Tag Archives: Romance

The Social Network

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a film about the creation of Facebook. This movie really got well known as everyone seemed to be having a good time with it. It’s easy to see why as it has a very fast paced writing style so this doesn’t feel like a stuffy bio film. That said, if the film was trying to make any of the characters likable then it definitely did fail. The characters feel realistic as you could picture all of this going down and the film doesn’t try and hide their personalities either You’ll be entertained throughout though.

The movie starts off with Mark Zuckerberg going on an insane rant to his friend as he shifts topics a lot and gets defensive about everything. Unfortunately he thought he was talking to his girlfriend but she reminds him that she already broke up with him. He decides to write a blog about how awful she is and then turns on all women so he breaks into various websites and leaks their contact photos to a site where you can rank girls against each other. The site becomes a big thing and he realizes that it may be time to launch Facebook. There are just two hurdles; Money and another group already having a similar idea. Mark will have to beat out both groups.

Now I’m going to assume that all of the events in the film are heavily dramatized but that in broad strokes this is fairly accurate. The film’s strongest point is the dialogue like I mentioned before. While Mark isn’t likable at all, I do like his smug way of talking and just how much he is able to cram into every sentence. That’s not an easy feat and it just makes for good banter. Even when he’s wrong, the guy just has to talk really fast so it can sound like he’s right. At first he seems to be overly emotional but tries to look out for his friends while by the end it is clear that he has become super corrupted and will turn on anybody. Power corrups after all and so this would be no exception.

Owning one of the largest companies on the planet before becoming a full adult is a lot of pressure to deal with after all. That also brings with it temptations and those can be hard to fight on your own. He had a best friend in Eduardo but we see how there was a lot of tension early on. Mark seemed to resent Eduardo’s success throughout the movie and so it was only a matter of time before he turned on the guy. The friction between them would only grow worse and worse as the movie went on.

To an extent the newcomer Sean helped to fan these flames but I think it would have happened regardless. They just had very different views on the company and those were never going to be squared away peacefully. The film ultimately still ends on a happy note for most of the characters as they each got a healthy slice of the pie. There was plenty of money to go around after all but that certainly doesn’t help to recover the lost trust. That is something that you can’t simply buy back. It has to be earned and I don’t think any of the characters would risk trying a second time.

Eduardo’s girlfriend is probably the only one of the girls to stay on as a supporting character for a while but I wouldn’t say that she looked very good here either. She was a bit too friendly with Sean which rubbed Eduardo the wrong way the whole time and then she seemed to go completely crazy like when she set a fire in Eduardo’s room. Now she is gone for just long enough where we don’t see what led her to this level but it was definitely not a good look either way.

I may have actually preferred the villain group to the main characters in this case. The two Winklevoss brothers for example were fun antagonists. At least in the film’s portrayal they seemed to be the victims here with how they were manipulated by Mark’s emails until he had Facebook up and running. They also lose in the big Olympics that they were training for which just made things even more tragic. While Eduardo was naive in signing a contract that would come back to bite him, the brothers didn’t really have a chance since they were caught by surprise. You can’t really predict everything.

The film has a habit of jumping back and forth with the court cases and that’s one tactic I wasn’t a big fan of. I would have much preferred to see the early days and then build up to the two court cases at once. Especially because the characters don’t even look any older so with the events being that close you may as well do everything chronologically. The film had a lot to cover which means there is a ton of jumping around as it is. Throwing in flashbacks and flashforwards is just a distraction at that point.

Then the film has the usual kinds of issues that go on with trying to make all of the characters “realistic” and everything. We’ve got a lot of fanservice, super weak romances/one night stands, etc. The characters all seem incredibly shallow and not the type of people you would want to hang out with. I was really glad that the ex girlfriend from the very first scene of the film didn’t walk back to Mark after all of that. A lot of people may have succumbed due to the overwhelming amount of money at play but she stuck to her principles.

Overall, This movie certainly gives you some good insight into the origins of Facebook but does tend to get distracted a little too much by the social drama. That’s what ends up dragging this film down into the red. I suppose that is always going to be easy to translate into movie-mode which is why you include those scenes but I’d have liked to focus on the court stuff more instead. Facebook has no end to the amount of lawsuits that are around and so focusing on those would be much more interesting to me. The other stuff really just tends to be there for shock value or to remind yourself that all of these rich people are totally corrupted. In either event if you are trying to find out about Facebook then this might be a fun way to do that. You just need to get past all of the drama stuff so in that way you may be better off reading the Wikipedia pages.

Father of the Bride Part II Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for Part II of this saga. Unfortunately, it falls into what I call the Airplane II trap. This film decides to just reuse all of the jokes and gags from the first film before calling it a day. You ever know someone who told a great joke once but then they got too much praise for it so after that they began to keep on using the same joke over and over and over again? That’s usually not a good idea because eventually the joke’s not going to work and that’s this film in a nutshell. In general it’ll probably be a bit better if you haven’t seen the first film but I would make the case that the premise is weaker in general.

The film starts off with George explaining that he finally has some free time as Annie has left the roost with Bryan so now he can do all the fun retiree stuff. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last long as his wife gets pregnant and will be having her baby around the same time as their daughter Annie. George must now deal with both of them essentially being out of commission but he’s rather old at this point. Can he look after them and basically go without sleep until the babies arrive? George may have to work with Franck on this.

So right away we have all of the recycled jokes. Annie and Bryan have another 2 minute fight about some nonsense that doesn’t make any sense. George is all upset again even though having a baby is pretty normal by this point in the relationship. Then Franck show up for a baby shower event where he spends all of George’s money again. What did George do to deserve all of this? George is absolutely more out of line in this film but still does step up to take care of his family when it counts. He even got a fun new hairdo and everything but doesn’t really get any support. That’s gotta be rough. He just wanted to prove that he wasn’t so old yet.

The whole expensive baby shower part also doesn’t make any sense. That’s really not a super popular thing compared to weddings. Everyone does a baby shower, but an expensive one with a 5 course meal and all the same trimmings as a Wedding? Cmon that’s just not a thing and doesn’t make any sense here. You’ll just be shaking your head the whole time and for good reason. Franck did not need to return and his scenes tend to be rather painful.

I can’t really fault Nina or Annie much this time. Ultimately they are pregnant for a good chunk of the adventure and that does mess with the mind a whole lot. They’re naturally going to be sleepy and having random cravings for most of the adventure. Maybe Nina could have been a little more considerate when George was unable to get a proper place to sleep because of the two guard dogs but that’s about it.

Mainly the film’s problem is that it just isn’t all that funny. I thought the gags were a step down and of course the reused ones won’t hit as hard this way either. It’s the kind of film that’s not really going to have an antagonist so in that case you need a different kind of hook. This time the film was unable to come up with one and that became the problem here. Just a little hook would have gone a long way here like maybe Annie wanted to have a special doll for her baby’s birth. So George has to go on a journey and find it or something like that.

