tonymph Reviews

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002 Video)

And they say the first movie was an insult to the Victor Hugo book?!

[2/10 · 14 July 2014]

Damn this word limit.

I'd heard the reviews and comments of this movie; None of them even came anywhere near close to truly doing justice to how much of an abomination this horrible sequel it is.

My second favorite Disney film of all time has just been utterly ruined by the thought of such a lame, boring and anticlimactic sequel. I feel like I've just seen a close friend get bludgeoned to death and I just sat there and watched in horror.

How can they take the wondrous animation of the original, which I think looked better than anything, and turn out with something that looks worse than Youtube flash animations in the sequel? It looks downright lazy with how choppy it is. And Phoebus? What have they done to him, he was an utter jackass with no real explanation here! At least when Simba was like that in The Lion King II, he had a damn good reason to be so.

And what did they do to Esmarelda's design? She looks horrid compared to her original counterpart, and her eyes were blue! They're supposed to be green, idiot animators, green as in emeralds, hence her name? We clearly saw Esmarelda's green eyes in broad daylight before! They were never blue at any point in the original, so what happened here? Oh, and the villain... dear God, what a pathetic waste of animation.

You're telling me that this insufferable idiot of a magician is supposed to be the successor to Judge Frollo of all people? Frollo was amongst the most complex of any Disney villain ever conceived, he was interesting, lustful, deceptive, dishonest, and he burnt Paris to the ground because he thought he was some sort of soldier for God. He followed what the Church did, but not what it said, he was so great.

But here, it's just a circus owner who wants a bell. That's it. Nothing more. Disappointing doesn't even begin to cover what that is! Not to mention, I REALLY hate using this term to describe things I don't like and hearing others use it, but I have no choice in this case: The villain was, both figuratively and literally, gay. His unsettling love for himself was just uncomfortable to watch, and his voice is absolutely unbearable.

The only positives that I have is that the backgrounds look nice, and that Quasimodo and Madaline did have some legit good chemistry. But even then that's flawed. Quasimodo meets her once, and then after she runs off from him being ugly, he starts singing about marrying the girl! What? That's rushed even by Disney standards! Their romance lasts three days TOPS, and it happens literally immediately. For comparison, look at Kiara and Kovu, once again from TLKII- They didn't even START to fall in love until the 2 day mark, and even then they knew each other since childhood, so they had a brief, yet impactful friendship to build it upon. Where was that in The Hunchback of Notre Dame II? Where I ask?

Oh, and that's another thing! How could they take The Hunchback of Notre Dame, one of the most complex, deep and rich Disney stories ever told, and follow it up with something so simplistic that it's insulting to its own intelligence? All that happens is the villain steals a bell, and that doesn't even happen until 45 minutes in. The whole movie is only 58 minutes long too, so the conflict, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution all happen in the span of time that a regular Spongebob episode would last! In a sequel to one of the best animated stories ever told! Until the climax, it was so degradingly boring that I almost didn't make it through.

And although the romance had good chemistry, I still can't fathom the principle of Quasimodo getting the girl in the end. One of the reasons Hunchback is my second favorite Disney movie of all time was because it was one of the few Disney flicks where the main character doesn't get married in the end. He walked away with self respect, dignity, and the pride that he had saved all of Paris from Frollo in that awesome final battle scene. Here, they just take that and chuck it out the window for an oh-so typical Disney trope and ruin one of Quasimodo's best traits as a character. Could they just not handle having even one of their characters go without getting the girl in the end so they can keep in line with that tired tradition? And the girl they gave him wasn't even worthy, either. She's not horrible, but it's incredibly underwhelming how she has no personality traits outside of being clumsy and stupid.

Also, why are none of the events of the last movie even mentioned at all? Frollo is not acknowledged by name once. NOT. ONCE. A man who burnt Paris to the ground, lied to Quasimodo all his life and kept him locked in the bell tower for 20 years, and convinced him that he was a horrible creature who'll never be loved is not even hinted at, as though the last movie never even happened. You could've taken out Frollo all together and it wouldn't have made a difference. There's no continuation of his actions, no consequences, no shots of Paris rebuilding after his attack. Nothing.

Just when things like The Lion King II and Aladdin and the King of Thieves gave me hope that Disney sequels had another, brighter side to them, then comes this. I suppose those select few really are the only good ones out there. My faith in future Disney sequels has been greatly reduced, if not shattered now all together.

