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Reviews
Victoria & Abdul (2017)
Disappointing
Some of the humor I appreciated; HOWEVER, I could NOT get over the fact that they represented all of the British people as ignorant morons all the while putting Abdul and Mohammad on a pedestal of dignity--and worse the movie represents Islam as some sort of lovey-dovey and noble religion. Which if you have even a cursory knowledge of History you know that is very far from the truth.
I would have been able to swallow some liberties with Islam, but for goodness sake...it was completely inaccurate. We all know that Islam has it's problems...and people should know the Koran is completely in support of murder of those who do not believe Islam hence the term "infidel", killing women for "honor", and lying if it advances Islam.
When Karim is caught lying about the rebellion in India that was as close to the truth as this movie ever got. Of course a Muslim would lie to advance Islam, the Koran tells them to do this.
They present the full burka in a completely sympathetic light! The full burka is just as disrespectful to women as lewd clothing is! No, wearing a bed-sheet in public is ridiculous. It's also uncomfortable (I have been told this from a Muslim woman),although it doesn't take great leaps of the imagination to see how uncomfortable it must be--as well as oppressive and offensive. The burka is an insult to the dignity women everywhere. I can especially imagine how horrible it would to wear in India--if your husband let you go outside! How absurd to represent the burka and how the women are treated in this movie as dignified.
To clarify-- it's not just a head covering or modest dress--which is very dignified, but the burka that makes them look like walking bed sheets. Awful.
I went into this knowing some historical liberties would be taken, but the Muslim people are not hippies. Allah has 99 names--non of which include "lover" or "father".
Islam when taken literally and seriously is murderous, conniving, and forceful. It is not about "freedom" or "love". If you are to believe that Karim is a representative of Islam you would be asked to believe that Islam inspires men to be docile and think the world is "an adventure". This is so completely false. I wanted to like Karim; and if they had made him interesting as a MUSLIM not as some wishy-washy and dishonest representation of Islam, well I would have been inclined.
I would have liked to have seen the Queen angry with him at some of his beliefs that Muslims hold dear--like an actual conflict or realistic representation of these two people.
The Queen is after-all a "Christian" or at least she was raised in a culture that would have inundated her with Christian beliefs. There is very little chance she would call the full burka "dignified". These two should have been butting heads all the time--as a matter of fact I believe that it would have been a fabulous way to build the film.
The clash of cultures should have been very dramatic and it would have created a very real and dimensional relationship. For them to overcome their differences and still be friends would have meant something and been more congruous with the Queen's personality and her cultural heritage of Christianity.
Making her a sad woman who only wanted to dote on a Muslim son, is ridiculous as well as boring.
As far as the relationship between the rest of the crew and the relationship between Victoria and Abdul--It would have been a little easier to swallow if they made equal fun of Karim and his friend Mohammed, but no, they represented them as superior, essentially.
If you have any interest in historical accuracy, or a well-rounded and interesting commentary on the historical relationship of Victoria and Abdul you won't find it here.
You may chuckle a few times at the humor, but it's not worth it in my opinion. The movie goes from tolerable, to bad, to worse.
There are very few redeeming qualities. Don't waste your time!
Judi Dench was amazing though, and she did make me cry, but it's not worth tolerating the rest of the horrendous film.
The Green Hornet (2011)
Amazing
Okay, I'm going to get right to the point,this movie was hilarious, entertaining full of some fantastic action. Seth Rogen and Jay Chou...amazing.
One of the main complaints I hear is that some people couldn't understand Jay Chou, and I had no problem what-so-ever understanding him, unless he was speaking in Mandarin, which he randomly does, but I was okay with that because within the context of the film it was understandable.
Essentially, anyone that says this movie is not one of the most hilariously entertaining movies ever made is overly critical and bitter about life. Well, apparently fun isn't for everyone.
Anyway, I watched this movie in theaters, rented it, and will probably buy it, because it's friggin' GOLD.
The New Batman Adventures (1997)
Good but Not Great
Okay, I LOVED the original TAS. I simply liked New adventures. There were just so many nagging things in the new series that annoyed me.
1. Batman's new dark attitude made him less appealing--that goes for Dick too. Their characters made this leap into a dark and much too serious tone for my tastes. Seriously? Where was the fun? The quips. Gone.
2.I did not like the new designs. Especially for my favorite villain (the joker). The new designs were just so sharp and pointy and it was really hard for me to get over the fact that the joker had no pupils and everyone pretty much had no chin. I could go on forever but I'll make it short and sweet--thumbs down on the "art".
3.The story lines were still almost as good, but the the characters didn't follow up. Barbra Gordon seemed slightly out of place whether it was because she was the only character (besides Tim--but he wasn't in the original...thankfully) that retained the positive hero mentality that I loved so much in the original. The voice acting was stupendous as always though thank you Kevin Conroy,Mark Hamill and Mathew Valencia. I don't like Tara Strong's voice but she did fine. Anyway, I think "The Creeper" was one of my favorites from this series because it seemed to go back to a more lighthearted feel. The part were the Creeper totally just punches Batman without looking was hilarious. That and Harley and the Joker get some of their infamous banter that wasn't as dark as in "Mad Love". "Joker's Millions" was much better than "Mad Love" because it shows that Harley's not a complete pushover when she haha 'reprimands' the Joker for trying to replace her. There are moments when the episodes just click, but then the terrible art and the way Batman acts (or doesn't respond at all) just ruin it.
Anyway, As far as the story lines go as a whole I think the ones involving the Joker and Harley were the best because that stayed more true to their characters from TAS that I loved so much. On the other hand through out the entire New Adventures series Batman is completely out of balance he's just this cold calculating mess that can't cope without THREE OTHER SIDEKICKS. Batman should have had more lines and actually REACTED to what was happening around him. Instead of standing there with a frown on his face 24/7. Batman lost so much dimension in the new series. Dick is well, to put it bluntly--a dick. Barbra serves almost no purpose simply because she's poorly written into the cast except for "Over the Edge" which I thought was a brilliant use of Barbra's character. Tim Drake is overkill and simply there until "Sins of a Father" when you suddenly realize oh he's here for a reason--to star in this two part thingy. Yay. Not so much. In BTAS Robin wasn't there when his character would be useless but Tim Drake was so relentlessly useless-AND ALWAYS THERE. On a little side note, if Tim Drake's hadn't been cast so young he may not have been so irritating to me. Seriously,he was like:'Tim Drake the toddler'. Too small.
4. Overall, it was okay. Without the bad art I might have been able to tolerate Batman and Dicks new extremely cold and negative attitudes and the really annoying addition of Tim Drake. I don't know why they decided to so drastically change everything about the original. The new adventures story lines could have been just as new and fresh without the blah art and the complete revamp of the characters attitudes. So,it's worth the watch but just as fun and dynamic as I would've liked.