"Henchmen" Teaser Trailer

"Henchmen"

"Henchmen" Teaser Trailer. We posted a while back that Will Ferrell was using some of his gains from "The Lego Movie," "Megamind" and other successes to open up his own animated film studio. Well, the first offering is on its way.

"Henchmen" is an animated feature film that is still very early in development, but they just couldn't wait to show us a little preview. Move over Megamind! Here's our first look at Vancouver's Bron Studios animated mash-up of "Night In The Museum" meets "Big Hero 6." Directed by Adam Wood, with Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and Chris Henchy attached as executive producers, the feature-length Henchmen is expected to open in 2016.

It appears to have that old chestnut of a theme that some schnook from nowhere suddenly somehow acquires superpowers and, well, must figure out what to do with them. It's as old as Superman - and that's as old as modern superhero stories get.

Despite our reservations, we'll give this one plenty of running room for now. Who knows, it could turn out to be excellent. Just from the clip, though, it leaves the impression of being just a tad too much like "Megamind," a bit precious with its "let's not do the obvious thing that all animated characters/superheroes do" schtick. They need to work on the pacing, too - but they have two full years. Plenty of time to whip it into shape.

2020

Animated "Flintstones" Movie on the Way

Wilma, Fred, and Dino.

Warner Bros. now holds the rights to "The Flintstones," and is bringing the 1960s series back to life on the big screen in an animated feature film.

The series ran from 1960 to 1966 and then endlessly in syndication. Is there anyone out there who watches tv who is completely unfamiliar with "The Flintstones"? If so, you must not have watched many kids' stuff as a child.

Who doesn't like "The Flintstones"?

There were live-action recreations of "The Flintstones" by Universal in 1994 and 2000, and they made decent money. However, they were silly rather than a classic like the original. Basically, they are now forgotten. The casting of those films, many thought, left something to be desired, as did the drastic changes in some of the characters. Fred Flintstone is not kind and sensitive or warm and cuddly, he is a gruff CAVEMAN whose schemes always fall through like Ralph Kramden's in "The Honeymooners." That's the whole point of the show. Changing that formula is the kiss of death in a qualitative sense.

Fred and Wilma with Barney and Betty Rubble.

The series is coming back to life because of the unbelievable popularity of animated feature films these days. When something like "The Lego Movie" can become a stupendous box office hit, well, that catches people's attention. People who greenlight films that cost tons of money and take years to film.

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are executive-producing through their Gary Sanchez Productions banner. Their partner Chris Henchy is writing the script.

Ferrell, coincidentally, starred in "The Lego Movie." Ahem.

Warner Bros. picked up the rights as part of Time Warners’ 1996 acquisition of Turner Broadcasting. Turner Broadcasting corralled the rights in 1991 when it bought Hanna-Barbera, the original producer of the classic animated series. No word on a release date yet.

One thought: Alan Reed, a little-known tv actor and former radio guy whose main claim to fame previously had been a fleeting gangster role in the original "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1946 was cast as the voice of Fred Flintstone.

The network advertising before "The Flintstones" first aired actually featured the Barney and Betty Rubble characters - who were voiced by people with a modest amount of fame but certainly more than Reed. These were Mel Blanc (legendary voice guy from, among many other things, The Jack Benny Show) and Bea Benaderet (the neighbor with the funny laugh from The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show).

Obviously, Reed was cast for the quality of his gruff voice, not his nonexistent fame, and it showed. To this day, his name is the answer to a great trivia question - who voiced Fred Flintstone? - that will stump even fans of the series. Regardless, it became one of the most recognizable voices in tv history, let alone animation history. In fact, they still occasionally use Reed's voice for the character, decades after his death in 1977.

Nobody since has come close to measuring up to Reed's booming and gruff delivery. "Yabba-dabba- DO!" (Alan Reed personally came up with that catchphrase, a true stroke of genius). If Will Ferrell is behind this, the odds are huge that he will play Fred. Unfortunately, Ferrell sounds nothing like Alan Reed and is inclined to give all of his characters a sarcastic and pompous edge, so we could have a problem there right off the bat. Plus, Mel Blanc voiced Barney Rubble, and that is another tough nugget to replace. The voices will really matter in an animated feature because the comparisons will be laser-like.

