Boom Baby!

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2008)

My Take: A wacky good time for the whole family.
By the time the studio neared their heyday (before they start turning real bad), Disney made this hilarious and fast-aced adventure comedy and even took time to parody their own works. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is not the best Disney movie, and maybe not even for a long time, but that's alright. It's funny, energetic, colorful and, in some spots, it's actually clever. What more could I ask for? I guess, nothing more. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE may have not brought out the best Disney can offer, but it still clearly shows their capabilities.
One of the best pleasures of GROOVE is the ensemble comedic voice acting. The voice cast, which includes David Spade, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton and John Goodman to list the names at the top-billing, are excellent and never lacking in joy and sharp comedic timing. Their comedic performances are more than enough to sustain adult attention, but not without letting the young 'uns down. If you don't find even one of their hilarious mischief at least amusing then you must have your funny bone ripped out of you body and the pain is excruciating. the entire film may not have been a comedic gold mine, but it comes close to rival any non-animated movie above a G-rating. In fact, I say it might put a few others to shame.
Spade lends his outrageous voice talents to the spoiled Emperor Kuzco, who is used to his life of royalty (in Kuzco's term, "Everyone is under my command") since birth (in one hilarious scene, Baby Kuzco accidentally beheads his stuffed toy and soon a large number of hands reach out to him, each with a stuffed toy to give away). See, Kuzco wants to destroy a peasant village set upon a scenic hilltop so he can build his summer getaway home (Complete with water slide!). Despite the lead peasant Pacha's (voiced by John Goodman) attempt to halt construction, Kuzco does get everything he wants, right? So he thinks. After being fired by spoiled brat of an emperor, his "loyal" adviser Yzma (voiced with great presence by Eartha Kitt), which I may describe as a cross between Cruella DeVille and... well, Eartha Kitt, wants to get even with him. While hitting stone head replicas of him doesn't satisfy, Yzma plots instead to poison the emperor. But her plans failed, mainly due to the complete incompetence of her bumbling right-hand man Kronk (the hilarious Patrick Warburton lends his voice). Instead of a dead emperor, they just have one badly turned into a talking llama. Assisted by Pacha, Kuzco (the llama) tries to get back to the palace and change him back to human.
True, some jokes falter and the story isn't first-class Disney story-telling, but I wasn't exactly looking for a smart straightforward Disney effort when the first frame appears before my face. The movie had me from the first frame and again, and again, and again later on. One of the main reasons this movie worked for me was that it packs one frame after another with enough juice to make us wait for the other. The movie is one funny moment followed by another, that's both for the young and old audiences. While kids will enjoy the silly humor and energy-packed madness, adults will find the talented voice cast and the smarter humor a real pleasure. Either way, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE delivers what's coming to you.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.