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jewellangela
Reviews
New World (2021)
A breath of fresh air!
This series was so much fun!! The setting was absolutely gorgeous, and I really enjoyed the unpredictability of all the games they played. Since I watch a lot of variety shows, I thought this would be more of the usual, but to my surprise, everything in New World felt unique and refreshing. Plus, the cast had such great chemistry, it was endlessly entertaining seeing their alliances shift and change as rankings and betrayals shook things up. I laughed so hard at quite a few unexpected parts!
I could also really appreciate the editing of the episode previews: Whenever I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen, they kept me guessing and undermined my expectations. And since I was familiar with most of the cast, there was never a shortage of people to root for since they all had equal time to shine... my personal favorites were Lee Seung-gi and Kim Hee-Chul.
I really hope there's a season 2, so that this same cast can be reunited and really compete "without guilt" and go crazy in the race for 1st. I'm sure most of them - though one in particular - desperately yearns for revenge. 😂😂
Wicked (2021)
A worthwhile watch
I've been a huge fan of Jennifer Armentrout ever since reading her Lux and Covenant series, so when I heard Wicked was going to be optioned after the other two fell through, I was thrilled and delighted and absolutely determined to be supportive and watch it no matter what!
First, I must admit my expectations were always low. This wasn't a Hollywood production, after all, and since it would be helmed by a much smaller production company, I knew their budget and capabilities might not be as impressive. That being said, this adaptation wasn't bad. They stayed surprisingly true to the books, and the casting and chemistry between Ivy and Ren was really good. The overall CG (the killing of the Fae/the Gate/Tink's size) were done well and looked natural enough considering the budget. And I absolutely loved Tink! He was adorable and hilarious just like in the books. I also thought Ivy's actress was majorly impressive. She really seemed to grasp the character and did a wonderful job making her appear tough yet vulnerable at the same time. Ren definitely had some swoon-worthy moments, and his interactions with Tink were some of the definite highlights. Not to mention, the music wasn't bad at all.
Now for the not-so-good. There was some terrible acting from the side-characters (Sorry, Val) and i felt the choreography could've been better: Some of the movements and actions came across stiff. And honestly, I'm not sure if people unfamiliar with the books will be able to follow what's going on - a little more world-building from the beginning might have been helpful. Also, Tink's overall CG could have been better... his initial introduction, for sure. For example, whenever he was "flying" he looked somewhat stiff and unnatural, especially his legs, and some of his shots were clearly manipulated/green-screened which took me out of the moment. It did, however, get better as the movie went on, so at least it improved! And while most of the dialogue works in book-form, some of it sounded ultra cheesy and dated here, and didn't translate quite as well to film.
Of course, none of those things prevented me from enjoying it, and I even managed to watch it again! I even found that on the second watch, some of the things that annoyed me initially didn't bother me as much. In fact, it gave me a greater appreciation for Ivy and Tink's actors: Their line deliveries were on point 😂.
In the end, as a fan, I'm just sooo happy to see these characters come to life, especially since it's obvious they put a lot of thought and care into this movie, and included a lot of interesting details from the books. From here, it can only get better!
That being said, I hope fans can watch it with an open-mind and show their support so we can get more adaptations going forward! So here's hoping for a bigger budget, and even more Jennifer Armentrout adaptations to come (and if they want to dabble with some of Sarah J. Maas's works as well, I won't complain - Crescent City seems like a natural choice lol).