If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

None of this film makes sense. Basically, an old volcano falls in love with one a third his age that appears out of the water. She doesn't see him, so he sinks back into the water out of depression. But then they end up next to each other and sing, "I lava you."Now, tell me--why is something 60 years old (or at least looks sixty in human form, much older in thousands of years) in love with a twenty-year-old? Even though they're volcanoes, which are thousands of years old, he's still three times older than her. How did the volcanoes sink into the water and end up in different places? And "I lava you" is just lame. The only good thing about this is the animation.This does no just to Inside Out, which I was relieved to see after this. Like another said, sweet and heartfelt, but a singing volcano?

Lava tells the story of a lonely volcano, yep really. Anyway this volcano spends his days singing and that's the general premise of this. Generally I adore these beautiful little shorts and Piper (2016) really set the bar. Don't get me wrong Lava is good, it has your usual Pixar charm and hits you right in the feels but it just didn't have "It" whatever "It" may be.If I saw two one man bands competing for the attention of a little girl to get a shiny gold coin (One Man Band: 2005) I'd laugh and cheer, if I saw a magician trying to keep his unruly rabbit in check (Presto:2008) I'd be in hysterics, if I saw a baby bird brave the new world I'd d'awww (Piper:2016) but I can confidently say if I saw a singing volcano I'd run screaming in soggy trousers (It'd be sweat I swear).Sweet, heartfelt, but a lonely singing volcano really?

. . . as a Museum of Natural History is a question currently before the Supreme Court, but the Disney Umbrella Corp. has provided a know-nothing answer of sorts with no apparent use of public funds. LAVA teaches kids that volcanoes such as Mount St. Helen and Vesuvius are NOT to be feared as mass killers, but rather seen as misunderstood lovesick puppies yearning to unite with their peers to form Megacauldrons like that Yellowstone monster featured in the movie 2012 in order to provide us with summer-free years, world-wide famine, and shipping mayhem as they proliferate like rabbits under the sea. LAVA is bound to desensitize a generation of the World's Young to three million years or so of primal fear toward volcanic action and lava, which tend to go hand-in-hand. Speaking of hands, how many kids will lose theirs as they stoop to pet the LAVA Disney has so charmingly personified? And what can we expect next from Disney? Tina, the Twinkle-Toed Twister? Sonny, an Amiable Tsunami? Ernie the Earthquake Cracks Like a Duck? Hurricane Hattie Hurries across Cape Hatteras? Barry Blizzard Buries Buffalo? Floyd Floods Folks for Fun? Hail, Hail, the Golf Balls Are Here? Wilma Wildfire Waltzes through the Forest? Disney's options to Defang catastrophe seem endless after LAVA.

Lava (2014)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Exceptionally entertaining Pixar short has a volcano singing about "lava" and how he wishes he had someone to spend time with. Over millions of years we learn that there's a volcano under the water who has heard him the entire time. This Pixar short is another classic from the studio who seem to be just as good at making shorts as they are the features and that's saying a lot. As you'd expect, the actual animation is really wonderful and I'd argue that some of the studio's best work can be found here including a brilliant sequence where we see the volcano over thousands of years. The time elapse was just something beautiful to see. Then there's the song itself, which is incredibly clever and packs a nice little punch at the end. This film really does a great job at showing this love story through the ages and I think parents will enjoy it just as much as children.