David Bowers Movies
- 2009
- PG
- Add Astro Boy to Queue
A young robot with incredible powers, super strength, and the purest spirit on the planet discovers the joys of being human while embarking on a worldwide journey to discover his true potential in this animated update of Osamu Tezuka's classic anime story. Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is a young robot from futuristic Metro City. Created by a brilliant scientist named Tenma (Nicolas Cage), and powered by pure positive "blue" energy that gives him such abilities as x-ray vision, inhuman speed, and flight, the wide-eyed android longs to find his true place in the world. He sets out on an epic journey that brings him face to face with an underworld army of robots and some of the strangest creatures ever to walk the Earth, and along the way learns to experience human feelings and emotions. Astro Boy's remarkable mission of discovery is suddenly cut short, however, when he learns that his friends and family back in Metro City are in grave danger. As Astro Boy prepares to face off against his greatest adversary in order to save everything he cares most about, he realizes that only through victory will he finally discover what it takes to be a hero. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, (more)
A previously pampered society mouse must fight his way back to the comforts of Kensington after he is sent spiraling into an underground world filled with scavenger rats and villainous toads in a fun-filled family adventure produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features and featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, and Jean Reno. Roddy (Jackman) was living the high life when he first met Sid the sewer rat (Shane Richie), but that's all about to change when Sid decides to send the hapless mouse down the pipes and stealthily take his place in the lap of luxury. Though the bustling sewer city of Ratropolis isn't without its fair share of kind citizens, it is certainly no place for a pampered mouse with a taste for life's finer things. Upon making the acquaintance of scavenger rat Rita (Winslet), Roddy is certain that the pair can navigate their way back to the surface in Rita's trusty boat, the Jammy Dodger, but Rita's help doesn't come cheap, and the nefarious Toad (McKellen) is determined to rid Ratropolis of all things rodent. When Toad's hapless hench-rats Spike (Andy Serkis) and Whitey (Bill Nighy) fail to achieve acceptable results, the green meanie is forced to call in the cavalry in the form of legendary French mercenary Le Frog (Reno) to get the job done. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, (more)
Oceanic wise guys meet up with a small fish who has a big attitude in this computer-animated comedy. Don Lino (voice of Robert De Niro) is the patriarch of a family of sharks who lord over a bustling aquatic community based along a massive underwater reef. Don Lino has two sons, Frankie (voice of Michael Imperioli) and Lenny (voice of Jack Black); Frankie is a carnivorous tough guy who takes after his father, but Lenny is, at heart, a kind soul who has earned the ire of his dad by becoming a vegetarian. One of Don Lino's cronies is Sykes (voice of Martin Scorsese), who runs a "whale wash" where Oscar (voice of Will Smith) scrubs aquatic mammals for a living. Oscar is a small but ambitious fish who dreams of making something of himself, and when a dropped anchor accidentally kills Frankie, Oscar is suddenly (if mistakenly) celebrated as "the shark killer." Oscar's overnight fame attracts the attentions of Lola (voice of Angelina Jolie), a slinky dragon fish who woos Oscar away from his steady date, Angie (voice of Renée Zellweger); however, Oscar strikes up a friendship with Lenny and has to decide what to do when Don Lino and Sykes decides it's time to "take care" of the "different" shark. Also popping up in Shark Tale's all-star voice cast are Peter Falk, Vincent Pastore, Ziggy Marley, and Katie Couric. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Robert De Niro, (more)
Dreamworks SKG's second feature-length animated film blends comedy and drama in an unusual historical adventure. Two genial swindlers working as stable hands stow away with Cortez, the legendary Spanish conquistador, as he searches for El Dorado, the lost City of Gold. Luck smiles on the two con men, and they happen to find a settlement in Mexico that they believe is El Dorado; however, while the two exotic strangers are at first embraced by the Mayan people, they've also arrived just in time to be offered up as the next human sacrifice. The Road to El Dorado was directed by Don Paul, who helmed the first DreamWorks animated feature, The Prince of Egypt; Will Finn, a featured animator on Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin; Bibo Bergeron, who worked on Ferngully: The Last Rainforest; and David Silverman. It features new songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, and the voice cast includes Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Edward James Olmos, and Armand Assante. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, (more)
Balto is an animated trifle, based loosely on a true story from the 1920s, that may offer some amusement for young children. A live-action intro and outro set the stage for the story of Balto (voiced by Kevin Bacon), a stray who's half dog and half wolf, who is shunned as a half-breed outcast by both humans and his own kind. Balto does have some friends, like the goose Boris (Bob Hoskins) and two polar bears named Muk and Luk (Phil Collins), but he is particularly resented by canine pack leader Steele (Jim Cummings), with whom he is competing for the affections of Jenna (Bridget Fonda). He eventually becomes a hero when he guides a medication-carrying sled to a townful of sick kids in the wilds of Alaska. The film features a number of positive messages (subtlety is not its strong point), but it may not feature enough humor or excitement to keep anyone but the very smallest viewers engrossed. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Lola Bates-Campbell, (more)
- 1992
- G
- Add FernGully: The Last Rainforest to QueueAdd FernGully: The Last Rainforest to top of Queue
A man finds himself living among the animals and enchanted spirits of the rainforest, and learns of the true consequences of human destruction in this animated adventure. Crysta (voice of Samantha Mathis) is a young fairy who is being tutored in the powers of magic by the older and wiser Magi (voice of Grace Zabriskie) in an Amazon rain forest. While their home was once on the verge of destruction thanks to the evil spirit Hexxus (voice of Tim Curry), the demon has been trapped inside a tree, and Crysta is free to play with her friends Batty Koda (voice of Robin Williams), a bat who escaped from an animal testing facility, and Pips (voice of Christian Slater), who has obvious romantic intentions toward the attractive young sprite. However, a clear-cutting crew destroys the tranquil peace of the rainforest, and when Crysta sees a runaway logging machine about to run over lumberjack Zak (voice of Jonathan Ward), she saves his life by shrinking him to her own size. However, Crysta isn't able to bring Zak back to his normal size, so he's forced to live among the forest creatures and learn first-hand the devastation the humans have brought to this world -- especially when the loggers accidentally free Hexxus from captivity. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Curry, Robin Williams, (more)
