Marvel: New Trailers

Screenshot of Tom Holland as Peter Parker from ‘Captain America: Civil War’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and Sony Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

So, if you’ve been on Twitter at all today you know why I’m writing this post. Marvel recently dropped a new trailer for ‘The Eternals’, which is something I’ll be talking about here as well, but fans weren’t completely satisfied with that release. The trailer looks good, but fans have been waiting for the ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ trailer for months now. While ‘The Eternals’ trailer sparked a whole new wave of people begging for the ‘No Way Home’ trailer, evidently someone took it upon themselves to leak it. It’s a grainy video but there’s no mistaking the new footage. I’m not going to go too in depth analyzing the trailer, but if you don’t want any information on it at all, know that there’s going to be some SPOILERS. As for ‘The Eternals’ trailer, it’s officially released so I’m going to be quite a bit more spoilery.

‘Spiderman: No Way Home’:

The main reason I’m not going too in depth with this trailer is because it’s a leak. As much as I don’t have a ton of sympathy for slip ups that involve huge companies, I also don’t condone leaking movie trailers or movie plots. There’s also a few things that could dampen any attempt I make at analyzing the leaked footage. Sony could decide that they want last minute changes for the trailer to give fans something they haven’t seen when the trailer officially releases. Or, they could very well just take the initiative and officially release the full trailer as soon as tomorrow. Which will definitely give us more information than we have now considering how difficult it was to make out most of what was going on. That said, there’s a few things I do feel are worth mentioning. One is the extremely heavy presence of Doctor Strange. We saw the Funko Pop of the character for the film, but I’m not sure anyone expected him to take up such a major role in the movie’s main plot. It feels like Stephen Strange is Marvel’s new Tony Stark. Popping up in as many movies as possible in order to connect all of the new storylines. I realize that the Multiverse is his domain, which is what we’ll be dealing with in Marvel content from now on, but I would have preferred if this role was given to a character who wasn’t another rich, privileged, white man. I guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out. This trailer also gave us a look at some of the returning villains from other Spiderman franchises, including Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock. It’ll be exciting to see how Tom Holland’s Peter Parker collides with the other Spiderman universes. However, there’s no Toby Maguire or Andrew Garfield in sight. It seems, at least currently, that all of those rumors might have been just that. Rumors. I’ll stop this conversation here in the hopes of getting more to talk about very soon.

‘The Eternals’:

Here’s the trailer being pushed under the radar as ‘Shang-Chi’ discourse and ‘No Way Home’ excitement takes center stage. I didn’t talk about the first trailer that was released. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it. The trailer seemed more boring than exciting and I felt that the cast looked too large. I still feel this way. I’m immediately wary of any film that introduces a large amount of main characters because there’s never enough time to give all of them the development they need. But I’m all for another woman-directed Marvel project and Chloe Zhao’s skills are nothing to brush off. This trailer is beautiful in color and in tone. There’s something about it that reminds me of en epic historical drama. Which would make sense considering how many centuries we might see covered in this film. The trailer uses most of its time to give us some much needed exposition. Ever since the first trailer came out it felt like everyone made a joke about the Eternals’ absence during every major catastrophic event in Marvel so far. This trailer addresses all of these jokes by directly telling us what their intentions are with Earth. In present day The Eternals have to fight back against an event called The Emergence, caused by the excess power formed when Tony snapped half of the world back into existence. But they were on Earth long before that. Seven thousand years before that, actually. The Eternals were created by The Celestials, a group of powerful, god-like entities, to protect humans from monsters called Deviants. But The Eternals were instructed not to interfere with literally anything else. This is the reasoning given when someone directly asks in the trailer why they didn’t fight Thanos. So there you go! Question answered! The rest of this trailer covers The Eternals reuniting after centuries of being apart. There’s some interesting powers on display, and an apparent shared love of humanity between all the characters, but there are so many of them that it’s sometimes hard to keep track of who’s who. Still, this trailer looks really good and I hope all of these characters are done justice.

Those are my thoughts on the recent trailer news coming out of Marvel! I’m excited for the next coming phase in the Marvel universe. I can’t say I’m not intimidated by the Multiverse, though. Sometimes it feels like there’s too much to keep track of between all of the movies. But I’m a sucker for falling in love with new characters and we’re certainly getting plenty of those! I’m excited to see where ‘Shang-Chi’, ‘The Eternals’, and ‘No Way Home’ leave us in terms of starting off this new set of Marvel movies. It already seems like a lot but I know there’ll be a ton to geek out over in the process!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: Filter Day 1 vs Day 2

Screenshot of Park Jimin in ‘Map of the Soul: One’ virtual concert. Copyright goes to Hybe Entertainment and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

It has been FAR too long since I talked about my ultimate bias from any group. The one and only, Park Jimin. The man who originally pulled me into ARMY. Can you blame me? He’s an absolute sweetheart and a genius performer. And I think Jimin’s solo work is a perfect example of just how good of a performer he truly is. Jimin is well known for some of his solo work on stage including; his solo piece of the ‘Idol’ cultural fan dance (which he received a cultural award for), Jimin’s contemporary dance introduction at the 2019 MAMAs, his solo contemporary dance for ‘Black Swan’, his blindfolded dance with Hobi in ‘Boy Meets Evil’, and the entire intricate dance he also did partially blindfolded in ‘Lie’. Jimin has trended several times for his work, with people unfamiliar with him and his work wondering who he was after being unable to take their eyes off of him. And after ‘Map of the Soul: One’, Jimin’s performances of ‘Filter’ were forever added to this list of unforgettable Jimin performances. If you haven’t watched his performance of ‘Filter’ you are seriously missing out, even if you don’t like BTS. It feels like this one is still talked about just as much as it was when it was first seen. And for good reason. But I want to talk about the differences between the two performances for each day of the concert as well as the song itself; because there is so much depth behind why this was so great.

‘Filter’ Song:

For fans who are very familiar with all the boys singularly (which you don’t have to do to be a fan), you’ll know that the boys write their own solo songs. This means the songs are often extremely personal to them. Jimin has been very open about his struggle with accepting himself and figuring out who he is. ‘Lie’ covered this topic in such a raw way that Jimin sometimes struggled to perform the song and ‘Promise’ was Jimin’s song that helped people who were struggling with the same thing as him. In that song he asked people to be a light for themselves. ‘Filter’ feels like another song building up on that exact idea. In the song, Jimin refers to himself as someone easily changeable, asking the audience to choose a filter for him. He reminds us in the song that he’s not necessarily who we think he is because we don’t know him personally. He becomes anything we want to be because of our tendency to romanticize idols. You don’t always find idols who address their expectancy to be a certain way from fans and their sense of self as comparatively as Jimin does in the song. In yet another way, Jimin addressed his journey with finding himself by acknowledging that he isn’t necessarily what people make out him to be either. But also, in a more positive light, saying that he wants to express many different sides of himself. He’s not telling you not to choose a filter, in fact he says the opposite. But that doesn’t change the fact that he isn’t completely any of those.

‘Filter’ Day 1:

This was not the day of the concert that I attended, so I only saw videos of this from afterwards. But it was obviously amazing. This day Jimin’s hair was pushed back, the mannequin was wearing mostly white, and Jimin’s suit was red. The picture above is for this day, if you were interested. ‘Filter’ begins with Jimin trying on different clothes from a mannequin and then it moves on to his clothes being thrown back to reveal him in a suit. I still have absolutely no idea how this costume change was accomplished and I don’t think many people actually do. It takes place in only a couple seconds. The performances for each song were amazing every day of the concert, but the boys have talked about how the first day of this concert felt more awkward to them. And can you blame them? This was their first fully fledged concert without an audience. And with their most recent concert, ‘Sowoozoo’, it was an outdoor arena that featured ARMY on screens where the audience would be. All of them admitted to that feeling much more natural. With this concert, it understandably took a bit of getting used to. Jimin’s performance on this day was absolutely flawless, but it wasn’t as playful as we usually see him on stage. But literally any performance you see from any of the members, even on bad days, will be one of the best performances you’ve ever seen in your life.

