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norman891 · 1 year

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“Peter Pan & Wendy” - A Review From a (Captain Hook) Fan of 54 Years

Thoughts on “Peter Pan & Wendy”

I’ve read a great many posts and reviews by people who absolutely despise Disney’s “Peter Pan & Wendy”. I’m beginning to wonder if the majority of those who decry the film so badly have even bothered to watch more than the original trailer. They remind me so much of the outcry made by fans of the old TV series “Dark Shadows” over Tim Burton’s film version because it wasn’t an exact duplicate of the television show. Most DS sight/pages have banned discussion of the film because most ‘fans’ can’t discuss the topic in a civil manner.

I too had my doubts after seeing the trailer but decided to reserve my final judgement until I’d actually seen the film and tried to keep an open mind about a different take on the Peter Pan story. I am so glad I did. Despite what appears to be an organized/choreographed spate of bad reviews citing everything from Neverland’s appearance to the appearance of Tinkerbelle to the children who make up the Lost Boys (admittedly, it should be Lost Children). To them I say: you are whiny bunch of mewling malcontents who would be satisfied with nothing less than a carbon copy of the 1953 animated film.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” is a truly beautiful film. My hat is off to director David Lowery for having the foresight and spine to NOT make this exactly like the animated film. Yes, he may have deviated from J.M. Barrie’s book somewhat, but so did Walt Disney. The closest and most faithful interpretation of Mr. Barrie’s story is, in my opinion, P.J. Hogan’s 2003 “Peter Pan” which is as closest to the book as I’ve ever seen and my favourite by far due in no small part by Jason Isaacs’ dead-on portrayal of Captain Hook. However, I did not let that take away from this marvelously different take on the classic tale.

*****WARNING: MANY SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!!!*******

I must admit that the plot seems a bit rushed, but I have attributed that to the deletion or shortening of several scenes from the 1953 animated film. Wendy has no encounter with the mermaids save for their brief appearance, almost guiding the children towards Neverland. There is no hunt for indians and subsequent capture of the Lost Boys. Tiger Lily is not captured by Captain Hook and taken to Skull Rock where she must either give up the location of Peter’s hideout or drown. Skull Rock, by the way, was an invention by Walt Disney. In Barrie’s book, Tiger Lily is shackled to Marooner’s Rock and given the same choices. There is minimal humiliation of Captain Hook for which I was exceedingly happy; too much of Disney’s animated version hinged not only on Hook’s defeats but completely unnecessary humiliation of the man by ridiculing him using his greatest fear, the crocodile. This infuriated me as a five-year-old; 54 years have not changed my mind. And I do not feel these changes detract from the film in any way.

True, we are introduced to the Darling family in a different manner, but we are introduced to them none the less, by a series of family photographs, the children playing in the nursery, Wendy’s desire to not grow up. I felt the casting of a different actor for her father rather than the standard of the same actor who plays Hook also plays Mr. Darling refreshing, and it also removes the Freudian undertones imbedded in Barrie’s original work. Mr. Darling is not as harsh as he is usually portrayed. He is the quintessential Victorian father; stern but not overly emotional. Firm but not dictatorial. Mrs. Darling is splendidly portrayed as the always loving mother who only wants the best for her children, which includes trying to prepare Wendy for life after childhood, even if Wendy doesn’t want to accept that she must grow up

Many of the film’s detractors opine that both Wendy and Tiger Lily are too strong and formidable characters. They obviously haven’t read the book from the perspective of an adult. Growing up is not fun, but it is inevitable. In truth, “Peter Pan” is not about Peter Pan, Neverland, or pirates; it’s about Wendy’s fear of growing up, of leaving her safe, responsibility free life behind. It is WENDY’S story, not Peter’s story nor about escaping adulthood. Jason Isaacs himself stated this in one interview, though it will take some searching YouTube to find that.This film is also largely what I expected from Spielberg’s “Hook” - that is, I found out things about Captain Hook that I’ve had questions about for decades.

