My Rating: 5.5/5 Official Information Release Date: October 20, 2017 Box Office: $31.6 Million Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDb) 94% (RT) Audience: All, Not Rated A Silent Voice is one of the best and most emotional movies I have ever watched, coming from someone who mostly watches action-packed SciFi movies. The film follows a deaf girl and her childhood bully on a mission to make up for his past. It’s a heartwarming film that will make you laugh in some parts and cry in others. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD The film opens with the teenage Shoya Ishida preparing to kill himself, which is rough to watch. We don’t know anything about his character yet, but it’s already heartbreaking. However, the movie jumps back in time to Shoya’s elementary school life. On my first watch, I was a bit confused about the timeline, but I was able to piece together what was going on as the movie progressed. The flashback (which is long, but important) introduces our secondary protagonist, Shoko Nishimya, a deaf girl who gets ruthlessly teased for her disability. A Silent Voice does an excellent job of shifting the audience’s view of Shoya. At first, he seems like a hateable bully, but after the time jump, it’s a complete 360. During the flashback, Shoya torments Shoko without remorse, breaking her hearing aids and teasing her for the way talks. Meanwhile, he deals with being bullied by his group of friends. The saying “hurt people hurt people” is certainly true. As a film that covers a wide period of time in its characters’ lives, A Silent Voice shows us how some people can change for the better, while unfortunately, others don’t. Shoya’s reputation as a bully follows him into high school, despite his growing remorse for his actions. It’s in this part that we understand why he was preparing for suicide in the film’s intro. Thinking death is the only option, he decides to tie off the loose ends in his life before he commits suicide. In A Silent Voice, the characters of both the bully and the bullied are relatable. We’ve all felt remorse for things that are in the past, and Shoya feels like a real person going through real hardships, and not just a one-dimensional bully. His extreme anxiety leads him to feel that everyone at his school is against him, which is represented by Xs appearing over the characters' faces. I thought this was a creative way to visualize the way Shoya feels, and it lets the audience know who Shoya trusts (the people without the Xs). Further into the film, Shoya and Shoko cross paths again, as Shoya tries to make up for his past actions before committing suicide. What he doesn’t know is that Shoko will end up saving him. Shoya apologizes and slowly befriends Shoko. Things seem to be going well for our protagonists as Shoko unknowingly helps Shoya see the good in life, while he helps her reconnect with old acquaintances from elementary school, both friends and bullies. Two minor characters in A Silent Voice, Miyoko and Naoka, are polar opposites. While Miyoko does everything in her power to make Shoko comfortable, even trying to learn sign language, Naoka makes Shoko feel unwelcome, clearly expressing her hate for her. Naoka is a frustrating character that makes the audience truly want her to get out of Shoko’s life. While Naoka was my least favorite character, Shoya’s friend Tomohiro is probably my favorite. He’s a foil of the shy and depressed Shoya: energetic, goofy, and the kind of person you’d want to be friends with in real life. The first half of A Silent Voice does a great job setting up the characters without feeling like it drags. But the real conflict comes in when the utterly, absolutely hateable Naoka goes too far. In one of the most heartbreaking scenes (there are a lot of them), set in a Ferris wheel at the festival, Naoka blames Shoko for Shoya’s troubles, telling Shoko she hates her and even going as far as hitting her across the face. Luckily, Shoko’s protective sister records the encounter, and when the truth gets out, it tears the friend group apart. A Silent Voice is an excellent film for a few reasons, and one of the biggest ones is its portrayal of mental abuse, bullying, and suicide without sugarcoating the problems in society. Nakoa pushes Shoko past her breaking point, and likely without even realizing it, contributes to her suicide attempt during the film’s climax. Shoya returns to Shoko’s apartment to find her seconds away from leaping off the balcony. In an edge-of-your-seat, suspenseful moment, Shoya desperately tries to stop her, barely grabbing her hand in time, but slipping over the railing himself during the process. During the dark few seconds after his fall, I genuinely questioned whether Shoya was going to be killed off. I was truly shocked during this scene and began to tear up a little. Luckily, Shoya survives the fall, and in a twist of fate, is rescued by his bullies. Arriving back to school after his time in the hospital, Shoya receives a warm welcome and begins to see that not everyone is against him. In the finale, Shoya has a new perspective on life, and the Xs over everyone’s faces disappear. I thought that Shoko and Shoya were going to get together in A Silent Voice, but they didn’t, and perhaps that’s for the best. They still have some problems they need to work through, and it’s heartwarming to see their friendship grow. A Silent Voice was worth the watch and is now one of my favorite movies.

