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jemmo-1
Reviews
Hudson Hawk (1991)
Bizarre
A live action film made to play like a cartoon, but which doesn't really work as either. I got the feeling that the makers were taking the business of making something light hearted really really seriously.
The jokes are so cheap ("There are 640 Wongs in the phone book!" "That's a lot of Wong numbers!") that it's hard to raise a smile at the script, but some of the set scenes, like the theft of the horse statue that starts it all, are actually really nice ideas.
Presumably if Willis hadn't been behind it, it wouldn't have had a chance of getting great actors like Richard E Grant involved, or even of being made. The plot is nonsense, the dialogue forced, the editing awful, the jokes thin and the acting several steps beyond hammy. But somehow one feels that's the point, so I'm giving this a token handful of stars for being so wilfully odd.
Jane and the Dragon (2005)
Great stuff
At first look I thought this was going to be awful - the look of the animation is pretty much as you'd see in a computer game. However, within 2 minutes my 3 year old daughter and I were hooked. Motion capture techniques really bring the animation alive - it's done by Weta, who did the Lord of the Rings CGI so you know it's going to be expressive, though of course it's not got the LOTR budget, hence the computer game look.
The script is full of dry humour - especially Dragon - which makes this entertaining for parents as well as kids. The stories have morals of sorts, but not in a Disney-like "hit 'em over the head with it" way. The characters are diverse and well observed - the king winds me up, but I think he's kind of supposed to.
Check it out on Milkshake on C5, weekend mornings at the moment. I don't know if it will come out on DVD in the UK in the near future, if at all. However, go to the ABC Australia shop (google "Jane and the Dragon DVD" to find it) and you can buy there for the equivalent of about £13.50 per DVD of three episodes incl. postage. There are two available at the time of writing.
Fabulous and highly recommended, though I have to admit my wife loathes it!