Neverland is a place that is what children imagine it to be, so it is constantly undergoing change, even if Peter states that “This is Neverland, where nothing ever changes”. It doesn’t matter that the ‘Lost Boys” aren’t all boys. Tootles is portrayed by a child with Downs Syndrome; I don’t have a problem with that. Nor do I care that Tinkerbelle is played by Yasmin Shahidi who is of African and Iranian descent. In fact, this is the only incarnation of Tinkerbelle that I have not wanted to douse with a can of Raid wasp & hornet spray. She is not a selfish Tink. She is not an insanely jealous Tink. In fact, she is the one character that watches over all the children and tries to protect them, including Wendy and Peter.

And Tiger Lily is portrayed masterfully; I doubt there will be any cries of racial stereotyping regarding the Natives. They are portrayed respectfully and historically correctly. I do not have a problem with that. I do not understand those who are whining about Disney pandering to racial diversity and inclusivity. Shouldn’t Neverland be a place for all lost children, regardless of their race, sex, or handicap? I am pushing 59 and hold fairly conservative views. I certainly would never accept the moniker of being ‘Woke’, yet I cannot for the life of me understand most people’s objection to “Peter Pan and Wendy”, and yes, that was the original title of the book. Wendy got dropped from the title somewhere along the way.

I think the reason Wendy is portrayed as such a strong, independent character is that she is at the tipping point between childhood and young adulthood. She loves the idea of adventure, the notion of never growing up, of remaining a carefree child – until she sees Peter’s behaviour. Never mind that he almost got Wendy and her brothers blown to smithereens, wasn’t that a great adventure? And Peter believes he saved everyone from Captain Hook, when Wendy can plainly see he did not. In fact, he was the reason John and Michael were in mortal peril to begin with. From his remarks, he thought at the very least Wendy was dead and possibly her brothers. And rescuing them was not an act of altruism but merely an excuse for an adventure for himself. Personally, I wish Wendy had hit him harder.

Bu let me get to the real reason I love this film, and that would be the way Captain Hook is portrayed, and Jude Law’s excellent job of infusing humanity into a hitherto solely evil villain without feelings or regrets (though Jason Isaacs did a damned good job of it as well. Too many of the scenes that would have reflected Hook’s humanity in the 2003 version were cut). Law brought humor and pathos to the role. I loved his tossing the padlock key into the water with an “Ooops”. He showed Hook’s true terror of the crocodile with a softly spoken “Oh God”. And after being flung back onto the rocks, he is paralyzed with fear and reliving his trauma until Smee wrenches him out his horror and tells him to “Run!”. I’m guessing that the crocodile is relegated to living withing Skull Rock or is too large to fit through the passage because once Hook and Smee reach the long boat, they feel safe enough to hang onto the side instead of climbing in. I do have a question as too what is running down/spattered on Hook’s face when he is looking up at Pan. Was it merely dirty sea water? Because some of it looked like blood to me. Oh well, minor detail.

By the time we reach Peter’s hideout, I firmly believe Wendy has made up her mind to return home and grow up. Neverland is not what she was expecting at all. She admits as much to Tiger Lily. Of course, she and Peter quarrel about Neverland being too real (?) and growing up, and she returns to the sleeping children only to find they’ve been captured by the pirates. Again, Jude Law’s facial expressions go straight to my heart. The look when he discovers that Peter has crossed out his name and claimed his old room conveys such hurt and betrayal. And again, when he has slashed Peter through the chest, killing him, Hook is not as exuberant as one might expect. It’s almost as if he’s in a state of disbelief, especially on the boat ride back to the ship. One thing I’m not sure about: the changing color of Hook’s great coat. It is a dark blue up until he walks out of that room looking down at Peter who has fallen, in my best guess, between 150 to 200 feet after declaring that “I don’t think I like this adventure”. From that point, Hook’s coat is crimson red. I don’t know if this is a continuity problem or if I’m missing some hidden meaning, but I’m not going to lose sleep over it.

