Tag: DreamWorks Animation

In The Bad Guys Haunted Heist, What Can Go Horribly Wrong?

Between the two Halloween specials that are one-shots rather than as part of a series, The Bad Guys Haunted Heist isn’t too bad. It just needs more howl!

The Bad Guys Halloween HeistAlthough DreamWorks The Bad Guys isn’t the greatest work in their movie catalogue, I still wanted to see what this studio would dream up for this year’s special. When it’s simply labelled The Bad Guys Haunted Heist, I was morbidly curious.

Unlike this studio’s past works, which are enjoyable to watch, this latest lacks the spice that made past specials–Shrek: Thrilling Tales and Scared Shrekless, along with Monsters vs Aliens’ Mutant Pumpkins and Night of the Living Carrots–a joy to watch. These pieces were basically about the title characters celebrating the season and I always play the compilation release, Six Spooky Stories (Amazon link) when Halloween weeks rolls around. Hopefully there’ll be an update that will include the ones that are part of their animated series rollout (My favourite episode is “The Po Who Cried Ghost” from Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.

What The Bad Guys do is invert the formula from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and tell it from a villain’s perspective. To say who would have gotten away with it isn’t all that surprising, as I easily guessed how the tale would go.

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Everything Computes in The Wild Robot

The beauty that’s found in The Wild Robot concerns how to let go, and reuinite with those who you love. It doesn’t matter if the species is man, machine or mammal.

The Wild Robot Movie PosterThe Wild Robot is a perfect return to form. When Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois are working together to craft (or adapt) a story, there’s magic to behold. Although I can recognize the tropes they’ve been using ever since Lilo and Stitch (concerning runts of the litter and the Ugly Duckling motif), what’s presented in DreamWorks latest is a variation of that formula. Here, it’s about the relationship between machines and nature.

Here, the focus is on how creatures all great and small can get along and is more concerned about survival in a wild frontier. When a delivery of robots gets lost during a storm, I can imagine the company who made them can always build more rather than retrieve the items for scrap. As for the one who activated, Fink (Pedro Pascal) bypasses his natural fox instinct to teach the machine about the rules of the jungle.

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DreamWorks’ Megamind Rules Finds Its Stride After Mid-Season!

When Eric Fogel isn’t no longer remembered for his work on Celebrity Deathmatch, it seems his talent is wasted in showrunning Megamind Rules, the indirect sequel to the movie, and followup to the lamented Doom Syndicate.

Megamind Rules Promotionsl PosterDreamWorks Animation
Streaming on Peacock and Broadcasting on YTV

The second half of Megamind Rules is far better than the first because there’s a lot more of a serialised tale going on. Here, this villain turned hero (who I’ll nickname as Mega/MM) has to contend with Machiavillain (perfectly handled by the musician turned comedian Adam Lambert). This uber bad guy’s feelings got hurt when he switched, and to get him to return to his old ways is tougher than what Gru faced. This pointy nosed protagonist has a family to keep him grounded and when his brother is still up to no good, the polarity will always exist.

Here, MM has Chum/Minion (his ever so faithful number one), Roxanne who is now mayor of the city, and Keiko, a “Mega” fan, to help him fight crime. This new character was introduced in Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate, and I wasn’t aware until I did some backtracking. I tried watching this direct to video sequel, and sadly, it simply didn’t live up to what the film represents.

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When Jurassic World Chaos Theory Proves The Fact That People Should Not Remain Apart…

Jurassic World Chaos TheoryIn Jurassic World Chaos Theory, the kids have grown up, and they’re using some of those experiences to deal with the latest hurdle. And that’s to deal with rogue dinosaurs roaming North America! Although I’m still trying to figure out how this title fits even on my fourth binge-watch, some facts are certain: they’re matured and some are taking the fight to a whole new level.

What I love is that a few answers regarding how this team managed to cope in the past are provided in simply one-liners. Although six years have passed, it seems only one of them still suffers from PTSD. But to see that a few went to work with the Department of Prehistoric Wildlife (DPW) is a head scratcher. I would’ve thought they’d want a normal life. Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams) is a dinosaur whisperer, but he left after a wPaul-Mikél Williams, Kiersten Kelly, Sean Giambrone, Raini Rodriguez, Darren Barnet, Kausar Mohammedhile, for some undisclosed reason.

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A Word to the Wise, Kung Fu Panda 4 Marks Po’s Passing of the Torch

The big question I have concerning Kung Fu Panda 4 is whether another streaming series will get developed to fill in the gap while waitiong for the fifth instalment?

Kung Fu Panda 4 PosterSpoiler Alert

Although the story about Po (Jack Black) is not quite at an end in Kung Fu Panda 4, I’m sure the showrunners have something planned as this six-part saga is coming close to ending. While the first film is partially about enlightenment and seeing a Panda as the reluctant hero, this one is ready to put him on the path of becoming like Oogway. It’s unfortunate all the character and world development from the televised series are not canon. I really want to see Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong from Paws of Destiny again. Although not everyone will know these series are non canonical, it’s easy to spot the discrepancies.

For example, in Dragon Knight, Mr. Ping’s (James Hong) well-developed backstory is all for naught. Had he gone full on pirate, I’m sure he’d ruffle other feathers! Had he been determined, it would’ve surprised Po’s biological father, Pang (Bryan Cranston) and make for hilarious moments. These two stick around to provide the My Two Dads style comic relief.

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Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny Should’ve Been Canon!

Not everyone will be aware of this spinoff series that is exclusive on Amazon Prime. Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny is designed for a youth audience, and it’s just as fun!

Kung Fu Panda The Paws of DestinyAvailable to Stream on Amazon USA Prime

Out of all the televised spinoffs set in the Kung Fu Panda universe, The Paws of Destiny is a non-canonical spinoff that sees four kids–Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong–take on the title. It’s deserves to be part of the cinematic universe for other reasons I’ll explain later. This instalment takes place after the events of the third film, where this team has to continue protect their Panda village. After Jindaio, there’ll be other invaders.

Although this review is many years late, it seems what I posted back when it was fresh disappeared; I’ve dug up my draft and updated it with a few new thoughts after a rewatch, and editing this document for flow. As full disclosure: what’s written predates knowing anything regarding part four.

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