We shall see. Personally, I think John Goodman would work a whole lot better.

Pebbles and Bam-Bam.

Here's the theme song, just to bring back some memories. It's only 35 seconds long, one of the best uses of 35 seconds in animation history.

"Yaba-dabba-do!
Flintstones. meet the Flintstones.
They're the modern stone-age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They're a place right out of history. 

Let's ride with the family down the street
Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet. 

When you're with the Flintstones
You'll have a yabba dabba doo time
A dabba doo time
You'll have a gay old time."

2020

"The LEGO Movie" Sequel Coming in 2017

There Are More Toys in Your Future!

In perhaps the least unexpected announcement in animation feature film history, Warner Bros. has officially stated that there will be a sequel to "The LEGO Movie." The studio also has made the official release date for the sequel: May 26, 2017.

The date is the only thing that was up in the air. Note that Warner Bros. has staked out that Memorial Day holiday weekend for its sequel release. That shows extreme confidence that the studio expects the follow-up to be one of the top films of that year. An early announcement of a release date for a major holiday weekend so far in advance is one way for a studio to scare off other studios from choosing that date. Nobody wants to open a competing animation film on the same day as a presumed blockbuster, that is how you get lost in the shuffle. Well, unless it is "Toy Story 4" or something like that, in which case Warner Brothers might "adjust" its own release date at some point in the intervening three years. However, that is unlikely, and you can mark your calendars with confidence: May 26, 2017.

The movie has proven a bonafide smash hit, having crossed the $200 million worldwide gross mark in less than two weeks of release. It won its opening weekend with a big $69 million domestic gross and is expected to hold on to that title for the third weekend in a row. One can only speculate so far at the effect the film has had on sales of LEGO products at retailers, but it probably is as impressive as the box-office totals.

If Warner Brothers had known before the release of "The LEGO Movie" how well it would perform, it very well might have held it for this coming Memorial Day weekend.

The film has come in for some mild criticism for making the bad guy played by Will Ferrell, "Lord Business," into a sort of anti-Capitalist caricature. However, the public no doubt feels there are bigger problems in the world to worry about than that. The animation is superb and the story works.

"The LEGO Movie" stakes Warner Bros.'s claim as a major player in Hollywood animation, joining Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks and the rest. As I noted in my review, Warner Bros. actually has a long and storied animation history, but it was known more for occasional cult classics than as a real competitor for theater-goer dollars. Until now.

Warner Bros. confirmed before the film even opened that it had hired Jared Stern and Michelle Morgan to write a script for the sequel. Only an utter failure would have led to the cancellation of a sequel, and "The LEGO Movie" is far, far, far from being a failure.

The LEGO Movie was written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with animation by Animal Logic. Produced by Doug Davison, Roy Lee and Dan Lin, the movie features the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, and Liam Neeson.

2020

"The LEGO Movie" (2014) - Warner Brothers Brings Toys Alive

If You Like to Laugh, You'll Like "The LEGO Movie"

"The LEGO Movie" (2014).

Warner Brothers studio has been a major player in Hollywood longer than most of us have been alive. It has the "The Hobbit" and "Harry Potter" franchises, just to barely scratch the surface, and that ain't bad. Basically, Warner Brothers is Hollywood, at least in the live-action realm. One area that Warner Brothers has never really conquered, though, is animation. That fact is all the more surprising because some of its widely separated forays into the field - "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964) and "The Iron Giant" (1999) among them - are fondly remembered by many people and became cult classics.

"The LEGO Movie" (2014), directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (both of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" fame) and written by them along with Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, aims to change Warner Brothers' outsider status. If "The LEGO Movie" only becomes a guilty pleasure for animation comedy junkies like Don Knotts as a wimp turned to fish in "Limpet," it will be devastating for all concerned.

