Worst to Best Animated Films of 2020 Part 2

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

Hey everyone, welcome back to part 2 of the Worst to Best Animated Films of 2020. If you have yet to read part 1, then you had better do so because if I don’t mention a film on this list, then it might be on a later part of the previous or future list. Let’s continue then, shall we? I mean, that’s what’s going to happen. 

27 Kill it and Leave this Town 

I always respect the fact that we still get animated features that stay true to the original ambition and idea created by the director. I think that’s always a good goal to have in mind with making animated features. However, if that director wants to make a film that’s extremely slow, hard to follow at points because of the heavy emphasis on dream logic, and only appealing to a certain niche group of animation and film fans, then you shouldn’t be shocked if someone ends up not liking it and not recommending it. I do get what this film is about, but the meandering pace and focus on surreal dream-like images, designs, and a very morose tone make for a fairly dull watch. I love the art style and the music, but it shouldn’t be a shock when a film like this doesn’t find a wider audience. I know this was the director’s passion project, and that’s fine! I get why some critics do love this film, but again, if you want to make a film that’s as far away as possible from the films that come out from big studios, then don’t be shocked if you don’t catch many fans. 

26 Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge 

We have yet another video game movie, and while it’s low on the list, it’s one of the better films in terms of video game adaptations. When it’s actually about Scorpion’s Revenge, it’s a compelling story, and the action throughout the overall film is fantastic for a direct-to-video film. However, the film wants to be a universe starter and a traditional Mortal Kombat plot with a tournament set up. It’s too busy trying to focus on making a franchise and giving Johnny Cage a predictable story arc. It’s a fun film, but easily one I can see not coming back to. 

25 SCOOB

What is with WB and their fetish for wanting universe starters? Even taking out the above-average CGI animation, some decent casting, and a few clever jokes, references, and side characters, the film is not a Scooby-Doo film. It’s a Hanna-Barbera universe starter, and that’s it. It’s uninterested in being a film about the iconic dog and that’s a shame. When it does have some of that charm from the franchise, it’s a decent watch. Like everyone else, I wish some of the concept art that we got to see after the film was released was what we got instead of this lukewarm universe starter. 

24 Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

Speaking of universes, we now have the finale to the previous cinematic universe of DC/WB direct-to-video films. Outside of an opening sequence that made me unintentionally laugh for days, I was glad this was the last film in a franchise I wasn’t a huge fan of. It had great action, some endearing moments between certain characters, and I think the ending was pretty good! I just wasn’t a fan of this storyline and I’m glad they are moving on. 

23 Summer Days with Coo

This was one of the few foreign films in 2020 to be a carryover from a long time ago. I mean, a long time ago in terms of 2007. We finally got this film in the US, and while I do like seeing one of Keiichi Haara’s first directorial efforts, it is flawed. It has a weird time balancing more child-like whimsy and the darker tones of what it wants to tackle. While it has some very hit and miss animation overall, it does end on a rather nice note that I wish carried the overall tone of the film. It’s a cute film, but I can safely say his later films are miles above this one. 

22 A Whisker Away

If there was a real disappointment from 2020, it would be this film. While it has gorgeous animation, some truly great visuals, and the villain is fun, the main character is what breaks this film. Her constant stalking and harassment of the male lead are uncomfortable. It bogs down a film with some very mature themes and ideas. It’s just a reminder that not every original film that comes out is going to be good. 

21 A Dog’s Courage

This is another film that we finally got from a previous year in the US. While I’m not fully familiar with South Korea and its animation scene, I was aware of this director’s previous film and was excited about finally checking this one out. It uses CGI animation quite wonderfully. It is also an effective experience of a group of dogs trying to find a better life. Its use of 2D animation isn’t as good as other films, and it is yet another animated film with a tone problem. Still, I always admire a film that has a strong emotional story, and I’m glad I got to see it. Just don’t expect this film to be very kid-friendly. 

