Inflation, animation, imagination, & exploitation: a bloated Brando, outstanding computer-generated imagery, four decades of family favorites, and a shocking French film fill DVD shelves. . - Entertainment - movie review

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 2002 by Robert S. Rothenberg

ANIMATION

Shrek (Dreamworks Home Entertainment, 93 minutes, $19.99) may be the death knell for the old-fashioned cel animation process that made Walt Disney a household name. While CGI has been making inroads into the field over the past few years, this skewed version of the classic beauty-and-the-beast scenario should put it over the top. A delight to audiences (more than $200,000,000 at the box office, with video sales going through the roof) and critics alike (making an appearance on many Top 10 year-end lists and virtually a lock for the first best animated feature Oscar later this year), "Shrek" is a classic. As with the best of animated films, it has captivated adults as well as kids, especially with its backhanded digs at classic Disney movies and the sly vocal performances by Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy as, respectively, the title green ogre reluctantly proving to be a softie at heart and his loudmouthed donkey sidekick.

As mind-boggling as the picture--if not more so--are the 11 hours of special features crammed into this two-disc set. Besides the standard behind-the-scenes peeks and commentary by the filmmakers, there is a plethora of imaginative entertainment, including almost a dozen and a half interactive games and activities, "interviews" with the cartoon characters, music videos, deleted scenes, technical insights, and a fascinating opportunity to record your own voice over that of one of the characters and a chance for you to star in one of a dozen scenes in the movie. Add all these to what is arguably the most-entertaining film of the year and you have the best bargain in the video store.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 106 minutes, $24.95) is an attempt to generate photorealistic images through CGI, creating animated characters as close to human actors as technologically possible. Alas--although not for members of Actors Equity, we're sure--it's close, but no cigar. The characters look almost lifelike, but there are disconcerting differences in skin texture and movement that throw everything out of kilter, leaving viewers uneasily observing the animators' work instead of paying attention to the plot. With the latter disconcertedly confusing--possibly as a result of the translation from the original story by Japanese director Hironobu Sakaguchi and mystically philosophical, the film is nowhere as engrossing as it should have been. However, the two-disc package is loaded with special features--ranging from filmmakers' commentaries and a "Making of ..." featurette to music videos, interactive workshops, an alternative opening sequence, and, most fascinating, an opportunity to re-edit a key scene, then play back your version--making this noble experiment one film collectors will want on their shelves, especially as the technology grows nearer to perfection.

Osmosis Jones (Warner Home Video, 95 minutes, $24.98) is closer to old-fashioned animation, blended with live-action scenes to form a riotous primer on how not to take care of your body. The premise is that the various organs of slobbish Bill Murray's body are run by a cartoon bureaucracy (headed by a pompous mayor voiced by a deliberately hammy William Shatner) and policed by white corpuscles. When Frank (Murray) ingests a contaminated oyster, the ensuing food poisoning (portrayed as a maniacal Red Death creature) can only be counteracted by the efforts of an anti-establishment white blood cell (Chris Rock) and a prissy cold tablet (hysterically voiced by David Hyde Pierce of TV's "Frasier"). Sort of a warped version of the 1966 live-action movie "Fantastic Voyage," the picture is laugh-filled and delightfully gross--hence the "parental guidance suggested" label citing "bodily humor." Suffice it to say that the directors--Peter and Bobby Farrelly--do not stray far from the type of humor they are noted for in films such as "There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber." Special features follow right along with "Voices Inside Frank's Head" (vocal commentary by the writer, producer, and animation director), "Deleted Spleens" (scenes), "Investigating the Vocal Cords" (recording sessions with Rock, Pierce, Shatner, and the villainous Laurence Fishburne), and "Frank's Gross Anatomy" (the DVD menu).