Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Review (SPOILER FREE)

I went and saw Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald last night. How was it you ask? Well...

It was pretty good. It was a lot different than I expected. The main plot line that was focused on wasn’t really in any of the trailers. I’d have to see it again before I make any final judgements, but right now, I’m thinking I liked the first film better.

Not to say that this one was horrible or anything, because it wasn’t, but I just thought it was a little less charming and a little more... I don’t want to say sloppy, but it just had more flaws in the story.

There was a lot of exposition and hurried backstories told through dialogue which drives me crazy. There was a lot of stuff crammed in in an effort to set up other larger things for future movie(s). It sort of lacked the usual charm, wit, and charisma that most of JK Rowling’s other works have and was more focused on being dramatic and mysterious. Not to say it didn’t have some elements of that stuff, but it was sort of shoved to the sidelines. (In fact, one of my favorite running gags was with Newt trying to figure out what he was going to say to Tina when he saw her again.)

Now that I’ve bashed it a bit, I will say it was still quite enjoyable and there were a lot of great things about it too. For me, I’d say the strongest point was the actors’s performances. I adore Eddie Redmayne as Newt. He does such a good job portraying the awkward, but endearing animal lover. Hufflepuffs for the win!

Another standout performance was Jude Law as Dumbledore. When I first heard he was cast I was like “oh cool. I like Jude Law... but can he play Albus Dumbledore?” Yes he can. He captures Dumbledore’s essence-- his mysteriousness, the way he avoids questions, his... I guess you could call it manipulativeness (but with the best of intentions), his genuine care for goodness, etc. And he does it with a little more openness than in the Harry Potter movies because he’s younger and less experienced, but still powerful and wise. I just loved the portrayal!

All the other characters were equally good. Johnny Depp was just as Johnny Depp-ish as ever. Characters from the first film return and are going through new developments. It was all very interesting. However, there is a slight flaw there too. I thought there was a slight abundance of characters and it was difficult to keep track of everyone and everything. The first one kept it simple with four main characters who got most of the development, then a couple side characters who got less development but helped move the plot along. This film tried to give individual stories to so many characters and did so by explaining their backstories through rushed dialogue and flashbacks. It was a little confusing and made the movie feel too full. The story should have focused on the four main leads and developing them further while throwing in one maybe two new characters to start developing. 

Something else that I really liked was the moral dilemma(s) presented by Grindelwald. He actually makes some very convincing arguments and you can see why he has so many followers despite him committing so many heinous crimes. He is such a smooth talker, that he manages to twist everything and make himself the victim. It’s so fascinating. He’s like the wizard Hitler.

Then, the special effects were absolutely stellar! Hats off to that team. The new creatures were amazing, the spell effects were amazing, and everything about the film was just awesome!

I also appreciated all the references, shoutouts, and easter eggs to the Harry Potter series (and there were a lot). If you haven’t read or seen Harry Potter, there’s a lot in this film that won’t make sense or be as significant to you.

In the end, I do think I’d have to see the film again before making any final judgements. However, as a lover of really good, coherent plots, my rating gets dragged down a bit because of the slightly-cliched story, over-stuffed plot, and massive amount of exposition. For now I’d have to give the movie a 7/10. But like I said, I need to see it again.

Movies I Hate (and Why)

I like to consider myself a sort of connoisseur of movies. I have seen a wide variety and I like seeing new ones (of course I have my preferences like anyone else). Most movies I can sit through and at least be mildly entertained by; I may not (willingly) go back for seconds, but the majority of movies are passable if not really good. I have a difficult time picking favorites because there’s just too much to pick from and too many things to consider. 

However, there is one thing you can get out of me and that is movies I hate. All the movies on this list I have deemed unwatchable. I refuse to watch them under any circumstances. You have to literally force me to sit down and watch them (and even then, I’ll probably distract myself with my phone or something). 

With this list, I’m not talking about “so bad it’s good” kind of movies like The Room or Jupiter Ascending or something where it’s entertaining to watch and laugh at how bad it is, I’m focusing on the ones that I literally can’t stand watching and hate with every fiber of my being. Usually the qualities that deem a movie “bad” in my book can be summed up into just a few words: “boring”, “annoying”, and/or “pointless.” 