"The LEGO Movie" aims high, not just for high box office receipts, but for the creation of a franchise. And, in Hollywood right now, there is nothing more powerful than a successful franchise. Nothing.

The plot of "The LEGO Movie" is hardly Shakespearean, and it helps a great deal if you already are familiar with LEGOs and their different attributes (the official name of the film is "The LEGO® Movie" for obvious reasons, which tells you everything you need to know right there). Emmet is an ordinary mini-figure who is mistaken for being someone of great importance (think Danny Kaye as "The Inspector General" (1949)). This big, important guy is "The Special," a Master Builder who is the hope and salvation of the LEGO universe.

Emmet, naturally, goes along with this, but there are people who don't want The Master Builder to succeed. Oh, no! Lord Business essentially runs LEGOland and naturally doesn't like the idea of being pushed aside by some random messiah. He becomes Emmet's arch-enemy and uses all of his powers as President of the Octan Corporation to get rid of the pretender to the throne.

Lord Business hatches an evil plot (is there really any other kind?) to destroy LEGOland on Taco Tuesday and rebuild it in his image. In fact, he intends to glue it together! Naturally, this cannot be allowed to happen. Emmet teams up with several friends (naturally) to battle Lord Business and put him in his place.

Emmet's friends are a helpful old wizard named Yoda Vivitrus, his young and tough (naturally) female friend Wyldstyle, Batman (I did mention above that Warner Brothers owns the rights to him, didn't I?), a unicorn/anime kitten hybrid named Uni-Kitty, "1980-something space guy" Benny (apropos of nothing, do you remember the fabulous Benny character in Arnold's "Total Recall"?), and a pirate named Metalbeard who has a personal grudge against Lord Business. These toys (did I mention they are all LEGO toys?) all are friends of each other in kind of ... interlocking way.

To say anything further would give away what little plot is left. You will notice that I used the word "naturally" about half a dozen times. That was no accident - the script is horrendously un-original (come on ... "The LEGO Movie"??), right down to the truly wretched device of making the bad guy a capitalist type. What, there weren't any evil wizards available? My point is that this is entertainment for children through and through, and anyone above the age of 12 is likely to start yawning halfway through unless they really, really, really like LEGOs or just like mindless entertainment. They also rather self-consciously load "The LEGO Movie" with jokes for adults, which should broaden the appeal. Since everyone loves to laugh (including me), "The LEGO Movie" is going to attract viewers by the bus-load.

Warner Brothers hired Australian studio Animal Logic to do the animation, and they indeed do a fine job. It is bright and fast-paced, with lots of little flourishes to keep everyone focused. It certainly works as a comedy, even though all along you realize that this entire endeavor is nothing but a megabucks advertisement for a children's toy. It is "self-knowing" in its attitude, like every other film that is devoid of an original plot. "The LEGO Movie" is one of those comedies that "deconstructs" superheroes, which hardly seems necessary but is a theme returned to again and again and again by Hollywood (think "Megamind").

The soundtrack is good but not exactly "A Chorus Line." It is composed by Mark Mothersbaugh of "Meatballs" fame and nicely accompanies the frenetic action. About the marketing - do you really need to know? - there, of course, are the usual product tie-ins and video games and themed events and posters and, yes, LEGOs.

Will Ferrell (um, speaking of "Megamind"...) dominates exactly as you would expect as Lord Business, while Chris Pratt voices the nominal lead role of Emmet. Along for the ride are Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, Will Arnett as Batman, and Nick Offerman as Metalbeard. They all do a fine job in breathing life into their toy characters, along with the occasional cameo by the likes of President Lincoln.

The bottom line is that "The LEGO Movie" is exactly what you would expect it to be. It is flashy, noisy, full of construction and deconstruction, and follows the same old "good group versus the bad guy" theme of practically every animation film ever made. That always works wonders (it sure got the "Shrek" franchise moving), and works wonders here, too. Just don't expect too many surprises or deep insights into, you know, the human condition and man's battle against the vicissitudes of the Cosmos and his own self-contradictions or anything like that. It's a movie about toys!

