Two Big Box-Office Films ("Frozen" and "Divergent")
"Frozen"
starring (voiced): Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Joshua Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk
directed by: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
written by: Jennifer Lee- based on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen"
I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer for "Frozen" back in like November, I was a bit skeptical and every time, I finished the preview, I didn't exactly know what the film was about. It came off very vague, perhaps that was Disney's intent, because they did not exactly know how to properly market such a bizarre entry into their film catalogue, even though it seems pretty simple now. It suddenly became this gigantic, box-office smash and shattered some records, earned an Oscar for Best Original Song (listen above). Children and adults were delighting in the film's story. Luckily, my friend purchased the DVD for their daughter and I got to watch it this past Friday. I loved it!
If you look past the reviewers who are seemingly looking and digging deeper into the plot subtleties that are apparently speaking about anti-homosexuality acceptance, this is yet another Disney princess film that makes great use of the princess formula that has afforded the studio such piles and piles of money. It's definitely a formula that works. Behind it all are some good lessons, too- most of being that the two princesses are not necessarily waiting for their princes to save them, even though they hint at "true love" being the cure for thawing the frozen, wait until the end to find out where that comes from. Another lesson- greed is evil, not magic.
The plot goes like this:
"Divergent"
starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Ansel Elgort, Mekhi Phifer, Kate Winslet
directed by: Neil Burger
Another film that has a huge following, thanks in large part to its legions of fans of the book trilogy written by Veronica Roth. My sister has raved about the books. The story follows the same teenage dystopia world as "The Hunger Games" but is its own relevant piece of art and storytelling. I haven't read the books yet, but I've been waiting for the movie to come out (sometimes I do things backwards).
The novel's story is smart and intellectual, too bad its geared towards a young adult audience that will look past all the philosophical and political implications and just simply be intrigued by the "love story" that is a small piece of the story, blown up a bit in the film, I suppose. Too bad the filmmakers felt a need to "simplify" the story for its audience- teenage girls via "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games."
The villains of Divergent are members of a caste who have decided it's in society's best interest to restructure the power of the caste system in order to better preserve it, while the movie's heroes are members of a different group that believes it's best to maintain the present order of things as a means to better preserve the system. There are farmers. There are the benevolent. There are smart people. The smart ones do unspecified smart things, and the jocks are the warriors, who defend the city from vague and seemingly non-existent threats. Finally, there are the people who are always honest, who get short shrift in terms of what their use as an integral part of society actually is. "Amity" makes sure everyone has food, and "Dauntless" keeps the peace, in a weird way as being the aggressors, somewhat, against the "government" of Erudites.
No one questions the system, except for a debate about which group should be the governing one, and if the central conflict that eventually shows up really late is any indication, the movie isn't too critical of it, either. Its admiration of a fascist warrior class over one that concentrates on the intellect, though, is unmistakable. This political theme/story could have made the entire film way more interesting, if the filmmakers had decided to be bolder, because there's a lot of relevance in today's world to what we see and understand in the story. Connections can be made.
The story/film focuses on Beatrice (Shailene Woodley, certainly no Jennifer Lawrence/Katniss, but those are hard and giant shoes to follow), who was born into Abnegation but must take a test that determines to which caste each is best suited. Her test classifies her as unclassifiable—a "divergent," whose personality means she could fit into multiple classes. Her nature is protected by Tori (Maggie Q), who tells Beatrice not to tell anyone. On the day she and every other 16-year-old must choose the faction to which they will belong for the rest of their lives, Beatrice selects Dauntless.
Thus begins what amounts to an extended training montage, in which the newly self-dubbed Tris goes through various exercises and tests to become an official member Dauntless. She learns to shoot, fight, throw knives, climb structures, roll when running is a perfectly acceptable alternative, face her fears while under the influence of a hallucinogen, and not question authority. This entire part of the story seems far too close to "The Hunger Games" and since I saw/read that first, I cannot help but feel like this is a bit of a rip-off. Along the way, she occasionally interacts with rather anonymous friends and acquaintances, but mostly, she strikes up a force-fed love affair with Four (Theo James), the head trainer, and gets into a battle of wills with Eric (Jai Courtney), a member of the faction's leadership, of course. Both elements sort of drag the story down from ever really meeting its potential. Oh, and then, of course, there is the subtlety of realizing that Tris has been wearing eyeliner (really the only make-up) throughout the entire film, which goes against the original understanding of Abnegators rejecting vanity. Just a little thing that my girlfriend pointed out after the movie, but worth mentioning because it takes a little out of the film's sails.
starring (voiced): Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Joshua Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk
directed by: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
written by: Jennifer Lee- based on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen"
I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer for "Frozen" back in like November, I was a bit skeptical and every time, I finished the preview, I didn't exactly know what the film was about. It came off very vague, perhaps that was Disney's intent, because they did not exactly know how to properly market such a bizarre entry into their film catalogue, even though it seems pretty simple now. It suddenly became this gigantic, box-office smash and shattered some records, earned an Oscar for Best Original Song (listen above). Children and adults were delighting in the film's story. Luckily, my friend purchased the DVD for their daughter and I got to watch it this past Friday. I loved it!
