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The Mask of Zorro (1998)
I was pleasantly surprised.
I used to watch this as a kid. I decided to watch it again after maybe 10 years of not seeing it. Fortunately, I didn't remember it as better than it actually is.
For a movie that is (as of 2020) 22 years old, it didn't seem as dated as one might could fear. Sure, some of the fighting scenes seemed at times a bit undramatic, but maybe that's because of the normalization of fast cutting in today's cinema. In the end it really didn't matter.
I guess the main plot was that Diego and Alejandro both wanted revenge. And that makes Rafael's plan to buy California, using slaves as gold diggers, the subplot. The subplot seemed a bit forced in that it almost felt like an excuse to bring Zorro into the whole thing. Both Diego and Alejandro could've gotten their revenge without the whole Zorro-thing. But then it wouldn't have been a Zorro-movie, now would it?
Another thing I found a bit funny was how fast Elena turned her back on Rafael - whom for her had been her father for 20 years - when she learnt the truth. Sure, he was strict, indirectly killed your mother, imprisoned your real father and used children and disabled people as slaves, but wouldn't you still feel some sort of love for him? At least enough to not release the man who surely will kill him?
All of this is just nitpicking. It was an enjoyable watch with some nice overall performances. Especially, of course, from Anthony Hopkins who is just a wonderful actor and Antonio Banderos who is both charming and funny.
It was not outstanding but it was certainly a good watch.
Majo no takkyûbin (1989)
Rarely have I been so fooled by a movie
I was enticed to watch this movie from the beauty of its appearance. And sure enough the movie was incredibly beautiful with nice details from several recognizable styles of European architecture.
The plot seemed to develop nicely as well - especially in the beginning, where Kiki arives to the town. She's not allowed to fly her broom over the city - ooh, what will happend because of this? She meets this "find Waldo"-kid who claims his grandmother was a witch too and even earlier some other stranger's mention of a witch(es) who used to live in the town. Is there a connection between the two? Is this town against witches under the friendly surface?
And what about that mysterious artist living out in the forest? She must be connected to some sort of exciting backstory about how she had to escape the evil hands of the city. Right? RIGHT?!
No. Kiki builds an okay successful delivery service, but suffers from burnout when her talent becomes a job, and therefore loses her ability to talk to her cat and to fly her broom. This is however easily fixed by a friendly chat with her artist friend and the sudden need to rescue Tombso... well, that got her ability to fly a broom back - the cat however never spoke again.. poor Jiji (Japanese version)
I was baffled when the credits were presented at the end. Was this really it? And yes.. yes it was.. a masterpiece of drawings and designs wasted on a too shallow of a story...
Good message, but with a lot of missed opportunities story-wise.
Poor Jiji...