2024 Cinema trips - all the 'quels

It was a case of all the "quels" in 2024. I saw sequels, a prequel and an interquel. In fact, five of the seven films I saw in the cinema were "quels", and the other two were adaptations of books. Here's what I watched on the big screen:

Dune Part 2 - sequel (although they split the source material in two for the movies so this was a continuation sequel rather than a second story in a franchise). Full review here. 

Inside Out 2 - sequel. I really liked the first Inside Out film, which took a complex concept and explored it in a very accessible way. The sequel continued the story of Riley and her emotions, which have multiplied as Riley grows up. This is probably one of the best depictions and explanations of how anxiety is a protection mechanism that can go into overdrive and become harmful. 

Besides Anxiety, the other new emotions include, Embarrassment, Envy, Ennui and, my favourite, Nostalgia, who pops in and is promptly dismissed for being too soon. Although I think I felt nostalgia as a teenager - certainly I found myself looking back to things I had done a few years previously and having a new appreciation for them. Nowadays I agree strongly with Douglas Coupland's comment that "nostalgia is a weapon" and I know it gets weaponised against me. That's why I end up with things like an A Team van made by Playmobil...

The film has a happy ending for Riley and her friends as they navigate the emotions around changing schools, establishing new friendship groups and playing ice hockey. I like the mix of joy and anger that fuels Riley's in-game activity. There's a good explanation about how our beliefs about the world and about ourselves shape our lives - another deep topic that I felt the film-makers summarised well. 

Harold and the Purple Crayon - the film version of a popular kid's book. So, not totally original but technically not a 'quel. Full review here. 

Alien Romulus - an 'interquel' that was apparently set between Alien and Aliens, the first two films in the franchise. Not the greatest movie in the Alien franchise but I enjoyed it. Full review here. 

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! - a "legacy sequel" released decades after the first film. Full review here. 

Transformers One - a prequel of sorts. I'm not sure where in the Transformers franchise this animated film fits, but it was expanding on the in-universe lore and would act as a prequel to just about any other Transformers movie. 

It's the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, and why they became bitter enemies. I thought it was very well done despite leaning hard on some over-used tropes - the people in charge don't have our best interests at heart; best friends become implacable enemies; there is a quest for a lost artifact that can save civilisation. 

However, within those well known story arcs, the script was lean, the film was fast-paced with several action sequences that all served the purposes of the plot, and there was plenty of humour in the dialogue and situations but it never got silly. It felt like a grown up kid-friendly cartoon. It also added some depth to other long-established characters, even those with limited screentime like Starscream, who in this was more than just a whining minion of Megatron. 

The Wild Robot - another film based on a book. I watched this with Cathy on her birthday in a cinema that was experiencing temperature issues. It was freezing. At one point in the story an ice storm hits - at that point it felt like we were in a 4D film experience. 

The basic plot was of a robot booting up on a remote island and looking for tasks to carry out. Being a robot it works out how to communicate with animals and gradually develops its self-awareness to become the protector of the wild creatures. This includes teaching an orphaned gosling to fly - which I found was a surprisingly moving storyline. 

The third act of the movie dragged a bit. The most intriguing part was seeing the wider world, with humans living in large hi-tech habitats, with hydroponic farms, hovering over the drowned ruins of cities (San Francisco to be precise). It's a world after the climate apocalypse and the survivors seem to be doing OK with an army of robot servants undertaking menial tasks. Somehow, that felt like the most unrealistic part of the film compared to a robot learning how to talk to a gosling and teach it to fly before its fellow geese migrated and left it behind. 

Looking ahead to 2025, I'm sure there are more 'quels to come. I have set myself a challenge to try and watch more original films next year. 

Film review: Harold and the Purple Crayon

SPOILER ALERT!

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a very popular illustrated children's book in America. Despite not being very familiar with the story, I thought the trailer for this looked interesting. And with Zachary Levi in the title role, it felt worth a look. 

The story starts with Harold and his friends, in their illustrated form, having various adventures with the magic purple crayon. Anything drawn using the crayon takes form, whether that's a dragon, a moose, a porcupine, a boat, or whatever. 

Harold and his friends are used to listening to the "narrator" and when the narrator stops answering their questions, Harold draws a way into the "real world" to try and find him. Mayhem ensues as Harold uses the creative power of his purple crayon to help people, although his good intentions cause chaos. 

I won't relate the entire story, but basically there are people who realise the power of the crayon and use it for their own ends, but it all works out in the long run. Zooey Deschanel plays the other lead role opposite Levi and there is able support from Lil Rey Howery (who I last saw as Buddy in Free Guy) as Moose, Tanya Reynolds as Porcupine, Benjamin Bottani as Harold's first friend in the real world, and Jermaine Clement (from Flight of the Conchords) who plays a great hammy villain. The script is quite tight - I laughed several times - and the runtime of 90 minutes is just the right length.

Apparently the reviews haven't been kind to the film, but what do film critics know, really? I went in with fairly low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. And there was one element of the film that went a bit deeper than I expected. 

Harold has entered the real world looking for the 'old man', the narrator. This is a mix of father figure and creator, who has suddenly gone silent. As he becomes aware of who the 'narrator' was - the author of the book, the late Crockett Johnson - he realises that from now on he won't have a narrator for his adventures. This places him in existential crisis - asking the big questions of what does he do with his life now?

In one sense this is a way of looking at parental bereavement. The gap left by a now absent parent. But, for me, it felt there was a wider parallel of any occasion where we are feel that things we were certain about are no longer certain and the need to find a way through - that suddenly we are the narrators of our own stories, the creators of our own worlds and we can't rely on there being a voice from the sky telling us what to do next. 

Harold's response when he gets a final message from the author, telling him to take his destiny into his own hands is to be grateful for the opportunity and to see it as an adventure. It is refreshing to watch a movie with such an uplifting and life-affirming conclusion.