It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

Seeing how today is Easter, and I missed this opportunity the last couple of years, I will not miss it this time around. Today, I will be looking at the 1974 Charles Schulz’s TV special, “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.” This focuses a lot more on Snoopy than Charlie Brown this time, and unlike “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” it easily leaves out every religious aspects of the holiday.

Mixing the plotlines of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” bounces three tiny subplots: Peppermint Patty’s (Linda Ercoli) attempts to color Easter eggs, Snoopy trying to get a dry home for Woodstock (both voiced by producer Bill Melendez), and Linus’ (Stephen Shea) loud belief that the mythical “Easter Beagle” will come and bring eggs and candy and peace to the children of the world. Peppermint Patty’s attempts to get her eggs dyed are disadvantaged by, as described by Paul Mavis, “preternaturally weird pal Marcie,” voiced by Jimmy Ahrens, who doesn’t understand that the eggs have to be boiled “in their shells” before coloring them. Mavis stated, “Snoopy, after wringing out a soaking wet Woodstock (his pathetic little nest is offered no shelter in his pathetic little twig of a tree), decides to buy him a nice wooden bird house that Woodstock fantastically appoints in the very latest mid-seventies mod furnishings.” Finally, Linus convinces Sally Brown, voiced by Lynn Mortensen, that the Easter Beagle “will” come on Easter morning.

Mavis pointed out, “By 1974, the whole Snoopy phenomenon was really peaking, and so it's natural that Schulz and producers Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson would want to focus most of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on Charlie Brown's dog, and not Charlie Brown. Chuck doesn't have a lot to do here (except of course getting shafted at the end when Snoopy runs out of eggs), and even though I love Snoopy's funny little antics, I miss the morose, moral anchor that is Charlie Brown in these specials.” “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” plays really familiar, as well. The whole “Linus believes in the Easter Beagle” part is taken obviously from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” while Peppermint Patty’s tiresome explaining with absent-minded Marcie remind you of the cooking parts (and the friend’s rejections) of the Thanksgiving dinner in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

Even though a few scenes are very cute and memorable (Snoopy examining into a sugar egg, picturing himself dancing with Easter bunnies, is smart and sweet), it’s hard to say that “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” has much to do with what makes Easter, “Easter.” Mavis mentioned, “For Schulz's A Charlie Brown Christmas, Schulz famously fought the networks who didn't want the cartoonist's explicit religious references (particularly Linus' final Bible quotation, conveying to Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas).” That perspective is not in “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.” “Easter” is coloring eggs, obviously, and that’s about it. Mavis admitted, “That viewpoint is gone in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. "Easter" is coloring eggs, evidently, and that's about it. That underlying seriousness of tone (which was also found in the amazing Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, which I reviewed here) is totally absent, and as such, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown doesn't have the weight of those other two outings. In the new bonus documentary included on this disc, commentators discuss Schulz's motivations, both artistic and commercial, and they seem to want to have it both ways. Phil Cousineau implies that Schulz was knocking organized religion, but nothing in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is religious; there's a back-and-forth discussion as to whether Schulz intended deep, meaningful subtexts in his work, or if he was, as he often described it, just making "funny stories." Producer Lee Mendelson is perhaps the most fair, acknowledging that there's definite contradiction in Schulz's frequent disdain of commercialism (seen also in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown), and his overwhelming success at...commercializing the Peanuts characters. Ultimately, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown suffers precisely because of its unresolved inconsistencies. It's about Easter, but it denies any religiosity; it espouses anti-commercialism, but it was specifically made to get ratings and sell Dolly Madison treats.” These contradictions end with a sweet, light Charlie Brown offering, but no more.

Fun and sweet, “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” is definitely enjoyable, but it doesn’t have the weight of previous Schulz TV specials. Mavis ended by saying, “Those wondering if they should double-dip on this release, the image has been significantly improved, and the additional doc is worthwhile. I recommend It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.”

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the egg hunt later on tonight and make sure you watch this special as well. You will love it since it’s one of the funniest specials, although it may not be as good as the others. In the end, this is a Peanuts special, so you have to see this.

