aria: ([misc] boots)
valinor spider party ([personal profile] aria) wrote2009-07-16 08:35 pm

follow the old road

I have this horrible tendency to actually want to talk about the ridiculous sci-fi rubbish I watch sometimes. Sorry.

I enjoyed Tin Man! I enjoyed it in a ropey-effects-and-uneven-acting way, but I unironically like Doctor Who so this is totally normal. It also gets points for making me want to rewatch The Wizard of Oz despite the fact that I don't even like that film.

[personal profile] aria: I watched the ridiculous tin man thing!
[personal profile] aria: I KIND OF LOVED IT despite the fact that it was horrible
[personal profile] anekdot: THIS IS TOTALLY FAIR, MAN
[personal profile] anekdot: is it super dystopia-y???
[personal profile] anekdot: because if so I DO NOT JUDGE AT ALL
[personal profile] aria: YES although in the hilarious way
[personal profile] aria: where a hot chick who looks suspiciously like kristen bell without actually being kristen bell wears ... lots of weirdass corsets
[personal profile] aria: and tells ckr to go and terrorize the peasants
[personal profile] anekdot: ... HAHAHAA

My major complaint was Toto, because really? your sole principal character of color is a traitor and literally a dog? No, really, good move, guys. And I am not entirely sure what to do with the whatevers that Raw and his ilk were supposed to be.

On the other hand, I massively approve of Cain, because I am all for a sort of steampunk Western aesthetic, and I am quite happy to watch Alan Cumming run around with a zipper on his head. And the Omg Evil Woman With Cleavage (Who Is Sekritly An Ugly Old Witch) + the total failboat of the Queen doing anything constructive ever was more or less offset by the fact that DG is possibly the least screamy heroine ever and I quite liked her despite some of the ... more interesting choices for the line deliveries.

Unsurprisingly I think it needed more Zero, mostly because CKR is good enough that I can watch him cheerfully committing atrocities and then be genuinely distressed when they shut him in a Suit as he rightfully deserves, because he is really good at playing upsetting and likable at the same time, dammit. If CKR is going to make a good-faith attempt to give his stupid two-dimensional villain some depth, possibly you should use him more. Apparently someone suggested he be DG's father and afflicted in a similar way to Azkadellia, which would've been fucking awesome and also probably helped out the last act a whole lot.

I thought it needed more beginning and more ending, even if the middle bits were okay. Like, "Oh, my parents are robots, my life is a lie, and my real parents wanted to protect me by tampering with my memories, possibly permanently? Cool beans, let's go save the OZ." And then the end needed more Glitch getting his brain back (IT IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE TO RE-BRAIN PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD RIGHT) and good!Azkadellia and the royal family having to, I dunno, deal with all the evil henchmen and the complete horrible mess they've collectively caused.
labellementeuse: a girl sits at a desk in front of a window, chewing a pencil (my marxist feminist dialectic)

[personal profile] labellementeuse 2009-07-17 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
I unironically adored DG enough that I enjoyed Tin Man, even though your points about Toto (yeah, the dog thing? ugh.) are totally valid and I was barely able to restrain myself from falling to the floor shrieking when the Death Boobs attacked.

The bits with Raw almost felt to me like they were part of, like, a previous movie that I hadn't seen - which is kind of intriguing in a way I guess but maybe not also good storytelling.

On the other hand I really loved all of the sistery backstory! I don't know why! I have a thing for children and creepy rhymes, I think Buffy gave it to me.

anyway. I agree with your commentary and approve of your message.