Originally published at Set The Tape
This year I took part in the Set The Tape Listmas articles, sharing my thoughts on some of my favourite media from the last year. I talked briefly about a few of the movies that I enjoyed.
Barbie
Barbies aren’t just for kids, they’re also for kick-ass adults who get that the patriarchy isn’t just about horses and needs tearing down. A toy-inspired film with more depth to it than you could ever expect, rapturously bright colours, musical numbers, and fantastic jokes that help to deliver an important message about the way society treats women and femme presenting people.
I wasn’t sold on the concept of this film, I didn’t know what to expect from it, and was ready to wait until it hit home release. Then I got taken to see it for my birthday, and it became a fantastic cinema experience. The only time I’ve seen a screen absolutely packed, the atmosphere was infectious. The jokes brought the room down, you could hear the sniffles when the film got emotional, and there were moments of quiet introspection, such as when America Ferrera delivered a speech on the contradictions and impossible standards that society puts on women; a speech that a lot of people should hear at some point.
With so many films and shows based on toys being little more than glorified advertisements, it’s easy to dismiss Barbie as nothing more than that, when in reality its introspective look at feminism wrapped up in nostalgic imagery and an intellectual property was what kept that audience coming back over and over again. So don’t just dismiss Barbie (Margot Robbie) because she loves pretty dresses and pink, because she’s got some stuff to say that you need to hear; and a final line you’ll never see coming.
Godzilla Minus One
I pitched Godzilla Minus One as my film of the year before I’d even seen it, and I was bang on the money. I love the Godzilla franchise, for its wackiness and silly stories, the cheap effects, and odd monsters. But there’s also a lot of depth to be found. Whilst this may have been somewhat diluted over the seven decades since he first emerged from the ocean, the franchise started off as a discussion of the horrors of war, a vein which Godzilla Minus One follows in. Whilst the original was a discussion of the horrors of the atomic bomb and the monstrous attack the US made on Japan (told by people who lived through it), this film puts Japan’s own government and culture in its cross-hairs.
The film follows Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a Kamikaze pilot who chooses not to follow through with his mission, too afraid to die. Koichi is haunted by the horrors of the war, of his desire to live, which goes in conflict with societal expectations to die willingly. Some treat him like a coward, others treat him like a hero. Through it all, his nightmares follow him. He’s a man broken by war. And when Godzilla emerges and kills thousands a group of civilians band together to try to create a plan to destroy the monster, unwilling to trust a government who have so willingly thrown life away before.
Godzilla Minus One is a film about a giant monster wrecking things (and it does so amazingly), but it’s also a film that says the Japanese government were wrong. It says that not dying in war is nothing to be ashamed of, and that never going to war is a good thing. A film with more depth and heart than you’d first expect, and a film that will move you to cry more than once.
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3
I didn’t see Guardians of the Galaxy 3 in the cinema. I was trying to find the time to fit it in, but then I had people warn me about watching it. My house is full of animals, and I’ve got four bunnies running around it. People who knew I’m a bunny mum told me to go into the film with care. And boy am I glad I waited until home release. This film broke me. There came a part – I’m sure you know which if you’ve seen it – that made me weep. But I had to do so quietly, because it was the kind of crying where if I’d have made a noise it would have been a wail.
I was watching perhaps the most emotionally devastating film in the MCU, one that put animal cruelty at the heart of it, whilst one of my rabbits was staying in our living room, only recently out of life-saving surgery that left her with scars on her head, and a permanent disability. I know it’s very specific circumstances, but it made this film hit all the harder. Bradley Cooper and the other animal actors made me care for a collection of pixels to the point where I couldn’t think of this film without crying. That’s damn good acting.
A film about family, trauma, loss, and the path to healing, this is not only the perfect conclusion to the Guardians story, but for me the most engaging and moving film in the entire MCU. It also showed that it was Rocket Raccoon, not Starlord (Chris Pratt), at the heart of this galactic corner of the universe, and demonstrated how even the most silly comic book concepts can be made into wonderful stories that will stick with you forever.
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