Being that I’m such a huge fan of the book, my review may be a little biased, but then again, as book to movie adaptations can be so dodgy, perhaps it is a testament to this adaptation that I loved this film so much.

I haven’t read the book in a while, so I don’t know how much Stephen Chbosky strayed from his novel in the script, but as a director, he translated it well to film. The writing is fantastic although it drags a few times, plotting through the life points of the characters which feels more like reading a book than watching a movie, but for the most part it is a wonderful adaptation and moved me as much as the first time I read it.

The story is about a boy named Charlie who has had some problems in his past and is entering his first day of high school. He meets a couple seniors who take him in and teach him to grow and deal with his issues.

Of course, one of the things critics will be talking about is how its Emma Watson’s first film since the Harry Potter series. What I’ve been hearing is that she was deeply overshadowed by her two co-stars. While I must agree, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman were both fantastically superb, I didn’t think Watson was bad either. Her accent was somewhat distracting and an American actor probably could have been found who would play the role just as well, but otherwise there was nothing wrong with her performance. She slipped into the role well and was lovable and stunning as always. As I said, Miller and Lerman were amazing. While Watson, I still saw as an actor playing a role, these two were utterly real characters, never disappointing. There’s not much more I can say, short of gushing.

I worry that people, especially boys, will be scared away from this film seeing it as just another indie high school love story but that’s not it at all. It does contain some of those elements. I, who personally love those movies, find it refreshing and perfectly executed. The characters are defined, the story is surprising, and the style is beautiful. But there is so much more to this story. Many have been ranking it as a modern day Breakfast Club. As I wouldn’t go that far, I understand what they mean because there is some serious matter and it is extremely emotional; it is more than what your expect from the dinky trailer. I hope that people will give it a chance and be surprised by the endearing, and intricately told story.
Final Rating: 4.5/5

Possible Spoiler Alert: After last year’s Cars 2 kerfuffle, I had a lot of concern and expectation for Pixar’s newest film. There was a lot of hype surrounding this film as it was the first Pixar film centering around a female character, it was directed by a female, the first Pixar fairytale, and it was the first non-sequel from Pixar in three years. As a huge Pixar fan myself, I have been eagerly awaiting this film and did my best to keep myself in the dark about the story so as to be surprised in the theatres.

The story is about Princess Merida, a spunky teenager, and her relationship with her mother, Queen Eleanor, who wishes for Merida to marry a Prince and carry on their kingdom’s tradition. Wanting to live free and make her own decisions, Merida seeks the help of an old witch, requesting to “change” her mother. Unfortunately this change has disastrous results and Merida and her mother must find a way to fix the spell lest the “change” be permanent forever.

Just from reading that plot, the story feels very familiar, especially for those of us familiar with fairytales, but probably even to those who don’t follow that kind of film. I particularly found it similar to the recent Disney film “Princess and the Frog” which also dealt with two characters, changed by a magic spell, who must learn to accept each other’s faults and work together to change back to their original state. (note also Freaky Friday, which in addition deals with the mother-daughter relationship). This idea however has been seen time and time again. I was a little disappointed by this. For how hush-hush Disney was trying to keep the plot of this story, I was definitely expecting a more surprising film. After all the set-up, things go pretty much as you would expect. Not only that, but everything seems to come extremely easy. After learning of the curse and receiving a little riddle about how to set things right, the characters are almost immediately led by the fates to the answer of how to solve the problem. Once they figure this out, they are able to reconcile their own differences and everything just follows format, easily solving itself.

This was very unfortunate, but I was not disappointed by this film because what it lacks in plot, it makes up for in emotional story. However, I do think this could be more or less effective depending on the audience. For me personally, the story was extremely relatable. The relationships between the characters (most specifically mother-daughter) was extremely realistic and believable. I was able to relate and think any mother or daughter will find the same thing. It is possibly the most powerfully emotional and truthful mother-daughter story I have seen. I found myself completely enthralled in this story.

However, another weakness this story bore was a lack of payoff. Though the mother-daughter story was very strong, there were many other storylines set-up that went no where. For example, the second most prominent plot point was that the Queen was forcing Merida into marriage. This was an extremely major conflict throughout the story and it did receive a small solution but it was very unsatisfying. I didn’t feel as though it received enough attention or conclusion in the end and was left wondering what would happen. There was also the witch who cast the spell who lacked payoff. Unlike other villains we are used to, she lacked any motivation or story of her own. She appeared merely as a plot device. She almost felt tacked on. Having no previous set up and no conclusion to her story, she is almost out of place.

I very much expected her to come back at the end as a muse, so the audience would discover that she had an ulterior motive, but alas, she was never to be heard from again.

Overall I did really enjoy the story, but it definitely has its issues. It is, sadly not as strong as other Pixar films. It would be a very well done film from another studio, but as it comes from Pixar, we expect a little more. The story I think will appeal to both adults and children. The humour at times is more childish than their past fare, but I was able to find the normal Pixar humour scattered throughout the film (Also, I saw this movie with my dad who thought it was hilarious, so there you go). Its lack of originality makes it feel more like a Disney film, but the Pixar touch is present in its strong emotional themes, well-established and interesting characters, and fantastic animation.
Final Rating: 4/5