The Great Muppet Caper (1981) Review:

Jim Henson is probably the most widely recognized puppeteer in recent memory. He’s the initiator of franchises like Sesame Street and The Muppets which has led to countless episodes featuring all kinds of celebrities and characters. Even without him, the concepts have lived on extending further and further into the next generation. Of course this would not have happened if it weren’t for Henson’s creative spirit and fortitude. Despite the success of The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie (1979), not everything was on the up and up. Specifically, this movie did not perform financially as well as the other film. Surprisingly, there seemed to be a number of parts to this feature that didn’t exactly land as well as the first movie. It’s also hard to say why this is the case.

Especially when the person heading the execution is the creator himself, Jim Henson. The story is about Kermit, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo looking to make a movie where they investigate a mystery of a stolen jewel. Along the way, they run into their usual cast of goofy side characters as well as a few familiar faces. The person who owns the jewel is Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg) and her brother Nicky Holiday (Charles Grodin). The thing is, it’s made very clear from the start that this is to be a movie so all characters know their role…sort of. The script was written by Jerry Juhl, who worked on the first film and show, along with Tom Patchett, Jay Tarses and Jack Rose who were writers to various comedian shows. The unfortunate thing is, a story doesn’t feel like it exists here.

The plot is explained at the beginning but then after that the engagement just seems to end. Unlike the first movie where it was about how Kermit found his way to Hollywood meeting all the characters fans came to love and know. Which was good origin story of sorts. There’s no indication if this movie is a continuation of the first or if it’s just some offshoot of a story. That’s also because it comes down to the movie’s tone feeling too meta. The Muppet series was known for breaking the fourth wall with its audience, but here it’s done to the point where it’s hard to tell if the characters are actually in any danger. This also tends to make the comedic scenes less funny because the audience isn’t as invested as they should be.

The acting from all muppet formers is still good though. Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Steve Whitmire and the rest all perform flawlessly with their roles. Among the main cast there’s also the random appearances of cameos of a young John Cleese, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov and Jack Warden. As for the main live action cast, Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg are not that interesting. They can act, but their characters are quite dull compared to the rest of individuals, despite them taking more importance. Diana Rigg has had multiple credits but this is probably her most mainstream credit. Charles Grodin on the other hand has a role in King Kong (1976) and would later play a role Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven’s 2^nd (1993). The visuals are on the plus side though. Firstly, the special and practical effects are all handled nicely. What was depicted in the first movie, is done here as well competently.

The next step in was shown where the crew films the puppets under water which obviously sounds quite challenging. Shooting behind the camera was Oswald Morris, the same guy who has credits to Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and The Wiz (1978). This was actually his second to last film credit but it still holds up. The shots capture the right things and conceals the effects for complete realism. Lastly the music was a sad misstep too. Instead of Paul Williams or Kenny Ascher, the team had Joe Raposo step in, which is actually not a bad choice. But for whatever reason, Raposo’s compositions just didn’t hook right. Having worked with Henson for many years it would seem like the proper pick. There is an album to hear all this and instrumental score sounds fine, but the songs don’t quite make it.

It is strange how steep the entertainment factor drops on the second movie. The camerawork, acting and effects all remain up there but the music, comedy and most importantly story seems to miss the mark.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (1993) Review:

With all the set of films to come out of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z TV shows, very few of the features completely lined up with the show. Whether that be by release date or chronologically based where the feature took place compared to the other stories, there was always one or two parts that separated the features from the show. There’s only a couple of movies that actually make sense which are Bardock: The Father of Goku (1990) and Dead Zone (1989). The reason is that one fit between a show change and the other served as context to how the whole franchise began. As for this feature, it happens to have this to its advantage but in a different sort of way, even if it is still because of timing lining up correctly.

This story focuses on exactly what the title states. Trunks (Eric Vale) the son of Bulma (Tiffany Vollmer) and Vegeta (Chris Sabat) is in a future where he grew up in fear as Dr. Gero’s Androids 17 (Chuck Huber) and 18 (Meredith McCoy) caused chaos in destruction across Earth. Learning to fight by his mentor Gohan (Dameon Clarke) all grown up, he learns that perhaps he can fix his future in another way. Directed once again by the usual Daisuke Nishio and now with Yoshihiro Ueda, this feature at least can be seen as exactly as what it is in terms of story lineup. The screenplay was written by Hiroshi Toda who also worked on the show and adapted by Neil Bligh who worked on the previous features.

