Forum - View topicREVIEW: The Boy and The Beast
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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I just don't get how a B with paragraphs upon paragraphs of praise and just one major story issue that keeps it from being an A is "average." That's a positive review! I do remember people responded to that review like I was insulting their mother though, and I didn't understand it at the time. Given the movie's subject matter, I guess it makes sense. 
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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I saw a review with a C+ but maybe I am missing something. If I am my apologies. 
Just a note I want to retirerste I don't really have an issue with your review. You watched the film and are sharing your honest opinion. I also did think the movie was flawed I just disagree with you with how flawed. I just want people to realize there is more than one opinion out there and they aren't universally negative (which some people are acting as though it was). And of course yours is not the only negative review either. But anyways I've been harping on this thread a bit too much. So I will call it quits. 
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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No worries! Feelings about media can be passionate. The review was a B for the movie overall. The story grade specifically was a C+. But execution is everything! |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I'll probably still watch it anyway because it's anime and it's a high budget film, but I wasn't hot on Wolf Children when that came out either. Maybe it's because I'm not a parent, but it's also not impossible to empathize with those who are, but the film was just so overdone towards the end and expected me to take a big leap without questioning. I didn't.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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That's a shame. I was really hoping this would be the film that would take Hosoda from good director, to great director. He has such a great eye for cool and unique visuals, but all of his films have had story issues that always kept them below greatness for me. My opinion on his films has generally been similar to Jake's based on what he's said in previous ANNCast episodes, and reviews, so my expectations are much lower now. In a way, that's probably a very good thing. If it ends up being as visually exciting as I expect and I don't hate the writing, that'll make it a win in my book.
For what it's worth, I showed Wolf Children to my Mom, thinking that she might enjoy it since she is a midwife and raised 8 kids mostly by herself, and she was quite... underwhelmed. She didn't say as much, but she hasn't mentioned the movie since. On the other hand, my Dad seemed to really enjoy it. So, eh. |
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Angel'sArcanum
 Posts: 303 Location: Toronto, Ontario |
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Guess I've been misconstruing the 'Story' grade as just the whole narrative execution in general all this time, but ah well. It seems with Hosoda there's a few good stories but there's all these big drawbacks to him, so I never really hopped on the hype train for him like others have (although when I first saw Summer Wars my lenses were tinted by Justin's glowing review and my similar tastes, but upon revisit I haven't been so passionate about it and Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children and now this have all seemed to have fared lesser to many compared to Summer Wars even, so I'm not too hopeful about him). I really liked his One Piece film: Baron Omatsuri though, an absolute blast. At least he's not as awful as Shinkai though, Hosoda and his previously mentioned frequent collaborator can create SOME semblance of characters and emotional footing at least.
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Zepoleba
Posts: 13 |
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Really Hope? Incompetent? I encourage those that enjoy anime films to go see it and judge for themselves. We have so few opportunities to see such films on the big screen. I've seen this film twice already. The Japanese and English language versions. Incompetent is not how I would describe it. This review on the other hand.... This film is already a huge success for it's audience. It's just too bad it's potential is being damaged on such a site as this. |
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Black Thunder 6
Posts: 128 |
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I dunno? How do you go from derivative mediocre work to a slightly more derivative and mediocre work? 
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2256 |
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What did you like about it? Personally, I've found that my tastes overall tend to line up with Jacob's, especially in terms of narrative. I'm sure The Boy and the Beast looks great (it got an 'A' in that department, after all), but all the pretty pictures in the world can't save a weak story (here's looking at you, Rise of the Guardians). |
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Knoepfchen
 Posts: 698 |
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I saw the film at the Sitges Film Festival last year. As they opted for Spanish subtitles only, boy, was I glad the story wasn't more complex and the characters said everything at least twice.
The movie was somewhat well received, with people doing the usual festival applauding afterwards. Not as overwhelming as with other films, but still. The fact that my memory of the movie is already pretty vague at this point tells me it probably didn't leave a huge impression. I remember the second half being significantly weaker than the first one, and how I tried to explain things with me being lost in translation. From the review and many reactions in this thread, it could be my lack of Spanish fluency was not the problem. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I personally liked The Boy and the Beast until Ren returned to the human world. I thought the movie would've been better had it stuck to the relationship between Kumatetsu and Ren, with Ren resolving his human-world stuff until the last act. Instead, I felt the movie tried to be too many things at once and collapsed under its own weight. By the third act, the movie had lost all sense of direction, and it came across to me as a series of non sequiturs, even though I'm sure it was all planned out and went through many revisions to get to the state I was watching.
That being said, I still liked it overall. It is definitely one of the weaker Mamoru Hosoda movies I've seen, but to me, that's still a sunspot. For the record, it currently stands at 3 positive and 1 negative review on Rotten Tomatoes. I'll wait for more reviews to come in, as all we've had is the Japanese release and a small screening so far.
Mine would be The Digimon Movie (well, the parts he wrote), which, while being heads and shoulders better than the other parts, and very fun to watch, was quite one-note in hindsight. Was darker than I expected Digimon to go until Tamers, at least.
There's also the idea that high schoolers are taught repeatedly that, as far as college admissions go, a D is the same thing as an F. Hence, instead of a C representing an average score, it's seen as simply acceptable, and B becomes the average. I think that's a large reason behind it. |
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MrBonk
Posts: 192 |
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By incompetent, he means in it's story and development of it's characters. Just because it's successful (Or has high production values and looks amazing)in any manner doesn't absolve it of criticism or flaws. Plenty of hollywood movies are successful with storytelling and character development i'd definitely call incompetent. Like The Force Awakens. I'd directly compare the two in that production values are great, but everything else is paper-thin. |
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Tofu92600
 Posts: 20 |
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Wow thank you for putting words on my own feelings toward this movie.
As soon as I sat up from my chair I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It's bland, barely original and so unstructured that it doesn't make sense. It's very pretty as you would expect from Hosoda although the final act in Tokyo is slightly underwhelming. The fire sword scene really lacked in epicness. That's what is terrible with this movie, you go in with a lot of expectations and you walk out as if you saw a Dreamworks film. It's okay at best. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Wow, what's with all of this hate onto Hollywood all of a sudden? It sounds like hipster-talk.
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Xristophoros
 Posts: 150 |
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thanks for sharing. i absolutely loved girl who leapt through time and wolf children. they are amongst my favourite anime films of all time... summer wars, not so much. i think we are in agreement here that hosoda is a fantastic director and maybe this review is overly critical? i have not seen boy and the beast, but seeing as we share similar taste in this regard, i'm sure i will enjoy it a lot more than the reviewer. i do not necessarily look for great stories or plot devices when i watch a film. rather, i look for endearing characters that leave a lasting impression on me. hosoda's film's always make a strong emotional impact on me by way of beautiful set pieces or quiet, intimate moments between the characters. most importantly, his films always feature characters that have plenty of charm to spare. that is hosoda's greatest strength as a director in my opinion. |
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