Family Bonding and Friendship Come to the Forefront in The Wild

Several years ago, Dreamworks released Madagascar, and shortly thereafter, Disney released The Wild. Both were computer-animated films about a ragtag group of animals who escape a New York City zoo and are forced to fend for themselves in the wild. Both groups included a lion and a giraffe. On the whole, the premises looked so similar that they sort of canceled each other out in my mind and I didn’t watch either of them, but I finally got around to seeing The Wild recently. While I occasionally found it a bit manic for my tastes, for the most part, I thought it was a fun movie.

The Wild, directed by Steve Williams, is a quest story in which daddy issues play a major role. In that regard, it is rather like Finding Nemo, but in this case, the father, a lion named Samson (Kiefer Sutherland), has several plucky sidekicks aiding him in his search every step of the way. Samson delights in regaling the other zoo animals with tales of his early years in the wild, back when the ferocity of his roar sent the most monstrous wildebeests running for cover.

His son Ryan (Greg Cipes), who can’t produce anything more than a kittenish snarl, does not appreciate the tales so much, and after a particularly humiliating incident, he decides to run away and find his roar. By the time he has a chance to rethink his plan, he’s already on a truck headed out to the harbor. Neither he nor Samson, who dashes off to the rescue, can imagine the perilous journey that lies ahead.

The movie’s early scenes showing the rapid transformation the zoo undergoes at night and the amusing ways in which Samson and his companions interact with the big city in which they find themselves are entertaining. While one scene involving a peculiar sport the zoo residents play dragged a bit for me, I loved the homage to Star Wars that accompanies the friends’ arrival in the city at large, and I also found the incorporation of animals reflective of the escapees amusing. For instance, the runaways catch a glimpse of Geoffrey, the Toys ‘R’ Us giraffe, on a sign as they run through the city streets.

Joining Samson on his mission are four close friends. The closest is the squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi), who is annoying but fiercely loyal. He also harbors a not-so-secret crush on Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), a dignified giraffe. I found this plot point pretty odd until I recalled the romance between Donkey and Dragon in Shrek and figured that if I could accept that, this wasn’t too much of a stretch. Ultimately I enjoyed the way their interaction with each other changed over the course of the movie. Many of the stand-alone comedic moments belong to Nigel (Eddie Izzard), a koala from a London zoo who is plagued by the popularity of a plush toy in his image. Of the four, the snake Larry (Richard Kind) made the least impact on me, but he still gets a few good gags in.

The movie includes several prominent nods to The Lion King, from a glimpse of the marquee for the Broadway show in the city to the general prevalence of wildebeests in the plot. The opening in particular offers many visual parallels with that Disney classic, as does the climax, revolving around a deranged wildebeest played by William Shatner – the only voice actor, incidentally, who I recognized at once. Meanwhile, another element of the climax reminded me of one of my favorite scenes in Return of the Jedi, though I don’t think that was a direct homage.

The visuals in the movie are excellent, from the natural landscapes to the bright lights of a New York City night, and most of the animals have a very realistic look to them. The lions and wildebeests often seem as if they were lifted out of The Lion King and given computer-animated embellishment. Some of the smaller characters, particularly the snake and the pigeons, look a bit cartoonish and silly, but in most cases, the animation is impressive. I wasn’t particularly fond of the soundtrack, mostly, I guess, because I tend to find it distracting when songs designed for radio are deposited in animated movies. I suppose I shouldn’t feel that way, since I often enjoy their use in live-action films, but I generally didn’t feel like the songs added much. The exception is the wildebeest song that is essential to the plot, though frankly, I just found that one pretty weird.

Overall, I liked the themes of father-son understanding and self-discovery, along with the importance of having friends who will stick with you no matter what happens. Some of the humor gelled with me and some of it didn’t; at times, I think there was a little too much going on and the jokes got lost in the shuffle. Mostly, though, this is a well-crafted movie whose characters complement one another well and conquer their fears through the power of love. Factor in the top-notch animation, and it’s easy to be wild about this family-friendly film.

Corny Underdog Entertains, With Some Help From Peter Dinklage and Patrick Warburton

When I was in elementary school, there was a stretch of time when I awoke bright and early every morning at 5 a.m. so that I could start my day with a series of old-timey TV shows before I went off to school. These included Lassie (I had such a crush on Timmy), Dennis the Menace, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Underdog. I hadn't watched those in years, though, so I barely remembered the premise of Underdog when I watched the live-action movie a couple weeks ago. And could a cartoon that operated under time constraints of about 15 minutes per episode really be effectively stretched into an hour and a half-long movie?

