PAW Patrol: The Movie -Mr.Bee’s Review

 

Hello and welcome,

I guess I should begin by letting you know that I have not watched a single episode of PAW Patrol, sure I had heard of it, but when it premiered I was way past the time of Preschool shows (at least regularly) but I did ironically have a friend my age that was a big fan so maybe there's something there for the Beyond 6 crowd. All that is to say that I went into this completely blind, so let’s begin


Background


In 2017 it was confirmed that the company that owns the PAW Patrol brand, Spin Master (your suspicions are correct that it is indeed a toy company), was considering whether to extend the PAW Patrol franchise into feature films. Animation tests were conducted to see how the characters would look on the big screen. Development of the film was confirmed on February 21, 2020, with Cal Brunker as the director (his credits include Escape from Planet Earth and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature- not the greatest resume to say the least).


Plot


The PAW Patrol's arch-rival, Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), who hates dogs, becomes mayor of Adventure City. A dachshund named Liberty (Marsai Martin) calls the team. So it is up to the leader, Ryder (Will Brisbin); Chase, a police dog (Iain Armitage); Marshall, a firefighter dog (Kingsley Marshall); Skye, an air dog (Lilly Bartlam); Rubble, a construction dog; Rocky, a recycling dog, and Zuma an aquatic rescue dog, to save the day.


Opinion


To start off, the animation looks pretty good with some very good texture. Although I have not watched a full episode of the show, what I have seen looks half rendered, which makes this movie a major step up. The story, as you would probably guess for a little kid's movie, is very predictable. However, to the movie’s credit, the execution is surprisingly decent and it walks the fine line on introducing newcomers to the characters while not making it feel tedious for the old fans (at least that is what I am assuming as I am a newcomer to the series). The characters are pretty likable and Mayor Humdinger is a pretty entertaining villain. However, Chase’s character arc, while not entirely bad, needed to be fleshed out more. Overall, it is a pretty passable film. I am completely in the wrong demographic for this movie, but if you have a child 5 or under they will probably enjoy this just fine.


I give this movie two and a half out of five stars. On a side note, is it just me or does Mayor Humdinger look like a young version of the Monopoly guy?



Goodnight and Bee Happy™




Mr. Bee 

Johansson V. Disney: With Bob Chapek driving, Disney is on route to Disaster

 Hello! This was originally written between the days of Monday and Wednesday of this week before Disney's earnings call during the Q&A   No one asked about  Scarlett Johansson directly but it was very much implied in a low of questions, Bob Chapek did not do anything to help he’s case with the tone he used I think he made the problem worse. 

my opinion still stands, enjoy!  

Mr.Bee

 

Hello and a welcome back to the Olympic athletes returning home who may be reading, and to everyone else reading, I guess you can read along.

 

It has been 7 years since this blog began (well, 7 years this coming Saturday). So every year I think long and hard about what to do for the anniversary. This year I was considering a third part to “Are the Movie Theaters Dead?” but the theaters are not dead, granted they are still on life support, but not dead (not even on hospice). I then considered doing 5 to 10 lessons the movie industry learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, but you may not know we are still in it! So no dice. Finally, I heard of a lawsuit against a literal Mickey Mouse operation. 

Full disclosure, I do not own any stock in Disney and I am also not on their payroll. So basically, until Disney buys me up (and I come with a high “price tag”), I can say anything I want.  

First off, I am a Paralegal Major (which is a lawyer’s assistant) so I’m not the most qualified to discuss a lawsuit, but I’m the best you've got at this moment (at least I hope I am). Going back before COVID (what feels like a century ago) Black Widow was going to be released theatrically on May 1, 2020, and then COVID happened and it was moved to November and then again to May 7, 2021, and finally to July, 9 but it was also day-and-date with movie theaters and Disney+  Premier Access.  Standard Hollywood practice for blockbusters is that the director and the stars of the film will get a percentage of box office receipts. Although the percentage is very small and most of the time it is a bonus and not the actual box office money, however, Scarlett Johansson had this type of deal. The allegations of the suit include the accusation that Disney was well aware of the deal with Johansson and just ignored it. Furthermore, Disney was aware that the Box Office was not fully back to normal. If the allegations are correct it is not good for “Mickey”.

