The Secret life of Pets (2016)

The Secret life of Pets (2016)

5/10

Starring

Louis C.K.

Eric Stonestreet

Kevin Hart

Jenny Slate

Ellie Kemper

Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney

The Secret Life of Pets is a 3D computer-animated movie from the creators of Despicable Me and Minions (2015), Illumination Entertainment. Their previous franchise (Despicable Me) has been well-received both critically and commercially, and I have to say, they’re great movies to get sucked into.
This new addition is no Minions, and although I found the movie OK-ish, it wasn’t funny enough for me. That said, it will likely appeal to children.

My biggest dislike for this movie is the whole Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story rip-off. It felt like I was back in Andy’s room again, watching his animals (not toys this time) have a life outside of him. Then, the two leads in this movie—Max and Duke—reminded me of the feud between Woody and Buzz Lightyear.
This movie is being marketed as an original story, but to me, it’s a shabby rip-off of a great franchise, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story. I expected better from Illumination Entertainment.

The movie starts with a short Minions film, which, for me, was the highlight of the whole experience. It’s not that The Secret Life of Pets is no good, but it doesn’t hold up when compared to  Zootopia (2016) or Finding Dory (2016).

The movie’s theme, life after the owners head off to work, was its greatest barrier. Halfway through, I wished the movie would take a different turn from this story rip-off, but the writers and directors stuck to it.

This has been a wonderful year for animations, but Disney has got it covered. The Secret Life of Pets starts off interestingly, but the whole journey—which begins with a goodbye and ends with a welcome home—wasn’t grand enough to make me want to see it again.

My low rating is mainly because the excitement I felt watching the trailer didn’t match the actual movie experience. The characters were too ordinary (except for Snowball, the white rabbit). The voice casting, though, is something you’ll enjoy—from Kevin Hart to Jenny Slate. I actually preferred the voice work of the supporting cast over the main characters.

The movie’s plot revolves around a dog, Max, and his owner’s love for each other. One day, the owner comes home with a surprise for Max: a new dog, Duke.
Max lets his jealousy get the best of him and tries to get rid of Duke, but later succumbs to blackmailing him into doing his bidding.
His plans backfire, and now both dogs are lost in the streets of New York. Their collars get stolen by alley cats, and they’re captured by animal control.

But the trip isn’t over yet—they get rescued by a crazy rabbit named Snowball, who welcomes them to his “hate pet owners” club.
Now, Max and Duke must find a way to escape this new crowd and get back to their owner.

Illumination may decide to make a sequel to this movie since it’s doing well at the box office. And the story shouldn’t be hard to put together—they can just go rip off Toy Story 2.

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

7/10

Heath Ledger

Mark Addy

Alan Tudyk

Paul Bettany

Directed by Brian Helgeland

A Knight’s Tale is a medieval adventure film starring the late Heath Ledger. I’ve seen the movie so many times, and yet I still can’t get enough of the passion, the comedy, and the adventure that exist in every scene. This is a movie that takes me back down memory lane, introducing me to medieval jousting at its best.

A Knight’s Tale is about a man trying to change his stars—in layman’s terms, it’s about a commoner wanting to become royalty. Although the movie is fictional, there’s something about this plot that I find fun and exciting.

The movie’s main highlight is the jousting event, which is well-staged. The choreography is unforgettable, and the props are cool.
Even though many of the lines and the opening theme songs are clearly from the present age, the way the movie mixes and matches the dialogue and music is magnificent to the ears.

The sword fights, however, are crap.

Another downside to the movie is the lead’s origin. The movie is set in England, but the lead actor and many of the supporting cast happen to be American. You just have to overlook this slight yet annoying miscast and enjoy what the movie has to offer.

What does the movie have to offer, you may ask? Sweet lines from Sir William Thatcher’s announcer, who in the movie is named Geoffrey Chaucer.
The movie got its title (not the plot) from Geoffrey Chaucer’s book The Knight’s Tale. In this movie, Chaucer happens to be the one penning down this tale.

Another downer for the movie is that it’s predictable. You can guess your way through it, but as I said above, I’ve seen this movie numerous times. Even though it’s predictable, it offers something many movies fail to achieve in their scripting: memorable characters and events.

The movie is filled with characters you’ll love, find funny, admire, and hate. The events leading up to each match are filled with gags and one-liners that you’ll fondly remember.
Why I’ll advise you to see this movie at all costs is that if you haven’t seen it by now, you’re missing out on the tale below.

William (Heath Ledger) and his friends work for a noble knight who happens to die during a jousting match. Hungry and tired, the three friends suit up William to take his place—as long as he keeps his helmet on and stays on his horse to win. The plan works; they get food and decide to carry on. They get help from an author and poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, who forges papers naming William as being of noble birth, and they go on winning.

But someone catches onto their scheme and is bent on exposing them.

Awesome movie, and I’ll be watching it again.

Serenity (2005)

Serenity (2005)

7/10

Starring

Nathan Fillion

Alan Tudyk

Adam Baldwin

Gina Torres

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Directed by Joss Whedon

When they decided to take down one of the best TV series ever made (Firefly), I guess they didn’t imagine the massive cult following that would follow. Firefly was an awesome series based on a renegade crew aboard a Firefly-class spaceship, led by a former war sergeant named Mal.

This movie (Serenity) was the follow-up to the series, and like the show, its immersive cult following grew after the movie was released and deemed a box office bomb.

It’s a mystery why both the series and the movie ended up being financial losses because they’re great to watch, and the cast is warm and welcoming to behold. When Fox canceled the show after just fourteen episodes due to bad ratings, Universal Studios bought the rights to make a movie series—an adventure they couldn’t pursue because of the financial loss.

The movie is named after the spaceship the crew is on (Serenity), and it was fun to be back on board. It delves deeper into the life of River Tam, the 17-year-old psychic, and reveals the origins of the Reavers, the man-eating space pirates.

Two of the cast members from the series were killed off: Wash (Alan Tudyk) and Shepherd (Ron Glass). Both couldn’t commit to a sequel, so their characters were written out. If only the producers had known this would be the only movie they’d make, I guess they might have reconsidered.

The movie also introduced The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a man from the Alliance who is hellbent on getting River back.

If you haven’t seen Firefly, I wonder why? But I’ll assume some haven’t, so here’s a brief history of what you’ve been missing—or missed—fourteen years ago. Firefly (and this movie) are set in 2517. The story takes place in the aftermath of a civil war on Earth between The Independents and The Alliance. The Alliance won and now dominates the universe.

A crew aboard a spaceship called Serenity travels the universe, taking on jobs (moving cargo, carrying passengers, and even committing crimes) to get by. The captain of the ship is Mal (Nathan Fillion), a former sergeant for The Independents. He’s flanked by his war buddy and second-in-command, Zoe (Gina Torres). Wash is the pilot, Jayne (Adam Baldwin) is the weapons guy, Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is the mechanic, and Simon Tam (Sean Maher) is the ship’s doctor. Along with them are River Tam, a psychic (Simon’s sister); Inara, a companion; and Shepherd, a priest.

In this film, they’re being hunted by The Alliance, who want to retrieve River. She was taken as a child and experimented on to become a weapon. Simon broke her out, and now both are living on Serenity.

Please make time to watch both Firefly and this movie. With all the relaunches of old series happening these days, I wonder if Firefly will ever get a reboot.

As much as I love this movie, it has drawbacks. For one, the pacing drags at times. Then concerning giving River and the Reavers some backstories, the entire movie seems to have too much crammed into a single film.