Post by Quorthon on Dec 19, 2005 15:36:58 GMT -5
Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin the Untold Story
Animated Comedy
2005
Color
MPAA Rating: Unrated, if on TV, would likely be TV-14
Directed by:
USA
This animated film was shot straight to DVD once it was realized that Family Guy might actually be returning to television once again. Amazing, no? Well, when Fox realized that Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming block was raking in viewers and the DVD box sets were selling amazingly well, they apparently realized the horrible mistake they made in canning Family Guy in the first place. Now if only they’d learn that lesson about Futurama…
This film is, more or less, three episodes of Family Guy crammed together a la “Creepshow” with a tale about Stewie Griffin, the baby, connecting the beginning with the end. Stewie sees a man on television who looks and sounds creepily a lot like himself, and, believe he couldn’t possibly be Peter’s offspring, sets off with Brian the dog in tow to find the mystery man. They find him, and, of course, the story becomes weirder. Interwoven within are stories about Peter and Lois teaching Stewie to swim and their other kids how to date. There’s also other stories revolving around the futures of the older kids, but I’ll leave those details up to you fine readers of this review.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Well, it’s pretty funny, and interesting. The Stewie story is fun.
--Decent acting and writing—about average for the TV show.
--Plenty of fresh gags and jokes to hold attention.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The movie is tirelessly self-referencing to the TV show, so a lot of old gags show up time and again.
--Animation no better or worse than the show. It’s decent and it gets the job done.
--Standard “Family Guy” tunes.
The Bad:
--This is really—well it has to be—just three episodes that never got used that ended up stuffed together and slightly rewritten together to form a movie. Despite the fact that it’s an unrated DVD release, they didn’t really push any new boundaries. The “not-on-TV” swear words are bleeped and there’s no cartoon nudity or excessive violence. The makers of this didn’t really push the boundaries with this film—and I think that’ll be kind of a disappointment for fans who would likely have high hopes for an extravagant, boundary-pushing feature.
The Ugly:
--Future Meg.
Memorable Scene:
--When Stewie meets the man he saw on TV.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Character Development: 8/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 0/10 (it’s animated, doesn’t apply)
Nudity/Sexuality: 3/10 (no nudity, some sex jokes)
Violence/Gore: 6/10 (standard for the show)
Dialogue: 8/10
Music: 6/10
Direction: 7/10
Cheesiness: 4/10
Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 6/10
All in all, it was pretty enjoyable, but a disappointment knowing what could have been. Pretty much just for fans of the show. Not especially deep, and pretty self-absorbed at times.
Animated Comedy
2005
Color
MPAA Rating: Unrated, if on TV, would likely be TV-14
Directed by:
USA
This animated film was shot straight to DVD once it was realized that Family Guy might actually be returning to television once again. Amazing, no? Well, when Fox realized that Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming block was raking in viewers and the DVD box sets were selling amazingly well, they apparently realized the horrible mistake they made in canning Family Guy in the first place. Now if only they’d learn that lesson about Futurama…
This film is, more or less, three episodes of Family Guy crammed together a la “Creepshow” with a tale about Stewie Griffin, the baby, connecting the beginning with the end. Stewie sees a man on television who looks and sounds creepily a lot like himself, and, believe he couldn’t possibly be Peter’s offspring, sets off with Brian the dog in tow to find the mystery man. They find him, and, of course, the story becomes weirder. Interwoven within are stories about Peter and Lois teaching Stewie to swim and their other kids how to date. There’s also other stories revolving around the futures of the older kids, but I’ll leave those details up to you fine readers of this review.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Well, it’s pretty funny, and interesting. The Stewie story is fun.
--Decent acting and writing—about average for the TV show.
--Plenty of fresh gags and jokes to hold attention.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The movie is tirelessly self-referencing to the TV show, so a lot of old gags show up time and again.
--Animation no better or worse than the show. It’s decent and it gets the job done.
--Standard “Family Guy” tunes.
The Bad:
--This is really—well it has to be—just three episodes that never got used that ended up stuffed together and slightly rewritten together to form a movie. Despite the fact that it’s an unrated DVD release, they didn’t really push any new boundaries. The “not-on-TV” swear words are bleeped and there’s no cartoon nudity or excessive violence. The makers of this didn’t really push the boundaries with this film—and I think that’ll be kind of a disappointment for fans who would likely have high hopes for an extravagant, boundary-pushing feature.
The Ugly:
--Future Meg.
Memorable Scene:
--When Stewie meets the man he saw on TV.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Character Development: 8/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 0/10 (it’s animated, doesn’t apply)
Nudity/Sexuality: 3/10 (no nudity, some sex jokes)
Violence/Gore: 6/10 (standard for the show)
Dialogue: 8/10
Music: 6/10
Direction: 7/10
Cheesiness: 4/10
Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 6/10
All in all, it was pretty enjoyable, but a disappointment knowing what could have been. Pretty much just for fans of the show. Not especially deep, and pretty self-absorbed at times.
