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sunnysaylorboy · 4 years

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my opinion on/a surprisingly passionate defense of Mulan (2020) (SPOILERS)

I’ve seen a lot of ppl ragging on the new Mulan for so many reasons, so I will go over why these (mostly) are stupid reasons and why I love the new movie.

1. Liu Yifei supporting the Hong Kong police. Now this is not a stupid reason, this is valid. I am an East Asian studies major, and as much as I love Disney, when I first heard the news I knew I could not watch Mulan (2020) in good conscience. It went against everything I have learned in my studies, and everything I believe. However, now I am almost positive Liu Yifei was forced to make those comments- I've seen several sources saying so recently. You can look for these sources on your own, because this isn’t the whole point of my post, but I think it's true. A movie about a woman defying her government and social expectations of the time? Hong Kong citizens could absolutely use her as a symbol for protesting against China. It makes sense that the government would take preventative measures before this could happen. But anyways, I was not planning on watching Mulan (2020) until I found out that what she said was most likely fake/forced.

2. The removal of Mushu. Yes, I too miss Mushu but I completely understand why they did that. A lot of ppl make these sort of complaints about the live action remakes not using humor in the same way as the original, but that’s bc it doesn’t translate well. Humor in animated movies is exaggerated or silly, and it works in that medium but if you do the exact same in a live action film, it will come off as too slapstick. Think Will Ferrell in Elf (still a good movie). Mushu’s whole character is based off of this humor that appeals more to kids, and it would have really made the dialogue with him super cringey. and I know if they made him a more serious supportive character people would've complained about that too, so I understand why they did it.

3. The removal of Li Shang. I miss our bisexual boy too, but I actually think they did a really great job with the new guy Honghui. The directors removed Li Shang because he is in a sense, Mulan’s boss, and they felt that it was too much like the #MeToo movement, which I applaud. At first I was upset that supposedly this new character would be a jerk to Mulan until he found out she was a girl, but that's not what happened in the film fortunately. Honghui and Mulan start off on the wrong foot but they grow as comrades and sort-of friends, and Honghui is the first to stick by Mulan’s side when she reveals who she is. Even if there aren’t as many signals of him being bi, I think they progressed their relationship nicely. (I was sorta hoping for a kiss at the end though).

4. Mulan’s “chi.” Apparently people do not like that Mulan already has a sort of warrior streak inside of her already, as opposed to the 1998 version where she struggles to get used to the army. I think this is an overgeneralization. Mulan does struggle to become a soldier, as we can see in the training montage. Similar to the pole and the arrow at the top, she cannot reach the top of the mountain carrying the buckets with her arms outstretched like everyone else at first- then when she manages to do it, she knows she has proven herself. Plus, I like that they gave her more character. We don’t see any of Mulan’s childhood years in the original, so it is a little hard to understand why she is such an outcast. She only had one incident with the matchmaker and suddenly she is questioning her identity. But the 2020 version establishes that Mulan has been different from the start and everyone has known it since then. It makes it more believable that she brings dishonor on her family so easily. And just because she has strong chi doesn’t necessarily mean she is already a warrior. She is told to hide her chi as a child, and she does not tap into it easily- her commanding officers can sense something is holding her back. She is special, yes, but she isn’t “the chosen one.” She still works hard and she still relies a lot on her strategy instead of brute force just like in the animated version.

5. Lack of musical numbers. I do miss the musical numbers. But they did well with incorporating the musical themes from the original into the movie. The little “Honor to Us All” theme playing while she gets ready for the matchmaker? Perfect. The bit of “Reflection” playing when she reaches the top of mountain? Beautiful. And “Reflection” playing at the end when she is recognized as a hero? I was bawling. Also, this isn’t the first remake that Disney hasn’t made as a musical- the 2015 Cinderella did not include “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” (except in the credits like Mulan did), or “Bibbidi-Bobbido-Boo,” or “So This is Love.” I know that Cinderella is an older movie and may not be as beloved to this generation as Mulan, but those song are still incredibly iconic to the Disney brand and I didn't see anyone complaining about those songs being removed. Idk, I don’t think it’s a big enough deal to be upset over it, especially because they included instrumentals of the songs for the live-action version.

6. The addition of the witch. I can’t believe people are complaining about the personification of the hawk from the first movie- seriously, watch the remake and you’ll see how great Xian Liang’s character is. I love the parallels drawn between her and Mulan. Despite fighting for opposite sides, she sees herself in Mulan, and Mulan sees how she might end up if she had chosen the route of evil. I think they did it wonderfully and I’m definitely not gay for Gong Li...

7. The cost. This one, I understand. $30 is a lot to pay for a movie, but I get it because they’re losing money from not going to theaters for a few months. I paid the $30 because I felt like I had waited long enough to see it, I was foaming at the mouth the night of its release, and I had $30 I was willing to spend on it. Ofc Disney is a multi-million dollar company, so I don’t begrudge anyone pirating it bc screw capitalism.

