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. Now we finally have a proper sequel to that first LEGO movie-hit. And although I don’t think it lives up to my expectations, it is a perfectly fine animated sequel. Continue reading “REVIEW: The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)”

Lord and Miller fired?! – Dagobah Day #33

Is it time to panic? I think it’s time to panic. Now, the second Star Wars spin-off film in development is the Han Solo film (which is apparently just going to be titled Solo — no official news, though). We’ve known for a while that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who’ve successfully directed The LEGO Movie and both 21 and 22 Jump Street, were going to be directing the film. Continue reading “Lord and Miller fired?! – Dagobah Day #33”

REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The LEGO Batman Movie – Directed by Chris McKay.

Everything, indeed, was awesome about Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s fantastic The LEGO Movie. It was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2014, and so, obviously, we were going to get more big LEGO films. The first of these is a spin-off of The LEGO Movie, in which Will Arnett’s take on Batman was one of the highlights.

Now, with The LEGO Batman Movie, the Warner Bros. Animation Group has made sure that someone like me will be looking forward to each and every big LEGO film, because The LEGO Batman Movie is terrific. Continue reading “REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)”

Han Solo is getting a solo film – Dagobah Day #3

I'm Jeffrey Rex' Dagobah Day

Welcome back to Dagobah!

Dagobah Day is a recurring opinion piece / news post on all things Star Wars. This time on Dagobah, I go over the details of the Anthology Film that was just announced a couple of days ago (July 7th 2015), and the actors that could play a ‘young’ Han Solo. Also, I wonder, what do they mean by ‘young’? Continue reading “Han Solo is getting a solo film – Dagobah Day #3”