‘Filter’ Day 2:

This was the concert day I attended and is generally accepted to be the best for most of the performances. This isn’t because these performances were worlds better, but because all of the boys felt more comfortable this day. This day Jimin’s hair was down, the mannequin’s clothes were black, and the suit he changed into was purple. And this was definitely a more playful Jimin. Jimin looked a little less focused and a little more flirtatious. Watching either performance is dangerous, but this one just about killed me. Especially towards the end of the song. If you’re only planning on watching one performance of ‘Filter’, I would probably recommend this one. Though both are amazing and absolutely worth watching. And if you’re also wondering how I’m still alive since this was the concert I attended, I have been asking myself the exact same question. Jimin’s expressions during this performance were insane. And his dancing was even more confident as well. I feel like every member of BTS has a few performances where, even if they aren’t actually your bias, they are your bias when you’re watching it. This was one of those for Jimin.

All in all, Jimin is one of the best performers you will ever see. Between his amazing voice, his ability to flawlessly dance several styles (sometimes blindfolded), and his legendary expressions, he’s really a once in a lifetime performer. And what’s even better about this group is that every single one of them is a once in a lifetime performer. Their choreographies are insane and their singing and rapping abilities are even more so. BTS is without a doubt some of the most talented artists of our age. But because this post is specifically about Jimin, I’ll say that there’s a Jimin effect for a reason. Never underestimate the power of the Jimin effect.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop: Recent News

Promotional image of Kim Taehyung (V), Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jeon Jungkook, Kim Namjoon (RM), Park Jimin, and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope). Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

It feels like we’ve received tons of K-Pop news in just the last couple of days. Some are really positive. Others are a bit disappointing. But overall, with every group involved, I think there’s a lot for fans to be proud of. Here I will also be covering some news we got a little bit earlier in the week as well. By that I’m talking about the (G)I-dle situation, which is still being heavily debated in the K-Pop community. There’s a lot of big news to talk about so I’m going to jump right in.

‘Map of the Soul: 7’ Concert Cancellation:

A lot of people saw this coming, but it was still sad to see the possibility of a live concert for this album put to rest. The concert had been in hiatus hell since April of 2020. In the meantime, a major topic of conversation amongst the members was how much they couldn’t wait to get back to the stage. After every performance they did for the songs on the album, especially “On” and its crazy stage, they seemed to be disappointed they couldn’t show them to ARMY in a live setting. But months and months passed. Finally, in October of 2020, BTS held an online concert to show off all the performances they’d been planning. The concert was amazing, but many ARMYs couldn’t help but feel it might signify that BTS was going to move on and do something different for their post-pandemic concert. Meaning, the concert would be cancelled. Still, BTS didn’t want to disappoint ARMY and held on to the hope that they could do the concert as they’d originally intended. Mentions of the ‘Map of the Soul: 7’ concert did begin to deteriorate though, and now we have an official cancellation. I feel for the ARMYs who had tickets. Getting tickets for BTS was hard enough as it was back when the ‘Map of the Soul: 7’ tickets were on sale, and the BTS fandom has only grown since the pandemic. This huge group of new fans to please could have been another contributing factor to cancelling their concert. Whether or not that’s the case, please don’t attack newer ARMYs because of this. It might be sad, but no one is really at fault here. BTS was one of the last to cancel their pandemic-affected concerts, and there were various reasons why this cancellation was inevitable. In any case, we all know that BTS has huge plans for their next concert, so at least that’s worth getting excited about!

ATEEZ and Pentatonix:

ATEEZ has been doing A LOT to market themselves during the pandemic. While it definitely feels like their company is overworking them, which is sadly common in the K-Pop industry, their amazing skills and work ethic are starting to get them the attention they deserve. Their new collaboration with the popular US acapella group, Pentatonix, is an excellent example of this. Pentatonix decided to collaborate with ATEEZ for the new song “A Little Space”. The collaboration is only with members Yunho, Jongho, and San. There’s not really a public reason for this, but the three do an excellent job. The song is really fun! I can’t say it shows off the skills of the ATEEZ members all too well, but it’s hard to see what they would have been able to do in that capacity while still balancing Pentatonix’s acapella roots. Either way, watch it and support them!

Bobby Personal News:

Bobby, a member of the group iKON, made the decision to announce that he’s both getting married and expecting a baby! I don’t know much about iKON, but I’m so happy for him. Having the bravery to announce personal news like this is impressive. It’s scary enough to release personal information to the public as someone who’s in the public eye, but as a K-Pop Idol the task is even more difficult. Idols are encouraged by their companies either not to date or, if they’re successful enough not to be fired, to at least hide any romantic relationships. After all, one of the ways Idols are marketed is based on their perceived datability, which isn’t really possible to do when the members are public about their relationships. But these rules can be extremely harmful. They easily create toxic fans by implying that dating the members of a group might be a possibility, even when it’s extremely unlikely. That leads to both jealous fans and fans who feel they should have a say in the personal lives of their favorite idols. The fact that Bobby decided to make this personal information public, directly fights back against these types of fans. It’s a rude awakening, revealing that he’s a person with his own life and that he doesn’t purely exist for the entertainment of his fan base. Most importantly, he’s happy. The majority of fans have congratulated him for all this amazing news. Some though, have declared the announcement sad. I understand that a comfortable fantasy, such as being able to date Bobby, might be hard to let go of. But these fans have to understand that they’re the reason for Bobby’s countless apologies at the bottom of his announcement. He shouldn’t have to apologize for his happiness. And he shouldn’t have to apologize to fans because of their unrealistic fantasies.

Soojin Leaving (G)I-DLE:

Once again, (G)I-DLE isn’t one of the major groups I follow. Still, this news could be very influential for the entire K-Pop community. Soojin was one of the Idols that was accused of bullying back when a large amount of bullying allegations hit various Idols at once. Soojin denied the bullying allegations in depth, but there were a few things against her in this situation. One was that there were multiple allegations, not simply one. Another was that one of those allegations came from an actress, Seo Shin Ae. As a result, she was permanently removed from the group. I understand that school bullying is a major issue and I think that it’s admirable that South Korea takes the issue very seriously. However, I also think such harsh repercussions given to Idols for their actions as children and young teens is a bit ridiculous. A lot of people don’t really like or agree with who they were at that age. And the majority of people grow past that. It isn’t that they shouldn’t face consequences. But ruining their career? That’s extreme. Especially when none of these allegations are provable. I feel bad for Soojin and for all the (G)I-DLE fans going through this right now. It’s frightening to consider that this might set a precedent for members of other groups who were hit with a similar amount of allegations. (Note that I don’t extend these sympathies to Idols who receive allegations over illegal and monstrous actions. Looking at you, Kris Wu.)

That’s it! I hope some of the good news offset some of the bad. I also hope that you take away from this that all of these groups, in all of these situations, are working hard to make their fans proud. K-Pop Idols are some of the hardest working people in the music industry. There’s a lot that’s expected of them. The fact that they’re moving forward, through both happy and disappointing news, demonstrates how strong they can be. So stay positive and be proud of your ults!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: Jubilee’s ‘Odd One Out’ with Twins

Screenshot for Jubilee’s ‘Odd One Out’ series. Photo depicts Alissa and Briana. Copyright goes to Jubilee Media.

Hi! It’s Annie!

YouTube isn’t really a usual thing for my sister and I to talk about on this blog. I know I’ve mentioned some web series before (such as Hank Green’s ‘Lizzie Bennet Diaries’), but it really hasn’t gone too far beyond that. Our blog is entertainment media based but we generally focus on fiction or K-Pop. However, I saw that this video was trending and I absolutely had to watch it and then I absolutely had to write about it. It’s been a little too long since we’ve done a ‘Twins in Media’ post on our blog. And this video made me so excited because it singlehandedly mainstreamed many of the things my sister and I have talked about on our blog. Even if that was only for a short time. So, I thought I would take a little time to fully explain why watching this particular video was so important to me. If you do actually want to watch the video and guess the mole, I would leave and go watch that before you come back to my post. I will reveal who the mole was over the course of this. So…SPOILERS AHEAD!!! I seriously recommend going to watch the video first and then coming back. I would love it if everyone watched that video because it hits so many good points about twins and the way we’re often treated. But I also totally understand if this being a Jubilee video deters you from watching it, because that channel has been in some understandable controversy. Let’s go!