“According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.”¹ The Bee Movie is one of the funniest and most intriguing movies I’ve ever watched. Though it may be aimed towards a younger audience, the plot and multiple uses of adult humor makes this movie so enjoyable. Of course, with its fair share of concerning but amusing side plots and scenes, The Bee Movie is such a great watch and if you haven’t watched it, I completely recommend that you do. This movie contains a super interesting cast, with its main character Barry Benson being voiced by Jerry Seinfield. Some other characters such as Vanessa Bloome (played by Renee Zellweger), Ken (played by Patrick Warburton), and Mooseblood (played by Chris Rock) are featured in this movie. Some celebrity characters, like Ray Liotta (played by himself), Larry King as Bee Larry King, and Sting as himself appear in this movie. The movie contains memorable characters and cast, making the film completely unforgettable. Leaning on the jazziest of quotes, Barry B. Benson highly recommends you watch his action-packed comedic movie, starring himself. After reading the review, head to your screens and watch the Bee Movie right now! The movie begins with the narrator stating that a bee shouldn’t fly, but of course, they do. We are introduced to Barry Benson, who is getting ready for his graduation. As he puts on his shirt and other morning to-dos, we are shown Barry’s best friend Adam Flayman. They are both graduating from school and have to choose the jobs that they plan to do until they die. While Adam quickly decides on one of the jobs, Barry has trouble believing that they’ll only be doing one job until he dies. They fly around the hive until we are shown the Pollen Jocks, the bees that go out to collect pollen to produce honey. Some of the Jocks come up to Barry and invite him to go out on their next flight. As he explores the flower fields, he accidentally ends up in a tennis court and gets attached to a tennis ball. Here we are introduced to the two people playing tennis, Vanessa and Ken. After getting out of his sticky situation, he flies off until it starts raining and lands in an apartment. The apartment coincidentally belongs to Vanessa and Ken, and through a small conflict, Vanessa saves Barry. The next morning, after staying in the apartment, Barry flies into Vanessa’s kitchen and startles her with the infamous quote, “‘Ya like jazz?”¹ One of the most important rules of a bee is not to talk to humans, and he just broke it. This starts a relationship between the two, with them quickly becoming friends. Barry then goes back home to the hive and he tells Adam that he met a girl and Adam gets angry that he’s hanging with humans. Later, he’s swimming in a pool of honey when his parents come down and start berating him for his ‘relationship.’ Barry starts floating down into the pool where we see a dream of his. He and Vanessa are having a picnic, and afterwards they go out flying where Vanessa is in a small airplane, but ends up crashing. This wakes Barry up. The next day, Vanessa and Barry head to a supermarket, where Barry realizes that humans have been stealing honey from bees. In a little spat, Barry ends up fighting one of the workers and Barry forces him to tell where they’ve been getting the honey. Barry heads to the location and finds out how mistreated some hives have been and that they use a smoker to deplete the bees’ energy. In a news report by Bob Bumble, it’s reported that Barry intends to sue the human race for rights to the honey that the humans have been taking. Along with the help of Vanessa, Barry goes to trial against Layton Montgomery, representative for five honey industries. As the trial goes on, honey figures like Sting, Ray Liota, and Klauss Vanderhayden are put on the stand. While the bees have trouble getting the jury on their side, Montgomery ends up making Adam very angry, causing Adam to sting the rep. Adam ends up in the hospital and due to some cigarette smoke being blown through the hospital window, Barry has a realization. Barry, as evidence, provides the smoker, and shows its uses and effects. This helps him to win the trial, forcing the companies to give honey back to the bees. Unfortunately, this turns out for the worst when the no longer pollinating bees leave the plants, flowers, and others to die. The last flowers in the U.S. are going on a flower parade, the very last one. So, Barry and Vanessa head to the show, steal a parade float covered in flowers, and try to fly back to New York. Due to an issue with the pilot and co-pilot, Barry is left to help Vanessa fly the plane and with the help of the other bees, they land the plane and get back to pollinating the plants. While this movie has a ton of twists and turns, it shows the important need for bees and other pollinators. If we don’t have bees and other pollinators, then we won't have the plants that provide oxygen and take in carbon dioxide. While bees may be scary, they are essential to the survival of our planet and humankind. This movie, along with its comedic aims, does have some good themes: Gratitude, Friendship, and Maintaining the Balance of Nature. The themes of the movie are also important in real life. It's important to be thankful for what you have. It’s important to make friends and create relationships. Finally, it’s important to aim for the conservation of our planet Earth. This movie is completely a 10/10 and if you haven’t watched it, what are you doing? Get over to your phone, computer, or tv and watch the movie! The excitement, comedy, themes, and plots will make this such a fun watch. It’s so memorable and will definitely make you want to go back and watch it again.

Cats. What can I say about Cats? It’s definitely an experience. The movie cost $95 million to produce, but unfortunately only made $74.6 million dollars in the box office. I’d consider it a two hour waste of my time. I mean, it did star some pretty cool actors and actresses! Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, James Corden, Francesca Hayward, Jennifer Hudson, and Rebel Wilson appeared in the movie. Other than the excitement of seeing some pretty cool actors and listening to some of the songs, this movie wasn’t interesting at all. Cats is about “A tribe of cats compete during the annual Jellicle Ball, where one lucky feline will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be granted a new life."¹ Now, just thinking about the plot, it’s a simple idea, but also really isn’t too interesting. In terms of how this point was displayed in the movie, the movie sort of explained it. However, due to the musical aspect of the movie, it wasn’t explained well enough. The movie just mostly focuses on the singing abilities of the characters. In my opinion, this movie was a 3/5. I can argue that it could be a 2/5, but I do have my reasons as to why it deserves the extra point. In my watching experience, I was able to understand the plot and the goal of the movie. I understood who the enemy was, I understood the different characters and their placement in the movie. The only reason I deducted 2 points was the HORRIBLE CGI and minor plot. With the CGI, seeing a human body and face with the texture of a cat is only what one would see in their nightmares. Even writing this now, I can visualize the characters and how uncomfortable their looks are. Let’s talk about what I did enjoy about the movie: Songs and Plot! Now, the plot of the movie is simple and definitely a less creative idea, however it was interesting to see on screen. The ‘enemy,’ Macavity, has recruited different cats under him to help secure his spot as the cat who will earn a new life. During a scene, Taylor Swift’s character Bombalurina sings a song called “Macavity.” The song had a catchy tune and it’s easy to memorize the lyrics. During her performance of the song, she and two other Macavity recruits, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, sprinkle Catnip on the other cats to calm them and put them to sleep. Her song talks about how he’s gotten away with his crimes, how admired he is, and other things. This is my favorite song from the movie with Swift’s voice as well as the rhythm of the song making it a very catchy tune. Some other favorite songs of mine are: “Old Deuteronomy” (which is a smooth and simple song with a great message, and the choir coming together to produce a beautiful song), Gus the Theatre Cat (Its jazz and more spoken lines make it a very understandable song and gets your attention with the story the singer is telling), “The Ad-dressing of the Cats” (Judi Dench’s voice as well as the choir add such an amazing tune and make the song so easy to listen to and the end of the song with the increase in volume from the quieter beginning make it such a pleasing song), “Mr. Mistoffelees” (With the context of the scene, the nervousness of the singer’s voice and the increase in confidence throughout the song is really enjoyable). While movies and tv shows often make it obvious that a protagonist will end up winning or be chosen for something in the future, this movie makes it blatantly obvious. Throughout the film, the main character meets a bunch of the cats competing for a new life. She meets one, Grizabella, who seems to have gone through a lot. In the movie, she is depicted with a very somber mood and her song “Memory” shows this. Though I am glad she was chosen, I wish it was more of a mystery as to who would be chosen. They made her past so sad and melancholy, it was an easy decision to pick her. In short, the movie was fine, not a terribly exciting thing to watch. The plot was scrambled throughout the movie and the CGI of each character made it a less enjoyable film. However, in my case, the plot was easy to understand and the songs were enjoyable. Seeing many celebrities and other popular actors was a great addition to the movie. No matter how bad the movie was, the actors and actresses will always have a great role to look back on and say, ‘Why did I do this?’ and laugh. If you aren’t a musical fan, I definitely don’t recommend this movie, however if you are, I definitely think some of these songs are fun to listen to.