So let’s dive right into it. These are all the movies I could think of (there might be more, but off the top of my head...) If you like any of these movies, I'm sorry, we can't be friends any more (just kidding, but still know that your opinion sucks :P) From least hated to most hated:

7) Grease

I know this is a classic and pretty much everyone loves this movie, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I guess it’s a little harsh for me to say it’s “unwatchable” because I’d probably watch it if a bunch of my friends were having a movie night and really wanted to watch it or something. It’s not THE WORST, but I just find it annoying. I hate the characters, I hate the story, and I’ve never been a John Travolta fan (and he’s just as irritating as ever in this movie). The film’s only redeeming quality for me are the songs which are catchy as heck!

6) The Twilight series

Yes, all of them. People like to say that the last one is better than the others, but that doesn’t make it “good.” It’s just as stupid and over-the-top as the others, only maybe a little more fancy and less hokey. I never liked Twilight; not the books, the movies, the fans, the merchandise, or anything about it. It’s an insult to everything I stand for. The movies are so stupid and they showcase one of the lamest, most ridiculous love stories ever told with one of the stupidest, most pathetic, unlikeable protagonists ever. Plus, the color scheme is awful and boring, the acting is terrible and bland, absolutely nothing about it is interesting (except for a couple of the songs). I think, if you’re with the right people, it could sort of be a “it’s so bad it’s good” type of film which is why I put it lower on the list.

5) Snow White and the Huntsman

Kristen Stewart strikes again. This is one of the most pointless films I have ever seen. It tries so hard to put an “interesting” spin on the Snow White story (which already has a lot of silly stuff in it), but only manages to make it more silly and even more cliched than ever. Everything it tries to do, it manages to do the opposite. For example, it tries to be dark and gritty, but manages to be ugly and boring; it tries to give us a strong female lead who commands armies, but it gives us an uninteresting female with no character and who does nothing except just be there. 

Then there’s all this weird magical fantasy stuff that makes no sense and adds a whole other level of boring and confusing nonsense that no one cares about. Also, I remember there being a lot of war and fighting, but I don’t remember why. Though, I remember skipping the final battle because I was so bored (I actually did that and I never skip things in movies I’ve never seen, but it was all just the same stuff over and over again). And the most unbelievable part in the whole movie was everyone believing Snow White was prettier than the evil queen. Haha! What? 

The only redeeming quality for me was Chris Hemsworth (whose character’s expanded role was so unnecessary, I could cry) just because it’s Chris Hemsworth and how could you complain about that?

4) Maleficent

Speaking of pointless movies... This marks the beginning of Disney’s trend of live action remakes. I remember seeing trailers and posters for this and being super excited for it because Maleficent is one of the most awesome Disney villains ever. But then I actually saw the movie and I am now filled with rage. This movie is an insult to not just Maleficent herself, but everything in the Sleeping Beauty movie. It’s turned into this stupid sort of gothic-fantasy movie, which nothing against that type of movie, but it’s really not done well at all. 

It tries to do a Wicked-type of story where it shows that a famous villain really wasn’t a villain after all, but there’s just so many cliches and dumb choices that could’ve been avoided and prevented that make it so dumb and it just doesn’t work. In Wicked, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances that force Elphaba to make a critical choice which makes her look “wicked” and she is forced live in solitude because of it and she starts to lose herself in her cause. In Maleficent, there are a couple small things that happen to her that aren’t really THAT tragic in the grand scheme of things; definitely not something to make you turn full villain and curse a child. 

And then the rest of the dumb film is filled with so many cliches and stupidness, I can’t even list them all. I hate what they did to the three good fairies. In the original, they were the best part of the movie; they were a little bumbling, but they were kind, brave, and had the best of intentions. In this version, they’re as useless as rocks. They almost kill Aurora several times because of their carelessness, all they do is bicker and fall over. It’s so dumb! The biggest and most annoying thing in the film is how it twists the ending with “true love’s kiss” breaking the curse on Aurora. SO DUMB!!! ARGH!!! It’s Disney’s new favorite thing for “true love’s kiss” to come from somewhere other than romance that it’s now becoming its own cliche.

