animated movie – News Stories About animated movie - Page 2

movie review

Oct 23, 2009 9:44 AM CDT

Astro Boy: Lots of Flash, But No Soul

Remake of vintage Japanese series fails to impress

(Newser) - Astro Boy, David Bowers’ reboot of Osamu Tezuka’s classic Japanese manga and animé series, is an action-packed movie that tries to appeal to both kids and adults. Critics, however, were more impressed with the machine guns in the main character’s butt than with the film as a whole:...

9's Visuals a Perfect 10

movie review

Sep 9, 2009 9:59 AM CDT

9's Visuals a Perfect 10

Film tells of burlap robot battling through frightening world

(Newser) - The creepy tale of 9, which depicts a burlap-bodied robot’s (Elijah Wood) quest for his origins while battling bad guys in a post-apocalyptic world, looks incredible—but its script leaves something to be desired.

“Long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative, this dreary story of fighting

...

Seuss' Lorax
Slated to Be
3D Movie

Jul 29, 2009 5:50 AM CDT

Seuss' Lorax Slated to Be 3D Movie

(Newser) - Dr Suess' green-themed story The Lorax is becoming the first of his works to get the 3D treatment, Variety reports. Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment plan to release the animated picture in 2012, on what would have been the author's 108th birthday. His 1971 book told the story of a...

Ice Age Sequel Not So Hot

Movie review

Jul 1, 2009 11:14 AM CDT

Ice Age Sequel Not So Hot

But animated sequel has a few redeeming moments

(Newser) - If you need an air-conditioned snooze on the busy holiday weekend, the third Ice Age film may be the answer. Still, it has its moments:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs frequently feels “so glacial that it's a wonder Ray Romano's Manny the mammoth doesn't freeze in his tracks,

...

Up Is a 'Buoyant Delight'

MOVIE REVIEW

May 29, 2009 8:22 AM CDT

Up Is a 'Buoyant Delight'

(Newser) - It's nearly unanimous: Critics can't say enough good things about Up, the latest offering from Pixar:

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The story of a curmudgeon who tries to fly his house to South America " is a soaring, touching, funny and altogether buoyant movie that lives up to its

...

Monsters Looks
Great, Lacks Oomph

movie review

Mar 27, 2009 8:21 AM CDT

Monsters Looks Great, Lacks Oomph

Dreamworks' 3-D stunner stuck with one-dimensional storyline

(Newser) - Monsters Vs. Aliens looks amazing on screen, but grownups may find the thin jokes and the storyline of Dreamworks' animated spoof of '50s flicks a little grating, say critics.

James Rocchi, Redbox: The movie "has amazing 3D, solid gags, wacky concepts and great animation; I just wish that at

...

Disney Under Fire for
Black Princess's
White Prince

Mar 18, 2009 11:34 AM CDT

Disney Under Fire for Black Princess's White Prince

Why isn't first black princess with black prince?

(Newser) - Disney has unveiled its first black princess—but her prince appears to be white, and the criticism is pouring in, the Mail reports. In the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, New Orleans’ Princess Tiana is voiced by Dreamgirls actress Anika Noni Rose—and while her prince hails from “...

Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D

MOVIE REVIEW

Feb 6, 2009 10:14 AM CST

Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D

Dazzlingly creepy stop-motion animation conjures up children's worst fears

(Newser) - Coraline is an eerie marvel of stop-motion animation guaranteed to give little kids nightmares, say critics. The story of a young girl—voiced by Dakota Fanning—who stumbles into a strange parallel universe where life seems almost too good to be true is a "dazzling, delightfully dark children's movie,...

Despereaux a Beautiful Mess

Movie Review

Dec 19, 2008 3:20 PM CST

Despereaux a Beautiful Mess

Too many subplots in Mouse's tale

(Newser) - The Tale of Despereaux is a beautiful movie. It looks “like an illuminated manuscript come to life,” writes Adam Markovitz in Entertainment Weekly, its visuals obviously inspired by Flemish artists. “Too bad the story’s such a mess.” At the heart of the story is the...