Disney gave a response, now this is a PR Response and not a legal one that would hold up in court, but here it is: 

“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing...The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic...significantly enhanced Johansson's ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20 million she has received to date." 

just a few thoughts: 

The lawsuit has nothing to do with the pandemic and this is the same company that laid off at least 32,000 employees.

Be a good little girl and we will give you a good recommendation. 

What you made before is meaningless and if I said that I would give you $20 and then gave you only $10, what would you want from me? 

 

Remember, Johansson did not wake up one day and say “I’m going to sue the Mouse '' so it comes down to a failure of the leadership of Bob Chapek and his Team. In February 2020, you may remember the almost downright shocking news that long-time Disney CEO, Bob Iger, was stepping down and handing over the reins to the head of parks, Bob Chapek, and Iger would become executive chairman and also continue as the chairman of the board, and this was all effective immediately. Fast forward to the Fall of that year, when Bob Chapek announced a reorganization that, in short, separated the creative and the distribution arms of the company. In charge of distribution Chapek appointed a friend, Kareem Daniel, who was a banker with no experience in media. Fast forward to today and we are hearing several reports that Iger and Chapek are no longer on speaking terms (Of course, Disney has denied this). Taking the creative side out of distribution is not a very good idea and the proof is in the pudding with the Johansson lawsuit in that it is the creative arm that knows how to work with the talent. Chapek does have a very good resume but noticeably absent are any relationships with talent, because remember, Hollywood is about who you know. Johansson may not be the only one who files a lawsuit, because Emma Stone, the star of Cruella, and Emily Blunt, the co-star of Jungle Cruise are also considering lawsuits. On a side note, Pixar is very angry about their movies getting sent straight to Disney+ at no extra cost but they will not be filing lawsuits because animation contracts are different. 

If I were Bob Iger, I would call a meeting of the board and ask for a vote of no confidence for Bob Chapek, because it is only a matter of time before his leadership affects the quality and content of all the new movies and this will lead to low revenue and tarnished reputation which will then, in turn, lead to a low stock price.

Thank you everyone for watching or reading any of my content for the past seven years. To you, I am forever grateful. And to the Disney board, if you need a new CEO, I am available.

Goodnight and Bee Happy™

Mr. Bee

Space Jam: A New Legacy -Mr.Bee’s Review

 

 


Hello and welcome,


I’m sure I said it before that I am a big Looney Tunes fan, however, I’m not a basketball fan (it’s 2021 and that sentence still sounds like it doesn't belong). All that is to say I’m only half of the adult demographic for the Space Jam franchise. In my younger days I remember watching the 1st Space Jam a lot, but rewatching it now I think it is just okay. With my opinion of the 1st movie, down let’s begin


Background


A Space Jam sequel was in development hell for nearly 20 years. Soon after the 1st movie was released, development on a sequel began, and oh but you're going to love this one, the producers literally lied to the studio by saying that Michael Jordan was already on board so that they could continue the work. When WB found out that they were being lied to (I would have hated to be in the same room when they found out), WB Stopped production so they could negotiate with Jordan. But no dice. After that, they were going to do the Air Bud route by just making the same movie but with a different athlete and sport, and they had multiple variations of these in development. One of these was with Tiger Woods (Golf and Looney Tunes sounds surprisingly boring) and one starring Jackie Chan Called Spy Jam which eventually became Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Finally, in 2014 LeBron James signed and the sequel was moved forward. And the rest is history.


Plot



Basketball champion LeBron James (himself) wishes for both of his sons, Darius and Dom, to follow in his footsteps. But Dom (Cedric Joe) dreams of becoming a video game developer. LeBron is invited with his family to the Warner Bros. studio to become a movie star, but LeBron dismisses the idea while Dom shows an interest in the studio's software, particularly its A.I., Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). Al-G lures the two to the basement and traps them inside a server where he takes Dom prisoner and orders LeBron to assemble a basketball team made from WB IP and challenges him to a game in a day's time. Telling him that he will only be released if he wins, he sends him through virtual space where he lands in Tune World where meets Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman).


