The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written February 10th, 2019*

I honestly wasn't sure how this would turn out. I've been a pretty big fan of these surprisingly good Lego Movies so far, which seemed to have come out of nowhere. Who thought something as cynical as a film about Lego could spawn a franchise of excellent kids films? With that said, I was massively underwhelmed by the trailers for this, but thankfully, the film itself turned out to be a worthy and possibly better effort than the first.

With all the meta aspects of the original sort of making a sequel hard to do, they fully commit to it with ideas that build upon the first and takes the story into some surprising and interesting places. It takes place 5 years after the first as Emmet and his friends have to take on an invasion of Lego DUPLOs as they try and fight to save their world.

Off the bat, it is so great to see Mad Max: Fury Road get to the point where it's even being massively homaged in a big budget kids film, as the opening act takes place in a dystopian destroyed version of the city as most of citizens have embraced the new status quo and have their own Fury Road style vehicles. This all quickly becomes a sci-fi adventure though as Emmett's friends are kidnapped and forced into an alien wedding ceremony as he has to learn to grow up, mature and save them. 

Once again, the story and jokes seemed to resonate far more with adults than it did with children. Most the kids in my screening didn't really seem to laugh a lot at some of the jokes, but there was a lot of subtle stuff there for people my age to enjoy. Including a fantastic cameo from an '80s action star. It was also relieving to see this one didn't rely too heavily on gratuitous cameos from licensed characters, like the first did. Sure, there's still lots of characters, but they're mostly returns from the original, which was fine. 

I was also massively impressed by how creative the animation is with this. I remember being a little put off by the look of these films before they were released, but they really are some of the most creative animated kids films going today. There is always so much going on with every scene, making for some excellent rewatchability. From it's gorgeous, vibrant and colourful pallet to the detail on display, this really was a feast for the eyes.

As gorgeous as the animation is, thankfully there really is a great story to go along with it. Emmett's journey is far more interesting than the one he went on previously and introduces us to a a new character also voiced by Chris Pratt as a bad ass action hero style character clearly inspired by his films. Emmett is just so immensely likeable, although his naivety can get on your nerves at times, but it was great to see a lot of the film dedicated to his journey of self-discovery, leading to some genuinely emotional and touching beats towards the end.


The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part brings the Lego Movie franchise 4 for 4 in terms of quality now. Another incredibly animated, funny and sweet journey packed with heart. I really hope they continue this streak and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. 

8/10 Dans

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is out now in cinemas in the UK
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How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written February 4th, 2019*

I was very late to the game with the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, I'd initially dismissed the films as more generic kiddie crap, but when I actually watched them, I was surprised to learn these were some of the best animated films of the decade, rivalling even Disney and Pixar. I'll admit it took me a little while to warm to those first one, but I was instantly won over by the sequel.

What's surprised me is how long this final entry in the trilogy and franchise (For now) took to make. It has been five years since HTTYD2 came out, which is a shockingly long time for most sequels to get churned out. So I really appreciate they took their time and effort to perfect this finale and it really shows. It might go places you'd expect, but this is an extremely effective and emotional end to Toothless and Hiccups story.

We're once again given some of the most beautiful animation in recent history. Bursting with such insane attention to detail, creative and incredible creature and location designs. I absolutely loved every bit of animation on display here. Every scene just popped and sparkled to a degree I did not expect. I really can't wait to see this bad boy on 4K in the future.

The focus here is once again on Toothless and Hiccup as they search for a hidden world where the dragons can live in piece without the threat of humans hunting them, while at the same time they are hunted by a deranged hunter obsessed with killing Toothless (The last of his kind) and Toothless finds himself a love interest.

The way Toothless is brought to life on screen is so easy to make you love him and care about his relationship with Hiccup, he's just so damn adorable. Plus it's great to see how much Hiccup has changed throughout the series, I'd recently rewatched both the previous films in preparation for this and the character really has grown and matured. Turning from the embarrassing child obsessed with killing a dragon to a man trying to bring peace to his late father's land and live up to his legacy.

The real only gripe I have with this whole thing is the villain, who is just pretty bland and uninspired. He's just another bad guy evil for the sake of being evil and having very little in the way of motivation. There is at least some cool stuff in the form of him having a few controlled and evil dragons, leading to some insanely fun set-pieces that live up to some of the best this series has seen.

