All hail Netflix
Thanks to Netflix, I finally got around to watching The Eagle, aka the movie based on Rosemary Sutcliff's novel The Eagle of the Ninth. Which I didn't watch in the cinema because of the various alterations I'd heard about (including removing all the female characters of the novel; in fact, all the Romanized Britons of either gender, so in the movie world, Britons seemingly exist only either as slaves on the Roman side of the wall or as free tribes on the other). Verdict, now that I've watched it: the Scottish landscape is striking and atmospheric, I'm fine with the actors, the movie serves up a different slash trope than the novel does (novel: best friends, film: enemies forced to work together becoming allies), and does it well. But as it turns out, my biggest problem isn't the lack of Cottia (though I do miss her, and adopt the headcanon someone else told me about, i.e. that the red haired girl we see at the games visibly disliking the display is her), but the fact movie Marcus had to be dumbed down so considerably in order for the second part of the film to work the way its creators wanted it to. Movie Marcus has no other plan to search for the Eagle than to cross the wall and ask people where it might have ended up, or rather, let Esca do the talking, since Movie Marcus doesn't speak the language. This despite being warned by everyone how great the danger is. Now I get the director wanted to draw a direct Romans/Americans analogy in this film (hence also the casting of all the Roman characters, who are played by American actors, in direct reverse to the Hollywood sandal movie tradition where the Romans tend to be played by British actors and the slaves/Christians/Characters Audience Should Root For by Americans), and make a point about imperialism, colonialism and what not, Marcus just assuming high handedly that Esca, his only means of communication, will stay loyal because it's what slaves do, and learning differently on the way. However, it's still incredibly stupid. By contrast, book Marcus not only has bothered to learn at least one of the British languages but actually has a plan to escape being killed at sight as a Roman; he's posing as an eye doctor (who are in demand and can travel beyond the wall) . (And of course book Marcus has freed Esca before they cross the wall, asking him to come with him as a friend, which again, less suicidal.) And don't get me started on Marcus at one point being too ill to go further and seemingly just a day later fit enough to take part in a battle that has him, Esca and five or so old legionaries defeat an entire tribe. This makes said tribe, hitherto assumed to be ferocious fighters, look worse than Star Wars storm troopers in their ability to hit something. In concusion: disengage brain, enjoy the slash trope, then the movie works.
Also thanks to Netflix, I realised that I was thinking of the wrong Clone Wars all these years when people, even prequel haters, praised the tv show and I was slightly surprised, because I had bought a dvd featuring really badly drawn cartoons with non stop battle sequences and no character stuff, and had been disappointed, so had not looked further. Turns out the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series which got so much (deserved) praise was instead this really amazing computer animation thing which does unite character development with action. I'm one and a half season in (an episode takes less than half an hour) and definitely in love. In addition to fleshing out the characters established by the movies, the series adds more and sets me up for (welcome) heartbreak by individualizing the Clones (Rex!) and above all with Ashoka and the Anakin-Ashoka relationship. Which is and isn't like an older brother-younger sister one (though you can also occasionally catch a glimpse of what Anakin would have been like with Leia had he never fallen). The series has a good sense of humor, too; the episode in which Dooku, Obi-Wan and Anakin have managed to get themselves all captured by greedy pirates and are forced to work together in order to escape had me in stitches a lot. Another aspect: because make up for actors isn't an issue in this format, the show can use a lot non-human characters. In fact, most of the regular Jedi with lines and personalities other than Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Anakin aren't human, and that pleases me. Forever an alien fan, that's yours truly.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1136554.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Also thanks to Netflix, I realised that I was thinking of the wrong Clone Wars all these years when people, even prequel haters, praised the tv show and I was slightly surprised, because I had bought a dvd featuring really badly drawn cartoons with non stop battle sequences and no character stuff, and had been disappointed, so had not looked further. Turns out the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series which got so much (deserved) praise was instead this really amazing computer animation thing which does unite character development with action. I'm one and a half season in (an episode takes less than half an hour) and definitely in love. In addition to fleshing out the characters established by the movies, the series adds more and sets me up for (welcome) heartbreak by individualizing the Clones (Rex!) and above all with Ashoka and the Anakin-Ashoka relationship. Which is and isn't like an older brother-younger sister one (though you can also occasionally catch a glimpse of what Anakin would have been like with Leia had he never fallen). The series has a good sense of humor, too; the episode in which Dooku, Obi-Wan and Anakin have managed to get themselves all captured by greedy pirates and are forced to work together in order to escape had me in stitches a lot. Another aspect: because make up for actors isn't an issue in this format, the show can use a lot non-human characters. In fact, most of the regular Jedi with lines and personalities other than Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Anakin aren't human, and that pleases me. Forever an alien fan, that's yours truly.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1136554.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.