Underwhelmed
Greetings:
I swear, I can talk about more than films! It just seems to be what is pouring out when I sit down to write. Plus, I'm not doing much besides working these days, so my only recreational activity recently has been watching movies. That said, I bring you my..opinion of my latest theater experience.
Despite being utterly charmed by certain aspects of Snow White and the Huntsman, (see: Chris's strangely endearing grunty man-noises, Charlize as a scary, and believable dark, beautifully poisonous queen, the river women with their tear track scars and face veils bravely holding back the darkness and evil just across the river, the forest spirits -Mononoke anyone?- and fairy tale/mythology references galore, absolutely AMAZING costumes, etc) was anyone else left feeling completely flat by the ending?
Kristen holding a flowering branch, shifting from one foot to the other in a sort of I-have-to-use-the-restroom-stance while hunching with stiff and horrible posture at the end of a full, but strangely still throne room for what felt like an agonizing ten whole minutes of nothing? Really? THAT is the big finish?! (Admittedly, the branch is rife with symbolism and therefor awesome, however, not enough to eliminate the weirdness of everyone just standing there...awkwardly.)
It actually made it hard for me to remember any of the previously awesome bits. Perhaps I was expecting a kingdom re-birth and 'peace everywhere' montage or something. Something, ANYTHING.
The friend I went with loved it and I expected to be thrilled, given my great fascination with fairy tales and attachment to the stories of my childhood, but instead I felt...underwhelmed. I go to be impressed. I go to be enthralled, challenged and mystified. And sitting in the theater watching the credits roll, all I could think was "That's it?". Snow White and the Huntsman felt like it was so...close to being awesome and then instead, it intentionally fell completely smack on its face while trying to land a triple flip on the balance bar.
I think The Mary Sue said it best with this post: http://www.themarysue.com/snow-white-and-the-huntsman-mediocrity-is-equal-opportunity-review/
(And sort of as a side note, the article even addresses the whole 'name thing' that stood out to me while I was watching the film.)
I don't mean to be a total downer on the parts of the movie that were awesome, but an ending can make or break a film for me. Am I the only person that has this problem? There are a couple films out there that I like in spite of their endings, but it's usually when my imagination can override what I saw and replace it with my own, preferred ending. (Wow, for some reason, that sounds like a vaguely pathological issue... Have I been watching too many mystery shows?) In these cases, it can sometimes backfire when I watch the film again and am, once more, rudely surprised by the actual ending because I've almost successfully forgotten it. Whoops! Perhaps I will be able to do the same with this story. Then, maybe, I will be able to talk about it without sounding like a totally irritating film snob.
Take care everyone! And if I ever pick apart a film you love, ignore me completely and go on loving whatever it is about that movie that makes you smile! ;D
EllaBeth
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Internal iPod Songs of the Day
La valse d'Amélie (Version piano) by Yann Tiersen
Ain't No Grave by Johnny Cash
ET by Katy Perry
Fire Nation by Two Steps From Hell
I swear, I can talk about more than films! It just seems to be what is pouring out when I sit down to write. Plus, I'm not doing much besides working these days, so my only recreational activity recently has been watching movies. That said, I bring you my..opinion of my latest theater experience.
Despite being utterly charmed by certain aspects of Snow White and the Huntsman, (see: Chris's strangely endearing grunty man-noises, Charlize as a scary, and believable dark, beautifully poisonous queen, the river women with their tear track scars and face veils bravely holding back the darkness and evil just across the river, the forest spirits -Mononoke anyone?- and fairy tale/mythology references galore, absolutely AMAZING costumes, etc) was anyone else left feeling completely flat by the ending?
Kristen holding a flowering branch, shifting from one foot to the other in a sort of I-have-to-use-the-restroom-stance while hunching with stiff and horrible posture at the end of a full, but strangely still throne room for what felt like an agonizing ten whole minutes of nothing? Really? THAT is the big finish?! (Admittedly, the branch is rife with symbolism and therefor awesome, however, not enough to eliminate the weirdness of everyone just standing there...awkwardly.)
It actually made it hard for me to remember any of the previously awesome bits. Perhaps I was expecting a kingdom re-birth and 'peace everywhere' montage or something. Something, ANYTHING.
The friend I went with loved it and I expected to be thrilled, given my great fascination with fairy tales and attachment to the stories of my childhood, but instead I felt...underwhelmed. I go to be impressed. I go to be enthralled, challenged and mystified. And sitting in the theater watching the credits roll, all I could think was "That's it?". Snow White and the Huntsman felt like it was so...close to being awesome and then instead, it intentionally fell completely smack on its face while trying to land a triple flip on the balance bar.
I think The Mary Sue said it best with this post: http://www.themarysue.com/snow-white-and-the-huntsman-mediocrity-is-equal-opportunity-review/
(And sort of as a side note, the article even addresses the whole 'name thing' that stood out to me while I was watching the film.)
I don't mean to be a total downer on the parts of the movie that were awesome, but an ending can make or break a film for me. Am I the only person that has this problem? There are a couple films out there that I like in spite of their endings, but it's usually when my imagination can override what I saw and replace it with my own, preferred ending. (Wow, for some reason, that sounds like a vaguely pathological issue... Have I been watching too many mystery shows?) In these cases, it can sometimes backfire when I watch the film again and am, once more, rudely surprised by the actual ending because I've almost successfully forgotten it. Whoops! Perhaps I will be able to do the same with this story. Then, maybe, I will be able to talk about it without sounding like a totally irritating film snob.
Take care everyone! And if I ever pick apart a film you love, ignore me completely and go on loving whatever it is about that movie that makes you smile! ;D
EllaBeth
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Internal iPod Songs of the Day
La valse d'Amélie (Version piano) by Yann Tiersen
Ain't No Grave by Johnny Cash
ET by Katy Perry
Fire Nation by Two Steps From Hell