In the movie, Underdog is an ineffectual police dog voiced by Jason Lee who winds up in a lab where Dr. Simon Barsinister, a nefarious scientist played by the always-impressive Peter Dinklage, is running experiments in hopes of creating super-powered animals. Something goes haywire, and the humble beagle ends up getting a full dose of the madman's goo, resulting in a shocking transformation, the impact of which the dog doesn't initially realize. It becomes clearer to him when Dan Unger (Jim Belushi), a guard at the lab, comes across him in the street and brings him home to his son. Jack (Alex Neuberger) is a typical overdramatic teenager. He has issues with his dad, and he's initially completely turned off by the arrival of the dog, who Dan names Shoeshine. But when Underdog starts talking in Dan's absence, Jack decides that he might make pretty good company after all, and when he realizes the extent of his abilities, he urges the pooch to take on a secret identity and purge the city of evil deeds.

This is a very slapsticky sort of movie. There are lots of cheesy special effects related to the various stunts that Shoeshine / Underdog can pull. All of the actors deliver performances that are fairly over-the-top, and most of the time I find Neuberger a bit grating. Taylor Momsen, who I loved as Cyndi Lou in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, has grown up a lot, but while her character is perfectly likable, I found her performance rather generic. The most low-key performance is Belushi's; some of his characters grate on my nerves, but he makes Dan a very sympathetic guy who's obviously doing his best to preserve his broken family. Meanwhile, the most entertaining members of the cast are Dinklage, who revels in Dr. Barsinister's exaggerated villainy, and Patrick Warburton, who, as the doctor's sidekick, is slightly more ill-intentioned than usual but every bit as dopey as his typical character. A running joke involving a thesaurus is particularly amusing.

If you're looking for a really top-notch dog movie, Underdog isn't the place to start, but it's pretty fun nonetheless. The bad guys' bumbling antics, father-son bonding, Shoeshine's growing self-confidence and hints of romance of the teenage and canine variety (with an amusing nod to Lady and the Tramp) all help to make this a fun flick for the Hannah Montana generation, and if you grew up watching Underdog - the first episode of the cartoon, incidentally, is offered as an extra - it might be a fun walk down memory lane.

Joe May Be Somebody, but the Movie is Nothing

Last Saturday, I was bored and frustrated after spending the early afternoon plowing through some difficult reading for school, and I was looking for any excuse I could find to get away from my homework. So Dad proposed that I accompany my brother and his friend to the dollar theater for a fun diversion. The viewing choices were limited, and Joe Somebody was the only film with a PG rating. None of us knew much about it, but we figured that we would be pretty safe with a Tim Allen movie. And for a buck, it would be no huge sacrifice if the movie didn't turn out to be that great. So at least we went in without high expectations.

In the film, Tim Allen portrays Joe Scheffer, a video designer at a pharmaceutical company. Some of the biggest ripples of audience laughter throughout the film occurred when the narrator on his commercials recited a seemingly endless list of possible side effects. This exaggeration was rather amusing the first time, but repeating it was unnecessary and increased the impression that this movie didn't have much to go on. Most of its comedic moments depended on one of two gags: a ridiculously long recitation of side effects or some painful injury to the family jewels. The latter caused our neighbor to nearly collapse laughing, but my brother and I found it only mildly funny the first time and increasingly obnoxious the next several times.

But back to the story. Scheffer is a nobody, a guy whose contributions are never noticed. He's been skipped over for a promotion, he just got divorced, and he doesn't have any friends. In fact, nobody seems to care about him at all except for his daughter Natalie (Hayden Panattiere). So it's "Poor, poor, Joseph, whatcha gonna do, things look bad for you, hey, whatcha gonna do?" at this point. Joe's life takes a bit of an upward turn when he meets Meg (Julie Bowen), the company counselor who seems to be rather taken with him. But it slides right down to rock bottom again when he gets beaten up in the parking lot by Mark McKinney (Patrick Warburton) in the parking lot in front of his daughter on Take Your Daughter to Work Day.

Utterly humiliated, Joe locks himself in his house and immerses himself in housework. But he cannot escape his job forever. Meg comes knocking on his door after he has been absent for several days and convinces him to come back to work. Inadvertently, she also inspires him to challenge Mark to a rematch when he returns to work after his suspension. In no time at all, everyone in the office gets wind of the upcoming fight, and suddenly Joe is everyone's best friend. He gets to play squash in the exclusive company club, he gets a promotion even bigger than the one he was hoping for, he gets his own parking space, and he even gets to hobnob with Governor Ventura at the Minnesota Timberwolves game.