Now, to the good stuff. This is where Jude Law’s acting shines as brightly as the gold he surely has in his cabin, along with some more gruesome items. He comes in the morning to speak with Wendy, to ask her about the tune he can’t get out of his head. When he hums what he can to her, it seems to be an almost painful act for him. He wants to know what it is, why it makes him feel so… and he can’t even put the feeling into words. Hook’s demeanor and facial expressions when Wendy says it’s a lullaby her mother sang to her is nothing short of heartbreaking. He can’t even look at Wendy for several moments. And here is where he enlightens Wendy as to the real reason he left Neverland; the part Peter conveniently forgot to mention. That being, Peter banished him from Neverland for the crime of missing his mother. His internal pain is as visible as the scars on his face or the hook on his right arm. And he can barely say the words “I missed my mother”. Long before Peter maimed Hook physically, he shredded James’ soul irreparably. Hook returns to Neverland in hopes of finding his friend and the happiness he once experienced, only to find Pan had turned against him.

“My time for joy is lost. Everything I could have been has been reduced to this” and he handles his hook as though he would like to tear it off, but he can’t. Wendy makes the mistake of telling Hook he grew up wrong, to which he replies, “Show me a child who truly knows the difference between right & wrong, and I’ll show you a man who’s forgotten why it mattered in the first place.” Then he orders all the children be executed. This is where one can tell that Wendy truly has grown up, for she offers herself in sacrifice if only Hook will let the other children live; a completely selfless act that only a grown-up would do. Hook is impressed by her bravery and self-sacrifice and agrees, having her walk the plank.

From this point on the film strays far from any other version, for it is Wendy who saves herself using happy thoughts of her former and future life that saves herself, with a little help from Tinkerbelle I suspect. The whole flipping the ship upside-down was a bit weird in my book. Peter arrives just prior to thin, thanks to Tiger Lily saving his life and making him realize he does need help sometimes. And might I add that Tiger Lily is one bad ass in this movie. Peter and Hook fight one last time, until Peter decides this game too is no longer any fun and apologizes to Hook (and it’s about damned time too!). He tries to save Hook from falling, but the captain cannot find one happy thought in his heart, the cuff holding his hook to his arm slips off and Hook falls presumable to his death (or does he?).

The rest of the film, for the most part, is the standard fare. Peter returns Wendy and her brothers to London where the Lost ‘Boys’ decide to stay and become part of Wendy’s family, leaving Peter alone once more. Interesting plot twist: at one time Peter evidently lived in the same house as the Darling family now does. He states: “My mother scolded me one night and told me to grow up. Instead, I climbed out of the window (rather high up I might point out) and leapt at the garden wall. I never looked back.” Hang on… did Peter just admit to committing suicide?! And if so, what does that make him? I’ll be pondering that one for quite a while. Peter also admits to the same crime as James; missing his mother, and now he’s reduced to being just a story. Again, what does that make this Peter?

As expected, Peter passes on growing up, Wendy realizes that growing up might just be the biggest adventure of all, and Peter returns to Neverland… and that’s all I will reveal. If you haven’t watched “Peter Pan and Wendy” based on bad reviews or that less than enticing trailer, I would implore you to watch it. It is a truly fantastic film and puts me in mind of “Maleficent”, one of my favourite remakes Disney has done. It would truly be a shame to miss out on a damned good movie by listening to the peevish remarks of what I believe is a small but very vocal faction of nitpickers who wouldn’t be satisfied by anything that isn’t a perfect copy of a 70-year-old animated film. Have a look for yourself; you might just be pleasantly surprised, as I was.

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solacefruit · 4 years

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Hello! This is the person who wrote the one shots on Quotev — the one that anon went through so much trouble to get sent your way. If you’d be willing, I would appreciate genuine critique of my work — I’m genuinely looking for how I might improve my writing, and I haven’t been getting very much feedback. Apologies if you’re too busy or if this bothers you!

Hello there! I’m willing to give you my thoughts on your work, since you’ve asked so politely and gone to such effort, but before I do that, I’d like to preface everything by saying that I’m going to approach this answer more or less the same way I would give feedback to students in a class. I think that’s most helpful. I also hope none of this feedback comes off as harsh or hurtful, because that’s not at all my intention.

You clearly know how to write well: your work is well-edited, with only a few errors here and there (be careful using semicolons, they can be very tricky). It’s clear you know the rules of writing, so I don’t think you’ve got a lot of room for improvement there.

