For me the first thing that comes to mind is Tales from Earthsea. I don’t think it’s excellent or anything and has plenty of problems but people act like it killed their dog. While it has its problems that have been covered extensively, I think it has a beautiful atmosphere and art.

IMO it would have been better received if it wasn’t advertised as an Earthsea adaptation and was just its own thing.

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    The Aladdin live action remake was shat on mercilessly by the internet, but I thought it was a fun, true to the spirit of the original while introducing a few new ideas to keep it interesting, and (imo very respectfully) stayed out of Rob William’s lane by not trying to recreate his genie. And Will Smith did a great job with his version.

    /shrug

    • Hobthrob@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I didn’t really follow the online conversations around the movie, but I did watch it and it’s not entirely that long ago since I watched the animated movie either. If I was to try to judge the movie without the context of the orighinal, I’d say it was fine, nothing about it was terrible but I also didn’t find anything about it particularly good or memorable. I think Will Smith did a fine job and I don’t think he’d be anywhere near the top of the list of what I would criticise about the movie in that case.

      But I do think context matters, and in context I think it comes out looking pretty poor. Genie as written for the live action movie pales in comparison to the animated one. In terms of craft I think the live action one feels like a soulless board-room directed husk, and I really miss the feeling of a creative voice in the whole thing.

      If you’re going to remake something, I it should be better, or enough of a reinterpretation to be considered distinctly different.

      I am glad others liked it, but if I someone asked me which they should watch I would tell them the original animated movie because I think it is a better piece of entertainment, and that makes the modern one feel like an absolute waste of time, money, skills and effort that could have been spent so much better.

    • IdiosyncraticIdiot@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      I feel this same way about most the Disney live action remakes. I thought they were enjoyable blasts from the past (for me) but the internet and critics absolutely hated them which was puzzling. I guess I also have felt the same way about remakes where the actor is a different race than the original lore… Who cares?

      “Oh noes, Snow White is no longer a ‘damsel in distress’ being kissed by a random dude while she is… checks notes… Unconscious??? AND the actress is Hispanic??? This ruins my life” - literally conservatives so much so that Disney cancelled it.

      Some people’s kids smhmh

    • exocrinous@startrek.website
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      8 months ago

      I agree, but the way they handled Jasmine was pretty sloppy. She had a whole song about not being silenced, which all happened inside her head and she proceeded to have no further impact on the plot.

    • anakin78z@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      We LOVED this film, and even convinced our local cinema to have a sing along one night.

      The first time we watched it we had to leave the cinema early due to a tornado warning. But we were so pleasantly surprised by what we saw (expected trash after those awful trailers) that we went again. And then again.