Review: The Emperor's New Groove (no significant spoilers)

[jducoeur]

No, it's not even remotely new. But msmemory and I are, wonder of wonders, caught up on all our current series, so we decided to watch one of those movies that have been piling up on DVD.

Capsule: wow, that is so not deep. But it's a heck of a lot of fun.

This movie is -- well, what is it? It's the silliest buddy movie of all time. It's kind of fantasy, but only in the loosest sense. Really, more than anything else, it's the most Looney Tunes film that Disney's ever done. I spent most of the film asking myself, "What *are* these people smoking, and where can I get some?" It has a distinctly Road Runner vs. Coyote sort of free association to it, and the only logic is toon logic.

It does have an inevitable heartwarming moral -- it *is* a Disney film, after all. But that's sufficiently telegraphed and obvious that you can largely just ignore it and enjoy the ride. (And the soundtrack, which is fun in a danceably pop sort of way.)

I'm not going to curse myself for not seeing it in the theaters -- there's nothing important to it, and while it's fun, it's not laugh-out-loud funny. But it's a fine popcorn movie on DVD. Recommended for an evening when you just want to dive in and not think too much...

Comments

[adespota.livejournal.com]

Heehee, I love that movie, it's one of the few recent Disney movies that's been good without the help of Pixar. It's a shame that my mother's never seen it all the way through; she falls asleep every time we try and watch it for her benefit.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Well, that should say something, eh?

I loved it. Not as "elegant" as finding Nemo, but a great deal of fun. And terrific earrings.

[mindways]

From everything I'd ever heard or seen about that movie, I expected to hate it (or at least, emphatically go "eh." - I very rarely actually dislike movies). I can't even recall how I started watching it...I think umbran happened to turn it on while we ate dinner or something.

I was very, very pleasantly surprised. :)

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

*wry grin* I love that movie. I quote it. A lot. I can fake Eartha Kitt's voice pretty well, and her lines are so great and so usable that I can't help it. "Why do we even HAVE that lever?"

[kfitzwarin.livejournal.com]

I loved that movie too. I forget when or why I saw it first, but it's a fabulous "wheeeeeee!" sort of movie.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

"He's not SUPPOSED to be a llama! He's SUPPOSED to be dead!"

*hee*

[doubleplus.livejournal.com]

I love it, too. I've always wondered if they intentionally got someone who sounds like Adam West to play opposite Eartha Kitt.

[meranthi.livejournal.com]

I expected to hate that movie and was talked into watching it at some point. I loved it because it's so truly bizarre and doesn't take itself seriously at all...

[hungrytiger]

Yup. A surprisingly funny film that I can watch over and over again.

"Yea! I'm a llama again! ... Oh, wait."