![]() Finally, Antin had to make the darn thing, which took the better part of three years. Funding issues got in the way, forcing Antin to move production to France. Next, he had to write the film and decide how it was going to be filmed - originally, Antin assumed that Pachamama would be done with stop-motion, only to later settle on a 2D-3D hybrid. ![]() So, what took so long? Well, first, Antin spent a few years doing research, visiting Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru and digging into the culture and mythology of those countries' indigenous peoples (Antin's wife, an anthropologist, helped set up interviews with local community leaders). Mune is a beautiful film, and it's worth watching for the visuals alone. Philippon mixes computer-generated 3D with hand-drawn scenes to great effect. Besides, the overall story hews close enough to the standard hero's journey formula that you can generally figure out what's going on, and even if the story loses you, you can keep yourself busy by marveling at Mune's breathtaking animation. That's about as simple an explanation of Mune's plot as you'll find, and while it can be a little difficult to keep up with Mune's mythology, it's certainly not anything you've seen before. When the young, underqualified Mune is appointed Guardian of the Moon, his rival Leeyoon retaliates, opening the door for a villain named Necross to steal the moon and throw the entire world off-balance. In the world of Mune, the light side of the world controls the sun, and the dark side the moon. The end result is a fantasy film that is just as lore-heavy as The Lord of the Rings, but with a whimsical fairytale touch that makes it feel like a legend from some long-lost civilization. For many of us, The Main Event is the closest we're going to get. Wrestling fans both young and old have dreamed of getting a chance to hop in the ring and show their stuff for years. Besides, despite the goofy premise, The Main Event taps into a real fantasy. Yeah, there are over-the-top slapstick scenes and the requisite fart jokes, but there's also a complex relationship between Leo and his father, played by Adam Pally, that fuels most of The Main Event's real drama. What The Main Event does have is a whole lot of heart, as well as a sly self-awareness that keeps the film from succumbing to cliches. Like a real wrestling match, the ending of this one was set in stone a long time ago. ![]() The Main Event is basically a pro-graps take on '90s mainstay Rookie of the Year - an 11-year-old kid finds a magic luchador mask that gives him super-strength, which he uses to become one of WWE's top superstars - and it doesn't come with many surprises. Instead, The Main Event takes place in a world in which professional wrestling is a legitimate sport, and WWE is a company that deserves our love and respect. ![]() Other than the length (if you're watching with small children, you might need to break Dangal up over a couple of days), what's not to love? It's heartbreaking, it's exciting, and it's extremely well-made. The action scenes in Dangal are visceral and physical and extremely exciting, giving the movie a raw physical edge that other family films lack, without resorting to straight-up violence. Still, Dangal's fights may be the film's biggest attraction. With Dangal, Aamir Khan proves once again why he's an international superstar, and Zaira Wasim turns in a winning performance as young Geeta, too. Now older, Mahavir decides to train his daughters Geeta and Babita as wrestlers, hoping to continue his legacy and lead them to some championship gold. In the movie, Aamir Khan stars as Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former amateur athlete who was forced to give up on a promising wrestling career in order to get a "real" job. That's a shame, because the Hindi-language sports film really is a movie that the entire family can enjoy, provided your kids are old enough to keep up with the subtitles. But for those of us in the USA, Dangal somehow managed to fly under the radar.
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