MovieRankingReviews

  When Toy Story 5 was announced, I was very concerned. The first three films are easily one of the best trilogy out there with a beautiful and satisfying ending in the 3rd film. The 4th film, while not as good as the original three, it did still have a strong and emotional ending that felt like a nice wrap up for the whole series. Yet, here we are with a 5th entry that threatens to damage the whole poignant ending. Is this a necessary entry or is this a story not worth telling? What this new entry tackles is something incredibly relatable to our current times. What if kids stop believing in playing with toys and started being more interested in tech? It’s an interesting dilemma and is something that the director, Andrew Stanton, takes a genuine deep dive into. The film doesn’t just portray the new tech, Lilypad, as a straight-up villain and there is a layered exploration of toys and tech. At the heart of this new story is Jessie. She struggles with what feels like h...

  Inside Out 2 is a solid sequel and a great return to form from Pixar. The story feels like a natural evolution from the first with Riley now dealing with puberty and new emotions; Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui. Anxiety is the big focus in this sequel and it makes for a great conflict with the original emotions from the first film. There is a great message and a very sincere storytelling, just like in the first entry. My only gripe is that the story focuses a lot on the main "do well at hockey camp” story and doesn’t go fully into all the puberty stuff. It also doesn’t have a satisfying conclusion to the “fitting in with new friends” subplot which makes the ending not as satisfying as the first. Nevertheless, this is a terrific sequel and I think there is a chance for a great 3rd film in the future!

  Elemental is the first Pixar movie where the trailers did not interest me whatsoever. It didn’t help to know that this was directed by Peter Sohn who was the director of the most forgettable Pixar film; The Good Dinosaur. Despite that, I gave it a chance. Unfortunately, it seems I was correct in all my worries because this movie is very generic. The story is so unimaginative and lacking in any originality, its world-building feels overly complicated and questionable in all logic, the character designs look weirdly unappealing, and the message is so heavy-handed and not well executed. What it does do right though, is our two main leads. They are great and I enjoyed the moments of them together as it was very charming. The music score by Thomas Newman is terrific and it does enjoyably tell the generic story at least. I expect better from Pixar next time though…

  If it weren’t for that dumb irrelevant text crawl at the beginning and the fact that Toy Story has already established lore about the character of Buzz Lightyear, I honestly would’ve accepted the choices made in this film. Ignoring that, the film is a pretty straightforward and fun adventure film that I can definitely see kids enjoying. It’s got the Pixar charm of amazing and beautiful animation with a stellar score from Michael Giacchino. The voice over work is okay, there are some scenes where I feel the actors aren’t properly conveying the emotion of the scene well. It also suffers from a weak story, bad writing and not very likeable characters. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be but it’s definitely not as stellar as it should be.

  Pixar returns with another movie that is, unfortunately, going straight to Disney+ with little recognition or fanfare about it. Pixar movies were usually the animated movies that everyone was talking about but I barely heard anyone talk about this one. The premise is “Mei Lee is a 13-year-old girl who is torn between being her mother’s obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda”. Is this a sleeper hit or is this going to be a Pixar movie people forget? Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. This movie is visually great with its phenomenal animation. The character designs, the city and the panda itself are all wonderfully pleasant. There is a lot of anime-inspired influences within the film and it certainly shows in the visuals. It’s a mostly grounded movie but when the magical stuff happens, the usual Pixar magic occurs and it is great! For example, there is a nightmare se...

  I’ve decided to end my movie watching experience of 2021 with Encanto. I tend to be a sucker for Disney animated movies and this one was no exception. The premise is “The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who lives hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charming place called the Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift – every child except Mirabel. However, she soon may be the Madrigals last hope when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger”. So did the movie enchant me or did the magic fade out? Firstly, I love the setting and world of Encanto. This is the first time Disney has explored Columbian culture and I think they did a great job in representing it. The movie also doesn’t shy away from some dark stuff which genuinely surprised me. The world is also wonderful, despite just being in one house most of the time. Although, to be fair it is a magical house which allows it to be ...

  Soul is the next in the lineup of Pixar animation movies. I completely adore Pixar movies, they are always so heartwarming which is what we needed in 2020. The premise is “Joe (Jamie Foxx) is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn’t quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz – and he’s good. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have a soul”. So does this warm my “Soul” or send me straight to the Great Beyond. Firstly, I really love the main characters in this movie. Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a passionate Jazz pianist and music teacher but the struggles that he goes through, on Earth, are things that would resonate with a lot of people in modern times. Joe doesn’t want his life to feel meaningless, wants to have that big moment in his life and no regrets. 22 (Tina Fey) is surprisingly not as annoying as trailers might make her up to be. 22 doesn’t want to be reborn into Eart...