The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Maybe if this film had been made and released two decades ago, before the entirety of the superhero splurge, I might have watched it thinking, wow, they really made something amazing here. But we cannot undo these things we’ve done, as someone once said, and the effect of having seen superhero group after superhero group after superhero group save the world again and again and again cannot be easily nullified. As it is, no amount of interesting conceptual design, or nostalgic kicks, or even just plain, good storytelling and performances, can get this work to break through against all that has come before it and lead the viewer to anything more than mild appreciation, to a diminished admiration that battles against a flattened sense of what a movie like this is supposed to be. It’s fine, really; all of the above mentioned elements are well done, and if you’d never seen another entry in the genre you’d probably rave about this one. But few of us out here are infants without prior experience, so the impact of this iteration is very much dulled. More standard than fantastic. 

Christopher Robin

Somewhere a boy and his bear are befuddled. Unlike Milne's masterpieces, there are problems galore with this somewhat ill-conceived story. For one, it assumes a certain level of ignorance on the part of the audience; if you go into this film knowing that there was a real Christopher Robin--and especially if you've seen this movie prior to--you'll experience a certain amount dissonance. Within its own reality, this film treats the eponymous being as a fictional character--and he's not necessarily a sympathetic character, either. The other characterizations are consistent with the sources, but the context provides further problems. There's too much "real world" for the protagonists--human and plush--to overcome with sentimental charm. The intrusion of real world issues into the fantasy, and vice versa, leaves the viewer with more questions than satisfaction at the climax. Only children are likely to watch this show without feeling reservations about the outcome, and while that may have been the goal, it's not exactly a sign of a well-crafted work. Not to be too much of an Eeyore here, but this could have been a lot better.

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace and Gromit's shot at the big time. Don't know if they'll get another one, but they certainly gave it their all here. This film has the whole W & G package: the brilliantly executed stop-motion animation, a flood of clever sight gags and in-jokes (including Wallace's typical Goldbergian contraptions), the goofy sense of flair--all wrapped around a smart, entertaining story. Full marks for this effort, and let's hope there's another one.