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Reviews
Cars (2006)
The best car-related movie for the family!
When I first saw Herbie: Fully Loaded, I was so shocked at the old buggy forcing Lindsey Logan onto its seat that it ended up strapping me to my place; I ended up loving it because of this "shock factor" that Herbie gave me! As for Cars, I wasn't attracted to it out of any factor--in fact, I had doubts about the movie due to its car-related jokes, and doubted that it would live up to the Pixar name. But once I saw it on Pay-Per-View, I kept thinking to myself, I just gotta see this again! And I did. And I still loved it. Why? It was so adorable and touching, it was worth it to see it a second time--not to mention that although quite a number of jokes here are car-related or come off as mildly crude, they're still great enough for a laugh-fest, a chuckle, and maybe a smirk or two.
The story behind all this is as goes: Lightning McQueen, a rookie race car whose dream is to win the Piston Cup and a sponsor from Dinoco, loses his way and ends up in Radiator Springs, or, as he calls it, "hillbilly hell". There he meets a handful of diverse characters, such as Mater (one of my favorite characters), who becomes a good friend despite all differences, Luigi, an Italian car who prefers Ferraris to Lightning's type, Red (another favorite), a shy and sensitive fire truck, and Sally, a Porche (?) with both sweet and sassy sides to her. And also while there, he wrecks the road and was thus ordered to fix it, dragging a cement-producing machine nicknamed "Bessie". But through Mater, Sally, and an ex-racer named Doc Hudson, he eventually opens his eyes to the true beauty of Route 66, and he not only repairs the street, but also helped everyone in the small town as well! Tension rises as he is found and sent to compete in the Piston Cup against his rival, Chick Hicks, but with his new friends' support, he won much more than a race--he won the appreciation and kindness of many.
This movie is not only of trademarked Pixar-quality, but it also features some of the best country and country-esquire music in modern movie history. From the highly awarded "Life is a Highway" to the two different versions of "Route 66", the soundtrack will have you jamming and jiving throughout the film.
As for downsides, the film does have a tendency to drag in some parts, and, like I've mentioned a couple of times, the humor is mainly car-related and/or mildly inappropriate, so it might not appeal to everyone.
Overall, Cars may not be fast-paced as Lightning claims it to be, but with the help of a well-known company with a little lamp for its mascot, it brings out a level of cuteness and light-hearted emotions that most other movies are unable to reach.
My rating: 9/10
Yin! Yang! Yo! (2006)
Quite funny! And most certainly odd!
Just when I thought Toon Disney was going down the drain with Dragon Booster marathons, new (and terrible) seasons of Power Rangers, and, as I like to call it, "Rerun Central"--where they play a selection of already-seen episodes from original Disney Channel cartoons (and some that once were there since, like, the 90's but then canceled and revived) and seen-way-too-much movies, a new show came along: Yin Yang Yo! It came off to a rather bad start--it premiered with a marathon that repeated the first two-to-four episodes for what was literally the whole day (twenty-four hours!)--but once it found its rightful spot on Mondays at 7:30 Eastern time (and occasionally repeating from time to time), all peace had returned to the hours-long cartoon block that was Jetix.
But after watching the trailers, some might ask, "What is this show about? Bunnies doing Kung-Fu and magic?" Really, it pretty much is what it's about, once you strip it down to the basics. But believe me, it's actually much more than that. Much, MUCH more. The story starts with two eleven-year-old rabbits, respectively named Yin and Yang for their opposite sexes and personalities, who are not only twins, but are two of the last "Woo-Foo" warriors--the third being an old and grouchy panda named Yo. Carrying on: the twins are still learning, though their skills gradually grow faster by the day, and in the meantime, they (though mostly Yang, the aggressive, sword-wielding brother) learn moral lessons to carry on in life. Yo, their mentor, despite appearances, was actually a very adroit and powerful Woo-Foo warrior in his days. But Yo's days were long gone since Yo's last climatic battle years ago, and now the trio's style of martial arts are taunted and laughed at. And as if all this wasn't enough of an impact on Yin and Yang, they also have to fight various--and hilariously eccentric--bad guys, from the threatening alter-ego Yuck to their arch-nemesis, Carl the evil cockroach. But no matter what the situation, their adventures (and misadventures?) are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud or raise an eyebrow and say, "Huh?"! As for flaws, there are barely any, except for maybe Carl's and the Night Master's (?) jokes--most of them just aren't that funny. In addition, a number of the remaining in general might come off as crude or offensive (can you say, "Hot-looking Feminist", anyone?). And some of the audience might have mixed feelings about Kyle Massey singing the theme song.