Bolt Is Fetching Fun

MOVIE REVIEW

Nov 21, 2008 1:18 PM CST

Bolt Is Fetching Fun

Critics say frisky Disney animation is its best effort in years

(Newser) - Disney's latest animated movie may not win prizes for originality, but Bolt is barking up the right tree for family entertainment, say critics. John Travolta voices with "terrific tenderness" the super-powered pooch who's unaware that his life has been a canine Truman Show, writes Michael Rechtshaffen in the Hollywood ...

Disney Takes Aim at
Family-Friendly Mideast

Nov 12, 2008 8:55 AM CST

Disney Takes Aim at Family-Friendly Mideast

Company seeks to tap into Arabic appetite for family-friendly films

(Newser) - Disney has decided it's a big world after all, the Financial Times reports. The company is making its first Arabic-language movie, aiming to tap into demand for family-friendly fare in the Middle East. The Last Storyteller will be produced somewhere in the Middle East and distributed in Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon,...

Audiences Flock to Madagascar

Nov 9, 2008 4:27 PM CST

Audiences Flock to Madagascar

Animated flick wins weekend box office

(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3:...

Madagascar Sequel
Not Wildly Different

MOVIE REVIEW

Nov 7, 2008 9:09 AM CST

Madagascar Sequel Not Wildly Different

(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the...

Force is Weak in Clone Wars

MOVIE REVIEW

Aug 15, 2008 1:45 PM CDT

Force is Weak in Clone Wars

Animated Star Wars feature doesn't quite replicate the feel of the real thing

(Newser) - Star Wars: The Clone Wars fills a gap in the saga's chronology, and although the animated feature may give devoted Lucasfilm fans their fix before the TV series launches this fall, the oddly lifeless movie "isn't the Star Wars we've known and loved, Todd McCarthy writes in Variety.

Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt

movie review

Jun 6, 2008 9:10 AM CDT

Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation

(Newser) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato...

DreamWorks
to Theaters: Where's the 3D?

Apr 30, 2008 12:28 PM CDT

DreamWorks to Theaters: Where's the 3D?

Katzenberg bemoans industry's slow move to digital screens

(Newser) - Movie theaters just aren’t adding digital and 3D screens fast enough, says DreamWorks animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, a big believer in the technology. DreamWorks has pledged to make all future releases available in 3D, at a cost of $15 million per film. But theater chains haven’t matched his...

Horton Enormously Entertaining

Movie review

Mar 14, 2008 7:56 AM CDT

Horton Enormously Entertaining

Seuss' elephant tale succeeds where others have failed

(Newser) - The big-screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! succeeds in large part because the film's actors are not seen. "Unlike those behind the recent live-action grotesqueries The Grinch and Cat in the Hat," observes Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the makers of the CG-animated Horton...

Persepolis an Animated Triumph

NEW RELEASE

Dec 25, 2007 12:24 PM CST

Persepolis an Animated Triumph

Critics enthralled with 'landmark in animation'

(Newser) - Persepolis isn’t just a good animated movie. “It’s a small landmark in feature animation,” writes Nick Pinkerton of the Village Voice. Rendered with handcrafted charm in black and white, it tells the poignant-yet-funny story of a girl growing up amidst the Iranian revolution. But “bare...

Buzz Uneven for Bee Movie

Nov 2, 2007 9:10 AM CDT

Buzz Uneven for Bee Movie

Critics divided by Seinfeld's animated debut

(Newser) - Jerry Seinfeld uses “every stupid bee joke that he and his cronies could cook up” in Bee Movie, Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal says, and USA Today's Claudia Puig calls the animated feature “so unfunny it almost stings.” But Newsday finds Barry B. Benson’s...

Mmm . . .Good Reviews

Jul 27, 2007 7:55 AM CDT

Mmm . . .Good Reviews

Critics agree The Simpsons Movie is funny, but could have been more daring

(Newser) - Critics are overwhelmingly pleased by The Simpsons Movie, even if they agree it doesn't push the envelope further than usual. By all accounts, rapid-fire sight gags and one-liners keep diehards and casual fans alike in giggles. Even naysayers, like the LA Times, don't argue it's not funny, just that it...