Wildwood

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⭐8/10

This is a classic case of a movie that I wish I loved more. There's lots of stories coming out about it, about the tireless and detailed work put into the stop motion, the uncompromising artistic vision, the years of work put into a movie with no clear audience. This is a movie that I have a ton of respect for, and really wanted it to be a masterpiece, and while I liked it quite a lot I can't really get there. 

This is a movie about a girl in Portland who's brother is stolen by a flock of crows (murder?) who take him into the forbidden forest, and she goes to save him only to discover that the forest is enchanted. This movie is compared a lot to Lord of the Rings, but I actually think it's closer to Narnia, where she needs to infiltrate the fairyland politics and save the world. 

Visually, this movie is stunning. Was it worth the extra decade of work? Well, I'm not sure, but I'm glad they did it anyways. It takes place in the fall, and the colours and vibes are all wonderful. There are some battle and action sequences that are nigh breathtaking, especially on the big screen. One little issue I remember thinking while I watched was that the music was not memorable. I don't remember any music now, and I wonder if that would have made all the difference for me. 

The story is, you know, good! I didn't really feel anything at any point, but it was all serviceable and the writing was mostly good and sometimes (but rarely) great. It was probably too childish to be truly great for me, but it is famously far too dark and violent for most kids. 

So yeah, lots of B+ along the report card for this one. I really have no complaints but I can't point to anything that this movie did amazingly well. I couldn't help compare it to The Wild Robot which also isn't the perfect movie, but I found that one to have sharper writing, better music, and comes in about equally in terms of animation. 

So it's a good movie and worth seeing, and it makes me sad it's not doing well at the box office, but yeah, just falls a little short for me.

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