I just had to get this off my chest because so many criticisms of this film seem so unjustified, weak, or deliberately negative. I swear, not just with Mulan, I see so many people who hate the live-action remakes- it’s like they’re trying to find things to hate about them, and I'm frankly getting sick of it. Like damn bitch why you gotta be so negative about everything?? The acting is great, the music is phenomenal and timeless, the costumes are so extravagant, the action sequences make you hold your breath in anticipation... y'all will find anything to whine about and I'm TIRED. And it seems like some of y'all are purposefully ignoring WHY they made these changes. These changes were made to adhere to the Legend of Mulan more closely, to make up for some of the racial insensitivity/cultural inaccuracies in the original, and to appeal to their Asian audience. the 1998 version is a VERY Americanized way to tell they story- so stop complaining, you got “your version” that appeals to you.

Some things I loved were

1. Mulan’s sister. It’s not often we see Disney princesses with siblings. Even though she didn’t have much screen time, I loved Xiu and the relationship she had with Mulan.

2. The phoenix symbolism. In Mulan (1998), there is heavy dragon symbolism as Mulan is preparing to run away to the army. This insinuates that Mulan is the dragon, the protector of the family, and that is why the Great Stone Dragon doesn’t awaken later. In this version, she is instead guarded and represented by a phoenix. In Chinese mythology (correct me if I'm wrong), the phoenix stands for yin and yang, harmony and is often the female counterpart to the dragon. The wings specifically represent duty, which is why the wings of the phoenix spread behind Mulan when she saves the emperor singlehandedly. Though I don’t know if they intended this, in Greek mythology the phoenix is a symbol of death and rebirth. Mulan is reborn again as Hua Jun, but ultimately in this version she is not discovered as a girl, she chooses to fight as one. The moment she does, “Hua Jun died, and Mulan was born again,” as she sees the phoenix once more. Mulan is the phoenix, and she brings harmony after defeating the Rourans. It’s beautiful.

3. The avalanche scene. A lot of the battle scene was different, but I loved that they kept in the avalanche from the original. Mulan’s planning in this one shows how big her brain is, and how well her strategy works.

4. Xian Liang and Honghui. As I already mentioned, I really loved how they portrayed these characters.

5. The fight scenes. God they really got the perfect actress to play Mulan. Liu Yifei leaning back to avoid an arrow from a Rouran? Impeccable. Mulan’s display of her techniques when she and Honghui get into it when they’re supposed to be practicing? So cool.

All in all, I loved this movie just like I love all of the other Disney princess live-action remakes. Disney obviously spent a lot of money on the action sequences, the costumes, the backgrounds, the historical accuracies, the casting, the storyline, everything is amazing. I will definitely be watching again.

#this is definitely like a rant only slightly organized #mulan #a defense of mulan #mulan 2020 #my post #my posts

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ianenjoyer · 4 years

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worst shameless storylines ranked? personally despise the whole who’s gonna top thing with trevor and ian. like, if it’s that important?? just fuck other people? but also fiona being a landlord and cop carl takes the cake

*rubs my evil little hands together* finally more opportunities to talk about my opinions

this is non-comprehensive bc i don’t remember every single awful thing that’s happened on this show (and i blocked out so many) but here’s the ones that stick in my brain

under the cut bc i kinda went off

1. gay jesus

i just ??? hate it so much??? listen, i think this storyline started off relatively okay, if you ignore the cringey dialogue. like ian trying to help kids like him (and mickey) and save them from conversion therapy and other terrible things? okay sounds good, sounds consistent to ian’s character i’m fine with it. but the execution??? 🤢 i hate it so much. it comes off much more like they’re mocking the cause instead of promoting it. and on top of that, apparently ian was supposed to be manic the whole time but, again, the exposition was just terrible and they didn’t really indicate that this was supposed to be ian spiraling as opposed to him just going a little too far. honestly the whole thing is a disservice to ian’s character and everything that he’d been through in the previous 7 seasons

2. fionas landlord stuff

fionas switch from a kind, hardworking person trying to provide for her family to a bloodsucking parasite (also known as a landlord) is appalling. not the fact that she tried to better herself and her situation, but the fact that she constantly put down families like her own and the fact that it was framed like a good thing. like it’s fine to seek out a better life for yourself obviously but i wish she found a way to do it without becoming a capitalist who leeches off other people

3. the weird voting storyline + anytime they try to do political commentary

😐 i’m just repeating myself at this point but shameless’ switch from a gritty family drama that shows the realities of living in poverty and dealing with problems such as alcoholism, mental illness, and inter-generational trauma to a satirical ‘comedy’ that pokes fun at anything and everything is the worst turn i’ve ever seen a show take. honestly i don’t remember much about this except that frank got some creep in office and recruited a bunch of nazis to help him, and that fiona was gonna vote for some pro-capitalism weirdo bc she didn’t want rent-control on her apartment bc she hates poor people apparently

