Pixar somehow made a decent movie out of thisWhen I first saw the trailer for Turning Red, I was very doubtful that I was going to like this movie. It's about a teenage girl who turns into a giant red panda every time she gets emotional. There are only a few ways this scenario can be taken. After watching the movie, I do think Pixar went in the best way possible. Does that mean I enjoyed the movie? Not exactly.
There were some major problems with this movie. Most of them stem from the conflict. I don't know how they thought this movie would be a good idea. Pixar usually dominates the "family" genre because their movies are also enjoyable for adults. I don't think Turning Red hits every demographic nearly as well as Pixar's other movies. It seemed like one of those Sparkshorts, but as a full length movie. My biggest problem with this movie was only a couple lines long. The fact that they said that the more Meilin turns into a panda, the harder it will be to separate it from her. This is followed by a very long period of Meilin messing around as a panda. I'm assuming that part of the movie was supposed to be fun and show that Meilin is better off with her panda. I would have enjoyed that section of the movie if they just took that line out. I understand that they needed to have it to have something that would make Meilin hesitate to turn into a panda, but it took away my ability to enjoy the movie because I was worrying about her. The ending made me really mad because the old ladies were able to unleash their pandas, transform, and then immediately do the ritual again and get rid of them. Was that statement not even true then? Meilin's decision to keep her panda was an interesting one. The panda is supposed to be a manifestation of her strong emotions, so whenever she has a strong emotion, she transforms. This only plays a factor in a couple parts of the movie, because she "masters her emotions" pretty early on. I think the significance of the symbol is weakened when Meilin can just changed back and forth on a dime. I'm having trouble putting a finger on what exactly this movie is about. It's definitely a coming-of-age story, but it kind of jumps around between themes. I had some trouble writing this blog. Turning Red is by no means a bad movie. There are just lots of things that could have been better. Every time I try to argue against it, I think I end up leaning more towards liking it. Pixar knows what they are doing. I'd say this is probably a bottom 5 Pixar movie, but not a bottom 3. 7/10
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Ryan Reynolds!!!!!Everybody loves Ryan Reynolds. Yes, this is way better than Deadpool. You can't change my mind.
First off, whoever was on the creative/writing side of this movie is a genius and needs a raise. A movie through the perspective of a self-conscious video game NPC is the best idea ever. And then to use it as a multi-layered rom-com! I want to meet the people who made this movie just to bask in their genius for a moment. To bring in Ryan Reynolds just puts another 10 pounds of icing on an already massive and dense cake. Fun Fact: This the second Disney movie to have Fortnite in it. Since Fortnite was released five years ago, it makes a cameo on average every 2.5 years. We can expect another one in the next Indiana Jones movie. I'm glad they didn't go for the "pathetic gamer makes a difference" b-plot most movies about video games have. Ready Player One does it. Pixels Does It. The good movies don't do that. This movie doesn't do that either, but that was implied by the last statement. I think Ryan Reynolds is a pretty funny guy. He has a lot of good lines in the movie that he delivers really well. He did a really good job of sticking to the tone of the movie, which brings me to my second point. I really enjoyed the ironically upbeat tone of the movie. We aren't in a video game world. We are in an NPC's world. It's a great way to keep the movie engaging for families and it gives an easy way to get laughs from random stuff that goes on behind the characters. Free Guy is not a perfect movie, but it will definitely do for a family night or just a by-yourself night if you're like me. 8.5/10 Very EnjoyableThis was my second time watching this movie, and I think I enjoyed it more on my second watch than my first one.
I wanted John and Nick to see this movie so they could see what kind of twists Christie pulls. I was worried because we were getting caught up with singular people in Death On the Nile. I wanted them to realize that multiple people could be in on this and it could possibly be very planned out. I personally think that Murder on the Orient Express has one of the best endings ever. A usual mystery is difficult due to the lack of evidence and clues, but in this one Poirot is so overwhelmed by clues that he can't narrow it down to one person. With everyone working together, they can work together to lie about their alibis. The movie itself was pretty good, but not great. I haven't read the book, so I don't know what they left out. It's pretty easy to follow, which is a big thing for a murder mystery. The reveal does make sense at the end. One thing I thought was interesting about the movie was that every time Poirot interviewed someone, he was in a different place. There was always something to look at besides just the two characters. It was also interesting how the shots turned out inside a narrow train car. How did they do the cameras with so little room? The movie also started with the ending of another mystery in Jerusalem, so whichever book that was, I can't read because I know who did it. Overall, I think the movie did the book justice, but it didn't blow me away. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the whole movie. 7/10 |
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April 2022
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