A little goal would have gone a long way. Or perhaps having more arguments with the In Laws about the baby’s name. That doesn’t end up being a big part of the film as George doesn’t care a whole lot. For once Nina would have been on his side otherwise though and it could have made for some fun tension. Maybe both families keep trying to outdo the other one and it becomes a crazy competition? I could see a lot of potential there.

In this film Bryan and the In Laws don’t actually get to do much anyway. The cast is pretty small and we also get a whole subplot where George sell the house and things go crazy from there. The joke being that George loses even more money when he has to reverse the charge and you realize that he can never possibly win. At least that was a different angle though so I’ll give the film that. It made for an interesting, albeit somber plot. I wouldn’t have minded the characters moving to a new house in the end to really show that a new chapter was beginning.

George had a point that the house is rather big for just him and Nina. Of course now that they have a baby that will be a little different but I do think that the overall point stands. They could downsize a bit and still be really comfortable. That may have been a better final goal to really go with. The emotional beats of the film also ring a bit more hollow as George already had his final goodbyes to Annie’s kid self. He had moved on so the extra flashbacks here don’t really do anything. I suppose I can use this film as an example of an empty sequel. It’s not bad by any means but just feels a bit pointless.

Overall, Father of the Bride is the kind of film that didn’t really need a sequel but I can see why you would want to explore what happened after having a kid. So nothing wrong there but the film didn’t really think it through much beyond that. The double baby angle may help to up the drama but there aren’t a whole lot of funny jokes to associate with it. This is a movie that you will watch and be fairly ambivalent about by the end. It happened and it’s not a bad film but nothing really stood out. There are many alternative plots you could think of like the kid being a few years older so George and Nina have to babysit him which means missing out on a fun retiree vacation or something. Well, if you missed the old characters then you should check this one out.

Overall 5/10

Father of the Bride (1991) Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a remake of a very classic movie. The premise for Father of the Bride is pretty solid right away. Anyone can empathize with a father who wants to make sure that his daughter doesn’t end up marrying the wrong guy. Along the way we have a lot of crazy shenanigans going on but at its core this is an uplifting movie. I do think that the end of the movie becomes a little more mean spirited than it should have been though.

The film starts off by spoiling the ending of the movie which is always a horrible way to kick things off. George talks about how he was initially against his daughter’s wedding and it was a real tough event but he hopes to laugh about it in the future. It’s a rather long monologue that tries a bit too hard to be funny and you’re just really waiting to get to the start of the actual adventure. So from here we get a flashback where George’s daughter Nina shows up and explains that she is engaged. Moreover, she plans to marry this guy named Bryan right away. George’s wife Nina is super excited so it looks like George is the only one left to add some rational thinking to this situation. Can he do this without alienating his whole family?

Right away there is a big problem with this which is that I don’t understand why Nina was immediately on board with this. I get the whole trusting your kids judgment thing but you do need to put that into a bit of context. Annie and Bryan have not known each other for very long so you just have to be practical about this. The film could have still had Nina be supportive without being blind about everything. I’m betting they just wanted a strong contrast to George being 1 billion percent against the wedding but it does end up hurting Nina as a result.

She gets her big victory against George in the end while she forces him to make a long apology after he is arrested. After that George is still punished further by running into a string of bad luck and having to miss every important event. He also loses so much money as a result of this wedding and that’s where you just have to be rooting for him the whole time. The wedding planner is clearly a hack and is overpricing them on everything. George is the only one trying to stop him and it’s portrayed as a bad thing.

George made his share of mistakes to be sure like snooping through the in law’s checkbook, general snooping, and being a little overly mean to Bryan. The guy isn’t without fault but half the time he is saying some reasonable stuff and the film is making him out to be the bad guy. Bryan’s job definitely did sound fake and I would have assumed he was lying too. Bryan tries to say all of the right things but I can also see how it would all sound fake. Bryan didn’t make the best first impression.

At the end of the day it’s George’s job to look after Annie and I’d say that he did a good job. I also don’t see why he should have to waste so much money on such a fancy wedding. It doesn’t make sense and anyone can recognize that he was being used here. They were wrecking his house and making a true spectacle of things. Nobody was thinking about George at all during this and that’s what felt bad. He was cut out of the celebration in the end and so the film felt rather sad there.

Now while I have all this to say about how the film treats George unfairly, the film does succeed in being an entertaining experience. The dialogue tends to be really strong and I enjoyed the humor. George’s various internal monologues are handled really well. I thought they were definitely funny the whole time and the film’s absurdist style makes for a lot of funny moments throughout the wedding. The pacing is good as well and the writing is solid.

Also while some characters can annoy me, they are ultimately all still likable except for the wedding planner. Annie may seem a little overly emotional and defensive throughout the film but deep down she also knows that the whole situation is crazy and a little absurd so that makes sense. The scene where she and Bryan decide to break up was super rushed and completely unnecessary though. That made both of them look bad but mostly Annie for being the one to rush out. I get the feeling Bryan was no being aggressive or doubling down at all.

As for Bryan, well he seems nice enough. The guy is moving rather quickly which is usually a red flag but if you think that you’ve found the right person then it makes sense not to hesitate. No reason to go slowly at all from his perspective. So while it looks harsh to everyone else, it doesn’t make him a bad guy. Likewise I think Nina’s being naive here but I get that she wants to support Annie. So even the worst characters have motivations and actions that make sense from their point of view.

Overall, Father of the Bride is a pretty good film. It can be a little frustrating at times because there are several scenes and moments that could have been a whole lot better with just a little tweaking. At the very least you have to remove the opening scene because spoiling the entire movie is never a good idea. How can you feel any drama for when the wedding gets called off when you already know that it’s going to happen? This is really filmmaking 101. I would also have at least given George a small win at the end to show how he finally learned to let go and is rewarded by seeing the wedding up close. The writers had other ideas this time but either way I would recommend checking this one out. I’d give the older adaption the slight edge but this one is impressively close.

Overall 7/10

Baby Boom Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for one of those films that tries to explain why you don’t want to be team corporate. Unfortunately, it does not make a strong argument and the film doesn’t live up to its full potential. The ending comes across as more tragic than wholesome and you will have a hard time rooting for the characters by the end. That’s just how it goes sometimes I suppose but you do feel like the movie could have really gone for a bolder ending that would have landed a better message for the film.

The film follows JC who has had a very solid career so far. She works for one of the biggest companies in the market and is getting close to being promoted as a partner within the firm. Her personal life is going well too and so JC feels like she has conquered life. Unfortunately a distant relative dies and now JC is inheriting a baby girl. Her boyfriend says that JC should give the baby away to an orphanage but she can’t bring herself to do this. Unfortunately this baby is quickly destroying her career and everything JC has spent her life building is being knocked to the ground. Her boyfriend runs off as well and so JC realizes that she may have to restart her life in a small town. Fortunately there’s a rebound guy here but can JC really be happy away from the rat race?

Unfortunately I am going to have to start this review by defending corporate here. Her boss actually seemed like a decent guy but of course he had to cut her off from the big projects. JC completely stopped being reliable after the baby entered the picture. JC would end up being late to meetings, forgetting deadlines, etc. At first the incidents weren’t major but they kept getting worse and worse so the boss had to give JC’s junior the position instead. Now it’s clear that this junior had been waiting for the day to get all the jobs over JC but at least he wasn’t cheating or anything.

