Elizabeth Gardner

This is one of my favorite movies. If you are looking for a fast-paced "serious" science fiction movie, then this may not be for you. It is an old-style fairy tale, a fable, set in the real world. It is nonsensical as many children stories are. In fact, this is actually a story he would tell his kids at bedtime. It has a scary edge. I mention this because that was the sole reason one of my friends didn't like it and just turned it off. The wolves scared her too much and she isn't into scary or fantasy movies. However, if you like movies that take their time and use symbolism, deeper messages, etc... then you may love it. It is all this with an assortment of quirky characters and beautiful cinematography. I think the reason why many don't like it is that some of the characters are so interesting or comical, you can totally imagine them in hilarious important scenes, and it's disappointing that they weren't used more. That is my sole complaint, and I wonder if it got shortened and edited too much as happened to The Last Airbender. But if that was not the case, the beautiful messages still come through. I think another reason some don't like it is that some of the messages can't be fully appreciated unless you are a little older and/or have had some meaningful coincidences in your life that can only be explained as miracles. If you have, then this movie is a beautiful psalm to that type of thing many of us have experience.

This movie was marketed & titled SO very badly. They missed attracting their target audience and attracted an audience that wouldn't like it. It was marketed to people that were expecting horror and jump scares. I don't like those kinds of movies and only watched because I love Winona Ryder. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a suspense, mystery, character study. A film that makes your brain gnaw on ideas of ethics and character. Some films you watch & forget the next day. Others you recall and think on. This one is the latter. A better title would have been something like The Price to Let Go or something like that. I took off one star because of the confusing flashbacks.

They took a distinctly unique show and turned it into Castlevania and The Mandalorian. First they turned Prince Adam into Owen Wilson then they took the following steps: THE CASTLEVANIA TREATMENT 1. Add understated, dramatic, pained, angst-ridden dialogue with lots of European accents. 2. Add European, elven-like features to the faces with bright, iridescent, mostly blue eyes. THE MANDALORIAN TREATMENT 3. Turn Teela into Cara Dune. 4. Make Roboto sound like 3CPO and make him look more like the Mandalorian 5. Add Star Wars-like music. 6. Add Star Wars-like weapons. 7. Change from the middle ages setting to Star Wars. FOR EXTRA MEASURE 8. Eliminate satisfying theme music and tone down He-Man transformation. 9. Change most formerly emotionally mature acharacters into immature teens. 10. No moral lessons. 11. Tone down the humor. It's a pet peeve of mine when shows are transformed so much, they become something else entirely. After I watched it, I wondered if the person in charge hated the original show or something. I was surprised to see who was in charge. Hopefully more stuff that made it iconic comes back.

I love the show. Although it's based on another show, it's original and unique as far as American shows go and doesn't follow a formula. It goes against what advertisers and society tell us how things are supposed to be. We need to appreciate that and the bravery that brings it. It reminds me of really old shows from the 40s and 50s, especially the Burns and Allen show. Just silly and entertainment. A true mind break. Just go with the silly. I really relate to Kat. Lol.