My Rating: 5/5 Official Information: Release Date: March 1, 2024 Box Office: $626.21 Million Rating: 8.8/10 (IMDb) 93% (RT) Audience: Teens and Adults, Rated PG-13 for violence Cast: Timothee Chalamet (Paul Atreides) Rebecca Ferguson (Jessica Atreides) Zendaya (Chani) Christopher Walken (The Emperor) Stellan Skasgard (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen) Austin Butler (Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen) Florence Pugh (Princess Irulan) Josh Brolin (Gurney) Dune: Part Two is an incredible sequel that improves on the original in almost every way, with more action, more romance, and more characters. Despite having a runtime nearing 3 hours, it doesn’t drag. Adapting the second half of the Dune novel, it sees Paul Atreides living among the native Fremen and fighting with them against the Harkonnen family. Dune: Part Two is breaking box office records, and if you give it a watch, it isn’t hard to see why. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. Dune: Part Two is an awesome experience on the big screen. Hearing the excellently composed soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and the massive explosions through the theater’s surround-sound is unforgettable. The sequel to the 2021 film, Dune: Part One, expands the story’s scope greatly. It introduces Christopher Walken as The Emperor, along with Florence Pugh, as his daughter, Irulan. Both are great actors, making the new subplot one of the most enjoyable in the story. The film opens with the princess speculating that Paul Atreides is still alive, setting up the involvement of the empire in the story (it’ll be important later!) Next, we jump back to the (supposedly) last remaining members of House Atreides. It’s not long until we jump into the action ( in contrast to the exposition-heavy Part 1). Of all the characters, Paul Atreides has changed the most from the first film. We see him fighting alongside the Fremen, completely devoted to the idea of actually becoming Fremen. We see him and Chani (played by Zendaya), destroy the spice harvesters his own family was operating not so long ago. The most interesting character in my opinion, however, is Lady Jessica. Played by the amazing Rebecca Ferguson (who you’ve probably recognized from the Mission: Impossible films), Jessica’s personality is made pretty clear by the beginning of the film. While Paul is eager to attack the Harkonnens, she seems reluctant to get revenge. However, she is confident Paul is the prophesied Messiah and would do anything to protect her son (who I recently learned is only 15 in the story, despite Timothee Chalamet currently being 28). But when Jessica drinks the sandworm poison, everything changes. She finds herself initiated as a “Reverend Mother” and is determined to do anything to prove that her son truly is the Messiah. She goes from a soft-spoken mother to a terrifyingly ambitious woman (all while pregnant, too). Meanwhile, Paul lives among the Fremen, not as a leader, but as a native. He falls in love with Chani, learns the Fremen language, masters the sandwalk, and eventually learns to ride the desert’s massive sandword, which is probably one of the most awesome moments in all of cinema! However, it’s not all fun and games for the Atreides and the Fremen. Baron Harkonnen replaces his nephew (played by David Bautista) with another heir, Feyd-Rautha (played by Austin Butler), a sociopathic killer. Meanwhile, back on Arrakis, Jessica and Paul part ways. Jessica travels to the South of Arrakis to convert the rest of the Fremen into believing in her son, while Paul stays in the North, believing that his involvement will cause a destructive war after receiving a vision. It’s at this point of the film where Gurney is revealed to have survived the attack in the previous film. Josh Brolin is a great actor and I was happy to see him rejoin the cast. In addition, his connections with Paul’s late father come to be incredibly valuable as he leads Paul to his family’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, a turning point in the fight against the Harkonnens. A big part of Dune deals with prophecy. As made clear in the first film, the Bene Gesserit (the religious league Jessica belongs to) has been manipulating politics for centuries, attempting to produce a Messiah. However, Chani has an interesting suspicion: The prophecy isn’t religious, and the fact that it’s being “fulfilled” is because of the Bene Gesserit’s manipulation. It’s not exactly confirmed whether or not there’s a divine presence, but I found the idea of a fabricated prophecy intriguing, and really demonstrates just how powerful the Bene Gesserit are, and how powerful religion can be in the real world. Partially because of her devotion to her religion, and probably due in large to the effects of the poison, Lady Jessica manipulates Paul into drinking the worm’s poison. After a near-death experience, Paul finds himself “enlightened”, seeing visions of the past and future, and revealing the ultimate twist: Lady Jessica is the daughter of Baron Harkonnen. I did not see this coming, and it added even more tension as the film leads up to an ultimate showdown. The finale of Dune: Part Two ties together the various plot lines beautifully, and it’s insanely action-packed too. After recovering from the poison, Paul declares himself Messiah, and thousands of Fremen unsheath their sacred knives. The film doesn’t make this clear, but in the books, the knives cannot be re-sheathed until the owner has killed someone with it, making this moment extremely powerful. The entire planet of Arakkis has vowed to spill Harkonnen blood or die trying. In the last Act, the Harkonnens are defeated. I was expecting Paul to eliminate the empire in the finale, but instead, he pulled a wild move: Take over the empire instead. Irulan gives her hand in marriage in exchange for her father’s life, making Paul Atreides the heir to the known universe. The film ends pretty suddenly, with the rest of the royal houses arriving on Arrakis as the Holy War begins. Overall, I LOVED Dune: Part Two. It was the perfect sequel, and gave us some great moments with great payoff, while still leaving room for a third installment. The cast was great, especially Rebecca Ferguson in my opinion, and the action sequences were thrilling. Overall, 5/5!