Now, I know I have said this in the past couple of days, but now I will say it again. Stay tuned next month of a series of movies that I have anxiously wanted to review.

Deadpool

Tonight, I finally got the chance to see “Deadpool,” which was released last month, and now, I will finally let everyone know what I thought about it. Because, like the saying goes: better late than never.

Peter Travers started his review by saying, “There's a lot of huffing and puffing in Deadpool, but the only one who can blow down your resistance to yet another screwed-up citizen of the Marvel universe is Ryan Reynolds. Armed with an unlimited arsenal of delicious snark, Reynolds has a blast playing Wade Wilson, the Special Forces operative turned mercenary turned cancer patient turned medical experiment turned Deadpool, a scar-faced mutant with a penchant for superhero drag and a mouth on him.”

As played by Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool aka Wade Wilson looks at the camera and talks right to us. Nothing is blessed, including the opening credits which refer to the film’s creative team as “tools” and name-check Reynolds as People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Screenwriters Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick turn the comic created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza into their personal playing field for R-rated dirty talk and guts-ripping violence. The PG-13 nervousness of so many Marvel movies has made some of us wanting to see corrupt maniacs at the helms. Now we’ve got them. Deadpool has no off-switch. This guy keeps saying wise even when he’s planning his revenge against Ajax, played by Ed Skrein, the villain who made his face, as described by Travers, “Look like corn-beef hash.”

That’s one of the reasons Deadpool wears a mask and keeps away from Vanessa, played by Morena Baccarin from the TV show “Homeland,” who works at an adults club and he has asked her hand in marriage. Believe it or not, Baccarin and Reynolds make you care about this attractive couple. Also, T.J. Miller gets in his lines as Deadpool’s bartender friend from his Wade days. Making his directorial debut, Tim Miller keeps the acting coming in bloody amounts, combining with appearances from bad-girl Angel Dust (Gina Carano) and two X-Men characters – Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). Travers said, “Deadpool keeps ripping the studio for cheapness since it only provided two X-Men, but provides a nasty Wolverine impression you won't want to miss.”

Travers goes on to say, “I gotta tell you, this movie's junky feel is part of its charm.” Sure it goes on too long and reiteration bores its primary expertise. Still, “Deadpool” is enjoyable for action fans and Reynolds may just have found the role that highlights his career.

I’m going to be honest. I don’t really know much about Deadpool. The only thing I know about him is from what I saw in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” and that is not a good representation, that I will admit. However, when I have gone to Otakon, an anime convention, these last two summers, I have seen a lot of people cosplaying as Deadpool. This movie is definitely one of the best comic book adaptations. It is action-packed, hilarious and overall a good time. This is the funniest comic book adaptation and the first R-rated comic book movie I have seen in a long time.

Spoiler alert: in the post-credits scene, Wade tells the audience that the film is over and announces a sequel featuring Cable. Obviously there will be a sequel, seeing how well the movie did in theaters and at the box office. If you haven’t seen it, see it while it’s still in theaters because I don’t think this will be in theaters that much longer. I thought that they were going to set Deadpool up to appear in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” but apparently not. My rating for this movie will probably be a 9 as it is one of my favorites.

Alright, enough of all of that, stay tuned next month for a series of movie reviews that I have wanted to do for a long time.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

It’s been more than 50 years since Alvin and the Chipmunks and Dave Seville became adorable pop culture icons.

They’ve aged well.

The latest movie sequel, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,” released in 2015, includes the singing trio and their loving but frustrated dad/manager Dave (Jason Lee still does an amazing job acting alongside the animated chipmunks) is cute and funny. With a handful of current references and dance numbers to new pop songs, not to mention slapstick laughs, it’s likable to both kids and adults.

“The Road Chip” is not “Frozen” or “Toy Story,” with major ambitions of being culture-changing or Oscar worthy or with big success songs and animation. It’s just a funny kids film – and that’s all.

