90s Movie Review - Pocahontas

Director: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Drama/ Adventure/ Musical/ Romance
Runtime: 81 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Iren Bedard, Mel Gibson, Christian Bale, Judy Kuhn, Jim Cummings, Billy Connolly, Linda Hunt, John Kassir, Russell Means

Description: An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.

Review: “Pocahontas” is loosely based on the life of the young Indian princess Matoaka, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan, an Indian tribe that lived in what is now called Virginia. Among her tribesmen, Matoaka was known as Pocahontas, which means something like “playful”.
At the beginning of the 17^th century, a British ship made the crossing to the New World with the plan to search for gold on the American mainland. John Smith, a young and enterprising sailor, makes the acquaintance of a young Indian woman who introduces herself as Pocahontas. Her father has promised her to Kocoum, a young warrior of the tribe, but Pocahontas falls in love with John Smith. The two meet each other in secret, but when Kocoum finds out, a fight ensues. John Smith is captured. Will Pocahontas manage to sav John?
The film’s story is based partly on fact and partly on fantasy. In real-life, Pocahontas was only 10 or 11 when she met John Smith. She ended up marrying another British settler, named John Rolfe, a few years later and traveled to Britain with him. Where she eventually died at the age of 20, due to tuberculosis. This is a less magical story, so Disney made it more family-friendly.
I believe “Pocahontas” is one of those underrated and overlooked Disney animations that most people don’t even talk about anymore. Which is a shame, because it’s a beautifully animated film with amazing songs. With “Colors of the Wind” being the absolute showstopper of course. “Pocahontas” has a short runtime, and that little length ensures that the film does not get bored for a moment.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Movie Reviews - Solo: A Star Wars Story

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Paul Bettany, Jon Favreau, Linda Hunt, Warwick Davis, Thandie Newton

Description: During an adventure into the criminal underworld, Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) years before joining the Rebellion.

Review: After Disney got the rights to “Star Wars”, it’s not sitting still. A new trilogy and a bunch of standalone films. The new trilogy is doing really well and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was also very good. There we followed rebels trying to stop the building of the death star. Director Ron Howard took the story of a young Han Solo, probably the most popular character in the franchise.
Han Solo, one of Harrison Ford’s most memorable roles, is know as a smuggler and pilot of the Millennium Falcon, which he flies with his co-pilot Chewbacca. In “Solo: A Star Wars Story” we meet Han, before the story of “Star Wars: A New Hope”.
Han has to flee criminals and has to leave his girlfriend Qi’ra behind. He swears to return one day and get her.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” is a so-called origin story, so we get to see how it all began for Han Solo. How he met his pal Chewbacca, how he meets Lando Calrissian and how he gets the Millennium Falcon. Alden Ehrenreich isn’t very well-known yet, but he is a good choice for the role of young Han Solo. He has to stubbornness, arrogance and charm. But he misses one thing: Ford always portrayed Solo as being ‘annoyed’ of some sort (now what?). It’s hard to explain, but I felt like he was missing it here.
Donald Glover is the best choice for the young Lando Calrissian. And it’s sad that he doesn’t get that much screen time. And Woody Harrelson doesn’t disappoint either, as always.
The story for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is relatively thin. The references to the original films are fun, especially for nostalgia purposes. But Han Solo’s character doesn’t get enough depth.
That doesn’t mean that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” isn’t a good standalone film. It has everything you want from a good action/ adventure film. Wild chases, shoot outs and great visuals.
“Solo: A Star Wars” is probably not the film that Star Wars fans were hoping for, because a better look at one of the most beloved movie characters in film history is lacking here. As a standalone film it’s good, but within the Star Wars universe it’s not at the same level as the other films.

Rating: 3/ 5