NosCustodimus
Joined Nov 2018
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Ratings1.1K
NosCustodimus's rating
Reviews16
NosCustodimus's rating
TLDR ~ Seems meant for kids and non-Star Wars fans. Others need not worry about missing anything important in-universe by skipping it.
GOOD: It has kids center stage, toy/merch opportunities, bright colors, flashing lights, and non-stop child-led adventures with zero consequences are all things the target demo (children) should enjoy. The cast is ok for child actors. I've seen much worse.
NOT SO GOOD: A kids show in the Star Wars universe could have been decent. This isn't that. This is your average, run of the mill, paint by numbers kids show with a Disney Star Wars skin. It even has Urkel and Merida in it! There's so little originality that its influences (Goonies, Peter Pan, etc.) were identified by multiple people after the first two episodes. There's scenes directly lifted from much better media (Charlie Sheen's police station scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Harry Potter's spider scene, etc). The kids are shouty (as kids are) and their plot armor is thick, making it often difficult to keep watching by those outside the target demo.
NOTES: When people say they "don't like Star Wars, but they like Skeleton Crew," they are telling you everything you need to know about how far this is from being a Star Wars show. Anyone claiming this would never happen on George Lucas's watch either seems to have blocked out the Lucas-written Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor, both of which are objectively terrible but very enjoyable for me as a child when I had no idea what was "good" or "bad" and didn't really care. They had Ewoks. That's all that mattered to me. I suspect this will have similar vibes. I mean, who cares about a lack of originality if you're too young to have seen it done the first 10-20 times?
GOOD: It has kids center stage, toy/merch opportunities, bright colors, flashing lights, and non-stop child-led adventures with zero consequences are all things the target demo (children) should enjoy. The cast is ok for child actors. I've seen much worse.
NOT SO GOOD: A kids show in the Star Wars universe could have been decent. This isn't that. This is your average, run of the mill, paint by numbers kids show with a Disney Star Wars skin. It even has Urkel and Merida in it! There's so little originality that its influences (Goonies, Peter Pan, etc.) were identified by multiple people after the first two episodes. There's scenes directly lifted from much better media (Charlie Sheen's police station scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Harry Potter's spider scene, etc). The kids are shouty (as kids are) and their plot armor is thick, making it often difficult to keep watching by those outside the target demo.
NOTES: When people say they "don't like Star Wars, but they like Skeleton Crew," they are telling you everything you need to know about how far this is from being a Star Wars show. Anyone claiming this would never happen on George Lucas's watch either seems to have blocked out the Lucas-written Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor, both of which are objectively terrible but very enjoyable for me as a child when I had no idea what was "good" or "bad" and didn't really care. They had Ewoks. That's all that mattered to me. I suspect this will have similar vibes. I mean, who cares about a lack of originality if you're too young to have seen it done the first 10-20 times?
TLDR ~ I liked Kingdom but still feel as though it was at least an hour too long and didn't entirely fulfill its purpose. As the first chapter of a new trilogy, one can only hope later chapters pay off what this one started to establish.
Even with 2.5 hrs(!) of runtime, Kingdom struggled to fully flesh out all the new characters and concepts it introduced. Obviously, it is possible for them to revist storylines in later chapters, but in this film, they were either glossed over or semi-throwaway concepts used for cool scenery. A few attempts at humor came off juvenile and unnecessary, while early character traits prove illogical as the story progresses.
That said, the film is stunning to look at, which CGI blending very well with practical elements. Landmarks and locations are the perfect mix of distorted by war, wear and tear over time, being recaptured by nature, etc yet familiar enough to recognize at a glance where the film takes place. Script is OK, even when it feels like it either cribbed off other films or the characters are doing so on their own... Does that mean (that film) is in the same universe?! Oooh, now that's a film we need to see!
First chapters in a soft reboot are tough. You have to pay homage to the original story without being able to fully tap into what made it great. In Dawn, Rise, and War, we were able to follow an important character, care for them, and watch that character develop as the stakes continue to increase. Kingdom attempts to raise the stakes before we fully know or care what's happening. Maybe this will pay off in 4-5 years, but walking out of the theather today, I didn't get the same sense of resolution after every film that I felt from the first 8 (even the ones that were decidedly worse films).
Verdict: Enjoyable, but catch a matinee or just wait to watch it at home.
Even with 2.5 hrs(!) of runtime, Kingdom struggled to fully flesh out all the new characters and concepts it introduced. Obviously, it is possible for them to revist storylines in later chapters, but in this film, they were either glossed over or semi-throwaway concepts used for cool scenery. A few attempts at humor came off juvenile and unnecessary, while early character traits prove illogical as the story progresses.
That said, the film is stunning to look at, which CGI blending very well with practical elements. Landmarks and locations are the perfect mix of distorted by war, wear and tear over time, being recaptured by nature, etc yet familiar enough to recognize at a glance where the film takes place. Script is OK, even when it feels like it either cribbed off other films or the characters are doing so on their own... Does that mean (that film) is in the same universe?! Oooh, now that's a film we need to see!
First chapters in a soft reboot are tough. You have to pay homage to the original story without being able to fully tap into what made it great. In Dawn, Rise, and War, we were able to follow an important character, care for them, and watch that character develop as the stakes continue to increase. Kingdom attempts to raise the stakes before we fully know or care what's happening. Maybe this will pay off in 4-5 years, but walking out of the theather today, I didn't get the same sense of resolution after every film that I felt from the first 8 (even the ones that were decidedly worse films).
Verdict: Enjoyable, but catch a matinee or just wait to watch it at home.
Meshing multiple genres (fantasy, mystery, and claustraphobic/ trapped in a house thriller), Abigail presents elements of M3gan (2022), Saw II (2005), The Usual Suspects (1995), and Clue (1985). Sadly, if you've seen the trailer or even the movie's poster, most of the mystery is already revealed, rendering much of the first half of the film irrelevant.
It's a decent movie that deserved better from its marketing department. Cinematogrphy is decent, make-up is good, lighting matches the tone, they didn't go overboard with CGI, and acting is just cheezy enough to land the jokes without going too over the top. Pop some popcorn, turn your brain off, and suspend your disbelief for a couple hours.
It's a decent movie that deserved better from its marketing department. Cinematogrphy is decent, make-up is good, lighting matches the tone, they didn't go overboard with CGI, and acting is just cheezy enough to land the jokes without going too over the top. Pop some popcorn, turn your brain off, and suspend your disbelief for a couple hours.