RageLite review - High School Musical

2020 – f*ck this year so hard

COVID-19 has changed the game, it may take a very long time for things to go back to normal, even with better testing and other measures coming into force. Physical distancing will likely be part of the new normal, making the film industry, which relies on having butts in seats, a really shaky area. The one plus has been the rise of streaming services. Some of the year’s films have been released on-demand and some directly onto streaming services.

Disney+ came out in the UK just as I had to go into self-isolation. I had paid for a year upfront and got into a few things, this year I did a full retrospective on Austin and Ally and I plan to do full retrospectives on other series, one of which is coming very soon. I also plan to cover a few series episode by episode: the Mandalorian, the Marvel stuff when it eventually comes out, and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

But to cover that show, I first really need to cover High School Musical itself, and since the motto of 2020 seems to have been “we’re all in this together” however disingenuous that may sound, I feel like it’s a good way to round off 2020.

RageLite review - Frozen 2

It’s just past Christmas, so time to cover the long-awaited sequel to the global phenomenon that became wildly over-hated, Frozen 2.

I get that in many circles it’s cool to hate Frozen but I could never bring myself to. It’s a very different twist on the classic Snow Queen story, fitting right on the Disney brand with memorable songs and gorgeous animation. And sure, some of Hans’ actions, particularly in the second go act completely contrary to his overall plan, but I do like they the twist on the classic Disney trope and that it conveys a message that love at first sight is not a healthy idea to obsess over.

Frozen 2 came out 6 years later but we weren’t starved for Frozen content in that time, just content that’s actually good. It’s somewhat encouraging that pretty much all of the major players from the last film are back for this one.

The film was another financial hit for Disney, earning nearly $1.5bn at the box office, and has had a good reception with both critics and audiences. So why then am I putting it in the mini review category as opposed to doing another guilty pleasures review? Is it laziness/busy-ness? Well partly, but let’s take a look?

Pixar Playlist #14 - Monsters University

Ladies and Gentlemen, whether you like it, the Pixar Playlist 

OK, so I liked Monsters Inc, it was a perfectly fine movie with some creative ideas and a lot of charm to it. Can they recapture that charm with this prequel, Monsters University? Spoiler alert: no, no they cannot…

But that’s not to say there wasn’t effort put in, the production crew visited various colleges and some spent time in a Fraternity house to research college life. This film also was the first to use Global Illumination, a new lighting system they’d developed to essentially automate the process, so they didn’t have to insert shadows frame by frame.

Once again, the film had a $200m budget and made a decent profit, with a $743m box office haul and it came out favourably with critics too, with an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score. So why am I down on it? Let’s take a look.

Netflix Retrospective - Dragons Race to the Edge Season 4 episodes 10-13

We conclude our look at season 4 now, and the Dragon Hunters have been losing a lot this season as Hiccup turns the tide, but the tide is a fickle thing so let’s see what changes in the next 4 episodes 

Netflix Retrospective - Dragons: Race to the Edge Season 4 episodes 7-9

Let’s continue our journey to the Edge with Season 4 episodes 7-9

Praise4Media #69 - Spider-man: Far From Home

Spider-man, Spider-man
Don’t wanna go cause he’s spider-man
Turned to dust, snapped to life.
Mentor goes to the afterlife 

Look out, off goes the Spider-man!

One thing I’ve praised about the MCU’s Spider-man is their willingness to offer new elements, most of the supporting cast are original or have been drastically changed from the source material. That being said, putting such an emphasis on Peter’s relationship to Tony Stark is a double-edged sword, especially when the sequel takes place after an event which kills him off. 

Jon Watts is back in the director’s chair and 2/6 of the writing staff of the last film are also here, Chris McKenna, who alongside the Spider-man movies also co-wrote the Lego Batman Movie, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Ant-man and the Wasp, and Erik Summers, who has a similar resumé.

The film had a bigger budget, nearing $200m and, in part riding the wave from Avengers Endgame became the first $1bn Spider-man movie. And has pretty favourable ratings with both critics and audiences (90% average 7.44/10 and 95% average 4.63/5 respectively) so where do I stand, I guess it’s on guilty pleasures so I must like it to some degree but let’s analyse and make fun of it anyway.

