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Capone Goes Underground With ARTHUR & THE INVISIBLES!!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
I’ll see this one, and I’ll probably even see it in the theater. It is, after all, a Luc Besson film, an increasingly rare commodity these days. I’m jealous of Ravvy and Quint seeing ANGEL-A at Sundance, but I figure I’ll get my shot at that one soon enough.
For now, what I want to know is whether I’ll be taking Toshi to see ARTHUR & THE INVISIBLES with me, or if this is one for Besson completists only. Capone?
Hey, all. Capone in Chicago here.
Although he has written and produced dozens of films in the last few years, it's tough to believe that France's Luc Besson hasn't directed a film since 1999's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. However, in just the first quarter of this year, Besson will be releasing two films in the United States, and if we are to believe what he says, they will be his last as a director. Due in March, Angel-A seems as if it will be more like Besson's traditional sexy, slick, high energy works (like La Femme Nikita, Leon: The Professional, and The Fifth Element). But today we get a very different kind of Besson film: his first truly family-friendly work, one that mixes live action and digital animation in a wholly glorious and thrilling way.
Based on the wildly popular children's book Arthur and the Minimoys, Besson's film features Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as Arthur, who has been left at his grandparents' home because his parents are in the "big city" working very hard to make much needed money. Arthur's grandfather is long missing, as he was prone to disappear on long adventures all over the world for months or years at a time. His patient wife and Arthur's grandmother (Mia Farrow) has been trying to make ends meet around the homestead, but some greedy real estate developers are on the verge of seizing the property unless a major mortgage payment is made. Arthur's grandfather has left clues all over the house for the boy to find and transport him to a new and microscopic world right under their home. By doing this, Arthur hopes to find a long-rumored stash of rubies that his father hid there years earlier.
Once Arthur gets small, things really start to pick up. He meets the elf-like creatures that live under the earth and joins forces with them to fight a bunch of tiny bad guys and retrieve the treasure. Robert De Niro voices the king of the Minimoys, and his warrior princess daughter (Madonna) and useless son (Jimmy Fallon) join Arthur on his quest. Also offering vocal talents to the mix are Harvey Keitel, Chazz Palminteri, Emilio Estevez, Jason Bateman, Anthony Anderson, the Corddroy brothers (Rob and Nathan), and Snoop Dogg. Perhaps the best guest vocalist on hand is David Bowie as the villainous wizard Maltazard.
Sure the Minimoys bear an uncanny resemblance to those wild-haired trolls you used to stick on the ends of your pencils, but that makes them lovable. Hey, at least this isn't another animated feature in which we're at the mercy of some talking animal or another for the umpteenth time. There's a level of creativity and adventure here that reminded me of the works of Miyazaki (in feeling only, not look). Would I have liked it as much were it by anyone other than Besson? Certainly, especially after sitting through such dreck as Happily N'Ever After last week. Fortunately, Besson peppers throughout the film, a few choice adult moments that will probably fly right over kids' heads (hopefully). Arthur and the Invisibles is technically a 2006 release (to qualify for Oscar consideration), and it fits nicely in with some of the quality stuff we got last year, like Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, and Monster House. There's no pandering here, just solid good times and adventure.
Capone
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You know it.
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this movie looks terrible, luc besson is an arrogant excuse for a film maker, still riding the wave of his one good film, the professional.
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and Besson stops directing once and for all.
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Never fail to astonish me. You guys are still waiting for Angel-A when it's out on DVD here this month. If you're really expecting something of the quality of Leon, then you're going to be disappointed.
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Not to knock Capone or anything, but this didn't really tell me a whole lot about the film other than plot. And to say it fits in with other movies like "Over the Hedge" and "Monster House" is disappointing. Not because those are bad, but because this could have been really good.
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The film has less then 75% animation in it's running time. So a nomination isn't possible, was posted on cartoonbrew few days ago.
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Do they think American kids won't grasp the term "Minimoys"?
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it's a real game, look it up and weep.
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Went to a screening in London with my daughter and she LOVED it, although I felt it was a tad too young for her/ Ideally, I think it's intended for under-tens. As for me? I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Biggest shock at the end was discovering the (hot) babe was voiced by Madonna!!
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I got so small one time I crawled inside the old Electrolux.
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Because he sucks. David Bowie should use his Guild of Calamitous Intent connections and make him go away.
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Get ready for the homo-superior!
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Final Combat - quite good, haven't seen it in years. Subway - seemed interesting, can't really judge it as it was dubbed and pan & scan when I saw it. The Big Blue - fucking great, but the drastically edited US version that still turns up on cable sometimes is far inferior, DVD is uncut. La Femme Nikita - classic. Atlantis - never saw it. Leon The Professional - classic. Fifth Element - OK until Chris Tucker shows up and expertly delivers a performance so annoying I have to turn it off because I can't take it. The Messenger/Joan of Arc - who farted? And I'm quite fond of Luc's re-invention of himself as the bastard child of Joel Silver and Raymond Chow, keeping a steady stream of surprisingly enjoyable action exports coming. The sooner we get TRANSPORTER 3 and TAXI 4, the better.
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to make Grant Morrison's The Invisibles into a movie.....eh...on second thought they'd just fuck it up.
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I'm taking the kidlet to see this. Looks pretty fun. Wish they had this shit when I was a kid.
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My 9yr old daughter saw the commercials for this and for some reason flat out said she did not want to see it. If anyone has taken their kids did they enjoy it? I also have a 6yr old daughter, is this something this age would enjoy?
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Invisible characters transformed into little pixie fucks. Grant Morrison is spinning in his grave.
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Love that record. Haven't heard it in years. "Retained the shape of a vacuum cleaner for weeks."
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I don't know what movie Capone saw
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And it`s something for an open minded adults/kids alike ,
and those who haven`t seen it ,
See then make your judgment .
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I'll admit that I enjoyed the majority of this film - it did have some Animaniacs-style adult elements to it that I found funny. Also, the animation is GORGEOUS and completely original, although sometimes the action scenes were a little video-gamey. But the plot - GOOD LORD, are they fuckin' planning on having about six sequels? I recall hearing how the playright Chekov once said, that if a dueling pistol is placed on the mantlepiece in the first act, it damn well better be shot by the third - and THIS SHOULD APPLY TO VILLAIN MONOLOGUES! The Evil M has this giant monologue-infodump scene where he details his sad, mistreated past and how a kiss from a Princess could return him to normal, and THE GODDAMN KISS NEVER HAPPENS! Fuck, the movie had a big villain-redemption setup that it did not capitalise off of, so it was quite anticlimactic at the end. I guess kids might not be familiar with Chekov's theory though, so they'll probably adore it. Even with the shitty ending, I liked it. Great visuals, but seriously - don't start shit that you can't finish!
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This movie was horrible. The whole scene with Snoop Dog could have been cut out and the scenes before and after still would have flowed together smoothly.
The live action part at the beginning was pretty good. It actually gave me hope for the film to be a good family movie. But once things went animated it was a cluster BEEP.
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so Angel-A is gonna be his last film? Guess that means we wont be getting "Matilda"...thanks. Hope we get a Transporter 3 too but they need to shape up afer part 2. wasnt nearly as god as the first
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I had to review this and this fucking sucked. Fuck this movie. I now hate Luc Besson.
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