Review: Space Jam: A New Legacy

With me being in that same generation that was brought up on the original 'Space Jam', I feel this review could count more than ones that weren't.

My first memory of seeing the 1996 predecessor was at school where the teachers did one of their few film screenings in our assembly room. One of them was 'Space Jam' and I remember having a blast watching this with the perfect target audience.

What made it work was that it had that vintage Looney Tunes style of humor, frenetic pacing, a functional underdog story with cool pop culture references for all ages and Michael Jordan doing a better acting job than expected.

After that, it's popularity has grown over the years as my generation has grown older and voiced our opinion of our childhood classics that deserve a sequel within social media.

When I heard this was now in the works, I was naturally excited. But with LeBron James as the star this time, I was a bit unsure as how this would go due to him not being an actor. To keep my hopes up,  just kept saying to myself "if MJ can make it work, King James can". With updated technology, I knew this had the potential of being a success.

Well it's safe to say it got off to a rough start. It was cool seeing them doing a similar opening credits to the original. But outside of that, I was fearing I could be experiencing a disaster. This was due to the early signs of the story's themes being highly familiar and simple in its execution, the introduction of the villain being pretty poor with Don Cheadle just 'hamming' it up and knowing exactly what type of film he is part of and most importantly, LeBron James could not act.

To add to my fears was the shocking amount of shameless plugging of other properties Warner Bros. own within this film. It felt desperate and lazy on the writing aspect. It looked like the studio was trying to show the audience how cool and current they still are by combining all of their properties and making it look like a poor man's Ready Player One. I must confess, they did create some cool franchise cross-over moments which I am a sucker for.

Thankfully, there was something to fall back once we get into the Looney Tunes side of the story. The animation style was a nice mix of classic and current, most of the visual and written gags felt like vintage Toons and there were nice moments paying homage to some classic Looney Tunes moments of the past to please the fans.

While there were still the same problems from before and the duration started to drag, various parts of the film were keeping me entertained. Such as how they did the Basketball, making it more arcade like in its format.

I'm sad to say that the acting was not that good. LeBron James' performance made me appreciate Michael Jordan's a lot more. As mentioned before, Cheadle was just there for the paycheck and came nowhere to near to Danny Devito's efforts as the villain. Outside of the solid voicework for the Toons characters, Cedric Joe was the only acting positive who was pretty decent for what he was given. Sadly, there was no Bill Murray or Wayne Knight scene-stealing moments from the supporting cast.

The films biggest strength was probably the visual effects. While it wasn't the complete package and it took over the imagery a bit too much, they enhanced certain aspects that the original never could and was great to see. 

I have to give a negative to the costume design, which I was not expecting to do beforehand. It is solely to do with the goings on in the third act. There are a lot of extras that are supposed to be iconic characters from various WB platforms. But the quality of the costumes felt like I was watching a fancy dress party or one of those terrible parody movies from the early 2000's such as Epic Movie or Disaster Movie.

It's definitely not a disaster. There is enough fun and entertainment to make it ok viewing. But I cannot give it a pass I'm afraid. I feel the kids will enjoy this more than the adults. However, I can see this being forgotten quite quickly after seeing it. It's 30mins longer than the original, and I felt every minute of those 30. It did not need to be that long at all.

I was disappointed to see this being a glorified advert about Warner Bros. There was enough material for a it to be it's own thing. For me, what made the original Space Jam a success was that while it came across as crazy and silly. It was coherent and super fun with a comedy style that has been winning audiences over for decades. Stick to the original or go back to the old cartoons.

Rating: 6/10

Review: The Croods: A New Age

It is a strange time to have a sequel to The Croods. It has been eight years since the original got released and I remember it being a solid success both financially and critically.

So I am quite confused as to why it has taken this long for a sequel to arrive.

A lot of people like myself have almost forgotten how enjoyable the first one was.

I remember being surprised how much I liked it. Big positives was the strong family chemistry, the strength of the gags and the pleasing visuals.

I'm happy to say that it was as if they had never left and it was more of the same. 

The opening few minutes felt like a nice reminder of the world and characters that we saw back in 2013. Once that had been covered, I felt pretty comfortable and now along for the ride. I had forgotten how frantic the pacing can get and how fluid the style was. The story was solid enough, the characters all having their time to shine with solid development, the gags were consistently funny and well spread out across the duration and the visuals were bright, colourful, amazing detailed and could well be the films biggest positive. With the added camerawork diving through and sweeping across landscapes, they showed off their visual designs with great confidence.

