#also it's funny when real world things get inserted into lego movies

[primeministerofantarctica]

did the lego movies have a toy story effect on anyone else. somehow the concept of "yes they do actually think and move (somewhat) on their own but we don't notice because we're like eldritch gods that can't comprehend them" is much more believable than "they can think and move on their own but somehow none of the humans pick up on it and their dedication to the bit doesn't really make sense as anything more than audience whimsy"

[krissiefox]

Thoughts on Video Game Movies

Video game movies tend to have a poor reputation, due to either the fact that the self-insert interactive nature of video games doesn't always translate well to a linear third-person narrative, or that they get the goofy "big budget Hollywood treatment", where things are changed to the point of being almost unrecognizable. I fell like I haven't actually watched a lot of these, but I thought it would be fun to briefly write about the ones I recall:

The 80s Super Mario Bros Movie: This one is definitely a classic example of "big budget goofy Hollywood" treatment. They changed so much that there is little left of the Mario world beyond character names and vague visual similarities. Despite this, I recall enjoying the film as a kid and teenager - I liked all the weird sci-fi stuff and gross looking fungus effects. But, to be fair, I haven't watched it since I was a teenager, so it's hard to say if I would enjoy it now.

- Sonic The Movie (90s Anime OVA): This one has a lot of nostalgia for me, but looking at is an an adult I can say that most of the appeal it has is simply in the cool visuals, badass soundtrack and some nice fight scenes. The story feels very vague and simple, mostly just a vehicle to move through a series of cool looking set pieces and action moments - it really does feel like the script to a Sonic video game rather than a film. There's also some of the squicky stereotypical creepy anime stuff, like Robotnik trying to coerce a seemingly very young girl into marrying him, and having moments of her being sexually degraded for laughs (an accidental boob grab and a scene where Metal Sonic looks up her skirt). Definitely could have done without that shit.  Interestingly, it's said that that this was originally going to be an ongoing series, but it only made it to two episodes, so the American release of it merged the two episodes into a standalone movie. It's a good thing they titled this "Sonic The Movie" so that it wouldn't have the same name as the more recent "Sonic The Hedgehog" live action film. (yet, googling "Sonic The Movie" brings up the more recent one anyway...you're stupid, google. )

- Red Faction: Origins:   now here's a more obscure one. I loved the Red Faction game on PlayStation 2, so when this was on TV in 2011, I was excited to see it.  Unfortunately, i can barely remember anything about the film today, so it clearly didn't leave much of an impression on me. I don't think it even had any of the characters from the game (such as Parker, Hendrix, etc).

- Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut:  - This was another I recall experiencing, but very little details about it. As a kid, I was having a friend over, and my parents let me pick out a movie for us to watch at Blockbuster or something. I chose this and we put it on that night, but my friend and I eventually lost interest and just started playing with LEGOS with the movie running in the background. I couldn't tell you anything about the story, but it was nice and colorful looking, at-least - faithful to the same 3D CGI look of the SNES games. At-least it made nice background sound for a fun childhood night with my friend? 

-Wreck-It Ralph: This one might be cheating a little, because it's more about the general concept of video games, but it has so many cameos from real game characters I think it's fair to add it to this list. This is probably gonna be the best one here, too -  as it's just a fantastic film. Moving, funny, looks great, lovable characters, super catchy soundtrack. Definitely one I recommend watching if you've never seen it! 

- Pixels: Speaking of games about movies - here's one I never watched. So why is it on my list? Well, it's one that bothered me just from seeing ads for it. Unlike Wreck It Ralph, which feels like a love letter to the world of gaming, this movies TV ads just felt so cynical, snarky and negative. It DOES feel like I'm being a little unfair by judging it without watching it, but I can only live so long (unless perhaps medical science finally defeats superstitious bullshit within my lifetime), so I'm not in a hurry to try  a movie I couldn't even enjoy the ads for. As a bonus note...I also actually have a copy of the ratchet & Clank movie in my collection, which I haven't gotten to watching yet. Perhaps when I get around to it, I can update this list with my thoughts on that one, as well.

[lovemesomesurveys]

How do you feel about your neighbors? No issues with them anymore. For awhile we did because they had dogs that they left outside most of the day that just barked and barked for hours on end. Their favorite time seemed to be in the middle of the night. It was horrible. My parents ended up saying something and ever since they’ve been really good about it. 

Did any of your babysitters ever let you do things your parents wouldn’t? My babysitter was either my aunts, my grandma, or my older brother. I also didn’t try to do anything “bad” that I wasn’t allowed to do, so no. I loved when one of my aunt’s babysat me, though. She was just really fun. She and I are still close.

What is your favorite swimming stroke? I don’t swim.

Would you ever want to learn to play the bagpipes? Nah.

You have one match. What would you like to burn? I don’t mess around with matches or lighters. I’m a big baby.

What are your thoughts on men wearing kilts? I don’t care.

What underwater creature scares you the most? I have a very real fear of killer whales, but honestly deep water and underwater life terrifies me in general. 

Was there ever a bomb threat at the school you go/went to? No.

Do you befriend others because of something you might gain from them? Absolutely not.

