One-Hundred-And-One Dalmatians

Weirdly, I was never a massive fanatic of '101 Dalmatians' when I was younger, despite the film being stereotyped for a younger audience. I wasn't even that bothered about purchasing the DVD, but I couldn't resist upon seeing the Platinum Edition. I got the disc on Monday. It is now Friday. I have seen this film once every day for five days. I don't think that's happened to me with any other film. That's how good this film is.

From the minute Pongo starts narrating, you know it's something special. It begins with such a distinct sense of character, wit and some slight humour, and this is carried on through the first few sections. You see up from the introductions to Pongo and Roger until when Pongo, Roger, Perdita and Anita are going for a walk when the puppies are asleep, the film follows such a happy, carefree motion, rather reminiscent of the likes of 'The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh' and 'My Neighbour Totoro'.

Then this changes to a more sinister motion, but no matter how much you were enjoying the previous motion, you won't mind, because this adds yet more wit and humour to the film, as well as sets an awesome plot for Pongo and Perdita to follow. It introduces action and adventure to the film, and is totally beneficial. This adventure allows us to meet a variety of truly unforgettable characters. I am incredibly overjoyed with the epic Sergeant Tibbs, and the Colonel is pretty cool too.

The antagonists are also awesome. At first you'll think Cruella DeVil is just a side villain, a minor setback, like Kaa from 'The Jungle Book' and Boba Fett from 'Star Wars'. However, certain scenes prove her to be a really epic villain. She is portrayed with such an evil obsession that you can't help but leap back when the camera zooms in on her freaky, unreal eyes. And these scenes are just small examples of the brilliance of others. Every scene here - particularly the ones with Sergeant Tibbs and the Colonel in them - are totally amazing to watch, and evidently, to hear, as well.

Although the soundtrack isn't something you'd want to listen to without an on-screen divertion, it certainly compliments the film extremely well. While some things like 'Cruella DeVil' are awesome songs, you'll likely be more impressed by how well the audio fits in with the on-screen action. There is such distinct attention to detail that you can't help but ponder how much effort has gone into this film.

'101 Dalmatians' treats its viewers in every single aspect, and is something you will be able to watch over and over and over again. Films don't come much better, and with the limited edition (and they really mean limited edition) Platinum Edition just become available, it is something which should be purchased without hesitation.

Five Out Of Five.

3:10 To Yuma

Referring back to my review of 'Ratatouille', I mentioned cowboys as one of those undeniably awesome things which make something amazing. No doubt all that rootin'in' and tootin'in' has gotten me desperate for some wild western action, and while 'Toy Story' is all fine and well, I'd be much more intrigued by something a bit more sophisticated.

'3:10 To Yuma' is exactly what I needed. Forget the fact that there are cowboys in it. This film has such an epic storyline, excellent fight scenes and character development. As in proper character development. It's not like when Nemo's like "I don't hate you dad" or when Hercules wants to stay with Megara all of a sudden. Those happen too quickly to be notable. In '3:10 To Yuma' you can literally see the characters developing every inch between when the film starts and ends.

The most obvious example is the film's main antagonist, Ben Wade. His changed are very blatant, although I won't spoil it. Dan Evans and his son also experience dramatic changes, the latter changing from a stuck-up git to somebody a bit more likable. This impressive character development compliments the excellent storyline. Outlaw Ben Wade manages to get himself captured where he is sentenced to a public hanging, and is accompanied by poverty-strucken rancher Dan Evans and various other associates as he is escorted to the 3:10 train to Yuma.

Tailing Ben Wade's captors are his band of the most rootin'est, tootin'est cowboys in the wild west (excluding Woody). The fierce pursuit multiplies the initial outstanding danger tenfold and certainly increased my overall impressions of the film. As far as cowboy films go, '3:10 To Yuma' is a stunner, not only in the aforementioned storyline and character development, but also in the action. Being a film which is very cruel to its protagonists (arguably, though, it values its antagonists, although this is really just to make one of the best endings ever made), you never know what is going to happen when somebody has immediate access to a gun.

Sadly, '3:10 To Yuma' suffers scenes which one might dub 'tedious'. These sections are few and far between, but they are there, they are annoying and they are problematic. Thanks to a few slip-ups, I see it impossible to award '3:10 To Yuma' anything beyond four stars, something I can only apologise for, as in its own right, '3:10 To Yuma' has enough positive aspects to rival these negatives, just not enough to overshadow...

Four Out Of Five.