20 My Favorite War

This is such a unique movie. While we have films in this similar fashion with Another Day of Life, My Favorite War tells a more intimate story of the director growing up in Soviet Latvia, and it has a very distinct visual style when the animation beats happen. It might not be the best animation, and it does look a little wonky at points, the personal story and the history behind that country are way more than enough to carry the rest of the film. 

19 Twilight

Yeah, we finally got this film. I remember there was a lot of hype for it due to being crowdfunded, which is not uncommon with Japanese animation, but then everything went silent, and it stayed in Japan for a few years. Crunchyroll then finally brought it over, and well, it’s a solid little teen drama. While it’s not revolutionary or better than other teen dramas or coming-of-age dramas, it’s still well animated and earnest in its execution to warrant at least one viewing of the film. 

Thanks for reading the review! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! If you would like to support my work, make sure to share it out, and if you want to become a Patreon supporter, then you can go to patreon.com/camseyeview. I will see you all next time!

Worst to Best Animated Films of 2018 Part 1

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this editorial/list!)

Well, it’s 2019, and it’s time to talk about the Worst to Best of 2018’s animation line-up. Overall, 2018 was a vastly superior year for animation, as it wasn’t just a few good major releases and a ton of great indie/foreign releases like 2017. 2018 was a year full of surprises, and, for the first time in a while, the number of really bad movies felt shorter, and not as bad as other years like 2011, 2017, or were as bad as the worst of 2016. It also proved to be one of the few down years for Disney and Pixar, as a Sony Pictures Animated film took home the most awards, and rightfully so. Anyway, the rules for this list are the same. They had to have come out in 2018, and were in the running for the 2018 Oscars and Annie Awards. No straight-to-DVD films, unless they are of some major importance in the animation pop culture realm. Like usual, I will also be including the animated Netflix films, because unlike most animation lists, I actually saw every animated film released in the US and in the running for the Oscars. So then, let’s get started!

44. Duck Duck Goose

While Netflix’s upcoming animated feature line-up sounds incredible, Duck Duck Goose was by far the worst animated feature I saw last year. It was obvious that after multiple delays, it was shoved onto Netflix with no fanfare. It’s not a great looking film, the writing wasn’t anything note-worthy, characters were wildly inconsistent in personalities, and it was really gutsy to think that it had a chance in being in theaters. I felt badly for the studio that made it, because now it’s going to be labeled as another example of a studio wanting to dump a film that won’t do well, and give it to Netflix. I liked Jim Gaffigan in it, but that’s because he’s Jim Gaffigan. Outside of that, there is no real reason to go see this flick.

43. Gnome Alone

I was wondering where I should put this one, because it’s just as bad as Duck Duck Goose, but Gnome Alone feels more cohesive and consistent in terms of tone, writing, and animation quality. It’s another film that was in limbo, because the original distributor was probably on its deathbed, and while there a few decent ideas that could have made this mildly more amusing than other films on this list, they don’t go far with it, and it’s another film that has a decent cast, but you will not find any info on them talking about it at all. At least, I couldn’t find anything. It’s fairly generic and pretty forgettable. Hopefully, Netflix picks and chooses what they release in the future, so they don’t end up with tripe that no one will be talking or caring about after it’s released on their service.

42. Happy Family

Yeah, the entire bottom part of this list will be including many of the “was released in theaters, but no one cares” animated films of 2018, and Happy Family is one of them. It could have been an interesting flick about a family that ends up getting turned into the monsters they are dressed up as, but they didn’t take advantage of it in any of the correct ways. The characters are unlikable, the animation is dated and not theatrical quality at all, and the story gets a bit bonkers as it goes on. I hate that a lot of talented actors were attached to this, because this film does nothing for their careers. Maybe a more talented group of filmmakers could have made this better, but there is a reason no one remembers this came out last year.