Opinion


The studio basically did the Air Bud route with the same sport but a different athlete. Although it is not a direct copy, it is still pretty similar. The differences are how everything takes place in a server (which does make more sense than the Looney Tunes living underground) and the relationship between Lebron and his son, but that is just a generic father-son plot. (On a side note, that plot makes LeBron look egotistical). The parts with the Looney Tunes are well done and funny but nowhere near the original shorts. My biggest problem with the Looney Tunes in this movie is actually the texture. The CGI animation itself is fine but the texture makes them look too realistic and seeing them with actual fur makes them look off and unsettling. However, in most of the movie you see them in traditional hand-drawn animation which looks great. As far as the countless cameos of other Warne Bros. IP it is fan-service for the sake of fan service. The acting is pretty solid and LeBron James is a better actor than Michael Jordan. Overall, I have to give it 3 out of 5 stars. It was, in my opinion, a little weaker than the first movie, but ironically my rating ends up being the same. I can think of a whole lot more things that I would rather see the Looney Tunes do than simply play a basketball game.


GOO GOO, That's All Folks!

Mr.Bee

A very quick update

Hi, I just want to let you know that nontheatrical Animated Films are my decision on if I will review them or not.  If it is theatrical I will 100% get to it eventually (depending on if it's a wide release).  I have two more quick updates for you. My review of Space Jam: A New Legacy It will be coming sometime this weekend hopefully. My reviews of The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Wish Dragon will come out eventually.
As always I have a lot more exciting things planned so stay tuned,
Goodnight and Bee Happy™

Mr.Bee

Justice Society: World War II -Mr.Bee’s Review

Hello and welcome,
What you might not know about me is that I have always been fascinated with World War II. If you gave me a time machine, out of all the time periods, World War ll would be at the top of my list at least here in the US (for obvious reasons I would not like to go to Europe back then). When I heard that the next DC direct-to-video movie was going to be about the Justice Society in World War II I was very excited. Not surprisingly, that is a time period of comic books that I also have a fascination with (most of which are not politically correct today). I did temper my expectations a bit because DC animated movies have been a hit or miss in recent years. 

Background
I found very little background for this movie except that it was directed by Jeff Wamester who has only directed a few episodes of the Guardians of the Galaxy TV Series. However, I think it is necessary to give you a basic understanding of the Justice Society (and I also love to talk about this stuff so this is a good excuse). The Justice Society is, or was, a team of superheroes created during the Golden Age of Comics (1938 to 1956). To the best of my knowledge, the Justice Society is the 1st superhero team and is the precursor to the Justice League (which I'm sure all of you know who they are). The original members of the JSA (Justice Society of America) included Doctor Fate; Hour-Man (who only has superpowers for one hour at a time); the Spectre; the original Sandman (who used a gun full of sleeping gas to sedate criminals); the original Atom (who did not have any superpowers); Hawkman (who was a reincarnated Egyptian); the original Green Lantern (whose ring is a magical object); and the original Flash (who got his powers by breathing in the fumes of hard water- that is not a typo, at least on my end). Oh! By the way, he (Flash) was also smoking openly in a lab (I do not need to tell you what is wrong with that). There were also 2  honorary members who were Superman and Batman who never showed up to the meetings, that is Comic Book speak for being too popular to waste in a silly team book. Wonder Woman did join the team later as their secretary (1940s taking a step forward but also taking 2  steps back). 

Plot
  
With Nazi Germany invading most of Europe and Adolf Hitler seeking magical artifacts, President Roosevelt and Steve Trevor (Chris Diamantopoulos) create a team of superhumans consisting of Trevor, Black Canary (Elysia Rotaru), Hawkman (Omid Abtahi), Hourman (Matthew Mercer,) Jay Garrick / Flash (Armen Taylor), led by Wonder Woman (Stana Katic).
In modern-day Superman (Darren Criss) is fighting Brainiac and Barry Allen / The Flash (Matt Bomer) comes to Superman's rescue. When Brainiac fires a Kryptonite bullet, Flash tries to catch it, but he runs fast enough to open up a wormhole and he arrives in what he believes is the past during a battle between the JSA and the Nazis. Despite initial confusion over his allegiance, the JSA realizes Allen is an ally after he defeats the Nazis and saves Trevor so he needs to help the team defeat Hitler and get back home. 

