154 Best Releases From the Genre Animation (Page 6)
Ron's Gone Wrong
Watch afterFree Guy (2021), Thanksgiving (2023),
StudioTSG Entertainment,
Ron’s Gone Wrong has some lofty goals: it’s a bold attempt to talk about how social media addiction, consumerism, and technology at large has taken over kids’ lives in a way that’s not just unhealthy, but that’s actively leaving them lonelier. And if anything can be applauded about writer and director Sarah Smith’s film, it’s in the way it wants to tackle all of this head on. Only in this world, swap the iPhones and tablets for “B-bots”—cute little AIs proudly labeled “your best friend out of the box!” They follow you everywhere, learn everything about you, and use that info to help you make new friends via other kids’ B-bots. It’s the tech solution to friendship! ...And a handy little metaphor for the way tech once designed to bring us together has mutated into something else entirely. Continue Reading →
The Addams Family 2
Similar28 Weeks Later (2007), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006),
StudioBron Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
The Addams Family characters have existed since 1938 and yet they’ve never felt as tired as they do in The Addams Family 2. A “kooky and spooky” family once known for subverting the norms is now the star of a movie that couldn’t be more ordinary. If you’ve seen one subpar computer-animated kids film from the last 15 years, you’ve probably seen all the worst bathroom and slapstick gags The Addams Family 2 has to offer. Here’s a feature that can’t be called a success unless it’s intended goal was to make one yearn for the sophistication of Hotel Transylvania 2. Continue Reading →
Mascarpone
Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati's dramedy recovers from an early monotone to become a warm study of a man rebuilding his life after his husband dumps him.
(This review is part of our 2021 coverage of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival.)
Ah, breakups and baking, a classic cinematic combination. By now, the two are so thoroughly mixed that their stories make their own crust. It’s a tried-and-true recipe, honed in the Eat Pray Love era, and few try to divert from it. With their new film Mascarpone (originally Maschile Singolare), directors Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati play with different ingredients and measurements than the most famous recipes, but the result may not be as delicious as they would have liked. Continue Reading →
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
SimilarFate/Apocrypha, GARO, Madan Senki Ryukendo, ThunderCats,
Watch afterBridgerton,
Hawkeye ONE PIECE,
Netflix is trying really, maybe embarrassingly hard to make He-Man a thing again. With He-Man and the Masters of the Universe their throw-toys-at-the-wall-until-something-sticks approach is genuinely starting to wear out the patience of new and old fans alike. Continue Reading →
劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンCosmos 前編
SimilarNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Princess Mononoke (1997),
Watch after1917 (2019),
StarringAyane Sakura, Hisako Kanemoto, Junko Minagawa, Kotono Mitsuishi, Marina Inoue, Mariya Ise, Megumi Hayashibara, Sayaka Ohara, Shizuka Itoh, Shoko Nakagawa,
StudioKing Records, Studio Deen, Toei Animation, Toei Company,
"We all come from everywhere, so we all come from away," Come from Away's ensemble crescendos. It's a rousing thesis statement about acceptance, inclusion, and multiculturalism told with a folksy slant and a slap on the knee. A filmed version from the 2017 Broadway success, the Canadian musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein tells the true story of 38 planes, their crew, and the passengers, who made an emergency landing in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador during the 9/11 attacks, and the townsfolk who welcomed them into their homes and hearts. Continue Reading →
Q-Force
As a queer child of the early Internet, I've seen my fair share of gay erotic animation. Netflix's new adult animation series, Q-Force, might be one of the best. Continue Reading →
Star Trek: Lower Decks
We’ve all had that experience where we can laugh about something with our friends or family members and poke fun at one another’s foibles without anyone batting an eyelash. And yet, if someone from outside of that circle of trust were to make the same kind of joke about one of our pals, we’d be ready to tear them a new exhaust manifold. Continue Reading →
Fantasia
SimilarWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971),
MPAA RatingG,
StudioWalt Disney Productions,
This year's Fantasia Festival offered a solid selection of horror, low-fi science fiction, and quietly paced drama.
