jmunter-11815
Joined May 2019
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Reviews27
jmunter-11815's rating
I loved Willy Wonka growing up, and there's no denying I had both high hopes and high expectations coming into this movie. I'm pleased to say they were met, and exceeded in places. The feeling I got watching this was nothing short of childlike wonder and joy. Truly a movie for all ages
Let's start with the minor complaints. The main issue being a common issue with movies these days; the CGI is really spotty. It's never awful, but you can clearly tell there's room for improvement all over the place. It's passable but it won't take long to become dated, which is the most disappointing thing to be normalized in Hollywood. In addition, much of Wonka's music is really repetitive, especially that which features the title character. A little more variety would've gone a long way in making this a truly special soundtrack, similar to it's predecessor
The issues stop there for me. The movie is brilliantly directed, wonderfully written, beautifully acted, and comes together like a whacky well oiled machine from Wonka's factory. The characters are fun to follow, the candy is creative, and the conflict is perfect for a story aimed at both kids and adults. The music, while repetitive, is so good. It doesn't try to be a duplicate of the music in the original film, but is clearly inspired by it. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes popular on my Spotify account soon
As for the main man himself, Timothy C crushes it! He captures the joyful charisma of Gene Wilder without completely copying his performance, perfect for a young enthusiastic boy that grew into nothing short of a genius. With little nods and references to the original movie, but never stepping over the line into nostalgia bait
It's been a while since a musical movie was made this well, and I hope someday to see this on a broadway stage. Everything about it oozes with the magic of the theater through the lens of a camera, and I couldn't get enough of it. It brought me back to my high school days of being on stage
To create a good Willy Wonka story, one has to capture the magic we know it for. Once that was brought into the movie, everything else followed. It's a breath of fresh air to see something so near and dear to my heart be treated with the respect and recognition I would hope for. There's something in here for all dreamers young and old, which we seldom see in the overuse of sequels and reboots today. Wonka reminded us that we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream.
Let's start with the minor complaints. The main issue being a common issue with movies these days; the CGI is really spotty. It's never awful, but you can clearly tell there's room for improvement all over the place. It's passable but it won't take long to become dated, which is the most disappointing thing to be normalized in Hollywood. In addition, much of Wonka's music is really repetitive, especially that which features the title character. A little more variety would've gone a long way in making this a truly special soundtrack, similar to it's predecessor
The issues stop there for me. The movie is brilliantly directed, wonderfully written, beautifully acted, and comes together like a whacky well oiled machine from Wonka's factory. The characters are fun to follow, the candy is creative, and the conflict is perfect for a story aimed at both kids and adults. The music, while repetitive, is so good. It doesn't try to be a duplicate of the music in the original film, but is clearly inspired by it. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes popular on my Spotify account soon
As for the main man himself, Timothy C crushes it! He captures the joyful charisma of Gene Wilder without completely copying his performance, perfect for a young enthusiastic boy that grew into nothing short of a genius. With little nods and references to the original movie, but never stepping over the line into nostalgia bait
It's been a while since a musical movie was made this well, and I hope someday to see this on a broadway stage. Everything about it oozes with the magic of the theater through the lens of a camera, and I couldn't get enough of it. It brought me back to my high school days of being on stage
To create a good Willy Wonka story, one has to capture the magic we know it for. Once that was brought into the movie, everything else followed. It's a breath of fresh air to see something so near and dear to my heart be treated with the respect and recognition I would hope for. There's something in here for all dreamers young and old, which we seldom see in the overuse of sequels and reboots today. Wonka reminded us that we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream.