Fraternal Twins:

One thing that immediately caught me off guard was the complete lack of fraternal twins of the same sex. And even some of the identical twins seemed to express a certain amount of distrust that fraternal twins of the same sex even really exist. As a fraternal twin who’s the same sex as my sister, I can very much assure you that we are real. We are not unicorns. But I definitely don’t blame any of the twins who didn’t really know. Honestly, the amount of misinformation the media has spread on the topic of fraternal twins is absolutely insane. Identical twins are from the same egg, fraternal twins are not. Identical twins have to be of the same sex when they are born, fraternal twins can be of the same sex or of opposite ones. So, before going forward I just wanted to make sure that I cleared that up. There was only one group of the same sex in the entire video who claimed they were fraternal and they turned out to be the moles. So, just in case, I wanted to get that out of that way to clear up any misinformation. Again, if you believed any of that misinformation I don’t blame you. It’s been widely spread by the media for years in order to simplify twins for the public.

Same Sex Versus Opposite Sex Twins:

One thing that I did like was all of the twins in the video talking about the variety of difficulties they faced specifically. Very quickly the twins who were not of the same sex admitted that their experiences probably weren’t as harsh as those who are of the same. And I’m glad that they all talked about that. Though my sister and I are fraternal, we still do look fairly alike. And both of those things have massively effected the way we’ve been treated. In this video Lauren and Kit, another pair of female twins, talked about how they were both shy in school and often relied on each other. Which often led to unfair comparisons. Alissa and Brianna got even more into this when Alissa noted that people often refer to her sister as “the pretty twin” or compared them to see who was smarter. And while this comparison often happened between all the twins, it was clear that twins that had more differences were treated more like individuals. However, that doesn’t mean that those people still don’t get compared way too often and go though some of the same struggles.

Comparisons:

Getting more into comparisons, Alissa actually brought up something that I haven’t talked as much about in my past posts and I wish I would have noticed this sooner. Which is how comparisons your entire life can lead you to see yourself a specific way as a person. She pointed out that people were constantly identifying her and her sister by their differences from each other. Which can lead to a twin identifying themselves by their differences to other people instead of who they truly are as an individual despite the opinions of other people. Kit brought up that people often see twins as a case study. Sometimes people will say cruel things to try and differentiate you from your sibling and won’t view them as cruel because they feel like their observation was intelligent. They essentially pat themselves on the back for doing the bare minimum, except they did even that in an offensive way. If you’re trying to get to know my sister and I, it is a requirement that you eventually be able to tell us apart. And you don’t get to point out which twin is smarter or fatter to do this.

Guessing the Mole:

The way that Lauren and Kit specifically ended up guessing that Michael and Peter were the mole was absolutely amazing. And you definitely would have had to be a twin to deduce it in the way that they did. Lauren and Kit noticed that everyone else in the circle had a habit of talking over each other, which often comes from going through school together so long and experiencing many of the same things. Michael and Peter were a lot more hesitant when speaking together, which is eventually how they were able to guess them out and win the game. What was really interesting about Michael and Peter, however, was that they were actually brothers who were only a year apart and Michael had a twin brother. So these moles were definitely experienced, even if they did flub a little by the end.

Ending Statements:

I don’t really mean to call out anyone in particular. But I definitely did not agree when Brianna said at the end of the video that twins are like one person split in half. In fact, most of my ‘Twins in Media’ posts that I’ve done have been for the express purpose of disputing that exact notion. But if that is the way they prefer to acknowledge their experience as twins, who am I to say that they can’t? I just want to take this time to once again say that twins are absolutely two different people. We are two completely separate individuals who have different thoughts, struggles, fears, and dreams. At one point Michael and Peter said in the video that they had the same major. While I’m not sure this is true as Peter and Michael weren’t actually twins; I would figure that this came from actual experience between Michael and his twin. And he was very quick to point out that they had the same major but they went into it for different reasons. Which is actually also true of me and my sister! What I’m saying here is that there’s always individuality behind the concrete similarities you think you see.

Basically, all of this is to say that media like this is important. You don’t see many videos trend where twins actually get to talk about how they’ve been treated like circus acts by the general public because of misplaced intrigue (which can be fetishization a lot of the time unfortunately). Yes, twins generally have a closer bond than most siblings. But we aren’t unnatural or weird, we’re just best friends. And our closeness is not an excuse for people to ask us to perform or try and pit us against each other in everything. If anyone ever asks why I am not a super competitive person regularly, I would definitely say that me being pitted against my sister my entire life has made me pretty tired of competition. At the end of the day, it’s ok to think that twins are cool and it’s ok to wonder what it would be like if you had a twin. It’s not ok when you start treating us as two halves of the same whole, asking us to perform for you (like telling us to speak at the same time), or constantly pointing out differences you think you see. And if you have a pair of twins in your life and you’re curious about any of this, just ask them about it. I’m sure they’d love to know that you have invested interest in making sure that they both feel like individuals around you rather than just being “the twins”.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: ‘Shang-Chi’ Before it’s Theatrical Release

Promotional image of Simu Liu as Shang-Chi from ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

As a Marvel fan, I think it’s really important to address what’s going on with this movie at the moment. As it’s release date gets closer it feels like everything is getting more tense. And rightfully so. This isn’t just a film taking one of the first steps into trying to balance a theatrical release with a streaming release. This film also has the heavy burden on its shoulders of trying to prove to Hollywood that movies with BIPOC casts, creatives, and crews are necessary for the future of the industry. Of course, this film isn’t the only one that has to do this. Unfortunately, as of now it feels like every film with major BIPOC involvement gets put under extra scrutiny. It says a lot that after the major triumph that was ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, ‘Shang-Chi’ is STILL being put under this scrutiny. There’s so much worth supporting here, so much that’s worth getting a bit stressed about, and so much that was mishandled along the way. Before I get into all of that I want to stress that I AM NOT ASIAN OR ASIAN AMERICAN. I’m a white girl. My opinions on this are far less important than the opinions of the Asian community. My only goal here is to raise awareness to this situation.

‘Shang-Chi’s Marketing :

This is being talked about the most between fans. This is also, in all honesty, my major purpose for this post. I want to make sure everyone hears about ‘Shang-Chi’ as much as possible right now because Disney’s marketing has been absolutely awful. It feels like Simu Liu and his social media have been doing most of the work to get people to see this film. That is never okay. An actor should not have to put themselves in charge of marketing because of the horrible job the company has been doing. When ‘Black Widow’ was releasing on Disney+, I got an add for it every single time I went to any of my social media accounts. I don’t even have cable anymore and I still managed to see enough television ads for the movie to wear me out. I have seen practically nothing for Shang-Chi. Even the trailer didn’t get nearly as much hype as I expected. Every single Marvel show on Disney+ was promoted so much more than Shang-Chi, that I received wave after wave of promotional content to bury any hype for the film. Including the really dumb Captain Carter Twitter flub. It was Simu-Liu’s tweets, about how overjoyed he was to join Marvel and how happy he was to attend the Avengers Campus opening in the Disney Parks, that kept reminding me how exciting this movie’s release is. I’m just going to say it. It feels racially motivated. And that’s because there’s not really another explanation for it. So here’s your reminder to talk about this movie as much as possible! ‘Shang-Chi’ looks awesome and the trailer is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. GO WATCH IT WHEN IT COMES OUT.

Disney CEO Comments:

Here’s the other thing that’s being talked about a lot right now. While speaking about the 45 day theatrical release ‘Shang-Chi’ will have before releasing on Disney+, Disney CEO Bob Chapek called the movie an “interesting experiment”. I won’t comment on whether or not this is “just a misunderstanding” or “extremely malicious” because that isn’t my place to say. What I will say is, either way you view it, it was inappropriate. Even if you view this as a misunderstanding, calling the first Asian-led Marvel movie an “interesting experiment” in any context is remarkably idiotic. Simu Liu was right to come out in defense of this beautiful movie and all of the amazing people who worked on it. It deserves to be viewed as much more than just an “interesting experiment”. Yes, many people are interested to see what delaying placing this movie on Disney+ will do, but none of that reflects the hard work that was put into this movie or the immense importance of what this movie is. It deserves more respect and thoughtfulness from everyone, let alone a Disney CEO.