All the voicework has a stellar cast and all worked well. Nicolas Cage continues to show how great of a voice he has for voice acting, Emma Stone gave a lot of energy to her character, Ryan Reynolds and Kelly Marie Tran had good comradery and Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann contributed well.

There weren't any major negatives. I was to be picky, the strong I think could have been stronger. It was a perfectly functional one. But if it wouldn't to be great rather than good, there was certainly room for improvement with the depth of the plot.

That being said, I was pretty entertained by it and I think it was as good as the first one. It's a fun watch from start to finish and you'll be smiling when leaving the screen. As mentioned before, the visuals are pleasing to the eye, the gags are solid and not just aimed for the kids.

With both films being entertaining and rewarding viewings, it will be interesting if they go for a third installment. I certainly would not object to another family adventure.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Black Widow

It seems almost a lifetime ago since we had a film released that is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

With the pandemic pushing many things back, this gave many fans of this franchise time to reflect and revisit one of the most celebrated film series of the last decade. It also saw people checking this universe out for the first time during that period.

Now that many people have caught up, we now have a new addition that has been demanded by many demographics for some time. Given how the central character ended up in Avengers: Endgame, I was intrigued to see when this feature would be set and how it would expand the world and which plot strand would it expand on.

While I felt fairly entertained and satisfied by it, it is a bit of a comedown after what felt like a monumental culmination of twelve years of work in 2019. The story does expand on the central character, and the opening scene certainly sets the tone for a more distressing one. After that, I felt like I was watching something closer to a Jason Bourne film than an MCU film.

Given the character and their background, I should expect all of what I've said. But as the MCU is kind of family orientated, I cannot see this being an accessible film for the younger audience. There is little superhero/fantasy action and instead it's more a solid spy thriller with hints of superhero connections.

For older viewers, I feel this will get a decent reception. But I fear it may be ranked towards the bottom of the franchise with Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World. That does not deem it a bad film in my book. It just won't fell as memorable as many of its predecessors. The story is a solid one, the characters and action kept my attention, the visual effects continue to showcase the improvement in the technology and look evermore seamless and the score by Lorne Balfe fits the setting perfectly.

The cast is pretty stellar and they all did a good job in my view. Scarlett Johansson carried the film as the lead and can still kick some serious ass with some high quality physical acting. I was so happy to see Florence Pugh now part of the MCU as I am a big fan of hers. I felt she had believable chemistry with Johansson and never felt out of place. David Harbour was a nice surprise and gave us a memorable character with an interesting backstory that I hope gets expanded on somewhere.

Rachel Weisz was perfectly fine in her role and supported her colleagues well when needed. While there was a questionable Russian accent coming from Ray Winstone, it was consistent which I do appreciate. His role as a villain was as you would expect with most MCU villains.

I also have to give credit to O-T Fagbenle who was a nice bit of comedic relief and Olga Kurylenko who I always enjoy in a film, no matter how underused.

Notable issues I had with the film was that there were pacing issues in the second half that I felt made the film drag. Seeing the duration being a surprising 2hrs 13mins, this should not have been any longer than 2hrs given the amount of content it provided. Another was an aspect of the MCU that it usually does well in that makes highly enjoyable viewing, the comedy. There are those vintage gags in this feature. But none felt memorable and some did not stick for me.

Overall, it is a perfectly fine piece of entertainment. I was never bored by it. But I fear this may end up being one of my least re-watched instalments within the franchise in the future. There is very little in the action and story that made me want to instantly see this again. But as I was watching it, there was enough for me to give it a pass as it never felt like a wasted journey to the cinema. Given the long wait since the last one, most people are probably hoping for a big re-introduction. I don't feel we got it with this one. But it was nice to see some added backstory to a celebrated character.

I must mention that there is the usual post-credit scene and I was pleased with myself that I got the location of the scene correct. The content was a nice little set-up and teaser to one of the studios upcoming projects that I hope succeeds.

Rating: 7/10

Review: In The Heights

While I was very aware of the hype and heavy amounts of marketing for John M. Chu's latest feature. I made sure to avoid as much as I can as I was already aware of this film back in 2019 and was already hooked when I knew Chu was at the helm.

