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fabianocolucci · 3 years

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Can we have one lighthearted and optimistic show or movie for once?

Hello, I am writing this post because I have read that the CW is making a TV show about the PowerPuff Girls, except they’re going to be depicted as “20-somethings who are disillusioned after having spent their childhood fighting crime”.

Reading that angered me, I have to admit it, because this is just the latest of a never ending series of shows and movies that try to take something that is supposed to be lighthearted, funny and optimistic and turn it into something dark and edgy about how much life sucks, trying to highlight that “we live in a society” and so on.

Riverdale is the example many people come up with most of the time, and I can see why: its shared universe (which includes The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) is a textbook example of how Hollywood keeps handling these things. However, what many people fail to realize is that this trend has been going on since long before the CW took Archie Andrews and the others and tried to be as dark and edgy as they can.

When Batman Begins proved to be a huge hit, and it was followed by an even greater hit (The Dark Knight), Hollywood apparently thought that the reason of its success was that it tried to be darker and edgier. However, those things worked only because Christopher Nolan wanted to take a popular superhero and tried to depict him in a more realistic tone (after all, their movies may be even darker than what Batman is supposed to be, unless you take in consideration any Batman comic written by Frank Miller).

Since then, we’ve seen countless movies, games and shows that tried to be so dark they’ve become bleak and, honestly, even a bit bland.

On the superhero side, we’ve seen multiple depictions where, for instance, Superman has become evil and is now a force that needs to be stopped (they even made a movie about this being a possibility, as if it’s inevitable), while we’ve seen at least four live-action depictions of Batman being a killer hero who has lost his vision and hope (to the point where Batwoman casually mentioning how Batman has a no killing code was enough to make that world’s Batman a lighter version than what is the current trend). The Netflix shows about Marvel superheroes even made it look like the Avengers’ arrival caused nothing but problems for New York (admittedly, they kind of have to depict New York this way, otherwise it would feel weird how there’s so many superheroes in that city and yet crime is still a thing).

On the fantasy side, because of Game of Thrones’ success, now every fantasy TV show wants to emulate it, and as such we have bleak, humorless worlds where there’s a lot of darkness, with constant “mature” content like swearing and sex (The Witcher is a great show, but they could have toned it down a bit, in that context). It’s like even a genre whose name is literally “fantasy” can’t escape in trying to depict a more gritty and real world where everything always has to be dark.

On the science fiction side, well, we’ve seen the new Star Wars movie, which took the ending of Episode VI, which was full of optimism and hope, and basically said “nope, everything now is so dark and lonely”. I guess one of the reasons why you could pretend the sequel trilogy never happened is that, well, they end with a more positive note than whatever happened after episode IX.

On the TV side, there isn’t just Riverdale or the upcoming PowerPuff Girls show. The Winx Saga has taken away all the color of the cartoon (no, seriously: everything is so grey and soulless looking in the TV show that someone may have to tell you they’re supposed to be The Winx Club in live action). The Nancy Drew show now is a dark mystery more in line with Riverdale actually. Netflix is making an Avatar show and apparently they want to age up the characters “so that they can have sex” (which somewhat implies that there’s someone who looked at 12 year old Aang or 14 year old Katara and thought “I want to see them have sex”, which is so creepy and disturbing that I even regret pointing it out).

This would not be such a big deal if there wasn’t the fact that we’re talking about the vast majority of big movies and shows! Even something funny like Lost in Space has been turned into a dark remake.

Why is it so hard to find something in Hollywood that doesn’t try to be dark and depressing? Well, I think there are multiple reasons, which I’m going to point out:

· There is this idea among writers that drama is the only thing that keeps the plot interesting. Characters need to have tragedies thrown at them all the time, they constantly have to fight and (usually) heavens forbid if they even try to lighten up a bit. This is, of course, wrong, as shown by how many fanfiction writers take characters who have a life made of day-by-day drama and depict them in quiet scenes like them making a meal for their beloved or just going to a vacation where they can relax. Just because depicting nothing but quiet and peaceful moments can become boring on the long run, doesn’t mean it can never happen;

· Because we live in dark times, then everything has to be dark. It’s as if people can’t experience any sort of hopeful escapism when out there it seems like nothing but tragedies and negativity occurs outside of their windows. Illnesses, war, deaths, recessions and so on happen 24/7, so how can you showcase even a bit of positivity? Well, I have one question: what kind of escapism would constantly remind you of the very thing you are trying to temporarily escape from? If I want to forget about the World’s problems for an hour, then why on Earth are you making me think about them? Who decided that the best way of forgetting that life sucks is to have your story say “life sucks” all the time? I don’t understand;