I just hate that the film tried to make us sympathize with Maleficent, but only managed to make her look pathetic and less awesome.

3) Alice in Wonderland (2010)

This movie makes me angry on so many levels because of how insulting it is to its source material. First of all, off that topic, there’s too much CGI. Tim Burton has caught the George Lucas disease of “make everything CGI in order to capture my vision” and then it looks totally fake and terrible. I mean, there are some cool moments, like when Alice first falls down the rabbit hole, but pretty much everything after that is just the worst. 

Now, back to the story: insulting, like I said. The thing about Wonderland is that it’s not supposed to make sense and have a cohesive structure, rules, or anything like that, but this movie throws all that out the window and gives it this stupid prophecy story where they’re trying to defeat this monster and the Red Queen and blah blah blah. It gets SUPER confusing while trying to make sense. And it’s SO DUMB because they’re all relying on this mystical prophecy (which it’s never explained where it came from and why it’s so reliable), but then they totally throw it out at the end for dramatic effect. BUT WE’RE NOT IDIOTS!!! We know Alice (the one it prophesied would kill the monster) is going to kill the monster because it said so at the beginning! Golly, it’s so dumb! 

Then, Alice herself is a freakin’ idiot because she thinks everything is a dream the entire time. You’d think at least halfway through the madness and nearly getting killed a dozen times, she’d realize “huh, maybe this isn’t a dream.” Oh, and everyone else are morons too because they don’t realize that the Alice in their presence is the same little girl Alice who visited them years ago. Like seriously!?! Then how does she know who they all are and how do they know her? It just DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!!! And THEN something else totally stupid is that the place isn’t even called Wonderland. Nope, it’s called “Underland.” Say what, now!?!! UGH!!! THIS MOVIE IS SO STUPID AND ANNOYING!!! (Oh, and the acting is awful too just as an insulting cherry on top.)

2) The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)

Everyone who knows me knows that I absolutely adore The Scarlet Pimpernel. It’s my favorite book and the 1982 version is one of my favorite movies. Everything about it is awesome; the story, the characters, the dialogue, everything! It holds a very special place in my heart and I will protect that story with my life... And then this mini series takes a big old dump on it. 

This is the most insulting thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life. It gets absolutely NOTHING right in the story. NOTHING!!! The only thing it gets right are the characters’s names and the time period. That’s about it. Everything else is so off the wall. Even the overall tone of the series is completely wrong. Every scene is either a sword fight or a sex scene (and a really unnerving sex scene at that, with crazy giggling and clothes flying and everything). In the book, a lot of the drama is centered around the estrangement between the two main leads, Sir Percy and Marguerite, so they’re definitely not fooling around all the time. Plus, in the 1700s, people didn’t constantly just casually have sex at every waking hour with random people in random places. It’s ridiculous! Also, the book doesn’t have a single action scene in it, much less sword fighting. This series turns it into this Casanova-sneaky murder mystery sort of thing and that’s not what it is at all! The Scarlet Pimpernel is not a super hero who infiltrates strongholds in the dead of night with a cape and his hat pulled down low, stabbing people who get in his way. No! The Scarlet Pimpernel is an invisible figure who relies on his wit to smuggle people out of Paris without being seen.

AND THEN THE CHARACTERS!!! They’re SO wrong it’s mind-boggling! The main character, Sir Percy, is completely backwards! He’s supposed to be a lazy, foppish aristocrat who only cares about fashion and poetry. In this version, he’s sort of idiotic I guess, but he’s SO energetic about it. He jumps around and shouts and is always grinning stupidly. No, no, no! Sir Percy is supposed to drawl and be sleepy and never quite know what’s going on!

And the others! Like Percy’s wife, Marguerite, is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in Europe. Um... not to be cruel to that actress, but 1) she’s definitely not under 30 when Marguerite is supposed to be 21 and 2) I wouldn’t exactly classify her as “the most beautiful woman in Europe.” And she’s so obnoxious! She’s supposed to be witty and charming, but she’s just loud and annoying. And the villain, Chauvelin. Just... no. I’m pretty sure he spoke with an American accent. If not a French one, why not at least English like everyone else? Ugh!