The fourth film in what appeared to be a trilogy has Dave going to Miami to celebrate the release of a new CD from teen pop star Ashley (Bella Thorne) with his new girlfriend, Samantha (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). They decide to leave the chipmunks at home, along with her cruel son Miles (Josh Green) under the careless watch of, what Laura DeMarco describes, “Their vampy neighbor” (Jennifer Coolidge).

As you may have guessed, our protagonists do not like being let at home, so they start their cross-country “road chip.” Many comedic moments start as the chipmunks and Miles run to Miami in planes and cars to try to stop Dave and Samantha from getting engaged. DeMarco said, “Not too give too much away, but two of the funniest include 1) a bunch of squirrels in Chipmunks T-shirts; and 2) John Waters. Yes, "Pink Flamingos" John Waters.” In their travel, they raise the temper of a TSA agent, played by Buster Bluth from “Arrested Development,” Tony Hale, crash a Mardi Gras parade and start trouble in a country-western bar.

Do they stop Dave? Does it really matter? DeMarco mentioned, “Plot is secondary to easy laughs in "Road Chip," which has some potty humor but is less vulgar than many contemporary kids movies.”

The ending does teach an inevitable happy message, but it’s the travel that’s more than half the fun in this likable movie which was perfect for the kids winter break.

Now I know that I have mentioned this after every review of these movies, but I know that these are far from perfect. However, children will not mind them at all. They will love these movies because they will love to see three singing chipmunks putting on some song numbers and doing some funny stuff throughout the runtime of the movie. I don’t think they will be bored by them. Parents probably will, depending on who it is, because these movies are not meant for everybody. However, I still enjoyed them and thought they were practically harmless entertainment for everyone. There’s nothing in it that I would find atrocious about them.

Well, that ends “Alvin and the Chipmunks Month.” I hope that everyone enjoyed them and hopefully everyone thought nicely of these movies. Like I have mentioned before, I won’t recommend them, but I will say that the decision is up to you if you want to watch these movies. If you can get through the first movie just fine, then you can watch the sequels. If not, then don’t watch the sequels.

Check in next month, which will be a series of reviews that I am really looking forward to.

Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

If you are feeling annoyed about everything from the election to your job, don’t worry.

Alvin and his chipmunks team are back to have you not worry anymore – and make you laugh at silly moments.

Originally made for a 1958 Christmas novelty record by Ross Badgasarian Sr, the trio’s three movies have overall will be soon worth $1 billion globally.

How about that for another entry in some squeaks?

It’s the way of thinking which makes these movies innocuous and enjoyable as a guilty pleasures for children particularly.

The previous movies depended on older songs like Funky Town and I Want To Know What Love Is.

Now it has caught up with more pop hits including Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem, Katy Perry’s Firework and Flo Rida’s Club Can’t Handle Me featuring disk jockey David Guetta.

Graham Young stated in his review, “And they alone make the film more exciting than this year’s X Factor final.” In this entry, “Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” released in 2011, Alvin, Simon and Theodore are joined on an extravagant cruise liner by the Chipettes: Britney, Eleanor and Jeanette.

Looking after them is songwriter Dave, while their former manager Ian is put in a pelican suit as the ship’s entertainer.

Young stated, “The sweeping shots of the liner and the on-board fun would have done me for the whole movie.”

However, our protagonists are soon on a remote island where Young states, “Dante’s Peak is set to meet Cast Away, thanks to an active volcano putting in danger to a stranded DHL worker Zoe, played by the voice of the online character “Marcel the Shell with Shoes on,” the hot Jenny Slate.

Young admitted, “Chipwrecked is derivative and predictable and not for anyone who’d rather be watching Schindler’s List.”

However, this is good, clean old-fashioned family entertainment, innocently relaxing and a current vision into the shallow nonsense of modern celebrity. Children will love it.

Like I have stated before in the other reviews, I know that these movies aren’t technically good movies, but they are harmless movies for kids. Similar to how the Nostalgia Critic said about the “Care Bears” movies (which I have never seen), if you have children, they will be entertained by them. I actually enjoyed them through the eyes of the child.

Now I thought that this movie was the last and they would leave it as a trilogy, but they recently came out with a fourth entry. That will be looked at next week in the finale of “Alvin & the Chipmunks Month.”

