boulevard-ijab (IJA & ME) - one half completing the other half....

Cartoons' Network (amended in green)

Review rating system:
***** - 'super good' movie; don't miss it.
**** - good movie; try to find the time to watch it.
*** - average movie; you may or may not like it.
** - crap movie; watch only if you have nothing else to do.
* - 'super crap' movie; don't watch it at all!

Note to fellow Muslims: If you do want to watch the movie(s), please still do obey your prayers and whenever possible, still strive to do so in jemaah. Wallahua'lam. Thank you.

I remember back in the younger years (NOT implying I’ve grown so much older ok, hehe) when Toy Story came out. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first for such a feature length 3-D animation to ever hit the screen. The storyline was creative and unique, the characters were adorable and funny (including the villain kid), while the surreal animation - it left me speechless!

Initially, I believed that a movie like that didn't come so often, and therefore I shall NOT miss whenever the one like it comes next. However, after a few years, we saw not one or two, but a bunch of film creators tinkering with their computers in creating a movie like Toy Story. It was as though they were all competing in creating the best animation movie(s). Heck, no wonder they've created an oscar award that is up for grab every year too!

We now have a truck load of such movies. So far, we have animations about talking toys (Toy Story 1 and 2), talking insects (A Bug's Life), talking ants (Antz), talking cars (Cars), talking animals (Madagascar), talking birds (Valiant), talking ogres and monsters (Shrek) and not to forget - talking humans (The Incredibles)... with stories set during ice age time (The Ice Age), inside kids' closets (Monsters Inc.), a haunted house (Monster House) etc. etc. Whatever will they come out next huh?

Contrary to my intial belief, I now find 3-D animation movies can no longer fall under, what I used to call 'special' category. Let me explain further...As you know, different movies fall under a different MAIN category. They can be horror, comedy, drama, thriller and fantasy catering for people of different age groups (thus the existence of movie rating system). Since there are so many movies out there, some can be brilliant, while others are not....

Unfortunately, 3-D animations have fallen into the same trap (of being too many) with some of them being excellent, while others are just average or plain dull. I guess it's true that 'too much of a good thing is not a good thing'. There are some 3-D movies which are a disappointment, with crappy plots and sometimes even the graphics and animations, which are the gist that make these movies 'special', fail to awe you. Examples are like Chicken Little, Valiant and Madagascar.

Nowadays, I treat 3-D movies just like other movies. I proceed with caution - they may not be as great as they seem to be. If I think I should pass, I'll pass... and if I regret myself watching it, then I shall have to live with it, or perhaps warn others.

In this review, I shall take you to visit the cartoon world of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Cars, Over The Hedge and The Wild and fortunately, these are all a bunch of good ones.

When I saw the trailer for CARS, I thought this was just another movie about some 'rookie' trying to excel in some sports competition (who usually wins in the end) and that the plot was a plain and straight one. Some obvious examples are the Karate Kid series, The Sea Biscuit and Racing Stripes.

Luckily, I was wrong. I mean, what was I thinking? Surely the team that brought us Toy Story, Monsters Inc. etc.. could figure something different about the story of a hotshot rookie race car. The storyline, just like real life and how the roads are out there, is NOT a straight one. Instead, it's a winding (in a good way) and a rather unpredictable one!

The movie delivers some good values that we all can learn from - value your friends and friendships; appreciate your strengths and weaknesses; discover yourself as you discover new places; don't be too self-centered or look down on others just because you think they are 'low class'; don't leave behind the 'past routes' just because you find new alternative routes (you'll never know when you might use the old routes again); fame and glory are temporary, it's how you want to be remembered that matters etc etc.

There are colourful characters that come in sleek (and not so sleek) designs - Lightning McQueen the rookie, Doc Hudson the legendary, Sally Carrera the eye candy and Mater the funny....

Apart from that - some hilarious punch lines/scenes including the wake-the-tractor antics and jaw-dropping graphics. Totally not to be missed! (Rating: *****)

The title Ice Age 2: The Meltdown should be able to hint what the movie sequel basically covers. In the fist movie, an enemy (Diego) hides his true self by proclaiming that he wants to help his herd (which consists of Manny the woolly mammoth and Sid the sloth) return a human baby to safety. Their adventure is fun, with many obstacles and a plot twist towards the end - the enemy becomes a friend and a part of the herd.

However, there is/are no real villains in Ice Age 2, or at least the villains don't really talk and plot some devious plans against humanity, or in this case...'animality'? The movie delivers a strong family theme to the audience. It's also a straightforward journey, with no twists and turns and stuffs, other than Manny meeting up his own kind after thinking he's the last of his species. And the slight twist is that, his own kind (Ellie) somehow thinks she's a possum, thanks to her two wild and naughty 'siblings', Crash and Eddie. Their journey to the big 'boat' to escape the soon-to-happen big flood as the ice is melting (does this somehow remind you of Noah's Ark story?) is filled with laughter as Manny tries to convince Ellie that she is a mammoth, Sid tries to prove himself worthy and Diego overcomes his fear of water and his anger towards Crash and Eddie. Oh yes, Scrat has plenty of screen presence to entertain you in this one. Since my wife likes it so much, so I'm going to give the overal rating as ****. I know it's biased, but who hasn't done it anyway, right....? :)

Two distributors (DreamWorks and Walt Disney) disappoint us with their lousy Madagascar and Chicken Little. Therefore, some may be a bit relunctant over how their latest Over The Hedge and The Wild (respectively) would fair at the box office. However, we can toss away our doubts over the hedge and into the wild as these two movies deserve two thumbs up!

Comparing the two, Over The Hedge (OTH) is wilder and the animals are more chaotic/comical than The Wild. In OTH, we have RJ the Ring Leader, whose enthusiasm to cross over the hedge comes with a secret agenda. His plan to get stocks of foods from humans (who live to eat, rather than eat to live) are well received by the animals who'd just recently awaken from a long hibernation, only to greet with a large, green hedge, cropped up right through the middle of their once-natural habitat. They are Verne the over-cautious turtle, Hammy the nut squirrel, Stella the skunk, Heather the 'Avril Lavigne' etc etc. They also get help from the unlikely ally, Tiger the cat, after the cat falls helplessly and odourlessly with Stella.

Meantime, I especially enjoy and agree with RJ's lengthy definition of foods through the eyes of humans. (Rating: ****)

Though watchable, in my opinion The Wild's plot lacks the punch that makes people want to say 'wow' 'ooohhh' and 'aaaahh'. Maybe Disney should beef up their storyline department (if such a dept. exists) or something...

Anyway, the story revolves around this group of animals and their journey from the zoo into the wild concrete jungle of New York, then stranded on an island that is about to blow up because of its active volcanic mountains. Meet Samson the Lion, Ryan the Lion Cub, Nigel the Koala, Benny the Squirrel, Bridget the Giraffe and Larry the Anaconda.

The Wild is constantly being compared with Madagascar, but I shall give credit to where it's due: the movie DOES stand on its own. At times, the movie is also a reminiscence of Disney's The Lion King (like relationship between Samson and Ryan and also the scene on Samson about to fall off from a cliff).

I also especially enjoy when Nigel is praised as a God by some of the animals on the island (and the reason behind such worship) and how the wildebeasts over there, manage to climb up to the top of the food chain. Totally didn't see it coming... (Rating: ***)

Coming Soon:

1. To rude or not to rude? - KL folks (especially) are rude? In fact, KL city comes third as the most rude city folks? Well, I do agree based on MY standards... However if it's based on the magazine's standard of what it considers as rude and not rude, then I'll have to disagree with the magazine's ranking.