4. carl becoming a cop

i mean we haven’t even seen this yet but skdhdijsj it’s going on here anyways. honestly carl’s whole coming-of-age storyline is just bad. i’m not gonna just repeat myself but i talked about that here. basically it boils down to the show being tone-deaf and trying to do political commentary on things they know nothing about. honestly the last thing we need right now is rich white people in hollywood acting like they understand what it’s like to live in poverty, or live as a person of color, or an lgbt person, in america right now

5. mickeys send off + ian’s other love interests

so what we’ve learned is that shameless doesn’t know how to write off characters without butchering them and then expecting us to instantly forget about them. i understand that noel left the show, so i know they had to write him off, but they didn’t have to be as brutal to his character as they were.

i’m in the minority with this opinion (i think) but the first time i watched the show i wasn’t fully against ian dating somebody else, mostly bc i knew they ended up together. i mean, it is realistic that ian wouldn’t date the same person from the time he was 15, and especially after mickey went to jail it objectively makes sense that he would try to move on. but god the execution of this was terrible. they were just so obviously trying to butcher mickeys character (with caleb) , or replace him (with trevor) instead of, you know, providing us with a believable love interest for an otherwise well-liked, interesting character. i won’t talk too much about s6 but feel free to anon me if you want to hear more of my thoughts bc i have a few

6. anything with frank

i just don’t care about him. i skip every single one of his scenes when i rewatch the show unless he’s interacting with the rest of the family. he’s boring, and i think he’s overstayed his welcome. and yes i know he’s the main character but consider this: i hate him. he exists purely to engage in stupid storylines and say awful things and i want him gone. the fact that he’s still on the show and fiona isn’t is a hate crime towards me specifically smxhdjs. no hate to the actor but :/ there’s literally no use for frank on the show anymore, and there hasn’t been since they moved away from having a central-family storyline with him acting like a thorn in his children’s sides instead of whatever he is now

7. fionas love interests

i think that, kinda similar to ian, they didn’t really know what to do with with fiona’s love life after jimmysteve left. her love interests ranged from okay (mike cup supremacy!) to just boring and awful (ford, gus, sean). it’s just such a disservice to such an amazing character to reduce her to stories with boring love interests over and over again.

8. most of v and kev’s storylines in later seasons

this one makes me sad bc i love v and kev so much but... their storylines just aren’t it anymore. they’re dumb and comic-reliefy and a disservice (i’m using that word a lot wow) to two really amazing characters. they often reduce kev to ‘big, lumbering dumb-dumb’ and v to ‘sexy, sassy black girl’ and it’s just very Not Good, especially considering how interesting and multi-dimensional their characters were in early seasons.

9. karen’s send off

this is so fucking infuriating to me, especially knowing why the actress left the show. trust me i’m not saying karen is perfect or that she didn’t do terrible (sometimes unforgivable) things, but the fact that the send off for a character who was super important to the show for a good amount of seasons amounted to “she has permanent brain damage and lives with a 40 year old man and a baby she didn’t want” is such a huge disservice, both to the character and the actress

10. sammi

i don’t even want to talk about her or how obnoxious she is but i want it to be known that i hate her and that she sucks. she brought basically nothing to the show and i feel like she existed purely just to make me mad.

11. anything debbie did past like. season 3

she’s just so annoying. like with this show i usually don’t hate characters for doing morally gray things bc that’s very much the nature of the show but debbie just consistently used people over and over again while showing no remorse about it. derek (i still can’t believe what she did to him), neil, dereks wife etc. she’s just not a good person, and on top of that she’s not even entertaining to watch so like??? go away. also the fact that’s she’s dating sandy and i’m not is so rude :/

12. that one time sheila said the r-slur like 47 times

i just remembered this so i’m putting it on here. also this is the only one from an earlier season, which just proves that the shows been tone-deaf about a lot of things the whole time, and that it’s only gotten worse as years went on. i just want to make it clear that when i say i like this show that comes with many many caveats and that this definitely isn’t a show anybody should be watching un-critically

#let me know if i forgot something bc i feel like im forgetting something really bad #i don't really like to be negative on here but damn this show is awful sometimes #also this is so long ksdjfksl im sorry theres just so much material to criticize #i probably didn't even cover anything but YIKES #this show is so fucking exhausting to watch :/#somebody ask me something positive next slfjksd i need a reminder as to why im still watching it #shameless #anon #t talks

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blackcatmanor · 4 years

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RWBY V7 E9 Photo Review (spoilers)

A solid episode that mostly could have been tacked onto E8, but with notable moments.

Characters done right:

Robyn- A dark horse that emerged as MVP of the episode by a hair. Her snark was toned way down and you felt the frustration when Jacques says “I only meant to win the election” and she throws a chair with a scream of “ONLY?!” Her concern for Mantle citizens upon learning of the Grimm invasion also felt genuine and raised the tension of the episode.

