Ratatouille

Well, as bizarre as the voice roles can be (Patton is the lead of a Disney family movie? Jeanane Garafolo and Brad Garret playing French? Ian Holm is the bad guy?), this is actually a pretty classic Disney tale: outcast clashes with family, gets separated and finds new friend, but discovers he needs family after all and gets them to help in climactic scene. I was wondering if Fievel would show up at some point (is that even Disney? You know what I mean...) Every voice does well here, and Brad Bird knows how to use the new animation style to dazzle but not distract. Still, it's surprisingly old school and not too funny, but cute. You can watch it with kids and not kill yourself, which is getting hard these days.

Retro: Spiderman (the first)

With Spiderman 3 coming out soon, I thought I'd post this review from my old blog on the very first one. Memories are good.

After years of speculation, Spider-Man has finally arrived on the big screen. This release, which should be a huge success with young audiences, follows the story of one of the most popular super-heroes in the history of Marvel Comics.
The unlikely tale begins when Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), the stereotypical nerd of his high school, gets bitten by a radioactive spider during a field trip. He gains new and strange powers from this bite: he can climb walls, shoot a sticky substance from his wrists, and easily pummel any bully. He wants to impress Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), his attractive neighbor, but she doesn’t notice him. His odd friend, Harry Osborne (James Franco), also wants to impress her. Peter is confused about what to do with his newfound abilities.


The story shifts to focus on Harry’s dad, Norman (Willem Dafoe), the head of a defense technology company. Norman has a special drug that will make soldiers into supermen, but it has caused some insanity in animal testing, and is ruled unsafe. Government leaders are considering to stop funding his projects when he uses the formula on himself. This drives him to develop another personality as the Green Goblin, an insane criminal. This alter ego takes revenge on the people who stand in Norman’s way to success.
Peter continues to think about ways to use his powers. His struggles are special, but the film compares them with the average teenage angst felt by high schoolers. Peter lives with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), and they attribute his behavior to this normal angst. Ben tries to talk to him, but Peter is too agitated. After seeing his uncle killed in a crime that Peter unknowingly had been able to stop, he decides that he should help people with his powers. Spider-Man is born.
Naturally, since Spider-Man is the hero and the Green Goblin is the villain, they become adversaries. This creates an interesting situation between Peter, Harry, and Norman. When Peter learns that Harry is going out with Mary Jane, the two buddies then are also entangled in an awkward love triangle. Norman/The Green Goblin realizes this and uses it to plot Peter/Spider-Man’s doom. The stage is set for classic battles.
This movie is not for everyone. Audiences looking for something serious will be disappointed. The corny dialogue seems lifted right out of the old comic books and includes many clichés. The comic book setting of an older New York also doesn’t match the movie, which takes place in the present. The screaming-damsel-in-distress is out of place in today’s equal-opportunity environment. The plot follows a predictable pattern and includes many scenes that are powerful, but unoriginal.
The producers chose two different generations for the cast, which includes strong up-and-coming stars (Maguire, Dunst, and Franco) mixed with established veterans like Dafoe and Robertson. These actors are too good to deliver these cheesy lines, but they will profit from this film. The characters in this film certainly come from the comic book characters, which means that they’re not overly developed. When Spider-Man faces the Green Goblin, it’s pure good and pure evil squaring off.
Despite its predictability, the film has a lot to like. The special effects are dazzling, and the fluid camera shots follow Spider-Man’s dizzying journeys through the city. Director Sam Raimi, known more for horror and noir films, delivers a quality action-hero flick. It is a safe bet for family audiences, although it may be too intense for very young kids. Spider-Man, as expected, provides comic book action and cheap laughs for solid entertainment value.