I'd also seen a lot of people calling this easily the worst of the trilogy, which is fair enough, but for me I found it easily the most engaging, emotional and fun to watch out the three. It might help that this is the only one of the trilogy I've actually seen in theatres, but this all popped for me. The final scene is pretty up there in terms of endings for kids films. You're probably a monster or dead inside if you felt nothing at the end of this.


How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a triumph in animated film making. A beautiful, insanely creative and touching, heartfelt end to the story of Toothless and Hiccup that we've been following for nearly a decade. I really hope they just let this series lie and stop here though. This was something special that I didn't see coming. It's only February and animated films have had a seriously high bar set for 2019.

9/10 Dans

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The Grinch (2018) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written November 14th, 2018*

I feel a bit harsh going in to trash a kids film. I know I'm not the target audience for this sort of thing, but still, I expected something a bit more ambitious than this completely safe and mostly bland retelling of The Grinch story. In all honesty, I've never actually seen another telling of this story, but even so, I'd felt like I'd seen it all before. 

Illumination as a company have produced some of most annoying animated films of recent years. I think I hate them. I like the first 2 Despicable Me films to an extent, but that was mostly due to everything with Gru and the kids, everything Minions related can fuck right off (I was horrified to discover The Grinch had a Minions short film attached to it). I don't think I've seen one of their films I've liked since the second Despicable Me. Secret Life of Pets was abysmal, Boss Baby was weird and Despicable Me 3 was just too much for me. I'm so scared at how they're going to handle the Shrek franchise now. 

For The Grinch itself, like I said, it's completely safe. Benedict Cumberbatch (Who?!) does a great job in the titular role, I barely recognised his voice at times, but he bought a lot of character to the role. The film really shined early on when the Grinch is just a complete bastard, before inevitably learning to find joy again and enjoy Christmas.

There's attempts at humour and heart here that fall completely flat. A whole chunk of The Grinch is dedicated to a little girl trying to give Santa a letter about what she wants for Christmas (Which does eventually pay off), but every moment with her and her family is a drag and made me wish we were back with The Grinch and his dog. 

I suppose that's because there is very little story to be told here. It's a simple arc that feels like it had maybe 20 minutes of material stretched out to an 80 minute run-time. I was actually hopeful going in knowing this short run-time, but instead found myself bored very early on and wanting it to end. It all just goes exactly where you'd expect and I'm really disappointed they did nothing to subvert expectations. Illumination are far from Pixar.

At the very least, The Grinch boasts gorgeous and creative animation that involve some decent enough set-pieces. I loved the design of the town and the rich colour pallet that really sparked, creating a lovely, candy coloured adventure. I just wish the story had as much weight as its visuals. Can't wait to see this again at some point with HDR.


The Grinch is what it is. A stretched out retelling of Dr Seuss's story with top quality animation that will definitely entertain children, but do very little for adults. Another meh release from Illumination.

5/10 Dans

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Ratchet and Clank (2016) - Film review

Review:

*Originally written May 3rd, 2016*

I was fairly excited for Ratchet and Clank when it was first announced back at E3 a few years ago, I'm a huge fan of the video games, so I was praying to god that they could make a good film out of it. With the creative team behind the video games working on the film, I was hoping that this could be the adaptations that breaking video game movie curse. It sadly wasn't.

Based on the first game in the series, Ratchet and Clank tells the story of Ratchet, a mechanic and last of his species who dreams of bigger things and wants to join the Space Rangers, a universe defending team. He gets his chance at this when he meets Clank, a small robot with information about an insane villain who wants to destroy the universe or something.

This franchise was always Pixar brought to life in video game form, so it was pretty ripe for an animated film. So it is such a shame that this fails to capture that magic that Pixar usually conjure. The look of game is captured pretty well. The animation does look pretty and the characters and design all look excellent.

Maybe I'm just getting old and cynical, but this was just a pretty run of the mill kids film filled with lame humour and childish gags. I know this is a kids film, but in all honesty, the target audience is people my age (18-20) who grew up playing the games. I'm not saying that it needed to be full of swearing and violence. I just expected funnier jokes than the cheap slapstick we got here.

It tells the same story the first game and the new one (Which is much better than the film). The voice cast from the game all the return, which was nice, including some voice work from Sylvester Stallone and John Goodman. 