I will say though she also had the dumbest line in the episode with

“You don’t trust your own council to help you? Operating in secret? These are the actions of someone who’s hiding something.”

What do you think a secret is?! A secret is something that is hidden! What is this line?!

Best Girl Weiss: A close second goes to best girl Weiss with the line of “Jacques Schnee, you’re under arrest…..can I do that?” OMG I hate how cute you’ve become!

Special Mention- Clover: A lot of cool character moments with Clover this episode, featuring his team bonding and general bad-assery. The moment he holds onto Elm for support and then they shake hands before she jumps shows that the team cares for each other, which is going to make me even more homicidal if Clover turns out to be a Spy. If any of the Ace Ops are going to be a spy, I think it’ll be Harriet or maybe Vine (okay maybe that’s because they are the two Ace ops I like the least- don’t @ me)

Characters done wrong

Obvious Neo is obvious- the super long pan on her face made the “reveal” at the end super lame. It would have been better if they cut the scene before the Neo evil smirk, as it would have just looked like a waitress that was just shocked by a bunch of huntsmen darting out the door. It would have given the end a lot more shock factor when the waitress enters a room to have an out-of-shot woman ask “Tell me you found what we are looking for” before the waitress changes back to Neo and Cinder’s stupid face is revealed.

I do hope that Neo is going to betray Cinder. Cinder’s character is the absolute worst in both writing and acting. The character has zero depth, motivation or charisma and the delivery of lines is atrocious with the cringey attempts at sounding cool and seductive. Neo constantly rolling her eyes at Cinder is a mood, and it’s like she’s an audience stand-in.

If Cinder dies it could also be a great catalyst for a lot of interesting changes, including having a maiden whose identity is unknown. Or Neo could become the maiden and go rogue, giving us a chance to see her as more than a sidekick.

Story stuff done right:

Villains- Although the Jacques story line was wrapped up too soon, it was still a nicely done arc and does a good job of depicting the villainy of Watts who, like Salem, only uses people until they are no longer useful. Using Jacques’ codes to shut off the heat without Jacques’ knowledge is proof of that.

I am excited to see Watts’ true evil prowess going forward, especially now that people know he’s alive. Hopefully Watts will evade capture and cause further mayhem right under Ironwood’s nose, which will show that the Villains in RWBY are actually capable of being competent and doing evil things. In each volume after V3 they have been bumbling idiots incapable of securing a single victory, but V7 thus far has been good at maintaining a decent level of menace with Tyrian and Watts teaming up.

Building a universe- I like the rapport being built with the council, because it anchors the characters’ actions in a real world setting, whereas previously their actions and story felt independent of a greater universe. We are now getting into a phase where these characters have to make decisions along with a political infrastructure, which is a cool new dynamic. The dialogue also felt a lot more realistic without Jacques snarking, as the council was able to outline real concerns and Ironwood felt legitimately on the defensive. I’m a little disappointed they skipped the part where Ironwood tells them about Salem, because seeing their reaction in real time would have been interesting, but it’s a cool development that he shared that info with them nonetheless.

Story stuff done wrong

Opening scene: This scene should have been the cliffhanger in the last episode before the break- with people worriedly trying to get answers and Pietro and Maria exchanging uncomfortable looks. I understood that the snow meant people would be freezing in Mantle but the kid’s excited reaction last episode made for a really non-tense cliffhanger.

Evil Jacques we hardly knew ye: I think the reveal of Jacques’ betrayal was too premature. I would have liked to see him reap the rewards of being underhanded a little, maybe become emboldened and try to solicit Watts for more evil schemes, only to have it crash down around him. I know the writers wanted it for Weiss to absolve Ironwood at the last moment, but maybe they could have had the meeting interrupted by the Grimm invasion of Mantle, and the council re-convenes next episode to make a final ruling in Ironwood’s position as council member and headmaster for Weiss to make the grand reveal. That would have also allowed this episode to be dedicated to the action surrounding the invasion.

So. Much. Shipping: I love a good ship, but it was so awkward this episode. The tone of the entire episode felt tense, with huge arguments, revelations, arrests, attacks, but it interrupted by the onslaught of shipping moments crammed into the middle. I think the concept of some of these are cute- especially Ruby and Oscar (though depending on what Ozpin is up to it may be creepy), but it all should have been put aside because these people are supposed to be professional huntsmen. The inserts were so jarring it was actually kind of cringey (like the Bumblebee run-by when Rosegarden are talking, and the sexy Bumblebee smirk after the Renora moment). As for the Ren and Nora moment, I didn’t think was as ship-ey because she was trying to be reassuring since Ren seems so tense, and without the Bumblebee smirk it would have actually been very sweet.

Ozpin’s return? The weird tease about Ozpin being back is jarring, especially in a volume built around trust and telling the truth. I hope it is just Ozpin coming back in brief moments- like in the Volume 6 crash- and Oscar doesn’t know what to make of it so he doesn’t want to tell the group until he knows what’s doing on.