Zootopia

Today I saw the latest Disney movie, “Zootopia,” which came out on the 4^th. Now I know what you’re thinking: shouldn’t I be saving this until December for my next installment of “Disney Month?” Well, I would do that, but I liked this movie so much, that I just have to share what I thought about this movie. Even on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie has a 99%. That is quite a surprise, and we all really wanted to watch this movie. Now I’m going to quit stalling and talk about this movie.

It’s a jungle outside when we watch animated comedies with talking animals, though Disney is creating a really high stake with the outgoing and often hilarious “Zootopia.”

Directed by “Tangled” director Byron Howard and “Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore, the family-friendly movie displays that unlikely friendship of a motivated rabbit officer and a fox con artist while supporting themes of tolerance and diversity. Its serious “You can be anything!” moral is overbearingly clear, though “Zootopia” works best as a funny dance that skillfully imagines a world where hamsters can be businessmen and polar bears are the coolest bodyguards they see.

Every citizen in Bunnyburrow thinks our protagonist is crazy for wanting to be a police officer instead of farming carrots (which her parents, voiced by Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake, advise her to do), but Judy Hopps, voiced by Della Saba at age nine and Ginnifer Goodwin as an adult, puts her best rabbit’s foot forward and graduates as the valedictorian of her class before being stationed at downtown Zootopia. Her cape buffalo boss Chief Bogo, voiced by Idris Elba, however, doesn’t want to see Judy’s potential, so he assigns her to parking duty – however, she quickly is the best at giving out parking tickets ever.

Judy finds a frustrate in Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman, a clever, smooth-talking fox who’s always looking for ways to move forward in life, legal or anywhere else. The request of “Zootopia” is that there’s peace between predator and prey – so foxes aren’t just tracking rabbits as a pastime – but when this status quo is threatened, Judy and Nick have to team up to solve this case.

Brian Truitt mentioned in his review, “With a landscape smartly shown during Judy’s train ride, Zootopia is a magnificently designed metropolis that’s a work of art in itself. The attention paid to detail on both a macro and micro level is top-notch: It’s impressive and adorable the way Judy’s nose twitches when trouble is afoot. (Just don’t call her “cute,” the very worst thing you can call a bunny.)”

Jared Bush and Phil Johnston’s screenplay brings into questions of identity and choosing to be more than what people want you to be, which adult Disney fans have seen way too much and will most likely go over their children’s heads. Truitt said, “The story is boosted instead by utilizing noir and crime-drama elements — Chinatown and The Godfather are two interesting inspirations — and cultural references like the Uber-esque “Zuber,” marketed as “migration at your fingertips.””

Bateman’s and Goodwin’s voices perfectly capture their roles, but it’s the supporting cast who often steal the show. Rodent-sized Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche) is a funny mobster shrew who’s not to mess with, the doughnut-loving cheetah cop Clawhauser (Nate Torrence) is a roar, Finnick (Tommy “Tiny” Lister) is a little fox whose growly voice contradicts his tiny height, and the hippie yak Yax (comedian, actor, writer, director, activist, and musician Tommy Chong) runs a “naturalist” community that scares Judy out because no one’s wearing clothes.

Its polychromatic citizens make “Zootopia” a marvelous place to visit for two hours until you have to leave the theater, where the hot Latina singer Shakira isn’t a gazelle and law enforcement is a lot less animal looking.

I highly approve to see this movie in theaters. It’s one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time and you will definitely enjoy it as well. Especially since it comes out at a time when prejudice is running at a peak and we need our children to learn this. This movie easily falls into one of my favorite Disney animated films. Take the whole family with you and they will all enjoy it a lot.

Well, I hope that I gave a good recommendation with this new movie. Look out for next Friday when I continue “Alvin & the Chipmunks Month.”

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” released in 2009, starts exactly where the first movie left off. The three CGI chipmunks – Alvin, Simon and Theodore – have started their singing careers after leaving their horrible manager Ian Hawke, and are going to have a concert in Paris. Their friend, who is also their “dad,” “keeper,” and “manager,” Dave Deville has an accident, has some bones broken, and is sent to a Paris hospital. (Stuff like this happens a lot with the Chipmunks. They normally leave a path of destruction wherever they go.)