“Where’s your home? Don’t you have any friends or family?” says Sen. “ No, no. I’m lonely. I’m lonely.” cries No-Face.¹ Spirited Away, by Studio Ghibli, is an amazingly produced and illustrated film. It explores ideas of sin, maturity, and true love, and is a very beautiful movie. Chihiro, aka Sen, the lovely main character, explores the outside of an abandoned bathhouse when her parents notice the food stalls filled with meat, vegetables, etc. Consumed by greed, they begin eating until they turn into pigs. Scared, Chihiro runs and ends up meeting Haku, who feeds her food from the spirit world so that she doesn’t disappear. She gets a job working for Yubaba, the director, and her name becomes Sen. On the bridge heading to the bathhouse is a spirit named No-Face, who watches her closely. Later, a guest, thought to be a Stink Spirit, shows up and it’s Sen’s job to help clean him. After finding a plug in him, she takes it out and a water spirit comes out. He gives her a ball of an unknown substance and leaves. No-Face finds his way into the bathhouse and begins eating workers who are consumed with greed for the money that he’s giving out. On the other side of the bathhouse, Sen meets Yubaba’s twin who comes after Haku for stealing her golden seal. Haku and Sen fall down a chute to escape, and while in his dragon form, Haku is fed some of the water spirit’s ball by Sen and he returns to normal. Yubaba calls for Sen to clean up the mess with No-Face, and Sen, using the rest of the ball given by the water spirit, feeds it to No-Face and he begins throwing all the food and people up. The two leave for a train that will take them to Yubaba’s twin’s house, in order to return the golden seal that Sen got from Haku. At her house, Sen returns the seal in time, and Haku shows up at her door. They fly back to the bathhouse and as they do, Sen finds out Haku’s actually the spirit of the River, and this breaks his contract with Yubaba. Once they get back, Sen is tested by Yubaba in order to leave. She had to pick out her pig parents from a group of pigs, and Sen knew they weren’t there, so she was able to break her contract. She then left with her parents, leaving behind the spirits. Exploring the first idea of the film: sin. Throughout the film, the sin of greed is shown through Chihiro’s parents and the workers of the bathhouse. In the beginning, when Chihiro’s parents are stuffing their faces full of food, they turn into pigs. This is their fit punishment because similar to pigs, all they did was laze around and eat food, becoming bigger and bigger. The workers of the bathhouse were greedy for the gold that the water spirit and No-Face gave them. Three of the most greedy workers were eaten by No-Face. This was due to their greed and hunger for gold, and in return, they too got eaten. The second idea of the film: maturity. Chihiro, after getting the job with Yubaba, is forced to become mature really fast, skipping past her childhood years. At such a young age, she has a job, is required to communicate with guests who are far bigger than her, and deals with large problems and works to create a solution. She also has to deal with her parents becoming pigs and being hidden from her in the pig pens. All of these big changes made it hard to adjust, but thankfully she was able to become accustomed to life at the bathhouse. The last idea of the film: true love. Most of this film doesn’t revolve around love, yes, but it does serve a minor plot in the movie. Haku, who remembers Chihiro’s name even when it changes to Sen, is her true love in the film. Chihiro follows his instructions, and when told that he is Yubaba’s assistant and may be evil, she still has faith in him because he helped her. When Haku is hurt, Chihiro gives Haku the water spirit’s ball in hopes of saving him. He was only able to return to normal because of Chihiro. Kamaji, the worker who controls the water, says that only true love could break the spell on the golden seal that Haku had stolen. Haku coming to save Chihiro from Yubaba’s twin and bring her back to the bathhouse is also an act of love because he wants her to be able to get her parents back. The final act of love is when Chihiro tells Haku his real name. Chihiro remembers a time when she was younger and the river gave back her shoe. Not with the current or otherwise, but the spirit of the river gave it back. This is why she thinks Haku is the river spirit, and he is. This breaks the spell on Haku. Another point to touch on is the beautiful illustrations and animations in the film. Two of my favorite scenes are the introduction to the bathhouse at night where the lights are bright and shining against the dark background. The second scene is when Haku and Chihiro are running through a flower field and it’s super bright and beautiful. While the two scenes show the contrast between dark and light, good and bad, they are really gorgeous panels of the movie and are definitely a sight to see. I love this film so much and I recommend watching this and any of the Studio Ghibli films. They all have amazing original music, animations, plots, and voices. The unrealistic world in which they are all in makes them amazing to watch. I rate Spirited Away a 5/5 and I definitely suggest that you watch this beautiful film.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a movie based on the popular video game Five Nights at Freddy’s. The game, made in 2014, is a survival horror game, and its story continues on to eight other games for a total of nine. The player assumes the role of a night-time employee, who must utilize tools such as security cameras, lights, doors, and vents to defend themselves against animatronic characters who inhabit the locations and become mobile and hostile at night.¹ The main characters, such as Mike, William, Vanessa, and the animatronics, Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, and Chica, are seen in the movie as well. The movie was released on October 27th, 2023 as a highly anticipated film. The movie has made $221 million worldwide and surpassed its budget by $200 million. Its official age rating was PG-13, but that didn’t stop people of all ages from going to see the movie. The movie casts Josh Hutcherson as Mike Schmidt, Mathew Lilliard as William Afton, and Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa Monroe.² SPOILERS AHEAD! In the movie, the main character Mike Schmidt, becomes a security guard at Freddy’s after having bad luck at his previous jobs. William Afton, the counselor Mike sees, offers Mike a job at Freddy’s with low pay and nightly hours. When Mike first gets there, he takes a look around and then falls asleep at the security office. He ends up having a dream with five young children in it, and Mike thinks it’s a sign of his dead/missing brother. After waking up, he meets Vanessa, another security guard, who tells him to take the job seriously. The next day, a group attacks the pizzeria, and the shop ends up in ruin. At his later shift, Mike ends up cleaning up the pizzeria while his sister, Abby, sleeps in the other room. Abby ends up meeting the animatronics, and she grows a friendship with them. As Mike, Vanessa, and Abby continue to discover the secrets of Freddy’s, they find out that the counselor, William Afton, is Springtrap, the older animatronic, and Vanessa’s father. As a person who hasn’t played the game and knows absolutely nothing about the lore and story that comes with the actual game, the movie was exciting and had just the right amount of suspense and horror. While the movie had some great factors, I would only rate it as a seven-out-of-ten due to the fast pacing at the end and some of the scenes, such as the scene where Abby, Mike, Vanessa, and the animatronics build a fort in the main area of Freddy’s. Though the scene seemed cheesy, it does make sense when you factor in that the ‘souls’ of the animatronics are kids and that Abby helped them experience a glimpse of childhood. To touch on the fast pacing, I had an issue with how fast the main characters learned that the animatronics actually moved around. I felt as though the information was released too quickly and it lost some of the suspense. Some things that I liked about the movie were the emotions displayed by the actors as well as the plot twist that was revealed at the end. Abby, Mike, and Vanessa did well in showing some of their fear, and through the audience, it helped us to realize the gravity of some of the situations, such as when William Afton shows up in the Springtrap suit or when Mike finds out that Vanessa’s father is William. This goes along with the plot twist at the end. Learning that Vanessa is actually William’s daughter and how horrible William treated the children was so interesting. It was definitely something unexpected. Another interesting part of the movie is how there was some foreshadowing. When going through the supply closet, Mike asks Vanessa about one of the old costumes which has a mechanic that locks you in. As seen later, William ends up close to dying because the mechanics failed. Especially after watching the movie, I like finding small parts of the beginning that end up being used in the end. The movie was really good and I’m glad it was easy to understand even without prior knowledge of the official games. In the end, I only had a few questions that weren’t really answered in the movie, such as: Why does Vanessa wait to reveal her identity until the end? In the beginning, why did the group vandalize the restaurant? Does William Afton die or does he stay alive? Finally, why did the animatronics leave William to die? Why not finish him off? Even despite these questions, the movie was great and I would love to possibly see more sequels in the future.