However, I have a feeling it may be more sinister- based on the bits in the last few episodes how Ironwood remarks Oscar is becoming more like Ozpin, and this episode he said “It’s like you were there.” I think maybe Oscar proper is slipping away, being absorbed by Ozma’s soul and he’s aware of it, but isn’t saying anything. In either case I don’t like it because it means Oscar is hiding something which contradicts literally everything he’s been saying the whole volume and it also puts a creepy undertone on the Oscar/Ruby cuteness from the episode.

Lack of action:

This episode had a *fair* amount of action with the dragon grimm plane chase, but I wish the talking parts were wrapped up last episode or put on hold this episode to address the Grimm invasion. Volume 7 is following a lot of the same patterns it’s been criticized for in the past, which is ALLUDING to action, but having it all happen off screen (the riots after the SDC closure, the Grimm attack after the election, etc). This volume has been better than previous volumes with little snippets of action- such as Tyrian’s attack and the scuffle between Robyn and Bumblebee, but there hasn’t been a great big fight since Episode 3, which is 5 episodes in an action anime without a substantial fight, and to keep the blue-balls going after the break is annoying.

I do think that next week will deliver on the action and we will finally get to see the Robyn/Qrow vs Tyrian fight in the opening credits. Maybe Ironwood, too since he is shown in the credits shooting at something in Mantle…? I hope so at least.

Overall score: 7/10

A lot of this episode could have just been part of last week’s episode, which would have given us a nice dose of action after the break. Also the panic about Salem from the council and Robyn could have also been part of the reason the Grimm invaded in this episode, in addition to the heating riots. Nonetheless it doesn’t mean it was a bad episode, though the shipping was a bit distracting.

Random thoughts:

I wonder if they’re going to have to address the fact that they crashed an airship into mantle....

I also wonder if Whitley will bring his dad a shiv in a cake to bust out of jail. In seriousness though, I hope they address Whitley more this season. This episode actually made me feel bad for him. 10/10

#rwby #rwby bumblebee #rwby spoilers #rwby v7 #rwby ozpin #ozpin #rwby rosegarden #Robyn Hill #jacques schnee #weiss schnee #ruby rose

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blacklakeinavalley · 4 years

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Reylo confessions / TRoS personal review upon first watching

"You opened yourself to the dark side for a pair of pretty eyes” - in retrospect this pretty much sums up how my obsession with the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came into being. I was here for Reylo, Bendemption, and most of all Ben Solo since around TLJ. I could and still can relate to this character’s struggles and find him physically very attractive. That’s basically how it went down.

I had only once watched the OT, a few years before TFA came out. Then, in 2015, friends dragged me to watch TFA (I was like “meh, blockbuster” aka a snob at that time). I was pleasantly surprised though when I found the movie very well-made and entertaining. I did NOT get the Reylo-vibes then but remember strongly identifying with Rey’s fear at the beginning of the interrogation and Kylo’s line “You know I can take whatever I want“ making me shiver. I cheered at Rey for beating Kylo up on Starkiller Base and (joke’s on me for the worst take ever) legitimately left the theater believing him dead because of the explosion of the planet. That didn’t make me sad, but satisfied.

I did not think about Star Wars again until January/February(?) 2017. Another group of friends planned on watching TLJ together and and I browsed the Internet for some critics to read in advance, just out of curiosity. Somehow I ended up watching the interrogation scene on Youtube again and again, the sexual tension between the two I now clearly recognized finally taking my breath away. I discovered skysilencer’s/chandrilasky’s wonderful blog (which doesn’t exist anymore) about Rey’s and Ben’s relationship and generally started reading as many metas on this topic as I could find.

I fell in love with the pairing, and especially the portrayal of Kylo / Ben. Getting to watch TLJ in the theater was a bit disappointing for me though, after having read so many raving reviews on tumblr beforehand. At that time I could not really appreciate the changes in pacing and all the depths and nuances. By now I love this movie. Strangely, I never watch it in one go, only in smaller portions. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I like TFA just as well. Ironically, the fight on Starkiller Base is still my favorite Reylo scene ever - because there’s so much more going on than “Rey beating Kylo up“. For me, TFA definitely is a lot easier to watch, mostly because of the more conventional pacing, I guess.

Therefore I was quite happy when I heard that JJ Abrams was going to direct episode IX too. I actually never doubted that he had planted the seeds for Reylo in TFA / episode VII. Sadly, TRoS, which I finally went to see with my sweetheart yesterday, left me pretty untouched for the most part. After roughly two years of really looking forward to, actually longing for this day, seeing it was not the experience I had hoped for. This is not to say that the movie per se is only bad.

TRoS spoilers ahead!

I am a sucker for “grounded” speculation and have difficulties to keep away from spoilers. And I’m really invested in Ben Solo’s fate. This led to me reading JediPaxis’ leaks weeks ago and hanging around on this site pretty much non-stop shortly before and since the premier of the movie. When the realization that Ben Solo actually dies (or does he?) kicked in, I went through some kind of mourning that included having difficulties to concentrate, the urge to cry, listening to sad music, and definitely crying a lot while watching a camrip of him finding happiness and then dying in a loop.