41. Son of Big Foot

The direct-to-video animation market had a dry spell last year, with no real major clunkers reaching theaters, but this carryover from 2017 was the only major animated direct-to-video film that was getting any kind of talk. It’s an absurd idea that’s not handled well, more animation that’s not entirely impressive, and a story that doesn’t really take advantage of how insane the premise sounds. It comes off like no one knew how ridiculous this setting was and played it entirely straight. The only major reason to watch this movie is to get a few friends together and grab a few beers to have a night full of laughs. Yeah, that’s not really a positive endorsement.

40. Netflix’s Godzilla Trilogy

At first, I was going to make them take individual spots on the list, but they only work as one big movie, and they all are terrible. Clunky CGI, a boring drawn-out story, too much focus put on the humans, not enough monsters and giant monster action, and it had the wrong writer to craft a story that was worthy of Godzilla. I know some people love these three films, but I really can’t stand them. To me, this trilogy showed everything that was bad about both anime and the king of monsters. I already reviewed it, so you can check the review out on my website, but I would rather watch giant monsters duke it out Pacific Rim-style next time than what we got with this trilogy.

39. Sherlock Gnomes

The real reason why this film is up this “high” on the list is because while the marketing for this film was awful, the two leads from the previous film were side characters in their own sequel, and the story as a whole is clunky and soulless, I could understand actually watching this film again. Honestly, it turned into a “better” movie because of how bad the marketing was, and how those jokes were only there in the trailer. There are a few solid performances, like Depp’s Sherlock, and the 2D animated sequences were easily the best part of the film. Sadly, outside of Elton John, no one really cared or wanted this movie to be made. Luckily, Sherlock Gnomes won’t be Paramount’s biggest animation blunder this decade, which, as of writing this, goes to Wonder Park.

38. Scooby Doo & Batman: The Brave and the Bold

I don’t really talk about Scooby Doo on this site, but it’s mostly that I am avoiding the mountain of direct-to-video and the mediocre live-action films. I had to talk about this one as it combines the Scooby gang with the iteration of Batman that combined action and comedy. While I was amused and entertained somewhat, I felt like this film didn’t really know how to balance it out. It couldn’t focus enough on either the Batman or the Scooby Doo element to make either part feel cohesive. It felt more like an average episode of either show. Still, it had a few decent moments and some good voice performances. Check it out if you want, but you aren’t missing much if you don’t. At least it’s not that Tom & Jerry and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film.

37. Have a Nice Day

Ah, yes, the Chinese “animated” film that caused a stir at Annecy 2017, and then was quickly forgotten. It’s a shame too, because I was very intrigued by the dialogue and the characters. It had some great dark comedy bits, and while the animation was limited, you could still feel the tension during certain scenes. I do wish this had more animation to it, and the ending didn’t just happen abruptly with no real conclusion, but it’s an interesting film nonetheless.

36. Fireworks

Yeah, I was sad to put a GKids release this low on the list. Fireworks is not a good movie, and it’s fine if you like it, but for me, it’s up there as one of GKids biggest distribution disappointments. The characters were unlikable, the side male characters were creeps, and the premise and animation weren’t fully up to par. It’s interesting when you find out that this was an adaptation of a live-action television drama episode of a series called If, but that’s the only interesting thing about it. They could have easily taken this premise to much bigger heights with the whole rewinding time mechanic, but it comes off like this was only greenlit because Your Name was a hit. Maybe someday, another studio will find more to do with this idea, but for me, Fireworks is low on my priority of GKids purchases.

35. The Wolf House

While I still found this film to be sort of boring and overly-long at 75 minutes, The Wolf House is way more interesting when you find out about the context in which this film takes place. This includes a compound that was founded by a German who escaped Germany and fled to Chile, to avoid pedophile charges, and the compound was full of monstrous acts of child sexual abuse, abuse towards it members, and so on. Yeah, that’s not entirely clear when you first see it. If you look at this with its own slow-burn horror film style, it’s surprisingly atmospheric, with an entire house being used with painting and stop-motion animation. It’s quite a technical achievement. Still, even for its short runtime, it seems fairly long, and most of the context will be lost on people who aren’t aware of this subject and history. It’s an interesting film if you can find it, but I don’t know how many will dig it.