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Reviews
Brave (2012)
The makings of a classic
A classic is a most peculiar thing. It is a story that seems faintly familiar, like a path one has walked down a long time ago, and has almost entirely forgotten. It may not seem to be shiny and new, or to be exceedingly original, but there is a certain something about it that makes us read it (in the case of a book) or watch it over and over again. It does not lose charm through multiple viewings – they only add to our understanding.
"Brave" is such a movie as I should bravely declare a classic. In the very best sense of the word. This film is thrilling. It's filled with magic, wonder, humour and action, with memorable characters and what's more, it conveys truly valuable messages. It may be a story about love, but it is on no account a love story like we have been used to see Disney do – without wanting to spoil anything which I (a girl who always hated the fact that the princess needed to be saved) particularly delighted in. It is in short, the sort of story I would have loved to bits as a child and that still admire now – with a heroine, who is certainly a better role model for any girl (and boy) than all of the Disney princes and princesses combined. This film is more than just entertainment, it has incredible moral value. But the entertainment doesn't fall short. It's hilarious, it's fast paced, it's full of suspense to the very last moment and it's absolutely visually stunning. The character animation is utterly gorgeous, real actors could hardly have been more convincing. It's 3D animation at its very best, and is well worth watching in 3D. The 3D is very well done and does not hurt the eyes, it is more like looking through a window than anything else and it really does add to the experience. There are two other things that I should like to recommend: Watch this film with your family, and stay for the credits. Not merely because of the after credits scene, which is lovely, but because the people who worked on it deserve it.
I must admit, I dearly hope there will be no sequel. This film is so truly wonderful that it is very well able to stand on its own.
The Three Musketeers (2011)
"Nuking the fridge" is harmless in comparison to what this film does
First of all I ought to note that I did not expect much of this film - and yet was left completely underwhelmed.
There are some major issues regarding this film which I would like to address, they are the reason for my extraordinarily low ranking, which would have been even lower if I had not thought it disrespectful to those actors who did their job very well (against all odds).
One may argue that screen adaptations require some changes to be made to the original material, and I wholeheartedly agree, but the changes made to this particular adaption are so fundamental they might as well not have bothered to call it The Three Musketeers". There is as good as nothing left of the original plot in this movie, and what is left of it is changed beyond recognition. I did expect it to be more action laden than ultimately necessary, I expected it to deviate from the original plot, but nothing could possibly have prepared me for this shipwreck of a film.
One might think that while a film shouldn't be required to follow the book's plot word by word to qualify for bearing the title of a famous novel - one should be able to tell it is supposed to be based on said novel, right? Apparently not. Apart from the title and the the names of the characters, there is but little that would betray it to be even roughly based on Dumas' novel. Buckingham is turned from lover to evil Lord, and Queen Anne into a blameless little lamb who fell prey to the Cardinal's machinations. No such thing as the fleur-de-lis is even mentioned. Constance doesn't only not die, she isn't even threatened by Milady. And that's just a selection.
One might be led to think it was deliberately conceived as a parody of remakes. After all, it has all the ingredients – a butchered plot, characters with any debt taken out of them (despite the fact that if given the chance, most actors would have delivered an outstanding performance, but the time usually assigned to character development is devoured by sexy" scenes featuring Milla Jovovich – who herself is a whole other problem), references to everything from the Matrix to Mission Impossible, goodness – it even has airships.
Airships. Not one, not two, but an entire armada of airships. I understand that Rocheford's eye patch is tempting, but they might as well have put a parrot on his shoulder, it would not have managed to make it appear any more ridiculous. I was surprised they did not venture to release an air Kraken.
If this film had had less Milla Jovovich, no airships and if anyone had bothered to actually read "The Three Musketeers" beforehand, it might have been decent - and had they fixed some minor problems (like the annoyingly clean costumes and settings), it may even have been great. It certainly had the potential. It's a pity it nuked the fridge... or should I say - flew the airship?