Unfair Expectations:

I already talked a bit about the unfair scrutiny BIPOC-led movies get. Hollywood always seems to be waiting for one of these films to fail so they can get back to their normal performative casting and refusal to tell BIPOC stories. The Asian-American community is definitely one of the groups that has been experiencing a major lack of representation in Hollywood. And ‘Shang-Chi’s efforts to fight against this issue are being met with the same amount of push back you’d expect from Hollywood. That alone is a lot of pressure. But ‘Shang-Chi’ is also expected to do well when most movies are still struggling in the box office. Theaters have taken a major hit during the pandemic. And cases are back on the rise because of the recent variant. Yet Shang-Chi is expected to overcome all of this to prove itself and hopefully prove an audience desire to keep going to the movies. None of this is fair. It feels like too much. But if you can and if it’s safe, support this movie. It deserves to destroy the expectations being placed on it and demand its seat at the Marvel table.

There’s a lot more aspects to talk about here. Like the recent hesitancy to support Awkwafina from the Black community. This hesitancy is valid, but it doesn’t excuse turning your back on this movie. There are so many other people who put their heart and soul into this movie. Simu-Liu himself deserves to be supported and respected just for the amount of joy he brings everyone daily. And the sheer amount of amazing people working alongside him is nothing to scoff at. The amount of young kids who deserve this representation and much more to come, the amount of people who are already emotional over what seeing a superhero like Shang-Chi on the big screen really means, all of that holds the most importance. Simu Liu, when talking about how honored he was to be a part of this movie, spoke about how much he looks forward to the day that movies like this will stop being firsts and start being normal. This is why you need to go see ‘Shang-Chi’. Go see this movie because it looks awesome, but also go see it so that we can tell everyone that we need more movies like this in the future. Let’s get hyped! It’s first reviews are excellent and it deserves the hype!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: ‘Run BTS’ Episodes 146 and 147

Screenshot of Min Yoongi (Suga) in ‘Run BTS’. Copyright goes to Hybe Entertainment and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Though episode 146 of ‘Run BTS’ was just as funny as the first and last ones, I figured I wouldn’t post again until we finally figured out who the spies were. And this episode was amazingly hilarious in so many ways. Mostly because of the absolute chaos of them trying to figure out the spy in the final sit-down-and-talk elements of this series of episodes. And, yes you guys, we have finally wrapped up the time travel spy episodes of ‘Run BTS’. They ended this most recent episode back in the present time. I am going to miss them a lot, because these are always so much fun to watch! But I’m excited to see what they’ll do next! I’m going to talk about each member individually as they were throughout the last couple episodes including my suspicions of them and what turned out to be true. It would be really difficult to talk about any of this without MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! Seriously, this is your warning.

Kim Namjoon (RM):

Oh, Namjoon. Definitely the most logical of the boys in trying to solve this and came up with many of the theories the boys ended up running with by himself. Despite this, some fake clues and a couple of confusing hints from the staff made Namjoon doubt himself at the end of it all. Namjoon was unsure that the culprit was Tae because Tae was just doing things that he would regularly do. And he was correct on that front. Namjoon also deduced that Jimin could not be one of the culprits because none of the clues hinted at him. Also correct. But Namjoon was thrown when it was revealed that there may not be three spies, as that was his biggest running theory. After this he remained relatively silent other than trying to break up some of the infighting. Poor Namjoon. I can honestly say that Namjoon was one of the ones that I suspected least the entire time. I think I said last time that Namjoon was one of the members that I would feel really betrayed if he turned out to be a spy because I was so sure of him being a civilian. I was proved correct! Namjoon was completely innocent though very flustered by the end of it all. And he was chosen as one of the four innocents to be teleported back to the present.

Kim Seokjin (Jin):

Jin was one of the members who seemed the most frustrated to me by the game. He often found it difficult to find clues and couldn’t necessarily figure out how his individual mission worked. And there were times where I wondered if this was a little bit of an act. I might have said before that I suspected Jin and Jungkook purely because neither of them have been spies in this series yet (Hobi is too trustworthy). But in the past few episodes Jin was being a bit more playful, probably due to being around other members. Jin and Yoongi walking around together proved how much of a comedy duo they are and I laughed so hard when Tae spoke poetry to them and they just stared at him, confused. Jin also did the typical hyung thing of making Jungkook put him on his back. But in the end he was either quiet during the speaking session or he was extremely defensive. And that clinched it for me. By the end I was absolutely sure Jin was one of the spies and I yelled at the television when they almost chose him as one of the four innocents. I was very glad that Hobi was very adamant on not taking Jin. He had the right idea. In the end the boys were able to snuff him out as the spy, though he did take his time to mess with them before fessing up, in usual Jin fashion. He did not want to be a spy, but he was a damn good one.

Min Yoongi (Suga):

He was the highlight for me this episode. Episode 147 was the episode of adorable Yoongi. If anyone ever tells you that Min Yoongi is not adorable, show them that episode and prove them wrong. After being comedic with Jin, Yoongi spent this episode being one of the most vocal members. (Which was definitely suspicious.) He was very very defensive, though hilariously so, and this resulted in Yoongi being the first to be voted out as a spy. Because of this he had to sit on the side and was unable to speak during the rest of the mafia game. So instead he would put one hand over his mouth and gesture drastically at the other members. He would point to specific members, refer to an imaginary watch to tell them to hurry up, or make hilarious thinking faces. He was like a human emoji. Every time he got up from his seat on the side I would end up laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair Jimin style. He was, of course, a spy. In my last post I said he was possibly the most suspicious of all of them and literally every member of BTS seemed to have the same opinion. Jin even threw him under the bus because he knew he couldn’t protect him. He also spent much of his time messing with the other members and trying to shift the conversation with his antics before he fessed up. He looked way too happy to be the spy again.

Jung Hoseok (J-Hope):

Just an over-all cutie and a sweet guy. By the end of all of this, I think Hobi was the member that everyone else trusted the most. Maybe even the audience too. People were sharing clues and theories with him just as much as Namjoon and were even more likely to tell him their suspicions than they were with Namjoon. Hobi in general just gives off this aura of trustworthiness. I think that may be why he hasn’t been a spy for most things on ‘Run BTS’. With Hobi it’s never too difficult to tell when he’s lying because he’s generally too sweet and earnest to be a good liar. Hobi was one of the most helpful members in sniffing out the spies though. In fact he was so adamant that they look at all the clues, he would be the first to point out if a clue might reflect back on himself. In the end I wanted Hobi to choose who the four innocents were because he seemed to have a pretty good gut feeling that I trusted. Like when he said he would take anyone but Jin. Hobi along with Namjoon were the two members that I suspected barely at all through this series of episodes. I was so relieved that both of them were just as innocent as I thought they would be and that they both were chosen as innocents. I guess the moral of the story is trust Hobi and listen to Hobi. He has a pretty good gut instinct and he’ll always have your back.

Park Jimin (Jimin):

I’m going to be honest, I was pretty sold on Namjoon’s theory that there were three spies. So while I did correctly guess that Yoongi and Jin were the spies, I did not correctly guess that they were the only spies. For the possible third slot I ended up being equally suspicious of two people and one of them was Jimin. While Jimin was a lot more carefree in the first episode, as soon as that second episode came along he became much more intense. He constantly pulled other members aside and told them his suspicions of other members, which created even more distrust between everyone else. It honestly made everything even more funny! Jimin was also quick to tell just about everyone that he was suspicious of them. When it got to the actual choosing of the mafia, Jimin was possibly the most vocal member. He was the first to declare himself innocent and had a difficult time choosing whether or not Tae or Jungkook was also innocent. In the end it was only Hobi’s reluctance towards Jin and openness towards Jungkook that won them the game. Jimin almost chose Jin because he was so in between. Seeing Jimin this intense was a little unusual, but so much fun! And of course, he was still giving all the members big hugs. Jimin was not a spy, because there were only two, but I’m going to have to watch out for him in other games. It seems like he’s a bit more sly when he’s a spy.