Which excites you more: Spring Break or X-mas vacation? I’m not in school, so I don’t have spring breaks or Christmas vacations anymore. Spring breaks mean nothing to me now, but I do love Christmastime. 

Do you contribute to charities? I have. I used to regularly, but it’s been a long time. :/

Would you rather dye your own hair or have it done by a stylist? By a stylist, which is what I do. Who knows when I’ll be able to get it done again, though. :/ The last time was back in early February.

Would you rather live in a pyramid or in a castle? Neither, honestly.

What do you feel is the ugliest part of the human body? I don’t find feet attractive at all. What’s your take on Will Ferrell movies? Funny or annoying? I love him in Elf.

Insert a totally random phrase from another language here: Estoy cansada. 

Does your family go crazy cleaning house when relatives are coming over? Yeah.

What was the last thing you broke? Hmm. I don’t recall.

Do automatically flushing toilets annoy you? No. 

Would you rather have waffles or pancakes? Waffles.

Do you look like an idiot when you run? I think I just look like an idiot in general, ha.

Have you ever moved? How many times? Yeah, a few times. Only once that I’m old enough to remember, though.

What body of water is closest to where you live? I live near the Pacific Ocean.

Do you like using big words to confuse people? No. 

Have you ever built a Lego masterpiece? No. I only played with Legos when I was a kid and just did very basic stuff.

Have you ever developed your own film in a darkroom? Nope.

What’s the weirdest street name in your town? I’m not sharing.

Can you bust a move? Nope.

Do you buy colorful shoelaces? No. I like just white or black.

Where did you have your first date? Out to eat at a restaurant and then to a movie.

Did you ever have to wear a retainer? Nope.

Do you have any weird phobias? Yes.

Have you ever felt an earthquake? Only once that I can recall and it was just the aftershocks from one nearby. It was the weirdest feeling, though. I was sitting on my bed and suddenly felt dizzy and like I was swaying. I had to lie for a bit. I thought something was happening with me, but I saw other people on my Facebook talking about feeling it or seeing things like ceiling lights swaying around the same time I experienced it.

Were you a planned pregnancy? Yes.

What store in the mall would you never get caught in? I mean, there’s stores I don’t shop at cause they don’t have stuff I’m interested in or aren’t my style, but it’s not like I’d be embarrassed to go into any of them. 

Are you prepared with a foam finger when you watch sports? No. I have zero interest in sports.

Were you brought up with Nerf toys? Nah, those weren’t my thing. I was a Barbie girl in a Barbie world. ha.

[benisasoftboi]

In Which I Explain The Entirety of Star Wars, Despite Being Very Much Unqualified To Do So

I have only seen one Star Wars movie - it was The Last Jedi. I saw it, with no context, two years ago in theatres when it first came out. I was very surprised to find out that it made a lot of people very angry, because I quite liked it, as did the friends I saw it with. I can’t say I remember much though.

All the rest of my Star Wars knowledge comes from its generally inescapable nature in the pop cultural zeitgeist. I might have seen a bit of Episode 6, which I don’t know the name of, when I was round a friend’s house once, but I was very tired, and it was about a decade ago anyway.

That’s just some context for my lack of qualifications to do this. My friend said I should still do it anyway. I will not be looking anything up as I write this, so all spelling mistakes and other general errors are mine. 

So anyway - The Entirety of Star Wars:

Original Trilogy 

There is a guy called Luke. He is played by Mark Hamill and he is George Lucas’s self insert. He lives on a planet where there is only sand, because in this universe all planets have only one terrain, I think. He drinks milk. The milk might be blue.

A guy played by Liam Neeson finds Luke. I think this guy’s name is probably Obi Wan Kenobi, but I might have that wrong. At some point he will die tragically and it will be formative for Luke, but then he will also come back as a ghost. Ghosts exist in this universe. 

Possibly Luke has known this guy for a long time or possibly he is a stranger, I am not sure. Somehow they end up on a spaceship.

Luke needs to learn how to use magic powers called the Force, which seems to be mostly telekinesis, and also lets him use a really fancy but probably impractical sword called a lightsaber that shoots blue or sometimes green or sometimes red light. This is called Jedi training. Jedi Knight is a religion. You can claim to be one on the census in the real world. They seem to be really serious people despite having a silly name.

Everyone also has guns that go ‘pew pew pew’ and nerds get really mad when you make fun of that.

Luke will meet many colourful and interesting people on his journey. These include:

A woman played by Carrie Fisher who is also his twin sister but he doesn’t know that until after they kiss. Her name is Leia or maybe Laia. She has silly hair. At one point she wears a slave bikini because she’s enslaved to a gelatinous blob because that’s just how it goes when you’re the woman in a 70s sci-fi movie

A guy called Han Solo because he is Edgy and Does Things Solo. He and Leia have a romance and it’s Drama. He also has a spaceship that people will build very impressive lego replicas of. He dresses like a cowboy. I’m 90% that he is played by Harrison Ford

A bunch of walking teddy bears called Ewoks who can kill you and live in a jungle

A guy called Lando Calrissian who I think wears fancy clothes and that’s all I know about him, he might actually be a villain I’m not sure. He might die?

