Netflix Recommendation: "The Babadook" Review and Spoiler Discussion

The Babadook

5 out of 5 Stars

Family Appropriateness rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Not Rated (but it would likely be R if it were)

-Sexual content involving autoerotic stimulation

-Some blood and gore, but it would not be classified as a 

"gore fest"

-Some strong language: about two f-words

-Scary images

"The Babadook" delivers plenty of scares, but there is so much more to it than that.

It tells the story of Amelia (Essie Davis), a struggling single mother of the troubled-child Samuel (Noah Davis). About seven years prior, she underwent a tragedy, and now she has to cope with it while raising her son.

Samuel has been scared of a monster in his room, and Amelia tries to reassure him it is not real. He does not believe her, and he makes it his goal to protect them from it. This causes a lot of stress on Amelia. He does not just act up at home, he causes problems at school and with other relatives.

When she tucks him into bed one night, she finds a book called "The Babadook" and reads it to him. It looks like it was written for children, but it has a frightening message about a monster that will come over and haunt you. Weird things start happening after she reads the book, and she wonders if maybe this "Babadook" is real.

This may sound like I spoiled too much, but trust me, I did not. "The Babadook" has a much deeper meaning to it, and I will not reveal what it is because I would like you to see it for yourself.

The reason I mention this is I saw reviews on YouTube for it, and they spoiled what the movie was trying to do. Coming into the movie, this gave me certain expectations. 

Did this movie meet those expectations? It actually exceeded them. It is both terrifying and deep. Unlike most horror movies these days, it does not rely on jump scares. There is only one part that made me jump, and it is effective. 

Spoilers: What this movie means

As mentioned earlier, Amelia underwent a tragedy seven years ago. On her way to the hospital where she would go into labor, she and her husband were in a car accident. Her husband died, but she still had her son that night. 

Now, whenever she looks at him, he reminds her of the tragedy. Samuel has characteristics that are similar to his father, and this is torture on her. She has not been able to face what happened, and whenever someone mentions her husband, she tenses up. 

Going into this film, the question on my mind was "Is the Babadook real?" The answer is yes: in more ways than you would think.

The Babadook is the tragedy. She fears it, and the movie brilliantly puts you in her situation by comparing it to a horrifying monster. Just because it is in her head, does not make it less real. Everything she has to face is terrifying.

The Babadook does not only haunt her. It first goes after Samuel. For him, it is different. He does not remember the tragedy, but he has to cope with not having a father and living with a woman who seems to blame him for it. 

Not only is the Babadook real in the context of the movie. It is actually real. It can visit anyone. It is the demons we all have to face. For me, it is the fear that people do not like me because I am overweight. This came about when I was in elementary school, and other kids would make fun of me. Even at a point in my life when I was thinner, it still haunted me. Anytime I liked a girl, the Babadook held me back from having the confidence to take my relationship with her any further.

The film ends on an empowering note. Amelia looks at the Babadook and tells it she will not let the monster hurt her or her son any longer. This is her owning up to her fears and not letting them control her. After she does that, she is able to talk about her husband without any problems. The monster is still alive, but now, she can control it. 

"The Avengers: Age of Ultron" Revew

Courtesy: Google

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Recommendation

-Fun and engaging
-Worth seeing in theatres
-Not as good as the first one

Content

-Mild sexual innuendos that will go over kids' heads
-Sci-fi action violence throughout
-Some blood after characters are attacked, but it is not gory







Joss Whedon, the writer/director of both "Avengers" installments, knows the Marvel characters well and keeps the same witty dialogue in "Age of Ultron" that made the first film so enjoyable.

In the film, Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) delves a little too far into the "mad scientist" category. He tries to play God, and it blows up in his face in the form of Ultron (voiced by James Spader), an advanced artificial intelligence with the ability to duplicate itself into robotic bodies. Stark's idea when creating it is protecting the world. The AI takes it to mean protecting the world from humans. To put the story in a nutshell, the Avengers try to stop him.

Like most Marvel films, this one develops the characters further. They are in a different position by the end. Their characterizations are solidified with well-written, often hilarious, dialogue, and some of their motivations are deepened in some brilliant segments that reveal their deepest fears.

One problem with this movie comes from one of these segments, which involves Thor (Chris Hemsworth). It connects to something that happens in the third act of the film, but it is never explained very well.

