Rio (2011)

Blue Sky Studio's latest animated film, the company that brought you The Ice Age Series, Horton Hears a Who, and Robots, brought out their latest animated film earlier this year. A good year for a weak computer animated film since Pixar's film was a flop and Disney and Dreamworks didn't have much.

The film is about a rare South America bird who's home is Minnesota. Domesticated before he was able to fly out of his nest he has never learned to fly and has never been outdoors. When an ornithologist visits his owner she is convinced to take Blu to Brazil to mate him with the last female of his species.

The film is very cookie cutter from the start. Probably enjoyable for the kids and something my 3-year-old would enjoy some day. As an adult I was bored the whole time. The assisting characters I found irritating and juvenile. Probably the weakest film this company has made to this point [maybe equal to the Ice Age sequels]. It is a very weak Oscar Animated year if this one gets nominated.

KSF: 2/5
Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436562/

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Tangled (2010)

When this was slated as the next Disney movie in 2009 I was lead to believe that the title was chosen to try and bring in a larger young male demographic. Rather than just titling it "Rapunzel," they chose Tangled with the idea of focusing on the leading guy "Flynn." Whether this is true or not, I do not know. All I know is that this is basically the next Disney princess movie, and they did a pretty good job with it.

The problem is that the original Rapunzel story really doesn't have a lot to it, so it seems like a lot of the story was adapted from this film. They did a good job of making it new and different than the other princess films, while still doing a good job incorporating a lot of songs. The bar scene and a few Mother Gothel scenes are the only thing keeping this from a 1/5 on the KSF rating. I'm sure you can skip them on the DVD to make this a good film for little ones.

The best character by far in the film for me was the horse. The facial expressions and attitude made a few scenes a lot of fun to watch. I'm a little shocked that this failed to get either a Golden Globe or Oscar nomination. There weren't as many animated films in 2009 than in 2008, but the best of this crop was really good.

I probably don't need to tell you to check this one out. If you like Disney animation you should be happy.

KSF: 2/5
Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/

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Despicable Me (2010)

With Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon, this film rounds out a very strong group of Golden Globe nominations in the animated division. Although I gave How to Train... a 9/10 I'm not sure which one I liked better now.

The story is about a villain [Gru played by Steve Carell] who has been outdone by another villain [Vector played by Jason Segel]. Afraid that he is getting too old and still not close to achieving his ultimate villain dream he comes up with a plan to steal the moon. The plan involves using three orphan girls to steal from Vector. Comic relief is provided by the numerous yellow minions that populated 3-D movie commercials throughout the year. As well as his assistant, Dr. Nefario [played by Russell Brand] and his unloving mother played by Julie Andrews.

Overall the movie was fun, an appropriate length, and incredibly entertaining while still being tame enough for little kids. I could see taking a pretty young kid to this one because the minions are fun, and the violence is either playful or silly. Wish I could have seen the closing credits in 3D, but 2D is just fine.

Vote: 8/10, KSF: 2/5

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1323594/

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Shrek Forever After (2010)

Shrek "4"ever after, the 4th movie in the series that won't go away. Hey, at least they are keeping Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, and Cameron Diaz busy so there are working less on crap like Norbit, The Love Guru, and Charlie's Angels.

This one was a rebound for me from the 3rd film, another 5/10, that was still the worst in the series. It really seems more like something I would watch on television and not in a theater. I'm sure we will see this on a family channel soon enough, maybe the 3D would have added something, but I doubt it. A big pro is that it has a low kids scare factor 2/10. Besides being ogres and witches they are not really scary and there are very few scenes that would be unacceptable for little ones.

The storyline is that Rumpelstiltskin finds a way to con Shrek into handing over the kingdom. Shrek now has to reverse the contract by falling in love with Princess Fiona again. It is kind of a cute storyline, but remains just for kids. It has definitely lost the double entendres that made the first film so special.

Vote: 5/10, KSF: 2/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892791/

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