Kim Taehyung (V):

This poor man just wanted to prove his innocence. In the second episode Tae spent much of his time hanging around a cat which made everyone else really suspicious because he wasn’t doing anything. That was only when he wasn’t memorizing poetry and reciting it to the very confused members. He didn’t get as much into character after that first episode, mostly because he became determined to prove his innocence. This determination made me suspicious (he was the one I was suspecting along with Jimin), but in the end I just felt bad for being suspicious of him at all. He really was just trying to live his life, pet some cats, and prove that he wasn’t a spy. Namjoon was completely right that Tae taking time for the cat was just him being Tae. In the end Tae almost swayed Jimin into choosing him as one of the innocents, but the only person he really ended up swaying was Namjoon. Who also seemed to feel bad by the end of it. He was not one of the four innocents chosen at the end. But people were quick to point out that Tae thought the spies were Yoongi and Jin from the second episode. He solved it! And he also got big hugs from the members after asking them if it was wrong that he liked animals since they were all so suspicious of him after the cat incident.

Jeon Jungkook:

Another poor man who just wanted to prove his innocence and also got clowned so hard by Yoongi and Jin. Jungkook was one of the hardest working members when it came to his personal mission, something he pointed out several times while trying to defend himself. He literally ran everywhere trying to find those navy scarves in episode two. Trust me, his camera man would absolutely agree with that. Though by the end he seemed pretty worn out and quiet. And his quietness is what initially made the other members suspicious of him. And something he was doing with his eyebrows, probably because he was nervous. The members received a fake clue saying that a shy member was a spy, which made many of them turn on Jungkook. But in the end Hobi reached for him after rejecting Jin and he was proved an innocent member. Kind of. Yoongi and Jin decided to mess with the members and say that there was a third secret spy who didn’t know he was a spy. Jin succeeded in making Jungkook raise his hand when asked who the spies were, though Jungkook was so confused. The staff ended up telling him that it wasn’t true, but it was a hilarious moment. Jungkook was one of the ones I really wasn’t suspecting by the end of it. He was too earnest and he had worked too hard.

There you have it! Aside from a pretty sad part where a key broke in one of the locks and the camera director got stuck in a cell. They did show him getting broken out of the cell a couple minutes later, so it ended well! I was glad to see that he got out. And the boys were all so concerned about him too. Though it was kind of a funny moment with Jimin and Tae trying to bargain with the camera director for the clue inside the cell and Jungkook’s face when he figured out that he was stuck. I always love these mafia episodes and trying to figure out who the moles are. And I think we as a fandom are getting better at figuring it out! Though I fear we’re all saying that too soon. In the first ‘BTS Village’ I was absolutely taken by surprise, so I don’t doubt that will happen again. And also, Jungkook and Hobi are barely ever spies. With Hobi it’s difficult to choose him as one because he’s not a great liar, but we haven’t seen Jungkook put in many situations like that before. This is really making me wonder how Jungkook would be as a spy in one of these episodes. Jin hadn’t been a spy before in ‘BTS Village’, but he was a spy several times in other iterations of this game. I definitely want to see Jungkook as the spy in an episode soon!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: ‘The Bad Batch’ Finale Part 2

Screenshot of Tech, Hunter, Echo, Wrecker, and Omega from ‘The Bad Batch’. Copyright goes to Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re back again! One of my major priorities while I was gone was making sure I caught the finale of this series. It’s been a rocky ride for most of ‘The Bad Batch’. Between a few good episodes there always seemed to be episodes that featured not much of anything. Part one of this series’ finale hooked me back in after a while of feeling disinterested with the series. Its emotional character scenes and major franchise-altering events gave me hope that this series would pull me back in at the last second and drag me into season two hype. After watching part two of this finale, I can’t say it accomplished that. It only reminded me of how frustrating this series could get. Before I go any further, here’s your SPOILER warning! Let’s get into what worked and what didn’t work so well.

The Good:

Omega: She has remained on my good list for about every episode of this show and, now that this season is done, I can confidently say she was my favorite part of the whole thing. From starting out the series as a naive child who was new to the universe outside of Kamino, to becoming the kindest and wisest member of the Batch, her character was fully explored and always a joy to watch grow. Plus she was underestimated and forced to prove herself in every single episode and she took it all in stride. This episode is an excellent example. This time Crosshair hurls insults at her, as well as the rest of the Batch for listening to her ideas. It was satisfying to see her prove him wrong. But, as always, she remains nothing but kind to Crosshair. In fact, she starts out the episode by saving him from a flooding room. As usual, her selflessness doesn’t stop there either. In a very dramatic moment towards the end of the episode, Omega is saved by AZ from drowning at the cost of the last of his power. As he begins to drown in her stead, Omega risks her life to jump right back in and rescue him. All the kindness she showed Crosshair earlier in the episode also earns her his help in this rescue. Omega ends the episode by telling Crosshair that he’ll always be her brother, despite the fact that she barely knows him. Her connection to Crosshair wound up being deeper that Crosshair’s connection with any of his brothers, and that’s purely because of Omega’s patience and bravery. She never fails to impress.

The Stakes: Last episode’s destruction of Kamino was hard to follow up. But I respect this episode’s decision to go with the aftermath of this destruction. The entire Batch isn’t able to get out of the clone facilities in time to escape the destruction and, as a result, end up trapped underwater with most of the debris. This setting adds a sense of urgency and claustrophobia to the episode. The Batch are forced to rush through rooms before they lose power in an effort to make it out before the entire building is flooded. Omega reminds them of the tunnels that lead to the secret landing pad they came in through, but the tunnels are damaged and nearly lying on the ocean floor. The tunnels might be the coolest part of the episode. They’re clear, meaning that the underwater environment outside adds an appropriately dreary ambiance. Also, terrifying sea creatures can see them through the clear glass as they navigate the tunnels, leading to some heart-pounding altercations. At any point in the episode it feels like the characters could drown or be eaten. There’s something very satisfying about how well done this life-or-death scenario is.

The Bad (Batch):

Crosshair: If you were hoping for anything with this character to get resolved, or even come to some sort of satisfying ending, you’ll be disappointed. Crosshair slowly warms to Omega throughout the episode, but he spends most of it just as much of a jerk as he always was. His hero moment, where he saves Omega and AZ, is immediately contrasted again with his claimed loyalty to the empire and decision to stay behind at the very end of the episode. All while his headaches still seem apparent. He wasn’t as understandable or as tragic of a character as he was in the last episode. He was just him. Which, considering his lack of character development so far, doesn’t tell us much. Everything Crosshair did in this season felt like it was prep for season two. Which means nothing about his writing was satisfying. In no case has writing like this actually benefitted a character. I wish they would have done more with him.

The Bad Batch: Here we are again. This section won’t be long. Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Echo got nothing. They weren’t developed at all. I know them as The Leader, The Smart One, The Strong One, and the guy from Clone Wars. This season added nothing to any of their characters.

The Finale: I liked this episode’s stakes, but it very much failed in comparison to everything that happened in part one of this finale. Admittedly, part one was hard to beat. This episode definitely didn’t beat it. I almost feel like part one was so good it rose my expectations up too high. This episode wasn’t bad by any means, but as far as finales go, it was a bit of a let down. Especially because it felt like the episode ended at the same place the start of this season began. With the Batch and Omega leaving Crosshair and Kamino behind with not much of a reason to return. Without any major impact on the plot and the characters, unlike the episode before it, there was no way this finale was going to meet the expectations part one set.