The chipmunks fly home to Los Angeles and are in the care with Dave’s lazy brother, Toby, played by Zachary Levi, who sends our three friends off to West Eastman High School to start learning. Two problems arrive to the Chipmunks: their ex-manager Ian shows up again, who is a classic Hollywood hustler, and they have competition with a female chipmunk trio called the Chipettes, who have actually signed on with Ian.

The Chipettes, voiced by the hot Anna Faris, Christina Applegate (who you might remember as Kelly from the Fox sitcom “Married…with Children”) and SNL star Amy Poehler are the female versions of the Chipmunks and they become the boys love interests. However, before any hint of chipmunks love, there’s a chaos involving a lot of snack foods, a single fart joke, a football game, a battle at the zoo, a talent contest, and the school principal, Dr. Rubin, played by Wendie Malick, who despite her strict outer appearance is a huge fan of the Chipmunks.

Kelly Vance stated in her review, “Like the Three Stooges, McHale's Navy, and the Brides of Funkenstein, the Chipmunks are a true pop-cultural sleeper sensation.” Not even you or anyone you know likes the Chipmunks, and they have ninety million fans who remember the entire lyrics to Christmas Don’t Be Late and Alvin’s Harmonica and who’ll watch this movie with their children who love Alvin as well. Vance goes on to say, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel will undoubtedly sell more tickets than Brothers, Up in the Air, and A Single Man combined. Remind yourself that while watching the boys sing "You Really Got Me," "Stayin' Alive," and "We Are Family." They should have made Pirate Radio with the Chipmunks instead of live actors.”

This movie was directed by Betty Thomas, a former actress who went to directing ordinary crowd-pleasers like “The Brady Bunch Movie,” “Doctor Dolittle,” “28 Days,” and “I Spy.” Vance mentioned, “Sometime in the Eighties, she guest-starred on SCTV in an extended skit with John Candy called "South Sea Sinner," set in a dive called Cognac's Bottom of the Barrel Club. The club's host, a mock-sinister, white-suited fugitive named Cognac (Candy), books the all-time loser acts — washed-up showbiz refugees from the States: Paul Revere from Paul Revere and the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsey, Sandler and Young, etc. Moral of this story: Alvin and the Chipmunks will never join the Bottom of the Barrel Club.” Even though we have heard them for 51 years, they’re still just as popular as they were back then.

If you have seen the first movie and you didn’t like it, than chances are that you will not like this one, so don’t watch it. However, if you liked the first movie, I would say check this movie out. You might like it, but if you don’t, I completely understand. I won’t try and force you to like this movie because it’s not meant for everyone. I, on the other hand, did enjoy this movie and am glad I saw it.

Check in next week when I look at the third in the series, which I actually thought was going to be the last movie.

Kung Fu Panda trilogy

Good news everyone: I finally got to see “Kung Fu Panda 3” tonight. It was one of my most anticipated movies that I was dying to see, and now I’ve finally seen it. So tonight, I will be reviewing the movie, but first, I have to share what I thought about the first two before I get to the third one. First was “Kung Fu Panda,” released in 2008, another movie that I saw with my cousin after he rented it from RedBox.

“Kung Fu Panda” is a story that almost self-tells it in the title. When you think about it, you can’t even imagine a panda doing martial-arts encounters that you get the impression (and you will be right) that the panda stars in the against-every-possibility tale, which makes him successful. Roger Ebert mentioned, “For the panda's target audience, children and younger teens, that will be just fine, and the film presents his adventures in wonderfully drawn Cinemascope animation. (It will also be showing in some IMAX venues.)”

The film’s hero is a panda named Po, voiced by Jack Black, who is so fat he can’t even get out of bed. He works for his father, Mr. Ping, voiced by James Hong, in a noodle restaurant, which has Ping’s legendary Secret Ingredient. How Ping, who appears to be a member of the avian family, have become a father to a panda is a mystery, not at all to Po, but then the movie has a wide variety of animals who don’t really notice their differences.

