Reviews

I went begrudgingly to see this film with my daughter. It was not on my list of films to see but she insisted. Knowing that it was a Disney product only made me dread it more. The schlock they try to pass off as good films these days is ridiculous. The only up-side I could see was the director, Frank Marshall. He has produced some of my favorite films. Let's see what he can do behind the camera.

Pleasantly surprised I think is a good term for my reaction. Although the film was about 20 minutes too long, it did sustain the action and drama all the way through. I knew the basics of the story: a team at a base in Antartica must evacuate and cannot take the sled dogs with them. Winter sets in and the dogs are forced to survive on their own in the brutal cold for months.

The dogs are very entertaining and their scenes with the science team are warm and amusing, even thrilling. Where I expected the film to fail was after the humans and dogs separate. Amazingly though, this is where the Mr. Marshall seemed to kick it into gear. Watching the opposing scenes unfold of the guilt-ridden Paul Walker frantically trying to find anyone to help him get back down to the Antartic, interlaced with the Huskies who are struggling through the rough winter, scrounging for food and defending each other from predators, was very emotional.

While the film is a grade A survival pic, I hadn't expected it to be such a tear-jerker. Be forewarned. Although the human performances (Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood and the necessary romantic lead, Moon Bloodgood) were mediocre at best, the canine actors really do steal your heart.

No Oscar material here, but as far as family films go these days, this one is above par. Grade: B

If you like your animation over-the-top and the jokes at a breakneck pace, then this one's for you. Nathan Lane does a great job as Spot the dog who wants to be a boy, along with fellow voices Kelsey Grammar, Paul Ruebens and Jerry Stiller.

The animation is unusual (imagine the drawings on the board game Cranium coming to life), but a nice break from the perfect Pixar flicks. The songs leave something to be desired, but most are brief and then its back to the jokes.

A nice alternative to the standard Disney output: 7 out of 10.

One of the things that made X-Men and Spiderman such good movies, as well as big hits, was that each spent an extrordinary amount of time developing their characters. That paid off big-time later in the film when we needed to care about them. This is where Daredevil falls apart. Who is Electra and why is she so angry? Is her father a good guy or bad guy? Why does the reporter care about Daredevil/Murdock? Does Kingpin need to be a cardboard cut-out who just laughs and puffs menacingly on a cigar?

This could have been such a good film. Daredevil is a dark, multi-layered figure that seemed like a perfect vehicle to build a story around (ala Spidey or Batman). They came up way short on this one though....