Despite being excited because of Chu, I have honestly not been too bothered by most of his films. It was when I saw Crazy Rich Asians I could see he had found his calling card. With the addition of his choreographers from his 'Step Up' days involved, I knew the potential was there for a blast of summer with this musical project.

Even though musicals have never left us, they have been making somewhat of a comeback in the last few years. They may not be as regular as they were in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. But the occurrence of them are becoming more regular. With the success of A Star Is Born, The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Sing Street, the right ingredients can make this a global success.

Before I go into film, I must mention that I have never seen the stage musical. So I am reviewing this solely on the film adaptation.

With that being said, I found this to be an enjoyable feel-good watch. 

The vibe had a lot of energy and bounce to it from start to finish. As for the story, I did feel a bit nervous at first as I could see many characters being introduced and was struggling to remember who was who. But as the film went on, the way the film was structured made it easier for me to distinguish the ensemble cast.

Once I got more aware of the characters, I was getting more and more absorbed in the community the characters have and could feel the heat of the city landscape. The sequences got more and more adventurous with the addition of visual effects and suspending your disbelief at times to give us rewarding results and a satisfying conclusion.

The cast do a great job and there are certainly some stand out performances. Anthony Ramos gives us a breakthrough performance as the lead and carried the film really well. The passion, charisma and drive was there for all to see and gave us a believable and relatable character that felt easy to get invested with. Another performance that shot their level of stardom into the stratosphere was Melissa Barrera. Her screen presence showed instant strength and felt like a safe pair of hands from the moment she turned up on screen. Whenever Barrera took centre stage, she carried herself with a fearless approach to her role and had good chemistry with Ramos.

Olga Merediz was a nice surprise as her role could have easily got lost in the mix. But I think her experience of playing the character the stage gave her the perfect foundation to shine in the film format. Leslie Grace's performances amazed me given the fact that this was her feature film debut. The confidence was oozing out of her and it looked as if she had been doing this job for years.

Other performances that are also worth mentioning was Corey Hawkins who continues to expand his skillset with another fine performance, Jimmy Smits who showed he is more than just General Organa from Star Wars, Gregory Diaz who gave plenty in his performance to show he will have a great future in this industry and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda plays a nice minor role of a kind of overseer to the main story which was a nice touch.

With this being a musical, the sound and score is obviously important. The general sound of the film definitely had me transported to that part of the world and I could feel the strong community themes the film was portraying. While the score by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Sherman and Alex Lacamoire did not for me have any instant hits, there were definitely a large number of pieces that I can love the more times I hear them. 

One aspect that I felt enhanced the experience and gave it that cinematic touch, was the cinematography by Alice Brooks. Some could have just given the film a more basic look as they already know this story can work on the stage, But Brooks made this worthy of being on the big screen and gave us many interesting angles and sweeping tracking shots during its many dancing sequences.

The only drawbacks I got from a first viewing, was that there were moments of having too many subplots. That could also be in relation to the almost 2hrs 30mins duration, which to me felt a bit too long for the story it was saying.

But as that was only a minor drawback, I felt this was a thoroughly enjoyable experience with plenty to like about it. It sends out a good message of community, family, gentrification, identity and immigration, it's fun, there's plenty of characters to get invested with and the soundtrack will be great to listen to during the summer.

I must mention that there is a post-credits scene to stay for that adds a nice little conclusion to one of its many subplots.

After seeing this, I can see why this was delayed from 2020. This was made for the big screen and every aspect shows you why. This is an accessible film for a mainstream audience. The characters are engaging, the music and general sound is great and the look of it really transports to the hot and sweaty streets of Manhattan. This is ideal summer viewing.

Rating: 8/10

My Top 10: Films Of 2020

While events in 2020 has effected the film industry in a big way, we still managed to see the release of many interesting films. A lot of big blockbusters may have been delayed to 2021 and 2022, it paved the way for a lot of the independent releases to take centre stage on various streaming services.

It must have been a tough decision for several studios to sacrifice a possible theatrical release, to instead showcase it via the option of streaming.

Even with the lack of visits to the cinema, I have still managed to see a good amount of new releases. I have certainly seen a few films that if it wasn't for the pandemic, I would never have seen.

