sanctuary_thirteen Reviews

The Worst Witch (2017– )

Not! A! Ripoff! and Worth the Watch! *spoiler free*

[6/10 · 23 July 2017]

The Worst Witch. The book series by Jill Murphy was first published in 1974 and continues through to 2013 at least.

Harry Potter. The book series by JK Rowling was first published by 1997 and continued through to 2007, with more stories rumored on their way.

The Worst Witch. The first film adaptation came out in 1986 starring Fairuza Balk and Tim Curry. A television series then ran from 1998 to 2001.

Harry Potter. The first film adaptation came out in 2001 starring everyone you could ever want and more, and the series culminated in 2011. A prequel film then was released in 2016.

I love Harry Potter, but I'm old enough to have watched the Worst Witch and remembered it. The overlap and obvious repetitions between the two stories kept me from enjoying HP until much later, but today I have a healthy love for both stories, as they really do tell two different stories despite all the similarities.

British boarding schools, especially to American viewers who are by and large unfamiliar with boarding schools as a concept, may mistake normal behaviors for particularities unique to one universe or the other.

Now that we have THAT out of the way, this is a fun version of the misadventures of Mildred, the Worst Witch. Magic takes a backseat to telling a rather mundane, but poignant story about friendship, fitting in, and hard decisions.

It is perhaps a simpler story than Rowling's work, leaving out so much of the backdrop of the past that conveyed the breathing magical world of Harry Potter. The Worst Witch instead skips over the hidden world and takes on perhaps a more mythical sense. The cheaper effects are highly charming, and the children give solid performances.

This is a great series for kids perhaps not quite old enough for the darker Harry Potter world, but ready to embrace a magical school.

The Hero of Color City (2014)

Trickle Down Economics For Kids

[2/10 · 20 November 2016]

In this world, crayons are an elite ruling class who create "doodles" as lesser lifeforms dependent on the crayons for bright colors (monetary wealth). Crayons recharge their color via a rainbow waterfall which we find out that only they can absorb.

When one unfinished doodle (ironically dressed in the garb of royalty, when he is in fact an upstart in the face of the crayon aristocracy) attempts to bypass the crayons and absorb the bright color himself, he finds he cannot directly absorb it and dams up the waterfall. The crayons then, selflessly, attempt to distribute their remaining color among other doodles but feel their own color resources dwindling without access to the rainbow.

The climax relies on a cowardly crayon (yellow, naturally) who then reaches out to the oppressed doodles to work together, indicating the proletariat has no mouthpiece without the bourgeoisie to give it to him.

Essentially, it decries a populist attempt to bypass a power bottleneck as selfish and promotes the ruling elite crayons as some sort of necessary filter between resources and the doodles (people) who depend on it for life.

Probably not on purpose, as the rest of the film isn't clever enough to suggest there's any sort of intended subtlety. It's more likely that I watch this too much on Netflix with my kids, but there you go.

Victor Frankenstein (2015)

Homage to the Same Love

[5/10 · 27 November 2015]

Frankenstein is often represented as a warning against man playing god. It is perhaps instead a warning against man creating without woman. Without the maternal element, the novel's Victor abandons his horrific creation, thus setting in motion the chain of events which make a monster monstrous.

But forget all that. This movie has apparently solved it. Rather than explore the underpinnings of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelleys novel (the daughter of one of the greatest feminists of all time) this film plays more on the cinematic allure of the story, and replaces the lacking maternal sense with an overtly homosexual relationship between Igor and Victor.

And has a pretty fun time with it.

So Spoilers...

We see Igor released from his circus torment and elevated to Victor's assistant. First thing he does is suit up, attack Igor physically FROM BEHIND, and assail him. He penetrates him with the syringe and withdraws a white fluid from him via a tube using his mouth, which he then casually spits out before further asserting his dominance over Igor with more leather posture gear and a demand to cleanse himself.

Wow.

The subsequent time is spent in an exploration of this relationship. Time Igor spends with his circus acrobat crush is derided by Victor as a waste. Victors father strikes his son and insults his "Experimenting at college." They drunkenly design their ideal man (RHPS style) and discuss the need for "Large Organs." Igor is exposed to the finances and accounts are shared. Very domestic. Finally Victor pronounces them "Partners" and the relationship sours shortly thereafter. Another suitor appears, who similarly whispers in Victors ear from behind in a way not dissimilar to Victor behind Igor nearer the beginning, this time with promises of funding and acclaim.

Throughout this, a fanatical inspector (ironically played perfectly by a homosexual actor) sees their lifestyle as sinful and informed by Satan, and sees a conspiracy in every last connection. He assails them at every opportunity, breaking their door down, deforming himself in the process of his personal crusade. His cries of conspiracy and immoral lasciviousness fall on deaf ears and he is forcibly retired.

Igor is apparently disposed of, resulting in his "rebirth" from near drowning. Temporarily "cured" of his attraction to Victor, he returns to his acrobatic love but quickly realizes where his loyalties lie, and she assists him in reuniting with Victor.

It's barely even hidden. I was rather disappointed when the electrical bolts around Prometheus didn't form a triangle, the imagery was THAT overt.

As a Frankenstein film, it does a couple of things uniquely, but the really enjoyable parts were simply the abusive yet loving relationship between these two. Also, the word "suck" was used repeatedly.

Just saying.