Tag Archives: Disney

2006, Comedy, D, Drama, Family, Grade, Musical, Review, review-movie, Year

Review: The Cheetah Girls 2

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Director(s)Kenny Ortega
Principal CastRaven-Symoné as Galleria
Adrienne Bailon as Chanel
Kiely Williams as Aqua
Sabrina Bryan as Do
Belinda as Marisol
Release Date2006
LanguageEnglish
Running Time 97 minutes

When you watch one you gotta watch em all- once my sister and I had watched the original movie, I knew we had opened Pandora’s Box. Within a few days we were back at again with the sequel. Thankfully, Kenny Ortega takes all the elements that were enjoyable from the first movie and amps them up to the next level. The musical moments are shot better, each of the “Cheetahs” is given more to do, and there’s a more coherent plot which gives the movie more of a punch.

The plot follows the Cheetah Girls 3 years after the events of the first movie. The girls crash Chanel mothers romantic getaway to Barcelona in an attempt to win a music festival competition. After promising to do their best, the girls embark on their new journey. Each of the characters feels more defined- everyone from Galleria to Aqua gets their own storyline – no matter how on the wayside it feels. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the overall character arc the group goes through. The “Cheetahs” feel fairly similar to their previous incarnation in the last movie except Galleria is less bossy. I wish I saw some growth between the girls proper but everything related to the same feels tacked on or hammy.

Like the last movie- the songs are the best part. Thankfully, they’re shot well and aren’t jumbled and messy like the last movie. I could feel myself actually singing along (as corny as the lyrics were), but this time I could actually look at the screen without being forced to dart my eyes around needlessly.

While the plot makes far more sense than the last movie – it’s still Disney TV movie which means there’s more than one moment that will make you scratch your head. This problem becomes even more prevalent in the 3rd act when everyone acts a lot less intelligent than they really are. There are also some rushed moments and I feel like a more developed 3rd act could’ve given the last musical number more depth.

REPORT CARD

TLDRThe Cheetah Girls 2 is fun and filled with bops to nod your head along to. The plot and characterization leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s a jam packed adventure the whole way through. It brings in all the stuff you loved from the last movie with a more cohesive story and better shot musical moments. If you didn’t like the first one, chances are good you won’t find anything here either.
Rating6.0/10
GradeD

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2000s, 2003, Comedy, Drama, Family, Grade, Musical, Review, review-movie, Year

Review: The Cheetah Girls

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Director(s)Oz Scott
Principal CastRaven-Symoné as Galleria
Adrienne Bailon as Chanel
Kiely Williams as Aqua
Sabrina Bryan as Do
Release Date2003
Language(s)English
Running Time93 minutes

Oh Disney Plus, you nostalgia machine. I only bought the service because of Star Wars – baby Yoda was too cute to resist and since I started the journey in November, I’ve been swept up in Star Wars fever. Buying Disney Plus felt like a must the moment I started The Clone Wars (2008) ( look forward to a review of the first six seasons soon). Thankfully, along with the Star Wars goodness, the service is filled with movies I remember watching by myself or with my sister when we were much younger- good old nostalgic times. When I saw The Cheetah Girls pop up while scrolling, I knew I had to watch it – it was one of my favorite Disney-to-TV movies and I wanted to see how much I would like it over a decade later . Even now, this movie entertains. It has great bops, some cute moments, and an utterly ridiculous plot that’ll have you laughing with friends. This is by no means a good movie- but it is a fun one.

The plot follows the titular Cheetah Girls- a group of four high school kids trying to make it big as musicians while living their own Cheetah Way. Raven plays Galleria, the self appointed leader of the group. Chanel, Aqua , and Dorinda fill out the group, each bringing and adding a different element to the musical group. Acting between the girls feels odd at times (though mostly fine) and makes the relationship feel out of place. This impacts tense moments and undercuts a lot of the potential emotional moments. There are still some heartwarming moments but their overall impact falls short of where they could be. One thing I did appreciate about the film was that every girl (sans Aqua) gets a real moment of growth or emotion that feels semi-earned. In a movie as chaotic as this- that’s a huge deal. I wish it was just more applied and followed through on.

The best part of the movie is obviously the songs. As my sister reminded me, “Cinderella” is a bop and I wholeheartedly agree. It’s surprising how catchy some of these songs still are. The over the top elements add to the corny fun of the whole thing, so I was genuinely enthralled by the experience. The only issue is how poorly edited the music videos are. The camera never properly focuses and jumps a lot. Thankfully, these issues don’t plague the final number too much but it really took me out of the earlier two songs.