They live in the beautiful Valley of Peace with an ancient temple overlooking them, up so many steps, which Po can’t even climb. However, he does climb them, dragging a noodle wagon, because everyone from the village has congregated there to witness the choosing of the Dragon Warrior, who will fight the evil Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane, in a kung-fu match. Five contenders have been selected, the “Furious Five:” Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (the hot Angelina Jolie), Mantis (the hilarious Seth Rogen), Viper (the hot Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). Tigress looks like she might be able to do some serious damage, but the others are less than impressive. Mantis in particular looks like he, at most, weighs a pound. Every five member has been trained (Ebert speculates, “For nearly forever, I gather”) by the wise Shifu, voiced by Dustin Hoffman, who is one of the more dimensional characters in a story that doesn’t give the others a lot of depth. The final decision is given to the temple master Oogway, voiced by Randall Duk Kim, an ancient turtle, and he chooses…you guessed it, Po.

The story then really becomes a series of action fights, sort of damaged by the fighters who are unable to get hurt, even if they fall from large heights and crack stones open with their heads. There’s a prolonged fight with Tai Lung on a collapsing suspension bridge (we’ve seen that before), hand-to-hand-to-tail combat with Po and Tai Lung, and upstaging everything, an active fight over one dumpling.

Roger Ebert admitted, “"Kung Fu Panda" is not one of the great recent animated films. The story is way too predictable, and truth to tell, Po himself didn't overwhelm me with his charisma.” However, it’s beautifully drawn, the action scenes are filled with energy, and the runtime is short that adults will be forgiving. Obviously, all of this is enough for the kids, and here they go again.

The sequel, “Kung Fu Panda 2,” released in 2011 (which we saw on Netflix), is exactly what you looked for, and more. The animation is stylish, the story is much more involving than the first one, and there’s unlimited energy. Ebert admitted, “I enjoyed it as fully as I possibly could, given the horror of its 3-D. The original film, in 2-D wide-screen, was just fine. But never mind. Hollywood has brainwashed us (or itself) that 3-D is an improvement and not an annoyance.”

What’s best about this sequel is that it’s not a respectful retelling of the original, but a motivated extension. Of the handful of new elements, the one solution to the mystery of how Mr. Ping, a goose, could be the biological father of Po, a panda. Ebert said, “In the original film, as nearly as I can recall, every character represented a different species, so I thought perhaps inscrutable reproductive processes were being employed.” However, Po’s parenthood is explained here, and it has a huge deal to do with new developments in the story.

As we reunite the occurrences in this amazing Chinese kingdom, Po, having gained the status of Dragon Warrior in the first movie, still leads the Furious Five: Tigress, Mantis, Monkey, Viper and Crane. From everyone, Tigress is evidently the most difficult, and Mantis stays the mystery. Even though he sounds like Seth Rogen, how does he get past the weight?

The kingdom now has to deal with the vision that it will be taken over and ruled by the evil peacock Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, whose henchmen have created a new weapon that makes him to search the country for scrap iron. This Shen is an evil enemy, carrying sharp, pointed feathers from his tail like a circus knife-thrower. In actuality, the mystery of Po’s parents is explained by Lord Shen’s obsession after a soothsayer, voiced by the great Michelle Yeoh, tells him to look out for the pandas, so their destines are linked more closely than Po can imagine.

This is a film from DreamWorks, which is in complete competition with Pixar, and is reaching for the skies. The animation is far superior to the everyday 3D movies about cute little animals, although the twist caused by 3D effects does no favors. The story gets a lot of humor out of Po. Roger Ebert described, “The story gets a lot of humor out of Po; Jack Black's voicing invests him with more personality than you'd expect from a character who resembles a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.” (“Kung Fu Panda 3” has the possibility to start with Po working out with a personal trainer, who could be Tigress.) The director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, widens the range of the animation to include more styles than your average cartoon animals, and the imaginary scenes which has Po’s history are actually beautiful.

