animation | Fifth about The Seventh

Frozen (2013)

December 17, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Frozen: while too hard-on-the nose thematically, this film is nevertheless a good example of the Disney machine operating at a high level; the result is a solid piece of entertainment. Beautifully animated, visually stunning, it tells a delightful story with a fun set of characters (which are distinctly designed) and harmless sense of humor. Voice acting is solid, and the songs, performed with gusto. (Particular note for “Let It Go”, a crucial song for the story.) The short that preceded […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy, fantasy

The Wind Rises

November 17, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Wind Rises: Hayao Miyazaki imbues magic in this tale, even as it is, for the most part, a very realistic, but always rich story that is at the same time like and unlike what is seen in an animated feature nowadays. This certainly could have been an non-animated film at all, but thankfully it is: the animation and the character design are gorgeous and detailed, the colors are great to look at. Miyazaki has been one of the premier storytellers […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, biopic / historic, drama

Monsters University

June 22, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Monsters University: it’s part of the game that a sequel (or a prequel, as the case may be) will be judged not only on its own terms, but also compared to the original work. The best ones will expand the story and the universe, organically, while still maintaining a sense of identity. By such measure, this film doesn’t work all that well, as the characters are not quite formed or aligned with their future selves; to its credit, it plays […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, fantasy

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Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

June 21, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Grave of the Fireflies: it is possible to have magic in an animation film without talking animals or fantastic environments; a great story in a realistic setting will have the same effect. In this particular case, the story is as touching as in very few cases before or since, and that includes live-action films; it is both very particular to its time and place, and universal. While it’s very different in tone to the majority of Studio Ghibli’s films, it […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, drama, top

Epic (2013)

June 18, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Epic: a solid, if unspectacular animated film. The story is above average (it seems to be a bit inspired by Studio Ghibli’s works) and avoiding cheap jokes as well as pop culture references was a good choice. Character and world design are well done, in particular the way one integrated with the other; the exception is that some of the textures are a bit off. Voice acting is, for the most part, good; Christoph Waltz is expectedly the high point.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

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Despicable Me

June 8, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Despicable Me: uninspired and bland animated film. The problem starts (but not ends) with the underdeveloped story and the unmemorable characters. The brand of humour is as low-brow as it could be while still being kid-friendly. Finally, visually it’s as flat and uninteresting as everything else. The one saving grace, to a point, is the group of minions, but that’s a one-trick pony that can only go so far.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy

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Rise of the Guardians

March 28, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Rise of the Guardians: while it’s not a new idea to create an “out of context” group of superheroes (Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came to mind, even thought it’s certainly not the first implementation of such idea either), it is a good one. Execution is strong, as usual, with character design (as well as their ancillary effects) generally (but not universally) interesting. Camera work (so to say) is very dynamic, consistent with the genre. But, most importantly, […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation, fantasy

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The Croods

March 25, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Croods: colorful, good-looking animated film (nowadays it seems to be harder to make a bad-looking animation than a good-looking one), that, however, fails where they usually do: in telling a story with heart. The main issue is how heavy-handed the story gets; and while the name of the film suggest it, the brand of humour is not crude (nor, as DWA films usually have it, so heavily dependent on pop-culture references). It’s a fun ride, but for the most part […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

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From Up on Poppy Hill

March 18, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

From Up on Poppy Hill: while the old-school 2-D animation style fits perfectly with the feeling of nostalgia and innocence that permeates this lovely, delicate film, it’s also a good reminder that it doesn’t matter much the style a story is told, if it’s earnest and heartfelt. As is generally the case in Studio Ghibli’s films, the heroine is well conceived and written, and action unfurls in a natural, unforced way; the (for them) unusual realistic setting doesn’t prove at […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy, drama