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It was my birthday this past week, and as a present, I got to go see two new movies in theaters. Now in general, I prefer kids movies. If you’ve been reading my blog, you already know that I liked Monsters University a lot more than The Man of Steel. It seems to me that kids movies, in general, have a fairly good storyline without crude language or questionable scenes. However, it is not always the case that kids movies end up being more enjoyable than other movies, as you will soon find out.
So, as I was saying, it was my birthday and one of my good friends wanted to take me to see some movies. We decided on Despicable Me 2 and The Lone Ranger. Now, I think a big part of what makes a movie enjoyable is EXPECTATIONS. If you really want a movie to be good and then it doesn’t meet those high expectations, you end up disappointed, even if the movie itself wasn’t that bad. Or if you go to a movie, expecting it to be lame, you might be surprised by some emotional moments and end up liking the movie. Of course this isn’t always the case. When I went to see Tron Legacy, I was expecting it to be a bad movie, and when I walked out of the theater I was only more convinced that I didn’t like it. And when I went to see Monsters University, I was hoping it would be really good, and it fulfilled my expectations. But no matter how you look at it, expectations do influence us.
So, the big question before I tell you about the movies I saw is: what were my expectations for each?
Let’s start with Despicable Me 2. I did see the first Despicable Me, and to tell the truth, I was disappointed. From the previews I was hoping for a hilarious kids movie, and I found the jokes, especially involving the minions, not very entertaining. I know a lot of people who really liked the movie, but I wasn’t a fan. So going into the sequel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be more of the same? Or perhaps an improvement to the original? In any case, my expectations were not very high.
Then there’s The Lone Ranger. I’m not a diehard fan of the old TV series, but I have seen about 2-3 episodes on Hulu of how the show started. So I had a grounding in the characters, but wasn’t sentimental about how the show was made. I was looking forward to an updated version of the old west drama.
And now to the results! I enjoyed The Lone Ranger more than Despicable Me 2. A lot of this had to do with expectations, but it also had to do with storyline. I expected Despicable Me 2, to be like it’s predecessor, and it was. Since I didn’t love the first movie I didn’t love the second. It was an average movie, with a fairly predictable plot line, a few new characters, and some more minion jokes. But with the Lone Ranger, I had no preconceived notions about what it should be like, and only a basic understanding of the original plot of the TV series. So I thoroughly enjoyed finding out about Tonto’s past and why he acted the way he did, and seeing John slowly transform from a city lawyer into The Lone Ranger. I think the film did a good job balancing a connection to the original, while sill being able to poke fun at some of it’s aspects. It had a satisfying ending that wasn’t completely predictable, and interesting characters that I cared about.
So there you go, expectations are a big deal. They done completely determine a movie’s likeability, (the movie has some work to do too) but it does play a significant role.
So How to Train your Dragon 2, you better be good, because I’m expecting big things from you!
Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:How_to_Train_Your_Dragon_2_logo.svg
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