Miracle on 34th Street (1993) Review:

The concept of Santa Claus or Kriss Kringle is a lot like other holiday mascots. While there is historical information that an individual existed, it was the everlasting impact left behind that mattered. Adults convince children people like this exist so they have something to believe in. It is what the icon represents that should matter to the child when they grow up as an adult. It is what keeps the whole mythos alive and passes it down from generation to generation. If Santa were to exist though, it would certainly catch almost all grown adults off guard. And that’s exactly the premise for this story, which originally was filmed back in 1947, but was remade a few times more in TV releases and finally in the mid-90s.

The story is about Kriss Kringle (Richard Attenborough) living among the rest of us in day to day life. When the Christmas season comes along, the big man gets entangled in a legal matter forcing him to prove himself. Siding as his attorney is Bryan Bedford (Dylan McDermott), hoping to make a case a prove he is the real deal. Meanwhile, Ed Collins (J.T. Walsh) is hoping to disprove the whole thing playing the straight man to what seems like an absurd claim. Directing this feature was Les Mayfield in his second feature film debut. His first was Encino Man (1992). For tackling an oldie story and remaking it for a new era is not always easy but for Mayfield it seemed like things worked out well. Writing the screenplay for this remake goes to George Seaton, the original creator of the story and John Hughes the writer to The Breakfast Club (1985), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Home Alone (1990).

The premise itself is a wholesome one that again puts the entire concept of Kriss Kringle to the test. Court cases are always seen or thought of as boring. Yet Hollywood does a darn good job at making them look entertaining. Adding to that is the subplot about Bryan Bedford hoping to make a move on a crush of his Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) and her daughter Susan (Mara Wilson). In terms of execution, it is fairly apparent as to what the final conclusion will be but despite this, the viewing experience is fun and charming. While Richard Attenborough had been acting for decades, his best role to date had been from Jurassic Park (1993). Elizabeth Perkins and Dylan McDermott made a good couple and genuinely show good chemistry together.

Perkins was in the live-action Flintstones (1994) film the same year, while McDermott had been in the sci-fi horror Hardware (1990). J.T. Walsh as the prosecutor was again cast as a bad character like he usually is, just not as downright dirty. There’s even appearances from James Remar, Jane Leeves and even Robert Prosky as Judge Harper who oversees the court case. He also doesn’t believe in Santa. Then there’s Mara Wilson who won over several castings in her time with her beaming smile and upbeat attitude. Since her start in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Wilson had continued success even after this film with the release of Matilda (1996) and would take a long hiatus after Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000). Her performance here is cute as usual and doesn’t come across too annoyingly so.

The cinematography to this picture was decently shot too. Handled by Julio Macat, the production is well angled and lit correctly. Macat had also worked on Home Alone (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), A Walk to Remember (2002) and even Winnie the Pooh (2011). Finally, the musical score for this production was composed by Bruce Broughton. Known more for his western musical scores, seeing Broughton branch out into something a little more contemporary is a nice change in pace. Right from the beginning Broughton brings on the holiday feeling with bells and whimsical sounding strings. Coming off of cowboy themed movies like Silverado (1985) and Tombstone (1993), this album shows he is more than capable of creating music for other genres. 

As a remake of the original, the 90s version of this film can certainly holds its own. The cast are all credible actors, the cinematography is nice to look at and the music is commendable. The execution itself though is fairly predictable so there should be no surprises to be had.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (1992) Review:

Recurring villains can work well if done right or if they are memorable in their own way. Sometimes the antagonist is better off just showing up once. For Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z franchise, the show has spawned countless villains who have come and gone. Some more iconic than others. However, the first big baddy to be showcased was lord Frieza. A ruler who ended up sharing a history with the main protagonist on a coincidental account. Once the bout had concluded, many did not consider that perhaps the character of Frieza was just a one off individual, but actually had a few family members undisclosed at the time. The first to be revealed was Cooler in Cooler’s Revenge (1991). And while the character was not the same as Frieza, it was not that big of a difference either. Despite that, the character makes a return here.

Written again by Takao Koyama who adapted many of Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z Mangas to film, this movie continues the story of Cooler going after Goku and his friends again but indirectly. After the Namekian clan started rebuilding on their new home planet, a giant alien mass known as the big geti star engulfs the planet and enslaves the people all over again. Fearing the worst Dende sends Goku (Sean Schemmel), Krillin (Sonny Strait) and Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny) to help find out what’s going on. To their shock, they find out that Cooler (Andrew Chandler) returned this time in a metal form, infused by the big geti star. The direction was also headed by the usual Daisuke Nishio who handled multiple projects from before. However, the issues pointed out before still remain for this entry too.

The idea of Cooler coming back again to exact his revenge (which technically was his first outing in the first movie) is an interesting part two. Just when the Namekian’s seemed like they could be left alone for one stinking moment, they get attacked all over again. Their race just can’t cut a break. Seeing Cooler return in a more intimidating way is also more interesting to see how Goku and friends will be able to defeat him this time. As for timeline continuity, it still takes place sometime in season four of the show but doesn’t make sense with Goku still in the picture seeing he didn’t return until later in season four. There’s always one part that throws the whole line up off for these features.

The voice acting remains spot on for those who partook in the English dub. Sean Schemmel as Goku, Sonny Strait as Krillin and Stephanie Nadolny as Gohan all play their parts well. Chris Sabat even has some roles to play in the movie. Lastly Andrew Chandler returns again as Meta Cooler with more hate in his voice because of how badly he original lost against Goku. The fight sequences are again fun to watch as martial arts always capture the viewers’ attention fairly easily. There’s even some minor comedic bits thrown in that help balance the more serious tone of the entire feature. This goes hand in hand with the animation headed by Minoru Maeda as the animation director. Maeda who also served in this role for every other film prior keeps the scenes well-choreographed.

As for camerawork, believe it or not there was no cinematographer credit to this feature. This is surprising seeing that many of the other features had a credited cinematographer. Maybe this was missed here. Lastly for the musical score, again while Shunsuke Kikuchi was the original composer, Mark Menza was the chosen composer for this feature. And although Menza is not as memorable as Kikuchi, the background music is far more appropriate than the past few films with a mix of hard grunge rock bands. Menza’s music as mentioned before does sound like a precursor to the more popular Bruce Falconer musical score. Either way it’s far better than what was heard before in Cooler’s Revenge (1991). However, Kikuchi’s musical composition should’ve been used from the beginning.

Storyline continuity fits within the setup of the first movie but still doesn’t fit within the series. And while the return of the main villain is cool as is the setup, there’s really not that much difference how things are handled. Still, the animation looks great. The voice acting is on point as always and even the music although not the original score is better than the previous film.

Points Earned --> 6:10