First, the characters. The old man and the young boy were both extremely lovable characters. One for his youthful exuberance and innocent and the other for his initial single-mindedness and love.

Second, the colours and the graphics were incredible and breathtaking. Pixar has never disappointed and at this rate, it probably never will too.

Third was the story that just kept getting better and better with each development and scene. The excitement also kept building right from the start, just like the house on balloons going up higher and higher.

What’s most amazing was how good this animated cartoon was even when it’s a lot more talky than other cartoons that usually rely on sensory-bombardment. There never was a dull moment here. And compared to last year’s Wall-E, seems like Pixar can do no wrong once again whether if it’s dialogue-filled or not.

Lastly, as usual, there were some great messages to take home too; be it for the young ones or the old-timers, and everyone else in between.

Rating: 9 / 10

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The idea behind the story was a very good one. And to follow the story of Bolt was a sweet love affair. The characterisations weren’t anything special but the audience could really feel for the them. And that’s all a movie needs to do, really – to have heart and to make people care.

Disney this time without Pixar did show why Pixar is so superior. But while it lacked in the animation and colours when compared to what Pixar could bring, the story was still strong enough to carry its own weight. And that’s what Disney has always been strong at.

And it didn’t hurt when they can make Bolt look as cute as he was.

Agreeably, the jokes were aimed more towards the adults so some jokes the children may not get. But there’s enough for everyone to be entertained from start to finish, even when you know exactly how it would end. And best thing is that there never was a dull moment in there.

Rating: 8 / 10

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In this second instalment, the story revolves around the “origin” of Alex the lion. And the writers are going with a story arc that has worked before, and are blatanly taking a lot from the pages of The Lion King. Even the protagonist voiced by the omni-present Alec Baldwin reminds a lot of Scar. But while Scar was a ruthless threat, Makunga here is silly and pathetic. Well, it is a comedy after all, right?

As now without having to deal with introductions, the four stars each begin to develop their own sub-plot to contribute to the main storyline. Even the karate-Nana has been brought all the way from New York but that was the most boring character for me. Sasha Baron Cohen’s loony King Julien was surprisingly entertaining as he got more screen time and his jokes were more pronounced than before.

However, there just wasn’t enough time to really look at each of the main characters, let alone the sub-cast which also included the penguins. The running time of the movie was just too short to be effective as each scene was rushed along one after another.

The only upside was that there wasn’t much drama involved as the movie focused on comedy and laughter. But even so, it meant that there wasn’t anything serious to make the older audience care for the characters. One could say there just wasn’t any heart in the movie.

The only thing I was impressed with were the colours of the scenery. Some were truly breathtaking, for a cartoon.

Rating: 5 / 10

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The CGI was nothing short than fantastic. The first half with only WALL-E and EVE, and not forgetting the cockroach, was genius. The creators have taken a huge risk of pitting two speechless robots against the audiences of the world and it has paid off exponentially. And that’s because of animation direction that has brought these robots alive. And while the robots only utter a few syllables each time they speak, the storytelling came from their performances and expressions which were more than expected from robots. The creators gave them such purity with heart that their action really spoke louder than words.

And this story had everything. From chase scenes to the love story to the comedic performances; it is the complete package. There’s the courtship, the slow dancing of WALL-E and EVE in space that almost rival Superman and Lois Lane’s first flight, the fun chases from other robots and the non-violent battle with humans. But of course, there’s the always-important underlying messages and this time is of the effects of consumerism and the question of existentialism.

Many will argue that the second half fell short of what the first half has built up. I too cannot disagree. Once aboard the giant holiday spacecamp where the audience were first introduced to the humans, it started to feel draggy and seemed to go nowhere for a little while. The story seemed to lose its steam and never seem to catch it back until the very end.

I would also question the purity in the love story. EVE came into the story with zero personality and WALL-E had this crush on her only because of his solitude and loneliness for so many years, and his yearning that’s so clearly portrayed. And the drama between the two right at the end seemed too forced into the story and was never properly explained.

But there were never any pop culture references other than the obvious references to the 1969 Hey, Dolly! and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story is original and the characters had proper developments that the audience could warm up to.

Rating: 8 /10

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But here’s a few problem with this instalment. Firstly, Ahsoka Tano. She doesn’t speak like a normal Star Wars character. She’s too 21st century with her sarcasm and enthusiasm. Even when speaking to her master, she didn’t seem to show respect in her tone; something which even Anakin refrained from when speaking to Obi Wan. But after this, I would like to find out how she died.

Secondly, the script suffered a lot. Sometimes you’d feel the characters make comment just for the sake of making a comment rather than staying silence. But that’s been a Star Wars problem since the new trilogy. Even Yoda’s unique backward speech felt forced and unnatural.

Thirdly, Asajj Ventress didn’t have enough screen time. She’s a cool villain so I didn’t get enough.

Fourthly, there’s no character development, not much storyline. It’s just action from start to finish.

But here’s the good. It’s action packed from start to finish. The new villain as mentioned is really cool. So what if there’s no character development. For Star Wars and for an instalment this small, there wasn’t a lot to develop anyway. It’s all about the fun of the franchise.

The voice-actors did a fine job because I almost believed that it was Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiermid. Granted some of the cast were back but all in all, they were all very similar to the originals. But if Samuel L Jackson and Christopher Lee both could find time to work on this project, it’s a pity the younger ones could not.

This time the bravery of the Clone army was shown. I actually felt for them. And just to see the R2 droid lifting itself with mini rockets was priceless.

I was expecting less in terms of the CGI fight scenes but there were definitely enough, especially with lightsaber duels too.  Though there were nothing fantastic in terms of the graphics but I didn’t expect anything more. So for those who’ve watched Wall.E, don’t complain. The Clone Wars is not about graphics in that sense.