The characters are the only real thing that saves the film from utter garbage. Ratchet and Clank are likeable as ever and Captain Qwark is still hilarious and everything that comes out of his mouth is gold, he's basically Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. 

This whole thing just felt like a cheap and cynical ploy to promote the new game. There's no heart or soul to this film at all. It runs at 90 minutes, but still feels so much longer. I wanted it to end so many times throughout.

One of the things that makes Ratchet and Clank so great is the creativity of the weapons, but there is nothing here apart from some guns that make no more than a cameo. All the action itself is flat and uninventive with no emotional weight either. It was all just so bland.


Ratchet and Clank isn't the video game movie adaptation you were hoping for, which is just a shame. It's just a cheap and cynical cash-in to promote the new game. The director of this is also directing the Sly Cooper film, my faith in that has dwindled.

4/10 Dans

Ratchet and Clank is out now on DVD in the UK

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The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written February 14th, 2017*

Batman films have had a rocky road these last few years. I wasn't a big fan of The Dark Knight Rises, Batman V Superman was a mess and the recent animated films weren't great. 2014's Lego Movie on the other hand was a pleasant surprise in a way no one expected and Will Arnett's Batman stole the show, so it was inevitable he would get his own film. I wasn't the most keen on this idea, but somehow they not only topped The Lego Movie, they also managed to make the best Batman film since The Dark Knight.

The story starts The Dark Knight in an interesting place. In denial about his loneliness, he raises an orphan he accidentally adopts at a charity auction and has to stop The Joker from releasing all the villains from 'The Phantom Zone'. It's an incredibly simple concept, which lasted a breezy 100 minutes (Beautiful).

This really captured what made The Lego Movie truly great. It has a heart and all the characters are great. We really care about this Bruce Wayne/Batman who has vulnerability and humanity under his snarky ego and obnoxiousness, far more to root for than Ben Affleck's psychotic kill crazy Batman. Will Arnett is also great as the voice, I'm not entirely sure how to judge voice acting, but I'd say Arnett bought a lot to the role.

Michael Cera also made for a wonderful Robin, who was adorable and annoying in an endearing and lovable way. Cera's voice captures that always at 11 optimism personality of the character. The animation of his facial expressions were great, especially the way his eyes enlarged behind his glasses. It made it impossible not to love this character.

I won't list every cast member, because the array of voice actors on display here is insane. I will say that Zach Galifinakis wasn't the most memorable as The Joker, I liked the design of his character, but he did not leave as much of a lasting impact. The cameos from the other villains were much more enjoyable. The spoof of Dark Knight Rises Bane was particularly inspired, complete with mocking Sean Connery like accent. 

There is an outrageous amount of villains here, nearly every single Batman nemesis you can name is here, and even a display of Warner Bros. characters make appearances from the 'Phantom Zone'. I won't spoil them, but think in the vain of The Lego Movie, I was not expecting any of the out of DC villains to show up here. 

As self-referential and meta as the humour is, they make every prior Batman film canon in Lego Batman's universe. There is an insane amount of references to other Batman films and DC in general. There was always so much on display with all the gorgeous stop-motion animation going on, so it was hard to digest it all in a single viewing. They even go as far as mocking the critically panned Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman in a few quick throwaway gags.

The animation itself really is beautiful. It does a lot of creative and inventive things. Warner Bros really are doing an incredible job with their Lego universe right now, and as great as it was, it was really depressing to see that a Lego Batman film is far better than anything they're trying to do with their actual DC films universe. I wish Zack Snyder had half the creative talent of the guys working on the Lego movies.


Lego Batman is pure joy. Fast, inventive, extremely funny and heartfelt. One of the best on-screen outings for Batman ever.

9/10 Dans

The Lego Batman Movie is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Coco (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written January 23rd, 2018*

I really wasn't sure what to expect with Coco, none of the trailers really grabbed me and Pixar's output has been very hit and miss for the past few years, even their last one (Cars 3) was a real dud, but Coco shows Pixar are really in their element when they're creating new stories rather than sequels. (Aside from Toy Story) Which, in all honesty, gets me a tiny bit worried for The Incredibles 2. 

Coco follows the story of Miguel, a young boy in Mexico who is forbidden to play music, despite his skill and passion due to a family descendant who was a musician and abandoned them. He eventually finds himself in the Land of the Dead on an adventure to get the blessing of following his dreams.

