Movie Review – Ralph with Coffee

Movie Review: Lightyear

January 1, 2024 RalphLeave a comment

I wouldn’t say it is the best movie, but it is a movie with a message: no one is perfect. Released in 2022, this Disney/Pixar movie brings back our memories of one of the best childhood movies, Toy Story 1 (1995) (and maybe Toy Story 2 (1999), too). Most children who must have watched the Toy Story 1/2 are now in their 30s. And perhaps that is the reason why the movie centers so much around personal ambition vs. family and about forgiving ourselves.

Storyline

The movie centers around Buzz, an elite space explorer who accidentally lands on a strange planet. He tries to find a way to get out of the planet, but each time he tries, everyone else gets much older than he is. In the end, everyone he knew passed away, leaving only him and his weird robot cat. Then, anti-human robots suddenly appear and kidnap everyone into their mothership. He teams up with a kid, an elderly former prisoner, and a lackadaisical dude to take down the ship and get out of the planet.

Characters

Buzz is a 30-something-year-old perfectionist and narcissist. He hates making mistakes and carries the whole world on his shoulders. Ironically, he also makes reckless decisions that jeopardize his close friends. He doggedly seeks to continue his personal ambition of earlier days, only to realize that friends and family come first.

Overall Vibe

It’s hard to tell if this movie is for the jocks or for the nerds. Many action scenes in the movie with toys make you wonder what is real and what is not (is this part of the Toy Story universe?). I resonated with this movie as someone who also seeks doggedly a personal ambition from my past. But I am bothered by the constant angst of failure in the air. There’s bitterness and despair. Yes, it is part of life, and yes, it is good to overcome it, but I sense that the movie could have done better with its mixture of humor, empathy, and actions.

If you are a 30-something-year-old and have a kid who could also enjoy Toy Story movies, go ahead and watch this movie. If you are hurt by your constant setbacks in pursuing your personal ambition, try this one. But if you seek a feel-good movie, turn the other way and look for another Disney movie.

Movie Review: Big Hero 6

December 31, 2023 RalphLeave a comment

As an older brother with an interest in simulation modeling, this movie resonated with me. The cinematic effects were deliciously satisfying to my eyes and storylines chewy enough for me to keep my focus on. From start to finish, I relished this movie.

Storyline

I felt guilty watching the older brother (Tadashi Hamada) giving love, faith, and empathy towards his younger brother (Hiro Hamada) in the movie. The backbone of the movie storyline is that Tadashi is a generous, well-rounded older brother, who cares about his younger brother. When (spoiler alert) Tadashi dies from an accident trying to save people, Hiro seeks revenge out of his love for his older brother. In the end, Hiro follows the path of Tadashi to help other people through the help of Baymax, a personal healthcare robot built by Tadashi. But I wasn’t and still am not an older brother who cares about his younger brother to that degree. I am often too absorbed in my own problems and don’t pay much attention to my younger brother. I find it difficult to tell whether it is realistically possible to become a brother who cares about his brother to the extent Tadashi does, I felt a newfound desire to become one someday.

Graphics

Released in 2015, the graphics are not short of my visual appetite. After having watched Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2023) and Elemental (2023), I grew to enjoy good visual effects in movies (have you seen the water effects in Elemental? It is IMPRESSIVE). Notice the details of the backgrounds in each scene. The Japanese characters are carefully scribed in ornaments, sceneries of San Francisco, and even the scruffy-looking Hiro’s hair. Also, if you’ve been starving for some good mecha-suit actions since watching Ironman (2008), watching Armored Baymax flying through the city skyscrapers and landing with an Ironman pose will relieve you of your long-held angst.

Characters

If someone told me Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred, the friends of Tadashi in San Fransokyo Institute of Technology (an advanced engineering school in the movie), were based on real people’s personalities, I would’ve believed it. Go Go is a hard-boiled Asian girl who does not need anybody’s help and still excels in everything she achieves. Wasabi is an OCD-type of a sensitive and organized person. Honey Lemon is a sweet, nerdy, and emotionally bubbly European girl who loves experimenting. Fred is a laid-back, lackadaisical dude who flips ad-signs but turns out to be the son of a rich person. In graduate school, I feel I have seen these types of people at some point. Each character has a sense of empathy and the dynamic chemistry between them balances the serious tone and the brighter actions together.

Overall, I would say it is one of the few movies I would watch again. It’s still visually stunning, the storyline is tight, and the characters are fun to watch. It gives you a life lesson (be a good person, take care of your mental health, surround yourself with good friends) and motivates you to strive to become a better person. 5/5 I would recommend.

12.30.2023

Chewing Gum

March 30, 2019 RalphLeave a comment

Just as time floats in a siesta,
Your life may pass by
Like a bubble gum gulped
Without chewing it once.

Chew it.
Grind it, throw it around, and stretch
As far as you dare to. You’ve got
One chance.

When the juice is out
And your jaw’s hurting much

Balloon a bubble so wide
You might even have seen it
In your dreams.

And then chew it again.

3.25.2019