This is what it's all about.

"The LEGO Movie" is absolutely positively assured of being a huge hit at the box office and theme parks and everywhere else.

2020

Megamind (2010) - A Witty, Amusing One-Joke Comedy

Megamind: What if A Superhero had an Evil Twin? Or Wait, What If... He Was Ugly? Or No, What If He Walked With a Limp And Needed A Guide Dog? No, I Got A Better One...

"Megamind" (2010).

The animated films were coming fast and furious in 2010. "Toy Story 3" came out and made a billion dollars, "Shrek Forever After" made $750 million, "Tangled" made $600 million... and then there was "Megamind" (2010). "Megamind" was a 3D animated superhero parody directed by Tom McGrath from a script by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons for DreamWorks Animation.

"Megamind" didn't bomb, but it vastly underperformed. Big Chief Jeffrey Katzenberg couldn't come out fast enough to say that it wasn't going to get a sequel because its "approach and tone and the idea of parody" did not play well overseas. It is not a bad film, in fact, it is quite enjoyable, but it has a wise-guy sensibility that requires a certain jaded mindset to appreciate fully - or internationally.

The "Megamind" DVD.

Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) both arrived on earth as infants. When they grew up, Metro Man took the path of virtue, while Megamind became evil. Despite constant battles between the two which Metro Man routinely wins, there remains rough parity between them, a situation in which Megamind is determined to change to his advantage.

Give me five, bro!

One of Megamind's schemes to destroy his nemesis has him and his sidekick Minion (David Cross) kidnap local reporter Roxanne (Tina Fey). Using her as bait, he hopes to lure Metro Man into a trap, which is successful. Using a death ray, he kills Metro Man.

Roxanne is played by Tina Fey.

Next on his agenda is to destroy the Metro Man museum, but as he goes about it, he suddenly realizes he misses not having someone to worry about. He gets the idea from Roxanne to inject someone else with Metro Man's DNA so that he has a worthy opponent again. Through an accident, Megamind injects the serum into Roxanne's cameraman, Hal (Jonah Hill). After some training in disguise by Megamind, Hal is so clueless that he mistakenly takes the name "Tighten" rather than the "Titan" Megamind suggests.

Megamind hands outstretched.

Both men develop a romantic interest in Roxanne, but eventually, with nobody left to fight, Megamind loses his real relationship when Minion leaves him. Wishing to get Roxanne all to himself, Megamind looks for the serum that would return Hal to his non-superhero state, but he can't find it - it's in his invisible car which is, you know, invisible. At first, it looks like another continuing battle for Megamind, but it turns out that Hal doesn't want to fight for good, he'd rather be a villain like Megamind. This horrifies Megamind, so to change his mind he reveals everything to Hal, who gets upset and fights Megamind. Unfortunately for Megamind, Hal wins and chases Megamind out of Metro City. Hal then starts doing villainous things, usurping Megamind's entire identity.

Hal is quite annoying.

Roxanne doesn't like the new turn of events either, so she takes Megamind to the late Metro Man's secret lair. To their surprise, Metro Man is there, alive and well. Rather than being killed, Metro Man wanted to retire and become a musician, so he just pretended to be killed. He still has his powers but has no more interest in fighting Hal or anyone else. He'd rather be a dilettante and play the guitar.

Megamind and Roxanne.

Megamind despairs, but rather than fight Hal on the side of virtue as Roxanne suggests, he turns himself into prison. Hal, though, wants a villain to oppose, and kidnaps Roxanne and threatens to kill her if Megamind doesn't become his adversary again. Megamind decides to fight to save Roxanne, and he gets Minion back to help out. A fight ensues, and the fate of Metro City hangs in the balance.

Megamind as a baby.