Ratatouille

There are some things in life which are too epic to be comared with anything else. These things are, and I'm sure legions of others shall agree with me: pirates, cowboys, ghosts, zombies, monkeys, bunny rabbits, chocolate milk, flying monkeys, giant insects, giant arachnids, dinosaurs, chickens, wizards, bears, penguins, robots, aliens, and a few others besides. 'Ratatouille' doesn't contain any of these, but Pixar have just added another memorable, least-likely member to this list. Rats.

'Ratatouille' is about a Norwegian rat named Remy who has a highly-developed sense of taste and smell, and wishes to become a fine chef. However, him being a rat and all, not many people are interested in allowing a rat into their kitchens. At least not anybody I know (excepting me). Enter Linguini, a French garbage-boy who is accidentally bumped into the concept of cooking for Gusteau's restaurant.

Linguini discovers that Remy, who has very recently lost his family, can cook and understands humans, and so they combine their advantages together (Remy being an excellent cook and Linguini being able to appear human) to become the heart of one of both Pixar's and 2007's best films. 'Ratatouille' is unique and significant and charming and visually-stunning and well-written with an awesome concept and excellent musical score.

With the DVD/BRD of 'Ratatouille' comes two very enjoyable short films, 'Lifted' and 'Your Friend The Rat'. The awesome alien comedy 'Lifted' won't mean much to you if you have the first volume of the 'Pixar Short Films Collection', but the 'Ratatouille' spin-off 'Your Friend The Rat' is just as epic. Not only does it manage to be humourous, but also very educational and interesting and boasts an awesome song at the end titled 'We'll Follow You To Mars', a compilation which is hard to come by these days.

If you're a fanatic of Pixar's feature-length portfolio, 'Ratatouille' is pretty much essential and if you liked the 'Pixar Short Films Collection' then 'Your Friend The Rat' is a satisfactory addition. There's nothing which screams perfection like 'Ratatouille', a tradition which appears to have been realised since 'The Adventures Of Andre & Wally B.' all those years ago. And don't forget to look out for some past (and future) Pixar film references in both the feature-length film and the two short films.

Five Out Of Five.

Resident Evil: Extinction

I must admit I approached this film with extreme caution. I had heard too many times about the apparent rubbishness of 'Resident Evil: Extinction', with such comments as the fact it is unfaithful to the 'Resident Evil' game series. However, after watching the Blu-Ray version myself, I highly doubt that the director was intending to be faithful. Some games just aren't film material, so it would be common sense to alter a game franchise to benefit a licensed film, and the result in 'Resident Evil: Extinction's case is pretty damn fine.

It would appear that the 'Resident Evil' film franchise is critically doomed for all eternity, yet one can only wonder why. Besides some poor acting when it comes to the sinister Albert Wesker and over-awesomeness of the film's main protagonist, Alice (I know, it's weird), there are no wrongs I detected from the film. In fact, I'd say it was pretty bloody perfect. I thought it would be better than all the idiots abusing it who haven't seen it yet claimed it to be, but not really this good... particularly not for a licensed film.

One other negative point I noticed straight away about the film, and something which may have many Max Brooks obsessives in tears: 'Resident Evil: Extinction's T-virus zombies are not like 'The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From The Living Dead's or 'World War Z's Solanum and Voodoo zombies. However, the standard T-virus zombies are close to Max Brooks' descriptions, I'd say a combination of both species. A T-virus zombie hungers for human flesh, yet does not need it, and can last for several decades, much like the Solanum zombie. However, the rare T-virus zombie can be trained to do as a human instructs but does not need to have its brain destroyed to be killed, much like the Voodoo zombie.

While these flaws may prove disappointing to some fanatics of Mr. Brooks' undead literature, it is unlikely to be of any significance to anybody else. To anybody else, it's an excellent film with a solid storyline, epic action scenes and awesome characters. There are a good few action pieces throughout the film which the protagonists face, and many will be thankful to know that 'Resident Evil: Extinction' is not overly kind to its characters. There are very frequent and bloody deaths, a balanced share between good and evil. The characters are in as much danger as one would expect, but there are no ghosts of resurrection or fountains of youth or anything. These people are dead, and the film benefits highly from its own cruelty. Okay, there is an anti-virus, but goodness knows what happened to that.

In every scene Alice was in, I was extremely impressed. She is by far one of the coolest, epicest characters in the entire history of protagonism. Occasionally she's a little too awesome to prove believable and realistic, but she is still a mighty fine main character. She's not arrogant, but she's not weak. She's not unbeatable, but she's not stupid. She's not a lot of things, mostly negative adjectives.

'Resident Evil: Extinction' is a film worth watching. It's a film you must watch, actually. In fact, if you don't watch it, I will declare you a prejudiced Solanum-whore forever. It's that good. And don't get me started on the cliffhanger...

Five Out Of Five.