Annie

"Annie" is a modern day retelling of the acclaimed Broadway Musical and 1982 musical film based on the show, which was based on the 1924 Comic Strip "Little Orphan Annie" which in the original show and movie, takes part during the Great Depression, telling the story of Orphan Annie - a pre-teenage hoping for a return of her parents, who disappeared after they left her on the steps of of an orphanage as a baby. In this version, which again takes place in the modern day, it is revealed in the early part of the film that Annie, played by Quvenzhané Wallis (Academy Award Nominee for the "Beasts of Southern Wild") was left as a baby at a restaurant by her parents, and is now a foster kid, under the care of Miss Hannigan, played by Cameron Diaz. The Billionaire character "Daddy Warbucks" of the classic story, has been replaced by the character of "Will Stacks", played by Jamie Foxx (Academy Award winner for "Ray"), who is also a Billionaire from his cell phone business, and is running for Mayor of New York City. So – leading up to this film, the predicted expectations were of gloom and doom, presumably I think because this version does not take place in the original time line, and because some people's now negative views (not mine) towards Actor/Rapper Will Smith, who co-produced the film with among others, his wife, Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, and Rapper and Business Mogel Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, whose sampled one of the Musical's more populars songs "It's a Hard Knocked Life" in his hit song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". So what did I think – While I admit – the movie does became a mess to a great deal, it is not a total mess, and could have been a lot worse. A lot of songs that many of us love are there and performed well by the cast, some with variations, some of which are understandably, and some which may have probably weren't necessary. There are some new songs as well, including the very touching "Who am I?" - sung by Diaz, Foxx and Wallis's characters in the later part of the film. Some of the modern day jokes, just some of the humor in general works well, and some falls flat. Kids should like this version of "Annie" just fine. Adults - I think most who are fans of the original are going to be annoyed by it. I myself am I fan of the Broadway show and 1982 Movie. While I obviously didn't love this version myself, again, While it does become a mess to a great deal,it's not a complete one. My rating is for the music, and some of the humor – 2 ½ out of 4 Stars (The ½ star is for the previously mentioned new song "Who am I?").

-Annie is a modern adaptation of the Broadway Musical in which an orphan (foster child in this) who lives with the somewhat evil Mrs. Hannigan when, one day, she meets Mr. Warbucks (Will Stacks in this), a rich business man who takes Annie in and truly starts to learn what it is to have family.

-This adaptation of Annie is definitely a little ambitions, but I think they pulled it off well! I am a big fan of the 1994 film and I like this version about as much as that! -The story itself is different from the original somewhat, but the modern update called for some changes and I liked them.

-The pace was good, but there is a slow point in the film that is noticeable.

-The supporting characters, everyone but Annie, are a bit cheesy. And kinda goofy, but they are not too much over-the-top. There are a few elements like the characters that did feel geared towards younger audiences.

-The acting is good though. I noticed that both Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz both acted will in their over-the-top characters. I will say the true star was Annie though. I can't spell her name, but she outshined Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz in most of the scenes. Good work! -Now the music is pretty great! I liked the updated music and, although not every original song was in it, I really liked the new songs they added! -The film is also very funny! I laughed at most of the jokes made and them adding jokes poking fun at musicals was very smart.

-It is rated PG for some mild language. Nowhere near as bad as like Rango.

-So Annie has a few elements that feel younger or cheesy, but I thought it was very fun, entertaining, and I loved the music! I honestly would give it a good 7.5 and say that Annie is totally worth seeing in theaters!

... and always form my own opinion. I took my 6 year old niece to see this movie today, and it was a perfect "feel-good" family holiday film. The original Annie came out in June of 1982 when I myself was 6, and I remember how much I loved the story and the singing, watching it (and singing along!) quite a few times in my childhood. Well, we sat down together last night to watch the original, and we BOTH had a hard time staying engaged throughout the whole thing. FDR and the New Deal? War bonds? Because the 1982 plot was set in the period of the comic's popularity, not the actual filming date of the movie, there were a lot of references that never did make sense to me growing up. The new movie, set in modern New York City, was relatable for today's kids (criticize all you want, but there are NOT ENOUGH positive non-Disney human characters out there, no matter how much people call it pandering). The script had its share of small flaws, and no one can ever outdo Burnett and Finney, but Wallis was adorable and very likable in the lead role... her personality was believable and not over the top, and oh yeah, she's black, though I don't think my niece noticed.

