Movies can have a huge impact on audiences--children and even adults. I am disappointed with the most recent movies that have been animated and aimed toward children. Not that all the movies that I'd grown up with were top quality, but this year has been kind of a disaster for animated movies, only a few of them memorable in anyway.
"Ice Age" was just another grab for money from a studio who started out with a good idea but have since made way too many sequels. Just like "Shrek," it all feels too "familiar."
"Finding Dory" was the sequel to a movie that came out 13 years ago. Yes, you read that right. "Finding Nemo" came out in 2003. While this doesn't present an immediate problem, it raises up a red flag. Who was the audience of this movie? Was it a new generation of fans or the generation that grew up watching "Finding Nemo?" It was also exceedingly slow paced. I find it hard to believe that a young child would be able to watch it without becoming bored. Another downside was that they used the exact same jokes as they had in the previous movie. It brought nothing new to the table.
"Kung Fu Panda 3" was the first "Kung Fu" Panda movie except slightly different. "The Secret Life of Pets" was Ok. In my opinion, it was far longer than it needed to be. As it stood, the movie was a whopping one hour and thirty minutes, but it felt like it dragged on for forever and a half. One of the scenes, about maybe half way through the movie, felt like some sort of strange drug induced crack fest, and that's not even an exaggeration. I've talked to several people who have seen the movie, and they agree that it was just weird. The movie would have been better if it was half the time and the characters were less irritating. It just felt forced.
"Angry Birds" was cute, but felt like a long commercial to play the video game.
Now, the only other big animated movie that has come out this year was "Zootopia." I don't even know where to begin with that movie. The animation was stunning. They had animals that were correct sizes. No mice that were bigger and no elephants that had been shrunk. It also tackled real life issues. Several of them! How many kids movies can actually say they addressed as many social issues that "Zootopia" did? Tokenism, racial problems and social reforms - how many kids movies can say they did that? Plus, it has the added benefit of having relatable characters and was evenly paced. All in all, I believe "Zootopia" was the best animated movie aimed toward children and adults alike.
Movies are only good if they keep an audience interested, and should strive to stay fresh.