He evidently still did the work and did it correctly. So JC just needed a better balance here. It makes sense that it would be tough to deal with a kid when she has absolutely no experience but that wasn’t the company’s fault. I won’t fault JC for wanting to take care of the kid so in this case there wasn’t really a villain. Things just went the way that they were bound to in a situation like this.

The small town plot tends to fall a bit flat though and in general the second half of the film is a bit weak. So JC heads into this town but unfortunately the house that she bought was a complete dump. Nothing works and so she has to spend an enormous amount of money to fix it. Then the local vet falls for her and they hook up rather quickly. I guess the relationship with the old boyfriend wasn’t all that strong eh? JC just goes a bit too quickly here and same for the vet.

He basically says that nobody else in the town is within his age range which is probably meant to make JC feel better but it sounds to me like he’s just desperate. JC is somehow able to make her own business in this town to start getting money again and that was good. It showed that she was still a creative genius who could continue to succeed in any environment.

Now where the next issue of the film comes in is when corporate calls her over and makes an incredible offer. JC basically turns it down to prove that she doesn’t need anyone’s help and this feels like a really bad decision. Striking out on her own like this just doesn’t make any sense. In the film it is portrayed like she made the right move and that would have only worked if the offer was more narrow. The problem here is that the company went above and beyond in making an incredible offer so it just makes her look bad for rejecting it.

JC just makes it a bit hard to root for her. She’s too quick to act like a victim in all of this when she gave corporate no choice but to sack her. The romance is really weak in general but only makes her look worse when she protests a whole lot only to quickly come over to Jeff’s side. (The vet) If that’s how it was always going to be, then maybe she shouldn’t have been so antagonistic the whole time.

Then while she may have made the right move in looking after the kid, the kid was not very likable here. She was constantly getting JC into trouble like with all of the crying and throwing the toys around. JC gets more of the blame for not being able to control a toddler but there is enough blame to go around here. It was just one of those very unfortunate things. The baby may not be the main character as that would be even worse but she gets enough screentime to be annoying. The film was at its best during all of the work scenes.

Ironically I would also just say that the movie makes small towns look bad. Sure, it worked out to get together with the vet but before that we see how the whole town is super unhelpful. Nobody is too bothered by the fact that JC bought a scam house where nothing works. They all just leave her alone to her own devices and barely even offer any sympathy. I would have ditched that town so fast because it just seems like an absolute nightmare. The whole point of a small town is the strong community and I didn’t see any of that here.

Overall, Baby Boom is not really my kind of film. It is going for the classic Hallmark feel to an extent but with a bit less of an upbeat attitude. It is going for more of the “realism” angle which can work sometimes but not in this case. I also have to admit that the baby brings things down at times too. She’s just too messy and causes too many problems for JC. If the baby had just been a bit older then maybe that could have been different but as it stands she just ends up being an obstacle the whole time. Check this one out if you want to convince yourself that working for corporate is a super terrible thing. Otherwise you can do better with any of the Hallmark Christmas movies.

Overall 4/10

Annie Hall Review

Posted on by
Reply


Woody Allen films are consistently about a whole lot of rambling and characters talking in a way that just doesn’t make sense. They fill the air but none of the lines have any real substance behind them. They’re just creating more and more problems where no character ends up being likable by the end. There’s not a whole lot of plot going on here either so the story is forced to throw in a bunch of flashbacks and third wall breaks. You’re definitely in for an adventure of some kind here.

The movie starts with Alvy reflecting on when he used to have a strong relationship with Annie before things fell apart. He has already been married twice but in both of these relationships things did not go well. Annie was someone who actually understood him and they had some fun but it seemed to be very surface level. After some time had passed, they would grow further and further apart. Wait…so we already know the ending? Yes, this is one of those films that spoils the ending immediately so the movie is about the events that take you there. I never liked that cinematic plot device but what are you going to do right?

From the start you can see why it would be hard to stay with Alvy though. He is constantly depressed and complains about everything. He tends to be a complete doomer and you can barely even tell when he is having fun because he is still finding time to complain. That’s not the kind of attitude that is really going to get him far. Alvy’s a comedian but one who lacks in confidence so he gets stage fright and panics about every little thing.

For some movies there may be a bit of a mystery on why the big romance falls apart but it’s obvious from the start here. They are just way too different. Annie is more sociable and wants to hang out while Alvy’s idea of a good time is staying cooped up indoors. While some modern couples think it makes their relationship stronger to be able to still flirt around with other people to make the partner jealous, it’s just a terrible strategy in reality. They were both friends with people who were definitely the type to mess around and that increases the chances of it happening to them as well. You become the kinds of people that you hang around after all.

Towards the end they can’t even be intimate without Annie having to get high the whole time. They just have to casually use drugs and there doesn’t seem to be anything romantic about the relationship. They satisfy their physical desires and that’s it. You’re never going to have a meaningful relationship that way. None of the side romances are any better in this film.

As for Annie, well I can’t really give her any props either. The way she and Woody meet just makes her look a bit desperate. She clearly has ambition and drive in her life so staying with someone like Woody who has already given up on his future is not a smart play. Annie also tends to be a little too scattered like how she starts seeing a psychiatrist because Woody recommended one and then takes all of the advice in without thinking about it. She starts attending school classes because Woody suggested them and that leads to meeting with the teacher and starting more drama. She kept on starting new tasks because Woody would recommend them without really thinking about it.

Needless to say, it’s hard to picture either character being a reliable friend here. They would both just be annoying you to bits the whole time. You could also rest assured that they would be talking about you behind your back right away. That’s just how they operate and again that’s not the healthiest kind of personality to be associated with. I’m sure there are people like this but these are the kinds of social circles that you want to avoid. Everyone is two faced and fake with no real sincerity anywhere.

Now that isn’t to say that the film is devoid of humor. I actually think that Woody’s fast way of talking has some appeal to it. It certainly tends to miss a lot more than it hits but there will be some fun moments in the dialogue. A few jokes that will hit or a wisecrack that feels good. I tend to like fast, snappy kind of dialogue for humor and that is what this film is going for. With a stronger writer then this could have been a good recipe for success. To be really funny you should be hitting on around half of your jokes though, not 10%.

Also the film really needed more of a plot. To me this feels like an Abbott and Costello setup. Woody Allen films I mean. They all have him being really nervous and panicking the whole time but so far without much of a plot to back it up. Abbot and Costello would be about two guys joking around with some light plot in the background but it works because they are really funny. Additionally they would also tie the plot into something throughout the movie even if it was slight. I’ve got a mystery review coming up which addresses this to an extent at least.

So if you had some cool hook like the main two were stuck on a boat or travelling to space then you would have something there. You could keep the same tone but at least there is a real story to sink your teeth into. It’s not like this would have totally saved the film or anything like that but it would absolutely be a whole lot more watchable. As it stands, the film just doesn’t have any reason to make you watch it and you are desperately waiting for the characters to get more likable but it never happens.