The stories themselves, though, didn’t click for me as a reader. I didn’t get pulled into the world you’ve created and I didn’t connect with your characters. That doesn’t mean that what you’ve done is bad, though! But I am going to suggest some ideas for restructuring your work that might help make your stories more dynamic and effective in capturing and retaining your reader, or showing off your skills and ideas to better effect.

Your first story begins with the description of the character in a lot of depth, but I cannot recommend this as an opening paragraph. If you’re ever writing a manuscript, you need to remember that your first page is your first–and often only–chance to hook your reader and convince them to keep going. (Especially true if you’re sending your work to a publisher!) Because of that, a lot of good stories begin with first page or two that does everything it can to tell you who, what, where, and the tone of the book.

Very few good stories start with the “I have black hair and blue eyes and today I am wearing a big hat” type character description, unless that is actually important–i.e., The Little White Horse begins with Maria detailing to herself what she’s wearing, because she’s vain and it brings her comfort to know she looks beautiful, which matters because… [and then the plot begins]; the first Harry Potter book describes the Dursleys in very Dahl-esque fashion, which matters because… [contrast them to the peculiar happenings of the plot emerging]. What your character does is almost always more interesting than what they look like, so it’s often a sensible idea to prioritise your narration accordingly. Both of the above examples tell you who, the tone of the story, and then what is happening, while filling in other details so you know where and when by the end of the first chapter.

Something else I noticed in your work is that you’re a keen world-builder with a lot of ideas, but I found your stories to be a little overwhelmed by that, rather than enriched by it. This is something I’ve seen a lot in young creative writers, so it’s definitely not you and it’s not actually a fault, exactly–but it can detract from your work and make your work actually less inviting to read, rather than more, and that’s something that’s important for speculative fiction writers to be aware of. I’m currently working on a series of tips and tricks requested by popular demand, so I’ll probably elaborate more on this later, but basically, your world-building should be an iceberg: you know how immense it is, but your reader will only see a small delicious fragment of it.

Oversupplying world-building details often makes works impenetrable or–most commonly–overshadows the characters and plot and sinks interest in the ship story. (For me, the most egregious example that jumps to mind is Foundling by D.M. Cornish but that’s a rant for another day). Your work isn’t too overcrowded, I feel, but for me, I got the sense that you used your stories as vessels for your world-building, instead of using your world-building to decorate and deepen your stories. The reason this causes problems is because people–myself included–are most often motivated to read because they relate, connect to, or are curious about characters, rather than a world. (Worlds are very fun, don’t get me wrong! It’s just that world-building tends to be most fun for the people doing it, not the people reading it).

Finally, something I wanted to bring to your attention is style, and particularly streamlining it and leaning into your own voice. At the moment, your work is a little heavy with what I think of as “fanfiction-itis” for lack of a better concept. It’s basically an overall tendency to 1. be uncertain about what person the story is told in, or jump between views. This can be a choice! But it’s one you should be making consciously. There’s first-, second-, and third-person, but in third-person, there’s also an omniscient narration and limited narration. Each can be used to huge effect–but you need to pick the right one for the story you’re telling and stick to it. 2. over-rely on epithets and character description. Often this is a result of the above when it’s third-person omniscient. As a rule of thumb, you don’t really need to use epithets much at all. “The taller boy,” “the blonde girl,” and so on doesn’t add anything, but it does often distract and make the writing look a bit… juvenile to experienced writers. Unless the description is saying something about the character that’s worth knowing, it’s usually best not to bother with it. “The black-furred warrior walked by” says a lot less than “Blackfur stalked past, scowling.”

3. use unnecessary or tautological dialogue tags. I’ve seen a lot of “said is dead” passed around on this site, and that’s great advice to follow if you want your work to be unenjoyable and annoying to read. Said is the most useful dialogue tag, because it is invisible to us, and many other “common” tags are likewise useful–things like asked, or replied. You only need to use a different and noticeable dialogue tag when it changes the dialogue in a meaningful way. For example: i. “what did you do?” he queried. ii. “what did you do?” he asked. iii. “what did you do? he asked cautiously. iv. “what did you do?” v. “what did you do?” he said, but he was looking away, distracted. The first one’s dialogue tag is useless and clunky: we know he asked a question, there’s a question mark there, but unlike “asked,” queried really stands out and can break the flow of reading. The second one is unobtrusive, but doesn’t tell us anything about the tone of his question: he could be angry, purely curious, scared, who knows! The third one tells us his tone, but be careful not to overuse adverbs–that’s J.K. Rowling’s curse. The fourth tells us that, whatever he’s asking about, he’s worked up about it and it’s probably not great! The fifth is an example of how you can actually turn dialogue tags into full sentences sometimes. By being precise with your dialogue tags, you can make your dialogue really pop, and also not distract your reader.

