paulclaassen

How did this wonderful film come and go without anyone talking about it? From the incredibly good child performances to the good visual and sound effects, and good editing, this is one hell of an entertaining movie - and a darn good production overall!

The family has a tragic back story, so we immediately root for them. Taylor (Tony Hale) recently lost his wife and is now single parent to Amber (D'Arcy Carden) and Jack (Kue Lawrence). Amber loves to sketch and expresses her feelings on paper, while Jack bottles up his emotions.

One day while walking in the woods, Jack stumbles and drops his phone in a pond and hurts his hand, but when he takes the phone from the pond, it magically repairs itself and his hand is healed. Amber draws disturbing images in her notebook, and when she accidentally drops her book in the pond, the creepy monsters in her drawings - having been ruined in her book - come to life.

When the monsters start wreaking havoc, it is up to Amber and Jack to find a way to stop it. I love the lighthearted narration and funny dialogue. Surprisingly, they manage to be funny even during tense moments without the humour ruining the suspense. It is a perfect blend of comedy, fantasy and suspense, and is also very unpredictable. There is also an emotional side to the film.

As I said before, the child actors are seriously good! Man, D'Arcy Carden, Kue Lawrence, and Kalon Cox (as their 'friend' Bowman) are terrific. I also love Tony Hale as a Dad trying to keep everything together. 'Sketch' is a fabulous movie for a young and mature audience. I really enjoyed it.

Now, this was a fun little film to watch.

It is 1931, but the world is still stuck in the Steam Age because all the brilliant scientists have disappeared. A Scientist named Prosper - or just Pops - lives in hiding where he tries to perfect a serum that would make one live forever. His granddaughter, April, is sent to an orphanage when her parents die in an accident.

Ten years later April is living on her own with a talking cat named Darwin. She is working on the serum, hoping to save an ailing Darwin's life. Believing she has failed, she discovers her parents perfected the serum years ago, and injected it into a snow globe her mother gave her just before the accident.

Inspector Gaspar Pizoni has been pursuing Pops for the past decade and hires Julius to follow April, who might lead them to Pops. Soon after becoming acquainted with Julius, April receives a message that her Dad is alive. When a strange black cloud destroys her home, she and Julius goes on a quest to finding her Dad. She reunites with Pops, and together they go on a journey that will change the course of life itself!

'April and the Extraordinary World' is a highly imaginative film which requires an open mind as it invites the viewer on an amazing journey filled with corruption, betrayal, interesting gadgets, and talking lizards working on a project that may end humanity.