babettex5

As opposed to other reviewers who are sadly so limited they can only conceive of Linda Hunt as an object of derision, I tune in specifically to see her. The show is adequate. I've always liked LL Cool J and it's nice to see Chris O'Donnell again. (The nerds suck, especially when you consider Abby from the original show.) But it's the presence of Linda Hunt that elevates this show. She's a rich, interesting actor and her character here has a great backstory.

Sure this team could be managed by yet another grizzled actor playing a tough as nails former Navy Seal type, whose life has been touched by tragedy because his wife died of breast cancer or his little girl choked on a marble. I'd rather have Linda Hunt because she is a true original. I've seen enough shallow cookie cutter actors with impossibly white teeth and ripped abs. Now I want to watch stories about people who are unique and unusual and earthy and human.

Bambi is sad. Dumbo is sad. This movie is messed up. It's not that it's bad, it's that it's an animated movie about singing penguins directed by the same guy who directed Mad Max, being marketed as if it's another installment of Toy Story. Narratively the film bites off a great deal more than it can chew. Is it a story about how a person who is different can have a valued role in a community? Environmental cautionary tale? Existential post-apocalyptic angst-fest with Moulin Rouge musical numbers? At times quite affecting, with some terrific voice performances and a few hilarious gags, but in the end not at all appropriate (and way too long) for children.