But despite all (minor?) flaws, Yin Yang Yo! is actually a show WORTH watching.
My Rating: 9.5/10 (rounded to the nearest whole number)
The Emperor's New School (2006)
Old Jokes, New School
After reading several reviews, both good and bad, but mostly bad, about this show, they all brought up four things: Kuzco's and Pacha's voices sound different, most of the jokes are basically rips from the movie, The Emperor's New Groove, the plot of the episodes are almost repeats of each other, and the theme song is terrible. I noticed the latter pair of these, and confirmed that as The Emperor's New School's biggest flaws.
In case you hadn't seen the show yet, here's the basic plot: in order to become Emperor (in what I'm guessing looks like ancient Mayan territory), Kuzco must go to Kuzco Academy and pass all the class assignments. But the one obstacle in his way is, if you've seen the movie that started it all, Yzma, disguising as the principal of the school, but still with the lovable oaf that is Kronk. In each episode, Yzma tries to make Kuzco fail, many times by transforming him into animals, Kuzco attempts to, fails, succeeds, and learns a lesson from the assignment given, Malina (New School-exclusive character) makes the most sense out of the trio (her, Kronk, and, of course, Kuzco); in the meantime, the jokes of wrong levers, bug and monkey, squirrel talking, shoulder devils and angels, and Yzma/Amzy ensue. Also, Kuzco acts more spoiled and a lot dumber in the series than in the movies.
And just to talk about the theme song. At first, I thought the same exact thing as everyone else. But once I saw a few more episodes, the song got stuck in my head sometimes, though not in the best way. Unfortunately, because of it, the show loses an extra point from the grade I originally intended to give it.
But despite the repetition of jokes, they're not ALL quite the same. Some of the best original humor, while still with that Emperor-esquire flavor, happen during the credits, though the series didn't start the trend until slightly later episodes (about half a month to two months after the first airing). Also, I didn't find the voice acting as bad as most of the reviewers here said; in fact, I didn't even notice.
Still, even with some of the good points, there's still enough bad ones to weigh it down quite a bit. But I enjoyed the two movies enough to at least watch it on an occasional basis. This show's more likely to hit big fans rather than everyone.
My original rating: 7/10 My new (and final) rating: 5/10
Invader ZIM (2001)
A great show with a dark side to it
Released during the 2000-2001 year (sometime months before the September 11th attacks), Invader Zim was a Nickelodeon cartoon that had the highest average target audience, age-wise--while most of the shows on the channel aimed for ages 6-12, Zim reached towards the teenagers! But after two rather short seasons, the show was canceled, most likely due to the controversy it caused and the censorship beforehand; it then was aired again, this time on Nick's alternative channel, Nicktoons Network, which airs cartoons old and new, as well as some exclusively.
But onto the plot: Zim, a very short alien from a race called the Irken, quits his banishment in order to participate in Operation Impending Doom II, an operation in which Irken "Invaders" are sent individually to conquer various planets. Hoping to get Zim out of their tails, the Tallest (the Irken leaders; they are called this because height represents superiority in their planet) send him to a "secret mission"--later found out to be Earth. While on Earth, Zim and his cute-but-dumb robot sidekick, GIR, don crude disguises, attempt many times to conquer the planet, fight against Dib the paranormal-obsessed kid, get lost in the city, take over Christmas, replace kids' organs with foreign objects, eat waffles, and overall commit chaos and/or hilarity in every episode.
And the music--the MUSIC--is worth listening to as you watch it, even for a TV show! The sound can either be music with a slightly "war-like" or "dark" theme to it, or it can be simple sounds meant for an added effect, sometimes of suspense. The animation has to be some of the best in the business, ranging from simple movements to lip-sync to the cel-shade-esquire spaceships. As for humor, this is where some might debate over; it's basically dark, random, or both of the above, and since no two snowflakes are alike, not everyone is bound to find it above the level of "just plain weird".
