Originally Posted By MouseBear Salutations All, I'm going to take the kids to "Spirit" and let them decide if they like it. I'm not real excited about the movie, even if the animation looks wonderful. I think Kirby hit the nail on the head that the movie comes across as very serious and politically correct. Mr. Katzenburg would be fine if he just made cartoons that were fun, instead of always trying to win the Academy Award. That all being said, try to go to the movie with an open mind. I went to "Shrek" with the attitude that I was going to hate it, and I guess what: I hated it. When I saw the movie again I discovered I actually liked a lot of it. Then the kids really wanted "Shrek" on DVD so I decide to get it just for them. Now after several viewing I really enjoy "Shrek" (except for the beginning of the movie) and I appreciate the moral it presents. So go to "Spirit" looking for what's good about the movie. MouseBear
Originally Posted By ToonKirby In response to some earlier comments: I am not biased against DreamWorks films. I am biased against over-indulgent direction, preachy screenwriting and a producer who repeatedly insists that every film he touches is the animated equivilant of "Citizen Kane". If that makes me prententious in anybody's eyes, then so be it. For the record, I enjoyed DreamWorks' "Chicken Run" and even "The Prince of Egypt" to some degree. As for other non-Disney animated films, I've enjoyed several, such as "Anastasia", "The Iron Giant", "Ice Age" and "Fern Gully", to name a few. So yes, I can see 'beyond the berm'. A quality animated film is a quality animated film, regardless of the production company that made it. Regardless of the box office, "Shrek" left me cold. Just because a film makes money or even wins an Oscar does not mean it is automatically of high quality. As for "Lilo & Stitch" ... well, we'll see when it opens how good it is. As with "Spirit", I don't preconceive my opinions of a film before I see it. After seeing "Spirit", I did not like in several respects, all of which were detailed in my review. At no point in my review did I say "don't go see it". If you do see "Spirit", go in with an open-mind as I did. And if you like it, fine. But recognize the fact that some people may not share the same feelings for it. - kch
Originally Posted By No1DisneyFan2003 Okay here i'll put in my 2 cents.... I just HATe DreamWoks From there 1st movie witch i think was Small solders and ever since i just HATED that company its sooo Annoying with the dumb goat or what ever he is a monster Shreck Grrr.. now thats a bad movie..and a BAD Company!! (No hate mail please! )
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I don't hate Dreamworks. I think it's great that Disney has some competition. Ultimately, I hope that it encourages both companies to take more chances with the animated films they make, avoiding old tried and true (and predictable) formulas. I love those old formulas and the films that used them, but I also hope to see some fresh animation styles and stories that continue to innovate and push the envelope. The John Henry short was exciting in its "rough around the edges" style. I'd like to see more experimentation like that. There were glimpses of that in the cave drawing sequence in Ice Age and the dream sequence in James and the Giant Peach. Prince of Egypt also had some moments with a little experimentation as well. I think what Dreamworks needs to do now is to develop it's OWN style. They've shown that they can do high quality Disney-style animation (Prince of Egypt, Spirit, El Dorado). But I'm really interested in what a DREAMWORKS style animated film would be. Here's hoping they have the guts to go for it!
Originally Posted By tiggerspal Toon Kirby should not be criticized for bringing up JK in his review of Spirit. Jk acts as if he personally delivered the prints to every theatre etc., so it becomes more about him than the movie. He asks to be mentioned in reviews by his very actions.
Originally Posted By AusDisneyBear Hello again all ! I have to say that, now the shock of the review has worn off, I may have reacted a little forthrightly. I am so used to seeing disney fans (and site owners) automatically resentful of Katzenberg's involvement in any project, so I usually tar such reviews with the same brush. Kirby's reply has shown a side that I otherwise might not have seen, and I look forward to seeing Spirit to see if the same issues arise for me. I should have guessed that he was beyond the sort of triviality I see in many other places. Please forgive my premature remarks. (I still like Shrek, though... but we will have to agree to disagree on that one.) - PS I think Eddie Murphy will be much more valuable in the Haunted Mansion movie than in Shrek... Best wishes, Robert.
Originally Posted By doctordonothing 4 legs=good, 2 legs=baaaaad. What a rotten concept! It's that sort of simplistic thinking that made Bambi such an uninteresting, unendearing failure. But wait - didn't Shrek only have two legs? And doesn't Katzenberg walk upright? At least in the office? Now I don't know who to hate.