Also, my annual visit to the Leeds International Film Festival still saw me experience many of the top awards contenders albeit from home rather at the actual venues.

There have been many great films released in 2020 and it was a tough call to decide which would make my top 10. There are awards contenders, unexpected surprises and many film documentaries. The latter has certainly shone this year and capitalised on the lack of many mainstream releases.

Below is my ranking of all 2020 films that I have seen along with a short review for each of my top 10:

133) The Witches

132) Dolittle
131) Four Kids And It
130) Artemis Fowl

129) The Lovebirds

128) Scoob!

127) Kill It And Leave This Town

126) Antebellum

125) Shirley

124) Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula

123) Earwig And The Witch

122) Rebecca

121) The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two

120) Bill & Ted Face The Music

119) The New Mutants

118) The Trouble With Nature

117) Valentina

116) Muse: Simulation Theory
115) Black Is King

114) Blithe Spirit

113) Save Yourselves!

112) Birds Of Prey

111) Capone

110) Final Account

109) Minamata

108) Kajillionaire

107) Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga

106) Mulan

105) The Secret Garden

104) The Call Of The Wild

103) Black Beauty

102) Caveat

101) Enola Holmes

100) Project Power

99) The One And Only Ivan

98) Mogul Mowgli

97) The Courier

96) Slalom

95) The Night House

94) Relic

93) The Mole Agent

92) Possessor

91) Freaky

90) The Duke

89) Gretel & Hansel

88) The Old Guard

87) The Accused: Damned Or Devoted?

86) The High Note

85) Finding The Way Back

84) Psycho Goreman

83) I Am Greta

82) Tenet

81) Misbehaviour

80) Welcome To Chechnya

79) American Pickle

78) In My Own Time: A Portrait Of Karen Dalton

77) The Hunt

76) Sonic The Hedgehog

75) Onward
74) Kubrick By Kubrick

73) Da 5 Bloods

72) The Devil All The Time

71) Wonder Woman 1984

70) Greenland

69) Dream Horse

68) New Order

67) Love And Monsters

66) Uncle Frank

65) News Of The World

64) Hillbilly Elegy

63) The Croods: A New Age

62) David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet

61) Supernova

60) Greyhound

59) The Call

58) Dear Comrades

57) Ammonite

56) I'm Thinking Of Ending Things

55) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

54) Dick Johnson Is Dead

53) On The Rocks

52) The Sun

51) Irresistible
50) A Whisker Away

49) The Half Of It

48) My Darling Vivian

47) Emma.

46) Limbo

45) Herself

44) After Love

43) The Nest

42) The Whaler Boy

41) One Night In Miami

40) The Dissident

39) Happiest Season

38) Sylvie's Love

37) His House

36) The Forty-Year-Old Version

35) Minari

34) Quo Vadis, Aida?

33) And Tomorrow The Entire World

32) The Things We Say, The Things We Do

31) The Reason I Jump

30) Another Round

29) The King Of Staten Island

28) Mank

27) Flint

26) Soul

25) Nomadland

24) Assassins

23) A Quiet Place Part II

22) Finding Jack Charlton

21) Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train

20) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

19) Pieces Of A Woman

18) The Painter And The Thief

17) 76 Days

16) Promising Young Woman

15) MLK/FBI

14) Sofite

13) Never Rarely Sometimes Always

12) The Banker

11) Wolfwalkers

10) Alien On Stage - A thoroughly enjoyable and hilarious documentary with a strong feel-good vibe.

It sees an amateur dramatic society filled with a group of bus drivers from Dorset gained a cult following with their production of 'Alien'.

A wonderful uplifting story that makes it all the better for it being 100% true.

9) Worth - A powerful human drama that shows you the tough fallout for the victims of 9/11.

It's quite the compelling watch and really makes you think about situation you never even realised took place.

The strength of the human aspect of this story is enough to rate it this high.

8) Whirlybird - Quite an astonishing documentary that has slick editing some of the insightful archive footage that many people watching it will be aware of.

The story of the two central people has enough strength that the shock of the events they are covering gives us a second half that suddenly elevates to places that I was not expecting.

7) Josee, The Tiger And The Fish - A heartfelt and emotional romantic drama that has all of your typical ingredients of a successful Japanese anime.