A little blue robot who hid behind some rocks one time and then in the re-release he hid behind more rocks than before and the fans got Mad

A big gold robot who is nervous and gay and might be gay for the little blue robot, like they might be married but that also might be a meme I’m not certain

A weird green goblin thing called Yoda who makes Luke carry him around and speaks in broken English that annoying people have spent the last thirty years imitating. He dies, but then is a ghost so it doesn’t matter really

A guy called Boba Fett who is a bounty hunter. I genuinely have no clue how he fits in to all of this. He might not actually be from Star Wars, maybe I’m mixing him up with something else. 

Luke is also trying to fight the Evil Darth Vader who works for an Evil CGI Emperor of the Evil Empire. They live on a big spaceship called the Death Star and it looks like a moon but isn’t and people think it’s funny when you point that out for some reason. They are the Dark Side, which makes them easy to root against because they’re just cartoonishly evil I guess. I think they are also bureaucrats. They have Stormtroopers, who might be brainwashed people or might just be robots, or might even be clones. They all wear identical white armour with helmets so people don’t care when they get shot. Kinda like fencers.

Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father and this is a twist except not anymore. This means he is also Leia’s father, I’m not sure if she knew. Also Luke loses his arm. Darth Vader gets redeemed and then dies but also takes down the Evil CGI Emperor with him.

I don’t know what happens in any of the movies, but I know that the first one ends with them getting plans for or from Leia, not sure, the second one has the dad twist, and the third one has ghosts. Also they blow up the Death Star by shooting a garbage chute really hard. 

Prequels

These movies are widely disliked. The first one has too much bureaucracy. They are about Darth Vader’s backstory. He used to be a guy called Anakin. He will Become Evil. He will also meet many colourful characters. They include:

His love interest, who is called Padme. She wears a silly hat and dies of a combination of Childbirth and Sadness. I saw this bit happen one time when I was a kid and I was stuck round my mum’s friend’s house and her son was playing through this part in the LEGO game. It was sad

A guy with a red face whose name might be Maul and has robot legs? 

A guy called Jar Jar Binks who everyone seems to simultaneously hate and feel a desperate need to make sex jokes about 

Angry Jedi People

Probably some robots

Anakin hates sand and is pretty but grumpy. His hatred of sand is what will prevent him from finding Luke in the original movies. He falls in a volcano and gets turned into a robot man and it’s very dramatic. He has an angry red lightsaber. He murders a bunch of children by executing Order 66. Or maybe that was in the first set of movies I don’t know. I’m not sure how they made three of these movies, there doesn’t seem to be much to them.

Also there is something called ‘mitoclorians’ and I don’t know what they are but they make nerds Very Mad.

Expanded Universe

There was an expanded universe, but Disney said it wasn’t canon when they bought the rights, so now it isn’t. If I were a Star Wars fan, I would not take this lying down, because what right does Disney have to say what’s canon? Why is it up to the copyright holders? They are a corporation, not a writer. Expanded universes are always really fun and full of wacky nonsense that would never get put in the mainline stuff. I don’t like it when people try to dismiss them. 

Stand Alone Movies

When the new trilogy started, they also made some stand alone films. They were called Rogue One and Solo. Rogue One is about a woman named Gin or Jinn or Jin or Ginne or - I wish I hadn’t restricted myself to not looking anything up - Urso. The spelling doesn’t matter because she dies. So does everyone else. Then Darth Vader shows up.

Solo is about Han Solo and his friends and they have an adventure and there’s a robot who wants robot rights but she dies so no one has to address the slavery thing. Also apparently it was going to be a comedy but got reshot as a drama. I hope I never watch it because that sounds terrible, even as much as I like Donald Glover who I think is in it probably. I think his character might have been in love with the dead robot.

Sequel Trilogy

These movies are about a girl called Rey. She makes nerds mad by existing and being the protagonist. She is Space British. She is a scavenger and is friends with a really cute little orange robot. Somehow she ends up in space. She starts hanging out with Older Leia’s crew, which include a pilot named Poe Dameron and a guy called Finn, but I don’t know why he’s there. People ship them with each other, and also with Rey. 

The other person people ship Rey with is Kylo Ren, who I call Space Zuko because when I saw The Last Jedi, he showed up and I was like ‘oh, it’s Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender but in space’, because he has bad hair and is angry about his Daddy Issues. I hope in the next movie he gets better hair and fewer Daddy Issues like Real Zuko did. A lot of people get really angry about Rey and Space Zuko being shipped together, but they’re still the most popular ship on AO3. So no matter what happens in the next one, nerds are going to be mad about it, and I am not looking forward to it.

Kylo Ren killed his dad, Han Solo, because he was radicalised to be evil for reasons I don’t know. The guy who runs the New Evil Group, which is called the First Order, is an ugly CGI guy called Snoke. It was apparently a Big Twist that Kylo kills him Last Jedi, and it made nerds really mad. I don’t understand why people were surprised, because when I saw the movie, I saw that guy and was like ‘oh he’s gonna get killed by Space Zuko because that would be Drama and also from a production standpoint having a guy who needs lots of special effects is much more difficult than just having Adam Driver wear a scary mask’ and then I was right so maybe I’m smarter than all the nerds. 

