Cranston Academy: Monster Zone
Saw this in the cinema. It's another secret school for gifted kids film, like Harry Potter and X-Men, but it's a school for geniuses rather than wizards/mutants.
I don't like the animation very much. It costs a lot of money to make 3D animation worthwhile. I don't know what the budget was for Cranston, but (like a lot of 3D kids movies) it feels cheap. With the old classic Disney and Warner Bros. 2D cartoons that were produced in the early 20th century, they didn't have to compromise anything other than the frame rate. With 3D, you have to cut corners. Like a magician, you distract the audience with flashy gimmicks.
Most of the characters don't even offer an illusion of originality. Arguably nothing is original, but they could at least try. Most of the background characters aren't even mentioned by name (or, if they are, it is so brief you instantly forget it). I can't help but feel that kids films these days are so desperately spinning their plates, they don't have time to establish characters any more. The only characters - aside from Moth Man - that are given any time are Liz and Danny.
Liz (on the left) and Danny (on the right).
Liz is the daughter of a genius. She is tough, but a little insecure. She speaks her mind. That's her entire personality. I'm not summarizing it. If anything, I'm being generous.
I watch these films and I instantly forget them. I forget them while I'm watching them.
This film has two (three if I'm being generous) redeeming features.
1. Moth Man.
If this was an American film, Moth Man would be a different character. Thankfully, it's not an American Film. It's a Mexican-Canadian-British-American film.
Moth Man is a Mexican stereotype. He loves tacos and enchiladas and he lives for hot sauce. Since he's a moth, he also has a tendency to fall in love with light bulbs.
2. The monsters.
The monsters aren't ground breaking like H.R. Giger collaborating with Ridley Scott, but they're good. They're well above average for a kids film. It's hard to find pics for this film because it's not doing well so these images don't really do the film justice.
3. The Hamster.
The typical cute/silly animal that is always there for comic relief. Sometimes these characters are misfires. I liked the hamster. He only gets a couple minutes of screen time, which is just right. Often these kids flicks hit the cute button too much.
5/10
I kind of hated the female character (Liz) throughout the entire movie. When the credits started rolling, I realized why. She is voiced by Ruby Rose, who is best known as they Australian actress who played Stella in Orange is the New Black... I think a lot of the time people who aren't Australian don't see the cringe as clearly as Australians. Same thing with foreign films in general. I haven't spent that much time in America, so it doesn't even blip on my radar when something is completely inaccurate. You might look at Ruby Rose and think she's human. From an Australian perspective, she isn't human. She's a big bag of horse shit. If I knew she was in it beforehand, the film would get 1/10.
"Be gay, do crime!" lol
