Pocahontas Reviews
A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 10 months ago on 17 July 2013 07:160 comments, Reply to this entry
Review of Pocahontas
Posted : 11 years ago on 6 May 2013 11:40Loosely based off of the real story of Pocahontas, this romance is formula, formula, formula. Pocahontas is forced to marry an unwanted suitor. She falls in love with a forbidden man. In this case, that man is John Smith. John Smith, being European, and known for killing savages, is of course, initially opposed by the tribe Pocahontas comes from. But John Smith comes to understand the Indians as intelligent and resourceful people, though the villainous Governor Radcliffe is less easily convinced.
Even at a lean run time of 84 minutes (I viewed the 10th anniversary version which includes one additional song, and some extra animation), Pocahontas feels far too long. Simply put, Pocahontas is a bit of a bore. Most of the time, I was just waiting for the next song to start, as they represented the only interesting parts of the film. Attempts at humor are few. Successful humor is even more rare.
This wouldn't be such a problem if the story was more interesting, or the characters more unique. And yet, we have cliched stereotypes, or even worse; completely personality-less individuals that seem to have little purpose in the film. Pocahontas is free-spirited and adventurous; in other words, she is completely indistinguishable with almost any of Disney's other princesses. John Smith has no personality, period. And Governor Radcliffe is the traditional evil villain, who has a distinctly and curiously lazy-feeling motive for his villainy.
The musical numbers are superb, though. While not as catchy or as magical as the best Disney songs of this era, Pocahontas still boasts it's share of enjoyable songs. "The Virginia March" is a delightfully retro Disney song. It would've felt right at home in some of Disney's oldest films. "Just Around the Riverbend" is a lively and joyous number, while "Mine, Mine, Mine" has a wonderfully grand finish, and fun lyrics. "Colors of the Wind" is possibly the best song in the film, with great music, beautiful lyrics, and the best visuals in the film. The only song in the film I didn't enjoy was "If I Never Knew You." This number was specifically added for the 10th anniversary edition, and it's formulaic, dull, and instantly forgettable.
The cast is weak. Irene Bedard and Mel Gibson provide generic and colorless voices for Pocahontas and John Smith respectively. Russel Means and James Fall were noticeably poor as key characters in Pocahontas' tribe. Only David Odgen Stiers (portraying Governor Radcliffe, and his servant Wiggins) shows any kind of energy in his performance.
The animation is breath taking, not that I would expect anything less from Disney. There's one scene at the end where Pocahontas is racing to her village to stop a potential war that's simply stunning. If nothing else, Disney has not slouched in their animation department when making Pocahontas.
The score by Alan Menken is predictably great. Applying the excellent themes from the various songs into the score, Menken has composed another success. It's beautifully written, and often outshines the events onscreen.
Not funny, not interesting, and terribly dull, Pocahontas is one of Disney's weaker films. While the songs are great, and the animation is gorgeous, Pocahontas can't capture the magic of other Disney films of the Disney Renaissance Era. The wonderful songs may stick in my memory, but the scenes inbetween are already being forgotten.
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Pocahontas
Posted : 11 years, 3 months ago on 1 February 2013 10:26Sometimes, even when you don't expect much fidelity to actual events, Hollywood will really surprise you with the amount of bullshit they'll pile up and the coats of whitewashing they'll use.Ā PocahontasĀ has long been one of those types of films for me. When people proclaim that Disney traffics in churning out one bland concoction after another in which there is only true love as the answer to all of lifeās problems, theyāre talking about a movie likeĀ Pocahontas.
Dubious, if not outright offensive, as a history lesson (and trust me, many people my age mostly know of the story of Pocahontas from this film), Pocahontas suffers from artistic liberties taken with the narrative in order to recreate the tired stereotypes of the Noble Savage and the White Man's Guilt. Throw in a few unnecessary animal sidekicks and some largely forgettable songs, and what you have here is the nadir of the Renaissance. It would all fall apart shortly after this.
Even worse is the thinking behind gutting the true story, and all of its inherent un-pleasantries, the filmmakers have hidden behind to make these changes ok. Apparently, Pocahontasā story is more of a fable than based on historical facts. This not only makes me roll my eyes in frustration, but when you realize that theyāve re-conceptualized her from a tween to a Top Model eighteen year old itās enough to make you swear off the whole Disney brand.
Letās get back to the film and forget all of the loaded symbolism and revisionist history at play here. It is an exceptionally dull affair. A Disney film is only as great as its villain, and here we have one who is more an arrogant blowhard than a legitimate threat. Sure, his belief in the genocide of the Native Americans is pretty dastardly, as are his rampant xenophobia and disgust for any possible mixed-race romances, but he never does anything of note. He creates a settlement, says some racist things, owns a hilarious and adorable pug, digs for gold, tries to shoot someone and is then captured as the rest of his crew realize the error of their racist, xenophobic mindset. Thereās no drama in there, and heās no true threat.
Worse yet is the love story between John Smith and Pocahontas, which asks you to believe that she learned English in a day, or he learned her language in just as brief an amount of time. I know, itās an animated film, but if all it really takes to fall in love and understand someone completely is a beautiful, surreal musical sequence, then life would be much easier for us all. Itās rushed and passion-less, coming across more like Smith is getting hot under the collar because sheās a half-naked statuesque Other, an exotic lust object and nothing more.
Being a Disney film, it is filled with musical sequences, which are by and large forgettable. Only āColors of the Windā lingers in the mind because it dares to strike a different, more artistically adventurous chord from the rest of the film. A few of these sequence drift into uncomfortable territory as they bring back up the antiquated images of Native American life and folklore as being nothing but trippy mystical fires, talking trees, nature-focused spirituality and the ability to communicate with nature.
I know, going to Disney and expecting an accurate history lesson is an exercise in masochism, but thereās no reconciling the galling display of poor decision making in this mess of a film. At the end, as Pocahontas stands brokenhearted staring off into the distance like Garbo inĀ Queen Christina, and the white settlers leave to return to England, what else am I supposed to feel but incensed? Alright Disney, I know you trademark in happy endings, and in deciding to adapt another story that didnāt have one, you had to engineer one, but goddamn guys. I don't think there's a single accurate thing here aside from some names, dates, and locations.
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Best Fictional Historical Movie Ever!
Posted : 17 years, 7 months ago on 4 October 2006 12:560 comments, Reply to this entry