Finally got a chance to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse

[alee_grrl]

Non spoiler review: it was amazing. Great characterization, heart-felt story lines, tongue in cheek humor, and so many meta jokes that there was no way I caught them all. The animation took a bit of getting used to, and some people may not be able to adjust to some of it. I was worried I'd come out with a migraine, but thankfully my eyes seemed to have adjusted to it by the end and I seem to have avoided the headache. I hope that is the case, because I'd really like to watch this one again to try to catch all the details I missed this go round. Plus it really was that good.

The other thing I saw recently was She-Ra: Princesses of Power, which I ended up binge watching on New Years Eve. It was a lot of fun. I have fond (though incredibly fuzzy) memories of the original. Thankfully the fuzziness of my memories of the original series made it very easy to enjoy the reboot. All the nostalgia, but no "oh my gods they changed 'x'" rages. Plus I'm pretty sure this version has a much stronger plot (which isn't hard, the original was basically a half-hour toy commercial with a thin veneer of plot). I really enjoyed how diverse the princesses were in personality and body type, and the coding of the characters' sexuality and gender is incredibly open and fluid. It was definitely a fun watch and I hope they continue in the same vein for season 2.

Comments

[sulien]

Glad to hear that the Spider Man movie didn't give you a migraine, or even just a headache. I've heard a lot of great things about this movie, but I've also heard a lot of people say that they had to walk out because it was triggering a migraine. I may roll my dice and take my chances and make sure I have an extra blanket in the car, just in case.

The whole princess thing has always made me cringe, with few exceptions (Xena and various historical figures), but I'm going to give the new She-Ra a try. I love the idea that they've diversified the characters, that was one thing that put me off about the few bits and pieces I saw of the original (that and the fact that it was, as you stated, a half-hour toy commercial).

[alee_grrl]

Sadly I did end up with a headache a couple of hours after the movie, but it hasn't gotten into migraine territory and seems to have abated after getting some sleep. So here's hoping. And it really sucks, because the story is so amazing (and some of the animation was just gorgeous), but the experimental effects (especially at the beginning of the movie) are really painful for those sensitive to migraines and headaches. I probably won't see it again in the theater, but will likely try again when it's available on the small screen. Hopefully the effect of the animation will be less impactful that way.

Yeah, the whole Princess thing appealed nicely to six year old me. But the original all Barbie body type cast (the only thing that really varied were hair and eye color) was super annoying (though as a six year old I hadn't really seen anything else, so accepted it as the norm). As an adult, the Princess thing is annoying, but after my niblings praised the show to the heavens and told me repeatedly I should watch it, I decided to give it a shot.

It's still a kids cartoon, so it has it's super cheesy moments and ingrained lessons by way of themes (though nothing could be as heavy handed as the "lessons" of 80s kids television). We get a lot more background on the Horde characters (the villains of the show), who also have a lot more personality than the original. It's less white hat/black hat than the original. Most of the cast are basically teens, and at least one is younger than that. So like many kids shows, you have to deal with the "where the hell are all the adults" questions. Though the set up is a long-standing war between an invading force that had taken over a good part of the planet, and the remaining rebellion. So it's intimated that a lot of the adults are dead, and we do see a few of the remaining adults who aren't completely useless.

But by and large it is fun and lighthearted entertainment, most likely written by people around my age who are having great fun playing around with the original. There are little nods to the original that are often done in hilarious ways (like the way Swift Wind, the flying horse, comes into the story). And for all it's initial silliness the Princess Prom episode was pretty awesome and made it clear that on this world, no one cares whether you are dancing with someone of the same gender or a different gender.