If Lucas made one of these every year, I’d be happy. But oh well, soon the TV series will begin.

Rating: 6 / 10

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Jim Carrey brought in a new and innocent – a first for him, I’m sure – voice for the character of Horton. His lines were great, only to be contended for the best lines from Carol Burnett as the obnoxious Kangaroo. However, Steve Carell still sounded like himself, again reinforcing that he may be a one-trick pony.

The CGI drawings on the cartoons were great because as cartoons, and as far as cartoons go, they looked their best. The colours were vibrant and the textures were rich. The movements were seamless and smooth but that also came as part of the directing.

The storytelling I thought was exceptionally good. The story didn’t feel fragmented or interrupted in anyway, especially when the scenes changed from reality to one of Horton’s rather vivid imaginations. They took nothing away from the story but added more colours to it. And both directors, Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, were first time at the helm too. Quite impressive.

Other than the very hilarious and well choreographed slapsticks, the messages and the moral of the story were also something children and adults of all ages can enjoy, relate to and take home. Especially when towards the end of the movie, when the whole of Whoville were chanting, “We are here. We are here,” as well as a line Horton used throughout the movie, “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” it sends out the message that every single person has the right to live and a right to life.

Rating: 8 / 10

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But having said that, this isn’t so bad as Disney takes a turn at the satirical production that many has already done, but still keeping it’s Disney magic, or tried to at least.

Mixing the classical story with the modern world, bringing back the musicals too as well as the forest friends of a princess, it has everything, right down to a dragon slaying.

But I wanted more of the Disney magic. The musicals were impressive at most places, though it could have done with out the hip hop dancers and the raggae flavour, but there wasn’t enough of it. What about the love duet that was so prominent for a time? Instead, it was substituted with a singer singing in a ballroom.

James Marsden could have done more at singing with that voice of his. But he only has one song. Bottom line, there just wasn’t enough of the song and dance even if the kids don’t appreciate them anymore these days.

But the casting of Amy Adams was great as she made the whole character lovable when it could have gone wrong so many ways. James Marsden as the self-absorbed narcissist was also brilliant.

The only issue I had with this fairy tale was that Patrick Dempsey was too old to be the “prince”. Oh and the parody of King Kong near the end was really unnecessary. Bad addition there.

Rating: 7 / 10

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Too much time wasted in the beginning and towards the end, everything went past like a blur. Not only that, the story itself required a lot of imagination on the adults in order to sit through it: From bees talking in the same language as humans to playing lawyer, it’s just really too much to take.

Ratatouille pulled it off properly with animal conversing with the only human, that’s much more acceptable, but even at the end when the bees ’saved the day’, it just felt too rushed, too lazily told and too ridiculous. And bees using honey for everything in their mundane everyday life, even swimming… not interesting enough. The only good thing is how the bees all have different jobs are portrayed.

Renee Zellweger has the most annoying character voice, and Chris Rock was so forgettable, almost like a cameo, that he’s a waste.

And what’s that nonsense about falling in love? In the end, the issue was never touched on again or resolved too.

No doubt the kids may enjoy it but there isn’t much for the adults who thinks too much. Hey, not all of us are stupid, right?

And Jerry Seinfeld playing the bee, still sounded like Jerry Seinfeld.

Rating: 4 / 10

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The big problem here is while they are trying to make the characters resemble their actors, it’s like a step back in animated technology where the movements and fluidity are compromised. Grendel’s mother didn’t even look like Angelina Jolie for a lot of parts.

Many a time you’ll see close-ups on faces which are just bad and irrelevant. I guess the technology hasn’t reached that stage yet in terms of having life-like facial features. At this point, they are better off making something like what Shrek came out to be.

Funny thing is, Shrek 3 didn’t seem to have improved much from Shrek 2 or even the first one. And this one, which used the same technology as The Polar Express, also didn’t see much improvement from 3 years ago.

Rather than trying to replace actors with technology, they really should have made a real movie out of the great Beowulf. It would have been awesome to have another Lord Of The Rings type of movie. There wasn’t anything here that they couldn’t produce life-like on the silver screen, be it Grendel tearing limbs apart or the dragon blowing fire. It would have been so much better.

The quality here is just like watching the short movies in a video game at best.

Rating: 7 / 10

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Set in Paris and drawn up from detailed studies of famous kitchens in Paris, here’s another magical tale from Disney and Pixar involving a new found friendship between a human and a rat.

This has been another great achievement in the CGI department as it sets the standard once again for all animated movies out there. The mouse looked as real as they possibly can with beautiful texture and realistic movements. The fur, the whiskers, every detail is created with great attention. Oh and the cuisine they drew, so real you could really want to taste them!

And have I longed for this animation where it’s not just about the animals, but with humans as well. Over the past year, most of the animated movies out have focused only on animals with similar plots, ie. a young runaway waiting to be rescued by parents or finding new friends and surviving a killer adversary.

Ratatouille has a fresh new take on storyline. Though as far fetched as it may seem, it has that Disney magical feel that is enjoyable and believable. Not a comeback for the classical musicals yet but I guess we shouldn’t be expecting that magic anytime soon.

The characters’ voices were also fantastically done as it didn’t feel like some actors were voicing over them. They sounded genuine enough, as if the characters were just as real as real actors. Unfamiliar actors used were probably a big reason why.

The love story however was really rushed. The sense of time was definitely lacking as most of the time I didn’t know what period of time has passed between scenes so that didn’t help in story progression at all.

This is probably the family movie of the year. Not as great as The Incredibles, which is also from the same director, or any of the previous Pixar flicks but still one of the better ones out there for a long while.

Rating: 8 / 10

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