Doing voiceover work must now count as an important part of every actor’s repertory, and that has created a demand for actors who have typical voices. Among the talent here, Dustin Hoffman is especially successful as the wise Shifu. Roger Ebert credited, “As he grows older, Hoffman is mastering more and more the timing and inflection of a smart stand-up comic. It's a gift.”

Ebert speculated, “Speaking of "Panda 3," I wonder if the relationship between Po and Tigress will advance from its current status as what might be called a warm friendship. Tigress seems to occupy a favored position in Po's heart, reopening the possibility of cross-species pollination.”

Now with all that out of the way, let’s get to “Kung Fu Panda 3,” released in January. Of every DreamWorks Animation franchise protagonist – not that there are a plethora of them – Po, the often hilarious miserable but undeniable strong protagonist Kung Fu Panda voiced by Jack Black is the most clearly and shamelessly lovable. So, “Kung Fu Panda 3” has that going for it from the start. The bright metrics of the believe-in-yourself belief the character gives – as interesting a combination as pandas and martial arts are, they’re not exactly supposed to go together, which in every movie is precisely the point – are suitably strong that the films don’t need to make in obvious humor (Glenn Kenny stated in his review, “as the “Shrek” pictures tend to, which I myself tend to find needy and irritating”). They’re more about a warm, cheerful, we’re-in-this-together belief.

That is great. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” despite every rich action – and for every interspecies combination, this is as much an action-adventure animated movie as it is a funny-animal animated movie – is a pretty relaxing experience for the adult watcher. The colors are beautiful, the design of the endless realms is creative and pleasing, the animation flowing and stylish. Kenny mentions, “This panda doesn’t pander—there are scant, if any, nudging pop-culture references soliciting laughter from knowing grown-ups.” “Be the best you can be” is this movie’s message, and writers Jonathan Aible & Glenn Berger, and directors Alessandro Carlone & Jennifer Yuh take their own advice throughout this quick dance.

The movie starts with Po’s former master Oogway at peace in the spirit realm, where he’s suddenly encountered by bullish warrior Kai, voiced by J.K. Simmons, who wants to rule every being and non-being by stealing the “chi” (life force) of an array of masters. His journey will end, he declares, when he conquers the last earthly master of chi, who happens to be the protagonist Po.

When we see him on Earth, Po is having trouble now being the teacher of the martial arts school from supposedly retiring Master Shifu. After some martial-arts-equipment-destroy rounds with the Furious Five (Tigress, Mantis, Viper, Crane and Monkey) Po has fallen back into the identity crisis that’s once in a while worried the so-called Dragon Warrior throughout the series. The story comes together when Po’s biological father (series experts know that Po was adopted by a crane) Li, voiced by Bryan Cranston (Walter White from “Breaking Bad,” Hal in “Malcolm in the Middle” and Dr. Tim Whatley in “Seinfeld”), arrives to bring Po back to the Secret Panda Village. Apparently, Li’s on a mission that was shown to him in the form of a letter from the universe.

Kenny admits, “None of this makes a whole lot of sense even in a world in which cranes adopt pandas and raise them as their own, and a lot of the plot points and catchphrases made me suspect the screenwriters just picked a lot of Sun Ra and Return to Forever song titles at random and dumped them into a Final Draft edit function.” In a way, none of it matters though, because the moves inevitably to a climax where Po faces his fears and doubts, embraces the awesome, and with the help of friends and family – everyone being voiced with the highest likable sincerity by the best cast in the animated field – realizes his potential and saves the day. Kenny ends his review by saying, “It’s as simple and as satisfying as that. And not just because pandas are critic-proof.”

I honestly think this series got better and better with each installment. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that this series will have three more sequels, bringing it to a six-film series. I would really like that. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen these movies yet, I highly suggest that everyone goes out and see these movies. Especially since I don’t think the third one will be in theaters for that much longer.

Hopefully everyone liked my long review. Check in next Friday for the next installment in “Alvin & the Chipmunks Month.”

