Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) is back with friends this time determined to make it¦.back to his home of New York in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. The film opens to a dream sequence with Alex picturing a dull existence where he and his friends have grown old in Africa, they decide to head for New York for all the good things they remember but first they have to swing by … [Read more...]
The Lord of the Rings (1978) review by That Film Guy
Before Peter Jackson took on the task of adapting JRR Tolkien's epic trilogy of books The Lord of the Rings, an animated film was released in 1978. Combining the content of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers into one film, Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings proved a commercial success at the box office taking $30m from a budget of $4m. Despite this success the … [Read more...]
ParaNorman (2012) review by That Film Guy
Following on from the success of Coraline, Laika Studios have released an original film directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell entitled ParaNorman. Using the same stop-motion methods of its predecessor, ParaNorman is a pastiche, satire and homage to 1960s horror films and the John Hughes films of the 1980s. Originally pitched to Disney as an idea, it was eventually created by … [Read more...]
Brave (2012) review by That Film Guy
Following on from the commercially successful, but critically derided Cars 2, animation house Pixar have created another original film entitled Brave. Wanting to create even more ground-breaking graphic design, Pixar stripped away their old animation software and built it anew for the first time in 25 years and Brave stands as the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. … [Read more...]
The Lorax (2012) review by That Film Guy
Theodore Seuss Greisel is an American children's fiction icon, having made his name with books like Horton Hears a Who!, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat. Recent years have seen a mixed bag of cinema releases based on these favourites, the latest of which is based on The Lorax, a cautionary tale about the dangers of sacrificing nature in favour of … [Read more...]
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) review by That Film Dude
Based on a now all but forgotten novel, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of those films which, quite simply, everyone must see. For fans of the Golden Age of animation this goes double, since it features cameos from dozens of classic cartoon characters from both the Warner Bros and Disney stables, and seeing traditionally hand-drawn characters interacting with live-action people … [Read more...]
Review: The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
The first visit to the cinema for anyone can be a memorable and important experience. Growing up as a fan of all things film-related, being taken to the my local cinema as a young five-year-old whippersnapper, the thrill of seeing one of my favourite television shows turned into a feature-length film proved more influential than I could possibly have imagined. Accompanied by my … [Read more...]
Shrek Forever After (2010) review by That Film Guy
With Dreamworks Animation emerging as the only real competition to Pixar in the animation film market, it made sense for them to make as much money from recognisable characters as possible. It is for this reason only that the follow-up to Shrek the Third, the rather neatly titled Shrek Forever After. Announced as the final instalment in the franchise (Puss in Boots filling the … [Read more...]
Shrek the Third (2007) review by That Film Guy
After the continued box office success of the franchise with Shrek 2, it was only a matter of time until Shrek the Third was released. Commercially it was less successful than its immediate predecessor but still took a phenomenal $798m form a budget of $160m and comfortably gave Dreamworks a reason to release a fourth part. With the King of Far, Far Away (John Cleese) about to … [Read more...]
Shrek (2001) review by That Film Guy
As Pixar developed a stranglehold on the digital animation market, there was only one company that managed to give them any competition. Dreamworks Animation managed to find a huge success with the Shrek series of films. Shrek is loosely based on a series of children's books entitled Shrek! written by William Steig. Originally conceived by Steven Spielberg as a hand-drawn … [Read more...]