None of it mattered to me, and while I wanted to shrug my shoulders and whisper inaudibly, “Hakuna Matata,” as the end credits began their scrawl, the truth of the matter is that I felt no love for this The Lion King remake, it’s overall storytelling mediocrity a circle of never-ending disappointment I couldn’t wait to be finished with.

I do hope Toy Story 4 is the last of the series, if only because the bow it puts on Woody’s four-film expedition is tied with such loving perfection I have trouble imagining the filmmakers could ever do better than what they miraculously accomplish here.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 improves upon the first film in every conceivable way in my opinion, unleashing a trio of beguiling little stories that kids of all ages are almost certain to find enjoyable.

While my initial trepidations in regards to Rob Letterman’s latest proved to be somewhat unfounded, it still wasn’t like Pokémon Detective Pikachu won me over entirely.

Chris Butler’s (ParaNorman) marvelously entertaining Missing Link is a joyous absurdist frolic that’s nothing short of wonderful.

There is something new about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that can be traced squarely to the injection of this fresh blood into the proceedings. Miles is a hero anyone and everyone can relate to, making his animated debut a family-friendly present worth heading to the closest theatre to unwrap at any point throughout this holiday season.

“In animation, we often film references of ourselves or act it out ourselves. When we’re doing these things, we’re thinking of our own life experiences. There’s so much of us in this movie. Hopefully you don’t see us, but it resonates because it’s real.”
– Kira Lehtomaki

The only thing that Ralph Breaks the Internet wrecked was my assumption the first film didn’t require a sequel, this animated jaunt into the online universe a complete and total delight.

Ultimately, Incredibles 2 matters because Bird understands we as an audience are fond of Bob, Helen, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack because they in turn love one another with selfless transparency. They’re the reason any of this has resonance, the reason we’ve been eagerly longing for a new adventure featuring each of them for over a decade.