I originally wanted to give this 7/10, but I decided to add an extra one on account of I'm surprised this hasn't been that well received. Which is a shame because I think this is the best series Marvel's made since Daredevil
I won't pretend to be an expert of native culture, but this seemed to be faithful and celebratory of indigenous traditions which paired well with the mature nature of the characters and conflict. Ten story was gripping, the pacing was solid, the tension wasn't biting off more than it could chew, the characters were fun to follow, and everything seemed to fit pretty well together for me
I'll start with my minor complaints since there's only a few. Namely, the first episode set up a far different setting than the series would be focusing on. Yes it was essential backstory and context, but with how strong the story was while Maya is in New York, that's likely what most viewers would've preferred. To switch from such a grand setting to a much more subtle location I think does it a bit of disservice
Also, if I'm being objective it's a bit anticlimactic. Without going into too many spoilers, the final episode felt less like a climax and more like a safe wrap up. It matched the series, but didn't push any boundaries or bring the tension to a head. I've seen far worse endings, but I have a feeling the writers could've done a bit better
Other than that, super enjoyable! Maya is a fantastic protagonist, and it's cool to see unique characteristics in someone you don't normally see in marvel heroes, and I'm not just talking disability. She's reserved, closed off, cold, and trying to walk the line between protecting what and who she cares about and staying away from her old life she left behind. It's refreshing to see that when Marvel became formulaic
The supporting characters are solid too, and I can't think of a single one I didn't like. Everyone had a purpose, each had a story of their own that made them unique, and everyone was essential in Maya's journey. As much as I hate to pick a favorite, as a daredevil fan it's hard not to gush at how well Kingpin fit into everything. We've seen him act with no restraint, and now we see where he draws the line with people he loves
Also back to complaints quick, Fisk was a solid antagonist but his goons were kinda cartoony at times
This is a series that focuses mostly on the characters rather than anything larger than life, and that's why I think it's so special. Echo isn't as widely known as Black Widow or Captain Marvel, which works to her advantage by receiving the permission to allow less to be more. It's not focused on cgi fights, setups to other projects, or the multiverse, it's focused on the story it's created by, for, and nothing more
I'm excited to see what happens next with Maya, and have regained some of my faith in the MCU.
I won't pretend to be an expert of native culture, but this seemed to be faithful and celebratory of indigenous traditions which paired well with the mature nature of the characters and conflict. Ten story was gripping, the pacing was solid, the tension wasn't biting off more than it could chew, the characters were fun to follow, and everything seemed to fit pretty well together for me
I'll start with my minor complaints since there's only a few. Namely, the first episode set up a far different setting than the series would be focusing on. Yes it was essential backstory and context, but with how strong the story was while Maya is in New York, that's likely what most viewers would've preferred. To switch from such a grand setting to a much more subtle location I think does it a bit of disservice
Also, if I'm being objective it's a bit anticlimactic. Without going into too many spoilers, the final episode felt less like a climax and more like a safe wrap up. It matched the series, but didn't push any boundaries or bring the tension to a head. I've seen far worse endings, but I have a feeling the writers could've done a bit better
Other than that, super enjoyable! Maya is a fantastic protagonist, and it's cool to see unique characteristics in someone you don't normally see in marvel heroes, and I'm not just talking disability. She's reserved, closed off, cold, and trying to walk the line between protecting what and who she cares about and staying away from her old life she left behind. It's refreshing to see that when Marvel became formulaic
The supporting characters are solid too, and I can't think of a single one I didn't like. Everyone had a purpose, each had a story of their own that made them unique, and everyone was essential in Maya's journey. As much as I hate to pick a favorite, as a daredevil fan it's hard not to gush at how well Kingpin fit into everything. We've seen him act with no restraint, and now we see where he draws the line with people he loves
Also back to complaints quick, Fisk was a solid antagonist but his goons were kinda cartoony at times
This is a series that focuses mostly on the characters rather than anything larger than life, and that's why I think it's so special. Echo isn't as widely known as Black Widow or Captain Marvel, which works to her advantage by receiving the permission to allow less to be more. It's not focused on cgi fights, setups to other projects, or the multiverse, it's focused on the story it's created by, for, and nothing more
I'm excited to see what happens next with Maya, and have regained some of my faith in the MCU.
Setting aside one's animosity towards Ezra Miller, this movie worked in the ways we've been hearing it was, but there's some heavy asterisks to that.