RageLite review - Shazam!

Note - This episode is almost a week late, my apologies. 

The year is 1939, and creators C. C. Beck and Bill Parker create a character for Fawcett Comics named Captain Marvel. He was a big hit, becoming the most popular superhero of the 1940’s, even getting a film adaptation, but in 1953, a lawsuit alleging that the character was a copy of Superman, no accounting for accuracy there, lead to Fawcett Comics ceasing publication on this character. In 1972 they licensed out the character to DC Comics (the guys that sued them, that’s gotta sting) and by 1991, DC had purchased the rights outright. But when your main competitor is Marvel, who have a Captain Marvel of their own, it ultimately is no surprise that another name became the name associated with the hero, so much so that in 2011 they dropped the use of the name Captain Marvel altogether. So, the new name, Shazam!

Shazam! Is a very different beast for DC but then, it looks like DC is shying away from the shared universe and connected narratives and more towards experimentation with different genres and story arcs. For better or worse, Joker would not have come out if not for that. Shazam is a story about a kid getting super-powers, it’s wish fulfilment, a power-fantasy, it’s cheesy.

In the writers chair is Henry Gayden, whose only other writing credit is Earth to Echo, and Darren Lenke, no stranger to comedy with credits like Shrek 4, and the Goosebumps films.  David F Sandberg is an interesting choice for director as he’s done more around horror than action. The film made $388m on a $100m budget and got solid review scores, 90% average 7.26/10 with critics and 82% average 4.2/5 with audiences.

Netflix Retrospective - Dragons: Race to the Edge Season 4 Episodes 4-6

 

Pixar Playlist #13 - Brave

Ladies and Gentlemen, whether you like it or not, the Pixar Playlist

It’s unlucky for some, it’s number 13 and we look at Brave

Brave was Pixar’s first attempt at a fairy tale, and the brainchild of Brenda Chapman. Chapman had been working creative roles at Pixar since Cars, and had worked at Dreamworks prior to that. She had been directing the film but after creative disagreements with John Lasseter, she was replaced mid-production by Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews had directed 2 short films and was a second-unit director on John Carter, making him an odd choice for a replacement but then John Lasseter had some serious issues with women.

Usually I’d talk about some pioneering animation that really helped Pixar stand out, but I have nothing. This film had a $185m budget and made $540m at the box office. The film stands as reasonably popular with a 78% Rotten Tomatoes rating but where do I rank it, let’s take a look.

Netflix Retrospective - Dragons: Race to the Edge Season 4 Episodes 1-3

We're back with more Dragons: Race to the Edge, last time we just passed the half way mark with the first of a 2-part episode. Yeah, stuff like that makes me believe it was initially ordered in 26-episode blocks and split down the middle. It’s not an uncommon practice with Netflix so…

When we last left off, Viggo tricked team Edge into providing a distraction so he could steal a very dangerous dragon, he’d been guarded by the ‘defenders of the wing’ with their leader Mala p*ssed off enough to draw her blade at the team.

Disney Remake Marathon - Lady and the Tramp

With Disney+ launching in the US in 2019, they needed a film to showcase it, what better than… Lady and the Tramp?

Lady and the Tramp is the 4^th Disney remake of 2019 but because it’s on a streaming service it was made on a much lower budget, it had $60m to its name, less than ¼ of that of The Lion King. That in and of itself isn’t necessarily a problem, but does have its drawbacks as we’ll get to.

The original falls into the same category in that it was made with a reasonably low animation budget, which shows in the finished product and has a few minor problematic moments. It was ripe for a remake, though I do understand why it was relegated to a streaming service, it’s not the most epic of films, it’s a fairly simple love story. There’s nothing wrong with that per-say, but I feel it’s not a story that needed an extra 30 minutes added on.

The film got a mixed reception, by this point par for the course, but we have little insight into viewing figures due to the nature of streaming.

The story of Lady and the Tramp is a cute story, but it isn’t one of my favourites.

Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 episodes 11-13

We’re gonna look at Voltron for the final time, and see if the ending is satisfying. 

