Tag: Disney+

Lightyear (2022)

Where to find it: Disney+
Length: 100 minutes
Synopsis: Buzz attempts heroics for an hour and a half
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: occasionally looks pretty, Sox
What I don’t like about it: miserably pointless

Review:
Ranking at the bottom of the Pixar canon alongside Cars 2 and Toy Story 4, this misadventure begins with the following mind-boggling title card then dives in media res before we have a chance to ask questions: “In 1995, Andy received a Buzz Lightyear toy. It was from his favourite movie. This is that movie.” What follows is an almost complete mess of plot holes and questionable decisions soaked in a dusty atmosphere reminiscent of The Martian (2015), the Pixar team are wasted here and don’t seem to have connected with or taken the time over the material. Sox will move plenty of merchandise, I’m sure.

Content notes (may contain spoilers):

Hawkeye (2021)

Where to find it: Disney+
Length: Six 1-hour episodes
Synopsis: The guy from the movies tries to protect a young woman and stop a threat in time for Christmas with his family
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: Hailee Steinfeld, the dynamic between the Hawkeyes, fun and followable action, the deaf stuff
What I don’t like about it: never quite delivers on its themes, these MCU things never have real stakes

Review:
The switch from movies to TV is working out very well for Disney’s Marvel project, they’re much more diverse in tone than the films, generally less dark and more fun and this is a good example of that. Partially adapted from the Matt Fraction/David Aja comic book that was the hottest thing in comics ten years ago, this series finds Clint Barton reluctantly mentoring Kate Bishop, a young and impetuous archer, as they have silly battles with the velour-tracksuited Russian mafia. In this adaptation, Clint is dragged into the situation even though he would rather be home celebrating Christmas with his family, while Kate seems to be enjoying the adventure. Impulsive youth vs. responsible adulthood is a definite theme here – “What are you, 18?” “I’m 22!” “There’s no difference.” – but it never really pays it off by having Clint tell off Kate and she really deserves it in this one, but they just play the dynamic for laughs. It’s fun but it seemed like it was going to be better around episode 3

Content notes (may contain spoilers): general superhero fighting and peril

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

Where to find it: Disney+
Length: 95 minutes
Synopsis: Dale tries to convince Chip to reunite their double act to cash in on nineties nostalgia
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: funny, meta, well-paced and easy to watch
What I don’t like about it: Andy Samberg, animation can be a little janky, feels like a cover version of a Phil Lord and Chris Miller movie

Review:
The premise of this one can be a little disconcerting; it involves a parallel Earth in which cartoon characters live among humans and the 90s cartoon of the same name was shot on a live-action set by the cartoons themselves. It’s odd but soon established and then the writers begin to cram in jokes. Some are really quite funny: Dale has gotten “the CGI surgery” to make himself more appealing to the youth but it hasn’t worked out and he’s working nostalgia conventions alongside some notable and hilarious characters that I won’t spoil here. The main problem with this one is acknowledged in an early line from Chip: “Dale, absolutely no one wants to see our cartoon rebooted” – it’s enough for a fun, distracting Sunday afternoon movie but not enough to bring any real excitement to the viewing experience and that puts a ceiling on the enjoyment level. The team behind this one is basically The Lonely Island and it is funny and competently made but this nod-wink “we know you don’t want it so we made it meta funny” thing has been done over and over since 21 Jump Street and it starts to feel like when you’ve seen one, you’ve heard the joke(s).

Content notes (may contain spoilers): cartoon body horror

Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)

Where to find it: Disney+ Star, apparently
Length: Seven 45-minute episodes
Synopsis: A Mormon police detective investigates a brutal crime which causes him to examine his faith and church
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: the use of flashbacks to create mounting tension and explain LDS history, absorbing acting and writing, prestige TV without long boring opening titles
What I don’t like about it: it is yet another dark prestige true crime miniseries

Review:
From the first episode of this series, we are thrown into the weird world of Utah – its expansive rural families, unique religious vocabulary and inescapable smell of theocracy – and it’s as fascinating, dark and hard to leave as the state itself. Andrew Garfield channels the spirit of Ned Flanders to portray a small-town detective investigating a standard Fincheresque grisly murder while trying to accomodate his new partner, a Paiute Native hardened Vegas cop – a fun dynamic. As their investigation progresses, flashbacks show their victim marrying into a very large and prominent Mormon family and gradually finding herself at odds with their patriarchal lifestyle. A second set of flashbacks go back even further, to the early days of the Church of Latter Day Saints and particularly its history with polygamy, and are used to make connections between the fundamentalist beliefs of the murderers and the historical events that inspired their mindset. All very psychological and interesting.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): murder (femmicide, infanticide), child sexual abuse, controlling patriarchal behaviour