It remains unclear if movies really are back, baby, but the festival circuit continues undaunted. Montreal’s Fantasia Festival leans towards the esoteric and the out there, and this year’s selection in particular offered a strong lineup of quirky comedies, artsy horror and low-key drama. Here’s but a small sampling of some of the more notable features:
Perhaps the most promising feature is Hellbender, a genuine group effort by the Adams Family, directed by dad John Adams, co-written by mom Toby Poser and daughter Zelda Adams, and starring Toby, Zelda, and other daughter Lulu Adams. Zelda plays Izzy, a lonely teenager raised in isolation by her mother, who’s convinced her that she is gravely ill with a disorder that prevents her from getting too close to other people. They spend their days alone together, either exploring the woods around their house, or playing catchy grunge rock tunes in a two person band, even wearing costumes despite not having an audience. It’s an idyllic existence, until Izzy starts asking too many questions and pushing too many boundaries, and must learn the truth about her existence. Continue Reading →
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
SimilarAliens (1986), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004),
Watch afterDune (2021),
While Nightmare of the Wolf's storytelling struggles to build momentum, this gorgeously animated prequel to The Witcher has a climax as tremendous as it is vicious.
Actions have consequences. Or, as John Wick would put it, "everything's got its price." From an intimate promise to a precisely-worded declaration before a crowd, making a play sends out an echo. And that echo can be anything and everything from magnificent to apocalyptic. In the grim world of The Witcher, the apocalyptic is more likely, whether personal, national, or global. Kwang Il Han's animated feature The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf makes this clear through splendidly choreographed action and a great heaping murder of metaphorical crows coming home to roost.Adapted from the works of author Andrzej Sapkowski, Nightmare of the Wolf is a prequel to the main Witcher stories. A generation before series protagonist Geralt of Rivia walked the continent in the pages of Sapkowski's novels, the Lauren Schmidt Hissrich-run Netflix series, and the acclaimed video game trilogy, his mentor Vesemir (voiced in English by Theo James) was as much a roguish swashbuckler as he was a professional monster hunter. Vesemir is unique among his Witcher peers. As a youth seeking a life beyond indentured servitude, he joined the alchemically mutated monster hunters of his own free will, rather than being selected by or sold to them.
Netflix
The life of a Witcher is extraordinarily perilous. Even with their sense- and strength-enhancing mutations, expertly crafted weapons, and potent magics, they battle the most lethal creatures in the world for a living—to say nothing of the nightmarish process that goes into transforming a baseline human boy into a Witcher. But, provided they survive these perils, there's money in monster hunting. As much as people may despise Witchers as mutants, their knowledge and skills make them the people to turn to when there's a monster on the loose. And Vesemir's damn good at monster hunting. His glyphs, swords, and potions have won him luxuries he could only dream of as a servant boy.But as much as he'd like to go from hunt to hunt and pleasure to pleasure, the world will not allow Vesemir to while away his days with hot baths and good wine. After years in decline, monsters are resurging—and mutating into new, deadly forms. Elven girls are disappearing. A powerful sorceress and politician named Tetra Gilcrest (voiced by Lara Pulver in English) leads a growing movement to drive the Witchers out of civilization. Gilcrest's political opponent Lady Zerbst (voiced by Mary McDonnell in English) is running what interference she can, but her influence is waning. Secrets of all sorts will soon slither out of their hiding places, and Vesemir will have to face them and all that they bring with them. Continue Reading →
What If...?
SimilarGARO,
HIStory Loonatics Unleashed, Madan Senki Ryukendo, Mirai Sentai Timeranger, The Batman, The Twilight Zone,
Marvel’s latest Disney+ series, What If…?, seems likely to be the biggest “for the nerds” MCU endeavor since Tony Stark first built Iron Man in a cave with a box of scraps. It should present an interesting test of just how completely Marvel superheroes have permeated our current pop culture landscape. Continue Reading →
Vivo
Vivo, the third Sony Pictures Animation film on Netflix this year, certainly opens on a promising note. We get a full scope of a pristine, modern Cuban setting, awash in warm, vibrant colors and a more textured approach to characters compared to their previous, still-admirable effort, Wish Dragon, though still a milestone away from The Mitchells vs. the Machines, one of the best movies of the entire year. Then, well, Lin-Manuel Miranda starts rapping. Continue Reading →
シン・エヴァンゲリオン劇場版:||
SimilarAnna and the King (1999), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004),
StarringKotono Mitsuishi, Mariya Ise, Megumi Hayashibara, Sayaka Ohara,
Let me start by saying this: Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time is the best film I have seen in 2021 so far. It's a gorgeously animated conclusion to one of 20th and 21st-century science fiction's great works. It executes both its quiet, still moments and its grand setpieces with care and precision. The voice cast (who have been playing these roles for decades, going back to the original 1995 television series Neon Genesis Evangelion) and the animation team give the cast an excellently detailed life and liveliness. 3.0+1.0's editing—particularly during its extended, tone-jumping climax—is downright sublime. The imagery? To paraphrase Sam Peckinpah, I will not be forgetting what I've seen in Evangelion 3.0+1.0 any time soon. I do not think I could. From a ruined piece of pre-Impact infrastructure twirling in a patch of broken gravity to one of the titular gargantuan combat androids going to work on a swarm of bizarre, disturbing opponents, it's indelible. Whether familiar or bizarre, beautiful or horrifying, 3.0+1.0's imagery is, without fail, flabbergasting. Continue Reading →
Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life
When it comes to rebooting iconic cartoon characters for a modern TV program, the go-to mantra now is to hearken back to the classics. Rather than give familiar animated figures makeovers to appeal to the youths of today, now such individuals get designs and storylines evoking their appearances from back in the 1930s and 1940s. Continue Reading →
Jellystone!