What a stupid, insulting, frustrating series! I want to burn every copy!

1) Mamma Mia!

Oh wow, do I hate this movie with a burning passion! There’s so much wrong with it, I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, it hides all it’s horrible faults behind fun, cheery music, lots of laughing, and beautiful scenery. It’s a hypnotic movie and lots of females fall into its trap AND I HATE IT!!! BECAUSE IT’S CRAP!!! So many girls I know tell me they love this movie. No! It’s because they are hypnotized by all the things I’ve listed above! I will not stand for it!

I’m just going to start listing off everything I hate about this movie:

1) The plot is written around the songs. I know, as a jukebox musical, you have to come up with a plot an incorporate songs that already exist into that plot, but seriously there are such random parts in the movie inserted specifically for a song that just makes no sense and it’s stupid!

2) That’s another thing, the songs don’t tie into anything! Hardly any of the songs have any context to the situation and if they do, it’s because the scene itself is super random.

3) There’s no character development whatsoever. Seriously, the entire film is dedicated to singing pointless ABBA songs that don’t makes sense or something else that doesn’t further the plot or characters

4) The characters are terrible people. What we do know about the characters is that they’re all awful in some way. Like Sophie is a complete psychopath for inviting her three possible fathers to her wedding without telling anyone, Donna slept with three men around the same time and got pregnant from the event, one of Donna’s friends wants to date a teenager, and the list goes on.

5) The singing is terrible. Yes, you read that right. Even people like Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried who can usually sing quite well aren’t at their peak. But then there’s people like Pierce Brosnan trying to sing and yeesh!

6) The dancing is terrible. I mean, wow. How uninspired can you get? Most of it isn’t even dancing but just arm waving and twirling in place. But then when there are choreographed dance numbers... I can’t even. The song “Dancing Queen” is literally about being about a great dancer, but what do these women do? DANCE HORRIBLY!!! It’s like watching your grandma dance in her kitchen while she cleans. Good grief! Although, literally the only part I like in the movie is the dancing in “Lay All Your Love On Me.” It’s so stupid and out there that it’s hilarious!

7) It’s not funny, but it pretends to be. There’s so much laughing and giggling in this film that it tries to trick you into thinking that it’s funny. Whenever the movie wants you to laugh, it’ll have the characters start laughing, that way you’ll start laughing too! THAT MEANS IT’S FUNNY!!! Even though seriously nothing happened. Nothing funny happened, nothing funny was said or anything, BUT THEY’RE LAUGHING SO YOU SHOULD LAUGH TOO!!! Ugh! And there’s so much giggling and laughing too! Blech!

8) The squeeing is unbearable. If the giggling was annoying, the squeeing is worse. Although there’s more laughing than squeeing in this movie, the squeeing is just... GAH!!! It’s so ear-shattering and obnoxious and... how many girls actually screech like that when they’re excited?

9) Annoying cliches geared towards women in an effort to be “relatable.” I mean like playing dress up, using inanimate objects as microphones, speaking in unison, girl-club handshakes, and of course giggling and squeeing. How many of these are actually relatable? I mean, I’ve used inanimate objects as a microphone a couple times... and yeah.

10) There’s so many plot contradictions. For example, the hotel is supposedly unpopular which is why Donna can’t afford help, but then there’s always like a million people there all the time.

11) The ending is the worst. Of all the things that make me angry in this film, this is the kicker. Like, WHY!?!!! Why, if they’re all there in the chapel and dressed up and at the altar, why does Sophie just... WHY!?!!! GAH!!! And then stupid Sam and Donna with stupid Pierce Brosnan singing again. NO!!! And then the reception with the freakin’ out-of-nowhere song with characters who shared like no screen time. Like WHAT THE HECK!?!!

Stupid, annoying, horrible movie!