Overall, Annie Hall is not a film that I would recommend. It’s a bit of a dreary watch with no real end point in mind. There can be a kind of humor in the way the dialogue goes but for every laugh you will have a number of groan worthy moments. This kind of film desperately needs direction and an end point. Without that or a good romance, there is no reason to get really invested in the film. I would definitely advise staying away from this one, it’s just too mindless the whole time with a lot writing standard. I’m still waiting for Woody to deliver on making a really good film.

Overall 2/10

Love Through a Prism Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a classic Netflix romance anime. Romance is one of those genres that is incredibly difficult to master because there are so many ways it can go wrong. Did you make sure there were no rebounds? Did the characters get a lot of time to develop the relationship or did it rush straight to the end point? There are a lot of things to consider and ultimately this one wasn’t quite up to the job. The slice of life parts are entertaining enough so I can say this is a good show but the romances are all rather poor.

The show follows a girl named Lili who has always really loved painting. Her parents run a kimono shop though and she is expected to inherit this in due time. It’s not her passion though and so Lili gets her parents to allow her to travel to an art school in London. There is a catch though, Lili must become the number 1 painter within 6 months or she must return and take up the family business. Lili is rather talented so this usually shouldn’t be a problem, except she must surpass Kit who just so happens to be the greatest painter in the world. Why must this happen to her???

Poor Lili definitely had some real bad luck here. I do think that her parents were a bit harsh though. Specifically her mother since she is the one who is really calling all of the shots here though. I get that painting can often be a dead end career so you don’t want to see anyone get stuck there but at the same time 6 months is way too tight. Maybe they were thinking that she would totally bomb out and lose interest in this hobby.

Lili tries to keep an upbeat attitude at all times and is a fun main character. She also likes to talk about how athletic she is but unfortunately tends to crash at all physical activities. I couldn’t figure out if the show was having some fun with this by showing that she wasn’t as athletic as she thought or maybe riding a bike and climbing a castle are just too difficult for anyone. Lili’s biggest weakness though is in how much importance she puts in social obligations.

This gets to become a problem with the romance as the show goes on. It becomes clear that Lili is not going to be the one to make the decisive move and keeps on waiting for Kit to do something. Then later on she moves to the 2nd choice in Shin and is basically allowing herself to be pulled along into a situation that doesn’t excite her. Romance is not an area where you should ever be settling and yet it feels like that is what Lili does here. She’s not the only character to do this either and it tends to especially be an issue in titles that take place in the past like this one. You have to follow your heart, not some unwritten rules.

As for the painting, at least Lili is consistently able to perform near the top of her class there. It would be nice if she could stand up to the bullies more though. Naturally this wouldn’t be a school based show without a few of those and they do a number on Lili. She does not seem to really have a way to stop them and has to get saved each time. Lili had a hard time standing up for herself throughout the show and unfortunately never really grew out of that. She put up with way too much and that kept her from being a better character than what she was.

One of these bullies is a lady named Catherine who ironically became the better character. Catherine was Kit’s fiancé and so she was quite upset when he started taking a fancy to Lili. Catherine figured she could scare the lead off by being as mean as possible and in a way she was succeeding but only in half the battle. Kit didn’t actually like her and there was no real way to fix that. Over time Catherine stopped her petty attacks on Lili and they actually became friends. By the end Catherine was a fun character to have around and part of the reason for that is because she did have a backbone. She wasn’t the type to get bullied or anything like that.

It’s also tough to be in an arranged marriage where the partner wants nothing to do with you romantically. So Catherine was able to get out of that situation even though the social impact was fairly big. It’s what helps keep her as a really solid character. Lili could have definitely learned a few things from her in that area.

Lili’s other friend Dorothy is also more of the strong-willed kind of character. She is more willing to confront the bullies straight up and is always looking out for Lili. Dorothy does tend to falter in matters of the heart though like when she decides not to go after Joffrey because she feels like their social classes are too different. That’s not a very brave approach to have and settling for another guy is never the answer. By all accounts she still had a happy life and family but I can’t abide by the decision to go with a rebound. That’s never a good idea.

Then we have Peter who is probably the pettiest member of the main cast. He wants to be the best but doesn’t have the natural talent that Kit possesses. This causes him to have a whole episode where he blows up at the cast and blames them for everything instead of taking any accountability. That is definitely not the way to go. He does apologize by the end but never quite goes back to the level where he was at before. In the end not just anyone can handle the stress of fighting for the top spot in a competitive art school all the time. Peter was just another casualty there.

Joffrey tends to try and cut the tension by goofing off the whole time. He’s pretty talented but never tends to sniff the top spot either. He handles this in a healthy way though. Joffrey still studies hard and keeps on practicing but knows that it’s not the end of the world if he loses. He will just enjoy the adventures as they come and was one of the most well rounded characters in the series. He was always a lot of fun to watch even if he may have had a bit of a sadder ending than the other characters.

Then we have Shin who seemed to like Lili early on but seemed to realize that he had no chance as long as Kit was around. So Shin played the role of the good friend for a while until he saw an opening to get married. Unfortunately that is what hurts the character in my eyes. I never liked that kind of character. To me it makes the friendship feel fake because one party is taking advantage of the other. Lili enjoys hanging out with Shin and they have common roots over in Japan but she doesn’t realize that he is in love with her the whole time.

Shin is a nice character by all accounts so it’s not like he’s secretly a creep or a jerk though. He plans to be a great husband and also looks after his younger sister who lost the ability to speak for a while. He does all the right things but shouldn’t be satisfied as the #2 option. He should have been able to move on and then been content as her best friend. That would have been a considerably more satisfying climax to his character arc. Instead I’d argue that the whole climax just forces him to have to run around in a circle and fall back to 2nd once again.

Kit is the main guy of the show and so a big part of the adventure really rides on this guy. Romance aside, I’d say he is a decent character. That said, the romance scenes do hurt him a bit because the guy comes off as being incredibly selfish. He dashes off on his own more than once and almost never gives the characters a heads up. It feels like he only thinks of himself during a lot of these big moments. He may be the best artist out there but that hasn’t really helped his people skills.

He’s never really portrayed as being antagonistic but other people just don’t show up in his thinking process. He is concerned with being the best artist and that’s it. At least until he starts to get close with Lili but even then he tends to ditch her with no warning. It’s another reason why I couldn’t root for the romance. He does his best to watch her back but that’s not quite good enough to redeem him. I liked Kit better than Peter but he’s not one of my favorite characters in the show.

There were also a few side characters who were always around for a good scene or two. I liked the principal of the school, he did a good job of appraising all of the artwork. Art is certainly not my subject so I wouldn’t really be able to do that. After a while it all looks the same to me. He also runs a tight ship and it takes a whole lot to convince him to change his views on something once he has made a decision. Then we have Kit’s older brother Richard. Richard takes life very seriously and does his best to run the company after his father no longer can.

