Tangled

Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy

Directed by Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Rating: B

This is a story about Rapunzel (Moore) and how she came to live in the tall tower. Just as Rapunzel was being born, her mother was dying. There was a magical flower that heals people not far from her town and people went out to look for it to save the queen. When they found it, they brought it to the queen and soaked it in water for her to drink. It saved her and Rapunzel was born with healing powers through her hair. Mother Gothel (Murphy) steals Rapunzel so she can keep living forever. One day Rapunzel meets Flynn Rider (Levi) by accident after he hides from guards in her tower. Rapunzel is dying to leave her tower to see the magical stars that appear every year on her birthday. She must persuade Flynn to take her out or he'll never see what he stole again.

Since Tangled came out in movie theaters, all I've heard is how great it was. It wasn't until this past January that I finally saw one of the most highly recommended movies from my friends. It's safe to say my expectations were high. Tangled was nothing like I thought it would be. I had no idea what the movie was about but I didn't realize Flynn would be a thief or that Rapunzel's hair had healing powers. It was a fun movie to watch but I couldn't say it was the best movie ever.

In my opinion, there was too much singing. Of course, what else could I expect from a Disney movie? It was cute and Pascal, Rapunzel's pet chameleon was funny. Rapunzel herself was full of innocence and had learned quite a few skills after living in a tower for almost eighteen years. Flynn was your average thief-turned-good at the end of the movie. Tangled had the humor and action that kept an audience interested but it won't be on my top favorite movies.

Tangled is fun for children as well as adults. It's worth buying because it is a movie children probably would want to watch over and over again. I should probably re-watch it to judge it again.

Shrek the Third

Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Justin Timberlake

Directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui

Rating: B+

Shrek (Myers) finds himself now ruler of Far Far Away after Fiona (Diaz)'s father dies. Shrek soon realizes he is not cut out for the royal life and goes off in search of the next heir to the throne, leaving a pregnant Fiona at home. Shrek, Donkey (Murphy), and Puss (Banderas) find Artie (Timberlake), a picked-on teenager at high school and take him to rule Far Far Away. However, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) gangs up with the fairy tale villains to take over as king of Far Far Away. Fiona, her mother, Snow White, and other princesses fight their way out to stop Charming from taking over.

Shrek the Third continues to enchant audiences after all these years since the beginning of the franchise. What many people enjoy about the Shrek films is that its contents are for both children and adults. In each Shrek film, viewers are introduced with even more fairy tale people. We finally get to see Snow White, Cinderella, Rupunzel, and Sleeping Beauty who are portrayed different than we imagined. We even get to see some fairy tale villains get together, like Captain Hook and the Evil Queen.

What I love about Shrek the Third is that no matter how old you are, you can still enjoy this movie (as goes for all four movies). They're entertaining, funny, have an intriguing plot, and you finish the movie happy. Another great thing I love about Shrek is that fairy tale characters come back to life. We get to see the Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, the Gingerbread Man, and many more come back to life. They're all back in these movies and it's fun to see them again.

Coraline

Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher

Directed by Henry Selick

Rating: 4 stars

After moving to a new home, Coraline (Dakota Fanning) finds herself bored. Her parents are too busy to pay her much attention and so Coraline wanders around the apartment building looking for something to do. She finds a small hidden door in the wall and when she goes through, finds herself in a parallel universe where her parents are nicer and her home is a lot more fun. But when her mother (Teri Hatcher) wants to replace her eyes with buttons, Coraline realizes she must escape before it's too late.

I really enjoyed Coraline. After searching for something to watch on tv, I stumbled upon this movie and though I had missed the first thirty minutes, it wasn't so hard to catch up on what was going on. (I later found it playing On-Demand so I ended up re-watching the whole movie.) It was pretty entertaining and the best part is it's only 96 minutes! Which means it doesn't drag on and you don't get bored with it. I would recommend this movie for those who enjoyed Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and for those who enjoy animated, kinda-weird, movies. It's enjoyable for kids and teenagers at least. I would give this a try if you're looking for something to watch!

Megamind

Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill

Directed by Tom McGrath

Rating: 5 stars

Megamind is the story of an evil genius who actually gets away with it. Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) never got along. As they grew older they battled each other and Metro Man usually won. However, on the day of the unveiling of Metro Man's statue, Megamind has a new scheme and this time he actually defeated Metro Man! Megamind enjoyed running the city as he pleased but it just wasn't fun without battling a superhero so he decided to create one... Titan (Jonah Hill). But when Titan decides he doesn't like being good, Megamind has to face off with his own creation to save the town.

Megamind is a movie not only kids can enjoy but adults can too. There's probably a lot kids wouldn't understand but watching this with a bunch of college students was fun. Like when Megamind got a text from Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) and he told Minion (David Cross) "Hold on... [to himself while texting back] 'L.O.L smiley face." Since little kids shouldn't be texting, they probably wouldn't understand what's so funny about that. This movie deserves five stars because it's funny, it has a great cast, and a plot you've never seen before (okay, maybe I've never seen but it doesn't happen often). Who's ever seen a movie before where the bad guy gets everything he wants, then turns into a good guy? Sure, we've seen bad guys turn soft and into a nice guy but we've never seen villains in an animated movie go that way. So Megamind had a unique storyline.

Overall, Megamind was just a great movie. Dreamworks usually does a great job at making movies kids and adults can enjoy; like Shrek, Madagascar, and How To Train Your Dragon. I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, animated movies, and Will Ferrell. You won't be disappointed.