Disney Remake Marathon - The Lion King

The third of the 4 remakes of 2019… I still can’t believe they released 4 of these things in 2019, was of Disney’s most popular animated movie, The Lion King. 

This really doesn’t qualify as a Live Action remake, nothing about this film is live action, it’s all computer generated. Apparently, filming began in a studio, why? Was it a recording booth… Wow, I’m making my feelings for this known early, aren’t I?

Jon Favreau is back as director, he directed the Jungle Book which is very similar, it’s also by far my favourite of the Disney remakes. Still, The Lion King is a Disney classic for a reason, so how do they remake it? Let’s take a look.

Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 episodes 7-10

Halloween is over and we’ve got a show to finish, can Voltron end on a high? 

Disney Remake Marathon - Aladdin

We continue the slew of 2019 Disney Remakes with another 90s Classic, Aladdin. And directing this one we have Guy Ritchie, who’s mostly known for action comedies, this musical feels decidedly out of his wheel. Original trailers weren’t promising as the genie looked absolutely abysmal. I think the CG was unfinished which is a great way to have a trailer look, but a lot of money later, we got the final product. 

Critics were mixed on the quality of the overall product but unlike Dumbo before it, it made over $1bn at the box office.

The original Aladdin is among my favourite Disney movies, I’m a sucker for a coming of age story in general and despite the liar revealed story being a trope that I’m quickly souring on, the performance of Robin Williams as the genie and some really good musical numbers are enough to keep me near consistently entertained.

#80 - IT Chapter 2 (A Strange Halloween 3)

Derry Maine is an odd town

Perfect for Pennywise the clown

He feeds on fear, the stories claim

As he pulls your carcass down the drain

A group of kids, resolute and bold

Change the way the story’s told

A losers’ club combats the fear

And vow to fight should IT reappear

Now the second half of the tale

They may be older, but hardly frail

The fight renewed, the club reconvene

It’s IT Chapter 2 on A Strange Halloween

It's been a good few years since IT Chapter 1 graced the cinema, when we didn't have to worry for our lives paying the place a visit

We were teased with a sequel as it began and with it making all the money, the sequel was inevitably greenlit. And it was given a larger budget, $79m, more than double the budget of the original.

But it seems there were some cutbacks when it came to writing, the original had 3 writers, Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman, only Gary Dauberman returned to write the sequel.

The film made $473.1m at the box office, which is profitable but not even close to the $700m chapter 1 made, and the critical reception was more mixed and for good reason. And it’s on Rage4Media so you can guess which side of the divide I fall on. But why? Let’s take a look and find out.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 7-8

Dangers approach as we come to the end

No sign that anything’s on the mend

The gate may be pierced but it’s only ajar

And Russian security got them only so far. 

Hopper’s an outlaw, through corruption and greed

He’s called in a favour to help them succeed

But only half of the tale does he know

As Billy has something deadly in tow 

The Mind Flayer has mind for revenge on El

And his plan is succeeding, the past stories tell

Nothing good can come of this scheme

As it comes to pass on A Strange Halloween

 

We’re about to wrap up this month’s Stranger Things run, and things are looking pretty grim for our heroes with them being squeezed on both fronts, how will they get out of this one? Let’s take a look.

Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 episodes 4-6

I accidentally posted the previous Strange Halloween reviews a week early, so to allow for the 2 Halloween reviews to drop next week, here's the review I missed.

We’re taking another look at Voltron, thus far the team has faced the challenge of restoring to a universe in disarray whilst Honerva is ready to send more of the robeasts after them.

#79 Dumbo (Disney Remake Marathon)

OK, of all the films to give to Tim Burton, why this one?

I get giving Tim Burton another Disney remake, much as his Alice remake sucks, like a lot, it did make a lot of money for Disney and this was likely in production before Disney found out about the long-term damage it caused with the failure of Into the Looking Glass. But Tim Burton is more a visual director, he has a unique style and Dumbo, it’s a fairly simplistic tale.

But it’s not just Burton here, who did they get to write this? Ehren Kruger? OK, what’s his history?

Oh… Oh no!

The film had a quite substantial $170m budget, a decision Disney would live to regret as it made a $350m at the box office. With marketing costs factored in, the film needed a $500m win to break even, so the film lost money.