Another problem comes from the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) character. Some people have critiqued Whedon's handling of her as anti-feminist. I did not get that from this film. The problem is more about the direction Marvel decides to take her love life. This will be discussed in detail at the end of this review.

There are more action scenes than in "The Avengers." Some are really fun to watch. The filmmakers got creative with the choreography, and even had characters like Thor and Black Widow use Captain America's shield.

BUT...much of this is wasted by bad shooting and editing. There are too many tight shots on the characters' faces so when he/she/it hits an enemy, the audience cannot see what happened. The editing between shots is so quick, my eyes had a hard time seeing the action itself.

I know Whedon can make good action scenes. In the Avengers, he produced this one

Courtesy: imfdb

in which the Hulk jumps on a plane, thrashes at it and throws the ejecting pilot in the opposite direction. This scene is so good because it uses a combination of wide, tight and medium shots. It is not just a few quickly-cut close-ups of the Hulk's face.

I look forward to the next "Avengers" installment, which will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Out of all the Marvel films, that one had the best-shot action sequences.

Spoilers: Black Widow's love life

This film proves the people behind Marvel do not know what they are doing with Natasha Romanov. In "The Avengers," her and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) deny having an intimate relationship, but the film implies they do. In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," her and Captain America (Chris Evans) show chemistry, and it looks like something will happen there. In this one, her interest lies in...Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)?

This leaves the audience thinking "Wait a second, what about Hawkeye? Isn't she supposed to be with him?" The film answers with "Actually, he has had a family the entire time, and Natasha is that friend the kids call 'aunt' even though she's not related," which came out of nowhere and seemed forced.

In a way, Natasha and Bruce is an interesting match-up, given their history, and "Age of Ultron" addresses this. In the first film, Natasha is the one who recruits him even though she is afraid of him. Later on, it is her who is with him when he turns into the Hulk on the helicarrier. This plot point could still be handled better than it is.

"Cinderella" Review

Cinderella


Content: 

-Safe for families
-One or two very mild innuendos

Recommendation:

Adults and children alike will enjoy it. Adults may even like it more. If you have a family, take your kids to see it. Even if you are single, it is worth your money.







When I first heard Disney was going to make live-action versions of their classic animated films I thought it was a dumb idea after seeing Maleficent. However, after seeing Kenneth Branagh's "Cinderella," I am on board. Bring on Hermione playing Belle!

In many ways, this "Cinderella" updates the original, which was released in 1950. It was a simple time when everyone needed to get married in order to move on with their lives, and the animated version reflects this. While there are several lessons girls could take, the one that sticks out is having a man to marry will make their lives better.

Values have shifted over the years, and while marriage is still important, it has become less of an end-all to happiness. Society has learned through the high divorce-rate that if two people get married, they should be in love. It should not be looked at as the only thing that will make one happy. An unhappy single person will still be unhappy after marriage.

The 2015 live-action version changes this in a positive way. The film repeats a different lesson several times: kindness and courage will win out in the end. Cinderella (Lily James), first hears this advice from her mother (Hayley Atwell), and she takes it to heart. While her step mother (Kate Blanchett) and step sisters make her life a living hell, she tries to make the best of things.

When she meets the prince (Richard Madden) for the first time, what attracts him is not her physical beauty but her kindness. She makes such an impression on him that he tries convincing his dad (Derek Jacobi) to let him marry for love rather than politics. Because of her, the prince throws the ball where commoners have just as much a chance as princesses to meet him.

Another way this film improves upon the original is the development of Cinderella's life story. In the animated version, it is introduced through a brief narration. It never introduces the audience to her parents. We simply know they died before the story starts. The 2015 film shows the parents and develops them well enough to create a heart-breaking death scene of Cinderella's mother.

It also does a good job showing how the relationship between Cinderella and her step mother evolves. Kate Blanchett brings a sense of depth to her character. She is evil, but the film hints that the reason for this may stem from jealousy of Cinderella's loving relationship with her father.

While this is undoubtedly a modernized update, director Kenneth Branagh masterfully keeps the same magic that was present in the original. This shows when the fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) transforms animals, clothing and a pumpkin to make Ella ready for the ball. It is also there when Ella dances with the prince in the ballroom. The way the camera moves to the music makes us as an audience feel we are dancing as well.