Ducktales Reboot Season 1 Review (SPOILER FREE)

This last year, Disney released a reboot of the classic cartoon from the 80s/90s: Ducktales (woo-hoo!). I, personally, didn’t really watch the original show. I saw an occasional episode here and there, but I wasn’t an avid fan. However, when I saw that Disney was coming out with this new show, I was intrigued. Like I said, I didn’t know much about the original, but all the promotions I kept seeing for the new show looked really good.

Anyone who is into shows with interesting mysteries, epic adventure, expansive creativity, and all-around great fun will like this show. As the theme song explicitly says, “might solve a mystery or rewrite history” and it’s “tales of daring do.” Yes, it’s animated and it follows anthropomorphic ducks which might seem a little weird and childish to some people. However, while it is a cartoon aimed towards kids, it is way more clever than it needs to be and it gets super heavy at times (and I mean heavy).

For those unfamiliar, I’ll briefly go over the plot (of course, being a TV show, each episode has its own plot, but the show has a general, overarching story):

Billionaire and former explorer/treasure-hunter Scrooge McDuck is reunited with his estranged nephew, Donald Duck, when Donald is forced to leave his three mischievous nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, with Scrooge for a few hours so he can go to a job interview. The three boys’s antics rekindle Scrooge’s desire for adventure and he takes them with him on his quests along with his housekeeper’s granddaughter, Webby, and clumsy pilot, Launchpad McQuack. 

The show is so creative and original. It’s like a mix of every adventure movie you’ve ever seen, but especially ones like Indiana Jones and The Goonies. However, you never know what the family is going to get into with each episode. Sometimes they’re facing off against cursed mummies in one episode, then they’re in a spooky old mansion the next, then they’re running from an evil robot in another, or they’re on an island with ancient Greek gods, or they’re in the middle of a murder mystery party, or they’re climbing an unclimbable mountain, or they’ve unleashed an ancient curse upon their hometown, and so on. Every adventure is different and so entertaining, not to mention super creative! (seriously, if you put these plots into a different show/movie without the ducks, they would be just as strong.)

Disney was so confident this show would be a hit that they #1) posted the entire first episode on YouTube for anyone and everyone to see (which you can watch HERE) and #2) they ordered a second season before the first season even aired. And let me tell you, they did the right thing. The first season WAS that good.

The characters are amazing! Any David Tennant fans out there? (The tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, Barty Crouch Jr. from Harry Potter, Kilgrave from Jessica Jones, Hamlet from Hamlet (2009), etc.) Well, he has taken up the mantle of voicing Scrooge McDuck. He is the very first actual Scotsman to voice Scrooge. That should be all you need right there: David Tennant is in Ducktales. But... Scrooge is a great character too. He’s one of those characters with such an outlandish past and can do pretty much anything. He’s like an aged Batman or (like I said before) Indiana Jones. 

This is the first (successful) time Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been given distinct personalities and have individual screen time with their own stories. The writers officially made the order they’re always listed as (Huey, Dewy, and Louie) their birth order. So Huey is the oldest, Dewey is the middle child, and Louie is the youngest. Therefore, the writers wrote their personalities based around those “stereotypes.” For example, Huey, being the oldest, is more responsible and organized while Dewey is the middle so he feels ignored and so he’s always seeking attention by being an adventure junkie, then Louie, as the youngest, is more laid-back and tries to get what he wants without having to work for it. Something pointed out to me is that all three of the boys’s most prominent personality traits are a piece of Scrooge’s personality: Huey is clever and deductive, Dewey is adventurous and bold, and Louie is ambitious and treasure-obsessed. Though, obviously, there is stuff that sets them apart from their famous great-uncle. The triplets are the glue that holds the show together. 

(BTW, in case you didn't know this, the way you tell them apart is through their names and colors. Huey is the brightest hue: red. Dewy is the color of dew: blue. Then, Louie starts with an "L" and so do leaves which are green. The writers actually use that as their key. It's been like that almost since they were created.)

