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Yesterday, I went to see Pete's Dragon at the cinema. Empire had warned me that the plot was flimsy, the action was less than gripping, and the special effects on the dragon were sub-par, and all of those things may or may not be the case. It's certainly true that you could pull the film apart until there were enough plot holes for the dragon to fly through them, and the story did unfold at quite a leisurely pace, being pretty much wholly predictable all the way through.
But - I went in wanting to lose myself in a story of friendship and bonding, with a cute, furry dragon, so I just gave myself over to the magic of it - and it was *wonderful*. I cried more than I've cried at a film in recent memory, the dragon was hilarious, adorable and heart-breaking by turns (I want one!), and I didn't even find Karl Urban being the bad guy too off-putting. I was particularly impressed by the boy who played Pete - his reactions and the way he moved were consistent with his background throughout the film, but not overdone - it was a very assured and nuances performance.
Robert Redford's character said at one point - it's not about what's righ in front of your face, it's about accepting the magic into your heart and allowing yourself to see things in a different way. Empire saw the film one way, I saw it another, and I think it's clear which of us got more enjoyment out of the experience.
For a completely different experience, Dave and I finished watching Stranger Things when I got home. This show completely suckered me. The first episode was perfectly fine - intriguing enough for me to want to watch more, but not creepy enough to put me off. The basic premise is that a boy disappears under mysterious circumstances, and various people in the town (his three friends, his mother, the sherrif, his older brother) work to figure out what happened to him. So far, so good. Then, the second episode drew me in further until I was fully invested in the characters and the plot - and then scared the living crap out of me right at the end! After that, all the episodes were equally gripping and horrifying, so that I was completely trapped into continuing to watch it to its conclusion. And that suckered me again - Dave had said it was a one-off series, which was another reason I was prepared to see it through - but did everything get neatly tied up to everyone's satisfaction at the end? No, it most certainly did not - and now I find out there are potential plans for another series. Gah!
Anyway, despite the horror, this was a really good show. The premise was interesting, the acting was good, I loved several of the characters, and several others had really good development arcs. I thought the girl who played Eleven did a very good job of demonstrating her reactions to things, and her range of emotions, while maintaining an other-worldly air that fit the character very well. I liked the unhinged tenacity of the mother, the tortured determination of the sherrif, and the plucky perseverance of the kids. It felt very nostalgic in some ways - despite the fact that I never biked around small-town America with my friends in the mid-1980s, it did hearken back to certain familiar aspects of my childhood, and I think that was part of the reason I enjoyed it (despite the fact that the characters I most identified with were the ones that kept disappearing!).
Well-made, well acted, scary as hell (at least for a wuss like me), but worth it.
But - I went in wanting to lose myself in a story of friendship and bonding, with a cute, furry dragon, so I just gave myself over to the magic of it - and it was *wonderful*. I cried more than I've cried at a film in recent memory, the dragon was hilarious, adorable and heart-breaking by turns (I want one!), and I didn't even find Karl Urban being the bad guy too off-putting. I was particularly impressed by the boy who played Pete - his reactions and the way he moved were consistent with his background throughout the film, but not overdone - it was a very assured and nuances performance.
Robert Redford's character said at one point - it's not about what's righ in front of your face, it's about accepting the magic into your heart and allowing yourself to see things in a different way. Empire saw the film one way, I saw it another, and I think it's clear which of us got more enjoyment out of the experience.
For a completely different experience, Dave and I finished watching Stranger Things when I got home. This show completely suckered me. The first episode was perfectly fine - intriguing enough for me to want to watch more, but not creepy enough to put me off. The basic premise is that a boy disappears under mysterious circumstances, and various people in the town (his three friends, his mother, the sherrif, his older brother) work to figure out what happened to him. So far, so good. Then, the second episode drew me in further until I was fully invested in the characters and the plot - and then scared the living crap out of me right at the end! After that, all the episodes were equally gripping and horrifying, so that I was completely trapped into continuing to watch it to its conclusion. And that suckered me again - Dave had said it was a one-off series, which was another reason I was prepared to see it through - but did everything get neatly tied up to everyone's satisfaction at the end? No, it most certainly did not - and now I find out there are potential plans for another series. Gah!
Anyway, despite the horror, this was a really good show. The premise was interesting, the acting was good, I loved several of the characters, and several others had really good development arcs. I thought the girl who played Eleven did a very good job of demonstrating her reactions to things, and her range of emotions, while maintaining an other-worldly air that fit the character very well. I liked the unhinged tenacity of the mother, the tortured determination of the sherrif, and the plucky perseverance of the kids. It felt very nostalgic in some ways - despite the fact that I never biked around small-town America with my friends in the mid-1980s, it did hearken back to certain familiar aspects of my childhood, and I think that was part of the reason I enjoyed it (despite the fact that the characters I most identified with were the ones that kept disappearing!).
Well-made, well acted, scary as hell (at least for a wuss like me), but worth it.
