homer_simpson91

This terrible bastardization of the terrific original cartoon should never have been made in the first place. Right when Jim Carrey was starting to convince me that he could actually be a good actor (and sometimes even funny), he gives us this. Certainly his worst performance to date. Ron Howard's direction needed to be seriously toned down. The good makeup, the cute Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who, and even Sir Anthony Hopkins doing the narration could not save this boring, deplorable and unfunny trash. Luckily, the original cartoon is good enough to survive total disgrace from this movie.

2/10

The dark animation style and music really gave this short a creepy feeling, which I loved. The story was very interesting, but the ending left me with a kind of "that's it?" feeling. The animation may not be incredibly impressive visually, but it works well with the story, which is one of the better stories for an animated short that I've seen. Check out BALANCE (10/10) if you liked this one.

8/10

This movie is not nearly as good as the 1982 version of ANNIE, but if you haven't seen that version, this one is probably worse. There are lots of things/scenes in this version of ANNIE that are there only because they are in the 1982 version. Two big examples I can think of are the dog and the other orphans. In the 1982 version, they are characters that are essential to the plot. In this, they are there because they are expected to be there, and don't really serve the plot at all. The presence of President FDR at the end is another example. For that matter, the ending is anti-climatic and rushed. Everything is better in the 1982 version, including the acting, the dialogue, the songs, and especially the relationship between Daddy Warbucks and Annie. In the 1982 version, in which Daddy Warbucks is a total scumbag and Annie has to "tame" him. In this one, the two are in pretty much love with each other right away, and it's disappointing and lame.

Victor Garber and Alan Cumming are both great actors, but they're playing characters that have already been played to near-perfection before. Alicia Morton, while cuter than the original Annie, is not nearly as good an actress. Kathy Bates is great in this movie. Again, she was not as good as the extremely talented Carol Burnett in the original, but she almost is. Kathy Bates is, however, the best part of the remake. Some of the new songs are catchy, but the best ones are the ones we know already from (you guessed it!) the 1982 version.

Anytime this version strays from the 1982 version, it suffers. When it does remain true to the original, it does not live up to it. Watch the first one. It had the best cast, best music, better script, better everything.

5/10