This plot probably looked terrific on paper, and the execution is terrific, but "Megamind" plays out its one-joke premise without any surprises. If you simply think about the initial idea "a villain needs an adversary to be villainous," the rest of the story just plays out almost automatically. The writers probably congratulated themselves during production on such an innovative twist on the superhero genre that had never been tried before, but it hasn't been done before for a reason: it's silly. Not to be mean, but your average high school comic book fan could have come up with this storyline without too much trouble. What if Superman wasn't predestined to be a good guy? What if he had a twin? What if he were actually a little more like everyone else and had his own interests (does Superman even know what a hobby is?). How does Superman know he's supposed to be good and is there some requirement for him to display that goodness?

You can almost hear the gears whirring away in the screenwriters' heads: "This vision of a perfect guy without some flaw we can look down upon and feel pity for, it's so, like, 20th Century." It's another chip at ("deconstruction of") the question of whether those types of people that we automatically used to look up to are still worthy of respect (the answer invariably being no, because we no longer automatically respect any entire group). If those are the sorts of comic-book-geek questions or social attitudes that delight you, well, this film will astound and delight, otherwise, it likely won't - the latter seeming to be the general consensus. The chain of thought I just described is why there will be a high likelihood that you will say/think something along the lines of, "Will Ferrell was okay, but the story was kind of stupid" after you watch "Megamind."

"I'm so evil muahahahaha"

Another issue for many viewers is that the film strongly resembles "Despicable Me," which came out earlier the same year and made almost twice as much money. There are unavoidable parallels with Pixar's "The Incredibles" as well. As Jeffrey Katzenberg himself helpfully pointed out, it resembles earlier DreamWorks misfires "Shark Tale" and "Monsters vs. Aliens," which also attempted to de-mystify the creaking plots and hoary cliches of the animation/superhero genres. There is nothing wrong with that intellectually, but the conventions and cliches exist for a reason: people are comfortable with them and like them, and they become annoyed if you criticize them.

"I better switch that monitor off before she sees what I was looking at!

The good versus evil paradigm of every successful superhero film works because people want to put themselves in the shoes of the "good guy" and imagine themselves defeating the annoying "bad guys" who are always around in real life. When you fog up the whole question with abstract philosophical points about "what does it mean to be a villain, can the dialectic continue without an opposing value" and tripe like that, people lose patience. Philosophy class is one thing, a good swinging superhero is something completely different.

"Here I come, to save the day!"

The film certainly is enjoyable if you want to settle in and watch the puerile plot twists. The 3-D images have a stark clarity that makes the characters stand out. Advances in the art leave old-school techniques in the dust unless you are looking for a distinctive style and a point of view - both of which "Megamind" lacks because it doesn't aim for them. If you are a true fan of animation and compare, say, "Sleeping Beauty" to "Megamind," you will be awed by the flash and sizzle of the images in "Megamind" - and probably wind up watching "Beauty" first because of its human artistry and the soul that breathes in every frame. Computers are wonderful at making images appear startling to the eye, but the mind hungers for a unique and slanted perspective on the world, not a neutral computer recreation.

The three principals.

The voice cast couldn't be better. Will Ferrell is brilliant as always, playing his usual flawed-but-lovable good guy who is only imperfect because that is how he was made. His character is as three-dimensional as the animation, and you grow to care for him as your pity for his predicament grows. Brad Pitt is fine also, though he has a much smaller role that does not have enough time to grow on us. Tina Fey plays Tina Fey, with the knowledge, attitude, and the raw intelligence which she goes to great pains to pretend to hide but purposefully doesn't, which only emphasizes it all the more in a very clever back-handed fashion. David Cross plays the usual smarter-than-his-boss sidekick that is a staple of animated films going at least back to Napoleon and Lafayette in "The Aristocats" and King John and Sir Hiss in "Robin Hood." The music by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe is competent, but nothing you likely will be whistling on the way home.

"Oh, so you like music, how interesting."

Will this pass the time, make you laugh, reach into your heart at times and tug at it whenever Will Farrell becomes frustrated with the conundrums of a superhero's life? Sure, "Megamind" is funny and sharp and clever and well-executed. However, it remains a one-joke premise about a bad guy being pointless without a good guy and vice versa, so your mind may wander after a while. Oh, and make sure you see it in 3D, the film really requires it for the full experience.

2020