My Rating: 4/5 Official Information: Release Date: July 28, 2023 Box Office: 116.6 million (Box Office Mojo)¹ Rating: 6.1,10 (IMDb); 37% (Rotten Tomatoes)² For What Audience: PG-13; Mainly pre-teen,teen audience Cast: LaKeith Stanfield (Ben), Rosario Dawson (Gabbie), Tiffany Haddish (Harriet), Owen Wilson (Father Kent), Danny DeVito (Bruce Davis), Jared Leto (Alistair Crump) Haunted Mansion, starring LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson, follows single mother Gabbie and her son Travis as they discover their new home is haunted. Astrophysicist Ben, spiritual medium Harriet, “priest” Kent, and history professor Bruce, all find themselves trapped by the ghosts, and they come face-to-face with the malevolent hatbox ghost who is on the verge of capturing his thousandth soul and unleashing his full power. As they work to free themselves, they must answer the question, “How can we defeat the hatbox ghost?” WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD Haunted Mansion blends an emotional story of overcoming grief with an action-packed and humorous story about fighting spirits. Ben Matthias is introduced as an intelligent but socially awkward, scientist as he meets his to-be wife Alyssa in a flashback. As the movie jumps to the present day, his life takes a massive turn and he now works as a New Orleans tour guide, reluctantly dealing with superstitious visitors. Alyssa is absent (later revealed to have been killed in a car accident). Later on, we meet single mother Gabby, a wealthy doctor moving into the haunted mansion with her, introverted, but kind, son Travis. After an encounter with malevolent spirits, Gabby reaches out to Father Kent, a so-called priest who refers the family to Ben. Ben finds his previous science experiment, a spectral camera for finding ghosts, but remains doubtful of the existence of the afterlife, having abandoned the project. The film’s main action and conflict arise when Ben, Gabby, Travis, and Father Kent find themselves trapped in the mansion by the spirits. They enlist Harriet, a spiritual medium, and Bruce, a professor, who later becomes trapped as well. The group must find a way to free themselves without bringing the ghosts with them. But first, they need to discover what went so horribly wrong in the home so many decades ago. As Haunted Mansion’s characters face their biggest challenge yet, they still deal with everything in a hilarious way, making the film enjoyable from start to finish. The end of the movie’s second act, however, reveals multiple treacherous backstories. We learn about Alyssa’s fate and discover the violent past of the home’s former owner: Alistair Crump. He’s the ever-powerful ghost tormenting the mansion’s residents and on the verge of capturing his thousandth soul. He’s targeting the weak, and Ben is his next target. For being one of the longest Disney movies, Haunted Mansion’s 3rd act is surprisingly action-packed and features a tonal shift as the characters must fight for their life. The big twist about Travis is truly a shock, and his narrow rescue definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. In the end, it takes everyone involved to beat the wretched Alistair Crump, and they don’t defeat him easily. The finale was a great payoff. Though Alistair Crump was a tough villain, his writing and character design remained my biggest issue with the film. Some of the minor villains were far scarier than him, such as the ghost bride, who may be the closest thing to horror this movie has. His motives aren’t entirely clear either, which makes him slightly less intimidating to the audience. Haunted Mansion is not really a horror movie, as none of the ghosts are truly scary, but it still features a few scares, mild violence, and some language. It’s rated PG-13 for fear and violence, and it is mainly aimed at teens,preteens, as well as families looking for a scary but not-too-scary Halloween film. The finale left us with a few good questions: Do Ben, Harriet, Kent, and Bruce stay in the mansion? Can Alistair Crump come back? (If so, it would make for a great sequel!) Overall, I thought the movie had a great, hilarious cast, and, despite having one of Disney’s longest runtimes, it maintains decent pacing. I appreciated how the humorous tone contrasted the parallel theme of overcoming grief, but the villain remains quite underwhelming in comparison to the story's more intriguing characters.

“I am well enough acquainted with you, Miss Elizabeth, to know that I can not alarm you, even should I wish it.”¹ Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular classic romance novels, and for good reason. It introduces a strangers to lovers relationship that uses the older ways of becoming acquainted with one another to create amazing suspense. Some other exciting aspects of the movie are the side relationships created in the background in the movie. Aside from the main relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, her sister Jane begins a relationship with Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte gets with Mr. Collins. Though these relationships are the better ones, Elizabeth’s other sister Lydia gets married to Mr. Wickham (who we don’t like). Starting on the entire relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. In the beginning, the two are introduced at a ball and you can start to see a little bit of romance blooming between the two, mostly on Mr. Darcy’s side. He is seen looking over at Elizabeth through the crowd at her dancing. Later, after Jane becomes sick at Mr. Bingley’s home, Elizabeth comes to see her and meets Mr. Darcy before going off to see her sick sibling. The interaction between the two is one to note because Mr. Darcy’s response to Elizabeth is very attentive. He immediately greets her when she comes in and answers her questions quickly to make sure she gets the information she needs. A small detail that can also be noted in a later interaction while Elizabeth is still at the home is Mr. Darcy’s avoidance of her gaze. It makes it seem as though he is falling much harder in love and doesn’t want to look at her with the fear that he may feel a little embarrassed or red-faced. After the marriage of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, Elizabeth goes to visit their home out in the country. The group is invited to Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s mansion, and there Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy meet again. As the group is sitting and interacting, Elizabeth is playing the piano and Darcy is speaking with her. The interaction creates more of a boundary between them because Elizabeth reacts with more anger and pettiness in her voice. The next day, they all visit a Church where Mr. Collins is speaking from the Bible. Elizabeth is speaking with Darcy’s friend Colonel Fitzwilliam where she learns Darcy declined the relationship between Jane and Bingley. At this point, Elizabeth is very angry with Darcy and runs out in the rain to an old building. There, an argument ensues between the two, where Darcy admits his love for Elizabeth but she denies it and Darcy leaves also angry. From thereon, Elizabeth realizes her love for Darcy and Darcy continues to have feelings for her but wants her to realize it too. Much later, Elizabeth speaks with Lady Catherine (who is Darcy’s aunt) and it results in an angry Catherine and frustrated Elizabeth. The next morning, Elizabeth goes out to the fields where she sees Darcy coming towards her. This is the realization between the two that they both love each other. Now let’s talk about the side relationships. Starting with Jane and Mr. Bingley, theirs was the most special relationship of the novel. Starting from when they met, you could instantly tell that they were meant to be. Jane was constantly watching and paying attention to Bingley, and him the same to her. Seeing their relationship and interactions was very sweet and though they had a break (due to Darcy), they did end up together and I’m glad they did. Next is Charlotte and Mr. Collins. Just by viewing the movie, one may think there was a large age gap, but actually there wasn’t! “Charlotte is 27 years old at the beginning of the novel and was headed toward spinsterhood before marrying Mr. Collins.”