As spring break is unraveling, time to bust open those books again. I wonder how many people went to the movies at least once over break. I went 3 times. I saw Beastly, Red Riding Hood, and Sucker Punch. I think the common thread of all three of the movies I saw was the idea of fairy tales. So, vampires are out and aliens are now in, but one should never underestimate the fairy tale.
Beastly was contrite. There were so many possibilities in that movie and it was just an epic nightmare. The remake of Beauty and the Beast starred Vanessa Hudgens. She was stereotypical awkward average high school girl. As if High School Musical wasn’t bad enough. And then there was the guy from I am Number Four as the Beast character. He was basically a stalker, like he was trying to be Edward Cullen. It was disappointing. Then I hate to ruin the ending, but they live happily ever after. I did however like that they were making a big deal about vanity and how obsessed our culture and media is with the idea of being pretty and perfect. Mary Kate Olsen was good wicked witch and my favorite part of the whole movie was Neil Patrick Harris. He was the adorable blind tutor with Elton John-esq rose colored glasses. He was only used as comic relief, but I really liked him! And the dad, from Six Feet Under and Parenthood TV shows, was the dad in this movie too and he’s wonderful as always. Rating: */***** Rent it if you’re feeling sappy or please just skip it.
Red Riding Hood is a classical story, but it’s originally a short story. The story in this movie is not about a little girl, but a woman. This movie was directed by Catherine Hardwicke who made the first Twilight movie (sad sigh). She made it very psychological and played on the original moral: don’t trust strangers. The Perrault and Grimm stories bore some resemblance to this version, which I appreciated, but the love triangles were a clever addition to make this short tale into 2 hour movie. This movie had a good texture and what I mean by this is that it played with colors, gave a wonderful woody rustic setting, and mixed up effects and shots. The idea of the wolf was not too overplayed; the focus was on the story and guessing about the mystery surrounding the wolf. Amanda Seyfried was the lead and she was very good as always. I also really liked that Gary Oldman was in this movie! He also had a rad elephant statue and an entourage of buff black men. Speaking of men, there is lots of eye candy in this film for ladies. And since fairy tale movies are geared towards women this really worked! Now the problems with this movie were: it’s very sexed up, reminded me of Twilight too many times (the dad is in Twilight too, the werewolf, Hardwicke, love triangles), overacting, trite dialogue, and there are so many characters you get lost. But overall, it entertained, which is the point. Rating: ***/***** Liked.
Sucker Punch actually means a blow made without warning. And so fitting is the tagline for this film: “You will be Unprepared” is accurate. The director Snyder (Watchmen, 300, Dawn of the Dead) wanted to make “an Alice and Wonderland with machine guns.” It’s funny because Emily Browning, the main character, was only cast after Amanda Seyfried from Red Riding Hood stepped down. Firstly, I must say I want this soundtrack the songs are awesome! Some of which Emily Browning and the other actors actually sang themselves. Plus Queen! Loved it! Secondly, Nazi zombies, steam powered machines, dragons, and Jon Hamm. Third, I liked the settings! It was really pretty to watch. It has an echo of many other films and stories: like Kill Bill, Inception, Annie, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Alice and Wonderland. The only bad thing I would say that this movie lacked character development and there is a mixed focus of who the story is really about. The plot sacrificed for the awesome kick ass action sequences and the dialogue was plain. But let’s face it; this movie was not about that...it was about a group of women who are breaking free of their reality into highly stylized fantastical environments by going on a scavenger hunt to tromp their oppressors. I loved the skanky outfits, the samurai inspired fighting, mechanical weapons world, the awesome names (Baby Doll, Blondie, Blue, Rocket...), and the steam punk settings. I wouldn’t listen to the bad reviews. Rating: ****/***** Go see it!
So basically, in summary, this spring break I watched a lot of Vanessa Hudgens, somehow Twilight (and I cringe when I make those connections, but it’s sad and true...) echoed, and all the movies had blonde protagonists with big blue eyes. Some made me want to puke while others seriously had me consider dying my hair blonde... Oh and of course the common theme is fairy tales - which I love!
More fairy tale movies to be on the lookout for the future:
Sleeping Beauty, starring Sucker Punch’s Emily Browning
Snow White, with Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen
Snow White and the Huntsman, with Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen
Snow White and the Seven, a kung fu fighting movie with monk dwarves
Jack the Giant Killer (Jack and the Beanstalk), with Nicholas Hoult, Bill Nighy, and Stanley Tucci
Hansel and Gretel movie called, Witch Hunters, with Gemma Arteton and Jermy Renner
...Get Excited!!