‘The Bad Batch’ wasn’t the worst show I’ve seen. I wouldn’t recommend this series, though. At this point I’m not certain I’ll be watching season two. There were parts of my viewing of season one where I seriously considered giving up. After this finale, I’m not convinced season two will be any different for me. ‘The Bad Batch’ had some incredible ideas, but it ultimately didn’t live up to its potential. At least it gave us Omega.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: Use For My Talent

Screenshot of (left) Shen Yue and (right) Jasper Liu in ‘Use For My Talent’. Copyright goes to Mango TV and Guoyun Culture.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I know I said that it would probably be a bit before I posted another drama review and that my next one would most likely be the K-Drama ‘It’s Ok to Not Be Ok’. That is hopefully next on the list for when I get around to it! But I ended up watching this C-Drama recently when a friend came over and highly recommended it, so we just ended up watching about half of it together. And of course, by that point it only made sense to finish the other half as soon as possible afterwards. The first half of this drama was amazing; and not just to watch with a friend. It was a cute and you couldn’t help but swoon over certain moments with the main couple. And then that last half happened. I didn’t hate it, but I can honestly say that the drama stepped on its own foot in the latter half. So, I’m just going to get into it from there. As always, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Good:

Male Lead- Gu Renqi is definitely one of the sweetest leads I’ve ever seen as well as one of the most shy. But this takes the boss who is afraid of people trope to an entirely different level. He has mysophobia, basically an extreme fear of germs, due to childhood trauma of not thinking he was good enough for his grandfather. And this is definitely an extreme illness. As he develops a crush Shuangjiao, he begins to realize that his mysophobia doesn’t act up around her and begins to feel a bit better, though not completely. One thing that I like about this drama is that it doesn’t credit the relationship for his mental healing in any way. The boss-employee dynamic can often feel a bit odd to me, just because it is a power dynamic I’m not usually comfortable with. But Gu has a knack for treating all of his employees the same in the work place (for the most part) and for not acting much like he’s in charge. So that makes it a bit better. Over-all he’s just a shy sweet guy. He doesn’t ever act overly brooding and definitely is not over-protective in the relationship. Though he can be really oblivious at times, it’s a great character flaw because he doesn’t know exactly how to act around people. I will say that his character began to lack agency as the plot went on when it comes to choosing what to do about his own illness, but it definitely didn’t have anything to do with this character as a whole. That’s all writing.

Second Lead- Half way through this show, I thought there was no way in hell that I would suffer from second lead syndrome. I’ll talk more about that below. But this character makes a direct turn around that actually made me like him by the end of it. And it’s purely because he becomes one of the only smart characters with agency by the end of the show. Lu Xian is revealed a few episodes in to actually be Renqi’s therapist, though this initially does not come off as healthy at all. But, even though he gets seriously and stupidly jealous, his caring nature towards all of the characters never wavers. And that includes Renqi. By the end, despite the fact that Renqi used to be his rival, Xian is the only person in the entire show who is even attempting to understand his mysophobia. He also gives excellent relationship advice that I think everyone should take. Such as, a relationship can’t completely heal your mental health because you have to want to heal for yourself as well as wanting to heal for another person. And that being yourself is the only way to go about trying to get into a relationship. Also that jealousy is not a healthy form of seeing whether or not someone is interested in you. By the end he’s quite possibly the most reliable character in the show. So while this character was far from perfect, in the end I definitely suffered from second lead syndrome.

Sub-Plot Romance One- This happens between a social media influencer who initially has a crush on Renqi, Qianqian, and the bodyguard/assistant/best friend of Renqi, Dongxian. Dongxian is another one of the best characters in the show. And I have to say that this was, to me, by far the cutest romance in the entire show. Dongxian is revealed to be an ex-convict though the show never really goes in depth into what he was convicted for. We can assume it is probably assault related based off of what other characters say. Despite this, Renqi saw his good heart and decided to hire him anyways. And Dongxian is definitely the softest of all the characters on the show. His complete failure to not fall in love with Qianqian is adorable, and though he pushes her away, he always comes running when she needs him. Qianqian is also very independent and strong willed and will never let him believe his own negative thoughts. The fact that they care so much about each other that they were always willing to run to each other no matter what’s happened is adorable. There is a part of the show where Dongxian is temporarily arrested for assault just as he’s about to go and confess to Qianqian who’s waiting for him. In any other show Qianqian might have been angry at him, but instead she is told what happened and is there to hug him right after he’s released. Their boxing date is also top tier.

Mental Health- This show does not shy away from talking about the mental health aspect of Renqi’s phobias. It never treats therapy as something unneeded and it doesn’t over stigmatize it. It treats mental issues and therapy as perfectly normal things, which I was honestly surprised about. I also liked that one of the main characters was a therapist, because you don’t see enough of that in television or film either. This drama addresses everything from panic attacks to triggers and I’m definitely here for that.

The Bad:

Female Lead- Don’t get me wrong, I really started out liking her. And I’ve definitely liked this actress in other projects, such as ‘Meteor Garden’. But the last few episodes of the drama completely ruined her for me. This is one of those dramas that has a super dramatic break up due to a really weird plot twist. But the issue was, the plot twist was not Renqi’s fault. I know that there is a cultural difference here that I have much more to learn about. There’s this idea that when one person does something in a family, it often affects the entire family. But I really despise this line of thinking. I don’t think a person should be blamed for something that a family member did in the past or even present. And she breaks up with Renqi because she believes his grandfather might have been involved in the death of her mother. She only gets back with him when she realizes this is not the case. And she even insults his mental health and disabilities to get him to stay away from her, which was extremely low. I couldn’t forgive her after she attacked his mental health. And then she whined for a while about the fact that he hadn’t contacted her even though she made him think that she hated him. She also constantly exhibited a lack of understanding for his mental health and often tried to force him to do things despite his obvious triggers. By the end of the show, I didn’t want them together. I thought he needed to focus on his therapy and be with someone who understood that and she needed to become a much more understanding person.

Second Lead- Yes, he’s here too. Though I would still say he’s one of my favorites in the show. Why would you want a therapist who has an obvious conflict of interest? And I also didn’t appreciate that he was still determined to date Shuangjiao at the end of it. Just respect her decision! Still, his badassery and kindness truly made up for this in my eyes by the end.

Sub-Plot Romance Two- This occurs between Shuanjiao’s brother and her best friend. Though her brother was caring and the actor was amazing, I didn’t buy this romance. She did not seem interested him at the beginning and most of the things he did to try and capture her attention bordered on insulting. This is another situation where I think there was an immaturity that prevented me from liking this couple. Maybe they should mature a little more before they get together. And I guess it ended with them apart, because he did move to America by the end of the series. But I just didn’t buy them. They spent too much of the series not connecting or communicating properly.

Plot Twists- We really didn’t need the random plot twist about Shuangjiao’s Mom. And I’m never a big fan of plot twist weird break ups. It didn’t last long, but it was such a sudden and awful break up that I didn’t really feel that the relationship was recoverable.

Mental Health- One of the major things that the show suggests about Renqi, is that in order to get over his mental issues he must make peace with his abuser. While this can be true in making peace with what happened to you, I don’t think anyone should be required to become ok with being around someone who was responsible for their serious trauma.

