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LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest (2023)
Not for Everyone, But a Pretty Great Lego Short
So Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, Snow White and Moana have to complete 3 challenges to save King Triton, clear Gaston's curses from their kingdoms, and prevent Gaston from claiming Triton's trident. Gaston has already claimed many kingdoms, and supposedly with the trident, he will rule all land and sea.
There's a lot to like in this special. Snow White is actually wild in this - she can speak every animal language and wields a freaking axe like a maniac which was pretty hilarious! Tiana is straight up mood, I love her so much. Mandy Moore literally IS Rapunzel at this point so - as expected - she kills it. Ariel and Moana teaming up was pretty cool. I also like how Iago the Parrot is captain of a pirate crew and loots the Magic Carpet.
It's a pretty fun adventure, some of the fights and gimmicks work better than others. On Iago's ship, Moana gets completely surrounded by sword wielding pirates. But then she just escapes without issues, steals Mr. Smee's broom and beats everyone silly. Snow White, Tiana and Rapunzel also get surrounded by wolves in the Dark Forest. But Snow White speaks wolf and just befriends them all. That's pretty much how every encounter goes. Also the princesses make peace with dragon form Maleficent to defeat Gaston which is...interesting? I appreciate how the princesses face male and female enemies - something about them having hands rated E for everyone puts a smile on my face. At the same time, it's great that the ladies face conquer of their tests with teamwork, ingenuity, empathy, and diplomacy instead of brute forcing their way through everything. It's a great message to send.
Overall I enjoyed it. I thought Moana was a little underused. She seems very tame and muted in this special, but I think it might be because she doesn't have as much natural chemistry with other characters as she does with Maui in her own movie (same as Wreck-It Ralph 2). I didn't think Gaston really fit as the powerful Big Bad against these 5, but he was okay I guess.
It's something fun to turn your brain off and smile to. Plus it's great to see some of my favorite princesses team up.
7/10.
Vader: A Star Wars Theory Fan Series (2018)
Great Potential, But Somewhat Overhyped
Let me start out by saying I absolutely enjoyed this fan film. It is the greatest Star Wars fan film ever made and the series seems like it will follow suit. The cinematography was good and the acting was far from amateur. The visual effects were excellent. Vader in particular was spot on from a writing perspective. This story felt like it fit with his character. All that being said, there's one issue I couldn't ignore after watching Episode 1: PALPATINE.
We don't see Sidious speak for extended periods in other Star Wars media like he did in this film. While his actor did a great job portraying him, the sequence where Vader confronts him on his ship dragged on for too long. His voice actor made him sound b*tchy more than sinister. His lines just don't match with what we've seen from the character in other Star Wars media and comes across as immersion breaking. It's an easy mistake to make, just not one I thought I'd see in this film.
While I wasn't disappointed by this film and I'm glad it's having such a unifying effect on the fandom, it's not nearly as perfect as the reviews suggest.