Happy Feet (2006), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010), & Astro Boy (2009)

Happy Feet takes us into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song. We then meet Mumble, a penguin who cannot sing, but can tap dance something fierce.

In The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Balthazar Blake, master sorcerer and apprentice of Merlin, must find and train Merlin's descendant to destroy Morgana le Fey, the darkest sorceress of all time.

And in Astro Boy, a scientist secretly creates a powerful robot child to replace his dead son (charming!). However, the robot uses its incredible powers to become a world famous super-hero, and faces his biggest challenge when an alien race threatens Earth.

Happy Feet

Toe tapping? More like Toe curdling

The animation work is beautiful to behold, the all-star cast do a stellar job in providing the voice work and the ending manages to actually be good and surprisingly, not that predictable. Sadly though, none of this can make up for a preachy and uneven script, characters that are dull to watch and the film just overall placing too much of an emphasis on music, making this feel pretty much like a Penguin version of Glee.


The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Lacking in magic

Despite being confined to wear a bad wig throughout the films run time, Nicolas Cage manages to give a good performance while Alfred Molina hams it up and Jay Baruchel goes great lengths to annoy with the kind of awkward acting that would give Michael Cera an (awkward) run for his money. Ultimately, the film is nothing overly terrible, but its effects heavy plot, overly predictable script and cliched characters makes this far from good.



Astro Boy

Should be blasted into the stratosphere

The crisp animation is lovely to behold, but sadly, that's the only good point I can find for this film.
The characters are undeniably poor, from the moustache-twirling villain to the money grubbing Hamegg. The worst is definitely Cora, who is no more than an unlikable love interest with a hard exterior, a face that's consistently scowly and a "secret". The potential for many stories and arcs is vast, and all of them are wasted on a humorless comedic attempt that's utterly predictable and carries an uneven tone.

Comments

Ruth said…
Wow, three bummer's for you this week! Out of these I've only seen Happy Feet, but I actually really like it! It's very cute! (I haven't seen Happy Feet 2, so I can't compare).
H.A.K. said…
Yeah that just about sounds right. good job with these reviews Rodders.
James Rodrigues said…
Actually, I watched these over Christmas Break and only just finished composing my thoughts of them. Yeah, lots of people like Happy Feet, i'm just part of the minority.