Bottom line, this is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life!

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Atlantis: The Lost Classic

[8/10 · 29 March 2014]

I am absolutely astounded at the negative reviews for this film, both from IMDb and from the critics.

I grew up watching this film as a child, and I remember loving just about every second of it. Seeing it again at an older age, it holds up just as well if not better than I remember it. Some Disney films I feel are given too harsh of treatment from critics and I feel should be held in higher regard (The Lion King II: Simba's Pride for example), but if I had to pick the absolute most underrated film (animated or not) to ever come from them, I would have to choose Atlantis: The Lost Empire as one of my top picks.

To begin with, the animation is some of the best I've ever seen from Disney to date. The visuals feel so incredibly huge, they look realistic, they move fluently, the textures are amazingly detailed: One could be completely blown away by this just from the visuals alone. The scenes in the Crystal Chamber, the submarine, the fight/action sequences, they're incredible. The designs are something I can commend too. The look and feel of the city of Atlantis is very creative and awesome to look at, and I always got the sense that this was a real lost, living and breathing culture with a coherent society.

Something I feel this film gets especially right is the characters: Good lord, every single one of them is memorable. Milo, Kida, Sweet, Cookie, Mr. Whitmore, the King, Audrey, I could go on for a while. Each and every one of them have their own personality traits and all have their individual moments, plus no two are alike. Each and every one of them are likable and I found myself satisfied with each and every one of them. The demolition guy I especially enjoyed. Almost every line he said was hilarious, and his personality is hugely enjoyable too.

Speaking of that, that's another thing about this film: Its humor. I can't even begin to count how many moments and lines made me laugh. The writing for the humor is some of the funniest I've seen or heard, and almost every one of the protagonists has a funny line or two at some point. I think the most humorous scene for me were the ones with the demolition guy and Mole. Dear lord are they hysterical both together and on their own.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, I absolutely love the drama that's conveyed throughout the movie. The story is very well written and it held my attention through to the end. It's definitely one of the most serious animated Disney films to date, and the first of its kind to not have any musical songs. Personally, I loved this touch. While I absolutely adore the songs in many other animated films, here I think it was more appropriate not to have any. The actions scenes are spectacular, especially with the final one that takes place. The violence and the gritty realism of everything makes the physics of its world seem closer to that of the real world (Or live action if you will), and I like things like that in animated films. Many characters die (I won't dare say who or why), a lot of depression sinks in for them, they use real guns, the violence is rather high, and I think it's great. (I'm not one of those people who always drool over action and special effects like with Michael Bay films, but I digress). The physics feel real and nothing is particularly cartoony in it, so I'm very glad Disney knows that kids can still handle serious drama like that.

And one other thing: The musical score by James Newton Howard is absolutely nothing short of fantastic. It could be because I'm a total sucker for chorus and choir music in movies, but the score here felt completely appropriate for the Atlantian setting. It has quite an Indonesian feel to it at times, while at other moments it has more of a Lord of the Rings influence to it, like when there's the loud choir going off in one of the major sequences. Every track has something to it, and it is one of the many Disney soundtracks I dearly wish I could buy to enjoy its full glory.

In conclusion, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is hands down for me the second most underrated animated film to ever come from Walt Disney Animation Studios (Coming in VERY closely behind The Lion King II: Simba's Pride). To reiterate what I said before, I am flabbergasted at the negative critic reviews for it, plus the rating here of 6.7 when that's more than a whole point lower than it should be. Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an absolute gem in the Disney lineup easily comparable to that of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and so forth. It's always one of the first films I think of when I hear someone say they should revive 2D animation for all of these reasons and more.

This truly is a lost classic.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

A good introduction to the Star Trek franchise

[8/10 · 21 August 2013]

Let me start off by saying that I never watched any episode of Star Trek before I saw this. Up until recently, the Star Trek franchise in general was like a foreign language to me, and I knew just about nothing about it. When Star Trek: Into Darkness was coming out, I decided to give this movie a watch, since the time felt right for me to do so. And 2 hours and 20 minutes later, I was a Star Trek fan.