There is also a guy called Hux and he is a ginger. I think he is evil.

The other thing people got really mad about was that Rey’s parents were not established characters. People wanted her dad to be Luke, I think, who is in Last Jedi. I was happy about this because I like Mark Hamill. He spent the movie teaching her about the force while they hang out on an island with a race of merchandising opportunities called Porgs. He dies at the end but he might be in the next one as a ghost anyway. 

Also there was a girl called Rose and people decided that not liking the character meant they could be mean to the actress, which is not true and everyone who was mean to her should be ashamed. There was another woman as well, but I don’t remember her name, she had purple hair and was serious and I have no idea if she was good or evil. 

Kylo Ren’s real name is Ben which is not very sci-fi. Maybe that’s why he changed it.

Though come to think, Luke isn’t a very sci-fi name either. 

Anyway, that’s everything I know about Star Wars.

Feel free to ask me questions about Star Wars and have me try to answer.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to actually explain Star Wars to me. I’m much happier as is, thank you very much

[mic-and-cheese]

Please info dump about your husband...I wish to know more about him!

AAAAA OK I DIDN’T THINK I’D GET THIS FAR 

Idk where to start so I’m just gonna ramble?? I guess??? Puttin it under a readmore bc it’s long as FUCK

I think one of the most interesting things about Buddy is his backstory? Like he used to love supers but now hates them because his idol rejected him? I’ve seen a lot of different interpretations of his past, and I apologize for starting off on this note but Buddy comes off to me as someone who was neglected as a child, so he has trouble with empathy, other social skills, and doesn’t really have a way to healthily deal with stress, which lead him to go down the path he did. I think he was born in a small southern town, but moved to Metroville and became enamored with superheroes because he’s now living somewhere where he can see and meet them personally. He views Mr. Incredible as a father figure because of a lack of a father or other male role model in his life and he probably feels like maybe his life would be better or that he’d be more loved if he had powers, and he’s been constantly told and lead to believe that he can’t be a hero without powers, so telling him that is a sore spot for him.He started messing with machines and learning how to fix them because his family didn’t have enough money to fix or replace things around the house when they broke and he found that he really had a passion for building and creating. Of course, he’s a really smart kid, he loves to read and loves math and science and did well in school, but some adults kinda thought he was a nightmare to be around cuz he’s a lil bit bratty and tries to get attention, but he got along well with teachers and other adults who recognized that he was talented and gave him the attention he needed. Buddy is really used to having to cause a lot of trouble to get what he wants or to be listened to, which is a trait he still kept into adulthood. His first real invention that wasn’t just him tinkering around with whatever he could find was his rocket boots, and he made them with spare parts he found or bought. He’s met Mr. Incredible a few times before, but he was hoping that being able to show off his talent would impress him enough to let him be his sidekick.Ever since he was young he’s always been an entrepreneur, making money by fixing stuff for neighbors and taking other odd jobs.Even after he was rejected he still loves superheroes, or at least the idea of them, even though he doesn’t really like them as people anymore but I’ll get to that later.The interesting thing about him really is just how much I can estimate about him just from what little info we know about him in canon, and how many ways there are to interpret him. I’ve seen him be interpreted as a kid who was spoiled and didn’t know how to deal with rejection, and while I can’t say I like that interpretation, but it is possible. Even though his backstory is interesting, his personality is just…??? Lovely??? I mean it’s really not but I think it is. He’s just??? so geeky and adorable and I love seeing him get so excited over superheroes even though he has a love-hate relationship with them, and he’s just fearless and probably a bit of a dare devil? He really seems like the sort of person who would try anything at least once and doesn’t get embarrassed easily. I mean it’s just so amazing how he’s an evil mastermind but like, he’s still Buddy ya know? Like he still has his excitable, nerdy, funny personality, but he can also be downright terrifying? It’s interesting from a character writing standpoint of course but like, just? On a personal level??? I mean his personality alone flusters me because everything about him (save for uh, the murder) is something I find obviously given the subject of the blog, really attractive. Like he’s not afraid to be himself or play around and he embraces self-insert esqe enjoyment so like??? How cool is it to have an f/o who may also have f/os or at least be supportive of self inserting!!Of course even though theres a lot about his personality that’s cute, there are a lot of things that aren’t, so he’s not really the best with empathy, and he can be pretty cruel, petty, selfish, and he has difficulty opening up to people but I do think that he’s open to learning and changing with someone he trusts, and can be really sweet when he wants to, even if it is a little awkward.One thing I really love about him is how you can tell that he’s got a life and interests outside of Kronos. Like yeah he’s really focused on his plan obviously, but his personality is just so strong in the things around him and the things he does and says that make him feel so much more dimensional. For example, a lot of his tech is integrated with or inspired by nature, so I really think he likes biomimicry, probably because he’s learning how to one up nature, aka basically what his entire motivation is. I love that he’s obviously just got cute little tics like how his eye twitches in the lego games or how much he likes to gesture and hum and whistle. (also his humming is so cute oh my god)And I’m just constantly in awe of how smart and resourceful he is. I mean my love of tropical