Brave

Brave is Pixar's first non-sequel in quite some time. Whether it's a Toy Story-style masterpiece in storytelling, I neither know or care. What I do know is that it's an outstanding film nevertheless.

Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is the Princess of the Scottish Clan DunBroch. Her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) wants her to be a prim and proper lady, rather than a master archer. One day, her father King Fergus's (Billy Connolly) fellow Lords present their sons to compete for Merida's hand. Merida puts their archery skills to shame, and then runs off after Elinor scolds her.

She finds a witch (Julie Walters) in the woods and gets her to give her a spell. All Merida wants is to change Elinor, thereby changing her fate. Fortunately for her, the spell works and Elinor is changed. Unfortunately, the spell changes Elinor into a bear. Now, Merida has two nights to break the spell, or else all is lost.

Rendered with Pixar's new system, Presto, the 3D visuals do set a new standard for its company. With Presto, the Scottish Highlands look great either in fog or clear weather. Even the characters' hair, a seemingly minor detail, is impressively rendered in full CGI. On that point, Pixar's consistency for looking great remains intact.

The screenplay is credited to four writers: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman and Irene Mecchi. Chapman also directed the film, before Andrews abruptly replaced her (though both are credited). Does that equal a conflicting mess of storytelling? As I said, I neither know or care because I barely noticed.

It's all because of the well-chosen voice cast. Thanks to them, the film's characters are funny and sympathetic when they need to be. Whatever plot holes there are, they just leap over because they are that likable. Still, the best characters are Merida's mute triplet brothers, who have slapstick all mastered.

What Pixar has created is currently the best animated film of the year. It's worth watching either in matinee or evening prices, and I'll leave the 3D or flatscreen choice to you. Either way you choose, you'll still get to see Pixar's incredible Oscar-nominated short, La Luna.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Who ever knew that the Great Emancipator was also the Great Slayer?

That's what you'll find out with the latest historical "bio-pic", Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It's based on the "biographical" novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and co-produced by Tim Burton. Sounds like a lot of credentials there.

Feel free to laugh until the undead rise.

As a lad, young Mr. Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) awakens to see his mother murdered. Only later does he realize that her killer is one of the undead. With the aid of the mysterious Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), the future President slays the undead with his silver coated axe.

The evil King of the Vampires, Adam (Rufus Sewell), won't take that sitting down. He also won't take Lincoln's abolitionism, since slaves are his favorite meal. This all leads to the Civil War between the North and South...I mean, the Living and the Dead.

Rather than historical accuracy, this film aims to have fun with history. Whether in 3D or Flatscreen, there's plenty of stylized action to help in its quest. Among them is the duel between Honest Abe and a Vampire in a horse stampede; the Vampire even tosses a whole horse at Abe for good measure.

Does it succeed in its quest? Its stylized action is incredible, so that's a plus. On the minus side, it's a dark comedy that takes itself a bit too seriously. At least, from the title, one might've expected a dark comedy. But I thought it worked better as a satire of American History. As a result, the tonal clashes didn't bother me that much; but its stylized action was like “that's cool” rather than the expected “whoa! That's cool!”

One can easily enjoy the film if they can also overlook its tonal clashes and historical inaccuracies. It's a decent B-Movie in every sense of the word.

Oh, by the way, if you do want historical accuracy, then wait at least six months until Steven Spielberg's Lincoln comes out.

Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages, just like Mamma Mia in 2008, has its actors sing some old-time favorites. Unlike the earlier film, this film casts its net wider and pulls in a collection of 80's top favorites.

Wanna get rocked like a hurricane, Amadeus? You might wanna look elsewhere.

Why's that? Read on.

Those 80's favorites are built around the tale of country girl Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and city boy Drew (Diego Boneta). Sherrie moves from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, where she meets Drew and both dream of making it big in Rock'n'Roll. But for now, they work at a Nightclub, The Bourbon Room, which has seen better days. Its very life depends on the revenue from its upcoming performance of Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), the loopiest Rock Star in town.

Not helping at all is the Ultra-Conservative Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who wants to shut down the club for its “decadence.” Meanwhile, Stacee's manager Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti) is out to get in on the profits big time. Our heroes will have to get over them in order to rebuild this city with Rock'N'Roll.

There were quite a few laughs in the film. Most of them came from Stacee and his baboon, the manic Hey Man. Yes, his name is Hey Man. A scene where a reporter scrambles to cover both sides of a Bourbon Room/Whitmore rock duel was also kind of funny. As well as Drew's disastrous first public performance as a boy band star (which makes sense in context).

But at times, I felt that the best part of the film were the Rock'n'Roll numbers. They were even better than the characters who had to sing them. At most, those characters were average; at worse, they were a bit bland. For a film built around a love story, usually an appealing genre, this is a problem.

This is nothing but an average time. But still, this hasn't dampened my anticipation for this year's next musical, Les Miserables. So, I guess it leans toward the positive after all.

