Tag: danny devito

It’s game time! “Space Jam” (1996)

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directed by Joe Pytka
© 1996 Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

We can hear a lot about the upcoming “Space Jam: A New Legacy”, which is a sequel to “Space Jam” from 1996. And since this film is pure nostalgia to me, I have to take a moment and write about it. It’s partially an animation, partially not. We follow Michael Jordan – yes THE Michael Jordan famous basketball player. In the film, he announces his retirement from basketball and decides to try baseball. At the same time, in some fictional world, there’s an amusement park run by Mr. Swackhammer (voice – Danny DeVito), who wishes to get Looney Tunes as the new attraction. Therefore he sends five little creatures to Earth to kidnap the famous characters. At first, Looney Tunes take it as a joke, but soon they realise that the creepy minions are not joking. Together they decide to organise some competition and if Looney Tunes win, they don’t need to go anywhere. Since the aliens are tiny, Looney Tunes propose a basketball game, which wouldn’t be difficult to win. Unless the minions didn’t steal famous basketball players’ talents and turned into huge monsters who can play the game like professionals. Bugs Bunny (voice – Billy West) realises that they need additional help, so he brings Michael Jordan to their cartoon world and asks for his help to win. Recently, I watched this film again and I was cringing so much, but it doesn’t matter. When I was a child, I saw it way too many times as I loved Looney Tunes. And I remember how scared I was of the monsters… Especially when the minions were transforming and there was thing hardcore music in the background playing. Chills. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you rated the film lower than me, because I can understand that it’s not breath-taking. Still, for those who grew up watching Looney Tunes, this production brings back way too many good memories. Am I excited about that sequel coming? Not really, because there’s a huge chance they will disappoint us. That’s just the well-known ‘sequel rule’. Still, I will definitely try to watch it when it’s out and let you know. For now, get back to the 90s.

My rating: 8/10
S.

Bruce Wayne and Oswald Cobblepot meet again… “Dumbo” (2019)

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directed by Tim Burton
© 2019 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Honestly speaking, I expected more hardcore. That’s Burton, after all. I really wanted to see creepy characters and felt anxious for the whole 2 hours. So actually… I’m slightly disappointed. Okay, I guess there’s no need for me to explain you what this film is about. If you don’t know who Dumbo is… I mean, really? I can’t accept it. So, I should rather focus on the film itself. It’s not bad, but it’s not a masterpiece either. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Burton’s productions and his style, but I think the problem here was the script. The responsible for it was Ehren Kruger and, in my opinion, he didn’t do well this time. Ethan and Tim don’t belong to the same category of artists, so I believe that script wasn’t written for Burton. Perhaps the story would be more acceptable if another director took care of it. However, I could see that Burton wasn’t fully himself and that film is only 60% Burtonised (how about such phrase?). And I can tell, at some point I was simply bored. Another thing I have in mind is the cast… not the best choices here… Colin Farrell – I’m sorry, but since “Phone Booth” (2002) it’s hard to stand his acting. And Michael Keaton as the bad guy… okay, I absolutely adore him and he’s a very good actor, but you can tell this role was supposed to belong to Depp. You can smell it. He was even acting like Depp would. Anyway, it is a bit of a spooky film with the most adorable animated Dumbo elephant. I didn’t cry, but I was “awwing” from time to time, I admit. So if you focus on that big-eared buddy, it’s a pleasant film. Oh and one last thing, quite a funny one. Maybe that’s why Keaton got the role. As you can see, we have Keaton and DeVito team again after “Batman Returns” (1992). Our superhero became a douchebag and penguin ended up in a circus. Life, ladies and gentlemen.

My rating: 7/10
S.