Charles Solomon
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Publications: | Los Angeles Times, Animation Scoop |
| Critics' Group: | Los Angeles Film Critics Association |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 83% | Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2019) |
"Broly" delivers exactly what "Dragon Ball" fans want from a feature; newcomers may find themselves lost in places.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jan 16, 2019
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| 100% | The 20th Annual Animation Show of Shows (2018) |
The styles and subjects of the 15 films from six countries in the 20th edition demonstrate that in the right hands, animation can be a vehicle for personal expression as powerful and intimate as drawing, painting or sculpture.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 12, 2018
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| 100% | On Happiness Road (2017) |
At a time when viewers are calling for greater diversity in film, "On Happiness Road" marks the introduction of a promising new female voice in animation.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Nov 14, 2018
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| 82% | Liz and the Blue Bird (2018) |
The sequences illustrating the fairy tale are rendered in a handsome water color style, but even these scenes feel too slow and deliberate to enliven the film.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2018
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| 96% | The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (Le grand méchant renard et autres contes) (2018) |
In divisive times, Pig and his friends, who consist of maybe a dozen drawn lines apiece, provide much-needed laughter in the tradition of the great Warner Bros. cartoons.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 18, 2018
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| 44% | MFKZ (2018) |
"MFKZ" is obviously modeled on Katsuhiro Ôtomo's "Akira" and Taiyô Matsumoto's "Tekkonkinkreet," but it lacks the gritty brilliance of the former and the underdog poignancy of the latter.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 11, 2018
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| No Score Yet | My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018) |
"My Hero Academia: Two Heroes" gives fans of the manga and broadcast series exactly what they want: a high-energy blend of heroism, comedy, friendship and take-no-prisoners battles.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Sep 24, 2018
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| 92% | The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2018) |
A highly original work by an artist who follows his own vision - wherever it leads.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 21, 2018
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| 100% | Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018) |
At almost two hours, the film feels a bit long and suffers from multiple endings, but Okada is clearly a talent to watch.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jul 19, 2018
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| 77% | Lu Over the Wall (Yoake tsugeru Rû no uta) (2018) |
Yuasa's bold imagery and sometimes convoluted storytelling defy the conventions of traditional animated filmmaking, but he is clearly an artist with an individual vision whose work offers something genuinely new and eye-catching.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted May 10, 2018
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| 75% | Chipmunk Adventure (1987) |
The premise allows the film makers to use a lot of rather stereotyped "local color" as a background for the characters' various misadventures.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Mar 6, 2018
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| 100% | The 19th Annual Animation Show of Shows (2017) |
For viewers weary of the overly detailed look of many recent American CG features, the "Show of Shows" offers a welcome reminder that an animated film can be as intimate and personal as a signature.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 11, 2017
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| 67% | Cinderella The Cat (Gatta Cenerentola) (2017) |
The filmmakers seem to have been trying for the kind of animated film noir that has been done so skillfully in Japan, but "Cinderella the Cat" never approaches that level.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 7, 2017
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| 93% | A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi) (2017) |
An unflinching depiction of the cruelty children inflict on each other.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 19, 2017
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| 67% | Napping Princess (Hirune-hime: Shiranai watashi no monogatari) (2017) |
As he did in the popular "Eden and the East" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," writer-director Kenji Kamiyama tells a complicated tale without resorting to dull explanations or pat conclusions.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Sep 7, 2017
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| 55% | Song of the South (1946) |
Song of the South is essentially a nostalgic valentine to a past that never existed, and within those limits, it offers a pleasant, family diversion for holiday afternoons when the children get restless.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 16, 2017
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| 100% | The Girl Without Hands (La Jeune fille sans mains) (2017) |
Girl is a welcome reminder that animation doesn't have to be synonymous with realistically rendered CG, but can be a means of artistic expression as uniquely personal as a signature.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 2, 2017
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| 40% | Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016) |
"Dark Side" suffers from both too much story and too little.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jan 26, 2017
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| 67% | One Piece Film: Gold (2017) |
On the surface, it's a very silly comic adventure. But beneath the slapstick lies a blunt critique of economic inequality and the contemporary culture of greed.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2017
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| No Score Yet | 25 April (2015) |
Although the filmmakers use the soldiers' own words, they fail to create believable characters who can engage the audience.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 20, 2016
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| 73% | Blinky Bill The Movie (2016) |
Even the most sophisticated software can't give characters a sense of weight or a way of moving that suggests their personality. Nor can it create an engaging story.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 6, 2016
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| 53% | Bilal: A New Breed of Hero (2018) |
Much of the dialogue is too literal and undercut by its stolid earnestness, and many of the characters are left underdeveloped. Viewers unfamiliar with Bilal's story may have trouble following parts of the film.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 6, 2016
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| 97% | Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) |
Travis Knight's Japanese-influenced Kubo and the Two Strings ranks as the best film the artists at the Portland-based Laika Studio have made, with a strong story, assured direction and strikingly original designs.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Aug 17, 2016
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| 93% | The Little Prince (2016) |
There are only a few ... delightful moments in an otherwise muddled movie that feels like three films ineptly grafted together.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 4, 2016
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| 88% | Phantom Boy (2016) |