islands aside, Nomanisan is just… impressive. Like its so ingenious to build his base literally into the island in a way that makes use of its natural features, such as the underwater landing pad, secret exits, underground passageways, and of course the lava wall, and I just can’t help but wonder how he came up with all of that and how long and how much money it took? And thats just taking about the things on the island that are canon. I mean, from my own speculations I figure that the island not only has that amazing lava wall, but is built to redirect the flow of lava to prevent any volcanic activity on the island, keep lava and ash away from expensive tech (the rocket and mantajet for example) and provide power to the island via geothermal energy. Maybe even a little use of wave energy too if necessary since it’s a pretty good option for a place surrounded by water. I assume Buddy chose the island for its resources, (namely a metal alloy that one of the books mentioned) considering he’s made it pretty self sustaining with what it already has after implementing all his tech. The location, being far from any other place, really, and outside of any governmental jurisdiction is good too, so when you really think about it, he probably could have gotten away with a lot of the things that he did, which is, uh, pretty impressive to say the least, not to mention the real world location of Nomanisan (Easter Island) doesn’t face the sorts of hurricanes and harsh weather you’d expect for a small island in the middle of no where.And I mean??? He’s a genius inventor villain who is still extremely in tune with nature to the point that it inspires some of his inventions??? How cool and unique is that??? I’m sure the island must be an amazing place to be, I mean the beaches and caves, rivers, waterfalls… it must be such a joy to explore. And I dunno, I’ve always imagined that working for Syndrome could be kinda fun sometimes. I mean, he is a pretty funny guy with a good sense or humor, and surely guarding and what not all day must get boring, so I’m sure he’s not opposed to having some fun every now and then.And he’s certainly not ashamed of what he considers fun either! I have a feeling he’d like scale models and collectibles and would go to the ends of the earth for a rare one that he particularly likes, especially if they’re ones he gets to build himself. I’m sure he’s a huge fandom geek as well, like name any 50’s-60’s sci fi movie and he knows it by heart. And with all his animal inspired inventions, I’m sure he loves going out in nature and watching the unique wildlife of Nomanisan. Given Easter Island’s own wildlife, I’m sure sharks and whales, and even some really interesting lizards would be pretty common around there. (And given how much forest it has in comparison to Easter Island, I’m sure there’s A LOT more than that. Maybe even rare species only native to the island.) I also really see Buddy as the sort of guy who just loves new and exciting experiences, no matter what it is. Like if it’s something he’s never done before, he’s on board!With all that in mind it’s just so wonderful just how much of a well rounded character he is. I mean he’s happy, nerdy, childish, and excitable, but he’s also bitter, revenge driven, and unempathetic. That being said, his relationships with other people all have such an interesting dynamic to them. He adores Bob for his ingenuity while still hating him enough to try to kill him and his family, and he cares for Mirage but doesn’t really know how to show it. Like I said earlier, I think he was neglected as a kid, so he never really learned how to properly regulate his emotions, so a lot of the time he’s pretty conflicted. He’s an extrovert who wants to be loved and adored, yet he’s too scared to trust after being betrayed. He has a hard time relating to people and thus doesn’t understand how his actions can hurt them when he means well, for example, betting Mirage’s life or saving people from his own robot without proper regard to his surroundings that a truly well meaning hero would have (aka, throwing a tanker truck just to make a spectacle out of saving a mother and child with no regard to what damage the truck could have done).Of course, while his scenes with Mirage can be interpreted as him not really caring for her, I think it’s the opposite. I think he knew that betting her life was the only way he could have saved her (he couldn’t have pulled her away from Bob, shocking Bob could have shocked her, and if he had shown any weakness for her, Bob could have used that as leverage against him, whereas if he shows no remorse, if Bob had killed her he’d just have a dead lady on his hands for pretty much no reason). Granted as well meaning as he was, I don’t think he understands how that hurt Mirage. He sees that he saved her, and doesn’t expect her to be mad about it, but the reality is that she honestly does have a right to be mad about her life being risked, especially when he never clearly communicated that his intent was to save her.Somehow I’ve gone this far without even talking about why I like him??? I mean I don’t even think I’ve ever fully explained why I like him. I’ve tried, sure, but I don’t even think it’s something I can actually convey in words? But I’ll try??? Anyway, he’s literally everything to me, and I don’t just mean that in a sappy romantic way. I’ve always been fascinated with him since I was 6 years old and saw the movie for the first time. He reminds me of happy memories with my dad who passed away some years ago because I saw the movie with him and I remember how much it confused little 6 year old me. Like the fact that the movie started with interviews was the wildest thing to me, and I don’t even think I could even comprehend the plot until much later on. But during that first experience, I don’t know what it was but something about him always stuck with me. Funnily enough one of the things that stuck with me was his joke from Jack Jack Attack and that was the first joke that I knew I didn’t understand but knew I would someday and I literally made a mental note back then telling myself that I knew I’d understand it, and well, thanks for remembering that 6 year old me, because I get the joke now and it’s still funny to me. (I also never actually realized that the guy silhouetted in front of the lava was supposed to be Syndrome until like last summer and I always just thought that was something that was