Cookie’s Corner Year 3

[Rorschach]

4 minutes ago, Isle of Pasta said:

I’m a dead noodle walking.

The pastry is gonna annihilate the pasta.

[cookie]

So about this scene...

 

(1:57 til the end)

 

This scene is the culmination of everything that has come before it, and it is executed in only two sentences, one of which is:

 

"You... and your people... have my permission... to go..."

 

Rameses is beaten. His kingdom is in ruins. His first born son, the one we've seen him care so much for, is dead. His pride and stubbornness caused all of this. At this point, Moses has won (sure, Rameses chases after him later, but as of the moment Moses has won. And even that works because at that point it's Rameses acting out in blind murderous rage).

 

 

But it's not a victory Moses takes in stride. In order to win, he not only had his God murder thousands (hearing the cries of grieving families in the background is a chilling touch) but also destroy the man he once called brother, the man who for so many years meant more to him than anything else. He and his people's freedom came at a great cost, and you can feel even to the film's ending that it hurts him inside to some extent, even as he and the audience knows it needed to be done. The relationship between Moses and Rameses in this film is one of tragedy, and that's part of what makes the movie so great in my opinion.

 

So what does the live-action remake decide to change?

 

...Rameses is cold and silently furious. “You can forget about me ever letting your people go.”

 

So Moses hasn't won. And technically, he never does. Rameses never gives in. His people simply escape instead because Huy suddenly takes sympathy to them. Apparently destroying his homeland and killing a fuckton of children suddenly makes him sympathetic towards a group of people he wasn't to before.

 

So Moses had his God destroy all of Egypt's crops, color the rivers in blood, KILL all the firstborns in one fell swoop... and the lone outcome is a side character deciding he wants to help the Hebrews out now.

 

That is weak. Really weak.

 

And while it's weak on paper even execution wise it doesn't hold up. We get a completely unnecessary reprise of The Plagues (a song I adore but I didn't need to hear it again) instead of one of the best instrumental scores from the animated version:

 

 

One last part, this line about Huy's redemption aggravated me almost as much as everything else:

 

Huy humorously remarks that this will give him good faith in the eyes of Horus, not to mention revenge on Rameses’ pranks.

 

1. You are aware that Moses does not give a shit about your god and if anything has spent all this time proving HIS God is the real one?
2. And I get it's a joke, but in addition, humorous remarks about your pharaoh RIGHT AFTER HIS SON DIED? And I thought I was bad with tonal whiplashes

 

So... As you can tell I didn't care for the change very much.

 

Really a lot of the movie is either the same or marginally different than the original, which I didn't mind that much (I very much enjoyed Beauty and the Beast 2017 after all) but aside from a few good ideas most of the changes made were for the worse. Final grade for the whole movie:

 

B/B-

Edited May 3, 2018 by cookie

[Rorschach]

I hated Beauty and the Beast 2017 with a burning passion. I don’t know why so many other people like it.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Admittedly...I definitely understand where you're coming from and definitely sort of agree. I think a lot of the changes came from areas where I still believe in what I was trying to do, but may have been iffy in execution.

 

Here are three reasons why I tweaked it. Not to argue with your opinion at all, but I did want to clarify my line of thought.

 

1. Rameses' motivations - I think the point about Rameses pursing the Jews in a murderous rage needed a bit more development, especially after he hays that he lets everyone go only to attack them later. A lot of these changes I intended my changes to make his pursuit of the Jews at the end a bit more rational. In hindsight, I could have just added a scene where he decides to pursue them anyway, feeling a sense of heartbreak and revenge.

 

2. Tonal whiplash - I admit that Huy's joke can be...iffy. At the same time, I think there's a big whiplash in the film where the scene discussed in depth immediately leads to When You Believe. That change felt a bit awkward (in my opinion, of course) so I tried to think of a way to make it smooth out a bit better. Having this song of triumph and hope right after the atrocity of the final plague just didn't feel quite right to me.

 

3. On Huy - I wanted to expand his character beyond typical comic relief. The events of the plagues put everything he believed into question, and the biggest reason he wants to set Moses free was so that the suffering of the Egyptian people could finally end. This is something that probably needed more development, however.

 

So while I do definitely understand (if not admittedly agree) with your criticisms, I definitely worked with these changes to try and push the film along a bit. I didn't want to just to a straight-up remake. I'm not necessarily even defending my changes as I am explaining them.

 

So thank you for your feedback, @cookie. I really do value your insights and criticism.

 

Spoiler

And you still gave me your #1 spot for an original work, so I'm very much okay with this.