Disclaimer: this is not a paid post. I am not affiliated with Mattel, this movie or anyone who made it. This is just me rambling as I try to decide whether or not to go see it.
I do not drive due to my visual impairments and my local theater isn’t even on a bus line. Add in the chronic pain and fatigue and going to a movie ends up being a major undertaking, so it’s a bigger decision for me than it is for most folks.
The following comments are solely my own personal thoughts as I try to make that decision.
“They’re ruining our childhood again.”
I’m sure someone out there is saying that right now. Hollywood can’t leave anything alone, so now we have a new He Man movie coming out in a few days time.
And I get it. I also watched the cartoon, and really liked it. She-Ra, too. Looking back it seems kinda silly that we needed separate heroes for boys and girls, but at the time my kid brain just went yay, double the fun.
I was not raised to be dainty. I had toy bulldozers and dump trucks and I pretended that my Barbie dolls drove them, so to me having both shows was like getting a second scoop of ice cream.
I admit I haven’t thought of those cartoons in years, but I do remember them fondly.
So I keep finding myself smiling at the ads, even if I”m a bit wary.
A little nostalgia would be nice right now, and with all due respect to the late Ms. Turner, we actually could use a true hero or two. If we don’t offer these younger generations something other than toxic anti heroes and morally grey reluctant champions sometime here soon we are never going to pull ourselves out of this mess we’re in. We’ve poisoned ourselves with our own cynicism and some innocent joy may be the last cure left that can save us.
So I keep watching the trailers over and over, spending way too much time scrutinizing every detail and wondering: is it gonna hold up? Will they do it justice? Or at least make it something that we won’t regret wasting probably close to $100 bucks and two hours of our lives on?
I mean the kid looks pretty, even if it makes me feel a bit cougarish to say so. And the castle looks so cool. Then there’s Idris Elba, which is always a plus.
But I don’t quite trust the hype. It feels a little too forced, like someone’s mom is trying to keep a birthday party going while the clown she hired is drunk and crying in the bathroom. Or maybe that’s just my own cynicism getting the better of me.
So yes, or no? Stay, or go? With everything else going on, having existential dread over a fantasy action movie is not something I can handle right now. I want a sure thing, and this just doesn’t feel like one.
if it’s not an immediate yes, then it’s probably a no, right? But then again what if I’m being too narrow minded and I cheat myself out of something wonderful?
What I’d really like is for a Gen X canary to go in first and either tell me it’s ok or warn me to run for my life and maybe let me know if I ought to go ahead and spring for that really cool popcorn bucket.
But that wouldn’t be a sure thing either. So I’m still on the fence and hesitating.
Fortunately, the internet comments have been helpful for a change. Lots of folks are pointing out that the first movie wasn’t exactly a cinematic masterpiece and while not impossible, it would be pretty hard to make this one worse.
But I think the best comment I have seen came from someone who said while they were indeed old enough to remember both the original series and the first movie, they also remember that the cartoon was basically a gimmick to market toys and when you keep that in mind over analyzing the merit of the new movie just seems silly.
It will either be great or terrible and either way the world will keep on turning. I probably still won’t go see it in the theater, but I may watch it at home later.
And even if I don’t, the fact that just thinking about the new film has rekindled memories of something I once found joy in is still something to be grateful for, and I’ll take that any day.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons