Beware the Groooooove...!

“Because you won’t change your mind, I’m not taking you back. Mee mee mee moo moo moo…”

I don’t think I’ve ever quoted lines from a Disney movie like I do this one. Come to think of it, I don’t even remember how we got this movie. I just know my sister swiped it from the house when she went off to college and then when I visited her, I swiped it. Wahaha! And it just now occurred to me that I hadn’t reviewed any 5 star things in a while, so I thought this was a great movie, why not?

We start off with a llama. Aww he’s so sad! This llama is actually Emperor Kuzco (David Spade). Let’s go back to find out how he ended up as a llama. You see, Kuzco had it great. Everything at his disposal, a big shiny gold palace, thousands of subjects ready to serve him. Except he had one flaw. Kuzco is a jerk. That’s right – a spoiled little brat. And things always go bad when a spoiled little brat is in charge of things.

Now we go back a little ways to see how things began. After a lovely little song about Kuzco and his greatness, reminding me of some kind of Las Vegas show tune. After all, Tom Jones is the theme song guy. Don’t worry, this is one of the few Disney movies without tons of singing – this is the only song around for miles. But as Kuzco dances around, he bumps into an old man.

“OH! You threw off my groove!”

And promptly the old man is thrown out of a window. Yes, Kuzco isn’t the best guy. But now we get to meet Pacha (John Goodman), who helps untangle the old man from a banner and is warned, “Beware the groooove!” Pacha’s been summoned and for what reason, he’s not sure yet, but he’s soon to find out.

We switch back into the palace where Kuzco has just decidedly fired Yzma (Eartha Kitt), the royal family’s long, long, long time advisor for constantly stepping over her bounds and getting too comfy on Kuzco’s throne. Needless to say she’s not very happy about that and leaves in a very sour mood with her current right hand man, Kronk (Patrick Warburton), who, by the way, is about as intelligent as...well, he’s both dumb and smart as you’ll see in the future.

Then he calls in Pacha just to find out the best place on the hills where Pacha lives. He’s ready to displace an entire village just for his birthday present, “Kuzcotopia!” much to Pacha’s dismay. But, as we see once again, Kuzco doesn’t care in the least.

Yes, Kuzco is indeed a jerk. Yzma isn’t taking being fired very well and with Kronk’s help (sort of) poisons Kuzco that night at dinner. Er…kind of. Instead of being dead, Kuzco ends up as a llama. On orders of Yzma, Kronk knocks out Kuzco and is ordered to dump the body somewhere. After a couple more mishaps, the unconscious Kuzco ends up on Pacha’s cart as Pacha leaves the city. Oops.

Now it’s up to Pacha to help Emperor Kuzco get back to the palace and turn back into a human. But unless Kuzco agrees to ditch the idea of Kuzcotopia, Pacha’s not budging. Things get pretty crazy as the two both fight to get what they want, putting them both in some pretty perilous situations from time to time – which are hilarious in themselves. But they also have to keep away from Yzma and Kronk, who are once again on Kuzco’s tail (haha, get it?!). Will Kuzco change his ways so he can become human again?

This movie is absolutely ridiculous – which is why it’s so great. All the voice actors were awesome in this movie and made it a lot of fun. David Spade portrays Kuzco perfectly, especially with the sarcasm and nasty quips. Eartha Kitt is a great Yzma – a perfect fit voice wise. I don’t think anyone could have done any better. The same goes for Kronk, he’s almost impossible not to love. And John Goodman as Pacha worked out great too. Usually I don’t like it that much when celebrities do voice acting, but sometimes when things are just goofy and they do it for fun, it always seems to turn out much better.

Got some time to kill? Pop this in and see what you think – it’s just one of those movies where you hang out just to be amused. Works for me!

"Aaah! Llama face!

NT


Recommended:
Yes