I'll get the obvious out the way, Coco is a gorgeous, gorgeous achievement in animation. The designs of the characters are vibrant, colourful and infinitely interesting to look at. So much time, effort and care was obviously put into this, and it pays off wonderfully. I'm always surprised at how Pixar manage to top themselves visually with each film, but they pull it off.

While pulled along by its incredible visuals, the story is also a classic Pixar affair and so insanely is to like and root for. Miguel is so easy to sympathize with and his journey to self-acceptance and the importance of family is done very well. I'd argue that the first hour is a bit done before, but it's not offensive and the last half hour manages to hit you right in the feels with unexpected revelations and a ton of heart and emotion.

I also have a soft-spot for films about music or musicians, this was no different. It's not a musical, but the songs in Coco are catchy and heartfelt. If the final use of "Remember Me" doesn't make you a little emotional, well, then you are are dead inside and you're a garbage human being. I'm amazed at how Pixar manage to make me so emotionally attached to its characters. 

It's so nice to see a film set in Mexico too without the looming doom of the Cartel trying to kill Emily Blunt. It actually turns Mexico into a vibrant happy place full of charm and wonder. The complete opposite of what Trump says about these "Shithole" countries. If Pixar continue to expand like this and explore different concepts and settings as they did here, then they'll continue to make classics for years to come.

Disney seem to have a running theme that I've noticed for the past couple of years. And yes, you guessed it: Their frequent use of mentally challenged animals. Honestly, think about it, the bird in Finding Dory, the Chicken in Moana and now the dog in Coco. What is Disney's deal with shoving in mentally impaired animals? 

We'll see how The Incredibles 2 turns out in the year, but for now, Disney and Pixar have started of 2018 strong with Coco, a gorgeous, emotionally resonate piece of art that's for kids and adults. 

9/10 Dans

Coco is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Moana (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written December 2nd, 2016*

Despite having a fairly by the numbers story. You know, it's the usual, chosen one is needed to save her village and bring peace and order back. It pretty typical stuff, but some decent songs, great characters and beautiful animation go a long way to help overcome Moana's by the numbers plot.

What keeps this at least a little different from the other Disney films is the different culture and ethnicities. I'm having a hard time recalling other films that have covered Polynesia, but hey, Disney did here and it made for a great change of scenery.

Where Moana excels is in its characters. Moana is another great and strong female lead from Disney. While The Rock provides great comic-relief as the less than heroic demi-god who has moving tattoos on his body. There's also some decent, if not entirely memorable songs that keep things going. I wasn't expecting this to be a musical, so that threw me a little bit.

It also covers Disney's recurring theme this year of mentally challenged animals. The chicken in this reminded me a lot of the bird from Finding Dory, which was also fully mentally challenged. Like full-on. I'm not sure what Disney are going for with these characters. It at least provided a few laughs.

I seem to say this with every released Disney film, but they once again prove themselves to be the kings of animation. This truly was a visually beautiful and inventive film. The character designs are awesome, the locations look incredible and my god, the photo-realistic water blew me away again. I'll once again mention the moving tattoos on The Rock's character, as they really did steal the show.


Moana might not be the most groundbreaking Disney effort, but it's another solid entry with great characters, a simple story and some truly incredible animation.

7/10 Dans

Moana is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Cars 3 (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 16th, 2017*

"Kachow! Kill me." 

I remember being kind of excited for Cars 3 when that initial teaser trailer was released, then they released the full trailer and it was more or less exactly what I was expecting the film to be. I'm just really not a fan of the Cars franchise (2 is one of the worst animated films I've ever seen), that said, Cars 3 is by far the best in the franchise, while still being aggressively mediocre.

I appreciate what they tried to do. An older Lightning McQueen finally accepting he's just not that good a racer anymore. It's a plot more suited to an adult existential drama. What does a Car do when he can't race anymore? It's not really a question that's explored any further or done that well. This is no animated Rocky Balboa that's for sure.

My criticism of this is a hard one to explain. This is first and foremost a kids film made to sell toys to young and impressionable children. So any expectation of something more would be ludicrous, but then I remember the rest of Pixar's excellent output and realise, actually, year, these kids films can be meaningful and sweet while being a piece of the Disney machine of consumerism. 

I'd be fine with these films if I felt something towards these characters or even found them funny. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I just found this a chore to sit through. So much so that not even the insanely good animation could make these entertaining. Honestly, Pixar's animators are topping themselves every year. I just wish this series would have had better writers. 