Opinion 
To begin with, one of the problems of the recent DC Animated Movies is the animation to no fault of the animators; it is clear that these movies are made on a shoestring budget, but someone at Warner Bros. animation realized that if they design it in such a way to make it look like a comic book that they can hide the fact that they had a limited budget.  For the most part, this technique works but it is still obvious that the WB executives do not want to spend money on this. Ironically it does not look that great on pause but in motion it is fine. The movie is very “comic bookish”  so if you are not a fan you will probably be lost. There is a twist but actually, I’m not sure there really is one because it is revealed early in the movie. Nonetheless, they left it out of the marketing so I will not spoil it here. I like the relationship between the characters, particularly the relationship between the original and the current Flash. Overall, this movie is not for the non-fan, but if you are one, this is a good watch. Given the fact that I am a fan, I am giving the movie 3 out of 5 Stars.
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™ 

Mr, Bee 

Luca -Mr.Bee’s Review

Hello and welcome,

 

As Many of you know I am a big Pixar fan so it’s no surprise that Luca was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. When Disney announced that Luca was going straight to Disney+ at no additional cost I was equally excited and disappointed because, on the one hand, I will be getting the new Pixar movie for free, not including subscriber price (given the economics and the number of titles on there you still end up getting it for free). However, on the other hand, I wouldn't get to see it in the theater. (On a side note, Disney did screen it in the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood but I live About 41 hrs. or 2,724.5 mi. away so it did not make anywhere near financial sense for me to have gone LOL). Luca may have been the movie to get me back in the theater, which I still have not returned to just yet. With that out of the way, let’s begin 

Background 

This is the 1st movie directed by Enrico Casarosa. He did however direct the 2012 Short La Luna and watching the short you can definitely see that it is the same guy even if I did not tell you.  Luca Apparently is based on Casarosa’s childhood (for the record, as far I know he is not a Sea monster but I have not seen him in water so I cannot be sure). This is also the 1st Pixar movie to be made mostly in homes due to a little thing called a pandemic 

Plot 

Luca (Jacob Tremblay), a young sea monster living off the coast of the Italian city Portorosso is forbidden by his parents (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan) to approach the surface, fearing that humans might hunt him. Luca meets Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster child, who lives alone above the surface and he encourages Luca to adventure out of the ocean, showing him that sea monsters look exactly like humans when dry, but return to their true forms when wet (Don't overthink it). Upon discovering their son's actions, Luca's parents plan to send him to live in the bottom of the ocean with his uncle Ugo (Sacha Baron Cohen). Luca and Alberto run away to Portorosso to find a Vespa and travel the world. The boys run afoul with Ercole (Saverio Raimondo), the local bully and a young girl Giulia (Emma Berman) helps them escape.  In hopes of winning the money needed for a Vespa, the boys and Giulia form a team for the triathlon, which involves swimming, pasta-eating, and biking.

Opinion 

To start off, the plot is not the most original. The story is a combination of several overdone plots such as Luca's parents not wanting him to go up to the surface (The Little Mermaid anyone)? You also have an unlikely friendship and a team of underdogs needing to win a competition. Ironically it is not the plot driving the movie but it is the characters. Luca, as a protagonist, has a well-defined goal which is freedom. The other characters are there to help Luca meet his goal of freedom and to drive home the other themes of friendship and being yourself (oh if you can not tell, the sea monsters are a metaphor for that). All the characters are likable (in the case of Ercole you love to hate).

In a way, this is almost like a Studio Ghibli Movie as they are not known for original plots. It is the characters, themes, and animation that are the reason why Studio Ghibli is known as one the best and most original studios in the world (You know Enrico Casarosa is a big Studio Ghibli fan because the city is named Portorosso as in Porco Rosso). The animation is amazing but it is Pixar, would you expect anything less? The designs go for a more cartoony look but not too cartoony to make It look off, that is one the major differences between hand-drawn and CGI.

 

Overall Luca is a wonderful movie, well I cannot say that it is one of Pixar’s best, it is still a great movie with characters and themes so strong that I have already watched it twice. (To be honest, another reason why I watched twice was scheduling, so much to watch and so little time). I have no major problems with it so I am glad to give it the highest rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Pixar Made a better CGI Studio Ghibli Movie than Studio Ghibli did. 

Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™

Mr.Bee

 

copyright 2020 Bradley Entertainment All rights belong to Mr. Bee and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.   

 images courtesy of The Walt Disney Company and Harmony Healthcare International respectively.

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