Now granted, this is not a perfect movie by any means. A lot of the effects shots can drag out for quite a while, and some things can even get confusing as a result of that. But I was able to get past that, and I was rewarded with a satisfying Star Trek experience as a result. The plot was compelling and interesting, and it felt right for something with the Star Trek name on it. The characters took a while to get used to for me, but by the end I knew who they all were. The special effects, though very slow moving and primitive by today's standards, still look good for their time. I know it was trying to be like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but even so, some of the effects shots that tried to mimic that still look good now. (And no, I didn't see the enhanced director's cut, I saw the original version).

I think that my favorite aspect of Star Trek: The Motion Picture though, is the philosophies that is was conveying. I think Spock said it best when he said, "Logic is never alone", implying that there is a God, and he plays a part in everything that involves the unexplained. I never expected to find such elements to a Star Trek film, and there are others around the movie as well. One other one involves the never ending search for knowledge, and plenty of others that I can't remember at the moment.

So as a whole, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while being a slow paced and sometimes dragging film, is still a good work of art. It was an interesting introduction to the Star Trek franchise, and as of now I still like it. I recommend it to anyone who likes Star Trek, or to anyone who want to get into Stat Trek.

On the other hand, I still love Star Wars better.

8/10.

The Legend of the Titanic (1999)

The Lion King Trilogy, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Watership Down, and Bambi

[1/10 · 20 July 2013]

What do all of the above films have in common? I'll tell you: They all had great animation, interesting story, mature themes, memorable characters with likable personalities, coherent plot, and scenes of mature death that don't treat us like we're 5 year olds that can't even spell our own names. These films are staples of animation that will live on for generations.

The Legend of Titanic is not one of those films.

While the three Lion King films are (what I consider to be) the highest quality of animated films, The Legend of Titanic is like the anti-Lion King of the animation world. Now let me just say that an animated film about the sinking of the Titanic isn't a completely dead premise to begin with. As films like Bambi or The Land Before Time taught us, it's very possible to show death, destruction of family, and deep mental struggle that's enough to get across the emotions it's trying to convey, but at the same time not going overboard as to bump up the rating to PG.

The Legend of Titanic is nowhere near that spectrum.

As films like An American Tail and Watership Down have taught us, animation can be dark and edgy, and is capable of creating its own atmosphere in order to gets is plot or message across.

The Legend of Titanic does not accomplish this in the least.

As films like The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride have taught us, it's possible to not only create a romance between characters, but create a well done romance between characters, giving them time for it to form instead of it just happening at first sight.

The Legend of Titanic does not do this.

As films like The Lion King 1 1/2 and The Simpsons Move have taught us, it's possible to create funny and clever jokes that, while being the main attraction, don't entirely overshadow the main plot, so that there's a balance between comedy and drama.

The Legend of Titanic does not... well, you get the picture.

I could go on and on about why this film is an insult to animation as a genre, but I think you should get the point by now. It has animation that's mediocre at best, lazy voice acting (And the absolute worst fake accents I've ever heard), forgettable characters, inhumane logic that's entirely inconsistent, etc. But the sad thing is, this isn't even the main reason that this movie (if you can even call it one) is the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life. No, the main problems come in with two fatal flaws that not only kill the film, but kill the concept of an animated Titanic film in general.

Historical inaccuracy, and the insult to one of the most horrific tragedies of all time.

For one thing, it claims things like no one died on the Titanic, everyone survived, talking mice can use whiskers as a line for communication, etc. And also, it says that a giant, overly cutesy octopus is the one who threw the iceberg into Titanic's path to win a game against evil talking sharks. Kill me now.

But wait, it doesn't end there, either! Oh no, I'm just getting started. The film also claims that that said octopus was putting the ship back together as it split apart (By the way, the ship starts to break less than a minute after striking the iceberg) and rescued the captain too. Also, it claims that whales saved everyone who couldn't get to a lifeboat (Which doesn't even make sense, since they said there was room for everyone, but when did this start to care about historical accuracy anyway?). Perhaps the most blatant thing this film shows besides spitting on the actual event, is that it's a complete rip off of James Cameron's Titanic. And where his version was one of the most historically accurate, well written, well acted, well directed and faithful films I've seen since Saving Private Ryan, this one is the total opposite. Seriously, it's trying way too hard to be a Disney film or a Don Bluth film, with talking animals (and mice), and some sort of fairy tail magic with the moon I honestly couldn't understand to save my life.

