It would seem that 2006 has been a good year for animation. It looked like there was a new animated movie playing in our local cinema all the time, and many of the movies released throughout the year did great business. But when you look at the quality of the movies, 2006 has not been as stellar as some of the previous years. Pixar's movie was not as grand as expected, Disney released a very average third party movie and the other studios seemed to be stuck in 'cute animal'-territory. There was one exception however, a fun picture called Monster House, which was both a throwback to the great teen-movies of the eighties, and a model for other studios to follow.
We should all be very thankful for the fact that Johnny Depp has kids. If he was childless, he wouldn't have had the need to make a movie for them, which in turn would have meant that there be no Captain Jack Sparrow. And even though I'm sure the Pirates movies would still be fun without him, they would have missed that extra element that makes them stand out so much. For Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is without a doubt the most fun you will have in a cinema all summer. It may be a bit less epic than something like Superman Returns, but watching Jack and his friends travel all over the world, ending up in one bad situation after another, will no doubt shiver any moviefan's timbers.
Just Like Heaven may be a generic romantic comedy that does everything by the numbers, it is also quite a pleasant surprise. Thanks to spirited roles from lead actors Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon, the predictablity is not as annoying as it is in most other cookie cutter romantic comedies. On the contrary, even though I could see the ending coming from a mile off, I still rooted for the leads to get together and finally have that kiss that eludes them for most of the running time.
It only took until the opening credits started to realize that this was going to be a great movie. From the moment you see the names of all involved zoom over the screen in the style of the old Superman movies, Superman Returns is a great ride, almost unparallelled in the superhero genre in the way it rouses not just your adrenaline glands, but also the hidden romantic inside of you. Superman Returns isn't just a spectacular action movie (and a very funny comedy on the side), but also a movie that will tug at your heartstrings. And it's not just the love between Superman and Lois Lane that gets play here, it's also the love between Superman and the people of the world, who at first think they don't need Supes anymore, but who soon realize how much they have missed the Man of Steel.
While Cars is a very enjoyable, beautifully crafted piece of animation, it also shows the first tiny cracks in the heretofore unstoppable Pixar machine. While many of the previous Pixar-movies shone thanks to their oiginality and freshness, Cars is too predictable. The reason for this is the fact that Cars follows the Pixar formula that we know too well from their previous movies (which in turn was more or less modelled after the tried and tested Disney Formula for Animated Success), meaning the movie never surprises us with unexpected happenings. Before the movie starts, just by looking at the plot, you can map out exactly what is going to happen, and if you would get up during the movie and leave the theater for fifteen minutes, you would be up to speed again the second you sit back in your seat. Luckily though, even a Pixar movie that isn't up there with the best things they have made so far is filled to the brim with scenes, characters and other elements that set it apart from most other animated movies. Compare this with something like Chicken Little or Hoodwinked and you realize that Pixar is operating on a whole different level.
Whenever there is a new disaster movie in the cinemas, and it flops, I hold my breath. Insanely expensive disaster movies belong to my favorite types of movies, and I always worry that big losses for one of the movies in the genre will spell the end for pictures involving small groups of people bonding together to try and survive the worst things that can happen to them. Poseidon's dissapointing box office does not bode well for the future of the genre, but the movie itself is not to blame for it. Because Poseidon is a lot of fun to watch, with good acting, great effects and some scenes that had me shuffling anxiously in my seat, which is exactly what makes these movies so much fun to watch.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is, frankly, a brilliant movie. It's exactly the type of movie I have been waiting for, ever since Shane Black more or less dissapeared off the face of the earth, and now that he is back, all I can say is: "More please!" Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is hilarious, inventive and has some great chemistry between the three leads. It might also be a bit incomprehensible at first, but things get wrapped up so neatly at the end that repeated viewing will probably serve to make this an even more enjoyable movie.
I can remember reading The Da Vinci Code on a long trip home, almost finishing the entire book in one go. It was impossible to put down, with the many twists and turns, interesting characters, and cool intrigue. Sure, it was a popcorn thriller, but so well written that I kept flipping pages as fast as I could. You would think that a movie based on such a pageturner is a no brainer. Take the most exciting scenes and some of the back story and there you have a recipe for an instant crowd pleaser. But while most of the elements of the book have made it into the movie, something must have gone wrong in the process. Because while the book made me forget about where I was and what time it was, all the movie did was make me yawn and wonder how long it would keep going.
Okay, I'll admit, like many other movie fans I was a bit worried when it was announced that Brett Ratner was going to take over the X-Men franchise. It's not that I don't value the guy as a director, I really enjoy the Rush Hour movies, but I wasn't sure if he had it in him to bring that combination of action and emotion that Bryan Singer was so successful in bringing to the screen in the previous two movies. After seeing X-Men 3 I am still not sure about this, but I'm also not worried anymore. Because even though the talky moments don't pack the emotional punch they should, the action scenes are so fantastically over the top that the adrenaline will have you reeling for hours after you have left the cinema.
I'll say it beforehand: I did not really like either the first or the second movie in this franchise. The first one, directed by Brian DePalma, was okay, an interesting head scratcher that had it's moments but which left me kind of underwhelmed, while the second one was a boring James Bond wannabe, with some cool set pieces, but ultimately not enough plot to keep me from nodding off. So, to say I'm surprised at how good the third one is, is somewhat of an understatement.
1. Monsters Inc.
2. The Incredibles
3. Finding Nemo
4. Ratatouille
5. Toy Story
6. Monster House
7. Toy Story 2
8. Flushed Away
9. Over the Hedge
10. Arthur and the Minimoys/Shrek
