Fievel - Il mistero del mostro della notte

An American Tail 4: The Mystery of the Night Monster: This movie was made in 2000, this is the 4th an american tail movie out of the series. So far there has not been anymore an american tail movies yet. But i hope there will be more after 3 years (2000 - 2003) I have loved an american tail just as much as the land before time. in it's 17 years an american tail has produced 4 movies and the land before time has produced 10 movies in it's 15th year and yet there is more to come for the land before time, but what will be in store for an american tail. We'll have to find that out in the future. I give An American Tail 4: The mystery of the Night Monster a good score 8 out 10.

A monster is terrorising the city. Fievel and Nellie Brie, a brilliant news reporter, set out to discover the truth. Tiger and Tony lend a paw.

I loved the villain, a psychotic poodle named Madame Mousey and also the banter between Nellie and her boss, Reed. Tiger has good moments too. The characterisation is what makes this sequel a success. The previous one, Treasure of Manhattan, fell down on this.

I like the songs in this film. You can't hum them afterwards but that doesn't mean they're necessarily bad.

Don't let the third film put you off. There's a lot of enjoyment to be had here for young and old.

8/10

It's a satisfactory animated film aimed at younger viewers. It has the joy and amusement to attract youngsters if they enjoyed the American Tale movie. This sequel is alright. There is no song like "Somewhere Out There" from the original movie. Fievel is back and he is joined with Nellie Brie (Nellie Bly), the famous journalist, on an adventure to discover the night monster mystery.

While this film is not as teeth gratingly bad as "The Treasure of Manhattan Island", this straight to video story hopefully marks the end of the Fieval franchise. Without the luxurious artwork or star vocals of the cinema films, the blandness of the regulars is all too obvious. There's a small respite for older viewers in the newspaper office scenes because they are based on films such as "His Girl Friday" but the wit isn't sharp enough to cut mozzorella. Oh yes, most of the characters are named after cheeses (ho ho!) As with all video sequels to cartoons, the songs are hopeless pastiches of the Disney formula and I was forgetting them mid-song. The mystery of the title manages to be sub Scooby Doo in its simplicity. In short, only watch this film if its a choice between this or its predecessor.

So are there any redeeming qualities? The voice acting is pretty good with what they have, the villainess Madame Mousey was an enjoyable character(Cat R.Waul is my favourite American Tail villain though) and the film moves quickly. However, An American Tail:The Mystery of the Night Monster is not good at all for a sequel I feel, and I also feel it is the worst of the American Tail franchise,the best of course being the original. There are several reasons why I found this so.

One was the very simplistic story, that not only took a while to get going but was very predictable as well. Secondly, the songs are completely disposable, none of them memorable in any way. Thirdly, the script is incredibly juvenile and make you grit your teeth in its sheer banality. Fourthly, the animation is not good, at all, instead it is very flat with choppy editing. Fifthly, the characters don't have their likability any more, Fieval is now more annoying in alternative to sweet, and Tiger is no longer funny despite the fact that the late Dom DeLuise voices him. Sixthly, the ending is a real let-down, very rushed I felt.

Overall, not absolutely awful, but forgettable and charmless. 3/10 for the voice acting and villainess. Bethany Cox