Battleangel | Personal

Sure enough. Another hatchet job by Disney. Or is it just that I was so thrown back by the fact that it is after all a kiddie movie. Or perhaps having to share the cinema with hordes of snivelling and popcorn-munching children.

Amazing special effects. Yet a wardrobe from the local seamstress or something. I did get an eerie flashback to that corny BBC adaptation. Annoying wunderkinder too. And it failed to make Swinton’s White Witch the icon she could have been, still she carries the entire movie and saves it from total disaster. Plus banal dialogue (like totally made for children), virtually no blood, and perhaps worst of all, small attempts at being funny, but failing miserably. Like the beavers. Just kill the beavers already.

Perhaps I’m just a tad too old for this and hence I can’t enjoy it to the fullest. Too bad, because it is an amazing movie. It’s quite possible that it will pick up however, and like the Harry Potter series, mature as it progresses, not just in terms of characters but in style as well.

Oh and btw, it is also kind of preachy and the Christian references actually do bother you. Plus the gender roles feel a little yesteryear, especially given the fantastic feats of the main male leads. Note for instance the disparaging coat comment early in the movie. In fact it smacks of overt sexism. So it’s also in the books. But in 2005, with greater gender equality and a ton of other fantasy movies around, you have to do a little better.