duif_holmes Reviews

The Animal Kingdom (1932)

A good story told badly

[4/10 · 3 October 2017]

This movie had some good ideas, as others have pointed out, but the people behind it didn't really seem to understand the difference between plays and movies. Plays are "allowed" to be a bit talkier than movies since the actors doing the talking are in the same space breathing the same air as the audience. On the other hand scene breaks and multiple short scenes aren't nearly as disruptive in movies as in plays, so for God's sake use them! For example, after the opening shot of the printing press we never see the place again. Result: we don't care about it nearly as much as the characters do.

Also, the "villain" of the piece does some emotionally abusive stuff off screen, but the "hero" is a bit of a jerk on screen. Result: while watching the movie I ended up rooting for the wrong person at the end.

And this is probably more of a writing and acting problem than a cinematography problem but the relationships are so underdeveloped that Cecelia and Daisy running off together would almost make as much sense as what actually happens.

All in all, this movie is ripe for a remake by someone who actually knows what a movie is. And since it's in the public domain pretty much anyone can take a shot at it. Otherwise just read the plot summery off Wikipedia. It has all the interesting twists without any static talking scenes.

The Legend of Sarila (2013)

Not a bad way to pass the time, but I wouldn't have paid money for it.

[6/10 · 31 October 2015]

Croolik apparently became a shell of his former self when his sons died. Too bad we never learn what kind of person he used to be aside from a shaman and apparently not evil. Also, the writers have a tendency to blame the whole thing on buzzwords for things that turn people evil without putting too much thought into it. ("You're blinded by pride and ambition!" "Ambition? At this point in the movie I'm just trying to kill Markussi.") But I found myself caring about him anyway.

Markussi's "I don't want to be a shaman" subplot was interesting, but it's pretty much all we know about him. What's his favorite color? How does he feel about his parents being dead? No idea. Sedna mentions something about using his powers for personal gain versus using them for the good of the tribe, but that doesn't really go anywhere either. Again, I found myself caring about him anyway.

We know even less about what goes on in Apik's head. The movie tries to give her some characterization when her mom doesn't want her to go on the journey to Sarila, but since the crow spirit chose her in this ceremony that the whole tribe agreed would determine who goes to Sarila her decision to defy her mother and go on an adventure was really just the obvious thing to do under the circumstances. Depending on how strictly you interpret the criteria she might also fail the Sexy Lamp Test. (Thanks to Sedna and Saya the movie as a whole passes, but the way things are set up it looks like Apik was supposed to be the female lead and they were supposed to be more minor characters.) Again, I found myself caring about her anyway.

Poutulik basically just exists so Croolik has someone to give that amulet to. I'd like to say I ended up caring about him anyway but uh... no, not really. Also, he's a hunter who kills animals - but only off screen. Whenever an animal actually appears on screen the others are all "Oh, don't kill that lemming, he's to small to be worth the trouble." "Oh, don't kill that... caribou?, she's pregnant." I can understand the reasoning behind this, but it's still a bit distracting once you notice it.

Speaking of animals and weird things, the marketing decision - I mean lemming - is a lot more stylized than the humans or the other animals. Which is not all that good for the suspension of disbelief.

Plus there's what basically amounts to a clip show in the middle of the movie. Seriously, why?

Basically, if the writers had put a bit more thought into what really goes on inside the characters' heads, dropped the clip show (and maybe one of Croolik's attempts to kill Markussi) and used the extra time for some more character development this could have been a much better movie. As it is it's not bad, it's just not very good either.