The Emperor’s New Groove
– for not containing material to warrant a higher rating.
Director: Mark Dindal
Starring: voices of David Spade, John Goodman
Running Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes
Plot Summary
Kuzco is the “emperor of the world” and quite frankly the most heartless spoiled brat on Earth. When his advisers Yzma and Kronk are fed up with him, they devise a plan to kill him. Unfortunately for them, their plan backfires and instead of poisoning him to death, he’s turned into a llama. Then begins a hilarious adventure for Kuzco as he and a local peasant, Pacha, struggle to get him back to the palace to return him to be a human while escaping Yzma and Kronk who pursue them.
Film Review
I saw the preview for this film and expected a laugh-fest and, my friends, a laugh-fest is what I got. I must say this must be one of the most off-the-wall funniest movies I’ve seen. The story is silly with countless “randomly” absurdly funny moments and lots of character to boot. David Spade brilliantly provides the voice of Kuzco, the overtly spoiled emperor. With the animation being simple, quick, and goofy, older people may feel like they’re watching an animated Marx Brothers comedy or something. With the feel of more of a “cartoon” than an “animated feature,” the movie is seemingly more enjoyable than the norm.
The content of the movie was really clean. Language was non-existent, drinking was kept to an unidentified beverage at the emperor’s dinner table. Blood and gore was non-existent as well. And the violence was all light-hearted in a cartoon fashion. The movie also tends to poke fun at itself. Yzma, the female villainess is hideous, a la the stereotypical old, ugly animated female villain, and the characters tend to point that out collectively saying she looks “scary beyond all reason.”
In summary, I thought the movie was excellent. It was rather wholesome and just filled with funny material from start to finish. It’s a great movie for young and old, but not suitable for those without a good, light-hearted sense of humor. An excellent movie, I can’t help but award it the ‘groovy’ rating of 5 out of 5.
– John DiBiase (reviewed: 12/16/00)
Parental Guide: Content Summary
Sex/Nudity: None.
Vulgarity/Language: None.
Alcohol/Drugs: Kronk gets drinks for Kuzco, Yzma, and himself. Although we don’t know what they are, they’re most likely alcoholic.
Blood/Gore: None.
Violence: A lot of slap-stick comedy: Kuzco and Pacha fist fight, Izma talks of trying to kill Kuzco – and tries to – all throughout the movie, etc…
