Hello all! I'm Jamie from Through Two Blue Eyes and Jamie Talks Anime. James asked me if I'd share one of my classic Movies of Interest posts over here from my own blog. Every once and awhile I do a cluster of short reviews for movies I've watched from Netflix or at the theater. I express whatever the film left impressed on me and I have lots of fun! Hope you enjoy! :D
Unbroken | 2.5/5
Disappointed. Everyone was raving over this when it came out this past Christmas, and I’m sure the book is a lot better than the movie, but my mother and I were under the impression that it was supposed to be an inspiring film. We were not that inspired once we hit the end. We followed this young man through trauma and torture for two long hours, waiting and waiting and waiting for that triumphant ending. Instead, it just…ended. Flatly. There was no triumph. There was no emotional punch at the end, like “Wow! He survived! He made it! We’re so touched!” The film completely failed to communicate any positive emotion at the end other than exhaustion... which is how we felt when it FINALLY ended. No disrespect to the real man himself, please understand, I just think Angelina Jolie’s movie failed miserably at what it was trying to do. I’m rather glad I didn’t go see this on Christmas day.
Unbroken | 2.5/5
Disappointed. Everyone was raving over this when it came out this past Christmas, and I’m sure the book is a lot better than the movie, but my mother and I were under the impression that it was supposed to be an inspiring film. We were not that inspired once we hit the end. We followed this young man through trauma and torture for two long hours, waiting and waiting and waiting for that triumphant ending. Instead, it just…ended. Flatly. There was no triumph. There was no emotional punch at the end, like “Wow! He survived! He made it! We’re so touched!” The film completely failed to communicate any positive emotion at the end other than exhaustion... which is how we felt when it FINALLY ended. No disrespect to the real man himself, please understand, I just think Angelina Jolie’s movie failed miserably at what it was trying to do. I’m rather glad I didn’t go see this on Christmas day.
Exodus: Gods and Kings | 3.5/5
I was nervous this might turn out to be a terrible adaption like Noah had. But I kept my fingers crossed, and was pleasantly surprised by the film that I got. Don't get me wrong, though, I don’t go into Hollywood adaptions of biblical tales and expect good adaptions anyway–but even from that perspective you can be pretty disappointed. *Stares at Noah*. Anywho, Exodus was a decent film! The cinematography and effects were gorgeous! I’ve been waiting for a movie to show the plagues and it be realistic, so that was definitely a home run. The overall technical parts of the film were simply fantastic. The only thing that really failed for me was the characters themselves. They were pretty flat and didn’t affect me as a viewer. To me, that’s marks the film down a peg. On an overall scale, it was an enjoyable movie for what it was.
Exodus: Gods and Kings | 3.5/5
I was nervous this might turn out to be a terrible adaption like Noah had. But I kept my fingers crossed, and was pleasantly surprised by the film that I got. Don't get me wrong, though, I don’t go into Hollywood adaptions of biblical tales and expect good adaptions anyway–but even from that perspective you can be pretty disappointed. *Stares at Noah*. Anywho, Exodus was a decent film! The cinematography and effects were gorgeous! I’ve been waiting for a movie to show the plagues and it be realistic, so that was definitely a home run. The overall technical parts of the film were simply fantastic. The only thing that really failed for me was the characters themselves. They were pretty flat and didn’t affect me as a viewer. To me, that’s marks the film down a peg. On an overall scale, it was an enjoyable movie for what it was.
Big Hero 6 | 3/5
I have A LOT of problems with Big Hero 6, I’m afraid, and I even went in with lowered expectations to see if Disney would surprise me. I guessed the villain immediately because of the shape of his nose--I blame Disney's animators for this.The side-characters were gross one-dimensional tropes--nobody felt like superheroes at the end, just glorified “LOOK AT US WE’RE COOL NERDS” with science-y things they’d made...and I thought I was getting a superhero film. Honey Lemon was a near carbon copy of Rapunzel except she dabbled in science instead of art (her personality, hair, and face looked so similar…) Disney, stop delivering such poor character quality already. One Big Pro: Baymax was cute. He was adorable. I want a Baymax. I need more Baymax. I need a stand-alone Baymax movie right now.
Big Hero 6 | 3/5
I have A LOT of problems with Big Hero 6, I’m afraid, and I even went in with lowered expectations to see if Disney would surprise me. I guessed the villain immediately because of the shape of his nose--I blame Disney's animators for this.The side-characters were gross one-dimensional tropes--nobody felt like superheroes at the end, just glorified “LOOK AT US WE’RE COOL NERDS” with science-y things they’d made...and I thought I was getting a superhero film. Honey Lemon was a near carbon copy of Rapunzel except she dabbled in science instead of art (her personality, hair, and face looked so similar…) Disney, stop delivering such poor character quality already. One Big Pro: Baymax was cute. He was adorable. I want a Baymax. I need more Baymax. I need a stand-alone Baymax movie right now.
The Maze Runner | 4/5
I’ve been curious about these other YA dystopian films the people always end up comparing against The Hunger Games. Well, I ended up enjoying The Maze Runner quite a bit! The lack of romance was very refreshing, the pacing was good, the maze setting was really cool (I admit I expected more than I got when it came to the maze, but what I did get was okay,) and the end reveal surprised me. I also enjoyed the characters--Runner and Hunger have an advantage against Divergent in that I can actually like the characters. The Maze Runner did leave me with more questions than when I started, so I’m fidgeting for the sequel with anticipation, especially after seeing the trailer for it! I hope the next movie answers my questions!
Jamie enjoys movies and writing about them in her spare time on her personal blog Through Two Blue Eyes, where anything under the sun is a viable topic for a blog post! She also writes reflections and reviews for anime on her second blog Jamie Talks Anime. She is currently working on the second draft of her science-fiction/high fantasy novel and trying not to dry out from the Arizona heat.
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One rule: No strong profanity. If you want to link to one of your posts, please do; I am always interested in other reviews and such.