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gracewillaerts
Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
A solid fantasy epic
Before I get bashed for liking this show by the Tolkien-truthers, here's a little background on what I know of the LOTR universe:
- I enjoyed reading the 3 original LOTR books along with The Hobbit.
-I really enjoyed the Peter Jackson trilogy of movies.
- I have not touched The Silmarillion or other LOTR canon stories with a 20 foot stick.
When I initially saw the trailer for Rings of Power, I was a little concerned that, like many other recent shows, it was going to get preachy and focused on gender and race issues in order to try and make up for the "white-male-ness" of the original source material and movies. To my happy surprise, the story so far has stayed true to its intended premise: various parties in Middle-Earth who set out on adventures that will undoubtedly bring them together against the evil of Morgoth.
Yes, there are significantly more female characters and POC in the show. But unlike how many other shows fail these days, Rings of Power succeeds by making them just like any other character in the show: with their own goals and personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Best of all, they didn't stupify male characters so that they could be upstaged and shamed by a egotistic sassy female lead. (Cough cough *she-hulk* cough cough)
The story itself is interesting in the sense that even though it happened before the LOTR begins, it's far enough back in time that we don't know exactly what's going to happen (at least for us who only know the original LOTR and Hobbit). We start with a few different groups of main characters in different corners of Middle-Earth who are each facing their own call to action. Though I don't know how the series will progress, so far the set up reminds me of Stranger Things, in the sense that each group will investigate their own issue before coming together at the end (it's likely at least). I am also enjoying seeing the origins of some familiar characters and places who, in the original series, were just known to be incredibly old and timeless.
Finally, the visuals of this show. 10/10. As far as I can see in other reviews, no one can deny that Amazon spared no expense to make this one of the most (if not the most) visually spectacular shows of the decade. There's no real need to describe it since you can just take a look at the photos from the series on this IMDb page and see for yourself.
Overall, I am very happy and intrigued with this show. I guess I can understand Tolkein-truthers being disappointed by lack of faith to source material, though I feel you could just imagine this as some new non-LOTR fantasy show and enjoy it for that. Personally, it felt very LOTR to me when watching due to the elaborate dialogue and classical treatment of evil in the world.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
What's that? Audiences are into multiverses? Quick! Release...
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness"
Do you like multiverses? Do you like madness? We sure hope so, because those are the only selling points for Marvel's latest CGI masterpiece.
First, the pro's:
-I liked Wanda's role in the movie. It was a little overdramatic and many actions were very illogical but overall it was an interesting plot choice that separated this movie from all the other usual superhero plug-n-play plotlines.
-Fancy exploding visuals make eyes go WHEEEEEEE
-Acting was generally pretty good, as expected from Cucumberbitch. The newcomer Axolotl (America Chavez) was okay, though I think any fault there was more with her lines/character writing.
-One very entertaining fight scene involving the first and last appearances of several superheroes in the MCU (if you know, you know).
Now the con's:
-Having the entire plot revolve around America Chavez made the movie meh. Why did she appear? What exactly is her power/how did she get it? Does she have some cool character development or traits that we can get really invested in? Who knows! Anyways, let's make her attacks/powers * star shaped *
-Most fight scenes (aside from the aforementioned) were very meh as well. When the two biggest power players in the movie (Dr. Strange and Scarlet Witch) fight utilizing magic with very undefined parameters, it's hard to develop any fight strategy or intrigue. Just a bunch of power balls and explosions and grunting with random attacks that are extremely specific (and cool looking! Ooooooooh, a SCORE MUSIC fight, no waaaaaay) but not at all useful or clever. I know this one's a bit of a nitpick, but I guess it bothered me a lot in this movie.
Golden Kamuy (2018)
Golden.
Pros:
- Originality. It's not about high schoolers, it's not in the future, the MCs aren't detectives, there's no superpowers, and it's not set in Tokyo. There you have it, an anime like no other.
- Culture/Setting: A huge part of the show is Japanese Ainu culture, which is something I never heard of until watching. A lot of it has to do the way they lived, how they hunted, cultural beliefs, preparation of food, etc. It ends up being pretty educational while not getting in the way of the story; best part is that the manga author did a ton of research while writing the story, so it's actually all fairly accurate historical information.
- Characters: They're great. All of them. I guess you could complain that there's not many women in the show (2, to be exact) but the vast quantities of effeminate men kinda balances it out. No two characters are the same, and they all play off of each other in a different way. Everyone has their personal motivations and beliefs to the point where you can't even point to one as being a true "bad guy."
- Story: Ah yes, the STORY. The core part of any show. Golden Kamuy does a great job at establishing the main goal in the very first episode and following that all the way to the end. It's by no means a straightforward plot, but every episode involves steps taken towards that goal. Even the few side-questy/fillery episodes had importance to the plot.
-Humor: The icing on the cake. I would venture to say that this show could have still been great without a speck of humor, but the unique brand of unexpected, dark, and occasionally stupid jokes throughout the show are majestic.
Final note: If you are uncomfortable with "visual celebration of the male body," perhaps this anime is not for you. To put it clearly, there's more nudity than you can shake a stick at. Saunas? Yep. Hot Springs? Of course. Ripping off clothes? Oh yes. In fact, I believe there's an episode where everyone is in the buff for the whole time. It's only ever male nudity though, and always for comedic effect. Never thought I'd be able to give an anime with FaNsErViCe a 10/10, but, well, here I am.
Doctor Strange (2016)
Iron Man... With Magic!
Very similar main character and concept of Iron Man, but with our hero wielding magic and sorcery over machinery. (Conceited well-known rich smart guy has a life-threatening issue which leads him to gain superpowers and be less jerklike. Then he goes and fights bad guys, makes up with some lady in his life, and becomes a better person- I mean superhero.) But while Iron Man got acclaim for kickstarting the whole tidal wave of blockbuster hero origin movies, Doctor Strange just sort of rides it and fails to stand out plot/character wise. I'd give it a 6, but the special effects were, admittedly, pretty spectacular, so there's an extra star.
Ant-Man (2015)
A Stereotypical Hero-Origin Story
Very similar to the rest of the Marvel movies: quippy hero gains powers and eventually faces off against a vengeful bad guy, meeting a female love interest along the way. Ant-Man stands out only with the use of its novel special effects (Tiny things become big things, and big things become tiny things etc.) and some great comedic bits with Michael Pena. Good acting, good effects, good premise, mediocre plot. By no means a bad movie, but nothing extraordinary.