It's hard to say if we'll ever get a Cars 4. I know Cars 3 really under performed, but I imagine it made more than enough in merchandise sales to continue the series. I'll watch it, but it needs a serious overhaul. Lightning McQueen can't be the focus of the next film. His story is done now. He'll need to be reduced to a minor character while it makes way for a new racer. 

I don't even want to begin to talk about the bizarre and insane world Cars exists even and the questions that's raised. It's been talked about to death. It''s just.... fucked.


Whatever, that's Car 3, it.. it was what it was. The best film in Pixar's worst franchise. It's got stellar animation and effects, but it's extremely rusty on plot and character. This really feels like nothing but an obligation rather than a film made to entertain children and adults alike.

5/10 Dans

Cars 3 does not currently have a release date in the UK for its 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD
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The Emoji Movie (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 3rd, 2017*

Cinema is Dead.

2/10 Dans

The Emoji Movie hits 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on December 4th in the UK
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Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written July 23rd, 2016*

"The joke's on me"

I was very much looking forward to this. I haven't read the comic, but everyone talked about it like it was the second coming of Jesus. An R-rated Batman film. It had potential to be amazing.

Well, this is mostly just a horrible mess. The voice performances are great, Mark Hamill is incredible as expected as The Joker. The inclusion of both Hamill and Kevin Conroy makes me feel like it could be canon to the Arkham game series (Which I love).

It just falls apart in its horribly sadistic and pointless feeling story that borders on torture porn with its treatment of the only female character. Barbara Gordon is so sexualized in this, it is disgusting, it felt like Michael Bay directed an animation at some points. What they do in a scene with her and Batman just felt wrong and a little disturbing.

We spend the first 30 minutes utterly destroying what could have been a really strong female character and reducing her to a immature school girl with a crush on Batman that takes things to a place that had no right to be there. They even shoehorn in an awfully offensive and stereotypically camp gay character that just left me thinking "Wow". The writers must have never interacted with a real gay person and based this character on over the top parodies.

The whole thing about Joker's backstory sucked. What makes The Joker great is his mysterious past. By telling us what happened to him in increasingly uninteresting flashbacks really takes away from his character. i'm really, really confused by what the purpose was to that whole entire subplot.
While I really didn't like this. I will admit they were some inspired moments. The Joker's funhouse ride was effectively disturbing and his musical number was awesome. Aside from that and the animation, everything else sucked.

It did at least earn its much talked about 'R' rating due to its content. There's some bloody shootouts, beatings, an implied rape and someone gets beaten to a pulp. I would have liked to have seen this kind of content in a better written Batman film, but instead we're stuck with this.

The script was just awful. Filled with cringeworthy lines and terrible dialogue that was almost laughable. And at 70 minutes this still felt too long. The first 20 minutes are such a drag too. I don't know how big the comic is, but by the looks of it, they really struggled to get this thing up to feature length.

I really have no idea what they were going for with this. If I hear people say "Oh, but that was in the comic". Well, then the comic sucked too, or it translated better on paper. This was just horrible.

If this truly is one of the best Batman stories ever, then this adaptation of The Killing Joke is a complete failure on all levels. I can only imagine how much better this could have been had it had a real budget and been bought to lice-action with a much better crew behind it. One of my biggest disappointments of the year.

2/10 Dans

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Finding Dory (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written June 29th, 2017*

"Just keep swimming"

I was 10 when Finding Nemo came out, and I've seen it several times since. I find it amazing that it has taken 10 years for a sequel to reach our screens. I'm 20 now and I was so excited for the belated sequel. In a year of several sequels that came out way too late to poor reception, Independence Day: Resurgence and Zoolander 2 for example, I was very cautious when approaching Finding Dory, despite my excitement. Pixar have been pretty hit-and-miss lately. Sure, we've had Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, but we've also been given Cars 2 (*Shudder*) and the less than great Monsters University. Does Finding Dory break the belated sequel curse and deliver another truly great Pixar experience? I am more than happy to say yes. Yes it does.

Finding Dory is another emotional and heartfelt adventure for children and adults, it doesn't reach the heights of the Toy Story trilogy or Monsters Inc, but it sure comes close. This is easily Pixar's best effort since Toy Story 3. I might be a teeny bit baised, seeing I grew up with the original. But that doesn't change the fact this is another excellent animation from Disney.