A modest, engaging film that reminds viewers of the intimate pleasures of drawn animation in an era of CG blockbusters.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jul 22, 2016
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| 88% | Belladonna of Sadness (Kanashimi no Beradona) (1973) |
The paintings simply aren't strong enough to hold the audience's attention and carry the story.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted May 13, 2016
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| 40% | Bling (2016) |
The voice actors shamelessly overact, delivering lines in grating shrieks. The weightless animation is equally overwrought: The characters flail about as if they'd contracted the cartoon equivalent of ergot poisoning.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted May 5, 2016
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| No Score Yet | Classmates (Dou kyu sei) (2016) |
Nakamura uses watercolor effects, elongated human figures and split screen to capture the look of Asumiko Nakamura's original manga.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted May 5, 2016
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| 100% | Only Yesterday (1991) |
At a time when the Hollywood studios have been criticized for their failure to present women's stories, Only Yesterday offers a warmly engaging account of a woman learning who she wants to be by exploring who she was.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Feb 24, 2016
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| 70% | Snowtime! (2016) |
The characters remain underdeveloped, a problem complicated by the weightless, unexpressive animation.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Feb 18, 2016
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| 86% | Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) |
Kung Fu Panda 3 provides a welcome reminder of what the talented artists at DreamWorks can do when they're given worthwhile material.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Jan 28, 2016
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| 63% | Monster Hunt (Zhuo Yao Ji) (2016) |
"Monster Hunt" broke box office records in China, but American viewers may wonder why this confused and confusing adventure-comedy enthralled audiences there.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jan 21, 2016
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| No Score Yet | Boruto: Naruto The Movie (2015) |
No "Naruto" fan will want to miss "Boruto," which suggests a new direction the franchise may take, now that the long-running TV series has finally concluded.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 10, 2015
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| 93% | Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo) (2015) |
"Boy and the World" reminds viewers that an animated feature can be more intimate and personal than the big-budget CG extravaganzas produced by Hollywood studios.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 10, 2015
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| 82% | Almost There (2015) |
He's demanding, imperious, self-pitying and manipulative to a degree that would be difficult to accept in a major talent, let alone a wannabe whose work barely rises to the level of paint-by-numbers. Nor is this portrait of him particularly well crafted.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 10, 2015
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| 76% | Moomins On The Riviera (Muumit Rivieralla) (2014) |
Very young children may be amused by these minimal characters, but the slow pace and thin content will have older children and adults fidgeting in their seats.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 3, 2015
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| 90% | The Boy And The Beast (Bakemono No Ko) (2016) |
"The Boy and the Beast" confirms Mamoru Hosoda's reputation as one of the most interesting writer-directors working in Japanese animation.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Dec 3, 2015
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| No Score Yet | Karski i w?adcy ludzko?ci (2015) |
Although it is often moving, the film is less satisfying than it could be.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Nov 12, 2015
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| 61% | Extraordinary Tales (2015) |
"Extraordinary Tales" reminds viewers that animation can enable an artist to realize an individual vision, even on a limited budget.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 22, 2015
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| No Score Yet | Laws of the Universe: Part 0 (2015) |
A leaden-paced film that only followers of Okawa could enjoy.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Oct 9, 2015
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| 55% | Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) |
Genndy Tartakovsky is a talented director who knows how to telegraph what an animated character is thinking and doing and how to move a character in ways that suggest personality. He deserves a more interesting assignment.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Sep 24, 2015
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| 66% | Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2015) |
Readers who regard Gibran as source of profound wisdom will delight in this celebration of his work; skeptics who dismiss his poetry as portentous and overblown should wait for the disc to come out and enjoy the imagery with the sound on low.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 6, 2015
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| 99% | Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) |
the animators communicate so much through the almost microscopic adjustments of the wrinkles in a character's forehead or shifting the angle of an eye. It reminds viewers that character animation is the art of caricatured movement, not sitcom wisecracks.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Aug 4, 2015
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| 82% | Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015) |
This slam-bang action-adventure will have "Dragon Ball" fans of all ages cheering with delight.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Aug 3, 2015
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| 22% | The Seventh Dwarf (2015) |
Elements from "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Tangled," "Frozen," "Happy Feet" and "Shrek" have been ineptly stitched together into a leaden film that children will enjoy about as much as lumps in their oatmeal.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2015
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| 56% | Minions (2015) |
Having main characters who jabber in nonsense syllables punctuated with real words in English, Spanish, etc. quickly cloys, like an overextended Danny Kaye routine.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Jul 9, 2015
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| 98% | Inside Out (2015) |
Inside Out is an exceptional film, even by Pixar's elevated standards.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2015
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| 44% | Maya The Bee Movie (2015) |
"Maya the Bee" embodies the kind of self-consciously uplifting treacle some adults insist kids want. They package "Maya" like honey, but it tastes like medicine.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Apr 30, 2015
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| 50% | Home (2015) |
Sadly, Home feels very derivative, borrowing heavily from Lilo and Stitch, Despicable Me and several recent DreamWorks features.‐ Animation Scoop
Read More | Posted Mar 26, 2015
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| No Score Yet | The Last: Naruto The Movie (2015) |
If "The Last" lacks some of the emotional punch of the previous feature, "The Road to Ninja," Kobayashi compensates with flamboyant visuals that mix CG, drawn animation and elegant calligraphic figures.‐ Los Angeles Times
Read More | Posted Feb 23, 2015
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