Anyone who's reading this, stay away from this awful movie. Avoid it like the plague. Kids don't deserve to learn about the sinking of the Titanic this way. Heck, the James Cameron version is a far better way to show kids what happened, and that had a PG-13 rating!

And for that matter, don't even bother looking for this, thinking it's so bad it's good. No. This is not Plan 9 or Manos type bad. This movie creates its own realm of bad and insanity, Instead, go and get any one of the other animated films I listed earlier. THEY would actually teach kids more about the Titanic than this one ever could!

0/10

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008 Video)

You're Better off with the Spielberg version.

[1/10 · 11 October 2012]

First off, let me say that I absolutely love Steven Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds. I'm not going to go into detail about that, but his variation was incredible, and is one of my favorite movies. It's as if he knew exactly what H.G Wells was thinking when he wrote the book all those years ago, and it was very well done for a concept written in the late 1800s

Then the Asylum gives it a shot.

My God, where have we gone wrong? The only reason i saw the Asylum's version is because I mistook it for Spielberg's edition at Blockbuster when I rented it. And it was just terrible. The effects were terrible, the acting was beyond horrible, and a lot of scenes just didn't make any logical sense whatsoever. I actually ended up returning the DVD right after viewing it, hoping that I'd never have to hear about it again.

Then the sequel came around.

Oh my God... I never knew it was humanly possible to screw up a story this bad. just... wow. I'm stunned. This has got to be the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. This is beyond Jaws 4 territory of bad! It's got all of the same problems as the first movie, and completely amplifies them many times over. If you see this DVD anywhere, avoid it like it was a disease, because, in a way, it IS a disease.

You're FAR better off getting Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds. And whatever you do, DON'T get his version and the Asylum's confused. The Asylum's has an alien blowing up the Capitol Building. That's how to tell. But this? This is just... ugh. If you see a "2" next to the War of the Worlds title, avoid it! Stay away from this awful "movie" at all costs!

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Easily Don Bluth's Finest.

[10/10 · 11 October 2012]

I first heard about this film via the Nostalgia Critic during his Secret of NIMH 2 review. And although I swore to myself to never see the sequel, I got really curious about the first movie, since he seemed to praise the original so much. When I heard that it was made by Don Bluth (The same person who made the Land Before Time, one of my favorite films ever), I decided to see it. I watched it on Netflix one night, and I honestly wasn't expecting something that could top Land Before Time, since that had been a part of my childhood for years.

But when the credits rolled, I punched myself in the face for ever thinking like that.

The Secret of NIMH, to say the least, is EXACTLY what animated films should be like nowadays! It was dark, edgy, had a deep and rich storyline, and I actually cared for what was going on and what was happening to the characters and all of that. it was just fantastic.

One thing that really surprised my upon first viewing is that this movie actually had some intense death sequences in it, especially towards the end. I'm not going to say who dies or why, but it was actually pretty violent. In fact, after it was over, I was baffled that the film didn't have a PG rating instead of G. But you know what? That's not even a nitpick. I really do like that aspect of the film, as if it were intended more for adults than children. I always love movies like that.

The Secret of NIMH should've been an example as to how hand drawn animated movies should be handled. And while a few movies were able to accomplish this afterword, most just seemed to spiral into a childish and immature trend that began right after the 80s ended. Many people today seem to think that animated movies in general are always intended for kids, and that adults will enjoy them a lot less than real live films.

But Don Bluth really took a bold stand in that department. It's as if he said to himself, "You know, animated films always seem to be made for very young kids, and adults don't seem to like those kinds of movies. But what if I did something slightly different with that?..."

Creating an animation this dark and exciting was a very bold and brave move for somebody making his first movie on his own. In fact, there are very few animated films out there today that I can comfortably compare this to, except maybe for the Land Before Time. And this, in my mind, makes the Secret of NIMH extremely unique in the world of animation. It doesn't treat us like we're still in 1st grade, it doesn't treat us like we're not supposed to know the concept of death yet. No. Secret of NIMH is a truly mature film that in my opinion, raised the standards for 2D animation for a while. Don Bluth... may your films someday go into the National Film Registry, where they belong.

10/10.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[2/10 · 18 April 2012]

When I first rented this movie at my local DVD rental store, I didn't have high hopes for it at first. But that's only because at the time, I had virtually no interest in Star Wars at all. One day after watching a review of the films, I decided to give the movies a try, and see if they were worth all the fame they have. But little did I know that when I first hit 'play' on that DVD menu, i had taken my first step into a larger world.

