I went into this thinking it was going to be just another cute paint by the numbers generic prequel banking on nostalgia. Boy was I wrong!
Let me start by complimenting the marketing department. I had no idea this was a musical and glad I didn't. All of the songs caught me by suprise, including the big finale rehashing "Pure Imagination". They showed just enough in the trailers to peak interest but left out enough to be suprised at every turn. I really didn't know how this movie was going to end. That's rare these days.
The characters were actually characters here. Everyone felt like they were there for a reason and not just thrown in last second. We get development, growth and everyone gets a decent amount of screen time. They did a great job of actually making you care about the people you're watching. Again, a lot of movies recently haven't taken the time to do that.
People were complaining about the amount of diversity in this movie but they did something out of the ordinary here. Noodle is an essential character to the story with her own arch, motivations and dreams. Too often when we get characters like her, they're treated as support to the lead with zero humanity. We actually get to know this girl, learn about her family and in the end everything centers around her dreams coming true. I love how she's related to the villian and everything is a full circle moment. You do not have the same movie if Noodle isn't there. That's how it should be done.
The acting was very camp and over the top, similar to all the 80s and 90s type of comedies we used to get. It was a breath of fresh air seeing comically expressive characters, especially the villians, hamming it up to the highest degree. The Paddington director knew what he was doing by allowing these three men to be cartoon villians come to life.
The set design, the costume design, the cgi team and all the visionaries that made this possible really went out of their way. I was in awe the entire time at how gorgeous this film is. The colors pop in a way that's so reminiscent of the 1970's version. The CGI animals looked very convincing. You could tell some actual love and care went into making this. The team really put their all into that ending sequence, almost making you wonder if we'll ever get a sequel to this.
I hope this young man's portrayal of Willy silenced a lot of doubters. I don't know much about Timothy nor was I fan before this but it seems he's one of the only movie stars of this generation and rightfully so. He's very easy on the eyes, conveys emotion well and suprised me with the singing and dancing. This casting and the way things turned out proves the internet isn't always right.
As far as this being a prequel, I feel as though everything was done tastefully. They put in just enough Easter eggs for those who know the original to catch while not being so distracting it takes away from this current movie. The Oompa Loompa was well rendered and acted out well, garnering many laughs. The ending scene brings everything together so well it's hard to fight back tears. Something about this movie brought back that movie magic that we haven't had in a while.
Everyone in my entire family left the theater saying how much they loved it! Kids laughed, everyone got excited for Mr. Bean and you could tell the entire theater was glued to their seats! This is how you do a prequel. Whatever formula that was used for this movie, please keep doing it! Warner Brothers outdid themselves on this one.
Let me start by complimenting the marketing department. I had no idea this was a musical and glad I didn't. All of the songs caught me by suprise, including the big finale rehashing "Pure Imagination". They showed just enough in the trailers to peak interest but left out enough to be suprised at every turn. I really didn't know how this movie was going to end. That's rare these days.
The characters were actually characters here. Everyone felt like they were there for a reason and not just thrown in last second. We get development, growth and everyone gets a decent amount of screen time. They did a great job of actually making you care about the people you're watching. Again, a lot of movies recently haven't taken the time to do that.
People were complaining about the amount of diversity in this movie but they did something out of the ordinary here. Noodle is an essential character to the story with her own arch, motivations and dreams. Too often when we get characters like her, they're treated as support to the lead with zero humanity. We actually get to know this girl, learn about her family and in the end everything centers around her dreams coming true. I love how she's related to the villian and everything is a full circle moment. You do not have the same movie if Noodle isn't there. That's how it should be done.
The acting was very camp and over the top, similar to all the 80s and 90s type of comedies we used to get. It was a breath of fresh air seeing comically expressive characters, especially the villians, hamming it up to the highest degree. The Paddington director knew what he was doing by allowing these three men to be cartoon villians come to life.
The set design, the costume design, the cgi team and all the visionaries that made this possible really went out of their way. I was in awe the entire time at how gorgeous this film is. The colors pop in a way that's so reminiscent of the 1970's version. The CGI animals looked very convincing. You could tell some actual love and care went into making this. The team really put their all into that ending sequence, almost making you wonder if we'll ever get a sequel to this.
I hope this young man's portrayal of Willy silenced a lot of doubters. I don't know much about Timothy nor was I fan before this but it seems he's one of the only movie stars of this generation and rightfully so. He's very easy on the eyes, conveys emotion well and suprised me with the singing and dancing. This casting and the way things turned out proves the internet isn't always right.
As far as this being a prequel, I feel as though everything was done tastefully. They put in just enough Easter eggs for those who know the original to catch while not being so distracting it takes away from this current movie. The Oompa Loompa was well rendered and acted out well, garnering many laughs. The ending scene brings everything together so well it's hard to fight back tears. Something about this movie brought back that movie magic that we haven't had in a while.
Everyone in my entire family left the theater saying how much they loved it! Kids laughed, everyone got excited for Mr. Bean and you could tell the entire theater was glued to their seats! This is how you do a prequel. Whatever formula that was used for this movie, please keep doing it! Warner Brothers outdid themselves on this one.