4. tell, rather than show. We’ve all heard “show, don’t tell” as writing advice, but there are actually a lot of times when “telling” is perfectly fine. However, broadly speaking, characters tend to feel more alive if you make them act out their personalities, rather than recount them to your reader. If someone has a big personality, you don’t need to say it: it’ll become abundantly clear from their actions soon enough!

By being aware of these things and making conscious choices–even if your conscious choices are to keep doing these things!–your strength and skill in storytelling will improve. It looks to me that you’ve gotten to the point where now you have to hone the talent you already have, which means that being precise and self-reflective about your writing style and choices is probably going to be the best course for you to improve going forward.

I hope this is helpful to you! I want to stress that all of this advice is offered in a “take what is useful to you, leave the rest” spirit. For every piece of writing advice, there’s excellent writing that contradicts it, so honestly a lot of good writing is just knowing when to follow advice and when not to, when to follow a rule and when to break it. Good luck with all your future work!

#reply #advice #this is basically the kind of thing that my tips and tricks guides will look like by the way. thank you everyone for the support!#it's very flattering and lovely to see so many people excited to hear me talk. always takes me a little by surprise but in a nice way.#also i hope this is mostly easy to read and coherent. today was not a good health day and i'm on some wild painkillers right now.#oh also fun fact: joke rowling's favourite book growing up was the little white horse. hence why i've linked them here.#it's such a shame that joke rowling is such a terf dingbat because she's regrettably such a helpful teaching touchstone.#the other month i was teaching high schoolers and it's so useful to be like 'okay so in harry potter--' and immediately they Get It.

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yadaily · 5 years

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American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee

Review by: Paige

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. Two girls vying for the prince's heart. This is the story of the American royals. When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. And their country was born of rebellion. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart. The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

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My summer of royal reads continues, I see, and I was so elated to receive a copy of this title in advance. The summary had me hooked so quick and within just the first few pages, I knew I would be unable to put this novel down — and I was right. I practically swallowed it whole. While I approached the concept of an American monarchy with a bit of trepidation, it was the characters and their respective romances which really kept me hooked. Their stories were filled with both joy and heartbreak at every turn, and watching each character grow in their own right was a real treat. I’m already eagerly anticipating the sequel, as I need my hands on more of this story immediately. For any fans of The Selection, I urge you to run to your local bookstore on September 3rd — this is the perfect read if you’re looking for those same vibes again.

Though I felt like the prose sometimes became bogged down by the multiple narrators, it drove forward, for the most part, at an impeccable pace. It flowed really well. However, it also covered a lot of ground very quickly, and while that led to a feeling that the plot was rushed in places, it also set the novel up perfectly for a sequel (especially with that cliffhanger — oof). Is it predictable? Sure. But is it also an enjoyable read? Absolutely. Tropes are fun to engage with and I expected to here, and those elements didn’t disappoint. I wasn’t expecting anything groundbreaking. If you’re looking for a solid royal romance, this is one.

My one major complaint was that the language felt tone-deaf at times, namely when it was attempting to slyly refer to the America that could-be in this novel; that is, the American democracy we actually live in. It felt so contrived. Considering the current political climate and all that we know about how history really went down, I thought that a little more attention given to the way those bits of prose were actually written would do the novel well. I have no problem with revisionist novels most of the time, but there are a lot of massive, ingrained problems associated with monarchy, especially one which apparently thrives in modern times. Sure, this was a fun read. But the novel tackling those issues head-on instead of skirting around them would only add to this story, not detract from it. America’s history is dark and bad and uncomfortable to confront, but our stories become all the more strong when we do. We can’t ignore that America was built on the backs of colonized Indigenous peoples, and we shouldn’t want to. I hope to see these issues addressed in the sequel (and I have a feeling I will).

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I don’t think it’s pretending to be anything that it’s not, and while I have problems with the revisionist history, the truth is it’s not trying to be about that. It’s just telling of royal romances which happen to be set in a hypothetical America. I look forward to watching each character’s story further unfold in the sequel.

#american royals #katharine mcgee #bookish #booklr #ya lit #reviews #paigesreviews

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obfuscobble · 7 years

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Passerby here - in regards to Fate/Grand Order, the reason they don't explain stuff in detail is because they kind of already did? The Fuyuki prologue in the actual mobile game is a longer, more in-depth tutorial, while the anime is an hour-long film. They can't do EVERYTHING in the short time slot they have. Also, the "explanation on Servants" thing is something repeated in every adaption and spinoff and just gets very redundant after a while, so it getting cut is understandable.

Also, arguing that they HAVE to explain EVERYTHING for newbies within the short 1 hour time slot for the F/GO anime is nonsensical considering the setting of Fuyuki - everything and everyone in Fuyuki (such as the statue Medusa Lancer destroys) only has significance if you’re familiar with Fate/stay night proper, and explaining EVERYTHING would waste time, especially since the premise of “Chaldea has no idea what originally happened in Fuyuki” makes explanation impossible anyway. Basically, you’re treating the Fate/Grand Order anime like some sort of standalone story, when in reality it’s more like the Rogue One to Fate/stay night’s mainline Star Wars, or the Fantastic Beasts to Harry Potter. Even if it’s a spinoff, demanding that it explain everything all over again is pointless and would detract from the plot given the very limited timespan, especially when the premise IS so heavily based in past installments. I hope you understand my points here.

I perfectly understand your points, but please keep in mind that you are making the exact same points as your predecessor which I have already rebuffed politely by reiterating my points of debate. I thank you for trying to state this case in more detail again, but my counter points remain solid and admittedly mired in my initial reactions to the material. The strength of my initial negative reactions is what prompted me to write my post, and upon re-view of the film, my problems with its structure, choreography, and colour design remain.

If I may attempt to restate your points, trying hard not to make a strawman : 1. there’s more info on everything in the game, 2. there’s more explanation of everything in the rest of the Nasuverse media, 3. this is for fans who already know everything and trying to explain too much in a short one hour featurette would be wasteful, 4. this should absolutely not be viewed in a standalone manner.

1. there’s more info on everything in the gameI understand this. But the movie was, as I was approaching it, supposed to get me pumped to play the game had I not already done so. It did not.

2. there’s more explanation of everything in the rest of the Nasuverse mediaI understand this. But it doesn’t defend against bad story structure.

3. this is for fans who already know everything and trying to explain too much in a short one hour featurette would be wastefulI contend this. Allow me to voice my contention in two manners, one polite, and one rude.Politely: Fans who enjoy this are absolutely deserving of their enjoyment, and as a fan placation vehicle this movie is certainly fantastic. I do not want to rid anyone of their enjoyment of this featurette. People should hold on to their joy where they can find it. : ) However, I still believe that a shortened running length was not truly a bar to cut out all explanation. I’m not expecting someone to dump typemoon.wikia.com onscreen. I was simply stating that within the world that the movie itself created with a protagonist who knows nothing and a fresh new aspect of the Nasuverse being presented, that a tiiiny bit more explanation would have been completely natural to present within the storytelling framework of the brand new setting. To fully explain Servant structure and the history of Fuyuki is not necessary. To explain more about Chaldaea and how it interacts with these structures is highly desirable. That Fuyuki is a mystery to Chaldaea is absolutely fine and a good mystery to hook the audience. That Chaldaea remains a complete mystery to the audience, apart from clichés that the audience can place upon it through inference, is unforgivable.Rudely: yeah I get it they made a pretty movie out of your waifus look at your waifus in good animation happy new year nasufans here’s a tv special to sell more nasushit including 5000 yen dvds but it’s worth it because WOW YOUR WAIFU she’s moving and going UGUU this is such a CATHARTIC pandering MOMENT you can’t wait to heal her with YOUR MAGIC RITUAL YA KNOW WHAT IM SAYIN[* “your waifu“ in this case referring to the fandom at large, not you specifically, holdharmonysacred, as I do not wish to make assumptions about you.]