NetworkHBO Max, Max,
Similar'Allo 'Allo!, Fawlty Towers, Gekisou Sentai Carranger, Shougeki Gouraigan, The Wallflower,
The small, fictional town of Jellystone is like other close-knit communities across America. It’s quaint, charming, and filled with jittery citizens on the edge of a nervous breakdown. HBO Max brings back the beloved characters of Hanna-Barbera (the first since their deaths in the 2000s) for a newer, more anxious generation with, an animated show that’s as hilarious as it is self-aware. Continue Reading →
Centaurworld
SimilarTales from the Neverending Story,
Netflix's new animated show Centaurworld, created by Megan Nicole Dong, is a whimsical show set in a world of centaurs. It's chock full of catchy songs and comedic moments that adults and kids will enjoy, but it also bogs itself down with complicated mythology that steals time from its lovable characters. Continue Reading →
Masters of the Universe: Revelation
SimilarAh! My Goddess, Amazing Stories,
Caprica He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,
Stargate SG-1 The Transformers,
Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Netflix's animated reimagining of the iconic He-Man and his amazing friends begins on a familiar note. It kicks off as a continuation of the 80s cartoon—sadly skipping over the Cartoon Network series entirely while still borrowing some of its modern art direction. Revelation checks in with the classic Masters of the Universe just before all magic vanishes from the world. The annihilation of magic (including the Power of Grayskull) paves the way for a bold, watercooler-worthy reset of all that has come before. Given this dramatic paradigm shift, Revelation almost feels like a spin-off, rather than a sequel series. Continue Reading →
Minuscule 2 - Les mandibules du bout du monde
SimilarDr. No (1962), King Kong (1933), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974),
In the decade since his cult hit Rubber, French provocauteur Quentin Dupieux has been churning out small, absurd movies at a steady clip. Mandibles – his third U.S. release since the start of the pandemic – is yet another wonky tale of le ridicule, clocking in at a mere 77 minutes. Beach bum Manu (Gregoire Luig) is hired by a rich benefactor to transport a mysterious suitcase; specifically told he must do so in a car, he stumbles on an unlocked, dusty yellow Mercedes, and picks up his buddy Jean-Gab (David Marsais). Everything’s going smoothly until the pair notice an odd rumbling emanating from the trunk of their stolen automobile. Turns out, they’ve been riding around with an enormous, disgusting fly. Continue Reading →
Space Jam: A New Legacy
SimilarAnnie Hall (1977), Bring It On (2000), Fantasia (1940),
Watch afterBlack Widow (2021),
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the original Space Jam, released in 1996, isn’t a good movie. It’s an extended Nike commercial with an iconic soundtrack that tricked the brains of '90s kids into keeping it warm with nostalgia. So, it’s only fair that 25 years later, a new generation of children are forced to experience a similar kind of cash grab. Continue Reading →
Monsters at Work
SimilarHina Logic: From Luck & Logic, Raven's Home, Tabitha,
TV shows based on hit movies are nothing new. However, programs like The Real Ghostbusters and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command had only the barest connection to their source material and had no chance of scoring any of the performers from the original features. In the age of interconnected cinematic narratives, though, the new Disney+ cartoon Monsters at Work, a sequel to Monsters Inc., goes in the opposite direction. Continue Reading →
機動戦士ガンダム 閃光のハサウェイ
SimilarLet the Right One In (2008), Scrooge (1951),
Watch afterBlack Widow (2021),
*Peter Cullen Voice: On* Continue Reading →
アベンジャーズ コンフィデンシャル:ブラック・ウィドウ & パニッシャー
SimilarBatman Begins (2005), Batman Forever (1995), Batman Returns (1992), Catwoman (2004), Sin City (2005),
Some will complain about the lack of stakes in Black Widow. After all, even more so than typical MCU fare, Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) fate never stands in doubt. She will, of course, survive. Not because she’s the good guy, but because we already know how she dies, thanks to Avengers: Endgame (aka the biggest movie of all time). Continue Reading →