Maleficent Film Review

I went to see Maleficent a couple of days ago.  This will be my review on the film.  Overall I enjoyed the film.  The visuals were stunning, incredibly detailed and beautiful.  The costuming was absolutely superb, especially Maleficent's costume.  The acting was excellent, especially Angelina Jolie. 

My thoughts on the storyline however, are indeed a bit jumbled.  I thought their take on the storyline was very well thought out.  However the film seemed to move quick.  It's something I've noticed lately with Fantasy films.  They seem to be all action and no reflection.  I will have to see how the How to Train Your Dragon sequel fairs.  Nonetheless it felt a little fast paced.

Now I'm one of those people who usually like the original better.  I won't spoil anything.  Well I have to almost because the ending was interesting.  So SPOILER ALERT, Maleficent lives and no longer is evil.  It was all King Stephan.  The curse breaks when Maleficent feels guilty about cursing Aurora and wishes for forgiveness. 

There is an interesting aspect to this conclusion.  What it does is it prevents a simple message from spreading.  The kiss of true love.  Feminists will love this, or anyone who wants to be strong.  This is not an insult, it's just something I figured.  It deconstructs the message that women need men in order to be saved, aka, the kiss of true love.  Another scene that fosters a more masculine greed is that Stephan steals Maleficent's wings for sake of power.  Maleficent ends the fight between the two near the end of the film.  He tries to finish it and in the end plummets to his death. 

The character Diaval was very interesting.  I like how whatever he transformed into be it wolf or dragon had a crow like look to it.  Perhaps this is why I am forgiving that the dragon did not have four limbs and two wings.  Believe me, I was not the least bit pleased about that.  However, I can overlook it.  The dragon was cute though.  Very well done, despite that- oh whatever!

I guess my ultimate conflict is that I'm not sure how to feel about the ending.  Maleficent is probably, other than Chernobog, the most terrifying and most evil of all the Disney villains.  Ursula and Jafar come close, but not nearly as close.  Maleficent is a subtle villain.  Though I love the complexity of how Maleficent became evil, I thought that the ending of her turning good took away from that concept we have of her as a villain.  At the same time I think it works for this interpretation and story.  I always knew she was a fairy, but I sort of wanted to explore who her parents were.  I always figured her father was a dragon, probably because of the horns.  Then again I've seen drawings of fairies with horns... I think. 

In the end I think the movie was well done and contained elements that bear witness to the original film.  Despite its minor conflictions with the original, example: the dragon in the original had four limbs and two wings and was Maleficent, I still think that film performed excellently and that everyone should at least go to see it.  I give it 8 out of 10 dragon points.  

That's it for this review.  Find more in my blog.  Keep reading everyone. 

Starvix Draxon

Beautiful Creatures Movie Review

So I saw the Beautiful Creatures movie.  I had started to read the book but never finished because I got tired of the basic language utilized in that book. I read the comic that came out as well.  The internal thought made no sense at all.  But this is about the movie.  Overall I thought it was well done and followed the book generally speaking.  The actor's performances were excellent and convincing.  The emotion I felt was real, at some points weaker than others, but ultimately real.  I thought the graphics were well done and interesting.  I felt like some scenes were so short and rushed, but that's what happens in an adaptation.  Overall I think it deserves a good four stars.  That's all I have to say about it really.  That's it for today I guess.  Keep reading everyone. 

Starvix Draxon

The Hobbit Movie Review

On Friday I went to see the Hobbit movie.  By this point I have read up to the events in Mirkwood so I knew I had read up to what the movie had covered.  So I will be comparing the movie to the book as I write this. 

 

Question 1. Which was better?  Book or Movie?

 

Answer:  Movie!  Deffinately!

 

Question 2.  Was the movie accurate to the book?

 

Answer:  Yes, though there were some differences, but those differences were really good and added more depth to the story

Question 3.  What kind of differences?

Answer: The movie included more exposition about a war between orcs and the dwarves at Moria that happened a while back.  The group is actually chased by the orcs a couple of times.  Also the character is far more developed than in the book. 

Something that is sort of my pet peeve is weak characters.  If a story is just exposition and more exposition, then I get bored quickly.  I love character.  To me, character is the most important aspect of the story.  Without it, you have nothing but exposition.  That's why I don't typically care for Tolkein's work, because 1, his language is difficult to understand, and 2, he includes so much exposition about the rings and other stuff that he loses the chance to develop characters.  I'm not saying he's a bad writer.  He's an exellent author, but not the best story teller for character. 

Question 4.  Was the acting good?

Answer:  Yes!  Peter Jackson cast really good actors for The Hobbit.  I don't know anyone else who could have played Bilbo as well as Martin Freeman.  He really nailed the character down really well. 

Question 5.  Was the ending solid?

Answer:  Yes.  Peter Jackson chose a perfect stopping point to end his film.  It ends on a good note and leaves one waiting for the next film. 

Question 6.  What are you excited for? 

Answer:  I'm excited to see Benedict Cumberbatch play Smaug.  He literally is doing body scan imaging like they did with Gollum, so I'm really excited to see how they're going to do that with a dragon.  I also can't wait to see the Necromancer in action.  I mean they have to do something to explain the third movie.  I also have to finish the book.  Hopefully I'll finish it soon. 

Well, that's all.  I'm really excited for the next film.  I hope everyone gets a chance to see it.  Keep reading my friends. 

