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All posts for the month December, 2023

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom

Posted by cat2002116 on December 23, 2023
Posted in: Fantasy, Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I watched the first Aquaman movie when it came out, so when I saw the second one advertised, I was immediately interested in going to see it.

I really enjoyed this movie. I particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur interacting with his son, and how he reacted to seeing Arthur Junior having the same abilities as him. It was a really sweet moment when he talked about how much he wished he had someone to talk to when his own abilities had started. Though, to be honest, I did question how a baby would handle those kinds of abilities…and part of me was worried that something bad was going to happen to the fish tank, like the fish would end up getting out or something.

My favourite parts of this movie were definitely the interactions between Arthur and Orm. The previous Aquaman movie had ended with Arthur obviously regretful over not being able to have a good relationship with his brother…and it was a lot of fun to see how they worked together. Although, I have to say that I thought Arthur was pretty mean when he encouraged Orm to eat a cockroach! It was sweet how Orm just trusted him, but…come on! (Unless Aquaman really does eat cockroaches and I’m just misremembering, but….)

I do think it would have been nice to see a bit more of some of the other Justice League members in this movie. Even if they’d just appeared briefly as cameos, I think it would have been good to see them…especially as I don’t know which universe this movie is supposed to take place in, given the mess that the Flash caused in his movie.

I did like the reappearance of the Black Manta as one of the main antagonists, since he was one of the antagonists in the previous movie, and it made a lot of sense that he still wants to kill Arthur. Besides, the common foe made even more sense for Arthur and Orm to be working together. I would have liked a bit more detail about how the others had joined the Black Manta, though. Especially Stingray. I was really interested in knowing what her whole deal was. I did like learning about Doctor Singh’s fascination with Atlantis…and how he never actually intended to hurt anyone from Atlantis and just wanted to see it. I was happy that he had the chance to actually see Atlantis.

On the whole, I did really enjoy this movie. I liked seeing Arthur’s relationship with his parents and with his son…and I really liked being able to see Orm and Arthur actually working together. Plus, it was incredibly sweet that he and Arthur came from such very different worlds and Orm was learning about the surface world from his older brother. This is definitely a film I would love to watch again!

Wonka

Posted by cat2002116 on December 17, 2023
Posted in: Family, Fantasy, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I did watch the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…and I even got to watch it with the actress who played Veruca Salt a couple of years ago, which was a lot of fun. So when I saw this prequel movie advertised, I was definitely interested in watching it.

I did feel that Willy Wonka wasn’t quite as…crazy as he appeared in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes, this was a prequel movie, but it was kind of hard to imagine this version of Willy Wonka progressing to a point where he was the version portrayed by Gene Wilder. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie…but there’d have to be a lot more between this one and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to see Willy Wonka’s progression.

I did enjoy the nods to the original movie, with Slugworth and some of the songs. It was interesting to see how much chocolate had corrupted Slugworth and his friends, to the point of them being considered a cartel. And I really did like seeing three of the Horrible Histories actors in this movie, as they’re a lot of fun in other things I’ve seen them in…and this was no exception.

I really did enjoy the friendship that developed between Wonka and Noodle and the way she helped him learn to read, while he helped her to dream of a better life. It was also really good to see some of Wonka’s history, particularly with his previous relationship with his mother and how that affected him in the present. I also enjoyed seeing the original appearance of the Oompa Loompa, although it was a shame not to see more than one properly. In the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it’s indicated that Wonka saved the Oompa Loompas…but again, that seems to be something that needs to be explored in a further continuation of the canon.

I will say that the evil characters in this movie were very obviously evil. There was no subtlety or attempt to hide who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. On the one hand, it made it easy to root for the good guys. On the other, I find villains with a bit more depth to be more interesting.

I did enjoy the songs in this movie, both old and new ones. And I definitely enjoyed the different types of chocolate and the ingredients Wonka came up with. On the whole, I definitely enjoyed watching this movie. I do think that there’s more of Willy Wonka’s story that could be explored, especially as Slugworth had to crop up at some point again to become Wonka’s competitor.

If you enjoyed the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, I would think you’d probably enjoy this one. It’s not a perfect movie, but it is a nice addition to the franchise and I found it an entertaining movie.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast

Posted by cat2002116 on December 7, 2023
Posted in: Reviews, Science Fiction, Television. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’ve watched bits and pieces of the new Doctor Who series. I watched all of Christopher Eccleston’s run…and most of David Tennant’s. I didn’t watch much of Matt Smith’s and only saw a few episodes with Peter Capaldi in. And I didn’t see any of Jodie Whittaker’s run. But since this special had the return of both David Tennant, along with Donna…who was a much better character than I initially thought she’d be…I decided I wanted to watch the new special.

It was a bit confusing to see the return of David Tennant as the Doctor, despite it being hinted at back in the anniversary special with a comment about revisiting ‘the old favourites’. I was really happy to see a reappearance of Donna, though. She was one of my favourite companions in the new Doctor Who series and had such a heartbreaking ending…so it was really awesome to see her make an appearance again, complete with her husband and daughter.

I loved the relationship between Donna and Rose, and her easy acceptance of her daughter. I also really liked the fact that Wilf was still alive in the universe, despite the actor having passed away. Given the relationship that formed between David Tennant’s Doctor and Donna’s grandfather, I thought it was really good that he was still around, albeit in more shared housing.

I thought it was really interesting to see that Donna forgetting everything also apparently included her being blind to everything going on…even though she knew she’d lost her memory, and her mother seemed to be doing her best to ‘help’ that forgetting along.

I do have to be honest that I didn’t trust the Meep from its very first appearance. I can’t deny that the alien was really very cute, though, even as I distrusted it.

Anyway, I really liked being able to see Donna and the Doctor meeting up again…and I especially liked seeing Donna’s family, with her husband and her daughter. There were a lot of emotions raised from watching this episode…and while I haven’t been watching the more recent series of Doctor Who, I’m interested in seeing how things go after the cliffhanger of this episode.