4. this should absolutely not be viewed in a standalone manner.You bring up a comparison of Fate/ Grand Order to Rogue One and Fantastic Beasts. Here is where I very much would like to make more comparisons, as I have seen those movies and their attendant series as well! However, first it is important to keep in mind that whether one chooses to view a film as a standalone vehicle or as a chapter of a larger narrative is up to the individual viewer. Yet, ask any good author or script editor and they will tell you that the internal story of a feature should hold itself as a standalone story with good arc structure. While it’s true that Grand Order had a proper arc structure (problem, mysterious anomaly; action, fight to stop anomaly; resolution, bad guy temporarily wins, time to steel ourselves to do this again), I feel that it failed to present a story that an outsider could care about.

Honestly, Rogue One also failed to impress me as a standalone vehicle. It was infinitely more pandering than Grand Order, although at least it didn’t leave too many questions unanswered. Largely, it had more running time to establish its world, which Grand Order did not have. What Rogue One had in common with Grand Order was a dearth of likeable protagonists. At least the motivations of Rogue One’s antagonists are clear though, unlike R.E.O. Lev’s.

Fantastic Beasts actually worked as a standalone film. Parts of it that connected directly to the Potter storyline [erhem, Grindelwald] were frankly its worst aspects. Yet apart from that, the movie clearly established through its action and a bit of exposition the stakes of its world. There are wizards and magical beasts and non-wizards, the wizards try to hide from the non-wizards, never the twin shall meet, and in America magical beasts are not allowed to run free in non-wizard areas. The audience doesn’t have to know about rulings of the wizengamot or the history of wizarding in America to appreciate these in-story rules. Magic is shown throughout the movie, and major magical plot points like the obscurial are explained, though not exactly perfectly. But a bully attempt is made. One can watch Fantastic Beasts without knowledge of the Potterverse and still follow its structure while appreciating its characters who are presented with definite emotional ties and stakes in the movie. It’s not an outstanding movie, but it does very well to establish the basics of its world.

On the other hand, I maintain that Fate/ Grand Order failed to firmly establish the very basic internal rules that its world runs by either through exposition or onscreen action, preferring to hint at them, and that its characters were flat, especially the main character who could have been replaced with a soggy cardboard cutout for all it would have mattered.

I understand that the main character of this movie is supposed to be an audience insert surrogate, and a standin for an in-game protagonist, but that’s honestly no excuse for having him be void of emotional reaction to anything in the world around him except Mash. Mash is hurt? Oh noes, she’s pretty and talked to me so I guess we’re dating and now I’m upset. I’ve been transported to some techno-magic base? Oh well. Everyone else here has died en masse? Oh well. Now I’m in the past and things are attacking me? Oh well. That girl just died? Oh well. The guy who was nice to me turns out to be evil and he has some weird plan to do with wiping out the entire human race? OH WELL. I’m not asking for him to scream or anything, but the most proactive action he took in the entire movie to move the plot forward was to hold Mash’s hand in her climactic battle, and even then he did so blandly, not even a “ganbatte” or a “You mean a lot to me so don’t give up.” Every other scene where he took an action, he had stumbled into that place or been pushed there by other characters or the plot at large. The guy fell asleep during the one scene that would have explained shit to him and therefore us. How are we supposed to like him as a protagonist?

In conclusion, I do indeed understand the points you laid out in your asks, but feel that I have previously responded to most of them. Of the new concerns you bring up, my previous complaints about Fate/ Grand Order still hold sway. And yet, I do not at all wish to say that people should feel bad for liking Fate/ Grand Order. My stance is that I did not enjoy it, and it failed the rubric by which I was watching it. You state that my rubric is flawed, and that is a fair enough criticism. Please continue to enjoy the Fate/ universe and the Grand Order game. I hope they all bring you lots of continued enjoyment in the coming year!

#fate grand order #analysis

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