The reason why this movie works within the shows episodes, is that it’s described here like in the show itself. Trunks came from another parallel timeline to warn his loved ones that if they didn’t try to prevent Goku from dying, their future would be like his own. With that said, this basically serves as another background story which expands the universe of this franchise. There is not one character out of place that shouldn’t be displayed here. It is a little sad though as for those who know the franchise, Trunks going to another timeline only sets off another sequence of events that causes even more chaos and destruction. Why can’t more of the specials and features made in this franchise be more like this? It just makes the stories that much more connected.

Voice performances from the cast are as great as always. Another change in pace for this feature is that Sean Schemmel is not the main lead here like he always is. This time, Eric Vale as Trunks takes center stage. Vale who got his start as the world martial arts tournament announcer now takes a first lead as Vegeta’s son. Voicing alongside him is Dameon Clarke as older Gohan, which is ironic being that Clarke would be better known Cell, Dr. Gero’s ultimate creation, which young Gohan would end up fighting in the other timeline. There’s also Chuck Huber as Android 17 and Meredith McCoy as Android 18 respectively making those characters their own. McCoy actually got her start in the series as Launch. And lastly one of the voice actresses who was at the beginning was Tiffany Vollmer as Bulma, now just playing an older version of herself set in the future.

The visual look of this anime feature is about the same as the others. Since it was release in the 1990s, it has a very distinct style many would recognize. Surprisingly this time there was no cinematographer which is fine. The music on the other hand is another weird dated mix of music from the time that doesn’t belong. Instead of Shunsuke Kikuchi’s score, the background music has songs from mainly Dream Theater, Triprocket, Neck Down, Slaughter and even Bootsy Collins teaming up with Buckethead. The main title was composed by Andy Baylor but none of these tracks really sound right. Whoever thought these were even remotely decent choices made a fairly large miscalculation. Thankfully a later release of this did contain the original musical score, but it shouldn’t take a re-release for that to happen.

Really the music is the only component that is improperly utilized in this film. The array of artists can’t substitute for the original composer. The animation, voice acting and even continuity are well put in place.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Bartok the Magnificent (1999) Review:

Continuations or further explorations of stories whether fictional or non-fictional can be a thought provoking concept. Normally, when this involves a side character becoming a main character it can be a high risk low reward effort. Side characters are meant for support or to be somewhat of a foil to either the protagonist or antagonist. They’re the ones that might be commenting on, asking or just plain making fun of decisions other characters make. For the movie of Anastasia (1997), this was more or less the role of Bartok the bat who hung alongside Rasputin. Weirdly though, after that film was released it was confirmed that Bartok was a popular enough character where they gave him his own movie. It is not bad but definitely doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Written by Jay Lacopo which was his first major film credit, tells the story of how Bartok got his full moniker. At a time before the Bolshevik revolution, Bartok the bat (Hank Azaria) was just an ordinary traveling street performer. Accompanied by Zozi (Kelsey Grammer), an anthropomorphic well-educated bear, the two are making ends meet by giving the townsfolk some entertainment, but this was just a stop for him. One night after the prince (Phillip Van Dyke) is kidnapped by the mystical witch Baba Yaga (Andrea Martin), the prince’s right hand royal advisor Ludmilla (Catherine O'Hara) asks Bartok to help rescue the prince. Topping it off, director’s Don Bluth and Gary Goldman return to direct their very own story continuation to the original Anastasia (1997). So it would seem like the pieces are aligned right? Not really.

Lacopo’s writing is probably the weakest element here and not so much of timelines making sense. The story is more like a backstory of Bartok’s origins, but it’s at a very surface level context. It’s one thing to introduce new characters but there should be a reason as to where they end up later. For example, Zozi the bear is funny to watch but there’s nothing showing where the character ends up or where they went in Anastasia (1997). The same could be said for others like Baba Yaga or Piloff (Jennifer Tilly), the witch’s companion. There not even a real understanding how Bartok even found his way to Rasputin where he’s introduced in Anastasia (1997). It just a bit of an odd side story that doesn’t make a full connection to the main story.

One plus side to this feature is that the run time is only one-hour long. This makes sense because it can be difficult to make a full length feature film on a side character having an all-out adventure of their own. So in case the viewer wants to finish watching but worries about the story reaching blockbuster runtimes of two and a half hours. The voice acting is also a commendable part of this film. Hank Azaria returning as Bartok is certainly needed as it would be odd having this spinoff film without him. It’s kind of weird to see Andrea Martin and Kelsey Grammer return to the franchise they belong to but as other characters. It is also fun to hear other voice actors like Diedrich Bader, Jennifer Tilly and even Tim Curry who is surprisingly not the villain.