If you look past the reviewers who are seemingly looking and digging deeper into the plot subtleties that are apparently speaking about anti-homosexuality acceptance, this is yet another Disney princess film that makes great use of the princess formula that has afforded the studio such piles and piles of money. It's definitely a formula that works. Behind it all are some good lessons, too- most of being that the two princesses are not necessarily waiting for their princes to save them, even though they hint at "true love" being the cure for thawing the frozen, wait until the end to find out where that comes from. Another lesson- greed is evil, not magic.
The plot goes like this:
In the land of Arendelle, there are two princesses. The younger one, Anna (Kristen Bell), is our protagonist. The older sister, Elsa (Broadway powerhouse with an unbelievable voice, Idina Menzel) has a special power to create snow and ice. Because the king and queen fear what their people will say, they keep this power hidden. However Anna delights at Elsa's ability but during a childhood night of playing, Elsa mistakenly hits Anna and almost causes her death. The rock Troll King warns the parents that if Elsa had hit the heart, the resulting wound would have been fatal- nice set up for later on in the film, by the way. The Troll King removes all memories of Elsa's magical powers from Anna and the King and Queen keep Elsa's powers a deep secret that becomes harder to hide.
When Elsa slips up and reveals her powers, her fear and the fear of her people result in Elsa fleeing Arendelle, but also leaving the land in an eternal winter. Anna must seek out Elsa to save both her sister and Arendelle. Leaving her newly minted fiancé, Hans (Santino Fontana), in charge of Arendelle. He actually turns out to be a bad guy. Anna sets off on her horse and with Mountain Man Kristoff (Groff) and his reindeer Sven, to find Elsa. Along the way the trio meets a magically animated snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), who is the comic relief.
........................................................................................................."Divergent"
starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Ansel Elgort, Mekhi Phifer, Kate Winslet
directed by: Neil Burger
Another film that has a huge following, thanks in large part to its legions of fans of the book trilogy written by Veronica Roth. My sister has raved about the books. The story follows the same teenage dystopia world as "The Hunger Games" but is its own relevant piece of art and storytelling. I haven't read the books yet, but I've been waiting for the movie to come out (sometimes I do things backwards).
The novel's story is smart and intellectual, too bad its geared towards a young adult audience that will look past all the philosophical and political implications and just simply be intrigued by the "love story" that is a small piece of the story, blown up a bit in the film, I suppose. Too bad the filmmakers felt a need to "simplify" the story for its audience- teenage girls via "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games."
The villains of Divergent are members of a caste who have decided it's in society's best interest to restructure the power of the caste system in order to better preserve it, while the movie's heroes are members of a different group that believes it's best to maintain the present order of things as a means to better preserve the system. There are farmers. There are the benevolent. There are smart people. The smart ones do unspecified smart things, and the jocks are the warriors, who defend the city from vague and seemingly non-existent threats. Finally, there are the people who are always honest, who get short shrift in terms of what their use as an integral part of society actually is. "Amity" makes sure everyone has food, and "Dauntless" keeps the peace, in a weird way as being the aggressors, somewhat, against the "government" of Erudites.
No one questions the system, except for a debate about which group should be the governing one, and if the central conflict that eventually shows up really late is any indication, the movie isn't too critical of it, either. Its admiration of a fascist warrior class over one that concentrates on the intellect, though, is unmistakable. This political theme/story could have made the entire film way more interesting, if the filmmakers had decided to be bolder, because there's a lot of relevance in today's world to what we see and understand in the story. Connections can be made.
The story/film focuses on Beatrice (Shailene Woodley, certainly no Jennifer Lawrence/Katniss, but those are hard and giant shoes to follow), who was born into Abnegation but must take a test that determines to which caste each is best suited. Her test classifies her as unclassifiable—a "divergent," whose personality means she could fit into multiple classes. Her nature is protected by Tori (Maggie Q), who tells Beatrice not to tell anyone. On the day she and every other 16-year-old must choose the faction to which they will belong for the rest of their lives, Beatrice selects Dauntless.
Thus begins what amounts to an extended training montage, in which the newly self-dubbed Tris goes through various exercises and tests to become an official member Dauntless. She learns to shoot, fight, throw knives, climb structures, roll when running is a perfectly acceptable alternative, face her fears while under the influence of a hallucinogen, and not question authority. This entire part of the story seems far too close to "The Hunger Games" and since I saw/read that first, I cannot help but feel like this is a bit of a rip-off. Along the way, she occasionally interacts with rather anonymous friends and acquaintances, but mostly, she strikes up a force-fed love affair with Four (Theo James), the head trainer, and gets into a battle of wills with Eric (Jai Courtney), a member of the faction's leadership, of course. Both elements sort of drag the story down from ever really meeting its potential. Oh, and then, of course, there is the subtlety of realizing that Tris has been wearing eyeliner (really the only make-up) throughout the entire film, which goes against the original understanding of Abnegators rejecting vanity. Just a little thing that my girlfriend pointed out after the movie, but worth mentioning because it takes a little out of the film's sails.
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