never explained haha.) Anyway after seeing the movie with my dad, he asked me who my favorite character was. I said Violet since I thought saying otherwise would have been weird at the time, but in reality it’s always been Syndrome and that’s just an important memory to me.And now he’s that memory and so many other things to me. He’s what finally helped me recover from a rough couple of years by showing me that people could still create wonderful and impressive things despite being cast away by someone that they once adored and that my success wasn’t based on their approval, which finally helped me shut them out of my life and become so much happier. He helps me manage my anxiety because all the things that make me scared would be nothing to the guy who still wore a cape and rocket boots even after they nearly got him killed. And of course, I love him because he’s nerdy, excitable, brave, and smart, and even because I feel like I can understand his lack of empathy. He’s just such a well rounded, multifaceted character that it’s almost hard to believe he’s fictional haha. With all that combined, he’s one of my my special interests too! I mean it’s hard not to want to know everything about such an interesting guy right?But even if you can’t see the appeal in his personality, it’s no question that he’s just amazing in terms of his accomplishments alone. I mean he can’t be any older than like, 28 max (I consider him 25 though, since the closest we ever get to a canon age is mid 20’s)  and yet he’s a billionaire with his own private island, at least one successful company, and groundbreaking tech that makes today’s tech look simple, but he did all in the EARLY SIXTIES.The mantajet in particular is just awe inspiring to me, mostly because I love planes, but I mean, most planes take 15 years just to be conceptualized. Buddy created a completely automated, uniquely shaped, supersonic, semi-aquatic jet with the ability to hover in under that time. It’s like if the SR-71 Blackbird were a luxury all-terrain vehicle! And I am just so endlessly impressed that it can go underwater, like I’m sure its entire design was based around that ability, since the engines would have to be strong enough to withstand literal tons of water going through them, which is why I suspect they’re placed in those cavities above the wings, to direct air and water to go through them in the right way while also keeping them intact in the impact! (they may be waterproof but they are unfortunately not (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it) uh,,,, Syndrome proof) And the “manta feelers” probably help the plane hover and also serve as the landing gear??? UGH IT’S GENIUS, SUCH RESOURCEFUL GENIUS.Of course I’ve gotta talk about the design of his aero boots too!! He’s come such a long way since the rocket boots!!! I’m so proud of him!!! The new boots are just as genius as the mantajet, really. They have vents in the sole, probably to either keep them from overheating or to draw in oxygen to use for combustion. I love how the metal strip is implemented into the heel and up the back of the boots, that’s probably where the fuel and engines are housed, and man, I can’t imagine how much power they’d both have to generate, those tiny little engines. I’m sure they run on some pretty efficient stuff. And how the soles of the boots look like they can come off of the main boot itself, I’m sure that makes for easy maintenance! I also love how the animators added the detail of the screw in the arch of the boot so that it articulates properly, rather than just saying “yeah whatever he can walk fine somehow with these half-metal boots.”And then there’s Zero Point Energy??? I mean, ZPE is actually based off a real scientific concept that would essentially harness infinite energy. I think about this on the daily and I still can’t comprehend it. He harnessed infinite energy. In the 60’s. And made a device small and powerful enough to literally generate it in the palm of his hand. Since all of that energy is generated in his gauntlets, it’d have to pass through his hands to reach his fingertips, so not only can he generate it, but he created a suit that can conduct infinite energy around him so that it doesn’t hurt him. Like no wonder he’s so protective of ZPE. (On that note, this is exactly why I think he designed his suit and not Edna or Galbaki. He’d never trust anyone else to design a suit with his most valuable tech built into it)Not to mention, how interesting is it that a ruthless serial killer villain like him chooses a technology that doesn’t harm his target and instead just freezes them in place!Also also can I talk about just how amazing the other features of the gauntlets are? I mean they hold a small bomb that can produce a big enough blast to in theory kill the nearly invincible Mr. Incredible. He’s got a laser powerful enough to make a clean hole through the roof of a house, and those gauntlets can take a hell of a beating too, considering it was thrown all over the city during the final Omnidroid fight with minimal damage. Oh also the little sliding cover over the buttons is cute.Ok ok, next there’s the energy prisons. I assume they work on ZPE since they’re able to suspend victims in mid-air? I literally shouldn’t be so excited about this thing but I can’t even get over how ingeniously HORRIBLE they are. I mean I don’t want to get into any details, cuz if I do I’ll go into scarily gruesome territory but those things are terrifying. They work with almost any sort of super he could possibly be keeping prisoner with such a pretty simple idea really, just by suspending them against their own weight. The only fault in them really is that Violet can get through them, but he may not have necessarily known that beforehand since I doubt he had any force fields to test them on (or at least any “organic” ones).Implementing the monorail system is such a perfect idea too!! It makes it easy to get around, keeps guards from getting lost, works on all terrain, and keeps supers from seeing things they don’t need to see, so long as they stay on the tracks they’re supposed to be on.And speaking of hiding, while not technically tech related, I don’t know if he knows about the KRONOS carved in the cave, but I bet you he does know about that cave and all the other hard to reach areas of the island, since there’s an I2 deleted scene that shows he knows how Gazerbeam died, and the guards know to split up to catch