Personally, I feel getting an all star cast (or A-List) actors to do voice overs really is meaningless. Most, if not all "kids" have no idea who these people are. For instance, Hiring Bill Murry and Meryl Streep to voice the pupets in Fantastic Mr Fox wasn't because kids 12 and under are huge fans of either of these actors. Not to discredit what they brought to the movie, as they were great. When a voice for a character is done well, I shouldn't be thinking "That's George Clooney" they whole time. Instead, I should be thinking "That's Mr Fox".
My point is, my nephew isn't saying to himself "YES! Hugh Jackman is going to be voice in Film Five! I want to see it now". They will never see Hugh Jackman on screen, and shouldn't be "hearing" Hugh Jackman throughout the movie (if you understand my previous paragraph you know what I mean). These kind of hires and names are directed specifically towards the parents/adults who grew up with these actors and enjoy their films. With that said, the movie has to be enjoyable for adults as well, otherwise, what is the point?
But, back on track to my original first thoughts...This article does NOT make me excited about the new film. Yes, it's stop-motion, and yes it's probably going to look great, but for ALL movies, I mean, ALL movies need to have a good story. I have to enjoy my time at the movies. All the effects, action, attention to detail in costumes, props, sets, music, all comes to not if the story is not fun to watch.
This article failed to get me excited about Film Five. Things that stick out to me like a sore thumb in this article that causes me to have pause are as follows:
"...described as a globe-trotting comedy-adventure “bursting with humor, heart and a profound message of acceptance and finding one's place.”"
"...layered with wit and imagination and soul. Plus it's really, really funny."
One of the things that was "nice" about ParaNorman and Kubo was that it had a moral to the story reminiscent of old children's books that was trying to teach you to be a better person. Unfortunately, the "Message" wasn't interwoven into the story naturally, but kind of slapped on at the end, then crammed down my throat, where it was off putting and preachy. Reading this reminds me of how the message was executed in the previous films and how campy it turned out to be in the end. I am not optimistic that it will be well executed this time either.
The other comment that makes me cringe is the emphasis on how funny the movie is going to be. I love movies when they have humor in all the right places and done well. A globe-trotting comedy-adventure (Redundant?) that is bursting with humor and really really funny says they are trying too hard to convince me that it's funny. I am left with the feeling that instead of being genuinely funny, it's going to be filled with stupid slapstick humor, fart jokes and cheap laughs. I fear that this "comedy" is going to try to be making a joke with every line of dialogue. I mean, why mention it three times in the article how funny it is, how really really funny it is, unless that is your soul argument on why I should see this movie? Honestly, a stop-motion comedy isn't the kind of movie I want to see.
Most Comedies are dumb movies. They are not made to have heart and sole and provide a moral message. They are deliberately dumb, that's why they are comedies. Rarely do we get a smart comedy that is great to watch multiple times, but it does happen (the Jerk comes to mind).
You're welcome to read the article and come to your own conclusions. I am still excited to see that LAIKA is doing and eager to see what they do next. I am going to try and hold back my pessimism until I see more. Hopefully I wont be turned off any more by future updates for this movie.
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