And maybe that’s one of the reasons why I couldn’t enjoy the actual movie more. I already knew the whole plot, had seen lots of gifs and had already kind of processed the emotionally challenging stuff, at least to some extent. So I just didn’t feel much, neither surprise, nor joy or grief while watching. Again, joke’s on me for getting myself extensively spoiled and reading about other people’s (negative) reaction to the movie. I didn’t even look forward to seeing it anymore, tbh.

My boyfriend on the other hand, who has seen TFA once and TLJ twice in his life and went into TRoS openmindedly after only a very short recapitulation of what had happened in the previous films, actually really liked it. He found it very entertaining, even surprising and well-made, especially the camera-work. He was all for Rey being a power women, for example when she prevented the transporter Chewie was presumably on from leaving by Force powers (Chewie then being on another transporter, not the one that got destroyed, was a cheap move and sort of a plot hole for him though). He generally sees the whole thing as an action adventure and advocates for not intellectually dissecting it or expecting too much depth out of a Star War. He likes the OT as a casual fan (he was the one to show me the original films in the first place), didn’t like the Prequels at all, was not a fan of TLJ and found TFA okay. We are going to watch TRoS again early in January with friends and he’s looking forward to it. So for him, episode IX is the best sequel film.

What I personally liked about TRoS:

- the very beginning - because Kylo and all the voices in his head, the nightmarish setting of the Sith temple as a representation of (mental) darkness, hopelessness and loneliness ...

- the overall feeling of the Pasaana festival (joy! color! coming together to celebrate!)

- the Poe and Zorri dialogue on Kimiji, because FINALLY a quiet and somewhat thoughtful moment AT LAST

- Finn and Jannah bonding over being former Stormtroopers being another somewhat quiet moment in the movie

- Ben seeing Han in memory actually made me feel SOMETHING

- the scenes of the last battle to end all battles (both Rey/Ben vs Palpatine and Resistance vs First Order) were sort of okay

- somewhat unexpectedly, I also really sympathized with Poe during some moments of the final battle

- the Rey and Ben Solo stuff after his final turn to the light was beautiful and heartbreaking (side note: I like to think that all the Jedi were talking to Ben too as he was rising/climbing from that pit)

- Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is already an icon, thanks to Adam Driver’s amazing acting skills and admireable dedication to this role. And that’s also true for TRoS.

- I actually liked the Resistance base scene after their victory, their immense relieve was so palpable

- the overall visuals of the movie are fine

What I did not enjoy:

- Everything felt so rushed. There’s too much happening in too little time, especially during the first half. The movie just doesn’t take any time to breathe, the effect being that you don’t really get into the story - the exact opposite of what the fast pacing was supposed to accomplish. Maybe less would have been more. Or the movie lasting for 15 minutes longer.

- Probably the worst thing: Most dialogues/lines, especially in the first half, are just super cringey ... TFA and TLJ dialogue never felt like this - or have I just gotten used to their text script over time? I have the small hope though that everything will sound better (at least to me) in English (we had to watch TRoS in German). Kylo Ren talking through his helmet was the worst in that regard, because Adam Driver’s voice is so distinct to me by now that the German voice-over felt 100% out of place and got me super irritated. It was downright painful.

- Very personal opinion: Upon closer look, both TFA and TLJ seem to be about Ben pretty much all the time, and I am all here for it. I did not get the same impression out of TRoS. But maybe that’s just a “recipient as co-creator of a story“ thing and I might be able to construct such a reading also for TRoS over time, after getting to know the movie better.

What really matters to me in the end:

- I am still invested in the character and story of Ben Solo. A movie (TRoS) made me mourn a fictional character, which IS something, even if said character was built to a great extent in previous movies.

- As said before, I enjoy theorizing, analyzing and the quest to better understand stories. And I just don’t want to be mad at the creators already. Ben’s death was painful, but I understand this pain as an invitation to delve deeper into all if it. If in the end the script and plot keep making little sense (which is a real possibility), I will keep to cherishing the parts I liked.

Conclusion:

Yes, I found TRoS very disappointing upon first watching, script-wise way below TFA and TLJ. Very likely it will always feel rushed and badly written to me. Maybe I'll like it even less after watching it again in about a week from now.

But, for the reasons mentioned above, I will probably still give it multiple (undeserved) chances. Because there certainly are good parts in it.

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Kudos if you’re still here! And sorry for any language mistakes. Please comment, if you feel like it.

#tros review #reylo #ben solo #the rise of skywalker #reylo fam #blacklakeinavalley #personal

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reasonablespeculation · 4 years

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submission re: EB & more anon reviews below

I thought maybe I can give my review of endings, beginnings that nobody asked for because well I'm seeing so many biased reviews on twitter of ppl who already decided they hated it before watching it.