Originally Posted By goldenstate5 Hmmm...I saw Spirt. I have to say this, it is unintresting. Yes, it sounds like lame people (or DCA haters) DCA description, I love DCA, which is vice-versa opposed to this movie. It was extremely unintresting. The only thing that really kept me on the screen was the previews, the beginning, the sweeping animation-- and really, that's it. Here's Spirt from my point of view: In the theater, kids piled up in the theater. The previews made the kids twitch around and so the parents, then came the nice beginning. I have to admit, it did start very nicely, but sometime after thirty minutes, the movie fell flat. Just as soon as Sprit became an adult...flat as a piece of paper. Some kids kept their heads up. And-- of course, with EVERY family film-- the annyoing crying baby, and a few rows down where kids were talking (like 3 years old. This doesn't always happen in family films. i.e. In Star Wars Ep. 2, we had to sit next to a three-year old who kept asking "who's that?" and "what's happening?" Now that's annyoing! Especially during a good movie as AOTC!). I don't know, the adult area were intresting, a few "wows" from the panorama parts. At the end, a little applause, then we went out. Just that, and I'm sure everyone would agree to this, it was good that it wasn't a 110+ min. movie. So, my verdict is: C+...
Originally Posted By goldenstate5 Sorry. The adult area wasn't intresting! Haha, they were "intrested"...
Originally Posted By Superdoink Wow, saying that review is leaning pro Disney is like saying Liza Minelli's new husband has had a few too many face lifts. Hey Kirby, can't wait to read your touching and thoughtful review of Lilo and Stitch. "Boy that Stitch, what a silly voice." How about some proper voice casting Disney!! Don't let the director do the voice... Please, be honest, is there anyone on this planet who CAN'T do that affected, Gurgi sounding voice?????? But I'll see that and Spirit. Love animation...
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Originally Posted By TikiRoomer No need to be mean, Doink. Besides, the poor kid's probably about 12.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic Prince of Egypt is too self important??? It's based on the Bible which is why it takes itself seriously. Would you it have rather had talking camels in drag? And not all Dreamworks pictures are like that because El Dorado certainly wasn't a serious movie. Neither was Chicken Run or Shrek. I don't think Katzenburg made Shrek as an academy award winning movie. It's not a travesty for a movie that had such huge box office, great exit polls (A from audiences) and 88% of the critics recommending the movie according to rottentomatoes.com. While I don't agree with the decision myself, when you're dealing with a topic as subjective as comedy there are bound to be disagreements about what is funny or not.
Originally Posted By ChipandDale I have seen "Spirit" and found it the best so far by the people at Dreamworks, if they would only have a better musical score. To me, it didn't fit the overall style of the movie. Storywise it was quite simple ( a "Lion King it wasn't ) but it was better than I had hoped for, now we have to wait for the box office vote, don't we?
Originally Posted By Dlmusic I agree ChipandDale if Spirit would have had a stronger songs I would have ranked the film much higher. As it is, it's a beautiful film that has some of the best animation ever. The storyline is simple, but it works great for kids. Dumbo had a simple storyline as well. Spirit made $23 million this weekend and exit polls are getting A+ from children and A for general audiences. It's hard to gauge what that really means, because practically every animated film gets those kind of ratings.
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Originally Posted By fabdisbabe Not to intrude, but the reason Spirt won't do it is because IT'S BORING!!! Each night I watch The Cosby Show and Cheers on Nick at Nite and I see endless Baskin-Robbins commercials relating to Sprit. Shrek had relations with Baskin-Robbins (Can't they drop "31 flavors"? It's obviously more now!), but Spirt. Ok, ok. The commercials feature a kid with a "Spirt" sundae and he's talking about one part of the film, clip shows up, new "Spirt" sundae, whoo-hoo, let's all raise a flag. Ooh, advertising on Nick at Nite, very smart! It looks boring, it sounds boring, and I garuntee you, all I heard was "boring", "waste of time", "unintresting". One person actually told me "had to take kids back home because they were causing such a racket once 20 minutes into the film". Come on, Dreamworks, if you're gonna make an animated film, make it for kids, KIDS! That means humor, funny, in basics: No non-talking horses...>> You haven't seen it, but you've made up your mind that it's boring. Refreshing. I was honest with Alice: I don't really care to see the film, the best part of the evening for me will probably be the previews (C'mon Chamber of Secrets!). We took a pal, Christopher, a horse farmer. I left loving the film. There are no showstopping numbers. There are no jive-talking sidekicks. There is no over-the-top villain. The villain, in fact, would, from another perspective, be seen as a very strong and good person. It had a good, solid story. I came in prepared to be bored because the ads for the film are abysmal. They should fire their ad agency and kick them all really hard to boot. Fab
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Just read the article, and I think Kirby either saw a different film, or let political opinions cloud his vision.<< I don't think that's totally fair. I rated Spirit a B- personally, but I can see why some would truly love it and some would truly dislike it. It is a mixed bag film filled with lots to love and also a lot to dislike -- politics aside. Even Spirit's most positive reviews in newspapers mention some areas where the film is lacking (music, narration). And it has received some pretty strong negative reviews as well. Kirby's review clearly isn't the only bad review the film has recieved (see Rottentomatoes.com).