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Every week of this month I will be looking at a certain film series that is harmless for children, but I don’t see the point in them keep making, especially since it’s one of those franchises that is based on a cartoon from the 80s. Plus, there was an animated movie that was released in 1987, which I never saw, so I will skip that. This adaptation is titled “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” released in 2007, which is based on that cartoon, some fans are saying, but not quite: it centers around three chipmunks from the 1950s. MaryAnn Johanson said in her review, “It’s hardcore evidence of what should have been a pop culture novelty gone disturbingly mainstream. Isn’t that enough?”

The first in this series is a reboot story, as we movie addicts say: it stars from the beginning, acting out the story that all of us are completely familiar with like it’s innovative. We meet Alvin (Justin Long, who played Warren Cheswick on “Ed”), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays Dr. Spencer Reid on “Criminal Minds”) and Theodore (singer Jesse McCartney, who played JR Chandler in “All My Children”), child chipmunks who are orphans because their parents are hippies, and they are using Charles Darwin’s “Survival of the Fittest” saying in order to make it on their own in the woods – they have not met up with Dave Seville yet, who will strangely decide to raise this trip as his adopted children and make them work singing to make a living, almost literally. Johanson stated, “It’s pretty indescribably adorable, actually, as the boys — CGI in a live-action world, “CGI” being a fancy 21st-century way of saying “cartoon” — croon that “You Had a Bad Day” song in their rodential falsetto while stashing nuts in their tree home for the incipient winter.” For a movie with large potential for scaring kids over the age of three and making you run from your TV screen, “Alvin and the Chipmunks” starts off on a strongly not bad start. The chipmunks try to make you happy with song which is surprisingly upbeat.

The movie sticks to that, for the most part, which is a huge surprise. The trio’s tree is chopped to become the lobby Christmas decoration for a Los Angeles office building, and through troubles very complicated to go into but that work out believably well (as movies about singing chipmunks are told), the three end up under the roof of aspiring songwriter Dave Deville, who writes good-humored music with low-spirited lyrics that no one wants to listen to. Kevin Smith company player Jason Lee makes the entire attempt work because he believes in the chipmunks. Johanson mentioned that, “Lee’s primary costars — who never showed up on the set and only became anything approaching “real” via computer wizardry in the postproduction stage — gave him nothing to work with, but that doesn’t faze him.” He accepts the chipmunks as real, and we do as well.

The little denial they see as emotional, intelligent creatures that just happen to be chipmunks is, in fact, park of what makes this movie work so well. Dave connects their childlike excitement and musical talents to write a song for them… that Christmas Don’t Be Late song we all know verbatim (just act like it’s new). Then they’re off as the most popular singers, and lucky enough to have Dave as their manager in the urban jungle of Los Angeles – he looks out for them in this cruel world of corporate music they find themselves up to their little shoulders in. David Cross is a magnificent disturbance as the sycophantic record-label executive, who becomes the antagonist in this picture – Cross, too, believes in the chipmunks, if in a somewhat more unkind way.

Johanson admits, “Still, satire on packaged pop culture takes a back seat to family melo-comedy, as Lee learns to love the little monsters as his own flesh and fur.” That’s strange, but just seeing Theodore snuggled into Dave’s neck to sleep, getting comfort because he had a nightmare, is cuteness to the max. The boys turn out to be less helpful to Dave than he is to them: their efforts to get him back together with his ex-girlfriend, played by Cameron Richardson, are very unsuccessful, both inside the story and outside. We could have been better without the romantic side-story, in fact, which feels exactly like the padding-out it is.

Still, by restricting itself to exactly one fart joke and exactly one defecation joke, “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” how Johanson describes it, “is positively high-brow in today’s kiddie-flick environment. (Even the romantic stuff doesn’t get anywhere near the icky-squishy stuff some so-called children’s movies do these days.)” This could have been a whole lot worse.

I didn’t see this in theaters, but I did get a chance to see it over at my cousin’s house after he rented it from RedBox. I enjoyed it, so I could call this a guilty pleasure, since there are some good things about it. The choice is up to you if you want to check it out. If not, I completely understand, but if you do and you don’t like it, I get it. This isn’t a movie for everyone.

How does the first sequel do? Check in next week to find out in the next installment of “Alvin and the Chipmunks Month.”