² “Mr William Collins, 25 years old as the novel begins, is Mr Bennet's distant cousin, a clergyman, and the heir presumptive to Mr Bennet's estate of Longbourn.”³ So in reality, Collins is actually younger than Charlotte. (There have been many movies and shows so this may not be the most accurate age but for the sake of this article, we will use it) Even though there isn’t a large age gap, the two do come from very different backgrounds. Charlotte comes from a poorer family and hasn’t had much luck in life. Mr. Collins, however, is sponsored by Lady Catherine and has a nice life, with a home, job, etc. I am happy for Charlotte, however, I do wish she had found someone that she may have actually loved rather than marrying so that she may have a chance at life. The final, and unfortunate relationship, is between Lydia and Mr. Wickham. This relationship actually has an age gap, with Mr. Wickham being around 27-29 years old, and Lydia being 15. During the movie, Lydia was definitely an adventurer, wanting to go out all the time and wanting to live the good life, but being stuck at home didn’t help. So, she decided to run away and marry Wickham (who we don’t like because he was mean to Darcy). All in all, Pride and Prejudice is such a classic movie that I definitely recommend. It’s such a great film to watch if you like seeing two quiet characters find love with all the suspense. If you decide to get into the movie, I definitely encourage you to watch the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice, as well as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, two of my favorite adaptations. Definitely a 10/10 movie!!

“Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all mankind sinned against me.” (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein) Lisa Frankenstein is an amazing movie, and this quote really details how Lisa felt all her life. Lisa, the main character of this film, had a good life before the murder of her mother. After this event, Lisa moved in with her friend Taffy and her family and while Taffy meant the best for her, her family, and even the people at school treated her like an outsider. Lisa visited an old graveyard near her home, and sat by Frankenstein’s grave, which gave her comfort. That’s why, when he came to life, Lisa felt so comfortable and happy. Lisa’s mother had recently been murdered and Lisa was sent to live with her friend Taffy’s family. Taffy’s mother didn’t really like her, and it was shown through her behavior. Before a party Taffy invited Lisa to, shown is how Lisa used to go to a graveyard and sit by the grave of Frankenstein. At the party, Lisa gets drugged and is harassed by her lab partner Doug. That night, Frankenstein comes out of his grave. He goes to her house and has an altercation with her before Lisa figures out who he is. Lisa works to get him to look normal. One day, Janet, Taffy’s mother, is arguing with Lisa in front of her closet before Frankenstein comes out and stabs Janet with a sewing needle and cuts her ear off. Throughout the movie, he does this a few more times, because the cut off parts are able to provide him with his own body parts. Lisa is able to sew these onto him to make him more human. Another plot throughout the film is Lisa’s fascination with a boy named Michael. Lisa had a crush on him but found out Taffy had been sleeping with him after Lisa went to his house in hopes of sleeping with him as well. While arguing with the two, Frankenstein came in and cut off Michael’s private parts. He did this purposefully because he was falling in love with Lisa and wanted to be with her. In the end, after falling in love and getting married, Lisa told Frankenstein to kill her by putting Taffy’s faulty tanning bed on high to electrocute her. While many believe she’s dead, Lisa is still alive in the arms of Frankenstein. Frankenstein coming to life was a very positive change for Lisa. Before him, Lisa was very much overshadowed by Taffy. Taffy was a cheerleader, she had boyfriends, had won many awards, and was overall more liked than Lisa. To me, I viewed Lisa as the known burden for Taffy’s family, with many at school and at home not caring for her. After her mother’s murder, everyone didn’t really care for her and wanted to move on. This really affected Lisa because she felt left behind and ignored. After Frankenstein, he introduced her to new styles, which we see her as more comfortable in and more confident. He showed Lisa ways to ignore and get rid of the people who didn’t like her or took her for granted. He showed her real love and burdensome affection. She felt like she fit in. This is why we see the love between the two as very devoted and real. Another plot point I’d like to go down is how used Lisa is by her friends and classmates. After Lisa was drugged, and Doug was ‘helping’ her, he still tried to force Lisa to sleep with him just because she wasn’t fully conscious. Doug was the very visual of what you think of when you say nerdy. Glasses, out-of-trend clothes, etc. Even though he wasn’t a popular kid or someone most people would think of, he still took advantage of her. Lisa got her revenge in the end, killing Doug and cutting off his hand for Frankenstein. Another person who used Lisa was Michael. Lisa grew to have a crush on Michael after they met at the party and he treated her like he liked her. He spoke with her at school and at Lisa’s place of work, and really seemed like a nice boy. Unfortunately, he was only using Lisa to get to her friend Taffy. Taffy seemed unbothered by the fact that Lisa was angry with her. In fact, Taffy tried to victimize herself by saying boys only liked her for her body. What the heck, Taffy!?! Continuously throughout the movie, Taffy makes herself out as a victim and it’s really annoying! Anywho, since Frankenstein had major feelings for Lisa at this point and was angry Lisa wanted to sleep with Michael, he came into the house and cut off Michael’s privates. Great job Frankenstein! Revenge for both Lisa and the viewers. This was also a way for Lisa to get back at Taffy because she feared Lisa so much after this. Finally, I want to talk about the relationship between Lisa and Frankenstein. Lisa was alone and spent time at Frankenstein’s grave. I think that after he came alive, he consciously knew about Lisa and went to find her, which began their actual relationship. After he first killed Janet, Lisa grew a big liking for him, because he did something for her, which she never had done before. And since Lisa knew that he didn’t want to use her and instead do something for her, she was able to get revenge on Doug. They continued their adventures, and near the end where we know for sure that Frankenstein and Lisa are sharing feelings, he kills Michael because he both hurt Lisa and was the man she liked. (Possessiveness at its finest) He purposely took Michael’s privates so he could make love to Lisa, and finally he killed her so that she and him could live together forever. This movie is so amazing and I’m so glad I got a chance to watch it. I rate it a 5/5 and completely recommend that you watch it. If you like minor horror with romance, definitely watch because you will not be disappointed!

