Imagination Review
By David Kempler
Imagination does not necessarily mean interesting
I am certainly not the poster boy for mainstream Hollywood filmmaking. My tastes run much more to the eclectic than the general populace. Translated, that means that if a movie is doing major box office business I'm more than likely not going to be a big fan of that film. It's not that I don't like major studio films because they are major studio films, but rather that most of what is churned out by the studios is designed to put 14 year-old fannies in the local cinema seats. Hence, most of these are simple boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. The other big theme is horror, where blood and gore has replaced the truly scary films of greatness.
Therefore, when a movie like "Imagination" comes to my attention I'm immediately interested. Touted as avant-garde and featuring some fairly interesting animation it would seem to be more my cup of tea than the latest Spiderman adventure. "Imagination" is directed by Eric Leiser and he co-wrote it with his brother Jeffrey. Eric's bio includes filmmaker, animator, puppeteer, holographer, illustrator, writer, teacher, sculptor, painter, and former funeral director.
On the plus side is some fairly interesting animation, at least the portion towards the end, anyway. Before then it mostly seems like rehash of animation popularized in the early 80's.
On the negative side of the ledger is a story that is barely a backdrop for mediocre wizardry. Perhaps it would have worked better if the actors didn't appear to be cast because they were related to someone. If you have ever seen one of those local business TV commercials where a wife or mistress has been cast as a spokesperson you'll understand what I mean.
The story is of twin girls that overcome blindness and other physical limitations and eventually learn the secrets of life. The girls cannot be blamed for their stilted acting because that's what Leiser must have asked of them. However, their mother is as bad as can be. If this is on purpose, I'm not sure. In any case, it's horrific to watch her. The doctor is no better. As a courtesy to all the actors I won't mention who they are.
In conclusion, perhaps I have been rash in my evaluation of studio films. When does Spiderman 7 open?