The show updates Donald Duck in an interesting way. It takes a previously well-know character with an already firmly-established personality and gives him more. He is still the same silly, unlucky, temperamental duck everyone knows and loves, but he is a little more rounded. He is the over-protective father figure in Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s lives and he does everything he can to keep them safe. It’s interesting to see how deeply he cares about them and I love how his famous temper tantrums are directed towards any foes who threaten them. I’d say his update is similar to how A Goofy Movie updated Goofy. It didn’t take away from his personality, but it only gave him more layers and made him more parental and relatable.

Then there are other characters like Scrooge’s housekeeper, Mrs. Beakly who has a mysterious past of her own. Also Mrs. Beakly’s socially-awkward granddaughter Webby, who is obsessed with the McDuck family. Then, dim-witted Launchpad McQuack who has never NOT crashed the vehicle he was driving. And others like Gyro Gearloose, the head scientist at Scrooge’s money bin; or Gladstone Gander, Scrooge’s other nephew who is the most lucky duck in the world.

Of course the show wouldn’t be complete without the villains/antagonists like Flintheart Glomgold, Scrooge’s bitterest rival and the second richest duck in the world; Mark Beaks, a young aspiring billionaire and founder of Waddle; Ma Beagle and her bumbling sons the Beagle Boys; Goldie O’Gilt, Scrooge’s ex-parter, ex-girlfriend, ex-everything; powerful mystical sorceress Magica De Spell, and so on.

Like I said, creative.

The show pays a nice homage to classic cartoons while updating it into modern ones (like Gravity Falls, Futurama, etc.). It’s a wonderful blend of old and new. The animation is so stellar and smooth and I love the color palette. The whole thing has a sort of comic book feel. 

As I said earlier, the show is way more clever than it needs to be. The jokes are really funny and off the wall. There are a lot of hidden gems in the background and there’s a lot of hidden jokes and parodies that kids wouldn’t understand (I’m not talking about “adult” jokes, but just really smart “older” references). 

Just some examples of it’s off-the-wall humor: 

When Huey, Dewey, and Louie first arrive at Scrooge’s mansion, Scrooge doesn’t know what to do with them so he puts them in a locked room with some marbles. Of course, the boys decide to escape the room with Dewey holding up the bag of marbles saying, “I know just how to do it.” So you think he’s going to set up some clever little device or something in order to get out, but instead, he starts whacking at the doorknob with the bag of marbles until it breaks off. It’s so unexpected and simple and hilarious.

Another time is when Dewey and Webby are being chased by a psychotic librarian with a giant sword. Webby hands Dewey a book, telling him “knowledge is power.” Dewey looks at the book and it’s called “How to Disarm Your Opponent.” Dewey immediately brightens up by looking at the book and then chucks it at the librarian. 

I mentioned “older references” before. An example would be in the episode where Mark Beaks is first introduced. There’s way too many things to list off, but the entire thing is one big parody on the modern tech world, the millennial mindset, and especially Silicon Valley. Most of the things in that episode would go over kids’s heads, but adults would find it hilarious. I’ll give one example: Mark Beaks takes Huey and Dewey on a tour through his company and he shows them a testing sight for new trampolines: high impact, low impact, and no impact... in other words, the ground. There’s just people jumping on the ground, but it’s “innovative.”

Another example is when the family goes to a casino and once inside, they can’t find the exit. Even when they look at the map, they can’t figure it out. Everything looks the same on every floor and there’s always something to distract the kids like an extravagant buffet or an over-the-top water show which, as Scrooge says, “they try to trap you here so you’ll waste all your time and money on cheap thrills.” If that’s not the embodiment of a casino, I don’t know what is.

Last thing I want to address is the heavy stuff I mentioned before. It’s not all adventure and jokes. The show’s core is all about family. The overarching story revolves around a mystery (which I will not spoil what it is exactly here, but know it has something to do with family). For the most part, the show is quite light-hearted, but there are some pretty deep moments. Also, the mystery is really good and really keeps you in suspense for the entire season. The show definitely knows exactly how much to reveal and what to keep back. It’s so well written! And the tension between all the family members because of this secret is so perfectly played out and displayed. Just because they’re anthropomorphic ducks doesn’t mean the emotions they go through can’t be realistic and relatable.

And that is the Ducktales reboot. This post turned out a lot longer than I intended, but I can’t help it. This show is awesome and I think everyone should check it out. I give it a 9/10.