Life is good for Joe. All he needs now is the skill to beat Mark, and for that he enlists the aid of washed-up action film star Chuck Scarett (Jim Belushi), who uses unconventional methods to teach Joe what he needs to know. Both Meg and Natalie disapprove of Joe's decision to fight Mark, and despite his newfound popularity, Joe faces animosity from Jeremy (Greg Germann), a prissy exec with the hots for Meg. Before the film comes to a close, Joe will have to sort out what really matters to him and decide who his real friends are.

Nothing in this movie is very well developed. Natalie, who could have been a vital character, virtually disappears for the middle of the film. Callie (Kelly Lynch), Joe's eclectic ex-wife, confesses towards the end of the film that she is lonely and misses Joe terribly. And that's it. Apparently her renewed attraction to Joe stems from his new personality, but we can't be too sure. She never follows up on her feelings, and I'm inclined to wonder why they bothered sticking that scene in the movie. Similarly, Joe complains loudly about Callie's public displays of affection with her boyfriend, but he shows no qualms about kissing Meg while he is sitting right next to Callie at his daughter's school play. And no one else seems to care, either. Stupid.

Basically, I thought this was a very poorly done movie. I'm not sorry I went to see it. It was still fun. But I'm very glad I didn't see it for full price. The low-grade humor, the inane soundtrack (same seven notes played over and over and over...), the underdevelopment, the corniness... Somebody tell me why Tim Allen agreed to be in it.

It's a Giant Man-Eating Plant; What's Not to Love?

Plenty, I would say. But my brother would be inclined to disagree. While he admits that he doesn't like the mouth on that man-eating plant, he loves its physical appearance. Frank Oz of muppet fame has once again created a winning creature in the eyes of my brother, who has always had a certain fondness for carnivorous plants. I have no doubt that Nathan will soon be slaving away to create his own replica of Audrey II. He's hooked, and he has made it clear that I am obligated to be kind to Little Shop of Horrors should I choose to review it. So, setting aside my inclination to wrinkle my nose, I will comply with his demand. Maybe -- just maybe -- this movie is worth the four stars I will give it. But I must admit that I lack the strength of conviction.

The story revolves around Seymour, an accident-prone, gold-hearted nerd played endearingly by Rick Moranis. I love his character here as much as I love his character in every movie I've ever seen him in. He's just adorable. Here he is cast as a poor man working on Skid Row in a florist's shop. When a plant he is caring for begins to take on a very abnormal appearance, business picks up for the store which has been recently devoid of customers. Seymour is an instant celebrity, but only he knows the dark secret behind the plant's success.

Audrey, played by Ellen Greene, is the object of Seymour's affection. I find her to be easily the most annoying human character in the film. She looks like a Barbie doll, very unrealistically proportioned, and talks with a mousy New York accent. She may be a very nice person, but she's such an airhead that she gives me a headache whenever she speaks. Directly contrasting her is her sadistic boyfriend Orin, magnificently played by Steve Martin (with black hair!). A motorcycle-driving dentist with an Elvis complex, he gets his jollies by inflicting pain on people. He is utterly despicable, but at least it's fun to watch him. His one show-stopping number Be a Dentist easily beats out Audrey's crooning tunes.

The movie is a definite musical, with probably more words sung than spoken. It has a definite Mo-town flavor to it; Audrey II, Seymour's wonder-plant, is voiced by a member of the Four Tops. The lyrics are pretty clever and the action surrounding the songs is generally pretty entertaining, but most of the actors have mediocre singing voices. Since the whole film has a pretty cheesy feel to it, their so-so singing fits right in.

Audrey II is my other least favorite character. It is rude and vulgar, just plain obnoxious, and of course there's the small matter of its feeding on human blood. I guess that I found Orin hilarious so I liked the character even though I hated him. I really didn't find much humor in Audrey II at all.

There's some nice cameos here that provide extra laughs. Jim Belushi makes a very brief appearance as a man seeking to market the Audrey II. John Candy plays a loony disc jockey, and Bill Murray portrays a masochistic businessman who is kicked out of Orin's office because he is enjoying the torture the dentist is inflicting upon him.

There are quite a few laughs to be had from this film, but a lot of the humor is dark or perverted or simply corny. The movie finds a happy ending finally, but it's a Goosebumps happy ending. In that show, every episode resolves itself happily until the minute and a half after the commercial break and before the credits. Then they throw in a twist that messes everything up. Henry's Awful Mistake, one of my favorite children's books, wherein an unwanted houseguest who causes the destruction of Henry the duck's house moves into his new house with him, employs a similar tactic. The irony in the movie is a little too morbid for my tastes.

Go ahead and rent this movie. If you've got pre-teen boys in your house, they'll probably love it. Otherwise, milk it for all the chuckles it can give you and then return it promptly to the video store.