Prometheus

Don't want to see Madagascar 3 this weekend? Still wanna see a big 3D spectacle? Along with the cartoon threequel, another 3D event, Prometheus, has now come in theaters. This one, be warned, is made for a much different audience.

Directed by Ridley Scott, this can be best described as a mix of 2001: A Space Odyssey and his own film, Alien. In fact, this film is actually a subtle prequel to the latter film. Those savvy enough will get the connections, and those who don't will still make sense of the big picture.

In the far off future, scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) discovers some cave paintings depicting the same cluster of stars. They end up forming a map to a far, far-away moon, so an expedition is set out aboard the titular vessel, Prometheus. Amongst the crew is Shaw, her boyfriend Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green) and the android David (Michael Fassbender).

The mission's goal is to find humanity's likely extraterrestrial creators, whom the crew has called “the Engineers.” Upon arriving on the moon, LV-223, the crew finds an ancient structure. Inside the structure, the dream expedition turns into a nightmare.

Shot entirely in 3D by cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, Prometheus is a visually amazing thriller. It soothes its audience with spectacular planetary scenery, but prepares its audience with Arthur Max's claustrophobic sets. When the monsters arrive, they bring about some intense scenes of Sci-Fi horror. One thing's for sure: this is not for the squeamish.

At least it's not gratuitous. As with Alien, the set-up to its carnage is slow and steady. So once it gets horrific, it is legitimately horrific. Still doesn't make it easy for the squeamish.

Anyways, Prometheus's visual wonders make it a worthy trip to the movies. Let's just hope that when its equivalent of 2010 comes along, that the answers to its existential mysteries aren't underwhelming.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Only the latest 3D threequel, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted both continues and improves the zaniness from the first two films. While both were a bit decent, this third one was the best of them.

The intrepid zoo escapees, Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinket-Smith) are stuck in Africa. Just as quickly, they and their little lemur friends are out of Africa and in Monte Carlo. Their penguin associates got themselves there, but didn't consider bringing them along.

After causing chaos in Monte Carlo, the animals find themselves pursued by Captain DuBois (Francis McDormand), a determined police woman with the stamina of Wily Coyote. To hide from her, they hitch a ride on a circus train. To stay on the circus train, they buy the circus and kick the humans out. To maintain their circus, they have to get on the good side of the troupe. Most of all is Vitaly (Bryan Cranston), the Russian tiger.

Sounds silly, doesn't it?

A completely Looney Toon, this film is energetic enough to entertain both kids and adults. There's the chase in Monte Carlo, complete with banana guns. There's an array of amazing circus acts, including Vitaly's physics-defying hoop tricks. And then there's the looniest scene of all: DuBois healing her injured officers by singing Edith Piaf. Even on flatscreens, the 3D sights are spectacular.

Could there be a number four? Probably, but the screenplay, co-written by Noah Baumbach, wraps things up so nicely that anything else might be an unneeded encore.

All in all, Madagascar 3 was meant to be fun, and it is fun. It helps having DuBois, the most memorable villain in the series, in the cast. With her around, this entry stands out amongst this summer's heavies with ease.

Snow White and the Huntsman

It's been barely two months since Snow White came on movie screens and now she's here again. While Mirror Mirror was in the Disney style, this new one, Snow White and the Huntsman, is more in the Game of Thrones style. It's also quite "Grimm" for those accustomed with the Disney style.

Years ago, Snow White's (Kristen Stewart) father, the King, married the Evil Witch Raveena (Charlize Theron). On the same night, she killed him and took over the Kingdom. Ever since, Raveena's dealt with her supreme vanity by stealing the beauty from any and all fair maidens. Meanwhile, Snow White has been a prisoner in the tower.

The Magic Mirror tells Raveena that with Snow White's blood, she can finally become immortally young. The only problem is that Snow White's now escaped into the eerie Dark Forrest. So, she gets a Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track her down and bring her back. Instead, the Huntsman joins up with Snow White and her Prince to raise the resistance against the Dark Queen.

And yes, there are dwarves in this picture. Eight of them.

What makes it among the fairest in the land are its production values. There's some majestic eerie imagery, especially in the snowy scenes, provided by cinematographer Greig Fraser. The costumes, by Colleen Atwood, are unique and colorful for their setting. The editing, by Conrad Buff IV and Neil Smith, masterfully constructs a few key scenes. And among the impressive effects, the miniaturization of actors Toby Jones, Bob Hoskins and more into the dwarves was a highlight.

Its production values are what allow me to overlook its writing flaws. Mainly, it's so over-serious that its main comic relief, the dwarves, are only sporadically funny. It was a bit overlong, particularly in the middle, although it did pick up the pace fortunately.

Supposedly, there's supposed to be a few sequels to come after this. A major franchise? Let's hope they can do a bit better than this already quite decent first feature.