The Eternal Heart: New Recruit 1

"Skynet did manage to put some intelligence into their foot soldiers." My Resistance trainer for the day said. Unlike Barnes, he was white. But, like Barnes, he had the same loathing for me.

"Terminators would be useless if they couldn't think," I replied while trying to not think of myself as one of them. "If they couldn't think then they couldn't fight."

My trainer's face assumed a blank expression to not give me the pleasure of seeing him angry. It didn't matter to me what his expression was because I knew what he was feeling. Or at least I had a very good guess of what his emotions were at the moment.

"That will be all for today, Jash." He said. The only motion he made for me to go away was to turn his face from mine.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." I said as I walked away. I wasn't expecting a reply and was rewarded with silence.

My footsteps brought me closer to my new destination. Faster than a human's would. No, I was doing what was called speed walking. I just had an easier time at it than a pure human would. That way of realization wouldn't lead me anywhere useful and might cause problems in the future.

But I didn't care at the moment.

I opened a door into a very small room. Like the rest of the base, it seemed to be about to collapse at any given moment. However, there wasn't a high likelihood that it would. The base reflected the very human spirit of those living here. A spirit that I didn't really have. But that I wished I did.

The only furniture in the room was a chair. Its front faced the door and I went over to it. As I went to sit down a woman entered the room. Once I was comfortable, she had shut the door. The look on her face showed that she had been in a few battles, but nothing that had torn her apart yet.

The Resistance woman stood in front of me and remained quiet for a few minutes. I didn't know whether she was nervous or if she was holding back her anger. Finally she spoke, "Jash, why did you join the Resistance?"

"Because Skynet needs to die." I replied.

"But you are a Terminator."

"I am only a Terminator because Skynet desecrated my body. I was probably just a normal human girl before. Hanging out with friends and trying to hide my feelings for my newest crush. I don't know what I would've done. I just know that it would've been normal."

"So you want revenge?"

"I want the ability to be human again. Without having to worry about Skynet trying to stop me."

"And will you be willing to follow our leader John Connor?"

"I've been asked that more times than I can count. And, being a hybrid, you better believe I can count pretty damn high." I paused only to have her look confused with how to react to my words. "And my answer is still the same. The answer is still yes."

She then asked her final question, "Is there any reason you are willing to?"

I thought about my answer. The truth was that I loved John and would follow him to the end of the world. Well, beyond the end of the world. But I couldn't tell this woman that. If she told John, things could get awkward. And I didn't know how I could get my feelings across to him. Leaving that duty to someone I didn't know wouldn't be a smart thing to do.

When I formulated a good sounding answer I spoke, "I trust John Connor. I trust that he is the best way to defeating Skynet."

The woman nodded. "Our session is over for now."

With that she walked out. I waited a few minutes and then headed towards my room. My room wasn't the same as my holding cell, but only slightly better. I wasn't considered a part of the Resistance by most members, so I was lucky just to have a room.

Resistance fighters passed me as I headed to my room. To me they weren't important and only one caught my eye and turned his face from mine. I swore John Connor had been looking at me, but he had quickly turned his gaze to another soldier. After that there was a conversation between the two.

I continued to move towards my room, but the thought that John had been sneaking a look at me continued to grow. The only bright light in this war.
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Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Title: Snow White and the Huntsman

Series: Snow White and the Huntsman

Director: Rupert Sanders

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron

Rated: PG-13

Released: 2012

Personal Rating: 2.5/5

Oscars: Nominated for 2

Plot: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
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Leaving Out Kristen Stewart
The low rating I have given this movie isn't due to Stewart. Yes, Stewart is a horrible actress that only has an expression and a half in her arsenal. But she doesn't make this movie horrible. The job of making this movie horrible doesn't lie solely with her or even mostly with her. In fact, I was looking over Stewart and the movie was still horrible.

