I Like To Move It, Move It

Yesterday, my husband and I took my son to see Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. Mainly because WE (my husband and I) wanted to see it. One of the benefits of having kids is using them as an excuse to go see animated movies.

Anyhoo, I am a big fan of the first Madagascar film and had high hopes for the sequel. Hopes that were promptly squashed. Despite the rave reviews and the $63 million it raked in the first weekend, I was disappointed in the sequel. Perhaps there was just too much going on. . .too many story lines to follow. . .too many damn zebra's! I don't know! But I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first one. I was however excited that the penguins got more screen time. They are hilarious. **Spoiler Alert** When they jacked that jeep and asked if the old lady was dead and one of them said, "no" so they went back to run her over. . .MAN! I was laughing so loud! I know that's horrible, right? But I did think the whole thing Skipper had going on with the dashboard hula doll was kinda corny. King Julian was another reason I was able to sit through this one, Sacha Baron Cohen is a nut!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the good job the late Bernie Mac did as Zuba, Alex's father. Not really funny but I think he was a good vocal choice for the character. And Will.I.Am did a great job as the sexy hippo hunk, Moto-Moto. So, nice you've got to say it twice. . .ha ha! He was killing it with that Barry White voice.

That's just my two cents. My husband enjoyed it. . .now as for my son, the verdict is still out. I don't think he really liked it because about an hour in to it he asked me when was it going to be over. He kept saying he was ready to go home. But then he kept talking about his "favorite" parts when we got in the car. Go figure. If you just want to drop some serious duckets on a family outing this weekend and have nothing better to do, then check out the movie otherwise wait for it to come out on DVD in two months.

Next Avengers

My son has been in total superhero worship mode for the past few months. Superman, Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Transformers and of course his beloved POWER RANGERS. So, Friday when I stopped by Hollywood Video to pick up some new releases I also decided to get one kid-friendly movie for him. After picking my selections (Street Kings & National Treasure 2) I immediately focused my attention on the cartoon superhero section.

Their selection was scarce to say the least not to mention he had already seen most of the movies on the shelves. So, I wander back around to the new releases thinking maybe there would be something worthwhile yet not extremely violent for him to watch. I picked up a DVD case for an animated "movie" called the Next Avengers. It's a story about the children of the Avenger superheroes: Captain America, The Giant, Black Panther, Black Widow, etc.- yeah, I never heard of them either- just Captain America. Anyway, I figure he would like it since it was dealing with superheroes not to mention an old (as in aging) Incredible Hulk and Ironman were on the cover.

I take the movie home and of course he wants to watch it as soon as I show it to him. So, we settle in an began to watch it. I have to admit I was actually planning on reading while HE watched the movie and I would provide the occasional, "wow" "that was awesome" or "cool" in response to the action on the screen that I missed. But instead I actually started watching it and it was GOOD! Really good!

The animators did a great job with the action scenes and the story line was really good. Turns out all of the kids were orphaned (their parents lost a major battle and died- what a twist- superheroes dying) and they were raised under the radar by their "uncle" Tony Stark (yeah, IronMan- he's like a 60 years old). They find Bruce Banner (the Incredible Hulk) hiding out in the desert and need his help to help defeat the evil that has taken over the world. And although Bruce is about 70- the Hulk is still the strongest superhero alive and boy does he prove it! I thought it was a bit overkill (no pun intended) for him to rip someone in half (robots) and pound them over and over with boulders. But I guess he was trying to prove a point.

Anyway, it was a great cartoon and if you have an aspiring Superhero on your hands, he or she will love it! (BTW- I think this maybe debuting on the Disney channel or Jetix pretty soon. If it hasn't already. . .)

Fairy Tales

The Princess and the Frog is an upcoming animated musical feature film currently being produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and based upon the classic fairy tale The Frog Prince. It will be the first traditionally animated (2-D) feature film in Disney's animated features canon since 2004's Home on the Range. The film is set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age, and Tiana will be the first black Disney Princess.

While it seems this might be a GREAT thing for us. . . there are critics who say the Disney story is too-little, too-late and that the story line is full of racist elements. I say to the critics: SHADDUP!!!!! And I say this mainly because the majority of the critics are black folks or “well meaning” white folks who have appointed themselves our representatives.

First of all, Disney is the ONLY Company that has even thought about, considered or put into action any type of plan to include a diverse group of characters in their portfolio. Why didn’t some of these critics come up with the idea or beat Disney to the punch? Why haven’t black owned studios or television stations created programming or movies that cater to little black girls to show them that they are just as beautiful (even more so) than Cinderella.

There are even critiques about the storyline, which takes place in the 1920’s in New Orleans. People who got an early taste of the film were “shocked” that there was a plantation owner and that the main character was a chambermaid and that her name was Maddy. Um- correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t that pretty much how things were in the 1920’s in the South?!?!? So as not to offend (and to protect their bottom line), Disney tweaked the story line and now the plantation owner is a “sugar cane farmer” and the main character while still a chambermaid her new name is Tiana.

Again maybe I’m crazy but I thought ALL the Disney princesses were poor or down on their luck before they become “princesses”?! That is the Disney formula!!! Rags to riches. Wishing on a star and making your dreams come true. Who cares if Maddy/Tiana is a maid or that she lives on a plantation? As long as in the end she gets the damn prince and they live happily ever after!!! Seriously people, there are much bigger fish to fry and other issues that need our immediate attention. If we could get people as engaged in protecting the lives and education of our children as they are with fighting over the image of an imaginary, animated character- then we’d probably make some serious progress!

I think it's going to be a great film and has the potential to be a classic just like the others. But what will probably dictate it's success is whether or not Black folks go out and support it like they should! Check out the trailier: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

Okay, so I broke down last weekend and bought my son a Happy Meal (something I had been really good abut NOT buying because after spending $1million on Happy Meals I finally wised up and realized all he wanted was the toy) and he gets this Kung Fu Panda toy and he starts saying he saw the “commercial” on t.v. and he wants to see the movie.

So, we go as a family last night (in shock and awe that my husband agreed to attend) and almost $50 later we were seated to watch the feature presentation of Kung Fu Panda. It started off interestingly enough like a flat cartoon (like I used to watch as a kid- without all the 3-D wizardry) but it was just the main character, Po having a dream.

I found the movie to be funny and very clever. Dustin Hoffman is awesome as Master Shifu, he sounds like an ancient Asian sage. As a fan of martial arts movies I thought the creators did a good job of representing the genre. However I was shocked that some parts were so dark, serious and real. I realized that maybe it was a bit much for our son, who has only been 4 for a little over three months, when my husband and I both look down at him in the middle seat and he looked a little. . .um…petrified. His eyes were twice the size and he had suddenly gone mute. We asked if he was scared and he shook his head, “no” but he admitted later that he was a little scared.

The fighting scene when Tai Lung breaks out of prison is very cool but also pretty violent and it kinda came out of nowhere so, I think it totally took my son off guard. Although he likes to “play” karate, jump off the stairs, wrestle, and run into walls he’s really a softy at heart and he doesn’t like it when people (or animals) get hurt for real. So, I had to assure him repeatedly that it was all just pretend. I thought he was going to have nightmares for days but it turns he wasn’t as traumatized as I thought because he fell into a deep coma like sleep and didn’t wake up at all throughout the night.

So, a word of caution to anyone making plans to see it, beware that there are some parts that might startle or frighten young kids.