Simian animation in Spark: A Space Tail. Courtesy Gulf Film
Simian animation in Spark: A Space Tail. Courtesy Gulf Film

Film review: This space-monkey ‘tail’ lacks any real Spark



Spark: A Space Tail

Director: Aaron Woodley

Voices: Jessica Biel, Patrick Stewart, Susan Sarandon, Hilary Swank

Two stars

A South Korean-Canadian co-production, Spark: A Space Tail is a real mishmash of a movie. A derivative story that borrows heavily from Star Wars, Clash of the Titans and Planet of the Apes begins with a rapid-fire set-up – told like a bedtime tale to young space monkey, Spark (Jace Norman).

Thirteen years earlier, his home planet Bana was overrun by the evil General Zhong (Alan C Peterson), who shattered it into shards with the help of a space beast called the Kraken.

Spark now lives with his fellow refugees – a battle-hardened fox named Vix (Jessica Biel) and a tech-savvy warthog called Chunk (Rob deLeeuw) – on a shard, far from Bana. But when events conspire to take him back there, Spark makes some remarkable discoveries about his lineage and place in the universe.

What follows is a pinball plot that bounces Spark and his friends around the galaxy, through black holes created by the Kraken, as they try to wrestle control back from Zhong and his minions.

Also among the voice cast – presumably for a swift payday – are Patrick Stewart as a long-lost Scottish commander of the royal guard, and Susan Sarandon as a robot named Bananny (this being an intergalactic world of monkeys, there are a lot of references to the yellow fruit).

Hilary Swank also makes an appearance as Zhong's queen, though like her co-stars, she is left with little to work with. In fact, the most distinctive vocal performance comes from Rob deLeeuw (Spotlight, TV's Fargo), albeit sounding as if he is channelling John Goodman.

Created by ToonBox Entertainment, who also made 2014's The Nut Job, on this evidence the Toronto company is not likely to be troubling the likes of Pixar and Illumination anytime soon. The CGI animation is subpar and lacks any, well, spark.

There is the occasional nice in-joke – a reference to classic simian character Curious George was well done – but mostly it feels like cine-larceny, with an unoriginal script recycling tired old sci-fi/fantasy storylines.

For adults kind enough to sit through this with their youngsters, there is little here to keep them engaged.

artslife@thenational.ae

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

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Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

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The specs

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Transmission: Single-speed automatic

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MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports

THREE
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'The Batman'

Stars:Robert Pattinson

Director:Matt Reeves

Rating: 5/5

Empty Words

By Mario Levrero  

(Coffee House Press)
 

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Biography

Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine

Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

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Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work

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Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate

 

 

 

 

 

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