What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Shadow and Bone (2021)
Having been a fan of The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows for a long time now, I was looking forward to the adaptation of Shadow and Bone since it was announced. With that, however, came my usual guarded apprehension of having one of my favorite series being adapted, since it’s rare that book-to-series conversions deliver what I want.
That being said, I’ll try to hold off on comparing the two, and look at the show on its own merits.
The series gets off to a slow start, and felt a bit disjointed at times. There was a lot of set up, and because the show has a massive cast of character as well as having to build the universe from scratch, we don’t actually get into the main story until halfway into the series. Since the show is also dealing with separate locations, the scenes that take place in Ketterdam with the Crows, or in Fjerda don’t blend well with those in Ravka. This is where I start to wonder why the creators didn’t just leave Six of Crows as a separate story, since it isn’t doing Kaz (Freddy Carter) and his crew the justice they deserve.
As for Alina (Jessie Mei Li) and the Grisha world, I think that the show managed to capture the right tone. The Darkling (Ben Barnes) has always intrigued me, having a rich past. He is also not your standard romantic lead, in that he is willing to sacrifice anything, including Alina, for the sake of his grand plan. Perhaps the lack of chemistry between Barnes and Li had something to do with it, but I found it very believable that The Darkling wouldn’t abandon his centuries-long plan just for a woman, as so many YA leading men do.
While I did enjoy the first season of the show, I have doubts about how the show is going to balance the style and tone in the next season. I don’t have much faith in the production team to bridge the gap between the Crows and the Grishaverse, and I’d rather they didn’t feel like two separate shows. However, there isn’t much to be done about it now, so I’m going to hope that they find a miracle cure soon.
Movies
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Promising Young Woman seems to have arrived at a time when it feels like it is needed. Dealing with issues relating to sexual assault, and men taking advantage of women, the film feels very timely in the middle of the #MeToo movement, and when women’s rights are being more openly addressed. PYM almost feels like mandatory viewing, and yet our protagonist is rather unsettling. Perhaps this was the message the director was trying to convey: that it may not be pretty, and it may not be comfortable, but it’s definitely something we ought to be talking about.
The film is shot almost like a mystery thriller, following a loner woman as she preys on the very people who are usually the predators. It starts by making Cassie (Carey Mulligan) out to be a victim, then suggesting she’s a murderer before finally revealing that she is in fact merely holding up a mirror to society, hoping that when they see themselves they are just as disgusted as she is with them. However, she never gets to see the justice she delivers, perhaps reflecting our own society where women have yet to really get the fair trials they deserve.
While the story was quite predictable, the editing made the film fun to watch. I was especially impressed with the cast and the way the film reveals each person’s intent and motivation. Everybody is questionable, and not a single character is above suspicion, even those like Ryan (Bo Burnham) who seem respectable. I found it particularly amusing that almost every “nice guy” in the film was an actor that has a stereotypical reputation for playing meek, wholesome people throughout their careers, from Adam Brody to Chris Lowell. The person I was watching with had a particularly difficult time separating Lowell’s Al from his counterpart in GLOW, and was horrified that he would murder Cassie.
PYM is by no means original in the story it was trying to tell, but sometimes you need to say the obvious because people haven’t heard it in a while. That’s what this film feels like. It reminds us that just because no one is talking about it, it doesn’t mean the problem has gone away.
Colourful Granny 