Starting off, I would like to say that I expected it to be much more worse than it actually is based on all the exaggerated reactions to the clips and some of the shitty reviews.

Style - I have personally always liked drake's style. Dialogue playing over their body language enforces the idea that what they say is something and what they want to do is something else specially in the bar scene between Frank and daphne. I loved the colour palette used, although it's a bit too dark at times and I ended up watching my own reflection at the screen lmfao. I don't mind jump cuts but the jump cuts at the very beginning were too much.

Dialogue - I'm not a fan of completely improvised dialogues. I prefer a script to be pinned down and the actors are given the freedom to add or take from it. The dialogue is lacking for a movie! But if we compare it to real life it's very realistic and I assume this is what drake was aiming at yet this made the film lose its cinema charm.

Actors - I feel like everyone did absolutely great with what they were given. The process shailene described seems like hell for an actor, going into the scene and saying whatever and expecting the other to say whatever and you have to respond on the spot. Frank and Jack's characters were one dimensional because I assumed they are seen through daphne's eyes and she is not interested in them beyond what they can give her (one gives her security while the other gives her passion). Daphne's character is annoying yet you can clearly tell that was the purpose. She's messy, she makes dumb decisions, she craves to be wanted yet claims she wants to stay away from men, her self righteousness when she saw Frank doing coke shows utter contradictions with her own messiness. I felt like there are a lot of ppl who can resonate with her...she's not your typical heroin. Regarding frank, I felt like he was initially even more one dimensional than what was seen on the screen, but sebastian gave him more character. The last dialogue in the diner felt very real and it made me sad. His chemistry with daphne is one of the things I found to be very real too, when he stared at her during that game It felt so intimate that I wanted to look away and give them some privacy (a choice bart didn't have)

Sex scenes - fans have really exaggerated the sex scenes in the movie because in all honesty for a romantic drama 4 sex scenes is not much and they are not long either or too raunchy. You can tell frank and daphne are very attracted to each other which made the intimacy in the scenes super real and had the viewer squirm in their seat feeling weird for watching it. I'm used to sex scenes being very theatrical in American cinema and that often makes them lose the intimacy required for the scene to be considered "hot" much like fifty shades with it's cold approach to sex and nudity.

Ending - I liked how none of the men tried to chase her to the ends of the world, its realistic and if this was real life all of us would be saying they can do better. Drake didn't exaggerate the love stories and he kind of deployed these relationships as self exploration rather than love. What I hated is how she magically went through character development as she got pregnant (this is such a Male perspective that it made me annoyed) I get how he's trying to promote self love but it just didn't resonate with me because it was associated with pregnancy (yet another person to love and be loved by) her journey towards self love should have started solo and I found it incredibly unrealistic for her to not want to know who the father is and even more unrealistic that none of them demanded to know. No one can live their lives knowing their kid must be out there, even if they don't want kids. And it was so ooc of Jack to say "oh that's great" when she told him she's pregnant and he thought it's his because he clearly stated so many times he doesn't want kids.

Overall I liked the movie, its chill, its decent, and it's not cringey it just has a narrow view of what its trying to prove. It's not a movie you can't take your eyes off of when watching but it's one you are interested to know what happens at the end. Many seb fans expect too much after itonya that they are now criticising sebastian's filmography as if opportunities like itonya happen every day and are just waiting for him to hop on. It's much more complicated than that. Endingsbeginnings is a decent movie, we're just looking too much into it because seb is in it.

RS: I agree with you, great review.

anon1: I j watched eb and I still have no idea what happened to frank where did he go - ghosted, bb. went and had more wild adventures and totally ignored Daphne trying to get in touch.

anon2: I remember fans saying there's a sex scene that lasts 20 min in the movie and clearly there was not, which is one example of people exaggerating the hell out of everything about this movie including how bad it is. Shailene mentioned that they shot a 20 minutes long TAKE of the floor sex scene and drake ended up choosing the bits he wanted - yeah I’ve seen a few reviews from other people on tumblr and the reviews Drake is posting in his stories and nobody has any goddamn chill. it’s either the most heartbreaking movie they’ve ever seen (??????) and dug deep into their psyche and replaced the need for a therapist for the next ten years OR it literally came into their home and called their mom a wh*re and stole their cat and peed on their favourite pair of jeans. LIKE?

anon3: So, I still can’t figure out why Seb, Sha, and Jamie were like, kissing the ground Drake walks on because of how great a director he is. While I didn’t thing E,B was awful, nothing about the style or direction of this film makes me want to see any other of his work? I didn’t think it was that profound and found that his writing (especially Daphne’s character) wasn’t that great 🤷🏻‍♀️ maybe I’m just uncultured lmao - I feel like Drake had a big hit with Like Crazy and has been riding that reputation into the sunset

anon4: Watched the movie. Frank is a pathetic guy with no morals and a very low self-esteem. Shailene acting is painful to watch. The plot is prosaic and inane, the characters are unconvincing and the dialogues are dull.