This leads to a lot of conflict with Kit who tends to be more absent minded and doesn’t like responsibility all that much. I was on Richard’s side for some things. He was obviously wrong about the arranged marriage part though. It was good that Catherine stood up to him on that one. Once Kit was ready to start taking the business seriously, then Richard did let up quite a lot. He just wanted to make sure that the company was in a good place which makes sense.

The soundtrack for the show is fairly light to keep in with the show’s tone. None of the themes are going to be all that memorable for you. Meanwhile the animation is decent but nothing special. I would say that the technical elements in general are passable but none of them are going to go down as strengths. The opening song is also okay but also not anything that is particularly strong.

The writing is stronger though since it is trying to mimic the old days with everyone talking very politely. I’m always a real sucker for that kind of thing. It holds up really well and is stuffy in the right ways without being annoying like Shakespeare. The show is also more of a drama than a comedy I’d say. It’s not a particularly funny show even though it does try to throw in some jokes and facial expressions every now and then. You’re not going to be laughing out loud or anything like that. The slice of life stuff and painting scenes are definitely stronger.

Although it does feel like the painting becomes less and less important as the show goes on. Later on in the show we find out about a big war that is about to happen which is part of what causes a lot of trouble for Kit and his family. It just feels so sudden that you feel like the show wasn’t really prepared for this. It was a good way to add more drama but I’d have preferred to end the story with a painting tournament or something. The way the painting plot ends just feels very abrupt. This is probably by design because nobody chooses when a war will take place but it felt like there was a lot of meat left on the bone there. The final episodes have multiple time skips as it is so things were really moving at a breakneck pace.

Ignoring those last episodes though, this one is really what you’d call a calming show. While there are bullies and such, there are no truly evil characters here. Nobody is getting seriously sick or injured either so the show is more about following Lili’s adventures and having fun along the way. You get to imagine what it would be like to live in London as you paint all of the fun sceneries. The show may not be a home run hit but it’s also why this title was never going to be downright bad. It’s a safe title that you could watch at any time and is just short enough at 20 episodes where it isn’t a big investment to watch it all.

Overall, Love Through a Prism is a good show. It’s definitely one of those very quiet ones though. Unless you are really interested in the characters it will run the risk of being a tad bit boring. So that’s one thing to keep in mind here but on the whole it avoids that. The characters are fun and while the romance doesn’t really land, the slice of life parts are good enough. There isn’t a ton of replay value here but the show delivers on what you are expecting in this adventure.

Overall 6/10

Queen’s Quality Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s always pretty cool to see a manga get a big sequel like this one. QQ Sweeper was a relatively unknown series that didn’t last all that long. Then you have this title show up with over 20 volumes to its name! So that was a really big switch and this one becomes a really serious drama manga with a ton of fight scenes. While you can quickly catch up on what is happening if you start here, I like that this sequel throws you right into the action without stopping to have some kind of super large flashback recap.

The series revolves around Fumi, who is one of the sweepers. Sweepers are those who destroy the dust and bugs that bring nothing but darkness and destruction with them. This is done in a very literal way by cleaning up the dust from all around but also can be done by entering peoples’ minds and destroying monsters. Fumi has amnesia herself and doesn’t remember much although it turns out that she is a “Queen”. Not a member of royalty though. This is a person who can bend anyone’s mind and force them to do whatever she wants to do. This isn’t an ability that she asked for but there’s no way to get rid of it. Several organizations are after her now. Additionally, Fumi has different queen personas within her heart and any of them can take over if she lowers her guard. For now she has this under control and Fumi works with Kyutaro and the other sweepers to keep it this way. As her feelings for Kyutaro get stronger, this balance may be undone.

This is one of those series where you will get annoyed at how passive the main characters can be though. Everyone is always trying to test Fumi by putting her in dangerous situations to see if either of the queens inside of her will awaken. One of them ties her up and threatens to burn a lawn and another one throws her in a lake to be eaten by monsters. Fumi usually ends up turning into the queen and getting out of the jam but that should be enough for the heroes to take these opponents out. Instead they often let bygones be bygones which is way too much for me. That doesn’t make any sense. The amount of times where Fumi gets hit or slashed by the villains and the heroes say to let it go is absolutely crazy. Usually Fumi agrees but that doesn’t make it any better.

Takaya was the illusionist who played these tricks on Fumi. They basically forgive him immediately an then he is having fun with the rest of the group by the next chapter. While he does end up being one of Fumi and Kyutaro’s biggest supporters, I don’t know how you can get out of that initial appearance. He makes it clear on several occasions that he is about defending the safety of the family over Fumi. While that may make sense, it still isn’t a good look for him. He is a good ally to have but I definitely did not end up liking him as a character.

Kyutaro is a decent lead but I feel like a lot of his problems are self inflicted. For example, he constantly torments himself for not being able to confess his feelings to Fumi. The reason that he doesn’t is because he was told that letting her know about the past could awaken her dark impulses. See, he was in love with her under her former name from before the amnesia so he can’t let her know the context. At the same time, she knows about him being in love with someone by that old name so Fumi does her best to keep her distance.

It’s definitely for the best that Fumi was the same person so we avoided the rebound though. Otherwise while they did try to restrain themselves, I dare say that it didn’t last for very long. Before you know it they were messing with each other quite a lot. They were simply too close and so it becomes one of those things were the title could not buy into such a close friendship. I feel like this could have worked but the series is emotionally like that of a Shojo title.

Kyutaro does come a long way as the series goes on. At first he could be threatened by the likes of Ataru as that guy would absolutely bully him in a fight. Before you know it, Kyutaro is one of the strongest fighters in the series and has the offensive advantage. He could really only be matched by one of the Queens and generally they will do whatever he says since they are related to Fumi. It was nice to see Kyutaro feeling so confident and taking charge. He was definitely not going to be getting possessed by his snake towards the end of the series.

Then we have Fumi who is a solid heroine. She is quick to step up to evil and that emotional bravado is also part of why the queens are always trying to take over. Fumi takes a while to really gain full control but always had a strong personality from the start. After all she was quick to stand up against a teacher that was bullying her students and also made sure to protect Kyutaro even without any powers. In another world Fumi would have just been a normal kid trying to survive high school. She was really thrust into a crazy world with snakes and powers but managed to get through it without any big issues. She’s a pretty good character and I would put her above many iconic heroines.

She is able to accept her dark side rather quickly and then moves on to control the rest of her personas. While she does allow things with Kyutaro to progress a bit even while thinking he was in love with someone else, at least it is different than if he was engaged or married. Still not a great look of course but I tend to put more of the blame on him for constantly making things as difficult as possible on her. Fumi also deals with a lot of injuries during battle and still stays strong so that also goes a long way to showing just how strong she is.

There are also a bunch of snakes which all grow more important as the series goes on. The main one is inside of Kyu for most of the series and I can’t say that I liked him at all. He makes several passes at Fumi immediately and gets embarrassed in his first fight. There was no real coming back from that. He is a creature that is all about desires and getting stronger by feeding off of them. It’s really not the kind of motivation that will ever make him a really fierce villain to me. So he easily ends up being one of the worst villains in the series as a result. Yes, he gets the sympathetic backstory and all by the end but it was far too late. enemy snake

The first big villain in this series is Ataru and he doesn’t have nearly as much composure. He looks tough in his very first appearance and then it’s all downhill for him from there. He is scared of bugs and gets beaten up by everybody. It’s not like his personality is all that bad. In his first appearance he makes sure the villains don’t go after an innocent girl. He believes in only opposing those who he deems deserve it. So Ataru does have some standards.