A chance meeting between a student and young wheelchair bound girl forms an unlikely bond. I will admit, there are moments of typical romantic tropes. But the richness of the characters and the gorgeous animation make all of this highly engaging and you can't help but get wrapped up in it all.

6) Palm Springs - A highly enjoyable fantasy comedy, that sees two wedding guests develop a romance whilst stuck in a time loop.

The strength of the writing and the characters enhances a now familiar concept and gives us a memorable viewing experience that will please many demographics.

I will never get tired of watching this.

5) Feels Good Man - A captivating, creative and almost haunting film documentary that shows how dangerous a creation can be.

The story as well as accompanying animation gripped me from start to finish. But what made it have that special edge, is that it never detracted from the central subject. I think this could appeal many types of audiences than initially thought.

4) The Trial Of The Chicago 7 - My high expectations were met in this Aaron Sorkin directed and written courtroom drama about a group of protestors on trial after being charged with inciting riots.

If you know the strength Sorkin's writing, then this is another vintage display with the script.

Plus performances by a strong ensemble cast gives us several memorable characters.

3) The Social Dilemma - A haunting film documentary that shows the manipulation and impact social media has made on recent major events.

One-sided it may be. But there is so much well portrayed truth in this feature that for me will make this the definitive version of any film portraying how the dark side of social media works.

2) The Invisible Man - A mystery horror that surprised me in several ways. Director and writer Leigh Whannell transformed this classic horror story into a portrayal of domestic abuse.

The arthouse vibe it gives off as well as clever cinematography and a strong performance by Elizabeth Moss gives us something that had no right to be this good.

1) The Father - When an elderly man refuses assistance from everyone around him, his doubt begins to grow so much that he is questioning his own thoughts.

Director Florian Zeller's vision of dementia is incredibly effective. So much so, that it feels more like a horror.

Anthony Hopkins is phenomenal as the lead and the support by Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss and Rufus Sewell elevates the story beautifully.

The 2021 'DG Movies' Awards

About a month later than billed, but here are my winners and nominees for my annual 'DG Movies' Awards.

2020 was a strange year in many ways. But particularly in the film industry. While there were still plenty of good films that were released, a lot of the big blockbusters as well as other potential awards contenders decided to hold back until 2021.

So there are certainly films in my awards list that would have not normally be involved. But it remained a tough time for me to pick the right nominees for each award.

There are no new awards this year, so it is the usual 17 awards up for grabs. Below is the full list of the nominees for each awards and the winners (in bold).

If you wish to see the video version of my awards. Click on the following link - 2021 DG Movies Awards - YouTube

BEST EDITING:

Da 5 Bloods

His House

The Father

The Social Dilemma

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST COSTUME DESIGN & MAKEUP:

Black Is King

Emma.

Mulan

Psycho Goreman

Rebecca

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Dear Comrades

Emma.

Gretel & Hansel

Mank

Nomadland

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Artemis Fowl

Love And Monsters
Sonic The Hedgehog

The Croods: A New Age

The One And Only Ivan

BEST SCORE & SOUNDTRACK:
Da 5 Bloods
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga

The Invisible Man

The Nest

Wolfwalkers

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Da 5 Bloods

Gretel & Hansel

Mank

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Emma.
Irresistible

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Palm Springs

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST POSTER:
Da 5 Bloods

Promising Young Woman

The New Mutants

The Social Dilemma

Wonder Woman 1984

BEST TRAILER:

Emma.
Onward

The Call

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Wolfwalkers

BEST SCENE/MOMENT:

What A Life - Another Round

Demons In The Dark - His House
Never Rarely Sometimes Always - Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Lost All My Leaves - The Father
The Sister In The Restaurant - The Invisible Man

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Emma.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Palm Springs
The Banker

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE:
Mia Goth - Emma.

Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

Talia Ryder - Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Ellen Burstyn - Pieces Of A Woman

Elizabeth Moss - Shirley

BEST SUPPORTING MALE:
Bill Murray - On The Rocks

Jim Carrey - Sonic The Hedgehog

Robert Pattinson - The Devil All The Time

Frank Langella - The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Sacha Baren Cohen - The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST LEADING FEMALE:

Yuliya Vysotskaya - Dear Comrades

Vanessa Kirby - Pieces Of A Woman

Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Radha Blank - The Forty-Year-Old Version
Elizabeth Moss - The Invisible Man

BEST LEADING MALE:
Delroy Lindo - Da 5 Bloods

Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Steven Yeun - Minari

Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Roohollah Zamani - The Sun

BEST DIRECTOR:

Remi Weekes - His House

Lee Isaac Chung - Minari

Kornel Mundruczo - Pieces Of A Woman

Florian Zeller - The Father

Majid Majidi - The Sun

BEST FILM:

Alien On Stage

Feels Good Man

Josee, The Tiger And The Fish

Palm Springs

The Father
The Invisible Man

The Social Dilemma

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Whirlybird

Wolfwalkers

Worth

Total list of winners

4 - The Father

2 - Gretel & Hansel

     The Trial Of The Chicago 7

1 - Black Is King

     Emma.

     His House

     Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

     Pieces Of A Woman

     Promising Young Woman

     Shirley

     The Croods: A New Age

     Wolfwalkers

Total list of nominations

7 - The Trial Of The Chicago 7

6 - Emma.

5 - Da 5 Bloods

     The Father

4 - The Invisible Man

3 - His House

     Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

     Minari

     Palm Springs

     Pieces Of A Woman

     Promising Young Woman

     The Social Dilemma

     Wolfwalkers

2 - Dear Comrades

     Gretel & Hansel

     Mank

     Never Rarely Sometimes Always

     Nomadland

     Sonic The Hedgehog

     The Sun

1 - Alien On Stage

     Another Round 

     Artemis Fowl

     Black Is King

     Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga

     Feels Good Man

     Irresistable

     Josee, The Tiger And The Fish

     Love And Monsters

     Mulan

     On The Rocks

     Onward

     Psycho Goreman

     Rebecca

     Shirley

     The Banker

     The Call

     The Croods: A New Age

     The Devil All The Time

     The Forty-Year-Old Version

     The Nest

     The New Mutants

     The One And Only Ivan

     Whirlybird

     Wonder Woman 1984

     Worth

Review: Soul

It's strange anticipating a new Pixar release that I won't see on the big screen. This studio have given us some of the best animated features of the last 25 years with great cinematic value.

So my anticipation for this newest project felt peculiar to say the least.

While the story starts off nicely at a pleasant pace with nothing at all challenging. My senses and thoughts start racing with not only surprising story developments but unexpected styles of animation that I've not seen Pixar do at all.

With the added mature themes, a touch of complexity and something to keep the younger viewers entertained, it had me completely fascinated and not having a clue where this was going.

A moving and emotional final act gave us that bit of that vintage Pixar magic to remind us that this studio can still warm our hearts with even the most imaginative of narratives. 

The voicework was pretty top notch with a few noticeable voices at work. Jamie Foxx continues to show how underused he is as a voice actor. Tina Fey for me stole the show and made the most of her well written character and had solid chemistry with Foxx.

I also have to give props to Rachel House, Alice Braga, the unexpected appearance of Graham Norton and the familiar voice of Richard Ayoade.

As for the production, I really liked how a lot of the film puts you into a dreamlike state. That place between life and death and consciousness and unconsciousness. Giving the film that vibe worked perfectly for my viewing experience.

I really liked the inventiveness of the worlds it creates and how it managed to make sense of it all.

The varied amount of animation styles surprised me as well as the choice of style it decided to show on screen. It was amazing how some of the simplest animation styles that was portrayed never felt out of place and perfectly enhanced the story as well as its characters.

But when it came to Pixar's expected style of animation, it continues to improve and become incredibly detailed. Their moments of photo-realism in their films will forever amaze me.

However if I was to be picky to find negatives, I could say there are times when the story tries to be a bit too clever for its own good and the narrative somewhat gets lost. Also, I don't quite feel the characters were as well developed or as instantly memorable as past Pixar characters.

So while I don't feel the story is as strong or as emotionally gripping as other Pixar films such as Inside Out, there is still plenty to like and get invested in. Its imagery is incredibly moving and satisfying, there is a lot of heart to this story, its themes are universal and it is told with great maturity that its younger viewers can understand over time.

Pixar continue to not be afraid to make their stories sometimes more understanding for adults than children. But still have plenty for everyone to enjoy. They haven't lost any momentum since their big-screen arrival in 1995 and I look forward to see where they go next.

Rating: 8/10