anon5: I agree that the film didnt have a lot to say. Also i didnt hate Daphne like i thought i would and definitely related to her struggles & sadness. But really, apart from Seb the movie didnt make me feel anything much like you. Which is okay i guess if you're into that sorta thing. Also, did anybody else get the feeling she only really wanted Frank but was with Jack cos she didnt wanna be alone? - yeah for sure

anon6: I am somewhat confused about the film's premise. Was Daphne always so messy and the assault was just a catalyst for her or is she simply dealing with the trauma of being assaulted? The film does suggest the former with the mommy&Daphne cuts, but i am not entirely sold on that. And i fail to see how being *thatbigtwist* helps with her self-loathing? Whats happening there? - I agree with you that it seems like the former... but maybe with the assault kinda kicking off the latest round of messiness and exacerbating certain negative habits in she was dealing with people? Andddd idk... magical healing pregnancy trope?

#endings beginnings spoilers #submission

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brightlotusmoon · 6 years

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Mikey the Unpredictable Wild Child

Oh, a thought about Michelangelo after the epic power move that was the IDW Macro Issue.

I'm still so happy at him. My only problem is now everyone knows exactly what he can do so he can't really be a Protect The Baby anymore. Unless it's Protect The Killer Cinnamon Roll So He Can Continue Being Amazing.

I was then assured that they know what he's capable of and that he really just doesn't like going Super Saiyan for his own reasons - reluctance to kill, his empathy, etc. Even back when Mirage initially portrayed him as very similar to Raph just with more naive childlike wonder before the micro series with Klunk, Mikey had that streak of atypical divergence that refused to be summed up in one or two noun words. The leader, the brains, the muscle... and who? The party dude? The wise guy? The wild one? The pizza lover? The comedian? What does that mean?

Mikey was neurodivergent before it was a word (coined in 2005 by the woman who would become my autistic mentor). And in the world of neurotypical abled average ordinary normalcy, even among mutants, those qualities are seen as.... not quite right. Goofy. Ridiculous. Worthy of light smacks to stop him quipping seemingly insensitive things. See, In the 1980s and 90s, the very concept of ADHD was very narrow but Michelangelo was popular with outsider underdogs for reasons we couldn't quite identify, because we didn't have the words we have now. We didn't have those labels to give ourselves, not until we were decades older, scared confused adults with cptsd who weren't sure of much beyond how our favorite quirky character comforted us. And like him, we knew we were holding back. We had to. We had to protect our oddness.

In 2003 especially, it was said that Mikey has the most natural talent, a raw potential greater than his brothers combined. Apparently, according to his bio, the Ancient One had said Michelangelo was the one with the Brightest Fire. I don't remember that in the show but I believe it. I may complain about the writing of his character in 2003 but I'm grateful that it opened up so much discourse in the fandom.

2003 Mikey was written with a burden of comic relief, goofy humor, nearly intense levels of being teased, and rare moments of insight and power specifically so other characters could marvel at how the apparently brainless doofus could pull such tricks off while acting like a class clown. The episodes and dialogue proved that the family was well aware that Michelangelo was deliberately masking his clever, intuitive, interpersonal emotional intelligence by being a loudmouth egoistic ham, to help distract from the darkness of their lives. They knew he was better, and it was what drove the Battle Nexus tournament, the grudge match, the graduation day. However, at the time when I was a naive 20 something who barely knew what neurodivergence was, literally all I could focus on was Mikey being teased, pushed around, smacked, mocked given terrible jokes. As an only child, a disabled child who was adored and sheltered by my family, I didn't know that those head smacks were exaggerated love taps that Mikey overreacted to. I got snarling snarky defensive. When 2012 aired and it was the same bunch of tropes, with Mikey having the term Buttmonkey ascribed to him, I found more social media and other fans who thought like me and I felt validation. The 2014 movie happened, and Mikey became a silly, hammy, class clown embodiment of flooding teenage dude hormones. It was kind of cringey despite his being written as the beloved little brother who could hold his own, deflect tranquilizer darts with a laugh, be silly and sweet without his brothers yelling at him. 2016 just continued that lovely trend and his overeager arrogant bluntness was seen as adorable. Well, there was also the 2007 film but he was not very multidimensional and he embodied a lot of annoying stereotypes. I'm still upset that the sequels were never made, because he would have been front and center and badass. But then 2018 came along and mixed Mirage with IDW to bring us a Mikey we needed. And as for IDW itself, begun in 2011, it was kind of brushed aside for 2012 until more fans begin to realize how beautifully Mikey was being written. This macro issue is like a culmination.

I went off on a tangent, sorry. My whole point is that Michelangelo has completed a circuit and I'm super proud of my lifelong imaginary friend coping mechanism who is someone else's intellectual property but who has been completely molded and shaped by fandom like no other.

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