The Romance- This was a serious case of the writers having no idea what to do with the main couple once they got together. It was cute up until then, and then it all went downhill when they became an item. The writers tried, but they just couldn’t figure it out. That aquarium date with the matching shirts was so awkward and the amusement park date was way too out of the comfort zone of Renqi. It just felt like Shuangjiao was still not completely understanding his mental state. You have to ease someone into that, not try and “cure” them altogether. They also had a really bad habit of acting very unprofessional in the workplace after they got together. Their proposal was also one of the worst I’ve ever seen in a drama. I cringed so hard. And then the writers really didn’t know what to do so they added in all the trope-y breakups and plot twists. The only reason to watch the rest of this show for me was that second lead and the one sub-plot romance.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this drama. There were some really good moments and really bad moments. Over-all I think I have to place my stance on this drama someplace in the ‘ok’ area. It’s not one that I would return to, but it was cute to watch once. And the first half of this drama was extremely cute. I think if I returned to anything it would be the sub-plot romance. And there’s also a hidden couple in this drama that’s totally gay that I loved, plus a scene where the main male lead and his best friend are watching and criticizing a drama that made me laugh really hard. It’s basically how my sister and I watch dramas. But if you are looking for a really cute drama with a really cute centered romance from beginning to end, I’m not sure this would be my recommendation. But it does have some really good moments and I’m glad I watched it. I want to apologize once again that we’ll be gone for a few days. Just the weekend this time! Hopefully during that time you can go back to some of our past posts and we’ll be back on Monday!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Superheroes: ‘The Suicide Squad’ Review

Screenshot of Margot Robbie, Daniela Melchior, Idris Elba, and David Dastmalchian in ‘The Suicide Squad’. Copyright goes to DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

I, surprisingly, was able to see ‘The Suicide Squad’ right after it came out. I don’t have HBO Max and I’m still not going to movie theaters, so at first it didn’t look like seeing this movie early would work out. But a good friend of mine made watching this movie possible via her own HBO Max account, so here’s my review! Right away I’m going to warn everyone that I’m not a gore person. Gore makes me feel a little sick and is a major reason why I stay away from the Horror genre. This movie has a lot of gore. It definitely earns its R rating. So know going into this review that there were parts of the movie that just weren’t my thing. I’ll go a bit more into that later. As for right now, here’s your warning that there will be SPOILERS ahead! Let’s talk about this movie!

The Good:

Bloodsport: I’ve wanted to see Idris Elba heading a superhero film for a long time. He was so good in all of the ‘Thor’ movies and it only made me wish he was onscreen more. This movie let him shine as the starring role and he absolutely killed it. Bloodsport is a really interesting lead for this movie. He doesn’t see himself as any kind of leader and doesn’t have the motivation to do much of anything at the beginning of the movie. You can tie this attitude back to his relationship with his daughter. This relationship at first feels like a copy of Deadshot’s relationship with his daughter, but once Bloodsport interacts with his daughter you can see that it’s nothing like that at all. His relationship with her is horrible. She deliberately makes poor decisions to see if he will be concerned for her and the path she’s going down, but Bloodsport never criticizes her crimes, only the way she goes about them. His daughter even goes as far as to say that he’s an embarrassment to her. He feels like a failure to his daughter, which both zaps him of any desire to do anything at the beginning of the movie, and pushes him forward when Amanda Waller does recruit him. Throughout the movie we get to see him grow as a person and as a leader, and by the end of the movie he makes the ultimately good decision to save the day. Which, of course, finally redeems him in the eyes of his daughter. He’s an intimidating guy who only wants to do right by the people he cares about, and it makes for a much softer character than you initially expect.

Harley Quinn: I love Harley Quinn in every movie she’s been in so far. This movie is no different. Right from the beginning I knew her character was going to be perfect here. Between her playful banter with Captain Boomerang and her adorable flirting with Javelin, she stole my heart right from her first scene. And her hilarious reaction to Javelin’s death because he isn’t able to finish his last sentence, reassured me that James Gunn had her brand of insane down. My favorite Harley moment occurs when the leader of the island the Squad is trying to infiltrate decides he wants to marry her. Harley goes along with all of it at first and even finds him very romantic. But when he starts talking about the atrocities he’s committed, she shoots him. While he bleeds out on the floor, she explains in a very detailed manner that she promised herself she’d murder the next guy she was dating who had red flags because she deserves better. Not only is the moment empowering, it’s hilarious to watch her have this emotional moment with herself while her now ex-boyfriend tries to crawl away. Horrific but hilarious. She’s captured afterwards, but the killing spree she goes on to escape her captors is the most badass part of the whole movie. Especially while all the brightly colored hallucinations occur around her, as only Harley could conjure in a fight scene like that. Margot Robbie is the perfect Harley Quinn and no one can tell me otherwise.

King Shark: King Shark is one of the most brutal characters in this movie. In fight scenes he rips people apart or graphically eats them. But he’s such a sweetheart. He’s not the brightest character. He’s attempting to read an upside down book when we first meet him and his idea of a disguise is a fake mustache that’s just his finger held up to his face. But he’s so cute. He’s friendly to nearly everyone he meets even if he intends to eat them, and when others display interest in being his friends he promises not to eat them and stays true to his word. No one can say they didn’t feel soft when he tried to make friends with the strange fish creatures at the end of the movie. Or when he wasn’t able to join the rest of the Squad in a bar, so he was left sadly sitting in their bus. King Shark might have been my favorite character in this movie aside from Harley. James Gunn really knows how to write adorable side characters.

Ratcatcher 2: This character is the heart of this movie. She gets along with everyone almost instantly, and who wouldn’t want to be her friend? Just her association with her rat, Sebastian, makes her seem adorable and approachable. After first meeting King Shark he attempts to eat her in her sleep, but rather than being angry at him, she notes that he’s probably just lonely. She befriends King Shark and, when the Shark survives the final battle, she gives him a giant hug. Ratcatcher 2 also lost her father, which instantly gets the attention of Bloodsport. Given his rocky relationship with his daughter, he sees Ratcatcher 2 as a young woman in need of a father figure who he feels he can actually support. Their relationship is really cute, but she has his back just as much as he has hers. I’d argue that she and her rats are the major reason the final battle was won at the end of the movie. And while she sends her rats after Starro, she uses herself to protect Bloodsport from the rats because he has a phobia of them. She deserves nothing but the best.

Rick Flag: I’m not the biggest Rick Flag fan, but this movie really did its best to undo some of the harm the first movie did to this character. He’s no longer ruled by his relationship with his girlfriend and his small friendship with Harley is really fun to watch. Not only that, but his loyalties to the government aren’t strangely corrupted like they are in the first film. Instead of watching Amanda Waller kill a room full of innocents and shrugging it off, he hears about the horrible experiments the government did with Starro and tries to leak the information. For this he ends up dying at the hands of Peacemaker, but his death is a heroic one. Rick Flag deserved to go out like the hero he was always meant to be.

The Government and the Suicide Squad: Whenever you’re telling a story about the Suicide Squad, you have to carry through the messages about government corruption. No moral government would allow Amanda Waller to send anyone out on dangerous missions with the threat of being killed if they fail or refuse orders. This movie does an excellent job of making this point. The fact that it’s actually this exact government that put together the horrific Starro experiments, rather than the bad guys we’re lead to believe it is, sent the perfect message. Even without this plot point, the opening segment of the movie alone shows how disturbingly awful the Suicide Squad arrangement is. All those characters I was worried wouldn’t get character development? They don’t get any. Because they die within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Half of the characters seen in the trailer turn out to be part of a distraction team, meant to engage with the enemy in a fight they can’t win so another team, our actual main characters, can infiltrate the island of interest at a separate location. Everyone in this decoy group, save Rick Flag and Harley Quinn, end up brutally killed. Including Captain Boomerang. The scene is horrible and yes, one person does try to get away and gets their head blown off. There’s nothing moral about the fact that this team wasn’t told exactly what they were in for. Or that this team was sent in to such an unwinable battle in the first place. That lack of morals displayed by Amanda Waller, and by association the government, is important to every Suicide Squad movie.

The Bad:

Character Relationships: The individual characters were built up pretty nicely, but aside from Bloodsport and Peacemaker’s rivalry, it never felt like the characters were truly connecting. Even Ratchatcher 2 and Bloodsport’s father-daughter relationship received hardly any time. This lack of connection is also the reason why Polka-Dot Man’s death didn’t hit me very hard. Ratcatcher 2 was saddened by his demise, but the fact that she was nice to everyone spoke more to Ratcatcher 2’s personality and less to an actual bond between the two characters. Everyone in this movie felt disconnected and the lack of care the characters had for each other definitely affected how much I cared about the characters as well. And with a few characters backstories relegated to a single sentence in some cases, like that of Polka-Dot Man, I wound up not caring about some characters at all. Not every movie like this needs to feel like found family, but a sense of at least camaraderie would have made me feel more emotionally engaged.

The Gore: Here we get to personal preference. This movie started off with the gore right away. Blackguard gets his face blown off in a graphic manner and I wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t appreciate how fast this movie got to the gore, nor did I appreciate how quick it was to show human entrails and characters being literally ripped apart. If you’re squeamish like me, I wouldn’t recommend ‘The Suicide Squad’. It’s an action movie and all the action scenes are gruesome. There’s some scenes without gore, but I don’t think those alone can get you through this movie.

