The
first stupid film I watched on the plane was Hansel and Gretel: Witch
Hunters. In the recent tradition of taking a familiar children’s story and
doing it in very gritty style, then running with the idea to make a brainless
action film with lots of guns, it did exactly what it was expected to do. After
killing the witch in the gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel become witch hunters
in a semi-historical setting that melds the Wild West with a vaguely Germanic
set-up, and as adults, become wrapped up in a plot to make a coven invulnerable
to fire – which also brings out various revelations about their true pasts.
It’s dumb, cheesy and seems a bit piecemeal –
the Hansel-is-diabetic angle in particular feels like a good idea that had to
be shoehorned into an action scene – and none of the characters get
well-developed. But as a classic good-vs-evil romp it was an entertaining way
to pass the time, and thus excellent for a plane trip.
The second stupid film I saw was Warm Bodies,
which also did what it said on the tin. An awkward romantic comedy about one
girl and her zombie, it never quite decided whether it wanted to slot in beside
Twilight or thoroughly mock it, and that somehow ended up making it
stand well on its own. It neatly answered the questions it raised only a little
after they became vital – why isn’t she mourning her dead boyfriend? Shouldn’t
she be trying to take him into her society by now? – but overall it was a
little slow and vapid. The central idea remained funny, though, and the sweet
relationships between zombie friends worked, as did dumping the monstrous
elements onto a more advanced sort of zombie, suggesting the intermediate ones
can be redeemed. With the power of love. Yes, again it was utterly stupid – but
also enjoyable because it wasn’t meant to be anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment