Tuesday, April 21, 2015

“The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mist”


Welcome to the 9-month anniversary of “Mr. Bee's Brilliant Movie Buzz”. Now, you might be wondering what the best way to celebrate is. How about reviewing a sequel to the movie that I started with (and perhaps quit while I was ahead)? Now, let's begin ;


Background

Now, this movie was directed by Roy Allen Smith who also directed the second and third Land Before Time movies (and, he is also responsible for RUINING the franchise). This is also the last movie to have any of the original cast (I can see why). Moving on,

Plot

This movie is roughly about a herd of migrating longnecks coming into the Great Valley. Littlefoot's grandpa comes down with a mysterious illness which can only be healed by a flower called the “Night Flower” that only grows in the land of the mist (which is where the older longnecks came from). As you probably guessed, it is up to Littlefoot, Petri, Spike, Ducky, and Sara...and, introducing, a new character – Ali (not really new though, considering the movie is 20 years old). The gang's task - to find the “Night Flower” and defeat some really stupid villains (both literally and figuratively) before grandpa longneck becomes...extinct (I couldn't resist).


Opinion:
Overall, it would take an expert team of archeologists a LONG time to dig anything positive out of this movie. The only good thing that I can glean is the song that Littlefoot's grandma sings to Littlefoot is not really that bad about the circle of life (insert Lion King reference here). The one problem with the song is that it would have been a great place to reference Littlefoot's mom dying (but that is a nit-pick). Anyways, to sum up: The voice acting is terrible! Particularly, the part when Littlefoot's family is telling him about migrating, grandpa seems to have swallowed a dictionary (maybe that's why he's sick in the first place). The animation seems to have gotten worse with every subsequent movie! The writing is horrendous! For example, Littlefoot's grandpa's impending death is incredibly forced and the villains add basically NOTHING to the story. For the most part, the songs are absolutely pitiful! In particular, there is one song with a message about anti-discrimination that would be better served on Sesame Street...scratch that, Barney and Friends. Now, how I would make this movie better is by having grandpa die. That would have created some kind of emotional connection in this empty movie, but (spoiler alert!) he lives. Anyway, this movie is awfully, horrendously bad and doesn't even warrant a one-star rating. Instead, I am giving it the first ever Mr. Bee Golden Garbage Can Award - an award bestowed to a movie that can not even be given a 1-star rating or a sequel or remake of a phenomenal movie that tarnishes the brand's legacy. This movie fits both criteria. Save yourself the time because I have suffered through it so that you don't have to. If you have a birth to 3-year-old who needs a tv babysitter for 74 minutes, this may work on mute just for the colors alone, but even then, I wouldn't recommend it! Goodnight, and Bee happy...as for me, where's the nearest bottle of beer?

BY Mr. Bee  



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