Catherine O’Hara is also an interesting choice seeing that she doesn’t do that many voice roles. She was in Pippi Longstocking (1997) prior and went on to play voice roles in Chicken Little (2005) and Monster House (2006). Visually for a direct-to-video animated movie, the look is still very good compared to some of Disney’s early outsourced direct-to-video sequels. However, there are still some blatant animation issues in some scenes where movements are either choppy or almost completely static and it doesn’t look good. Lastly the musical score was composed by Stephen Flaherty. Mainly known for coming up with the songs to Anastasia, he was given full control over the instrumental side too which sounds very much like it belongs to the score composed by David Newman. No score exists sadly but it’s interesting to know that Flaherty was also the person behind Disney’s first two High School Musical films.

This isn’t a bad film by any means but the product doesn’t show a reason why it should exist other than if the viewer loves Bartok no holds bar. The music, voice acting and run time are decent but there’s some animation issues and the story doesn’t make total sense.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13 (1992) Review:

Expanding ideas and developing them further can give a storyteller quite an advantage for their audiences. Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z franchise alone had given the main character Goku way more depth than the original Dragon Ball anime was able to provide. From originally just being a random super strong martial artist, to an alien race that had ties to intergalactic space lords is one heck of an extension. However, this wasn’t the end of how much impact this protagonist had on his universe. When the Saiyan/Namek/Frieza sagas had finished, the next layer to come about was the indestructible androids built by the late Dr. Gero. Little did anyone realize the doctor had ties to a piece of Goku’s past once thought was eradicated; the Red Ribbon Army. Now a whole new dimension of evil was being revealed to fans of the franchise.

Written by Takao Koyama who also penned for other Dragon Ball Z films, the story shows the mad scientist’s Androids 13, 14 and 15 take on the job of killing Goku. Leave it to Goku and his friends to be hanging out, only to be dragged into fending off the killer robots when they appear. The premise builds on the concept that Dr. Gero had built many androids in his time to finish off Goku but did not get the chance to activate them until much later. This indeed was true as in the Dragon Ball anime, Goku’s first encounter with Gero’s creations was Android 8. However, in the Dragon Ball Z anime, the only androids to appear first was 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. The other three were never mentioned, which is okay if the placement in timeline worked. But alas, it doesn’t again here either.

Not even with the English workover from Neil Bligh or execution from the regular Daisuke Nishio could really make this fit in any way and it’s for the usual reasons. In this particular film entry, Dr. Gero is sent off the same way as told in the anime however who witnessed it is totally different from each other. Additionally, Goku and Vegeta are taking part in this story. In the anime Goku suffered from a fatal heart condition while fighting Android 19. So if this story lined up, it would fit sometime in between if Goku had recovered. At the same time though, it doesn’t fit in with the way the sendoff of Dr. Gero is depicted. It is really baffling why these stories always have one or two things off about them that do not allow them to fit in perfectly.

This doesn’t take away the quality of the voice acting though. Again as always the English Funimation dub consisting mainly of Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, Stelphanie Nadolny and Sonny Strait all do great. The new additional voices for Trunks (Eric Vale), Android 14 (Chris Rager), Android 15 (Josh Martin) and Android 13 (Phillip Wilburn) also do a great job. Chris Rager’s first major role was in Dragon Ball as Major Metallitron, a knockoff look of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Josh Martin’s first role was also in Dragon Ball as Commander Red, head of the Red Ribbon Army. Phillip Wilburn’s first role is from this film and as his first work, it sounds fine. Eric Vale who also started in Dragon Ball plays his first major role as Vegeta’s son his performance is appreciated too.

The one surprising thing is that this is the first Dragon Ball Z film that can be heard where the villain says they would kick someone’s ash*. Where did that come from? Cursing was never a thing in this franchise. The animation looks good too, as usual it has that classic 90s anime style most fans love. There was also cinematography credit to Toshiharu Takei but again that’s not totally clear why. Lastly for the musical score, Mark Menza was contracted to rescore the entire film instead of using the available music composition from Shunsuke Kikuchi. It seems producers felt a new musical touch was needed when clearly this was not needed. Menza’s music continues to suffice for an overlay composition but Kikuchi’s will remain the best no matter the case. Menza’s music though is much better than placing an outdated soundtrack on the movie instead.

Weirdly enough, some cursing was permitted in this feature and continuity as to where the story lines up still doesn’t fit. The animation, voice acting, music and deepening layers of the protagonist’s impact on others still make the story entertaining to watch.

Points Earned -->6:10