· Writers are probably influenced by the “loser culture” on the internet. I mean, wherever you go on social media, people seem to have a race to see who has the most miserable life. Many comic artist have their characters experience all sorts of problems and negativity, there’s a lot of memes about negative stuff (how many times have you seen a wholesome post with a reblog or a retweet adding something negative? For example, I don’t know, someone tweets “I asked my mom a puppy, she brought me five of them” and someone says “if I asked it to my mom, she’d bring five slaps to my butt”). Of course, if I, a writer, see that people can’t stop talking about how much their life suck, I would think “well, maybe that’s all they want to hear about” and make characters with miserable lives;

However, I have always noticed how there’s a medium who seems to not be easily affected by all this stuff: animation.

You want a fantasy show where everything is colorful and bright? There’s lots of cartoons for that.

You want to see superheroes doing their best to fight for the good of the World? There’s plenty of them in animation.

You want hope and positivity? Tune in on any station that airs cartoons and you will find it.

However, the problem is that this goes hand to hand with the old stigma that, well, “cartoons are for kids”, so it feels like movies and TV shows are saying “positivity and happiness are for children. Grow the hell up and see how dark and hopeless the World truly is!”.

Why is trying to be positive and optimistic something that can’t happen if you’re a mature person? Why is it so wrong to just want to see a bit of peace in these media?

I don’t know what else to say or to add, so it’s best if I finish my post right here. So, here’s my opinion:

Even though it is okay for you to tell me a story where nothing matters, where “we live in a society” and where you can’t have good things, it should be balanced with something. Have you ever seen the Yin Yang symbol? Why do you think it depicts darkness with a little bit of light? Because nothing can be completely dark. So, just try to add some good energy in your story. It won’t be an issue for anybody to just have one moment where everyone smiles.

#darker and edgier #dark and gritty #dark TV shows #edgy #positivity #why is everything so dark #optimism #Riverdale #PowerPuff Girls #PPG CW #CW #Game of Thrones #superheroes #happiness #hope

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whoisaditya · 3 years

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A love letter to The Wombats

First, a brief background about The Wombats: The Wombats is an interesting English Indie Rock Band. They started back in 2003 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The most interesting thing about them is how experimental they are with their albums — considering their vast range. One might think that The Wombats don’t care about what you and I think. They care about their art and what that represents. This is what makes them free to do whatever they want. Now, the album that I want to talk about is some of their earlier work. It was released back in 2007. Damn, that feels like an eternity ago. So let’s begin our journey.

The first track: Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials. For me, this track prepares you for what’s to come. It is a good melody and relatively simple. I’ve always enjoyed it because of how strange it is. From this, we move onto the second track.

Kill the Director. This is the song that brought me to the album, and for a long time, it was one of the most played songs for me on Spotify. When I think of this song, I think of the music video which you should watch. The song is different from the first track, and it is faster and has a lot of content. My favourite things are British pop culture references. The nods to Bridget Jones’s Diary and EastEnders make this a quintessentially British song.

Track 3: Moving to New York, this song has always been close to my heart because it is edgy. It tells us what the British think of American cities like New York. I have always had trouble understanding this song due to multiple reasons. Even right now while I’m reading the lyrics and thinking about what to write about them, I am confused. If you look at it literally, the song talks about sleeplessness and Christmas for some reason. Now, let me tell you what I feel about it. This has always been a song to which I headbang and do the air guitar. I never really understood the lyrics. I probably never will. Though, my favourite part has been these lines.

“I put one foot forward and ended up 30 yards back.

Am I losing touch, or am I just completely off the track?

And I don’t know why I want to voice this out loud.

It’s therapeutic somehow.”

Especially the line, “Am I losing touch or am I just completely off track”. Back when I first heard this song, the pandemic was at its peak. I was preparing for entrances, and life was a mess. I related to this, and I’m sure you guys will as well. This song will make you feel things and reconsider life as a whole.

Now, moving onto track 4, Lost in the Post. This is the most popular song on the album. The song sounds surprisingly happy, but when you pay attention, the lyrics are depressing. It is my kind of music because it tells us a story with a catchy chorus. The line that has stuck with me is “She Wanted Mary Poppins but I took her to King Lear”. It represents so much more than you and I can comprehend. It represents not being enough and a theme of overcompensation followed by under-compensation. Its a simple song but the Wombats have done a good job of packing it with references. It is a song about insecurities and love, the two things that are fundamental to any artist.

Track 5: Party in a Forest(Where’s Laura?). Laura, oh, Laura. I will never truly understand this song. Is it a love letter to Laura or is it a desperate man singing for a girl who will never love him back? Throughout the song, he keeps calling out to Laura, but there’s no response. By the end of it, it seems like he has almost given up. Maybe I’m just reading too much into music, or perhaps this boy is writing songs about a gender he doesn’t understand.

Track 6 is something most of us can relate to. Titled “Schools Uniform”, it is literally from the perspective of a teenage boy going through puberty. It is not the typical “Oh. I miss school” song, but maybe a more realistic approach to what school was. Those uniforms, which most of us claim to miss, perhaps made a joke of us. He sings about a girl he likes and who he used to be friends with, but now she has an older boyfriend. The most important thing about this song is how teens romanticise/think that smoking is cool. It’s the whole trope of doing something because someone else is doing it. After all, someone has deemed it cool. The song does an excellent job of talking about how teenagers try their best to fit in to get the validation they so desperately want. This is generally executed by doing things that most of the time is not good for them, and here ends track 6.

Moving on to track 7, the song I’m most excited to write about. Here Comes the Anxiety is the epitome of a cry for help. It is probably the most painful to listen to because it doesn’t even hide that it is sad. I have to give it credit for being honest about its message. In a messed up way, this taught me how to be honest about myself. The song starts by calling out what I think is all music where creators hide the real message behind catchy hooks and other techniques. The essence of the song is hypocritical; it has a catchy hook line(It is literally in the title). The song is just lying to you; it tries to sell an honest image, but it is not. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good song, but it is just like everything else. It is a dark song like it claims to be. It is a song about a lonely man who doesn’t want to be alone, and that’s about it for track 7.

Let’s Dance to Joy Division is one of my favourite songs. So, I have a sort of personal bias towards it. It is happy and real but also quite sad. The lines

“Everything is going wrong but we’re so happy” perfectly captures the essence of this kind of music. It is happy music, so don’t question it. You don’t need to be comfortable while listening to it, maybe sing along and pretend that your life isn’t going to shit. My interpretation of this song is, you shouldn’t question life while it is happening. If something has to go wrong, it probably will, so why even worry about it. Just be happy and maybe play this on a loop.

Track 9 is Backfire at the Disco. It describes a heterosexual first date. A guy gets ready at 8 pm, meets the girl and then gets slapped. The story is pretty straightforward. The guy makes a move at the wrong time. The girl slaps him in response and has to go back home alone at 3 am. What’s important to me isn’t the story but how it’s told. The song starts with how everything is fine and how it is all going okay. It sounds like the girl is in the wrong and that we should feel bad for the guy. The song gets pretty misogynistic when he calls her dress whorish. To give him some credit, he does admit his mistake by the end, but then it is too late, and the narrative has been set. This victimisation of the perpetrator is extremely harmful. It creates a story that men don’t know what to do and how it is an honest mistake. This message is toxic, and anyone listening to this should keep this in mind.

Little Miss Pipedream describes a toxic one-sided relationship. The song is comparatively slower-paced, where the stress is on the lyrics. The song expects us to feel sympathy for this man who is madly in love with this girl. The protagonist is portrayed as a friendly guy who is willing to wait for this girl. This man has selfish ideas of love, and he’s trying to convince the listeners to sympathise with him. These ideas are selfish because they are all based around him. Lyrics like, “Don’t leave miss pipedream cause I love you.” is an example of what is incorrect with this song. Pop culture has often romanticised these ideas and portrayed these men as heroes.

Track 11 is about a therapist named Dr Susan. It is clear that Dr Susan is treating and is prescribing him narcotics. He is infatuated with her and is willing to do anything for her. This is clearly some toxic behaviour. The singer keeps repeating “This Time” which means that he has done this before. The most concerning thing is “Help Me Help Help Me, Susan”. We can see a theme where he asks for help but no one gives it to him and there ends track 11.

Track 12 is about loving a woman who doesn’t want to be loved. The singer has fallen in love with a stripper and is willing to do anything to be with her. His behaviour indicates that he has lost track of reality. In his head, his actions are part of a grander love story but it is psychotic behaviour. This is ironic cause the last song was about a therapist. He clearly knows what he is doing is wrong but he still continues to do so. This entire song does a good job of showing a messed up, toxic relationship between a desperate man and a stripper.

The story of Track 13 is set at the wedding of the protagonist’s ex-girlfriend. It does something unusual by portraying alcoholic tendencies at a wedding. The lyrics make it clear that he still has some feelings for his ex-girlfriend. I don’t know where the blame lies on this one because of the conflicting narratives. The repetition of the line, “She’s not that beautiful” shows us his hatred towards the bride and how our emotions are more complex than they seem. One would assume that after all this time he wouldn’t resent his old partner but he does. This is because humans are complicated and irrational and there’s nothing we can do about it. This also shows how when we are with someone everything seems romantic but when they leave we criticise all their actions. To conclude, the song is quite entertaining and definitely worth listening to.

If you have read this until now and not skimmed as most people will, you must be thinking that all these songs sound somewhat similar. It’s a simple boy loves girl plot which is portrayed in multiple different settings. Before I started writing this, I thought that I would have something unique to write about each song, but I don’t. As I moved on from track to track, I realised that most of these are about the same thing. Does this mean the songs are not great? No, of course not, they are amazing. Each track is unique and has a storyline, the music is good, and that’s why people enjoy it. Music is subjective, and at the end of the day, my opinion means jackshit. Yeah, enjoy the music; I hope what I wrote made you think and introspect about the music you listen to.

#thewombats #british music #Indie

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hockeychik13 · 7 years

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Honest Reviews: The Die Hard Franchise

I would like to start a series with this blog called Honest Reviews. In it, I will honestly review some of my favorite pieces of entertainment. Believe me, I am truly passionate about the things I enjoy, but I'm also not completely blind to their flaws or the things about them that may alienate certain audiences. Plus, I just genuinely love talking about movies and TV shows. To kick things off, today I want to talk about the Die Hard franchise.

I will preface this review by saying I enjoy some of the movies much more than others, but I do not hate any of the films in the series.

Die Hard

This is by far one of my favorite films of all time. It is witty, entertaining and is a perfect example of an every-man turned hero. It also introduced us to the late, great Alan Rickman and I think we owe this film a sincere amount of gratitude for that piece alone. It is also the first time we got to see Bruce Willis as a badass.

Believe it or not, the studio didn't want to cast him in the role because of his fame for the TV show Moonlighting. Which had a similar feel to Castle as being a funny, witty crime sitcom type show. That's not really the image you get when you think of Bruce Willis now, is it? Me either. However, at one time, that's what he was typecast as and we almost didn't get the ass-kicking Bruce Willis we know and love today.

Anyway, the film itself is entertaining. There are sort of bloopers and perceived plot holes (I, for one, never questioned how McClane knew Bill Clay was really Hans Gruber), but from start to finish it keeps you interested. There's enough personal backstory to make you care about the characters emotionally. And Rickman managed to create a new kind of villain in Gruber that almost had you rooting for him out of sheer respect. Die Hard gave us a lot of things that cinema had been missing up to that point and countless films have tried to re-create that magic to no avail. I will also point out that it is a Christmas film. So, if you're anything like me and have a distaste for traditional Christmas films, this makes an excellent replacement.

Now, comes the criticism: It didn't exactly age well. Now, it is pretty much a timeless classic and those of us who experienced life before high speed internet and smart phones seem to have a better appreciation for films that have outdated technology, however to a newer audience I think all of this films charm would be lost. There are far too many things in the movie that could easily have been solved by the institution of modern technology that for audiences who have never lived life without these modern conveniences would just not make any sense. Also, there have been so many copies and homages of this original film at this point that it wouldn't be new even for a first time viewer. The fashions are very dated and someone laughable at this point, which is something newer viewers would be quick to point out. Unfortunately, at this point in our lives this movie requires a lot of explanation to new audiences to express its true significance. And people really don't like things that they need explained to them.

Die Hard 2

I will start off by saying that despite the many, MANY times I have seen this movie, it is truly forgettable. Despite bringing back familiar characters and introducing a new and fairly impressive villain, the plot is really quite weak and it seems like a rehashing of the original without the heart, wit or simplicity. The plot is overly complicated and the happenstance by which John McClane gets involved seems really kind of forced. There's a terrorist plot at an airport where his wife is supposed to be landing that makes her plane unable to land and then there's a war criminal that the terrorists are trying to release who is supposed to be flying into said airport. Also, there's a snowstorm.

So, John McClane is back, doing what we love him doing. Fighting bad guys, saving the day, doing the impossible because if not him, then who? The movie's setting is really what will ruin it for modern audiences. Anyone who has traveled in the last 10 years can tell you that if you even mention certain words in the airport you're rush tackled and smuggled away for questions and a cavity search. In this movie we have people firing guns in airports, baggage claim attendants being murdered and no one noticing, terrorists dictating flight patterns and whatnot. And yet, the airport seems to be pretty business as usual. Today, it would be a media frenzy and the entire airport would be shut down before anyone could blink. For anyone watching the movie today, the airport and security response would be unfathomable. And the need for McClane's involvement would be completely laughable. Also, the bit about his wife being trapped on a circling plane running out of fuel (with the dickish reporter from the first movie no-less that she punched in the face) just feels tacked on to add a human element to a film that seems to have dropped any semblance of character development in favor of a confusing plot and lack-luster action sequences. It's a good watch for a lazy day of silly entertainment, but it is easly forgotten and that isn't a bad thing.

Die Hard: With a Vengance

This movie makes a triumphant return to the franchise's roots with a clever plot and engaging characters. They went simple and moved the action to John McClane's home turf of New York. They introduced Samuel L. Jackson as a new every-man hero to play off of McClane's tired and too-often tested anti-hero at this point. I call him an anti-hero because when we first see him he is a rough-looking, hungover shell of the man that we came to know and love. We learn that things never did work out between he and Holly and he has been living with the consequences of the previous two movies in the time we have not seen him. We don't usually get a glimpse into the reality of the weight being a hero can put on a man and it's refreshing to see a movie deal with that head on. There are also touches on the issues of racism that are dealt with in a far more realistic sense than I've seen previously. The lines aren't black and white between bigotry and acceptance and that is depicted beautifully in this film.

The plot itself is simple. A so-called terrorist is sending John and his reluctant partner Zeus on a series of scavenger hunts and having them solve riddles to find and diffuse bombs around the city. It all turns out to be a cover up for a heist, which is wonderfully reminiscent of the original film. It manages to pay homage to its origins without copying what has already been done. The villain is engaging and interesting, much like Hans Gruber was and Jeremy Irons manages to create a villain that keeps us guessing and wanting more. The pairing of Willis and Jackson was also a fantastic choice as they play well off of each other with banter but they are also equally intelligent. They work as an equal team, not hero and sidekick.

This film has actually aged a little better than it's predecessors. Although the use of pay phones wouldn't make any sense to modern audiences (what's a pay phone? lol) there is little else that wouldn't make sense overall. The police responses make sense with current times and the cast is more recognizable to newer viewers. Given that it came out in 1995, the fashions were less dated the locations in New York were more recognizable. The film also has a more updated look instead of the grittier look of the older films. It is smooth and higher definition which is a medium that modern audiences are much more accustomed to.

My only criticism of this film would be the somewhat tacked on personal relationship stories. Despite Bonnie Bedelia's (Holly McClane) absence from this installation completely, there is still the underlying theme of John calling his wife to try to reconcile. Given the fact that the first two films take place two years apart, it is conceivable that after the events of the first film they would be able to reconcile and still be in a good place by the second film. However, there are 5 years between the second film and this one, making it probable that the issues the two had at the onset of the first film would have become issues once again (they were never actually solved by the events in the first movie. She was just really happy because he saved her from terrorists and stuff). It's evident from the first film that they have very different expectations for their relationship and their love for each other really wasn't enough to overcome any of that. There's also the random relationship between Jeremy Irons' Simon and his right hand henchwoman Katya. Although it's completely conceivable that they grew close and forged a relationship while working together for their shared cause, it seemed tacked on and served little purpose other than to add a sex scene somewhere in a movie where it doesn't really fit.

This movie is worth watching multiple times. It's a great Saturday afternoon bit of entertainment and the nice thing is it can be watched completely independent of the other films. Although they are still dealing with McClane's failed relationship, you don't need to know their rocky background to assume that the cop who started the movie as a drunk would have an estranged wife. Even if you're not a fan of the original, give this one a look. You might find your interest in this franchise piqued.

Live Free or Die Hard

This installment came out 12 years after the previous film in 2007. It gives us a John McClane whose life has gone pretty much in the direction we could have assumed from the last film. However, this movie chooses to address his relationship with one of his children. Lucy McClane was present in the first film and her brother John was only mentioned given that he was the baby of the family. She makes her adult debut in this film as a central character with closer ties to the plot, giving John that personal element to his heroism that was slightly lacking in Die Hard with a Vengance (although this isn't a bad thing in this film).

The movie itself deals with more technological themes which makes it much more complicated. However, the addition of Justin Long as his sidekick in this film helps to diffuse some of the tech jargon with wit and bits of comedy. Although the joke is that McClane doesn't understand modern technology, few of us actually understand the technology (besides cell phones) being referenced in the film. McClane is us and that's part of the joke. However, Justin Long's Matt is also us. He isn't a fighter or a physical hero like McClane. He needs McClane to protect him and I'm fairly certain we would need that too. This movie allows us to be more involved in the story because we can see ourselves more clearly in it. Yes, there are unbelievable moments and things that aren't physically possible in the real world, but that doesn't diminish the movie's entertainment factor.

Also, part of the fun of the film is that they chose not to use CGI and instead rigged up incredible special effects to get what we see on screen. So, yes, they did actually throw a real car at a real helicopter. The movie is worth a watch just for the special effects knowing that they didn't use computers to create them. They also actually demolished pieces of freeway (a piece that was scheduled to be demolished anyway and the film was able to use for their special effects) as well which makes for both a more realistic feel to the effects and fantastically interesting behind the scenes footage of how things were created.

Unfortunately, the technology is actually a detriment to this film. Although it was attempting to move the franchise into the modern era with its inclusion as a main plot point (not a bad idea given our reliance on technology), it actually serves to date the movie even more than the use of pay phones. Technology is growing and changing at an alarming rate in modern times, which means that even when a piece of it is brand new, it is quickly outdated in a matter of weeks now. Which means that the technology used in a movie now 10 years old seems ridiculously antiquated and silly by today's standards. Which is sad because this is actually a very enjoyable film. But, modern audiences are fickle. And I'm not sure that Justin Long's charm, Bruce Willis' reluctant hero shtick, Timothy Olyphant's sociopathic villain and a guest appearance by Kevin Smith are enough to entice new viewers to look away from their cell phones long enough to appreciate anything this movie has to offer.

Once again, it's an enjoyable film. Fun on a day when you have time to watch special features along with this film to see how things were done. Although it doesn't work as well as a stand alone film. Without knowing the backstory of the McClane family and why Lucy may be angry with her father, this movie feels more like a rip-off of Taken with some tech thrown in than it does a Die Hard movie. So, it's really something that should be watched in context, not out of it.

A Good Day to Die Hard

This movie was released six years after the previous film in 2013. Since the last movie dealt with the relationship between McClane and his daughter Lucy, this one deals with his relationship with his son John. This seems like a great idea on paper, but in practice it lacked a lot. Overall, the movie felt out of place in the Die Hard franchise. Instead of being the every-man hero, McClane is shown as the antiquated dad with good intentions who is really just in the way. It is obvious from the start that the sole purpose of this film was to kick start a revitalization of the franchise following John Jr (or Jack as they like to call him so we don't get confused) as the new hero.

There are two huge issues with this movie that made revitalizing the franchise virtually impossible:

The first is the plot. For the first time in the Die Hard franchise we leave the country. A big part of McClane's appeal was his quiet patriotism. Doing what's right for his country and the people he protects despite great personal sacrifice. This film has him in Russia trying to bail his son out of a Russian prison. Then it turns out his son is really special ops. And is an angry child even though he's a grown man. He has no respect for his father or the lengths to which his father has gone previously to do the right thing (which plays into the cliched "daddy didn't love me enough" theme so common in action films). The plot is way overly complicated and involves double crosses and sub plots and a climax in Prypyat (which is the city now laying abandoned after the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor) that never really seem to come together to form a coherent plot. Although the plot didn't seem to be what was important. At the center of it all seemed to be the desire to introduce Jack as the new hero who will step up so his father can retire.

Which brings us the the second issue with this movie. The casting choice of Jai Courtney as John Jr/Jack just didn't work. He isn't horrible. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate him and he is a good action star. However, to take the place of John McClane both on the big screen and in our hearts there needs to be a certain spark that he just doesn't have. He's not an every-man. He's insanely muscular, which is impressive but really just makes him another Schwarzenegger-like invincible hero. Which has been done to DEATH. Looking at him, he's the hero we expect. But he isn't he hero that we know. He's not the beat cop who would show up to a routine 911 call and save the day. He's not the guy on the street who would help someone because it's the right thing to do. He's the guy in the movie who saves the world and looks good doing it. Fitness aside, he doesn't have the personality for the role. Yes, he's good as an action hero, but he's not a McClane. He doesn't have witty one-liners and when he tries they don't work. And the way his character was written in the film, I found myself rooting against him and pitying his father. Which made the whole "saving the world" plot fall into the background and seem sort of useless.

I'll be perfectly honest, despite having seen this film multiple times, I don't actually even remember what the main plot really was. I know that the relationship between father and son felt forced, but not in the way they were hoping. The previous film addressed the tensions between McClane and his children but allowed that tension to have layers that made sense given the history we know about John. This movie just goes right to the cliches and never lets up. Jack is angry at his father, rebelling in every way (despite being way old enough to have established his own life and moved on from the anger at his father) and seeming to consist of nothing but a distaste for his father. He is the embodiment of an angry teenager dealing with his parents divorce inside the body of a grown man. Even though they end up working together for the greater good, just like there was no true resolution of the issues between John and his wife, there isn't between John and Jack either.

Jack also isn't likeable. I can't imagine following him on similar adventures like we've seen John, but only because I can't see Jack being humble enough to take on the role of a true hero without his pride getting in the way. If I were to suggest a better casting decision for Jack it would have been Channing Tatum. I know, I know, but hear me out. He's good looking, much like Bruce Willis was when the series started (he's still good looking but not exactly heartthrob status anymore) and he's in good physical shape so his ability to fight bad guys wouldn't be questioned. However, unlike Courtney, Tatum has an endearing quality about his features and has proven to be quite adept at both comedy and wit. Although the movie wasn't fantastic, White House Down had a feel of Die Hard in the White House because of his ability to be a believable every-man hero and give the audience the wit and humor needed to break up the tension and violence of an action film. He's also proven more than once that he has the ability to carry a feature film on his own or work beautifully with ensemble casts. Courtney has also struggled in these areas with his other films making it next to impossible for him to be able to carry the franchise beyond this film. Tatum's humor would have also played well with Willis' and as a duo they would have been more believable as father and son with a rocky relationship. Tatum also has more similar features to Willis like a trademark smirk and softer eyes, whereas Courtney never seems to be able to break serious face.

Although I'm not saying that this film isn't worth a watch, if you haven't seen it, you're really not missing much. It was a disappointing installment in an otherwise impressive franchise. If you're a fan of the franchise already, give it a watch, but if you're new to it I wouldn't bother. It wouldn't encourage new audiences to give the rest of the franchise a shot and is really quite forgettable as a stand alone movie.

Overall

I know this has been a long-winded post, but if you have made it this far with me, I thank you! This franchise holds a very dear place in my heart. I know I got a bit harsh with the last installment, but that's mostly because my expectations have been set so high by the rest of the series. I'm proud to own all of the movies. I'm happy to introduce new people to the series and I'm always thrilled to discuss it with other people. It's a great set of action movies and Bruce Willis is a great hero to root for. Now excuse me while I settle in for a Die Hard movie marathon.

Yippee-Ki-Yay!

#diehard #bruce willis #hans gruber #honest review #movies #reviews

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fabianocolucci · 2 years

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I posted 2.106 times in 2021

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For every post I created, I reblogged 12.2 posts.

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My Top Posts in 2021

Every fandom has that topic that makes you wonder "how are you not tired of having this conversation all the time?"

14 notes • Posted 2021-03-06 00:28:37 GMT

Would you like some Spadotto on your Dashboard today?

21 notes • Posted 2021-11-05 16:53:01 GMT

Just casually thinking of how meta it is that the DC Extended Universe was started by Henry Cavill, the actor Stephenie Meyer modeled Edward Cullen after, and another universe inside of it will be kicked off by Robert Pattinson, who actually played it.

I feel like DC fans should thank Twilight for some reason.

32 notes • Posted 2021-03-25 18:23:24 GMT

You know, I'd really like to know who was the original Karen that gave way to the trend of calling annoying people "Karens". Imagine being so annoying that YOUR NAME becomes synonym with annoying.

40 notes • Posted 2021-06-17 20:49:53 GMT