Displaying items by tag: Ke Huy Quan

ZOOTOPIA 2

US, 2025, 108 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Ke Huy Quan, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, Danny Trejo, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Alan Tudyk, Shakira.
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard.

Hard to believe that it is nine years since the release of Utopia stop it, it has been kept alive by television and streaming. Eager anticipation for a sequel.

And, it takes a with the original finished, and officer is more of the same, thoroughly entertaining – and enough enjoyment for the children with the animals and their antics, enough for the adults with the story, the homage to various movie conventions, and smart dialogue.

As can be seen from the title, this is a wonderful society, living in harmony, a real Utopia for the animals. However, the animals are completely anthropomorphic, mirroring their human counterparts exactly. And this is where the message comes in, despite the difficulties, if animals can live in Zootopia, why can’t humans overcome bigotry, racism, fear, and create a human Utopia?

Once again, here is the young rabbit, Judy, who with her partner, Nick, has solve the case and they have become police celebrities since Utopia, and voiced excellently by Ginnifer Goodwin. And with Nick (once again Jason Bateman at his best), they have proven themselves – but a more difficult case looms and Judy is determined to solve it, the preferring to stay home! Their boss is a rather large, dark, ox police chief, voiced by Idris Elba.

There is quite a lot of banter this time between Judy and Nick, she over-eager, he over-reluctant. But, there is a mystery to be solved, a police case to be investigated and Judy is determined to triumph, forcing Nick (forcibly) along the way.

At first, some misunderstandings, especially in an automatic aversion to snakes. However, the snake is not the villain but rather a hero, a quest to find the document of his grandmother which says that snakes have a rightful place in’s Utopia. However, they have been excluded, and the villains a family of lynxes.

so, on the one hand, this follows the routines of the familiar police partnerships. On the other hand, there is the sinister family, rather mafioso like, and a whole lot of dangerous action and survival in some quite exotic landscapes, snow, cliffs, top of mountain resorts…

And, as with the first film, a lot of smart dialogue, plenty of puns (getting information from Zoogle, watching Ewe Tube), with perilous situations and romantic confessions and apologies.

Quite a number of new voice talent including Oscar-winner,Ke Huy Quan, and veterans Andy Sandberg, David Strathairn (as villainous brothers) and exuberant seen from Shakira.

The dialogue is very entertaining, often very witty, enjoyable with the parallels with human experience, the echoes of the movies, the to and fro banter between Judy and Nick. (This reviewer noted in the 2016 review: “If the makers can come up with another ingenious plot and smart dialogue, Zootopia 2 would be welcome”.

Yes, definitely welcome.

1.  Acclaim for the film, popularity, ages, different cultures?

2. The animation, the characters, textures: skin, fur, clothes? Expressions? In action?

3. The strength of the voice cast?

4. The musical score, the final song, moods?

5. The different genres and conventions? Family stories, families, buddy cops, authority and government and corruption, Mr Big, science fiction, the Godfather, action? Homage – the touch of parody?

6. The animals, anthropomorphic? Voices, expressions? The young, the old, the parents? The hopes, achievement and ambitions? Police chief,, the detective, the police, the Mayor and the assistant, the victims of corruption, thugs, the godfather, the scientists, the guards?

7. The theme of predators and prey? In the past, savage, the biology? The title of the film? The prejudice, manipulation, criminals, bigotry, racism, sexism, and the importance of multi-cultural society and harmony?

8. The continuity with the original, the situation for Judy and Nick, with the police, the chief, the vain horse mayor, the other members of the staff? Reputation? Keeping the reputation?

9. The situation, the social Gala, Judy dressing up, Nick reluctant, forcing him to go, the mystery of the book, the snake seen as stealing the book, action and mayhem?

10. The revelation of the truth, sympathy for the snake and snakes, the villainous of lynxes, the sympathetic links and his help (and the shock of the later betrayal)?

11. Judy and Nick and the banter, her challenging him, her determination, his reluctance, the series of adventures?

12. The sympathetic snake, the family situation, the snakes exiled, the need to find the book, stealing, the adventures with the book, the family in pursuit? The message on the cover? The background story in the flashbacks? The grandmother and the document?

13. The range of adventures, locations, in the snow, climbing the mountain, the Honeyman resort, the quest, finding the document?

14. The vain horse, in the employ of the family, the buildup to the final confrontation, the betrayal of the brother, the authorities and suspicions of Judy and Nick, everybody coming together, working out the solution, the vindication of the snake family? The welcome return?

15. And the parallels with contemporary USA, power, wealth, bigotry, racism, the need for harmony?

LOVE HURTS

US, 2025, 83 minutes, Colour.

Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Daniel Wu, Cam Gigandet, Marshawn Lynch, Andre Eriksen, Rhys Darby, Sean Astin.

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio.

While there are some rather secondary themes of love, this is a film where the title Hurts is much more important!

This is a very brief action show, one of thousands in the history of cinema. However, it is a show of the 21^st-century, very significantly promoting a range of characters with different ethnic backgrounds in the United States. And, there is a lot of violence, stylised in its way, some of it very serious, especially in the deaths of character who certainly didn’t deserve it and had some audience sympathy, but also in the elaborate martial arts choreography.

Ke Huy Quan certainly has a Jackie Chan look about him, physically, and then in the extensive fights and martial arts manifestations.

In fact, the director of has a long list of credits as stunt coordinator, martial arts and fight coordinator. And, two of the stars have something of a similar background, especially the central character played by Ke Huy Quan. (And, the main fighters, the two brothers Marvin and Knuckles, and the hitman, The Raven – a hugely imposing physical presence by Mustafa Shakir – are all in their mid-late 50s!).

The Raven and Ashley, Ivan’s real estate agency assistant (Lio Tipton) provide quite some humour with poetry, violence, and romance. And there is Rhys Darby as the Kiwi accountant.

Familiar themes, Russians in the US, money deals, betrayals, thugs, tracking down those who betrayed them…

However, the film is a star vehicle for Ke Huy Quan who had appeared in the number of films in the 1980s but had not prospered in the film or television industry as an actor. Then, he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. And here he is teamed, not always romantically credible in the scenario, with Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, for West Side Story.

While Marvin had been a hitman for his brother, Knuckles, he has moved away, disillusioned, helping their associate, Rose, to disappear. Now, everybody seems to be after him even though he is now a respectable, award-winning, real estate agent (and many sequences illustrating this).

He has a rival in the estate agency business and a very sympathetic boss played by Sean Astin – but it was not necessary in the scheme of things that they should each die so brutally.

Happy ending, declarations of love – the audience might hope for this but may not be persuaded.