Netflix And Chill: Wendell & Wild (2022)

Another stop-motion animated movie from director Henry Selick (who also helmed such greats as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach, and Coraline, as well as Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone), Wendell & Wild feels a step removed from his previous features thanks to a more diverse cast and an excuse to reunite Key and Peele onscreen (even if it's only in voice form, of course). Unfortunately, it's also not as good as most of the titles I just mentioned (except Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone).

Kat is a troubled teen, having blamed herself for years for the death of her parents. Moving from one place to the next, with trouble often not far away, Kat finally ends up at a school very close to the small town where she used to live in happier times. Wanting nothing more than her parents brought back to life, Kat ends up being tricked by two demons, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele), who want to enter the world of the living and try out their plan to raise the dead with some very powerful hair restorer. There's also a pair of schemers trying to keep their part in a deadly chapter in history hidden, which could become tougher when the dead start to rise, and Kat may find herself equally in danger from the undead and the living.

I'm not sure why this doesn't work as well as other Selick features, but it seems to lack something truly magical and impressive. The detailing is often as lovely as you'd expect, but there also seems to be no connective tissue between the land of the living and the land of the dead, with each one feeling like it stays in whatever snowglobe-like environment is required for each main scene. The tone is also disappointingly wobbly, neither macabre nor amusing enough, and it feels weird that Key and Peele are used here (Peele having also helped to write the screenplay) without making the most of their talents. Perhaps the problems come from the source material, it's based on a book by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, or maybe it needs more than one watch to pick up on more of the lovely production design and character developments. Maybe it needed a better score from Bruno Coulais to lend stronger support to the visuals. I would rewatch this, but it won't ever be too high on my list of priorities.

Ross is a very good lead, Key and Peele are a bit muted, but fun, and it's great to hear Angela Bassett, James Hong, Ving Rhames, David Harewood, and Maxine Peake in main roles, every one a great actor also able to deliver a great vocal performance. Sam Zelaya and Tamara Smart are also very good, playing two other teenagers important to the plot, alongside Seema Virdi and Ramona Young in supporting roles.

I cannot dismiss this as a bad film, and it's more entertaining and inventive than dozens of other movies aimed at younger viewers, but it's near the bottom of the pile when compared to similar stop-motion features presenting macabre elements in a child-friendly way.

6/10

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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

AKA Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas AKA the one that everyone thinks was directed by Tim Burton when it was really Henry Selick who should have got more of the credit.

There's no denying that Tim Burton has his fingerprints all over this, it was developed from an original poem that he wrote when he was a Disney animator in the early 1980s and uses many key players he has used again and again in his movies, but it's important to remind people that Henry Selick really guided this movie through the years that it took to get it on the big screen (while Burton was only present for a number of days).

Lovingly crafted, this is stop motion animation that easily puts itself right alongside the very best examples of the craft. It's full of beautiful little touches, macabre delights in every scene, and while the kids will keep returning to spend time with the strange characters and perhaps sing along with the songs, adults can take in fresh details with every viewing.

The story is all about Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon though the singing voice is provided by Danny Elfman), the pumpkin king. Jack is an important resident in Halloweentown but he's starting to lose his enthusiasm for Halloween. That's not good because Halloweentown is all about the holiday, as soon as one is over, the countdown to the next begins. When he discovers Christmas Town, Jack is inspired and re-energised. He decides that Christmas shouldn't be something excluded from the residents of Halloweentown and he immediately plans to put himself in charge of the event for a year. This will mean kidnapping Santa Claus but keeping him safely away from nasty Oogie Boogie (Ken Page), creating toys and flying animals to pull a sleigh and getting a jolly Santa suit made for him by a patchwork ragdoll named Sally (Catherine O'Hara). Sally has a bad feeling about everything but Jack isn't listening.

I almost, ALMOST, class The Nightmare Before Christmas as a perfect movie. The visuals are gorgeous throughout, most of the songs are winners (with the high point being the wonderful "What's This?" although the opening number, "This Is Halloween" really gets everything off to a great start) and the story is a delightful, simple one with good lessons to be learned. The only big mark against it is that the second half of the movie can't keep up the high, high standard set by the first half. The second half is still very good but it has a number of the slightly weaker musical numbers and has to tie everything up as opposed to the pieces being put into place in the first half. In fact, the scenes in which Jack is trying his hand at Christmas are the weakest in the whole film, mainly because the style and design of the film doesn't fit as well with Anytown, USA as it does with the quirky Holiday worlds.

I feel like I'm nitpicking but I'm only highlighting the very small points that stop this from being a solid 10/10 classic. Despite those very minor flaws, I have still watched this film more than almost any other movie in my collection and I can still watch it repeatedly at any point between Halloween and Christmas (the optimum viewing period, of course). If you haven't seen it yet then do yourself a favour and get to it this Christmas. If you have seen it already then you're probably wondering why I rated it "so low".

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nightmare-Christmas-Collectors-Edition-Blu-ray/dp/B001D7WIZ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354457233&sr=8-2