Dash in one of the caves. Also related to Kronos, I like to make fun of his computer room for it’s impractical at best, dangerous at worse design, but listen. The security system. It’s brilliant. He’d have to engineer some sort of substance that stays compact and non-sticky while not in use, but that can quickly expand and maintain its strength to capture intruders. And the victim would still have to be able to breathe through them too?? And like how do they come off?? I’m sure that’s an interesting process too. The “fire randomly” approach is also interesting, since it pretty much leaves no escape. And what about under the walkway??? Like what’s way down there??? I don’t even have a theory for that, really. And and and how does the security system for that room work? Does it recognize unfamiliar noises perhaps, since it was triggered by Bob’s suit tracker, cuz if it were triggered by just random noise, I’m sure Syndrome or Mirage would have accidentally triggered it before. Oh, also also also x3 the computer screen automatically shuts off once the security system is activated, which is a nice touch, so that the enemy can’t get any more info as soon as the system is notified. Having only one way in and out of the room is clever too.I JUST WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT NOMANISAN’S SECURITY PROTOCAL OKI wish we had seen more of the technology that he used for Mirage’s message too. Like, he obviously uses the voice matching and scanning technology on the island (the security bird and life probe) but what about that illusion effect on the tablet?Also I mean, I’m sure being an arms dealer during the Cold War in itself has got to be extremely lucrative, but that doesn’t even account for how high tech his other weapons that weren’t mentioned must be.Ok, ok I think that covers all of his other inventions. I haven’t talked about the Omnidroid yet because hooo boy do I have some things to say about that beautifully terrifying piece of tech. I love that he used an iterative process on it to build upon its design (also the idea that he respects the strength his self-proclaimed nemesis enough to build up the robot to prepare to fight him), and I’ve actually gone back and tried to figure out the reason behind the changes he made in each iteration. And listen. How long do you think it took him to build and test all those robots? A few years maybe? Nah son, using the movie’s timeline, I’ve calculated that if he were working at a consistent pace throughout the project, it’d take FOUR MONTHS. 10 highly advanced ai robots. Fully drafted, programmed, built, and tested in 4 months. Oh and did I mention HE CREATED AI. LIKE ACTUAL AI.And his control over the Omnidroid (at least Omnidroid 9 anyway) is brilliant too. He’s got perfect control over it, and the reason I bring that up is because Omnidroid 10 tried to kill him. I’ve spent a long time wondering why he had perfect control over 9 but 10 disobeyed him, and my conclusion is that he implemented some new code in 10 that would make it act more destructively, thus making it more difficult to control but he never actually expected it not to listen to him because he didn’t actually test it on the island since, uh, having a 10 story tall rampaging robot on the loose near your base isn’t a good idea. I also headcanon that 10 was built to self destruct when defeated so that no one could trace its origins back to Syndrome had he won and been considered a hero.With that long ass section out of the way I’d finally like to bring up that if Syndrome did indeed create all of these inventions, that’d made him a computer programmer, aerospace engineer, possibly a civil engineer, a chemist, the inventor of harnessing infinite energy and ai, and thats only what I can think of off the top of my head.Another one of my favorite things about Buddy is that I love how easy it is to imagine him as a way more fleshed out character than he really is. On multiple occasions I’ve heard other people say that he seems like someone who would love conventions, or probably be an internet troll, and other things of that nature that relate more to his interests and personal life. I mean sure, anyone can headcanon anything for any character, but the way people headcanon Buddy just feels very… natural? Very fitting? Like, he’s a character that’s very easy to imagine having a life and hobbies outside of his evil schemes.Another little interesting thing is how he’s pretty much his own downfall. I mean sure a lot of his losses can be attributed to the Parrs defeating him in some way, but his most glaring faults are usually things that he could have prevented had he acted a little differently or planned a little differently. I dunno I just think that’s interesting for no particular reason.And one more thing I haven’t really discussed/seen discussed as much as I really think it should because it’s an interesting part of his character is does he see himself as a hero or a villain? And There are some interesting interpretations to that question as well. For example, if he views himself as a hero it’s probably because he doesn’t believe that superheroes are actually good people at heart, and that they just put up a facade of being kind and helpful to the public, which he uses to justify his atrocities. Or perhaps he legitimately does see himself as a hero for wanting to give normal people the opportunity to be super, or maybe he thinks that he’s doing a service to the world by killing off the people who are simply putting up that facade of good, or perhaps he sees himself as a victim deserving of a “redemption.” And if he sees himself as a villain, maybe he doesn’t understand or want to acknowledge the full weight of his actions, because it’s all a game to him, or maybe he does see himself as a bad person beyond redemption, so he decided that being a supervillain was fated or required of him. Regardless of which idea he believes, it’s obvious that Syndrome very much so lives (and has always lived) in his own fantasy world where things do play out exactly like how comic books do, and that his actions have no real weight to him (except when he feels like he’s been wronged, because he views himself as the protagonist or antagonist of the “story” aka making his own emotions relevant “plot points,” even if no one elses’ emotions (except maybe Bob’s) have any importance to him) because it’s all a comic book in his mind.Anyway there’s my nonsense rant

