cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1109255
One of the wittiest movies I've ever watched! It's hilarious!!
The animation is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is also incredible. The voice acting by Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed is also spectacular, and even Eugene Lee Yang (of The Try Guys fame) does a very decent job.
The story doesn't leave much to be desired either. It tackles themes of isolation, not finding your place in the world, and discrimination, both on an individual and systemic level.
Though it doesn't actually address the problem of systemic oppression, preferring instead to scapegoat a single character.
Actually, that single element of the story really stung. It's clear that they went to great lengths to have a very diverse cast of characters, and it's obvious they're trying to be progressive, and this is meant to be a progressive story. However, I can't help but think that it's all posturing, if in the end all the systems that allowed such horrible mentalities to fester still remain intact, with only the "top dog" being taken down. You can't fix a system by removing an individual.
There's so much more I'd like to say about this, but I feel this isn't the place. Plus, this is clearly a kid's movie, a very good one with a deep message and complex characters, but still. I suppose the message is still a net positive despite such a massive blunder.
Additionally, there's a dance sequence in the middle that feels so painfully out of place I almost cringed myself to death. Thankfully it was very short.
Overall, I think this movie was good. It's not really gonna blow anyone's socks off, but it might make some people think, and it's very easy on the eyes and ears.
What do you think?
Rating: 4/5
A movie that's afraid to actually take a stand. It's easy to say the things, it's hard to do them. I really don't think it'd be that odd for a movie to do that, considering that Hollywood is pretty liberal, though I can't give you any examples as I don't actually watch that many movies, sorry... But it's a very liberal thing to do. Say the right thing, but when push comes to shove be too scared to actually tear things down (aka "break stuff", as Nimona might put it).
More thoughts on the ending:
Still, I see what you mean. But here's the thing: the knights are still there, and the wall is still there.2 ex-Knights being happy together doesn't mean the Knights/The Institute in general changed it's ways. Todd accepting Nimona for her sacrifice doesn't mean he accepts "monsters", just Nimona.
But I think I didn't get my initial point across.
What I'm saying is that the sacrifice of one individual (Nimona, in this case) and the dethroning of a villain (the Director) is not enough to do actual change. Even if the movie were to show that change happening, and things getting better, it would still be liberal propaganda! Because that's just not how it works. And even if Nimona SCREAMS that it's not enough, in the end, that's all we see.
My problem isn't really that the status quo is/isn't preserved, as much as that what happened in the movie (the Director being taken down with Nimona's sacrifice) isn't enough to shake the status quo. The film might show the current systems being dismantled (like the guns being taken out of the wall, as you mentioned), but IMO it still misses the point.
Maybe if the ending was explored more in-depth we'd see more, and better understand what actually happened though. The fact is that we didn't get a longer ending, so that's that.
That being said, I'm glad there's some conversation about this. I got recommended this movie on TikTok and didn't see anyone talk about this at all.