Gnomeo & Juliet

When I sat down with my kids to watch Gnomeo & Juliet, I wasn't expecting much. There are so many computer animated movies every year, I can't keep track of them all and I don't think most of them are much good. But this one had a couple things going for it that made me enjoy it more than most. First off, as the title suggests, this is a Romeo and Juliet story. With garden gnomes. Yeah, silly, I know, but the plot really does follow the play reasonably closely, and it's a very enduring story. And the movie makers had a fun time throwing in other Shakespeare references here and there. That alone would have probably kept my attention most of the time.

The second thing that is worth mentioning is that Elton John was the executive producer, and his music is used heavily throughout the movie. It could have been overkill, but for a campy sort of movie I thought it worked. The Romeo and Juliet story is full of drama, fights, and romance, and Elton John's vast music catalog can cover it all.

In general I thought Gnomeo & Juliet was reasonably well done. The voice acting (primarily by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt, but also Maggie Smith and Michael Caine) was quite good. And there were some very notable voice cameos by the likes of Dolly Parton, Hulk Hogan, Ozzy Osbourne, and Sir Patrick Stewart. This was a fun little animated romp with a good balance of silly humor for the kids and cultural references for the adults.

***

TRON: Legacy

When they announced a sequel to the now-classic 1982 movie TRON, I inwardly cringed. Reviving fads from the 80's is a Hollywood pastime nowadays, but really? TRON? That movie really is only remembered for its pioneering computer generated graphics, which are now comically out of date. And did it even have a plot? I can't remember much of one. So I didn't expect much. And then I saw the trailer. This new world of TRON was dark, sleek, and beautiful, and yet somehow managed to keep the same look and feel. And I decided right then that I had to see it, if only for the visuals.

At its heart, this is nothing more than a fancy 3D eye candy movie, so I almost feel foolish admitting that I liked TRON: Legacy as much as I did. But sometimes it's fun to watch pretty things on the screen, and TRON: Legacy is undeniably pretty. I rather liked the updated design of the computer world, and new disc battles and light cycle matches are exciting and suitably three-dimensional. The 3D effects are particularly suited to the computer world environment, and they subtly enhanced the movie throughout. The acting is not Oscar material, but it wasn't meant to be. It certainly helps that Jeff Bridges has become something of an icon in the past 28 years. And thanks to the minimal storyline in the original, the sequel's plot is probably more complex. Perhaps my relatively low expectations enhanced the experience.

The bottom line is that TRON: Legacy is a great movie to see in 3D, and a fitting homage to the previous generation's TRON.
∗∗∗

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

I can't quite imagine who thought this movie was a good idea. Logically, some movie executive must have okayed the project, and presumably someone actually looked at the script. I just don't know what they were thinking when they gave it the green light. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is nominally connected with the extremely successful Final Fantasy role-playing video game franchise. However, despite the video games' reputation for complex characters and intricate plots, we have none of that here.

The movie follows the quest of Dr. Aki Ross, the attractive young female scientist (you know the plot is going to be bad just from that phrase) who is searching for the seven "spirits" that will rid the earth of an alien infestation. The usual compliment of stock characters is along for the ride, including the wise old mentor, the attractive male lead, the arrogant and foolish military leader, and a few wise-cracking sidekicks.

The Spirits Within really only has one thing going for it: special effects. At the time it was released, the movie represented an advancement in realistic computer animated characters. For the most part, the people are fairly realistic. You know they aren't real people, but they look and act enough like real people so that it isn't distracting. As is always the case, the effects don't look as good now as they did when the movie came out, but it's still not too bad. However, a little eye candy was never enough to sell a movie with a plot this bad.
∗1/2