Now, here are some videos to convince you if my stellar argument above hasn't won you over XP:

TRAILER:

UPDATE OF THE FAMOUS THEME SONG:

Just look at that animation!

CAST SINGING THE THEME SONG:

Top 11 Instrumental Themes (part 2)

Previously, I made a list of my top favorite instrumental themes. However, those songs were the main themes of movies (like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc). I listen to a lot of more instrumental songs than just the main theme songs and I think that the music played throughout movies can be just as good as the main theme (and sometimes even better). I wanted to give those themes a shoutout in this post. 

Since in my previous instrumental music post (which you can read HERE) I did top 11 songs, I have again selected a top 11 for this one. This list contains themes that are not the main themes of their movies and/or are main themes from lesser-known movies.

Without further ado, here are my top 11 instrumental themes in alphabetical order:

“Duel of the Fates”- Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace- John Williams

While a lot of people don’t like the prequels very much, one thing we can all agree on is that the music is epic! This song captures all the intensity and drama it’s meant to. John Williams hasn’t lost his groove even after all these years.

“Escape from East Berlin”- Man From U.N.C.L.E.- Daniel Pemberton

This song caught me by surprise. I had never heard of this movie until I was randomly dragged to it one night by my family, but I loved everything about it including the music. I’m not sure if you could consider this the “main theme” or not, but I consider this a lesser-known movie so it counts. This song is a lot of fun and you can just tell what kind of movie it is by listening to it: intense, sneaky, and a whole lot of fun.

“Flight to Neverland”- Hook- John Williams

John Williams does it again! I think this could be considered the main theme like before, but this is a slightly less famous movie, so I’m counting it again. Just through the sound, you can picture yourself in Neverland, flying up in the air. It’s got such a magical and adventurous sound and I love it!

“Flying”- Peter Pan (2003)- James Newton Howard

This one is a fairly more recent love for me. It fits the tone of the movie quite well: mixing old school magic with modern. I actually like that synthesizer sound and the percussion because it’s like “dropping the bass” and it sort of gives you shivers. Meanwhile the strings and other orchestra give it a magical fluttering feeling like flying (obviously). I love it!

“Forbidden Friendship”- How to Train Your Dragon- John Powell

This one is awesome because it has this other-worldly feel to it. The majority of it is just this sweet little tentative melody that matches the characters’s blossoming friendship in the film. I love how it grows steadily stronger and by the end is quite triumphant as the main character succeeds in gaining the dragon’s trust (though it ends on a very soft note).

“I Am the Doctor”- Doctor Who- Murray Gold

If you want an idea of who the Doctor’s character is simply through music, all you have to do is listen to this song. It has everything: a buildup, mystery, suspense, intensity, quirkiness, brashness, kindness, power, and so on. 

“Imperial March”- Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back- John Williams

Everyone thought John Williams outdid himself with Star Wars’s main theme, but then Episode V came out and he wrote the bad guys’s song and blew everyone away. Such a good song! It’s so intense and even if you haven’t seen Star Wars (and if you haven’t, you’re crazy), you can just see the baddest of the baddies marching in formation with a terrible leader at the helm.

“Kingdom Dance”- Tangled- Alan Menken

I love this one because of how unconventional it is. It sounds like an actual traditional tune you’d hear in some old medieval kingdom and dance a shanty to. It’s got a fun beat and is great to tap your toes to.

“Paperman”- Paperman- Christophe Beck

This is technically the main theme because it’s the only song in the short. However, like the other “main themes” on this list, it’s not very famous (though it really should be because this short is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life!). This theme is amazing! It’s so sweet and plucky, totally matching the theme of the short. I especially love when it picks up near the end and gets super triumphant and climactic (watching it with the short makes it 1000x better too). It’s simply a sweet tune that fills you with joy.

“Test Drive”- How to Train Your Dragon- John Powell

If you can’t tell, I like these melodies with the theme of flying in them. This song is so epic! Can’t you just envision yourself flying through the clouds when it plays? Because that’s what’s happening in the scene it plays over. I love the Celtic instruments incorporated too since the movie includes vikings. It’s just a great score!

