Me Before You review

You might be thinking that it's odd for me to review a romantic comedy, since the last one I reviewed didn't go so well. However, this movie had a lot more effort in its production than that last film, so let's dive right in.

Plot:
We meet Louisa "Lou" Clark, a charming, yet awkward young woman who's perfectly content in her ordinary life until she loses her job at a café. Desperate for income, she takes on the job of being a social companion for Will Traynor, a young man who, through an accident, paralyzed from the neck down. Lou tries her best to joyful and helpful, but Will can be irritable to her and pretty much anyone else he encounters. Refusing to give up, Lou gives Will some interesting activities that often hilariously backfire. Her results make him softer and compassionate, while he makes her open to adventure and expanding her horizons. During these events, the two eventually fall in love with each other. However, with his current situation he feels that he's only a shell of his former self and can't live with the daily pain, so he signs up for Hospice and dies soon afterwards.

Characters:
Lou.
Lou is funny, awkward, and loveable. She tries her absolute best to make life easier for those around her, but this doesn't always go as well as she hopes. I love the acting choices that Emilia Clarke made with this character. Every time she's onscreen, she can make you laugh or make sympathize, since we've all had similar moments in our lives. Clarke does a great job in portraying her as a genuinely good person.

Will.
I think Sam Claflin does a great job playing Will. The film has several scenes which give the audience clear reasons why he's utterly depressed. We learn in the first five minutes of the film how he became paralyzed and later we learn more about his previous life as a thrill seeker and former Mr. Universe. In short, Will is all about living life to the fullest, so having him confined to a chair and being dependent on other people to perform basic functions is clearly frustrating and, in his mind, undignified. As I mentioned, it's not only mentally taxing, but physical too. He hides behind his pain through sarcasm and backhanded compliments, but the film does have a nice balance in that that he can open up to those with whom he's closest. 

Other Characters. 
We see Will and Lou's parents, Lou's ex boyfriend, Will's therapist, Nathan, and scores of others. What I love about these characters is that none of them are forgettable. All of them had lines and actions that stood out and are unique to their individual characters. Also, this didn't have any annoying characters! I hate this trope so much in RomComs and it was nice to have one that didn't follow suit.

Books vs. Movies:
The author of the novel, Jojo Moyes, also wrote the screenplay. Personally, I think it's a great idea to have writers work on the screenplay. It ensures that their original intended thoughts are preserved. Me Before You is an excellent adaptation of the original book. The entire plot, characters, and key scenes are perfectly represented on film. Not to mention the tone of the book was captured nicely.

So which version is better? 
It's hard to say. Both versions are extremely close together in pretty much everything. However, there is one scene that's missing from the movie. 
In the book, Will asks Lou why she dresses in such a quirky way. She answers him by saying that she used to dress in a more "normal" way, but she had been assaulted, and since then she dressed in an odd style in order to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention. In the movie, this is explanation is never brought up. Will asks the same question, but Lou just shrugs it off. This doesn't hurt the film in any way, but we do lose just a little of motivation and a deeper character study from Lou. So just by a bit, I give it to the book for having the better story. Still, the movie was excellent. 
Final Thoughts:
This is a great movie that I recommend to anyone! I highly enjoyed it. Going in, I was worried that the studio would take a book that I loved and either make it too depressing or too cheesy. Thankfully that's not the case here. The film does have a nice balance of humor and serious, when the scene calls for it. The benefit of that is you're not experiencing a complete downer and you're not laughing so much at sillier moments, that you won't take the deep stuff seriously. This film doesn't have as much advertising as it should, so do yourself a favor and check this film out!

Jungle Book (2016) Review

Disney's 2016 remake is the fourth installment in their live action renditions of their own famous animated productions. Previous attempts have been hit and miss, however Jungle Book actually succeeds on all counts. 

The characters are more fleshed out this time and their relationships with each other are much stronger. Mowgli and his wolf family, in particular. The animated movies skimmed over this family, but the newer film takes the opportunity to explore the affection between Mowgli, his mother, and his siblings. That was a nice touch. 

Mowgli's relationships with Baloo and Bagheera are about the same, but you do get a deeper sense of responsibility from both of them as they try to protect Mowgli.

Shere Khan was terrifying and simply evil. Now for this, I give points to the animated movie for having a better Shere Khan, in that he didn't need to act menacing. His reputation did all that for him, and thus made him free to put on the refined gentleman mask. In the remake, he kills without any hesitation and while that's threatening, it's not as scary as someone calmly planning your demise.

Mowgli was pretty cool in this. They made him to be the MacGyver of the jungle, using his surroundings to build simple things to help himself and others in everyday ways. The law of the jungle makes building things to be extremely taboo and we see Mowgli struggling between his love of the jungle and developing his skills as a human.

The world of the jungle was just fascinating to me. It was interesting to hear what the laws of the jungle are and how they apply to all of the characters. Not to mention the imagery was wonderful.

My minor gripes are: Kaa needed to be in more of the story and King Louie didn't need to have a musical number. I know one of the popular songs in the original movie, but we didn't need to have him sing it out.

In the Books vs. Movies debate, I'm giving it to the movie this time. The book is cool, but I'm not a fan of the composition. The book is essentially comprised of several short stories, not a solid plot. The movie has a solid plot and is definitely worth watching. Don't miss it! 

Next time: Civil War.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Review

Let's be honest. This is a pretty ridiculous idea. Even reading the book was an admittedly silly endeavor. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it was refreshing to read a new interpretation after being raised in a household in which you are familiar with Pride & Prejudice in all its forms.
Therefore, I was excited to learn that this version was finally getting the movie treatment! How does it hold up?

This movie was actually a pretty solid adaptation. It managed to keep the plot moving at a decent pace while still holding your interest.
The acting is just bang on! I love this version of Elizabeth and Darcy! In a zombie apocalypse setting, their personalities make so much more sense. However, I think they still need more chemistry with each other. A minor complaint, but noticeable.
Speaking of acting, Matt Smith and Lena Hedley as Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, respectively, are very much worth noting. They totally stole the show in their scenes.
This movie also reminds me of classic horror flicks in that almost all modern horror films are super gory; this one takes a different approach in not being bloody. All the more shocking things happened off-screen, allowing the audience the use of their imagination. Definitely far more effective than just showing it onscreen.

As far as Books vs. Movies, who wins? Book. Why?

The book shows good scenes that the movie omitted. Such scenes include Elizabeth's best friend Charlotte being infected and attempting to conceal it, Wickham sufferinga different fate, Georgina actually being in the story, going into further detail of the Bennetts' training, and a terrific battle between Elizabeth and Catherine. Also, a departure is that the book is much more violent. This left the movie feeling choppy to me. It would do better with an additional half hour to flesh out the details. That being said, the movie is still exceptional with what it has to offer. See it, but you will crave reading the book more.

Next Time: Zootopia.