Colin McMahon

Disney's Worst Villain: Prince Hans (from Frozen)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Colin McMahon

Walt Disney Animation Studios has a rich history of feature film characters. From Winnie the Pooh to Stitch, many strong protagonists highlight this library. However, the scratched side of the coin is just as wonderful with villains like Jafar, Cruella De Vil and Scar. When it comes to villains: Disney delivers… well, almost always.

*Princess and the Frog* saw the addition of the most recent great Disney villain: the Shadow Man.

2013 saw the release of Frozen, the latest animated film from Disney, based this time off the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Snow Queen. It’s good, it’s very good. Building off the fun but predictable film, Tangled; Frozen delivers a unique story of sisterhood highlighted by magic and gorgeous animation. I’ve already sung “Let It Go” to myself more times than I would care to admit so the movie also has at least one song that’s really worth remembering.

Overall I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend Frozen to anyone seeking some animated fun, but I wish I could recommend the movie more. Frozen has a flaw, a big one. For most of the film it keeps it off screen, which is a good thing. Warning: minor plot spoilers to follow… for a Disney movie… do I really need to give plot disclaimers?

Anyway, Frozen follows two sisters: Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel). Elsa has magical powers, the ability to freeze things and create snow. Anna is normal, without any magical powers whatsoever. Magic is fun but also dangerous so Elsa hides her powers. This plan works until both girls are of marrying age (at least I hope they are) and Elsa is getting crowned as the new queen. Needless to say things go wrong and the kingdom ends up a little… frozen. Get it? I’ll move on.

But that pun is besides the main point. At Elsa’s coronation, Anna meets a prince, Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) and they fall in love… well they decide to get married. Ah young love. Unlike every other Disney Princess movie in existence, Elsa vetoes the marriage:

And so the kingdom gets frozen and Anna goes off to find her sister to put things right. Along the way she meets Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and Hans is left in charge of the kingdom. He does his best, even going so far as to foil the Duke, a comical satire of the usual Disney villain voiced by the always hilarious Alan Tudyk. Hans is set up as a good guy, clearly not Anna’s true love but a good guy nonetheless. In other words: it is an interesting character development, something more unique than the average animated film.

Then comes the turn, the big turn. Anna is injured and only a kiss from her true love can save her. Does Hans save her: no. Does he remain the good guy and just admit that he isn’t in love with her: nope. Hans reveals that he hates both Anna and her sister and will take this opportunity to kill both of them and take over the kingdom. He also mentions that if Anna had a dog or cat, he would run it over in his truck (okay he doesn’t say that but it would fit with his declaration of evil). If all that sounds out of left field, that’s only because it is.

This is the face of evil. Pure, unexplained, evil.

There is no set up, literally nothing to suggest to the audience that Hans is a bad guy, nevermind a murderer. The turn is nothing short of awful. Frozen was a story about two sisters struggling to maintain a relationship while one struggles with magical powers and the other went on a journey of self-discovery in a frigid wonderland. That doesn’t sound like a story that needs a Prince Dirtbag to make it interesting.

Also: it’s Disney, their villains usually rock. And remember Fox and the Hound, proof that Disney didn’t use to shy away from telling a complex story without a needless villain. Sure the hunter is a dick to the Fox but… that’s kind of what hunters do.

The “reveal” of Prince Hans comes off as a cheat. A way to move the story to more expedited resolution instead of the natural ending it was heading for. One wonders what the morale of Prince Hans is for young women watching the film: remember girls, just because you meet a boy and he seems cute and fun – don’t get into a relationship because he probably just wants to kill you and your sister. That’s it: that is the only reason you shouldn’t rush into a relationship.

In a movie where one of the main characters can create snow from nothing, this should not be the most unrealistic scene.

So while Frozen is still good, it never gets great. Before I saw this film, I heard it compared to Beauty and the Beast. Not even close. Beauty and the Beast has more than one song worth remembering… and, you know, a villain who isn’t the dumbest thing since George Lucas thought to explain the Force in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Why Thor: the Dark World was the Most Disappointing Film of 2013

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Colin McMahon

In 2011, the cinema world of the Marvel superheroes was forever changed with the successful introduction of Thor, a heroic epic about a hero of the same name. Thor did what many, including Iron Man director, Jon Favreau, deemed impossible: namely introduced magic and outlandish ideas to a very technology-based Marvel cinematic universe. Before Thor, everything was science in the way that it either required grounding or some form of explanation. Without Thor, Joss Whedon’s epic The Avengers may not have felt comfortable taking its fantasy to near Star Wars level heights.

Successful films are no accident, too many things need to go right. Thor was a product of Kenneth Branagh, a director responsible for many of today’s recent adaptations of William Shakespeare and other great literary works. Branagh believed in the world of Thor and added human drama to its characters, most notably the character of Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki.

Fast-forward to last year and the release of Thor: the Dark World, the “phase two” Thor movie directed by Game of Thrones veteran, Alan Taylor. Thor: The Dark World goes more fantastical, focusing on elements that many fans of the first film wanted to see more of; including Asgard, Loki and other strange worlds. The film introduced audiences to a new villain, Malekith, played by a Doctor Who himself, Christopher Eccleston. Yet for all its seeming success, Thor: The Dark World was as lifeless as its name suggests.

Even the armor has lost its shine this time around.

The casting of Eccleston proved to be irrelevant as the filmmakers forgot to add anything resembling humanity to his character. Malekith is evil and wants to destroy everything because he’s a dark elf. That last sentence is the same level of rationalization and character development that is given to the character in a nearly two hour movie.

Returning actors Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins return but again have little to do in the way of character development. Thor is the generic hero, Jane Foster is the generic love interest and Odin is the generic Hopkins performance. Even the magical setting of Asgard, which in the fist film brimmed with light and uniqueness, appears faded and tired this time around.

"Woman of Science" was so 2011. Let 2013 be the year of "Woman of Standing Around, Being Helpless and Plot Device" — “Woman of Science” was so 2011. Let 2013 be the year of “Woman of Standing Around, Being Helpless and Plot Device”.

The only actor who ever breathes onscreen is Hiddleston. His Loki still continues to exude the conflicted trauma of pain and mischief that makes him fun to watch. However the script fails to give Loki any real impact on the story other than to prevent the audience from lapsing into the coma of the Dark World.

Director Alan Taylor added the darker, more realistic look of Game of Thrones while forgetting to import any of the show’s intriguing character drama. The result is a dull affair that does little more than to answer the question of what Thor was doing between Avengers films. The movie would have been bad on its own, but to compare it to the initial vision of Kenneth Branagh, the man who proved magic was possible in superhero films, cements Thor: the Dark World as not only the worst of the Marvel superhero movies but also 2013’s most disappointing film.

There is more vision and creativity present in this short than the entire of a multimillion dollar film.

This article and many more may also be viewed at Culective.

Sherlock Returns with a New Year's Celebration

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Colin McMahon

January 15th, 2012. How many things have happened since January 15th, 2012? For those out there wondering, January 15th, 2012 was the debut date of “The Reichenbach Fall“, the season two finale of the popular BBC show, Sherlock. Boy, was that a finale: Moriarty dead (or not, if you believe the theories) and Sherlock faking his death. There was one question, one question on everyone’s mind at the end of that episode: How? How did Sherlock survive the fall?

Part of the BBC's marketing campaign. They were having fun with this before the episode even aired. — Part of the BBC’s marketing campaign. They were having fun with this before the episode even aired.

Fast-forward to January 1st, 2014 and the release of “The Empty Hearse“, the long awaited season three premiere (at least in the United Kingdom anyway) that finally continues the story of everyone’s favorite sociopath. Tonight I had the good fortune, through internet means I would never endorse (incidentally isn’t this an odd website), to watch “The Empty Hearse”. Spoilers? Nah, I won’t ruin the fun. Rest assured, Sherlock is more than aware how long its kept everyone waiting. I’ll instead stick to the basics, starting with the first and foremost question: is it still good?

Yep.

I’ll go into it a bit more than that.

“The Empty Hearse” serves as a joyous reintroduction to the series. Written by none other than Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes to all you fans) who is aware of just how long ago 2012 was in terms of television attention span. To that end, this is not a very plot heavy episode. Indeed, those out there wanting to puzzle along to a gripping mystery will have to wait. Sherlock was dead for two years: it takes time to get breathing again.

Two years have passed in the series timeline as well so a good portion of the episode is spent playing catchup. Kind of like season 4 of Arrested Development except actually funny.

What makes it work is, of course, the actors. Benedict Cumberbatch once again fully inhabits the titular protagonist who gave his career life. Martin Freeman manages to look both fully fed up and happy to be back as John Watson. Perhaps the most surprising performance comes from Louise Brealey, whose original character, Molly Hooper, has transformed from one time comic fodder to the sad manifestation of Sherlock’s detached humanity. There are no weak leaks in the acting chain that hold this series up and, while the story this time is more tongue-and-cheek than we’re used to, this is a show built for powerful drama and moving stories on the human condition.

Amanda Abbington plays Mary Morstan, a new addition to the cast.

I will say, in the interest of perspective and placement, that this is not my favorite episode of the series. Indeed, as far as season premiers go: it may be the worst the series has endured so far. That is not a knock on it, however, when comparison is drawn with “A Study in Pink” and “A Scandal in Belgravia” (my personal favorite episode of the series). The story is fun and the presentation is thoroughly fourth-wall.

Are there any worries going forward? None but this: Sherlock is a series that has set itself a high standard. While nine episodes hardly breaks the bank on the source material, one does wonder if the series will ever again recapture this height of fan excitement. You can only kill Sherlock Holmes so many times before audiences stop caring how he survived the fall.

Season two contained many of the series' most famous characters. It will be interesting to see what season three comes up with. — Season two contained many of the series’ most famous characters. It will be interesting to see what season three comes up with.

Yet for the moment it is a party and a most welcome one at that. The world’s most famous detective is back and audiences will no doubt have nearly as much fun with his return as he did.

Sherlock returns to North America on January 14th... for anyone who is interested in waiting. — Sherlock returns to North America on January 14th… for anyone who is interested in waiting.