The animated Dumbo is perplexing and very much a production of its time, not just because of its unfortunate ethnic stereotypes. The film had a very low budget, partly attributed to the financial failure of Fantasia and partly to the war closing the European market, and it shows. Where the animators didn’t need to put in the detail, the detail isn’t there. That said, the main story focus is charming and it’s mostly harmless. How do they ruin that here, well let’s take a look.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 5-6 (Netflix Retrospective)

It seems that Hawkins will never see rest

As Billy failed the sauna test

The Mind Flayer returns, an army at call

And chemicals, it seems to want them all 

Nancy and Jonathan investigate

But problems they seem to instigate

Fired from their paper, their romance askew

But maybe their boss is not who they knew 

Joyce and Hopper check out the lab

It seems derelict, abandoned and drab

But a knockoff Terminator follows their feet

As a Russian scientist they happen to meet 

Dustin and Steve with Robin in tow

Sneak into a lift, how low will it go?

Erica with them, a green vial found

Only trouble can ensue with that around

The Lab and The Flayer, two threats at the door

Corrupt Mayors and scientists we must not ignore

One could hope that it’s only a dream

But it’s all come to pass on A Strange Halloween

Disney Remake Marathon - Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

Just a little change

Small to say the least

Both a little scared

Neither one prepared

Beauty and the Beast

Today’s Disney Live action remake is Beauty and the Beast, the first of the more modern Disney films to get the live action treatment. The original Disney Beauty and the Beast came out in the early 90s, this came out in 2017, only just over 20 years later, both versions are firmly remembered by people, even fondly so in some cases.   

In the director’s chair for this one is Bill Condon, who’d recently directed the Breaking Dawn Twilight movies. For balance I should also mention he directed Mr Holmes which I quite liked.

The film had quite a large budget, sources vary but it could well be as high as $250m, but the big investment paid off, with another $1bn hit. It seems as though no matter how much folks on the internet complain about remakes, they go out to see them anyway. We’ll see what happens when Mulan eventually makes it out to cinema [this joke was written before Mulan ended up becoming a Disney+ exclusive].

The film was successful critically but it’s been subject to some rather damning deconstruction post-release that this will be a part of.

The original Beauty and the Beast is a classic for a reason and it holds up rather well. The one song you remember from it is really good, the voice acting and the animation is at the high quality of Disney in the 90’s renaissance era.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 3-4 (Netflix Retrospective)

Starcourt Mall, shiny and bold

Has shattered relationships, so I am told

Billy was a lifeguard, became a prophet

And Downtown stores aren’t making a profit

Hopper is upset his date didn’t show

As magnets stop, how? We don’t know

A radio message, a code in disguise

An enemy, Russian, one to despise 

But old threats are not out the game

Billy and his army of rats are to blame

The Mind Flayer is back, weak but still mean

We continue this plight on A Strange Halloween 

If that sounded a bit scatter-brained that’s only because that describes the last two episodes perfectly, still, they’ve scattered an entertaining series of clues for us to be engaged by along with some teen relationship drama. Let’s see how things continue…

Disney Remake Marathon - The Jungle Book

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is clearly a favourite among Disney execs, despite them not owning exclusive rights to it. It got the animated treatment in 1967 and has had 3 live action films, one in 1994, another a mere 4 years later, and of course the big budget one in 2016.

Jon Favreau is at the Director’s helm for this one, he was the director of the first 2 Iron Man films so had some clout with Disney, not to mention experience handling special effects. He would later be one of the creators of the one bit of Disney Star Wars material that isn’t horribly divisive in the Mandalorian.

The film needed a sizeable budget to accommodate all the CG necessary for this production, and got $175m, the film made $966m at the box office and was well acclaimed by critics at the time of release.