He also has a pretty grim backstory about a girl who was bullied relentlessly until she died. It’s pretty easy to see how he would join the villains at that point. The world of Queen’s Quality does seem to have quite a lot of villains everywhere. From abusive teachers to nearly every student being a bully as well, it just feels like the negative emotions running within humans have gone way too far by this point. Even the Sweepers are not really able to keep up.

Then we have the main villain Yanagi. This guy basically wants to spread as many bugs as possible and destroy all the goodness in the world. As an immortal snake he really has a lot of patience to play the long game and has been around for many years. He always has some kind of a plan up his sleeve and can even fight pretty well thanks to his large array of abilities. Being a snake allows him to do just about whatever he wants. You do wonder what his wife Kaede ever saw in the guy. He just seems obviously evil from the start but I guess we can just jot this down to his being a really crafty fellow. Sometimes there just isn’t a way to figure these things out.

He is memorable for being a big villain but I can’t say he was all that interesting. It also felt like he kept running off during the climaxes just to extend things a bit longer. The heroes should have taken him out during the first big fight. Another villain who gets a big role is Tsubasa, although you could argue he gets more screentime as a hero than a villain. He is introduced rather late in the story but ends up having a big role and a whole origin story as well. It’s definitely a tragic one where he was manipulated into making the wrong choices time and time again. That’s really the general vibe for all of the characters in the flashback.

We get to see Fumi’s mother, Kaede as she worked to destroy all of the snakes. Unfortunately she didn’t realize that she married the main villain and was falling right into his traps. She still did a lot of good in the world but ultimately was unable to escape. I do question how she couldn’t have done a little better with how her powers work. A queen can make anyone do her bidding, I feel like she needed to react a bit quicker and force all of the villains into submission. These powers do fluctuate based on emotion which is probably the excuse that the series would use here.

There are quite a few sweepers on the hero side that I haven’t gotten into although most of them don’t have a huge role. We have Kyu’s brother and then his sister in law. The two of them are reasonably tough and do their best to help out but usually do end up being on the back foot here in the bigger fights. Koichi does get a bit of a backstory involving one of the other Sweeper clans though and at least he advocates for destroying invaders more than the others. Still, there isn’t a whole lot that they are able to do against the villains once the snakes all start appearing. While I may not be a big fan of Takaya, at least he can fight a lot. You also have the old lady who watched over the family and has a lot of experience.

Everyone has their role to play but the group really could have used some more fighters. We get a long flashback arc for Kyu’s parents and now they were true fighters. They were taking down snakes left and right back in their prime while still protecting him. Unfortunately things went sideways and so that’s why they aren’t around in the present but they did put up a good fight. They went up against unlimited odds in a battle with an eternally regenerative snake and still didn’t give up a complete loss.

There are also other factions of sweepers but they tend to either be helpless or downright antagonistic. One faction shows up and immediately captures Fumi. They basically try to drown her until the queen awakens. Fumi would have slaughtered them all but Kyu stops her. That happens quite a lot in the early days as Fumi is always ready to murder everyone in her way until Kyu steps in. Honestly sometimes you wish he wouldn’t step in. Obviously Fumi tends to get pretty drastic but she never starts it. These guys were willing to straight up murder her as well so it’s not like they were good people either.

I actually miss the black queen because of that. She is absorbed by Fumi early on as they merge into one personality but she really got things done. It’s always tough when the personalities become sentient like this because then you do end up missing them. Another faction has Sarara as its main figure. She’s not a big offensive fighter but is good at barriers and does show up as an ally the whole time. So that part works out well since the heroes needed some backup. If she could have been a little stronger then that would have been even better but you can’t win them all.

She also just ends up being a very cheerful character which is nice. A lot of the characters here tend to be very emotional and dramatic so sometimes it is nice to have a change of pace there. There are a lot of slice of life moments and downtime for the characters but Sarara mainly keeps her personality at all times. This is one of those series that tends to be at its best when it is in the middle of action scenes though. Maybe it’s just because I tend to hold grudges against these characters so I’m glaring at the people trying to cozy up to Fumi and Kyu when I know they would change sides at the drop of a hat.

Now this is still a romance title first and foremost so how does that part fare? Well, at first it’s a bit rocky because of Kyu’s first love and all. I would have said this was a rebound but fortunately it turned out that he loved Fumi all along so that worked out. They begin dating by the end of volume 9 so they have over 10 volumes of being together. I would say that it is generally a pretty strong romance. I don’t have many real issues there and it did get a lot of build up. I’d be cool with more flirting and less action within the romance personally but it’s not something that I would strike against it.

As for the artwork, it’s generally strong. At times the characters can be drawn a bit too similarly but to an extent you can blame this on the outfits that they all wear. It naturally makes them all blend in together more than they otherwise would have. The action scenes look sharp. They can sometimes get a bit muddied but then he series always ends up delivering on some really intense looking splash pages. It definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

My biggest problem with the series will ultimately be that it doesn’t always do a good job of balancing the tones. One second it is a light hearted school romance with characters falling on each other and getting all shy about it. The next second you are learning about a genocide that happened in the past with people being burned alive and threats of this happening in the future. To an extent the tone change is intentional because in this world negative emotions are what power up the bugs. So the main characters are taught to always be happy no matter what because that is the only way to keep the villains in a weakened state.

A lot of the battles here tend to be in the psychic realm for that reason. The villains try infiltrating the hearts of the heroes in order to break them or lay traps while the heroes try to go into the hearts of the villains to shut them down for good. Usually it’s the former though as the heroes tend to take a more passive approach here. They usually have their hands full as it is while the villains tend to have a lot more free time. I suppose it is always easier for the villains to launch their own attacks at leisure.

The series does start to fall into the vampire stuff during the second half of the series though. There is a lot of blood sucking as that is how you add someone into your staff as a familiar. The characters go around biting everyone later on and while it is for their own protection, it’s definitely always a rough thing to look at. I’m not a fan of vampires in general so seeing any homages like this doesn’t help things. I gotta say it also looks super painful but I can see why you would go through with this in order to stay safe from the enemy snakes. This is how the characters are able to resist hypnosis and other such abilities. You almost feel like the author wanted to make a story about vampires halfway into the adventure with how frequent it started to occur.

Overall, Queen’s Quality will always impress me with how intense and action packed it is. Initially I was expecting this to be more of a sappy romance with a little action here and there. Instead we actually get long fights that can last for a whole chapter and consistently large-scale climaxes. The series can push the envelope a little bit at times with how much the characters go through though. Several of them get tortured and Fumi in particular goes through a lot in her origin story. You’ve also got all the vampire stuff that makes me shake my head. The title definitely has that real gothic feel to it. If you’re up for a really in depth romance that also ends up being an action packed end of the world story then this is the one for you. It’s not the strongest title out there but I’d say it was good overall.