Overall I really liked ‘The Suicide Squad’. I wished they had done more to tie the characters together emotionally. A lot of the time I find that is what draws me into a story the most. But there was definitely some good writing for the major characters that interested me. I really want to see more of the surviving cast in the future. I can’t say I know why they chose Peacemaker for their spin-off series and I’m not sure I’ll be watching that, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the movie. I don’t think you’ll catch me watching this movie again, but that’s because of the gore more than anything else. This movie was good! It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely better than the last movie that attempted this concept. If you don’t have any problems with gore, I’d recommend it!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Disney: Jungle Cruise

Promotional image of (left) Dwayne Johnson and (right) Emily Blunt. Copyright goes to Disney Studios.

Hi! It’s Annie!

When I heard that Disney had this movie in the works, I was ecstatic. As much as Disney Live Action has been disappointing me lately, most of that has to do with remake type stuff. I am more than ok with what Disney has been doing when it comes to original content. Especially theme park rides. I have always loved the idea of fleshing out more of the classic theme park rides in Disneyland. And Jungle Cruise is definitely a classic! Despite my excitement, I was a little scared going into this movie. And that really didn’t have anything to do with the trailers or anything like that. Those were great! It was just how mixed the reviews were when this movie first came out. A lot of people were saying that it was trying really hard to be ‘The Mummy’ or ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and that it wasn’t nearly good enough for any of that. But, I’m going to be honest here, this is one of my favorite Disney movies I’ve seen in a while. I loved this film and I really had so much fun with it too. But, as always, I am actually going to get into it. So, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Good:

Frank- Frank was a character that I was afraid would be written off as the dumb but tough hero we usually see in movies such as ‘The Mummy’. Which can make for an amusing character, but generally doesn’t have a whole lot of depth. Thankfully, this was not an issue that I saw here. Whatever you think about Frank in this movie, you’re probably wrong. It’s just that simple. Frank has so many layers that slowly peel away over the course of the movie. He’s one of those characters that is unpredictable in the best ways. He just keeps on surprising you and the other characters in the film. And I’m not just talking about emotion based character development. About half way through the film, Frank is impaled with a spear during an ambush and through this you find out that Frank can’t die. At least not yet. He was part of the cursed conquistadors who were originally trying to find the Tears Of the Moon tree. Though the quest began with good intentions, it ended with the conquistadors attempting to slaughter an entire tribe and getting cursed. Frank was the only one who tried to protect the tribe, but he was still grouped in with the curse. Which is that they can never leave the river. Frank is revealed to be four hundred years old and spends all of his time on the river by himself. This was an unexpected and amazing plot twist that gave his character so much depth and wisdom. I loved the message about the importance of other people and love in your life. And Frank is the master of bad jokes. He’s just lovable, and part of that is because Dwayne Johnson is also very lovable. When Frank gets his happy ending, you can’t help but cheer for him.

Lily- Lily is the type of character that I would have been so excited to see when I was little. She’s adventurous, she has just as many action scenes as Frank (if not more), and she’s often the smartest person in the room. Lily refuses to wear skirts, so instead wears trousers everywhere despite people staring and it making others uncomfortable. Her intelligence shines through in every scene she’s in and they spend much of the time focusing on her odd quirks. Often times she’s the one who’s running through towns Jack Sparrow style and causing mischief. And I couldn’t get enough of that. She’s also the one with the signature and beloved hat. I’ve always wanted to see this type of character in an action movie like this. I could watch an entire series of movies starring this character. Lily is definitely a menace, but in the absolute best way. She’s also the most emotionally intelligent character in the film and gives such good advice about truly living. And I really can’t picture anyone portraying this many sides to this character so well as Emily Blunt. She owns this film just as much as Dwayne Johnson. Both together and apart they shine on screen. They both seem made for movies like this.

McGregor- Lily’s brother is also absolutely amazing. He’s both hilarious and a needed foil for the insanity of Frank and Lily. His posh attitude is more witty than anything else and his character development in learning to appreciate the adventuring is even better. He is also the first confirmed gay man in a Disney film. In a heart-to-heart with Frank, McGregor reveals that his family had been attempting to marry him off to several women. All of which he turned down and assured that he would never accept a proposal from because his interests lie elsewhere. If that isn’t enough for you, he goes on to explain that his entire family turned their backs on him except for Lily all because of who he loved. I think that made it pretty clear, though I understand why people wanted more from that. I just hope that we possibly get a love interest for his character in the future. Beyond that, he will be just as dear of a character to you as Frank and Lily. He’s adorable and has some of the best lines in the film. And, of course, Jack Whitehall was amazing in this role. His comedic timing was excellent! Though I do wish they had cast a gay man as McGregor.

Cast Chemistry- One of the best things about this movie was that the cast liked each other and was having fun with it. And you could tell. The characters worked together effortlessly. Nothing felt like it was too forced or had too little of a buildup. They felt like a team from the get-go and they were always completely believable. I would watch these three together in any film after this. They work so well together!

The References- For those of you, like me, who grew up going to Disneyland or any of the parks; there are plenty of references to take you back to your time at Disney. Of course, Frank starts out the movie giving touristy Jungle Cruise rides where he uses many of the actual jokes from the park ride. Such as the back side of water and not taking rocks for granite. But there are plenty of other hilarious dad jokes in this movie and some really cool nods to the killer hippos and the piranhas in the attraction. Plus plenty more. I couldn’t stop smiling with every reference that I caught. Also, look out for a Tiki Room reference that also made its way into the film.

Trader Sam- Have you ever wondered who exactly Trader Sam is after the brief nod in the ride that has now been rightfully removed? According to the movie, Sam is a woman. She’s the leader of a tribe that is completely peaceful and sometimes helps out Frank in scaring tourists, but it appears that she’s pretty done with this. She also helps McGregor for much of the film and she knows about Frank’s curse. Despite the other characters badassery in this film, you would be hard-pressed to find another character more badass than her. And at least Disney is attempting to make Sam a more positive character. I also loved the scene where McGregor was talking to a crowd of men about all the crazy things he saw on his journey at the end, only for all of them to only majorly and comically react to the fact that Sam was a woman. That made me laugh.

The Bad:

The Tribes- I liked what they did to Sam for the most part, but I have to say that I’m a little confused by the presence and the use of her and the other native tribes in this film. Especially after they took out all traces of any kinds of tribes from the ride. And rightfully so. I don’t feel it’s my place to say how well or not well done this was. But I’m not sure the native tribes were written with as much care as they could have been.

The Villains- I have to say it, none of the villains were as good as they could have been. I liked the undead conquistadors much more than I thought I would. That was actually a pretty good storyline. But it wasn’t focused on nearly enough. I would have liked to see more of those characters focused on with the curse backstory instead of mostly just Frank. And I definitely think that Frank needed a longer confrontation at the end with Aguirre specifically. Then there was the entire plot with the nazis and they just didn’t need to be there. I think movies making nazi villains is getting really overused and tired and I constantly asked myself what their purpose in the movie even was. You definitely watch this movie more for the adventure than the battle between good and evil. I’ve seen a lot of people condemn this movie for not having the best villains, but that doesn’t make the film unenjoyable for me. I mean, in my eyes ‘Indiana Jones’ never really had amazing villains. (One of the movies also had nazis as villains.) But those movies were still good because of the adventure. This is the same way.

I didn’t really have a whole lot to say about this movie that’s bad. I really loved it! The characters were amazing and the entire thing felt like one of those lighthearted adventures that could easily become one of my next comfort movies. Will it be the best movie you’ve ever seen? Probably not. But it’s fun, witty, and has such good heart and character chemistry. It definitely stole my breath as well as my attention. And, trust me, my attention span hasn’t been the best these days. Don’t let the negative reviews scare you off! I would say that this movie deserves a try. And I think that Disney really could franchise this one too. I could see these characters in many more adventuring movies and you can bet that I would be right there when they released.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie