Much to Chatter About
Jun. 11th, 2008 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kristenskI've gotten to see a lot of awesome stuff lately, so here's a nice, rambling post in which I will rave about some of said awesome stuff.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Well, I started my summer movie watching with "Prince Caspian". It was good, but I think I want to see it again before passing my final review. Mainly because the first movie set me up to expect something very like the book, which I've read and re-read many times. After all, the first movie was an incredibly faithful interpretation of its book. But, Prince Caspian turned out to be more the normal sort of movie based on a book wherein numerous liberties are taken. That doesn't make it a bad movie. Especially not to me as I've enjoyed a lot of book-based movies that were nothing like their books. But, I was expecting a closer interpretation than I usually do, and the changes threw me a bit. All the same, it was a good movie, and some of the changes added nicely to the story. And, some of the characters were done perfectly. Trumpkin was brilliant with his wonderfully deadpan comments. Reepicheep, one of my favorite characters from the books, was dead-on, and they seem to have taken extra pains to include all of his most memorable scenes. And, I much appreciated a certain little moment they gave Edmund. Nice to see he isn't repeating any of his old mistakes.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Next up, Indy. This one was eight flavors of awesome, and I loved it. It remains to be seen if it will have the replay value of the earlier three, but I don't think it will disappoint there either. (Though I was disappointed to read Sage's comments and learn that they made what sound like very obvious, easily corrected, mistakes, so I don't know how I'll view those next time around.) I was a little nervous going into it, and I tried not to get too excited beforehand. I didn't want it to be like the Star Wars prequels where I was excited for weeks in advance and then found the movies to be... well, not all bad, just not as good as I wanted them to be. Fortunately, Indy neatly side-stepped all of the things I was worried about, successfully used a concept that fails for me as often as it works and ended with just enough of a finale to make me feel like it was truly the end... but not to the point of Indy hanging up or passing on his hat. In fact, the end led me to believe he will likely have many more adventures. At the same time, it gave me the assurance that, when his adventures do finally end, he'll have something waiting for him besides a dusty apartment full of books and notes somewhere. Awesome movie. And, the bit with the sand pit and the snake was genius.
Anime: I keep forgetting to yammer about some of the awesome series I see. The most recent one I've really enjoyed as a complete series was Busou Renkin. It seems to consistently get terrible reviews, but I thought it was a great show. It does take a few episodes to really hit its stride. And, the humor is very quirky with some more PG-13 elements I could have happily done without. It probably also works against the show that it's based on a manga from the creator of Rurouni Kenshin. Busou Renkin is not Kenshin and probably not to the tastes of many Kenshin fans. However, if you get past the sci-fi elements and the wacky humor, Busou Renkin is, at its heart, similar to Kenshin in its theme of a good-hearted person who helps everyone he encounters, including people who are initially enemies/antagonists, making some very unlikely friends along the way. It's a theme that doesn't get old for me. And, the characters are fun. The aforementioned good-hearted person, Kazuki, is a loveable goofball and his co-star, Tokiko, is one of the more interesting heroines I've seen in a while (though it's scary as all get-out that she, by the creator's own admission, looks like a female version of Kenshin in Battousai mode). Kazuki's sister and school buddies are also great characters. Their personalities may not be particularly developed, but what's great about them is how they're always there for Kazuki. They spend most of the storyline knowing only that Kazuki's gotten involved in something and that it's dangerous. Instead of demanding answers they just support him where they can whether it's covering for his absences in school or actually taking on one minor villain in his defense. Finally, Busou Renkin has an awesome final episode. It's a series that truly ends. There are no loose ends, everything is resolved and all of it just made me happy. Okay, so some elements are a little out there, but it's all worth it for such an otherwise perfect ending.
Oh, and, if anyone was wondering, those last two drabbles I did were Busou Renkin/Bleach crossovers. Because.
And, I may have more to yammer on about next week after Inuyasha ends. I'm not sure if I'm more happy to be just one week away from knowing the end to the manga or if I'm more sad that my current favorite series is ending. Of course, hopefully, I'll have more anime to look forward to as I expect they'll be animating the last couple of years worth of manga. But, still... No new Inuyasha adventures ever again. *sniffle*
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Well, I started my summer movie watching with "Prince Caspian". It was good, but I think I want to see it again before passing my final review. Mainly because the first movie set me up to expect something very like the book, which I've read and re-read many times. After all, the first movie was an incredibly faithful interpretation of its book. But, Prince Caspian turned out to be more the normal sort of movie based on a book wherein numerous liberties are taken. That doesn't make it a bad movie. Especially not to me as I've enjoyed a lot of book-based movies that were nothing like their books. But, I was expecting a closer interpretation than I usually do, and the changes threw me a bit. All the same, it was a good movie, and some of the changes added nicely to the story. And, some of the characters were done perfectly. Trumpkin was brilliant with his wonderfully deadpan comments. Reepicheep, one of my favorite characters from the books, was dead-on, and they seem to have taken extra pains to include all of his most memorable scenes. And, I much appreciated a certain little moment they gave Edmund. Nice to see he isn't repeating any of his old mistakes.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Next up, Indy. This one was eight flavors of awesome, and I loved it. It remains to be seen if it will have the replay value of the earlier three, but I don't think it will disappoint there either. (Though I was disappointed to read Sage's comments and learn that they made what sound like very obvious, easily corrected, mistakes, so I don't know how I'll view those next time around.) I was a little nervous going into it, and I tried not to get too excited beforehand. I didn't want it to be like the Star Wars prequels where I was excited for weeks in advance and then found the movies to be... well, not all bad, just not as good as I wanted them to be. Fortunately, Indy neatly side-stepped all of the things I was worried about, successfully used a concept that fails for me as often as it works and ended with just enough of a finale to make me feel like it was truly the end... but not to the point of Indy hanging up or passing on his hat. In fact, the end led me to believe he will likely have many more adventures. At the same time, it gave me the assurance that, when his adventures do finally end, he'll have something waiting for him besides a dusty apartment full of books and notes somewhere. Awesome movie. And, the bit with the sand pit and the snake was genius.
Anime: I keep forgetting to yammer about some of the awesome series I see. The most recent one I've really enjoyed as a complete series was Busou Renkin. It seems to consistently get terrible reviews, but I thought it was a great show. It does take a few episodes to really hit its stride. And, the humor is very quirky with some more PG-13 elements I could have happily done without. It probably also works against the show that it's based on a manga from the creator of Rurouni Kenshin. Busou Renkin is not Kenshin and probably not to the tastes of many Kenshin fans. However, if you get past the sci-fi elements and the wacky humor, Busou Renkin is, at its heart, similar to Kenshin in its theme of a good-hearted person who helps everyone he encounters, including people who are initially enemies/antagonists, making some very unlikely friends along the way. It's a theme that doesn't get old for me. And, the characters are fun. The aforementioned good-hearted person, Kazuki, is a loveable goofball and his co-star, Tokiko, is one of the more interesting heroines I've seen in a while (though it's scary as all get-out that she, by the creator's own admission, looks like a female version of Kenshin in Battousai mode). Kazuki's sister and school buddies are also great characters. Their personalities may not be particularly developed, but what's great about them is how they're always there for Kazuki. They spend most of the storyline knowing only that Kazuki's gotten involved in something and that it's dangerous. Instead of demanding answers they just support him where they can whether it's covering for his absences in school or actually taking on one minor villain in his defense. Finally, Busou Renkin has an awesome final episode. It's a series that truly ends. There are no loose ends, everything is resolved and all of it just made me happy. Okay, so some elements are a little out there, but it's all worth it for such an otherwise perfect ending.
Oh, and, if anyone was wondering, those last two drabbles I did were Busou Renkin/Bleach crossovers. Because.
And, I may have more to yammer on about next week after Inuyasha ends. I'm not sure if I'm more happy to be just one week away from knowing the end to the manga or if I'm more sad that my current favorite series is ending. Of course, hopefully, I'll have more anime to look forward to as I expect they'll be animating the last couple of years worth of manga. But, still... No new Inuyasha adventures ever again. *sniffle*