In 2010, an animated movie produced by one of the most popular animation studios caught the attention of millions of people worldwide. Its new dynamic of a villain becoming hero, as well as its subtle takes on many different movie tropes, helped to create one of Dreamworks Animation’s best films: Megamind Megamind earned over $322 million worldwide, exceeding its budget of $130 million.¹ Though this movie was one of Dreamworks’ lowest grossing films of the 2010s, it still used some of the most amazing actors of the 21st century. Casted as the main character Megamind, Will Ferrell plays an alien villain who grew up learning the wrongdoings of the world. In the beginning of the movie, he fights the hero of Metro City, Metroman, played by Brad Pitt. Metroman grew up very differently, with a loving and rich family that spoiled him, as well as the morals and goods he was taught. In the second part of the movie, when Megamind turns and becomes the hero, Titan the villain emerges, played by Jonah Hill. Because of Titan’s idea that if he was good, he automatically got everything he wanted, he and Megamind switched roles, with Megamind becoming the hero, and Titan becoming the villain. Some secondary protagonists and characters, such as Roxanne Ritchi, who is played by Tina Fey, Minion, played by David Cross, and Warden, played by J.K. Simmons, helped in influencing and changing the main protagonist Megamind. Roxanne served as a love interest as well as friend to Megamind as he grew to know her. Their relationship, though it hit some bumps, was amazing to see and watch grow. Minion, sidekick to Megamind, had been there for Megamind since he was a child. Minion also goes through some rough patches with Megamind, but their relationship never breaks. Minion helps Megamind in realizing his potential and helping him through the final fight with Titan. Finally, Warden, who at first was rude and conceited, eventually helped Megamind see what his purpose was. Megamind’s time spent in prison helped shape him into a worthy competitor for both Metroman and Titan. ! Spoilers ahead ! Along with the bad guy turned good trope, some others are covered by the movie, such as Nature vs Nurture, Nice vs Good Guy, even true love always wins. The fact that this movie has so many tropes and emotions shown is what makes this movie so exciting. In the film, Nature vs Nurture is shown through the relationship between Megamind and Metroman.² In the beginning, when the two are sent off of their home planets to live on Earth, Metroman lands in a home owned by a wealthy businessman and his stay-at-home wife. The mother cares for him, and the husband spoils him. Even at the school he and Megamind both go to, he is treated as the perfect child, earning gold stars as well as the friendship of all his peers. He grew up in a good and perfect environment. Megamind, however, did not. Megamind landed in a prison in Metro City. He grew up around people who did bad things and embraced that. They taught him that the ‘good-doers’ such as police, were bad, and ‘wrong-doers,’ such as burglars, were good. Because he grew up in this environment, he turned out evil. Secondly, in the Nice Guy vs Good Guy trope, there is a specific way to identify the difference. Titan holds the idea that if he becomes a ‘good’ guy and saves people, he will end up with his crush, Roxanne. This is because he holds the ideal that if he does something good, he gets something out of it. He is the nice guy. Megamind holds no such idea and does good deeds because it’s good. In the end, when he fights to save Metro City, he had no one. He had a falling out with both Roxanne and Minion leaving him with no support. He fights Titan because it’s good for the city. So in the end, Titan could never be a hero. Megamind could because he didn’t want to gain anything out of doing something that benefited others. The tropes of the movie were so good that the movie became a hit. It was such an amazing and unforgettable movie that it’s hard not to come back and watch it over and over again. I rate this film a 10,10, for its amazing plots and theme, as well as for its cast and amazing acting. I highly recommend this movie if you haven’t watched it.

Released on March 8, 2024, the anticipated fourth movie in the Kung Fu Panda franchise was put out for the public to see. In my eyes, there wasn’t too much marketing for the movie: both in advertisements online or on posters, as well in commercials, but perhaps I’ve been off of cable and not outside too much. I am not the biggest fan of the movie series; it has been a while since I’ve seen the original films, but I was excited to see it. Entering the theater, my family and I went to grab some popcorn and a drink, and headed to the screening room. We went through the immense amount of ads before the movie, and finally, the highly anticipated film began. After Kung Fu Panda 3, Po earned the Staff of Wisdom from Oogway in the Spirit Realm. In the 4th movie, we learn it can call the spirit world and bring spirits to the present. Po is still a super celebrity in his home village and helps out his dads at their restaurant. While helping them, Master Shifu presents Po with a decision. Po needs to pick his successor for the role of Dragon Warrior now that Po controls the Staff of Wisdom. Po is reluctant to give up his position as he enjoys the role and the immense popularity it gives him. While thinking about what he wants to do, Po hears a commotion in the Jade Palace, where many artifacts are held. A very skilled thief was going around stealing the objects, and Po planned to stop them. They almost got away with stealing the artifacts and the Staff of Wisdom, but Po stopped them. After putting the thief in jail, scared citizens came to him, begging him to help as one of the previous villains, Tai Lung, was seen. The prisoner, named Zhen, actually knows what happened. The Chameleon, a skilled shape-shifter, disguised itself as Tai Lung and scared the Valley of Peace. With the help of Zhen, she and Po left to find the Chameleon. After getting into a fight before being able to enter the city where the villain lies, Po and Zhen are able to catch a boat to the populous Juniper City. After moving through the city, Po finds out that Zhen is a wanted criminal, and after getting into a brawl with the police, Zhen brings the two down a tunnel to the undergrounds of the city, where many thieves lie. They stay there until it’s safe to go out. Back in the Valley of Peace, Po’s fathers are scared for him, and decide to leave in the night to look after their boy. Back in Juniper city, Po and Zhen make it to the palace, but not before Zhen reveals herself as a traitor. She brings the Staff of Wisdom to the Chameleon, who plans to use the staff to call upon the Kung Fu masters in the Spirit World and steal their skills. This would create the ultimate enemy for Po. Still feeling defeated after Zhen’s betrayal, Po intends to leave, but not after encountering his fathers, who want him to go ahead and fight for the staff. Zhen regrets her ways and comes back to Po, hoping to be forgiven. After allowing her to help, Po and Zhen go to the undergrounds and use the thieves to help get into the palace. They defeat all the guards, and after a huge fight where the heroes win. Po decides that Zhen should be his successor and train to become the Dragon Warrior. This movie had amazing comedy and used music well to show suspense through parts of the film. After Jack Black’s amazing song “Peaches” in the Super Mario movie, Jack Black stunned me again with his rendition of “Baby One More Time,” by Britney Spears. Through the credits and Jack’s amazing song we see the training Zhen and Po are going through in order to be ready for their new positions. Some other aspects of the film that are my favorite are most of the scenes with Po’s dads. While they didn’t have much screen time, they did make me laugh most of the time they were on. Maybe it’s just my humor, but lots of things make me laugh, and their comedy was super funny. Even if it’s a children’s movie, most include some more mature jokes and being able to understand them makes it even funnier. I think the plot of the movie was also super well written. Of course, it includes your classic villain, like in all the movies. But there were many super good plot points in this film. One such was the amazing plot twist where we learn Zhen was actually working for the Chameleon the whole time. I think it was really well put in, as I think everyone believed Zhen was being a helpful character. Another point in the movie is that we always root for Po. Whenever he’s put in a tough situation, such as when he was originally fighting Zhen or when he was fighting the Chameleon, the writers make it super easy to make the viewers want Po to win. Kung Fu Panda 4 is definitely a 5/5 in my opinion. It has amazing comedy, great voice actors (love you Jack Black!), and I love the music used. The music created an amazing ambience during many scenes and made the film super enjoyable. It’s an excellent movie, and I definitely recommend everyone watch it, even if you haven’t watched the previous movies.