Glaring Plot Holes
I was talking to my Dad about some of the prominent plot holes in this movie and he replied with, "It's just a movie." No, no, and no you don't defend a movie by saying plot holes are okay because it's just a movie. A movie has to make sense within its own universe. With this movie all the plot holes take away from the wonderful graphics (and they are easily the best part of the film) and the otherwise decent plot. I say a decent plot because it's simple and nostalgic (princess is a 'chosen one' who has to save her kingdom from a great evil). The first question that nagged me from beginning to end was "Why did Ravenna allow Snow White to live?" On imdb the question is answered (on the FAQ) by saying that Ravenna wanted to suck the beauty out of Snow White. This doesn't make sense due to Ravenna having a whole kingdom of pretty girls and to allow Snow White to mature (in this film the evil queen can only suck out beauty when a girl is physically mature) gives her time to cause problems. And, hey, that's what ends up happening. Listing all the plot holes in this film would be a blog post of its own.

Things Aren't Stated Clearly
Snow White is supposed to be deciding between two potential lovers: the Huntsman and William. However, this isn't clearly shown throughout a good majority of the movie. While Chris Hemsworth is a good actor, Kristen Stewart's expressions can't show any subtlety of a possible relationship. Besides that, the whole basis of Snow White being loved by the audience is stated by basically saying 'she good character, you likey'. And the last one that I will mention here: the kiss. Those familiar with the fairy tale will know that true love's kiss would wake her from the spell. But the movie DOESN'T STATE IT! You instead get the two 'love interests' just kissing her. I'm not saying people won't figure it out for themselves, but is it too much to ask for just ONE line saying what's going on? It doesn't need to be described in depth (due to everyone most likely knowing about the fairy tale and cliche), but the movie not saying what's happening is just lazy.

Final Thoughts
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. I was excited to finally see it even though Kristen Stewart was in it. She's just one actress in the movie. But there were just too many plot holes. Then there's the fact that you never really get to know the characters. You see them and spend time with them, but you never really get to know them. This is especially bad with Snow White who is the main character and the one we're supposed to be rooting for. By the end of the movie I was rooting for Ravenna (the Evil Queen) which shouldn't be the case in a good movie. Why? You're supposed to root for the good guys and wish damnation upon the bad guys. Besides the graphics (which are very well done) the song at the end of the credits ('Breath of Life' by Florence and the Machines) are the two things of this movie I enjoyed without question.

Brave (2012)

Title: Brave

Director: Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, and Emma Thompson

Rated: PG

Released: 2012

Personal Rating: 3.5/5

Oscars: Nominated for 1

Plot:  Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
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Different From Trailer
Now I  am not the first to say so but I must: the trailer is highly misleading. When I saw the trailer I thought that it would be about a princess going on an adventure through a faraway land because she is making her own fate. Luckily I did listen to reviewers (and people who had seen the movie) so I knew that the trailer was wrong. I heard something about going on an adventure with a bear. So how does this affect my view of the movie? It made me disappointed but I didn't take off any marks because the trailer was different from the movie.

A Twist That You Can See Coming
If you can even pay a little attention during the movie, you can figure out who the demonic bear is. I don't know whether to be mad or happy that I guessed it. I'm happy because I figured something out but mad because usually the stuff I do figure out any idiot can do the same. I watched this movie with my Dad and I usually remain quiet (in such situations) because he doesn't seem to like me talking to the movie (which I actually like to do). However, when Merida figures this twist out I yelled out, "No shit!"

A Female Protagonist
Let me start off with saying that I am glad that this movie featured a female in the lead role. However, she was still not that strong of a character. Part of it was that she was a little annoying and the other part is that she didn't do that much. The biggest thing she did was give some half-assed speech about letting children decide their own fates and it didn't make sense why everyone quickly agreed to this. Maybe I am being a little harsh as she did also manage to turn her mother and brothers back into their normal selves. No matter how little she did, I am glad that she learned a little humility by the end.

Final Thoughts
This movie's uplifting tone and happy conclusion were good to me. This being due to me finishing The Casual Vacancy (by J.K.Rowling) around a week before and I wanted to see something uplifting. That being said, since I knew it was going to end happy I wasn't tense during many scenes. And when I was tense I wasn't as tense as I should have been. However, this doesn't make the film bad. It's just the type of film it is. But if you want a tense and gripping tale, this isn't the movie for you.