‘Chicken Little’ lacks wit of other animated films

Disney’s latest effort borrows elements from many other animated hits.

“Chicken Little” is family-friendly entertainment with feel-good overtones. The story invokes mainstream values of friendship and bonding that all parents want to instill in their children. Moments of understanding, kindness and sympathy appear at just the right time in the otherwise wild story.

But rest assured, there is a full measure of sound and fury present in most of the events that appear on screen. The simple premise of an acorn hitting Chicken Little’s head starts the sky-is-falling plot. It morphs into a full scale sci-fi fantasy, with an alien invasion reminiscent of “War of the Worlds” and “Star Wars.”

On the way to this special effects extravaganza, there are pleasant interludes involving all-American themes. Baseball heroes, school chums and politically correct comments abound.

But it all seems as though all these details were thrown into a blender to produce the screenplay we end up viewing. This is a very decent effort with a little something to offer to adults in the audience. But it falls well short of the multi-level quality of “Toy Story” and “Shrek.”

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office.

Missing is action from Gulf War flick ‘Jarhead’

“Every war is different. All wars are the same.” So writes Anthony Swofford in his memoir of the first Gulf War, “Jarhead.”

Director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) has fashioned an interesting film version of the book starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford. It’s a war movie without much action, heroics or plot, but I suspect more realistic than most about the stress, fatigue and boredom that all soldiers must endure.

Unfortunately, some of that boredom transfers to the audience.

“Jarhead” chronicles the endless days in the life of a Marine, stationed on the Saudi-Iraqi border, who never got to fire his gun. Those days consist mainly of grueling training in the scorching heat, uneventful patrols, more training, and waiting for a chance to kick some serious butt.

Swofford is part of a unit of elite scout snipers who are made nearly obsolete by air warfare technology. The soldiers are primed and ready for violence -- they’re all dressed up but have no real outlet for that energy.

For example, there’s an unsettling scene of the men watching a famous moment from “Apocalypse Now” and cheering maniacally as bombs are dropped on villages.

Gyllenhaal turns in a competent performance, yet the always-excellent Peter Sarsgaard is much more interesting as his buddy Troy. In spite of this, the director keeps all his characters at arm’s length: There is intensity but no emotional involvement.

This is not a bad movie, but it may disappoint those who are expecting the more typical guts-and-glory flick.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.

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