Despite all surrounding controversy and whatnot, Invader Zim is indeed one of the top shows--if not THE number one show--in the history of modern television.
My rating: 10/10
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005)
Not so "Suite" after some time.
Believe it or not, I actually used to watch Suite Life on a semi-regular basis. Well, actually, I'd say more of a quarter-of-regular basis. Even then, it's not great enough for an obsessive-ish, "I must see every single episode of this" schedule in my daily TV life.
But before I go on to the pros and cons of the series, let me tell you what it's about. It's about these two twins, Dylan and Cole, who live in a hotel and do--guess what?--mayhem! Meanwhile, there's their mother, who sings part-time in the hotel, Esteban, the Hispanic-esquire luggage-carrier/bellboy, Arwin, the awkwardly eccentric engineer, London, rich and pretty daughter of the hotel owner, Moseby, the uptight manager, and Maddie, the blonde-but-smart candy counter clerk--all of them get wrapped up in the twins' mischiefs somehow.
*** Now for the positive aspects of the show: some--note, SOME--of the jokes are decent, particularly because of London's lack of intellect. And just to list the characters (don't know most of the actors' names, so stick with me here) in the show who shows a decent amount of acting skill: Moseby, Esteban, Maddie, London, the twins' mom, and pretty much all of the extras on the show.
And here come the actors who CAN'T ACT: Arwin, and, arguably, Dylan and Cole themselves. Along with the main characters being unable to act well, a large chunk of the jokes come off as corny, mean, inappropriate for younger children, and/or just plain awful! Not to mention the fact that the morals in almost every episode are similar--if not the same thing all over again, and the show's so unrealistic, it probably wouldn't work even in cartoon form.
Overall, the show is so-so, but nothing more.
My rating: 4.5/10 (rounded to the nearest whole number)
Hannah Montana (2006)
Better than the commercials make it!
Since the 2001-2002 year, Disney started to release shows targeting the audiences between ages 7-14; the first few shows, like That's So Raven and Kim Possible, were absolute hits. But once it hit 2004, the quality of the channel swirled down the drain, and only a handful of shows were worth watching. As if it couldn't get any worse, shows like Naturally, Sadie, Phil of the Future, and Suite Life of Zack and Cody (the only one of the three mentioned that I watch on a close-to-regular basis) aired, and tween- and teenage kids actually LOVED them! A decent portion, if not most, of those older than the targeted age mentally or literally gagged at how "low" Disney had come, just to make profit off of these so-called "kiddie shows".
But then there was a light--a spotlight, in particular. "Oh, no! Is it the doubly pop-star sequel to the 'cheeta-licious' Cheetah Girls? The overly-aired High School Musical? Life of Derek?!?" Then, a sigh of relief (or exasperation). "It's just another wannabe pop/rock star," one might think as they watch the preview trailers and commercials.
"Hannah" enters the stage, and then the show begins...
*** The more straightforward plot of the series is this: Miley Cyrus, a country-style girl, becomes rock star Hannah Montana, simply by wearing a blonde wig and entering the stage. (Exactly how she's fooling anyone that way is beyond me.) She also has a father, Billy Ray Cyrus, with a sharp wit, and a brother, Jackson, who is... well, himself. Besides her family, she also confides her secret (that she's a famous singer) to Lily (who, in some situations, wears a lavender wig and is dubbed "Lola"), cheerful though not too smart, and later to Oliver, who once was in love with Hannah Montana before he found her out. And just to sum it all up here, she (and sometimes Jackson) get(s) into all kinds of chaotic situations and misadventures with her friends and peers as she deals with everyday--and not-so-everyday--life.
*** Anyways, Hannah Montana, while it does hold some similar elements to Disney Channel's other "original" shows and movies, it has a special trait that most of the competition from the same channel doesn't have--a decent sense of humor. Mainly comprised of insults or comebacks amongst peers and close relatives, along with physical and more visual humor, Hannah's jokes are the type that aren't always laugh-out-loud funny to an older audience, but are just enough to make a smug smirk and a good chuckle at them.
My rating: 7/10