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Reviews
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Surprisingly good fantasy
I was initially disgusted when I heard that Snow White was going to be re-imagined as some sort of Lord of the Rings-esque action epic. I mean, it's Snow White, the gentlest of them all. And when I heard Kristen Stewart was playing Snow White, I almost threw up. I'm not really a fan of Twilight.
But my sister convinced me to go see it. So I went and was pleasantly surprised. I liked it. No, SWatH isn't going to win any awards, and maybe Kristen Stewart isn't an incredible actress. But she did just fine. I know KStew is the biggest problem most people have with this movie, but honestly, I don't know what they expected from this character. It's supposedly a more realistic adaptation of the fairytale. Considering that Snow's been imprisoned all her life, I don't think she'd be all jokes and smiles; she probably wouldn't even be accustomed to carrying on long conversations. Isolation will do that to you. She's had a grim and scarring past, and KStew plays a serious, scarred young woman who only occasionally shows off her more unguarded side. And KStew does it just fine. I was less impressed with Theron's acting and her poor accent. I felt like she overplayed her character. Hemsworth's and Claflin's acting, however, was spot-on.
The plot is sort of meandering. Personally, it didn't bother me. I guess that's because I've read so many fairy tales and fantasy stories that do meander. A lot of the time it comes with the territory. It will bother some people though. It's just a matter of taste.
The visuals are absolutely gorgeous. It is one of the prettiest movies I've seen. Yes, the style borrows heavily from LotR. But it puts its own twist on it, and it's so pretty I have to forgive it. The LotR influence carries over to music, to much the same effect. Again, it's well done enough that it doesn't bother me. "Gone" sung by Ionna Gika is chillingly beautiful and used tastefully in the context of the movie.
Overall, it is not a good adaptation of Snow White. It barely has the elements of the Snow White fairytale. It's not intellectual movie-making, and it won't stand the test of time. But if you watch it for what it is (an entertaining and visually stunning film), you may just find that you enjoy it.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Beach (2007)
The Worst Avatar Episode (I hope)
Watching "The Beach" made me feel like I was back in time 7 years ago, watching a dumb My Scene beach bash movie (without the annoyingly memorable song). I've been giving the Avatar TV series a try, and I can say that I've gotten some enjoyment out of my pains. But this episode made me forget all the good episodes. It was like the writers decided to take a day off and asked Nickelodeon watchers to come up with the funniest episode they could think of and then vote on the best one. The basic "plot" of The Beach is that Azula and her gang with Zuko are exiled for a few days to Ember Island, where they try to enjoy themselves. The girls all flirt, Mai and Zuko kiss way too many times (further emphasising the lack of plot), Zuko decides he's emo, and they all discover they don't fit in. So they have a rant fest on the beach, which is obviously supposed to flesh out these villains. In the case of Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula, it almost works. In Zuko's case, it makes him more unlikeable than he's been since Book 1. After their therapy session, they decide that it would help them all to bond if they went and broke up a party. Literally. So, they go and burn and break and bond. And we're supposed to like them better from this episode.
In Book 2, I thought Cave of the Two Lovers was the worst possible Avatar chapter. But the mindlessness of "The Beach" trumps even the overload of poorly written hippie songs and the most contrived kiss I've ever seen. I sincerely hope there's no chapter worse than "The Beach" yet to come.