Were this an American movie, the producers would doubtless hope to cast Reese Witherspoon in the lead. It's the story of a bimbo girlfriend who has to fend for herself after her slimeball car-dealership-owning boyfriend is arrested. Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir starts out as a plastic-y trophy and grows into someone cute, warm, and surprisingly capable. It's a trajectory not unlike Legally Blonde, and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir handles her role as Hildur as convincingly and engagingly as Witherspoon did in her corresponding role.
I don't play role-playing games, or even video games, and my taste in movies tends to the heavier stuff, but I like to praise the rare lightweight upbeat movies that work for me. It's not saccharine, and while Astrotopia (what Netflix calls this movie) is clichéd in the overall arc of the plot, it is relatively fresh in the moment-to-moment of the movie. I'm not big on visual gimmicks, but the scene-fades into comic-book panels are precisely appropriate and an added little delight.
The scenes and characters in the nerdy fantasy store where Hildur finds work were reminiscent of the record store scenes in High Fidelity. Not exactly new territory, but enjoyable in the same way.
Overall the movie had a nice quirky quality without being too darn cute or shoving its upbeat-ness down the viewer's throat. I enjoyed it a lot more than I had expected I would.
I don't play role-playing games, or even video games, and my taste in movies tends to the heavier stuff, but I like to praise the rare lightweight upbeat movies that work for me. It's not saccharine, and while Astrotopia (what Netflix calls this movie) is clichéd in the overall arc of the plot, it is relatively fresh in the moment-to-moment of the movie. I'm not big on visual gimmicks, but the scene-fades into comic-book panels are precisely appropriate and an added little delight.
The scenes and characters in the nerdy fantasy store where Hildur finds work were reminiscent of the record store scenes in High Fidelity. Not exactly new territory, but enjoyable in the same way.
Overall the movie had a nice quirky quality without being too darn cute or shoving its upbeat-ness down the viewer's throat. I enjoyed it a lot more than I had expected I would.