What the movie lacks in subtlety it makes up in sheer absurdity. Things in the movie just happen out of nowhere and it proceeds at a breakneck pace. In particular, the third act is just a series of events that are more and more ridiculous. I couldn’t stop laughing at how everyone came together. Granted, the last song and the number are great but it literally makes the whole movie feel like some strange joke. It’s a great, entertaining joke to be sure. It’s hilariously bad in the best way.

There’s some decent buildup for some of the characters but the overarching story of the whole group feels haphazard and out of place. The film doesn’t do a great job at establishing why the girls are together or why they care so much about each other outside of just exhibiting cheetah-ness??I think? So when conflict comes up, it’s hard to understand how the dynamic should be playing out besides the basic way the movie presents itself in. Add on to this to the heavy handedness of certain character traits and absurd resolution of the groups tensions and you have a strangely unsatisfying story that’s fun enough to sit through.

REPORT CARD

TLDRThe Cheetah Girls is a fun ridiculous time. The music is fun, the energy is great, and there’s more than one moment of pure comedic absurdity. If you liked the movie growing up chances are it’s infectious energy will get to you even now, even if you cringe at the plot.
Rating5.7/10
GradeF

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2010s, 2019, Adventure, Animation, C+, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Grade, Musical, Review, review-movie, Year

Review: Frozen 2

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Director(s)Chris Buck
Jennifer Lee
Principal CastKristen Bell as Anna
Idina Menzel as Elsa
Josh Gad as Olaf
Jonathan Groff as Kristoff/Sven
Release Date2019
Language(s)English
Running Time103 minutes

When I saw the first trailer for Frozen II drop I felt one part entranced by the visuals, one part curious on where the story could go, and two parts nervous that this movie would be a cash grab with no substance. Although Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee don’t reach the same heights as they did thematically, musically, or story wise in Frozen, there are still more than enough gorgeous and fun moments in their sequel to satisfy the fans and entertain kids.

The story picks up some time after the ending of the first movie and follows our makeshift family unit of Elsa, Anna , Olaf , Kristoff , and Sven. They’re domesticated and having fun, but Elsa has been hearing a call beckoning her to leave her homeland and find her true calling. If the story sounds weird that’s because it is. It feels lazily written and almost feels like a series of excuses meant to guide characters from one set piece to another. It’s frustrating because the movie is supposed to be dealing with Elsa and her powers and had a real potential to explore the lore in interesting and philosophical ways to help develop the themes from the previous movie. Instead, it focuses on hashing out these really basic character arcs that either feel like they were better resolved in the previous movie or they just feel out of place overall.

Thankfully, the set pieces in this movie are absolutely breath-taking. Elsa has a lot of amazing action moments that serve to demonstrate how mind-blowing her powers are. Even though I thought the plot was absurd, I was left stunned with how cool and gorgeous a lot of her moments ended up looking. The color palette is distinct and vibrant and makes these moments that much prettier. There are gorgeous autumn leaves and amazing snow effects. The water looks and feels alive and fluid. The lighting is immaculate and everything feels imbued with vitality. There are a few scenes where the background felt like it was actually straight ripped out from reality. It all comes together to create one of the most stunning movies I’ve ever seen. I already know I’m going to re-watch the movie to see some of these moments again. If nothing else, this movie knows how to look near perfect.

The music is also good, even though it doesn’t reach the heights of the first movie. The title song is incredible, however, and I loved how it was incorporated throughout the movie. Into the Unknown probably won’t get as many plays from me as Let It Go did, but it’s a great song and I know I won’t be able to get it out of my head for a bit. Menzel and Bell are also still great, and each of their characters had at least one musical solo scene that I enjoyed. This film more so than the last felt like it had a few too many songs. In particular, Kristoff’s song felt misplaced and actually ended up making me like his character less. I appreciate how funny the song is supposed to be and thought the editing and feel of it was great. However, it makes him feel like he’s less mature than we’re led to believe and also interrupts the action in an non-ideal way.

Thematically, the movie attempts to do cool things but just falls on its face. Certain ideas are explored on a surface level which is a shame because of how interesting they could have been. There’s a lot of discussion about growth, but we rarely get to see it explored because the characters don’t feel like they actually change that much. There’s also this really neat idea of water in relation to time that feels Taoist in nature but outside of a cool visuals and interesting thoughts never reaches the potentials of what it could have been.

REPORT CARD

TLDRFrozen II is gorgeous and breath taking, even if it feels like its lacking in substance. It never reaches the same heights of its predecessor, but is still entertaining and sure to give you some fun moments.Fans of the original should check this out, but be wary – the story leaves a lot to be desired and may be disappointing to some.
Rating7.5/10
GradeC+

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2010s, 2013, A, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Grade, Musical, Review, review-movie, Year

Review: Frozen

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Director(s)Chris Buck
Jennifer Lee
Principal CastKristen Bell as Anna
Idina Menzel as Elsa
Josh Gad as Olaf
Jonathan Groff as Kristoff/Sven
Santino Fontana as Hans
Alan Tudyk as Duke of Weselton
Release Date2013
Language(s)English
Running Time 102 minutes

So when this movie first came out, I was completely enamored by it. The visuals were gorgeous. I couldn’t stop singing the songs. I was absolutely into the Frozen craze. Given the news of Frozen 2, I thought it’d be fun to revisit the original – not only to get ready for the sequel but also to see if I really enjoyed the movie or was just caught up in the craze at the time. Happily, I can confirm it was the former. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s story has all the markings of a musical classic and reminded me of the power of Disney magic.

The story follows the royal princesses of Arendelle  , Anna and Elsaas they prepare and celebrate the latter’s coronation. However, everything goes wrong and it’s revealed to the kingdom that their newly anointed Queen has supernatural ice powers. Already, the basic premise of the plot has distinguished itself from so many other Disney movies. This time the “villian” is the Queen herself and because of that, the film gets to explore a lot of emotional ideas in beautiful ways.

The discourse on love and the extents of it is touching and gets explored in a lot of cute and emotionally satisfying ways. In particular, the relationship between Anna and Elsa is magnificent and serves as the emotional crux of most of the movie. Watching their interactions and growth is moving and there were genuinely moments that made me tear up. Bell and Menzel do a great job giving the sisters a real emotional depth to their dialogue that helped it hit emotional beats I didn’t expect.

Outside of them, Josh Gad is phenomenal as Olaf. The snowman is charming, funny, and a delight to watch. There are times where his character feels like he over explains some more emotional scenes that takes away from the subtlety of them. It’s not too annoying, but I feel like it made some of the more cathartic moments feel weaker. I enjoyed both of the male characters, Kristoff and Hans , and enjoyed how they served as foils for each other in meaningful ways. The only character I didn’t like that much was the Duke of Weselton. He feels too over the top and I wish he was more grounded. It would have made certain moments more believable and sinister, which is something I would personally have preferred. He’s not awful – I just see wasted potential.

The music is absolutely great and I love most of the tracks. I love how the songs are incorporated into the movie and how much emotional weight they bring. Obviously Let it Go is amazing, but there are just so many great tracks its hard to choose from. Even the more unnecessary songs (like the rock people one) was fun to listen to in the moment. I thought the musical scenes with Menzel and Bell were amazing. In particular, there’s a duet in the second act that’s absolutely mesmerizing from a thematic view but also sounds phenomenal. It’s dark, desperate, and emotionally complex. I absolutely had chills afterwards.

The animation is also gorgeous. The characters all look beautiful, but my favorite moments were when Elsa used her ice powers to fight. The action scene with her is probably my favorite moment in the entire movie. The camera and lighting make it all feel intense and the particle effects of her ice magic makes everything feel more visceral. I honestly forgot I was watching a musical for a few moments and let myself get absorbed into the intensity of the situation.

Honestly, my only major problem with the film is how absurd one plot element feels. I won’t spoil it, but literally two characters make a mention of how ridiculous this element is and no one does anything about it. It felt frustrating because obviously sensible individuals in this universe proved to understand the issue , but it just gets glossed over. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of an issue, but it serves as the main driver for a lot of the conflict in the third act so the issue feels even more apparent. I also think that there should have been more of a consequence for certain actions, but I’ll talk about that in the spoiler section.

REPORT CARD

TLDRFrozen is fun, funny, and bursting with personality. The songs are top notch and the animation is gorgeous. Outside of a few story issues and some missed opportunities, this tale of two sisters trying to find their place in the world and in each others lives is sure to leave you smiling along.
Rating9.0/10
GradeA

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