In the first half, I thought that the CGI and effects looked great. Now let me just say something for a second: Most people dislike the Prequels for overuse of CGI and not enough real things. But to me, the wonder and mystery of Episodes IV-VI works in a different way. Seeing all of the CGI in the Podrace, the Droids, and a few of the characters, I was stunned. I had never seen CG quality to such an extent before, and much of it really did look real. I had wondered how much work it must've taken to put it all together with the lighting and textures and stuff.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can move on. Personally, I didn't really find that much to complain about. I was able to follow the story just fine, and i thought the characters were really interesting. Anakin as a child didn't bother me at all, and i thought he was pretty likable. He had an interesting character, and I kind of actually felt sorry for him since he lived on such a dusty old planet such as Tatooine. When Jar Jar Binks first appeared, I feared the worst based on some of the reviews I saw. But in the first minute or so, Jar Jar actually didn't bother me at all. In fact, I thought he was quite entertaining and funny. For example, when he got his head stuck in the pod race electrical line, I was laughing out of control.

Now let me explain something else for a moment: Some people may argue that that comedy doesn't belong in a Star wars movie. But to debunk that, I'm only going to say this: In the Empire Strikes Back, remember when Yoda first appeared?...

Near the middle of the film came the saga's first chronological lightsaber dual, between Qui Gon Jinn and Darth maul, the movie's secondary antagonist. his motive is to wipe out the Jedi and overthrow the Galactic Republic as a a way of getting revenge. (Anyone who paid attention during the Jedi Council parts would know that the Jedi wiped out the Sith a long time ago, and Darth Maul is the apprentice of one of the last Sith Lords who want the Sith to come back.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move on. In the second half of the film, the effects only got better. The Naboo Starfighters near the end looked seriously real, the trade Federation battleship looked pretty wicked, and the battle between the gungans and the battle droids looked spectacular, but soon after this happened, came the highlight of the film. While the Theed palace soldiers are trying to take back the palace, they ran into Darth Maul, who had been sent by his master to kill the two Jedi and everyone who stood in their way to victory.

After that came the second best lightsaber fight in the entire saga. For one thing, Darth Maul has a double bladed (duel bladed) lightsaber. And I thought it was nice to see an update on the lightsaber formula. Anyway, when the fight starts, three key factors make it a great fight. 1 is the music, called Duel of Fates. no words can describe how well this piece of John Williams Gold fits into the fight, and the film in general. The second factor is the movements, or choreography. For the first time, we were introduced to lightsaber duels with back flips, jumps, several hits a second, and some seriously fast paced action, which the Original films seriously lacked from the reviews. And the third thing that makes the fight so great is the location its in. The Theed Palace reactor is such a bad ass place to have a lightsaber fight, its almost as if Darth Maul purposely waited nearby it so they could fight there. Overall, just watch the fight on Youtube and you'll see what I mean.

Overall, The Phantom Menace was a great entry in the Star Wars franchise. It's got great effects, lovable characters, a great storyline, and doesn't deserve all of the hate that it has. I highly recommend watching this any day.

I'd give this a 15 if I could.

Speed Racer (1967–1968)

The Races Are Only The Icing on the Cake.

[10/10 · 1 April 2012]

Speed Racer in my opinion, is the best anime series I've ever seen. I first saw the show on DVD from a very young age with my dad. At the time, I didn't care much about the story, and was mostly in it for the races. But just today I watched them again for the first time in 6 years, and realized that the races were just the icing on the cake.

It's always easy to get into the story, and the end races are enjoyable as hell too. So far, I have two personal favorite episodes: The World's Most Dangerous Race, and the Mammoth Car. The Mammoth Car in particular fascinated me so much, it was the only one I'd watch. As a kid, it was surreal seeing something as huge as that, and to this day it still looks impressive.

Coming from the late 1960s, some might call the animation weak by today's standards, but given the time and technology (and maybe some budget issues too), it's understandable that some footage was replayed or that the sprites look a bit off at times. Just like the Spiderman 1960s cartoon, I appreciate that. However reused sprites are used a lot less here than the Spiderman cartoon. As for soundtrack, it's really, really good. Sometimes I actually wish they'd release the soundtrack on a CD, because if they did, I'd be first in line to buy it. With the show, I also appreciate the running gag of Speed's brother and his chimp friend sneaking in the trunk of the Mach 5, Speed's car name. It's funny because as a kid, sometimes I wished I could do the exact same thing.

