Madison Moore

3/10 I was really disappointed with this movie. It felt not only uninspired, but like a shameless cash-grab banking on the nostalgia of fans. Spoiler warning: I wasn’t a diehard fan of the original, but even I could tell they decimated the franchise. Pros: The neighbor kid being evil, while predictable, was well achieved. The step-mother’s actress killed it. The costumes were also well done. Cons: There were like three plots taking place at once. The “ex-wife” villain was completely irrelevant to the plot, and could have easily been cut out if run-time padding wasn’t the studio’s biggest priority. The story felt half-baked and had easy plot holes. They also completely changed Lydia’s character. They also added in irrelevant characters like the gold digger boyfriend, deceased father, and the deceased grandfather (all of whom had zero plot relevance).

Just now stumbled on this gem. The acting is top notch from the whole cast and the two seasons feel extremely cohesive in narrative. The soundtrack is so well done as well as camera angles. I just can’t say enough about the performances of Aziraphale and Crowley either! If you’re anything like me, you’ll absolutely fall in love. I can’t wait for season 3 (the obsession is real)! (11/10!)

This was truly the best movie of 2023. The musical score was so on point and the set and animatronics felt so real. It was so neat to see the games brought to life. It didn’t give completely canonical lore, but, it summed up the franchise pretty well. So glad that Scot worked on this one personally as his last project. I also loved Matpat’s cameo!

Best movie I’ve seen in a while. The production quality was good and the script was well thought out. My whole family enjoyed it for the casting and story it added to the preexisting movies. Loved Wonka’s character so much; my biggest concern was that they were going to make him into this super soft, overly lovable guy. However, they made him a likable character while giving him eccentric quirks which I adored. His actor was fantastic and had a wonderful presence. For the lower star reviews saying that this is a children’s movie, you don’t have the capability to feel wonder from a film.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have gone to see this movie had it not been what my group was planning to get together and do. I think that what it ultimately boils down to, not the movie itself, but what Disney as a corporation has become. Unable to foster the imagination of old Disney, the company falls back on overused tropes. Such a trope that really irked my was the main character, Asha, being adorkable/“quirky”. The reason was it was beloved in past Disney movies like Frozen, for example, was because it fit the nature of the characters. Anna was overly friendly and enthusiastic as she had never been out formally for most of her life. This led to her being clumsy often. However, this makes no sense for Asha. She has no real reason to act this way other than to be “relatable” which was never the reason this type of character was successful anyways. It was also disheartening to see the goat and the star mainly functioning in the story as cute side characters to be made into marketable plushies. It would surprise me to find that the songs were made by AI, but, it would surprise me more if they weren’t. Not only were these strange lyrics obvious, but off putting to hear from a film that was supposed to be a celebration of Disney’s 100. It felt like the first Disney’s kids movie and not a movie for all.