The 1967 animated feature came after production budgets for animated features were slashed across the board, and this is very obvious in the film, a lot of animation is recycled and some of the faster-paced stuff looks like it has frames missing. It’s unfortunate as this one is somewhat reliant on cartoon slapstick, something that requires a fast pace. That said, the two songs you remember are just as entertaining, they have remembered how sound-effects work with the impacts feeling like they have impact now, the voice cast is on-point and the painted backdrops are beautiful to behold.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 1-2 (Netflix Retrospective)

A lot can happen in a small town

When it’s connected to the upside-down

What began as a search for a lost child;

Became a horror show, deadly and wild 

Though the child in end was found

There still was danger around

And through the course of season 2

That threat began to rise anew 

Pushed back by force, its portal gone

A girl adopted; time moves on

But one summer will prove far from serene

For it’s Stranger Things on A Strange Halloween

It’s been a while since we last looked at Stranger Things. Season 3 was released in the summer of 2019. The trailers had bigged up a new shopping mall built in town of Hawkins, Starcourt. But there was very little plot actually teased, only the notion that Will wasn’t going to be put through the mill again this season. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at Stranger Things season 3 and see if lived up to the hype.

Disney Remake Marathon - Cinderella

Whilst Alice in Wonderland’s billion-dollar success got the ball rolling for live action Disney Remakes with big budgets and big actors, we wouldn’t see another one until 2014, with Maleficent, but I’m not covering Maleficent as part of this Marathon, as it doesn’t share its name with the original. Perhaps another time. With 2015 came of the remake of Cinderella, another adaptation of a book, maybe there’s a pattern here 

At the directors helm this time is Kenneth Branagh, who has certainly a mixed history with me. I liked his Murder on the Orient Express, was underwhelmed but not entirely displeased with Thor and then came Artemis Fowl… I don’t really need to say anymore, do I? Stay tuned for that review in 2021/2022.

The film didn’t have the budget of Tim Burton’s Alice, mostly because this shouldn’t need to create expansive worlds using special effects and made about $500m at the box office, a reasonable success for the house of mouse.

The original is another movie I’d describe as a 20-minute short stretched over 75 minutes. But with this it’s far easier to identify exactly what could’ve been cut. The cat and mouse chase scenes. Looney Tunes and MGM’s Tom and Jerry had cornered the market in this regard and their slapstick was lacklustre, missing the timing and sound of the true slapstick greats. But does the 2015 improve on this? Let’s take a look

Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 Episodes 1-3

I guess it’s time to put Voltron: Legendary Defender to bed. 

Barring a couple of problematic elements, s7 was still a solid season of television heading into the 8^th and final season. With most of the other antagonists defeated, it’s down to Honerva aka Haggar to finish the job. And she may just have found her greatest weapon, as when we left off, Voltron was attacked by a giant robotic monster piloted by an Altean. Season 8 has its own share of controversies but I’ll cover them at the end, for now let’s dive into…

Disney Remake Marathon - Alice in Wonderland

I’m not going to be doing another 4 horror films for Halloween, you want a horror show, you can just look at the latest news or your twitter feed for that. I will still be covering season 3 of Stranger Things and have a Halloween special but for the most part, I’m going to be doing something else.

Disney live action remakes have been a part of society since the 101 Dalmatians remake, but it was 2010 with the release of Alice in Wonderland where it was shown they could make big money, resulting in a slew of remakes and oh my god, Disney, make it stop.

I’m not gonna be covering the 101 Dalmatians remake at this time, but I will be covering all the Disney Live Action remakes of the 2010’s. Oh boy, this is gonna be a rough ride.

We start with… oh f*ck, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. OK, to Burton’s credit, he’s not a bad director. For all the problems I have with the Michael Keaton Batman run, it certainly captured the gothic look I’d expect of a gritty adaptation of the Dark Knight, Beetlejuice was weird but fun and I did like Mrs Peregrine’s home for Peculiar Children but oh man is he the wrong choice for this particular aesthetic.

Tim Burton’s style is dark and gritty. Wonderland is a place of magic, colour and madness, only one of those really appeals to Burton. As for the original, and I mean the Disney original, not the book… It’s fine, it’s not really my thing, I prefer a story with a bit more meat to it, but I understand why that isn’t the case here, unlike some people, which I’ll get to in a bit. It feels like a 20-minute short, stretched out to 75 minutes. And if that’s what I think of the original, imagine what I think of the nearly 2-hour long remake, let’s take a look.