It is unfortunate so much money (65 million) and so much talent (Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz) did not equal a better movie. A musical should have great singers; this did not. Foxx, the orphans and Quvenzhane were fine, but they were not great. Consider Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma. Along with the actors singing in character, there were powerful voices. No one in Annie was a standout musically.

Rose Byrne did her job in Damages, but not so much in this movie. The remainder of the cast was competent; they had their occasional moments.

This rendition of Annie was okay. But, with a few cast changes and voice lessons, it could have been so much better.

Regarding the other versions of the classic Broadway hit, the 1982 film was one of my favourite films as a child and is still a personal favourite today while the 1999 film is also good and entertaining if a little short and sugary sweet in places. Annie(2014) certainly should be judged on its own merits and without any comparison as well as with an open mind. Seeing it without any prejudice, I do not think it is quite as bad as people has said but as an updating of the story and as a standalone it didn't work.

There are some good things here. The best thing about it is Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie, her singing is not brilliant but the energy, enthusiasm and feeling she gives to it is. She's consistently winning in the role and performs with much confidence and charisma with twinkling eyes and a bright smile, all this without falling into saccharine camp. Jamie Foxx has the best singing voice of the whole cast and is a likable Will Stacks, playing him with real authority and charm, coming across as appropriately over-serious to someone more relaxed later on. Sandy is also adorable and almost on par with the dog in the 1982 film, and I was charmed by the chemistry between Annie and Grace.

Unfortunately that's it for the things that work. The girls playing the other foster kids try their best but they do come over as over-eager and they don't have much to do, not to do with screen-time but with how they're directed(the only place they shine in some way is Hard Knock Life). Rose Byrne is a mixed bag, she is appropriately kindly and shares a charming chemistry with Wallis but she has very little to do really. Bobby Cannavale underplays the villain role so much that the performance comes across as one-note while Cameron Diaz is rather painful to watch as Miss Hannigan(and this is without any comparison). She's a talented actress but plays the character far too broadly, so over-the-top campy and obnoxiously strident that it makes the rest of the toned-down performances dull in comparison. Regarding the singing, the only one who impresses is Foxx, the rest of the adults can barely carry a tune and the singing in general sounds auto-tuned and in an all-too-obvious way(Easy Street is especially bad in this instance), "auto-tuned disaster" sums it up very aptly. The lip-synching is incredibly amateurish too with the performers' mouths moving at a different tine to the music.

The songs in the Broadway stage show and the 1982 and 1999 films are marvellous, ones with very catchy melodies that are easily hummable and lyrics that you can recite without problem very quickly. The songs that are included here are arranged in a way to make them more "current" but instead they are stripped of their heart and meaning due to the many things added to and taken away from them, some of them changed to the extent they're barely recognisable(like one or two signature lines a song being maintained but the melodies being completely swamped by polyrhythmic harmonies and sounds and even vastly inferior changes in lyrics). Tomorrow just about gets by but Hard Knock Life irritates and Easy Street is completely butchered. And then we have the added ones done especially for this film and while they're "current" they're forgettable at best and largely uninspired in style and writing with lyrics so inane it's enough to make one cringe. For anybody yet to see the film they'd think that there'd be a jarring difference in quality with the original songs and the added ones but you know something is horribly wrong when the originals are changed so much that they're actually on the same level in quality to the added ones, that's how much they've been cheapened by the arrangements. The choreography is both sloppy and chaotic, flailing arms being the most memorable and frequent movement of the lot, and apart from Foxx and to a lesser extent Wallis nobody looks natural dancing it. For example I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here looked like it was completely made up on the spot.

The equally chaotic and music-video-like production values don't help, most of the musical numbers especially Easy Street were very haphazardly edited, and neither does Will Gluck's leaden direction that has inexperience stamped all over it. The script is weak, with crass humour, cloying cutesiness and the once memorable and engaging characters reduced to bland clichés. The film does try hard to make the famous story relevant by today's standards, but by doing that the heart of the original story is lost and Annie's positivity amidst a harsh world doesn't resonate, which is really what the story and Annie's character is all about. Annie and Stacks's relationship never really grows, despite Foxx's best efforts if there was meant to be a character change for Stacks it wasn't believable while Miss Hannigan's back story suffered from some really clumsy and badly placed writing. The message is more cynical in alternative to heart-warming, handling the benefits of materialism idea very heavy-handedly, while the climatic helicopter chase is just ludicrous, completely devoid of tension and completely out of place compared to the rest of the film.

Overall, Annie(2014) is not THAT terrible but while it tries hard the execution for this viewer was awkward and sloppy. 4/10 Bethany Cox