Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was magical. I didn't see it opening weekend, like I (and my husband) wanted to. Instead, my sisters-in-law wanted to have a girls weekend, us and our daughters. They loved it. We all thought it was wonderful. But I can't talk about it because my Hubby wants to see it too. I'd go again. It might be a bit too scary for our son though. There are some intense scenes. My daughter did get upset at a couple parts, if you've seen the cartoon, you know which parts I'm talking about. It was still good though, she said the movie was amazing and it was okay that she got upset because she was worried or sad for the characters.  My one sister-in-law admitted to tearing up at the end too.

Everything is taken a step further. A step more danger, a tick more excitement, a little more depth and story. We learn about Belle's mom, we find out more about the Enchantress, and how it is important to treat everyone with kindness and compassion. Every character was a bit more than before. I want to watch it again. I enjoyed the actors, the sets, the costumes, the songs. I thought everything was seamless. More than my enjoyment, for this movie, my daughter loved it and that's what I was really looked for when we went to see it. I'm so happy that she did and I look forward to more of these live-action adaptations.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past was pretty much exactly what I wanted from the latest X-Men film. It brought together the mutants from the old trilogy and the last movie.  They blended together so well.  I really enjoyed the new mutants too, Bishop, Blink, Warpath and Sunspot... and Quicksilver!  I thought teenage Quicksilver was fun, cheeky and added the right bit of humour during an action filled movie.  I love all the moments, the mutants from the past/present/future popping up to say hello.  I love that they acknowledge Wolverine being in First Class.  I loved the end.  I loved the post-credits scene and as soon as I saw the sand, I knew what it was going to be about.

I have a complicated relationship with time travel in movies and television.  Sometimes I hate it.  I hate when no one remembers the original timeline.  I hate when all the characters lose time and it isn't even acknowledged.  I hate when it's used as a tool of convenience.  I like when time travel allows characters to witness events, even if they don't change them.  I have enjoyed time travel as a fix, with a celebration or acknowledgement of the fix by someone.  I liked the time travel in Days of Future Past.  I maybe would have rather had Bishop or Professor X doing the time travelling, but I understand why it was Wolverine.  I also liked that they kept Kitty as the vehicle for the time travel.  I know that a lot of people (including myself) were not happy with the ending of X3, but Days of Future Past makes up for it.  If you haven't seen it yet, Days of Future Past is worth your time.  It might be my favourite of all the X-Men movies.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I enjoyed The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug more than I thought I would, though I did expect to at least like it.  I found An Unexpected Journey a little long. Though this second movie was only a few minutes shorter than the first, it felt shorter. There weren't as many scenes of the group crossing the countryside. There was a lot more action.  Perhaps there was more action in the movie than was in the actual book, but after An Unexpected Journey I've kind of given up on The Hobbit movies being like the book.  It's similar enough and though Legolas was not it The Hobbit I enjoyed seeing him and his bow. However, (SPOILER) love triangle with a dwarf? Really?  I like it, but don't like it at the same time.  I know they probably added the female elf to get a female into the movie, but only to be in a love triangle.  Hmm...

There were a lot of things I loved about this movie.  It was beautiful.  I actually really liked the elven prisons. I thought Legolas's relationship with his father was interesting and the King's perspective on the outside world.  I loved Bilbo.  I loved the dwarves staying with Kili... I love Kili in general.  I loved the piles of gold and the things peaking out of the gold.  I love that the movie kept me excited.

I was sorry that I didn't get to see The Desolation of Smaug in theatres.  Timing and children were at play here.  It looks like it would have been worth it.  I'm glad to have finally seen the second Hobbit movie and I'm looking forward to the third.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 *Vague Spoilers

I was looking forward to seeing The Hobbit:  AnUnexpected Journey this week.  It was okay.  The Hobbit is currently sitting at 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and that’s about right.  It wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely not the epic it was trying to be.  The movie is 2 hours and 45 minutes long.  The movie could have easily been a succinct 2 hours if they took out all the shots of them walking.  It felt like every five minutes we had to watch them walk, and then walk some more and maybe run and ride on ponies, then walk a little more.  It’s a journey, it’s right there in the title, we don’t need twenty shots of them walking the countryside.  It’s pretty and everything, but could you just get to the trolls!  Honestly, I spent the first half of the movie waiting for the troll scene. 

I read the book and there’s a whole lot of stuff in the movie not in the book.  Peter Jackson has done the reverse of what happens to most book to movie adaptations; he’s added stuff instead of taken away.  Maybe that’s part of my problem and the problem of other people who have seen the movie, all the extra stuff is getting in the way of what I want to see.  Also, the novel, The Hobbit was the first book, it wasn’t a “prequel,” so those scenes of foreboding about Sauron and all the badness in Mordor didn’t happen in the book.  There was no round-table discussion of a darkness growing in the land.  So much of the extra stuff just got in the way of me getting to see some trolls.

There was a lot of the movie that I did like… like the trolls!  I thought that entire sequence was awesome.  I loved the personalities of the dwarves.  They are a unit, but they are individuals too.  I loved the fight/battle scenes.  They were fluid and fierce.  The movie as a whole was beautiful.  Every shot, every angle, every colour seemed to be chosen with care.  The landscapes were natural and vibrant.  The actor who played Bilbo was great.  Ian McKellan as Gandalf was as good as ever.

In the end, I liked The Hobbit, but I felt it was overdone.  Sticking to the source material would have made the movie more fun.  I don’t want to get repetitive or go off on another rant.  I’ll just say it was enjoyable and leave it as that.

* I got a little carried away with the movie posters.  I really like them.