Happy new year, I know we're a few days in and it doesn't feel like things are going very well, but I sincerely hope this new year and this new decade brings everyone here success in whatever they're looking to accomplish

Hey so randomly thought to pop back in here after who knows how long. Sorry things have been happening. To start off after Endgame the burnout I was feeling from mcu movies every year hit me like whiplash, and as I think back on pretty much most of phase 2 and 3, I've gotten increasingly critical because I notice stuff that I never did before, so admittedly I'm a bit biased. But even in my cynicism I still love the first Avengers movie, GOTG and GOTG 2, Iron Man 3, Black Panther, and Winter Soldier, I got a kick out of Infinity War, and Thor Ragnarok is unironically one of my favorite comedies. So I can complain about how much I'm not happy with the new movies, and criticize Disney's business practices and how they're monopolizing the market, but then again I pre-ordered tickets to Rise Of Skywalker immediately, so I'm not immune to propaganda

But Black Widow...Black Widow...I agree that she should have gotten her own movie long ago, and doing so now of all times is weird timing. Yeah it may seem like too little too late, but on the other hand putting a spotlight on an old face and setting the clocks back might bring back old fans who have grown away from the mcu. But here's my main issue: Black Widow-as she is in the mcu-is a boring and dull character. She just is. Not that there's nothing to her, but besides Avengers and Winter Soldier, there's nothing in her portrayal that makes me want to care about her as an individual. And if I'm not interested in the characters, then I have no reason to watch. Like this movie from what it's showing in the trailer, looks like nothing more than Russian femme fatale movie complete with "sister finding her forcing her to confront the past", and as played out and tired as that is, I could get with it if I cared about the character. And quite frankly I don't, and if I don't care why should I watch?

Also Taskmaster looks like crap. Sidenote I know, but jesus he looks cool in every other iteration of the character, why just a generic military esque suit?

None. I honestly don't even like the concept of tropes because even if a story element is overused, it can still be good if done properly. Plus, it's gotten to the point that even if someone creates something that isn't a trope, it will now become a trope.

 

No offense to anyone in this thread, but when I see people complain about tropes, it's usually them trying to act pretentious by naming off tropes to slam someone's writing when they couldn't write themselves out of a paper bag. 

That's not what I'm trying to do. I mean yeah, people complain about stupid stuff acting like it's criticism, it happens all the time. (CinemaSins, quite a bit of Doug Walker's stuff, dudebros, anyone who says something that involves minorities/women/LGBT people is "SJW propaganda", etc). And like Commander said, they exist for a reason: they've been proven to be effective, and more often then not they work. But there are honestly things that are done that you personally just don't like for whatever reason. Or even things that you may like, or not take issue with that you get burned out on. That's what I'm trying to say.

And yeah even stuff that falls under that has and can be done effectively. Like I said when talking about the twist in horror that the supernatural turns out to just be in the protagonist's head, I've seen it in things I like and done well, I just personally don't like that twist

I was just thinking about common tropes that are often in fiction, in many different mediums. Obviously tropes aren't inherently bad; they've been proven to work. But there are some that get on people's nerves, either because they've seen it done so many times, or just are opposed to the idea itself, or for whatever else. So I was wondering what are some tropes that you really don't like? I'll start off

Tournament Arcs: Specifically for anime and manga, this is something I honestly really don't like. I feel like the only reason to write a tournament arc is to just give characters a reason to fight each other. It's such a contrived way to try to create conflict, and any character motivation that may drive their will to fight against their closest allies could easily be channeled into writing a conflict that's much better, more fulfilling, and explores the character more and tests their true goals and moral limits. Like imagine if the team of protagonists captured a villain, but one of them was searching for their family, and only the villain had information and/or skills that would help finding them, but the villain is set to be imprisoned. That right there creates conflict, and opens the door for more character examination then just pitting a couple people against each other and getting barbaric pleasure at watching them savage each other for no reason