Overall 6/10

Wuthering Heights Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a really crazy romance. This is one of those titles that is just so out there that you can scarcely believe it. There aren’t really any characters to root for and so the romance is doomed from the start. A tragic romance is actually something that can work well in theory but this was definitely not the way to go about it. Based on how it all went down, I can’t really say that any of the remakes would sound all that promising either.

The film starts off with a guy getting stranded in a desolate area and so he stops by the nearest castle for shelter. He’s treated terribly by the master of the house, Heathcliff but this guy puts up with it because there is nowhere to go. He hears a girl crying out from beyond the fog which causes Heathcliff to run outside and the maid lets the guy know that it is the ghost of his dead lover. This guy has nothing better to do so it asks to hear the whole story.

The trope of the whole film being a flashback from the present is still a super annoying one imo but that’s how it has to be this time. So in the flashback we see how Heathcliff was adopted by a rich man but he died shortly thereafter and so the son Hindley was super resentful towards Heathcliff. He made Heathcliff essentially a slave of the family and ruled with an iron hand. Heathcliff fell in love with Hindley’s sister Catchy and so they would hang out in secret. Unfortunately this was not enough for Cathy. Cathy wanted to be rich and so she would cheat on Heathcliff with a rich man named Edgar.

She plays around with both of them for a while before finally marrying Edgar. In revenge, Heathcliff decided to get insanely rich and then married Cathy’s sister Isabella. He didn’t love her but sought to use Isabella as a bargaining chip against Cathy. This essentially works as Cathy wants Heathcliff again and this whole romantic rollercoaster goes all around with everyone allowing themselves to be humiliated and degraded in this way. Ultimately after a while we get back to the point in the present which tries its best to have some kind of a happy ending but you’ll just be shaking your head.

Now where to start on this one? The reason the romance doesn’t work of curse is because none of the relationships are actually true. Cathy lives up to her villainous potential for wanting Heathcliff for his body and Edgar for his money. She’s the kind of girl that people warn you about and you assume just doesn’t exist because that’s such an exaggerated person. Unfortunately Cathy never does anything to improve as a person and is content to be cheating even on her death bed. A truly terrible character all the way.

It does take two to tango though and that’s why I can’t let Heathcliff or Edgar off the hook here. Edgar really needed to have some self respect here. Cathy made it clear from the start that she also liked Heathcliff and even though she eventually married Edgar, that’s not a very good way to start off a relationship. Edgar needed to take a hard stance and at least move them away but to me he almost seemed a little intimidated by Heathcliff. This guy just let Heathcliff walk all over him the whole time.

As for Heathcliff, well it’s not like he was a morally upstanding character from the start. He was bullied and abused quite a lot growing up which ultimately led him to want to lash out and take complete revenge. Instead of being the better man he was the kind of guy who would go an eye for an eye. It can sure be tempting to go down that route of course but man did it make him absolutely unlikable. At least if he kept his age to Hindley and Cathy that would be one thing, but he was shown to have no morals when he went for Isabella instead as the ultimate form of revenge.

Yeah there was definitely no saving this guy. The characters sure make it easy though. This is going to sound like victim blaming but hey all these characters are adults and should know better. Hindley allows himself to get addicted to alcohol which makes it really easy for Heathcliff to forever torment the guy. It’s all just so easy when it really shouldn’t be. Hindley was in the power position just a few years back and then after the time skip he was all washed up.

Meanwhile Isabella knew that she was the runner up prize and still went with Heathcliff. He barely even pretended to love her. It was the most half hearted performance he could have given and yet she still went with him. Cmon now that’s just crazy. From there it only gets worse for Isabella but this was not a surprise attack by any means. It was all plain as day and she just allowed herself to be used, perhaps as a way to try and one up Cathy but it didn’t work.

The cast of characters isn’t even that large but it feels really expanded because of how long each character is on screen. They just drag out each of the minutes over and over as you can’t help but shake your head. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the writing and the pacing is only okay. The issues really begin to snowball into each other after a while because as a romance film the characters are one of the most important parts. When you don’t have any likable characters, ultimately that means you have virtually nothing to work with here. Certainly not a big soundtrack or exciting action scenes to take the pressure off.

Overall, I would definitely say to give this film a skip. I dare say that Twilight makes for a more believable romance and that is not going to crack anyone’s top 10 romances. The only consolation I can give this film is that the title’s a little funny. The spelling just makes me think of someone saying “Wut?” even though that’s not the intent. I just don’t see how anyone would really find this to be romantic. Obviously a taboo romance like Romeo and Juliet has its share of appeal but at least they really loved each other with no caveats. In this film it feels like everything has an asterisk. Does Heathcliff really love the heroine or does he just want to essentially own her and claim his revenge? Does Cathy love him truly or is she just punishing herself by getting a guy that she feels she deserves? It’s all twisted and certainly not in an entertaining way.

Overall 2/10

My Man Godfrey Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another fun movie. This one definitely goes all out with the comedy and introduces a ton of crazy characters. It ends up being a really fun adventure and doesn’t overstay its welcome. That is usually the most dangerous pitfall for any comedy film but this one sidestepped it like a champ.

The movie starts with a bunch of rich folks doing a scavenger hunt. One of the items is to find a homeless person so Cornelia goes to a dump and finds one. She offers him $5 but he doesn’t like her approach and says no. Cornelia’s little sister Irene is really impressed and the homeless man, Godfrey decides to help her win. After winning the competition, Irene hires Godfrey as her family’s butler. Unfortunately her whole family is quite eccentric to say the least and so he is going to be in for a really difficult time. In particular, Cornelia wants revenge on Godfrey for causing her to lose the competition and to fall in the dirt. He will have to watch his back.

It’s already difficult enough to get a new job as well as to be working or a rich family, but one where a certain member wants to see you fired immediately? Yeah that’s going to be an incredibly difficult task. Fortunately Godfrey is very quick witted and right from the start he is able to hold his own in terms of banter. He also doesn’t let the other characters walk all over him.

Godfrey also takes a lot of pride in being a good butler and so he doesn’t allow Cornelia’s digs to get to him. I would say that a large part of what makes the film enjoyable is what a good main character Godfrey is. The whole thing would definitely not work without him, it just would not be the same. He gets to take on all of the characters and usually comes out on top. He manages to resist all of Irene’s advances which is good because a butler shouldn’t be mixing business and pleasure.

I really appreciated his subtlety and that was a credit to him throughout. By the end of the film you could argue that things were essentially out of his control, not to mention that he wasn’t in the same position so it wasn’t as much of a problem. Up til that point though, Godfrey did well in staying one step ahead. He was also able to foil one of Cornelia’s plans really well which may have really been the turning point in his journey. If he had not been able to stop her, well it would have been quite rough for him.