[agentnico]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Review

"Two coffees please! One black, and one with just a touch of cream and twenty-five sugars." Now we know where Emmet gets all his energy from!

Plot: It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

Everything is not awesome anymore in the world of Bricksburg (now renamed appropriately as Apocalypseburg) as The Lego Movie franchise takes on its most serious topic....sibling rivalry. Hey, to all the bros and sis’ (that’s the abbreviation for sisters, right??), we’ve all been there. We’ve all had many many (ohhhh so many!) arguments between each other, so I’m sure many can connect with this element of the film. In fact, for anyone who was worried about the goodness of this sequel (me included) can relax. The Lego Movie 2 is funny, charming, quirky and endearing, and though it’s got nothing on the first film (though that basically is an impossible feat) it gets damn close. The reason why I personally went into this sequel quite wearily was due to the marketing. Am I the only one who thought the trailers for this movie were, well, kinda crap? 

The Lego Movie 2 retains that signature sarcastic tone that this franchise is know for and though the surprise element is now missing (I mean, who expected the obnoxious product placement that was the first The Lego Movie to actually end up being as great as it was??) the film as a whole is still very fun. As to be expected, this movie is filled with pop culture references. All for our audience amusement.So this is the time where I’m going to have to call myself out. It’s happening. Right here right now. I’ve called myself out. For usually I give films a lot of slack for inserting too many pop culture references for the sake of having pop culture references. Heck, that was my main big complaint with last year’s Ready Player One. So why such favoritism towards The Lego Movie 2? Just cause, deal with it! No, in all fairness the reason for that is the WAY that the pop culture references are used within these Lego films. Nowadays you can find a Lego set of basically anything. Lego DC? You got it. Lego Marvel? Right there in the third aisle. Lego Lord of the Rings? Just go on Amazon. A Lego set of a guy on a toilet taking a number 2? Well, not sure why you’d want that but I’m sure that can be found somewhere, somehow, for some reason. Basically, my point is that in case of Lego (or is it Legos when plural?) product placement is kind of part of their thing. So when you make a film about Lego then I assume it’s kind of a must to have pop culture references. Also, these said pop culture references in these Lego movies are a cause for some great humour. The Lego Movie 2 is no exception. You can really tell that Phil Lord and Chris Miller had a lot of fun writing the screenplay here. Also, might I add, another win here for Lord and Miller. Can these guys do any wrong? Jump Street films, Spider-Verse... Damn, this makes me only want their version of Solo: A Star Wars Story even more! Also a shout out to director Mike Mitchell, who thus far had mainly only been known for Trolls, as he managed to do a good job keeping the same a feel and tone from the original film whilst trying to make something new also.

As with the first film, the animation here is fantastic. The creative and imaginative uses of the various Lego bricks to create these worlds is quite incredible, and now also the introduction of the sister means we now get see a different side to these Lego settings (cleverly named as the Sistar System). Yes, if you haven’t seen the first film you probably should see that before this, as the major twist at the end of the first film is basically at the forefront of everything in this one. There is also now a musical aspect added (and I looooove musicals!) with certain characters breaking out into song and dance and though none of the tunes reach the heights of the original “Everything is Awesome” there are still some very “catchy” tunes. Yes, I am giving a clue there. Also, a certain duet sung by Tiffany Haddish and Will Arnett about dating Batman is very amusing.

The voice cast is also sublime. Christ Pratt returns as the loveable, optimistic and innocent Emmet who just wants everything to be awesome. I might be giving a lot of slack to Pratt for having possibly allowing his current fame to begin to get to him a little, but when it comes to him here he is as good as in the first movie. He still keeps that naivety and good-will that he portrayed so well as Andy Dwyer aka. the chubby guy from Parks and Recreation. To add to this in this sequel Pratt is doing double duty by voicing a new character who goes by the name of Rex Dangervest who is basically a reflection on who Chris Pratt has turned into in real life, the muscular leading man who is either off guarding galaxies or training raptors. Pratt does a good job with this, putting on his best Kurt Russell impression. Elizabeth Banks is back as Wildstyle who at the beginning tries to do her best impression of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road and actually gets a lot more to do here than she did in the previous film. Will Arnett is back as Batman and he’s as brooding as ever which comes as no surprise as Arnett is no stranger to voice acting. There’s a reason why he’s also BoJack the Horseman, don’t act like you don’t know! Other cast members also do great and on the contrary of the marketing hiding it Will Ferrell is in this sequel too, and I can say with ease he’s sure as hell better here than he was in Holmes and Watson. Gosh I hate that movie and will trash on it till the end of time and beyond.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part does not break any new ground but is such a fun time with consistently funny lines, great gags, on point cameos, slick animation and colours and a genuinely good time as a whole. With this and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World it seems animated films are the big genre to look out for this year. Now, I only have one question left: honey, wheeeeere are my pants??

Overall score: 7/10