,Starvix Draxon
 

Spirited Away: A Hayao Miyazaki Masterpiece

Studioh Ghibli is one of the best animation studios in the world.  They have released and produced several outstanding films, including My Neighborhood Tottoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Castle in the Sky, and Ponyo.  But the best film studio Ghibli ever created is Spirited Away.  This animation film was made by none other than Hayao Miyazaki himself.  He is indeed a master storyteller and this amazing film proves it.  I hope to also show you the elements of the story and reveal what makes this a literary and storytelling masterpiece. 

 

 

The movie is about a little girl named Chihiro who's moving to another town.  She starts as a whiny child setting the stage for the character growth.  Her father takes a wrong turn and they find themselves in front of an old dilapidated building.  They explore and find food Kiosks.  Chihiro looks around and finds a mysterious boy known as Haku, who tells her to leave.  When she finds her parents, they've been turned into pigs.  Chihiro begins to dissapear and Haku saves her by making her eat food from this world.  He promises to help her free her parents from the witch Yubaba.  In order to save her parents, she must get a job at Yubaba's bath house.  Chihro confronts Yubaba and continuously asks for a job.  Yubaba tries to turn her away, but Chihiro persists relentlessly.  Yubaba gives her a job and steals Chihiro's name, renaming her Sen.  If she forgets her name, she belongs to Yubaba forever.  Sen proceeds to work hard and actually helps a river spirit who gives her medicine.  Chihro soon saves Haku, who turns out to be a Japanese Eastern Dragon, from Zeniba.  Haku stole her golden seal and if she does not get it back, he will die.  The two escape from Zeniba and Sen gives Haku some of the medicine.  He spits out the seal and a black slug, Sen eventually stepping on it.  It turns out later that the slug was how Yubaba controled Haku, and that Zeniba's spell could only be broken by true love.  Sen also faces a demon called No-Face, who througout the movies continues to offer her more than what she needs.  When he offers her gold, she declines showing her innocence compared to the other bathhouse workers.  She then gives the remainder of the medicine to No-Face saving him from his disgusted self.  Sen goes to Zeniba to return the seal and apologize for Haku.  Haku appears and takes her back to Yubaba.  Sen then remembers Haku's real name as the Kohaku river.  Haku is now completely free and now can leave Yubaba.  Sen faces Yubaba with one final challenge and succeeds again.  Haku then tells her to go and hopefully someday they will meet again.  Her parents are alright and they head back to the car.  To their shock, the car is covered with leaves suggesting that all that happened really did happen. 

 

 

I love this movie because the story has a great artistic design.  Every scene has exquisite detail in the scenery and in the action.  The music also is very lovely.  Each music piece fits the mood of the story perfectly.  I love the story most of all because of all the story elements that are found in fantasy and in children's literature.  Facing an evil witch, parents being turned into pigs, someone that looks around their age wants to help them, a child's innocence versus and adult's greed.  I love how Chihiro grows as a character, from a whiny girl to a mature girl who can handle moving on.  I especially love the dragon, Haku.  This is a unique romance in that no direct feelings of love are expressed.  It is the actions of the characters and the feelings they share that make their love unique.  I think that's what Hayao Miyazaki was after when he wrote this story.  Love comes in all forms.  As for me, this is one of the best love stories in the world.  It's suttle and heart warming. 

 

This is my favorite Hayao Miyazaki movie.  I hope all of you get a chance to watch it.  I rate this movie a 100% and give it five stars.  I hope I have encouraged you to watch this masterpiece. 

 

,Starvix Draxon

How to Train Your Dragon Review

When I saw the trailer for this movie, my first reaction was, Oh cool Dragons, oh wait, disgusting humor, never mind.  I never saw this movie in theaters for some stupid reason.  I guess I thought it was bad for some unknown reason.  But I eventually watched it, and I fell in love with the movie, How To Train Your Dragon. 

 

The dragons in this movie are very exotic and diverse.  Although I do not care for some of the appearances, each dragon has a different kind of personality.  My favorite dragon is Toothless, the Nightfurry.  Why?  Answer: HE'S SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!  I swear those eyes he has makes you want to just stab your heart out!!!!  You want to cry so badly, he's that cute!  I apologize, I just had a geeky moment.  Here's some images of Toothless.  What's interesting about Toothless, is all the expressions he uses with his eyes and ears.  When the pupils are large, he is showing a kinder emotion.  When his pupils are slits, he is angry or very focused.  His ears also express many emotions from flat unhappiness, to curriosity, or playfulness.  I have never seen a dragon so full of expression.  This dragon has cat and dog features.  Such features include rolling in the grass (dog) and chasing the light (cat) and expresses unique features that show the audience that these dragons are misunderstood creatures. 

 

 

The story starts off showing a conflict between the dragons and the vikings.  It's a typical conflict, but it works just fine.  We also meet Hiccup and we see that he and his father, Stoic the Vast, do not see eye to eye.  We see Hiccup attempt to kill dragons but always seems to get into a mess.  So there is a father son conflict and also a social conflict, because to be a viking is to be fierce, large, aggressive, everything Hiccup is not. 

 

Hiccup then shoots down a Nightfurry, a dragon that has never been seen, and has been feared more than anything.  But when he attempts to kill it, he cannot, so he releases the Nightfurry.  At first it appears that the dragon is going to kill Hiccup but doesn't and just flies away.  Throughout the movie, Hiccup learns more about dragons, and discovers that they are not the creatures that the vikings think they are.  But his father refuses to see that.  Hiccup and the Nightfurry, Toothless, develop a great relationship and change the minds of all the other vikings and learn to work together with dragons. 

 

I love this movie's music, it's detailed art, it's dragon design.  I loved the story's flow.  I loved everything about this movie.  For all you dragon lovers out there, I reccommend this movie.  I give this movie 5 stars and 100% approval.  I hope all of you see this movie. 

 

,Starvix Draxon