As for Cornelia, well she is the big villain here. She does well in constantly insulting Irene and generally making a nuisance of herself. It’s impressive just how dedicated she is. That being said, she does seem to actually fall for Godfrey later on which really weakens her as a villain. You aren’t allowed to just weaken like that. I would have preferred that she continued to double down to the end. Perhaps she would respect Godfrey as a worthy foe but not want to be his friend or anything like that. To me that was just going a tad bit too far.

Irene initially seems like she’s actually rather normal but as the film goes on you see that she is just as crazy as the rest. She gets incredibly possessive of Godfrey and basically wants him to marry her. She seems to not really be familiar with what the role of a master/protege is. Godfrey tries to put some distance between them but it’s difficult and Irene has to consistently put on a whole production to get his attention.

Those scenes tend to be pretty fun though like when Cornelia points out how fake this all is. Irene trades threats with her a lot but you get the feeling that this is a normal occurrence and nothing ever actually happens. That’s just how this family operates. Their mother is also rather eccentric as she takes care of Carlo as a protégé. The guy’s basically a free loader who is always eating and is allergic to the word “money”. He throws a fit every time and tends to panic a lot. Irene’s father doesn’t appreciate this and never wastes any time in insulting this guy. By the end of the film he even takes a decisive step to get rid of Carlo.

The father ends up being the only really normal person in the family. He essentially works as a piggy bank to the rest of the family until they eventually bleed him dry which forces him to revisit the dynamic. The film ultimately gives all of the characters a pretty happy ending though. This is an uplifting title after all and is certainly not meant to be a downer or anything like that.

It even goes so far as to allow Godfrey to essentially end the homeless problem in his neighborhood. Now that was a pretty impressive accomplishment and certainly not one that just anybody could have done. So how much you enjoy the film will likely depend on how funny you think it is. Fortunately for me I thought that just about all of the jokes landed. The movie was consistently funny from start to finish with a lot of fun characters.

Overall, The only character who gets a bit of a sad ending here is the guy who was used by Irene in a fake engagement to get Godfrey jealous. He probably should have known better but yeah that was still a rough situation for him. The others were all having a good time though and I definitely recommend this film if you’re looking for something light to watch. I dare say that the fast paced banter and marathon’s worth of insults are even ahead of their time here. The characters are speaking a mile a minute and the dialogue stays consistently good throughout.

Overall 7/10

Will Penny Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a wild west film and you know how those can always be very hit or miss. Unfortunately this is one of the misses. It doesn’t really hit on any of the strong notes that you need to reach to surpass the genre. The characters tend to make some bad decisions and while it’s hard to play a perfect round back in the wild west where there was no law and order, it did feel like some of these issues were very avoidable.

The movie starts by introducing us to Will who is a classic work hand. He goes from job to job and is good at what he does but there is a lot of competition and not a lot of jobs left. He had a chance to go on a trip with the crew but selflessly gives up his spot to another guy who wanted to visit his father. Will travels with Blue and Dutchy and they end up in a firefight with another group over an animal. Will’s team shoots down one of the attackers but the rest swear revenge. On Will’s side, one of his teammates is injured so he looks for help. In the meantime he also gets a job to protect a part of someone’s large territory but now a lady named Catherine and her son Horace are living there. Will feels bad about throwing them out but eventually the guy who owns this property is going to find out and then things will go very badly. How can Will get out of this situation.

First off, I have to say that Catherine doesn’t play this situation very smart at all. She is exceptionally lucky that Will is such a nice guy because many others would have just shot her on sight at minimum. The penalty for letting a stranger live on these premises could easily be death and people aren’t generally going to take that chance. Will even tries to give her a few days to leave but Catherine is insistent on not going anywhere. It just seems like a terrible strategy to go with when you’re not a fighter and there is no man on the premises.

Catherine’s first instinct is even to say that she’s all alone. Why would you give out that kind of information? Her son Horace means well too but he’s just a young kid and is not going to be doing much here. Catherine was ultimately ditched by her tour guide and her husband seems to have no intention of returning so just surviving will be difficult. It’s the wild west so even going into town isn’t a great option but you feel like she needs to do something and get away from the area. Taking your chances in town may be for the best.

Meanwhile Will does his best with looking after her but he is breaking all of the rules of a job that he just got. His sympathy may be a little too high here. It was also annoying to see him getting jumped so quickly. When you’re outnumbered, you need to fire as soon as possible. He gets a few of the villains at gunpoint but then hesitates and gets knocked out. There is no room for compassion here. It may be a hard thing to hear but, in a life or death situation it is you against the other guy. Whoever hesitates is absolutely not going to survive.

Will’s character is portrayed to be a really nice one throughout but this is the double edged blade of it. As for the romance in the film, he knows that Catherine is a married woman from the start so he is very wary about getting involved. That’s the right attitude. Her husband may not appear to be a good guy but until that is officially dissolved then there is nothing you can do. He can be a good friend to her but if she is trying to start a romance then he has to get out of there. Nothing good comes from living next to temptation.

It takes him a long while to get his mind wrapped around that but ultimately, he does and that helps the ending even if it’s portrayed in more of a somber way. Nobody here really gets a super happy ending because they’re all going to be struggling a lot. At least they are alive though which could have easily gone the other way. The film feels like two different movies though when it’s about Will and Catherine vs when he’s hanging out with his friends.

Blue and Dutchy are gone for so long that you almost forget they are in this film until they show up in the climax. It was good to see them, but man did they take their time. There was certainly no sense of urgency among them that’s for sure. They did come in clutch though because Will was not going to be able to fight off everyone in the climax otherwise. His new coworkers showed up after everything was all settled. I thought the film was about to give us one more fight but they were reasonable.

I suppose part of why the film fails here is because of how troubled the romance is. A lot of time is spent on Will and Catherine getting closer but you really can’t root for this at all because of her married status. For a while there you assume that maybe she was lying since she didn’t trust him. Would have been a smart deception to be honest but that’s not how it played out. So the scenes aren’t as charming as they would have been otherwise.

Then the villains tend to be annoying and get a whole lot of screentime. Naturally they want to marry Catherine as well, just without any say in the matter. They intend to work Will as a slave for a while before they eventually murder him and there’s not much he can do about it while at gunpoint. At least that’s how it played out but after a point I think you do just need to lunge for the gun. If you die then you die, but often times you’re going to be waiting for an opening that never arrives. You just have to hope that the sudden movement is enough to catch them off balance.

It’s also a western so the animals aren’t fully safe either. Nothing too explicit in this film to be sure but just a background element that’s never all that great. The first animal that died is even a part of the plot with how the first fight started. This is a very grounded western film. The kind that may be true to life but doesn’t translate into great television. Give me a more inspiring Western anyway. At best this one just serves as another reminder of why you would not have wanted to live in this era.

Overall, Will Penny is the kind of title that will end up being very memorable. The name itself is certainly unique and definitely works well. The film though, it’s your average western at best and I would actually say it’s below most of them. There isn’t a lot of ongoing action in the film. It goes for more of an emotional focus instead, except it does so with a poor situation. There aren’t many reasons to watch this one and it’s a bit grim for my liking. I’d say to skip it and roll the dice on a different western title.

Overall 3/10