Taking place exactly one year after the original. Finding Dory follows Dory in her effort to find her real parents after she remembers they exist. She is helped in her effort by Marlon and his son Nemo as they make their way through the Marine Life Institute she was born in.

It was an easy choice for the Pixar to switching the narrative onto Dory, seeing as she was breaking star of the first. I will admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of Dory in Finding Nemo, I found her to be quite annoying and the weakest aspect of the film. Luckily, I was instantly won over by Dory this time around, helped by the fact that Baby Dory (Pictured above) might just be the cutest concoction Disney has come with. Every moment spent with Baby Dory stole my heart, it's one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. I cannot emphasize that enough.



The key to a truly great animated film is making it both for children and adults, Finding Dory is very sucessful on that front. Beneath the surface of the story, the theme of the importance of family is there and the story almost goes to some very dark places which it rightfully backtracks from, but it made the moment no less powerful. There is also a surprising lack of humour here, but when the jokes do come, they almost always land. A lot of the comedy derives from the introduction of some fantastic new characters such as Hank, a octopus who acts like a cliche Vietnam veteran with clear issues, Destiny, a near sighted whale and Bailey, a a whale with echolocation who gave way for a fantastic little homage to the vent scene from Alien.

On top of the Alien homage, there is also a Sigourney Weaver cameo that could not have been any better if they tried. Finding Dory also brings back many of the original cast on top of the three leads. We once again get to see the toirtoses and the class Nemo attends, none of them have changed and it was a welcome addition to ease us back into this world. There's also a tiny cameo from the seagulls, which actually served a purpose to the plot without feeling gratitious.

Pixar do once again knock it out the park when it comes to gorgeous animation. I'm having a hard time thinking of a better looking animated film than Finding Dory right now. It is much improved from its predeccesor, featuring some jaw-dropping and photorealistic water effects. The octopus was also wonderfully animated, it felt like it had weight and I loved what they did with him when he was camouflaged. The cinematography is breathtaking too, the scene where we see the centre aqarium in the Marine Life Institute is truly beautiful. I was in awe and felt 10 again.

All the set-pieces are fun and inspired. From the Alien inspired tunnel scene to the slow-motion finale that makes perfect use of 'What a Wonderful World', it was all memorable and visually creative. I wouldn't say anything here topped the moments in Finding Nemo, but they stand on their own well enough.

While the film did have a huge emotional impact on me. I would be lying if I said it didn't feel familiar. The emotional beats are all earned and feel genuine, but the story does follow the formula of the original a little too much. It plays things a little too safe for the most part. Finding Dory truly comes alive when it's doing something new and exciting, which is more often than not, but that sense of familiarity does come into play during certain moments.

8/10 Dans

Finding Dory is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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The Boss Baby (2017) - Film Review

Review:

I'm not entirely sure what I witnessed, but I'm fairly sure I need therapy. The Boss Baby has to be one of the most insane and weirdest kids films I've seen in a while, but at the same time it was so by-the-numbers predictable and mostly just had me bored.

This is probably the only film in the world that'll have a scene involving a seemingly immortal and ageless baby having an acid trip with a 7 year old after they suck on pacifers. I'm not making this up. I sat there in utter amazement at what I was seeing. It was utter insanity.

Sadly, the rest of The Boss Baby doesn't hold up. It's the same, boring stuff the trailers made it out to be. There's a nice message for kids about accepting a new sibling come into your life, but aside from that and some decidely creative animation, there's nothing there.

The Boss Baby and family

The lead character, being a 7 year old boy made way for some creative scenes that elevate the mundanity of what was happening on screen, but it honestly made the kid seem schizophrenic at times. This at least made use of the stellar and colourful animation, which was top-notch, I don't really have anything to criticise about it, I mean, it's no Pixar, but what is?

Alec Baldwin gives a performance as weird and wonderful as Kevin Spacey in last year's 'Nine Lives' with a game voice performance far, far above a man of his talents. Steve Buscemi is even here too as the one of strangest villains in recent memory.

I have nothing else to say about The Boss Baby, it's as weird as it was safe, which is a contradictory statement I know, but there's no other way to explain it. It's a film kids will love, but adults will be bored by.

4/10 Dans

The Boss Baby is out now in cinemas in the UK 
Watch the trailer below:

  

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