Coco (2018)

Miguel’s family have a very different view on a career as a musician compared to him. He dreams of becoming a star, and perusing his dream to be a musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. He disobeys his family, and enters a talent competition. Miguel end up finding himself in the Land of the Dead. After meeting Héctor, who agrees to help him do what he needs to, in order to get home. The two of them start their journey, and start to discover the true history of Miguel’s family.

This film is stunning. It is a beautiful new addition to the Disney Pixar universe. The characters are so different to previous Disney films, and it was so refreshing to watch. Of course, there are always going to be some similarities in an animated film, but this one managed to stand out from the crowd.

Visually, this film is beautiful. There is definitely serious attention paid to detail in this film, this was down to the little things like the strings of a guitar, the bridge of marigolds, the intricate details like the bones of a skeleton, to the widepan views of the land of the dead, or the village that Miguel lived in. They got the visuals spot on, and even if you thought the story was crap (which would be difficult), you’d be hooked because of the fact that it is so visually appealing.

Another thing about Coco that got me, was that it was even more appealing because Disney really embraced the darker side of the world. They tackled the topic of death, but still kept it light, and enjoyable – because after all this is a kids film. This film manages to pack in an interesting, and tense adventure, yet manages to keep the moving story with such an important message in it.

The characters were what got me the most. It was paced well enough that the audience is given a chance to connect with more characters that just the main characters. We had moments of being able to empathise with characters, who were all in different situations.

                                         

The original score for this film was of course, going to be great, its Disney, of course the score would be great. Don’t get me wrong ‘Remember Me’ is no ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King’, but it’s catchy, and I imagine kids all over the world are singing together.

It feels like there isn’t enough to say about this film, considering how good it was, but it is definitely worth the watch.

Stunning, fun, film. It’s funny without being bad, it’s happy, and emotional but without making you cringe, or roll your eyes. It will probably make you cry, but I’m not sure if it’s a sad cry, or a happy cry.

7/10

CINEMATES - S

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

I just don’t know how I feel. 

I am certain that needing to see a film twice just to get a firm opinion means it wasn’t great, especially when you don’t feel much different after the second time of watching it.

SO, the story – in case you aren’t aware. Rey has discovered she has abilities, and now that she has found Luke Skywalker, she is able to begin training to develop her skills. She is also battling the relationship she has with Kylo Ren, who appears to be getting stronger under the rule of Supreme Leader Snoke. Meanwhile, the Resistance are preparing for battle with the First order, and Finn, Rose and Poe are doing everything they can to make sure everyone in the Resistance survives, alongside Princess Leia.

Do you want the actual plot now? The plot that does not use any words from the Star Wars universe, that make The Last Jedi sound like it’s going to be a SICK film… One ship follows the other at close proximity, but never quite catches up. Two people try and find a man who can help them but they dick around doing it, while one other person uses the force to talk to another person, and has wet hair a lot.

I really don’t want to be the one that won’t let it go that Disney have ruined Star Wars, and it because of this - doesn’t make sense that this film especially, has been getting such high ratings. But I am going to have to be that one person still, because Disney have ruined Star Wars, and the internet does not make sense in relation to this film

I’m going to put aside all the issues I have with this film, because I am a fan of the extended universe. I have wasted hours of my life reading the books, comics, all the pieces of the internet I never thought existed, and it is painful to watch anything to doesn’t run alongside this perfectly. There are issues with this as a Star Wars film yes, like technicalities. For example – Snoke should be a true Sith, so therefore a) his eyes should be a different colour, and b) he 100% would not die how he did. Next up, why on earth did Maz show up? ALSO, someone explain the lack of consistency with Luke’s lightsabers? Lastly, when are Rey and Ben going to realise that their names are wrong, and they are brother and sister so that this shitshow can start to make some logical sense…?

Ignoring all of that though, it was a bad film. Forget that it is Star Wars, just for a minute and think about how disjointed this film was! There was no consistency in the plot. We skipped from different perspectives CONSTANTLY, which was at times frustrating, because a moving ship is not a good transition when you’ve already used it 3 times in a row. For what could be considered an action film, the action was honestly, appalling. Tell me a time that we had one good battle, this didn’t make you feel dizzy. Similarly, the effects in The Last Jedi this weren’t fantastic, the action and the effects together were on occasion extremely messy, and these things made the film seem so much longer the second-time round. The pacing was just so off, we spend ages doing one thing that was really not interesting, which meant there were certain points that lacked attention – such as, the fight scenes.

On a positive note. The score was great. It really redeemed this slightly catastrophic film. It is not only something needed to set the mood, but where there are 2 different ‘settings’ its necessary, just so that you know where you are in the universe. Especially in a plot hole filled film.

I do, however, have some problems with the cast. I am going no further with members of the original cast that – Mark Hamill sucks. But I have extremely warmed to Adam Driver. I really think he is doing a great job as Kylo Ren now, and we are really getting both sides of him. There are occasions when he is a whiney baby, but that’s more just a character fault, than something that is Adam Driver’s problem. He’s doing it well is what I’m trying to say, and he’s made me crave more Kylo Ren on screen. I’ve never been a fan of Rey, or Daisy Ridley, (sorry internet) so for now, I still nothing our new Jedi. Do I need to say much about John Boyega? He’s John Boyega, he’s great at what he does, and he again, plays a character with flaws very well. I don’t care all that much for Finn, but he’s doing his thing and it’s not horrible to watch.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as bad as The Force Awakens, and I am not just being bitter because this was another Star Wars Film, that was not a great Star Wars film. I genuinely believe there were a lot of faults in this as an actual film. If I wasn’t a Star Wars fan, I believe I would still find this problematic. I was positive I would rate this film lowly before I even saw it, but I just don’t understand how the average person, Star Wars fan or not, can watch this film and not leave with questions.

I sincerely hope this gets cleared up in the spin-offs, because watching it twice in the cinema has not done anything to change my opinion. As it stands… I still just don’t know how I feel.

Good luck with the Carrie Fisher CGI Disney. I hope you do it well.

4/10

CINEMATES - S

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