On July 21, 2023, two of the most awaited movies of the year came out: Barbie and Oppenheimer. While Oppenheimer focuses on the studies of Oppenheimer’s work on the Manhattan Project, Barbie is about, “...the gendered social phenomenon of women being expected to give up childhood joys and sacrifice for others,” according to Greta Gerwig, the mind behind movies like Lady Bird and Little Women, and the director of Barbie.¹ In many of her productions, she tends to explore issues for women as well as their relationships, making her the perfect director for the movie. She, alongside Margot Robbie, created one of the most viewed movies of 2023, earning nine Golden Globe nominations.⁵ The movie stars Margot Robbie as the iconic Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Other actors like Will Ferrel (Mattel CEO), America Ferrera (Gloria), Michael Cera (Allen), and Kate Mckinnon (Weird Barbie) are featured in the movie. The movie features songs from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Ryan Gosling himself, Lizzo, and many others. “Dance the Night Away" by Dua Lipa, “I’m Just Ken" by Ryan Gosling, and "What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish all earned Golden Globe nominations.⁵ On the global opening weekend of “Barbie,” the movie earned $356 million, surpassing its budget of $145 million. In total, the movie grossed $1.3 billion, becoming “...one of the only female-dominated movies among the top-grossing films of all time”.² The movie also became Warner Bros. highest-grossing worldwide film of all time. The Barbie doll officially came out on March 9, 1959, sporting a black and white striped bathing suit, iconic blonde hair, gold hoop earrings, a pair of white sunglasses, and black sandal heels. Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, was influenced by the German Lilli doll in 1956. She also got the inspiration to create a doll after watching her daughter Barbara play with paper-made dolls. From Prestige Online, “Driven by a desire to inspire children to envision their future dreams, she sought to innovate beyond the common plastic baby dolls of the time”.³ During the 50s, and still today, baby dolls are popular amongst young girls, teaching them to take care of others and teaching them the life of a mother. Later, in 1961, the idea for Ken had been put into action. He and Barbie were together introduced in a commercial. Fun fact, Ken was also named after Ruth’s son, Kenneth.⁶ At the time of release, Barbie sold 300,000 dolls. Some of the most popular Barbies are: Astronaut Barbie (1965), Twist N’ Turn Barbie (1967), Talking Barbie (1968), Malibu Barbie (1971), and Totally Hair Barbie (1992). Overall, over a billion Barbies have been sold, and the Mattel company that produces the dolls is worth $6.45 billion.⁴ Now onto the summary of the movie. Barbie begins with explaining the story behind the Real World and Barbieland. Barbies in Barbie Land represent dolls in the real world, dolls that are being played with by real girls. In the beginning, Barbie is shown with her normal routines, getting up, showering, heading to the beach, and partying at night. We see the friendship between her and Ken where Ken is interested in a relationship and Barbie just wants to be friends. The next day, it seems Barbie’s routine has been altered. She wakes up more tired than usual, has bad breath, puts orange juice in her cereal, falls into her car, and her feet become flat. After talking with her friends, she decides to talk to Weird Barbie, who tells her how to fix her problems. Barbie and Ken go to the real world and try to find the human girl playing with Barbie. While they look around the beach they landed in, Barbie experiences the harassment and assault of the real world. She gets catcalled, looked at, and sexually harassed by the men around her. On the contrary, Ken is looked at because he is the ‘perfect man’ in the real world. After going to jail for hitting the man who hit her and going to jail again for stealing clothes, the two head out to different places. As Barbie heads out to find her human, Ken discovers that in the real world, everything is about men. The president is a man, sports are all about men, etc. He heads to Barbie Land and makes it now Kenland, hypnotizing the Barbies into doing everything for the Kens. After finding her human, Gloria, Barbie brings her and her daughter to Barbieland, where she finds everything flipped. The Kens have taken over, and Barbie doesn’t know what to do to fix everything. After having an existential crisis, Weird Barbie, Gloria, and other Barbies get Barbie to calm down and work to make the Barbies go back to normal. They make the Kens fight each other by making them jealous and keep the Barbie Land Constitution, returning everything to normal. After making up with Ken, Barbie returns to the real world and lives her life there. This movie can be controversial because rather than appealing to men, it’s a movie geared towards women and it describes similar instances that women can relate to. Especially online, the movie has received great reviews from its female audience and more critical reviews from its male audience. An example of this in real life is the Golden Globes, where host Jo Koy made fun of the movie, stating, “Oppenheimer was based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies,” showing that the movie served its purpose: no matter what women do to show their experiences, men will be there to make fun of it.⁷ This movie shows the hardships of women everywhere and how influential Barbie is in helping girls look to their future. Barbie is such an amazing movie and a great recommendation to watch for women everywhere.