So as a whole, I find pretty much no negative things to say about this show. The dubbing may not be at its best at times, but I can name a hundred and one shows where its worse. Speed Racer will always have a place in my heart, and I have a permanent cult following towards it.

10/10.

Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (2011 TV Movie)

The greatest half hour special to ever air

[10/10 · 4 February 2012]

It was on July 22, 2011. Weeks before, I'd seen commercials on TV, as well as the internet about a Lego Star Wars TV Special. At first I thought it was going to be a series, but I later learned it was a one-time thing. In the days before it aired, I was as hyped as can be. Lego and Star Wars were (and still are) my favorite things, and I would not have missed it for the world.

So it was sometime in the afternoon, around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon if I remember correctly. And while I was watching the whole thing, I was loving every minute of it. Largely, it's the small things that make it so great. For example, when they're flying by a ship with Anakin fighting Greviious, and a Padawan snaps a picture, I was laughing out loud. Another part I really liked, was when young Han Solo first appeared. At first, I seriously didn't know who it was. And throughout the course of the special, I kept thinking, "who is that?". At first, I actually thought it was young Luke Skywalker. But at the end, when I found out it was Han Solo, I was pleasantly surprised. I was like, "Ohhhh! I should've seen that coming!"

Also, some people might've been a little confused by the continuity with the other movies, such as George Lucas escorting Vader off set, or Darth Vader in the Clone Wars (or whenever it takes place. I say it takes place between Episodes III and IV). But to me, that only enhances the film. I'm pretty sure it isn't cannon with the rest of the series anyway, so all the continuity mistakes in the world wouldn't hurt it a whole lot. I liked how Han Solo knew Yoda as a kid, and how on Hoth, an Imperial Walker just comes out of nowhere. That's another thing I like about this: It isn't just another Star Wars installment; it was like a tribute to all of Star Wars as a whole, which I admire.

And the places where this special really shines is the humor, and the animation. The humor made me laugh out loud. The part in the beginning, Episode IV style, I thought that was a great joke. And the part where Yoda's like "The Force allows me to see what is not seen" or something like that, and the Destroyer droids just appear out of nowhere, that made me almost drop to the ground with laughter. And a lot of other small moments made me happy too. The animation is superb as well. A lot of times, the Lego looked pretty real. One moment that stands out in particular with this, is when they first appear on Coruscant. The Lego all looked fantastic. And for a few seconds, it felt like I was watching the actual movie.

So as a whole, I have nothing bad to say about the special itself. It's easily the best Lego short ever to air, and it pays tribute to the entire Star Wars saga in some way. I say George Lucas had a major home run with this special, and it was eventful when it aired on Cartoon Network.

However, there is one bad thing I have to say about it though. I don't like how this was only on once, and never aired again. I say it needs to be aired at least a few times a year or something, or maybe for big holidays. I don't own it on DVD or Blu Ray, but next time I go to Wal Mart, it's the first thing I'm picking up. So all in all, It's the best TV special to date, and it deserves more attention than it has.

Solid 10/10.

Between the Towers (2005)

A "Welcome to the skyline" performance

[8/10 · 15 October 2011]

(Warning: contains spoilers. Do not read if you haven't seen the film/read the book yet.)

When I first heard about this story/cartoon, I wasn't so sure about it at first. But then I watched it on youtube, and wow... It was absolutely fantastic. The plot involves a real historical event with Philippe Petit and is plan to stretch a tightrope between the Twin Towers, and walk across them. He stuns people in the city below in a positive matter. But the stupid police tried to get him off, but Philippe stayed on for a full hour, until he felt completely satisfied. He was taken to court, and thankfully his only sentence was a free performance in the park, which tried to end things on a positive note. The narrator gives an excellent job of telling the story, and it gave me that sort of suspense I never thought I'd have from a children's book. It was a stunning performance, and I think it really gave the Twin Towers a good beginning to their existence. However, the only thing I'd wished was that the actual Twin Towers would've been drawn a bit better. Regardless, the story was fantastic, most of the illustrations looked nice, the narration was excellent, and it gave me some extra information on the actual event I never knew. Overall, I give it a 9 out of 10.