Let's start with the good. This movie is really exciting and very well paced. Ezra does a wonderful job working off his younger self, and interacting with the rest of the ensemble. I was worried he would be shadowed in his own movie by everyone else brought in for fan service, but I'm pleased to say everything fit together like a well oiled machine. Don't like the man, but credit where it's due
Speaking of the rest of the cast, everyone works well where they're placed even if they may be a little under utilized at times. It was wonderful to see Affleck return as Batman, Michael Shannon brought his perfect villainy back to Zod, and Sasha Calle was a great supergirl I hope to see lots more of. But of course, we all knew who the big gun was gonna be...Michael Keaton never lost his touch with Batman. Stole every scene he was in, and seeing him mop the floor with baddies never gets old. I'm very excited to watch his scenes over and over again when they're available on streaming
Worth noting as well, the movie's humor definitely landed for me. Everyone's comedic timing is right on, the callbacks and references are utilized well with the jokes, and it was good to see it never compromised any of the dramatic moments as we've seen so many times before. There's some stragglers here and there, but I knew it was gonna be good with one of the first visual gags in the movie
Ok, so what was bad about the movie? Well as it's been said many times before, the CGI really falls short at times. To be fair, it worked well for the majority of the film in my opinion, but when it was bad it was BAD. It was distracting, and definitely pulls you out of the immersion. I can forgive bits and pieces since I know one day all CGI will look dated, but the filmmakers have come out defending it as a creative decision to show how the flash views the world in the speed force. Fair enough, but it probably should've either been polished up or just straight up scrapped
This movie also is clearly reliant on fan service and nostalgia, which isn't inherently a bad thing if you know how to walk the line. I would argue they do it well for about 80-95% of the movie, but when they overplay their hand, it definitely shows. For those that saw SpiderMan: No way home, imagine if that's where the line should be drawn on fan service reliance, now take two big steps over that line and you've got this movie
But here's my biggest problem in the movie, which does get into minor spoilers so be warned. I'm of the mindset that revival of old characters through people who have since passed is not a bad thing, if you're willing to put in the work to be respectful to their portrayal. This movie does feature some of that, and it's that with that atrocious CGI I talked about. It's in bad taste to try and pay homage to someone but make them look like a melting Barbie doll. This movie could've had an extra star from me without that, but this is what they chose at the end of the day
So overall, the movie was a fun DC movie I would easily say is some of the best we've had in a while I'd be happy to watch again, flawed though it is. If this is where worlds collide, I'm happy to say this is where some of the greats came together.
Let's start with the good. This movie is really exciting and very well paced. Ezra does a wonderful job working off his younger self, and interacting with the rest of the ensemble. I was worried he would be shadowed in his own movie by everyone else brought in for fan service, but I'm pleased to say everything fit together like a well oiled machine. Don't like the man, but credit where it's due
Speaking of the rest of the cast, everyone works well where they're placed even if they may be a little under utilized at times. It was wonderful to see Affleck return as Batman, Michael Shannon brought his perfect villainy back to Zod, and Sasha Calle was a great supergirl I hope to see lots more of. But of course, we all knew who the big gun was gonna be...Michael Keaton never lost his touch with Batman. Stole every scene he was in, and seeing him mop the floor with baddies never gets old. I'm very excited to watch his scenes over and over again when they're available on streaming
Worth noting as well, the movie's humor definitely landed for me. Everyone's comedic timing is right on, the callbacks and references are utilized well with the jokes, and it was good to see it never compromised any of the dramatic moments as we've seen so many times before. There's some stragglers here and there, but I knew it was gonna be good with one of the first visual gags in the movie
Ok, so what was bad about the movie? Well as it's been said many times before, the CGI really falls short at times. To be fair, it worked well for the majority of the film in my opinion, but when it was bad it was BAD. It was distracting, and definitely pulls you out of the immersion. I can forgive bits and pieces since I know one day all CGI will look dated, but the filmmakers have come out defending it as a creative decision to show how the flash views the world in the speed force. Fair enough, but it probably should've either been polished up or just straight up scrapped
This movie also is clearly reliant on fan service and nostalgia, which isn't inherently a bad thing if you know how to walk the line. I would argue they do it well for about 80-95% of the movie, but when they overplay their hand, it definitely shows. For those that saw SpiderMan: No way home, imagine if that's where the line should be drawn on fan service reliance, now take two big steps over that line and you've got this movie
But here's my biggest problem in the movie, which does get into minor spoilers so be warned. I'm of the mindset that revival of old characters through people who have since passed is not a bad thing, if you're willing to put in the work to be respectful to their portrayal. This movie does feature some of that, and it's that with that atrocious CGI I talked about. It's in bad taste to try and pay homage to someone but make them look like a melting Barbie doll. This movie could've had an extra star from me without that, but this is what they chose at the end of the day
So overall, the movie was a fun DC movie I would easily say is some of the best we've had in a while I'd be happy to watch again, flawed though it is. If this is where worlds collide, I'm happy to say this is where some of the greats came together.