The Monster Is All In The Protag's Head: This is more specifically for horror fiction, but the reveal that the monster or killer or ghost or whatever supernatural presence was all just a character's delusion or hallucination is so overdone. I'm not too mad whenever something does this, but it's just so annoying that even in something I like I still get a bad taste in my mouth and just groan and roll my eyes. It's one thing if the supernatural elements are meant to be a metaphor but it's all actually happening; that's entertaining on both a plot standpoint and a thematic standpoint. And I'm ok with it being ambiguous if it's real or not, but please lay off of the whole "it was in their head all along" thing

Magic Is Science, Actually: This one I hate the most. I get it, what many people used to believe was magic had a scientific explanation. But Jesus Christ, if a character is appearing to use magic, there is no need to have it turn out to actually be something science based. If a character has magic like powers, let them be magic. It shouldn't be that hard

With all of this, I definitely feel that in many ways Kakashi not only failed Sakura, but Sakura being on Team 7 was detrimental to her already challenged self-esteem. And it could have easily been the exact opposite, which is the most frustrating thing about not only this case but many of the series' low points. There's a choice being made to write things a certain way, and it's one thing when you write yourself in a corner and you don't know what to do, so you come up with whatever, but if a scenario can easily be written better and go down a different path why not do that instead of making a huge creative misstep?

So I saw it, and I really loved it. It had a lot of good action, and likable characters with well-written dialogue, and the acting was top notch. Especially between Christoph Waltz and Rosa Salazar; like I could really believe that these two could have a familial type bond in real life. Rosa herself was really good in the movie, and although at first I was kind of thrown off by her being Robert Zemeckis style CGI motion capture, but I warmed up to it pretty quickly. A lot of critics didn't like the screenplay, and while I didn't have any major problems with the writing for the most part I can definitely see why someone wouldn't like it. I was listening to a podcast and someone on it said that it was very much like putting in a DVD of an anime and hitting play all, which it is. It's structured like an arc of an anime series, which is a bit creative in terms of playing with the three-act structure, but when translating that to a movie it has some pacing issues. And yeah, it also means that it sequel baits hard. But that being said, I do hope there is a sequel because this is a really good movie even with its flaws

I saw it last night. I had to wait a bit actually because the only movie theater near me is in a mall and the mall closes at 9, and I got a ticket for the 3D showing that was at 9:45. But it was definitely worth the wait

The only problems I had with it-and they were minor-was with the villain Grimmel. He was cool, and I got this awesome Deathstroke feel from him and how he lived for the hunt especially with a certain target in mind. But I actually would have loved if it went further in that direction and emphasized on him being a straight up mercenary. So instead of hating dragons he just killed them for sport, and really didn't care about if the warlords were right or if Hiccup was right, and only sided with the warlords because there was one last nightfury to kill; more a matter of pride then anything else. But for the purpose of the movie's message I certainly understand why they went in the direction that they did

Also who were those warlords? I've never seen the show so are they from that? Because it's referenced they had been aligned with Drago from 2 which I thought the show took place before, and I was kind of confused and honestly really wanted to know more about them

My final gripe is with myself because I missed what happened to Grimmel because I had to use the bathroom really really bad and when I came back that scene had literally just ended

Still, it is an amazing movie and the perfect and most beautiful way to end the series

OK so I've looked around for some reviews, and so far it looks like people are liking it well enough. It only has a 60% critical rate on Rotten Tomatoes, but has a 90% audience rating. Judging from what I'm seeing it seems like it's not great, but enjoyable. Apparently I was a little too cynical

I haven't read much of the manga, so for again an American adaptation of a Japanese manga I have a feeling it might not end up well. Best case scenario it'll be a good movie but not an accurate adaptation

I am interested in what other people think though. Despite being skeptical it's Robert Rodriguez and he's a pretty good director. Plus just for once I want to there to be a movie based on an anime that isn't bad. The only anime movie adaptation-at least that I've seen-that's decent was The Wachowski's Speed Racer

OK so first time looking through this thread, and I'm loving it. SakuIno is my second favourite ship. Ngl if everything in the ending was how it was, but Sakura and Ino got together and that was the only thing that was different I would be satisfied