Posts Tagged ‘Leonardo Da Vinci’

Mr. Peabody & Sherman: Family flick still cuts clever for the adults in the theatre

mr-peabody-sherman-25469-1920x1080Metro Reel Guys by Richard Crouse and Steve Gow

SYNOPSIS: Based on characters from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, the movie stars the voice of Modern Family’s Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody, a beagle who is also the world’s smartest being. Imagine “Family Guy’s” Brian with less attitude but more PhDs. When his adopted son Sherman (Max Charles) bites schoolmate Penny (Ariel Winter) Peabody tries to smooth things by throwing a dinner for Penny’s parents (Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann). His party plan is almost derailed when Sherman and Penny hijack the WABAC device, a time machine that takes them to ancient Egypt and the Trojan War. Can Mr. Peabody rescue them before Penny’s parents notice she’s gone and the space-time continuum is irreparably destroyed?

STAR RATINGS:

Richard: 4 Stars

Steve: 3 Stars

Richard: Steve, Mr. Peabody & Sherman lacks the political bent of the original Jay Ward cartoon series, but it is loaded with references from literature, history and popular culture. It’s the only kid’s movie with an Oedipal joke and I can’t imagine a Minion punning, “Marie Antoinette could have kept her head if she had issued an edict to distribute bread to the poor. But you can’t have your cake and edict too.” Which means it is stuffed with the spirit of Ward, which is a good thing, even if it does veer off path with a sentimental father and son subplot. What did you think?

Steve: I agree 100% Richard. In fact, by dipping its proverbial toe into that father-son subplot, the film dares to touch on what other family films like Finding Nemo or The Incredibles have done better. Still, the movie’s meteoric pace never lingers too long on any facet of the film and its niche truly is the ceaseless nods to historical events. My favorite had to be a clever throwback to Spartacus.

RC: I know the history element sounds dangerously educational for a mainstream kid’s flick, but the movie’s trips back to ancient Egypt, the Trojan War and Leonardo Di Vinci’s studio where they discover the secret of Mona Lisa’s smile are really fun. They are made doubly so by great voice work. As the dim witted general Agamemnon Patrick Warburton really stands out. He started the confident dumb guy routine on Seinfeld and uses it to hilarious effect here.

SG: And for those who remember the old Bullwinkle series, Ty Burrell does a pretty decent job voicing the movie’s canine savant. Even more successful are the comedy’s captivating visuals especially the way director Rob Minkoff works the 3D to capture the measure of epic Trojan battles or traveling through the time-space continuum and not simply for eye-catching sight gags.

RC: The animation is top notch and like the best of Ward’s work, Mr. Peabody & Sherman realizes that the material has to work on multi levels, the surface and the satirical. Like the Lego Movie, I think this movie will appeal to kids and adults.

SG: Again, I agree. The movie is a peppy, playful ride through history for all ages. In fact, it probably won’t hurt either that most everyone in the audience will barely remember the old Bullwinkle cartoon.

George Clooney’s ensemble World War II flick nothing monumental.

clooney1By Richard Crouse and Mark Breslin – Reel Guys Metro Canada

Synopsis: Based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel, the movie stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and Hugh Bonneville as a motley crew of art historians, engineers and museum directors recruited to locate and rescue priceless art works stolen by the Nazis. When two members of their team are killed they are no longer observers but active participants in the war.

• Richard: 2/5
• Mark: 3/5

Richard: Mark, this is a wartime comedy. Think Hogan’s Heroes by way of Leonardo Da Vinci and you’ll get the idea. It has some mild laughs — the biggest giggle, for Canadians anyway, comes from the Parisians who blame Matt Damon’s terrible French on having spent too much time in Montreal — but also a great deal of reverence for the art and the work of the real-life monuments men. But what might have been an edgy, exciting look at an under-reported slice of World War II history is reduced to an elegantly directed but somewhat dull film.

Mark: Richard, I was really looking forward to this movie. Three of my major obsessions are George Clooney, Nazis and art, although not necessarily in that order. But you’re right; the movie is kind of a snooze in parts. There are some great scenes, but they don’t quite add up. And at no time did I feel much of a sense of danger, probably because the war is ending and the Germans are already on the run. The great cast is mostly split up during the movie, so the expected camaraderie is absent. But there’s one great reason to see this movie, and that’s the prominent role of prickly nerd Bob Balaban.

RC: The cast is terrific. Balaban is a great actor, and an underused one, so it’s always cool to see him trotted out in anything, but for me Bill Murray shows, once again, in a brief scene in a shower (no spoilers here), how his understated style can move an audience. No problems with the acting, but co-writers Clooney and longtime collaborator Grant Heslov appear to have taken a dose of sentimentality pills before putting pen to paper. The earnest, reverential tone is reinforced by old school pacing that focuses on the character and art over action and a rousing soundtrack that sounds airlifted in from a classic wartime era movie.

MB: Bill Murray, as always, proves that less is indeed more. There’s a quasi-romance between Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett that seemed forced to me, not to mention she wears the ugliest pair of shoes in the history of cinema. But all through the movie there’s a moral dilemma that keeps being rammed down our throats. Is art valuable enough to risk human life for? The movie tells us over and over that it is, but to be honest, Richard, I’m not so sure. And if you’re not sure, the urgency falls apart.

RC: It seems like you noticed Blanchett’s shoes more than the art. Therein lies the movie’s central problem.

MB: Well, I’m more of a modernist anyway. When they tell the story of how the Germans burned the Klees, Braques, and Picassos I nearly wept. This isn’t a bad movie, Richard. I just hoped for a great one.