“Transformation”- Beauty and the Beast- Alan Menken

What a beautiful theme! This whole movie is fantastic, but this scene and its music is so well done! The beginning is so sad and moving, then the actual transformation itself is exciting and epic, and everything after that is beautiful and triumphant. I love everything about this score!

The Pink Panther Movies

If you haven’t watched The Pink Panther films, you are greatly missing out on comedy genius. The comedic timing of Peter Sellers is truly something to behold. The character of Inspector Clouseau is a classic and will hold a special place in my heart at least (and I know it does in many other people’s too). 

I rewatched all of them recently and had a great laugh. They are just the best! As good as they all are, I wanted to rank them in order from worst to best. (Hey, I’m bored.)

First, just in case someone isn’t familiar with The Pink Panther movies, I’ll go over the general idea: The movies follow bumbling, clumsy, yet extremely lucky French detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau as he investigates crimes and tracks down criminals. Most commonly, he is tracking down/protecting the valuable Pink Panther diamond (which is where the film series gets its name), but not always. Each movie focuses on something different and has its own plot, but the overall idea is the same: Clouseau being an idiot.

So I would like to begin my list (I am only including the movies with Peter Sellers in the lead role.):

6) Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)

French mobster, Phillip Douvier is losing respect with other countries’s syndicates. To prove his power, he decides to kill Clouseau whom everybody thinks is a genius (and few know of his actual stupidity). Because of a mixup with an escaping criminal stealing Clouseau’s car and clothes, the mobsters kill him instead of Clouseau. The world believes Clouseau dead. Clouseau, still very much alive, decides to take advantage of his “death” to discover who killed him.

I have this one at the bottom of my list because it’s just really not that funny. The plot is pretty uninspired and most of the jokes fall flat. There’s a lot of sitting around and talking and not a lot of jokes like the other movies. It’s weird to see Clouseau just talking to someone and not accidentally setting himself on fire or something. Clouseau was way too clever and less bumbling than usual in this movie. Too many of his plans worked out and he understood too much of what was going on. It was weird to see. 

Also, there is a surplus of racially-insensitive humor that has you sitting there cringing for half the movie. I mean, there are some jokes like that scattered through the other movies, but only a couple (and that’s often to be expected from movies coming out in the 60’s/70’s), but this movie takes it to a whole other level. 

There were some funny moments though like Clouseau and Cato falling into the unfinished apartment and getting covered in paint while fighting, or Clouseau’s inflatable bird that keeps deflating, also Dreyfus’s eulogy at Clouseau’s funeral to name a few.

5) Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)

The Pink Panther is stolen yet again and the authorities call in Inspector Clouseau to investigate. On his way there, Clouseau’s plane goes down and disappears. Presumed dead, a journalist sets out to solve the mystery by interviewing everybody who was intimately connected with Clouseau, both friend and foe, who tell of their run-ins with the Inspector over the years.

I know a lot of people saw this one as disrespectful because it was made after Peter Seller’s death, but I still found it funnier and more interesting than the last one. The first half of it is composed of outtakes and bloopers from the first few films all mushed together in an effort to make a coherent story. It’s pretty obvious too because in one scene, Clouseau is wearing a plaid suit and then the next scene he’s wearing a blue suit. I think the scenes were pretty unnecessary (even though some of them were funny) because the stuff with the reporter was sufficient enough to be its own movie. It could’ve started right off the bat with an announcement of Clouseau’s presumed death and then diving right into the reporter’s story.

It was interesting to learn about Clouseau’s past and to sort of reminisce about a character we love so much. The film was made in dedication to Peter Sellers so it was a nice little tribute to his performance and it even ended with a montage of his funniest moments as Clouseau. It certainly wasn’t the strongest movie in the series, but it at least got some laughs out of me. My favorite part is Dreyfus’s interview where he’s trying to cover up how much he hates Clouseau. 

4) The Pink Panther (1963)

Bumbling French detective, Inspector Clouseau, is the world’s leading expert on the renowned jewel thief only known as The Phantom. He believes the largest gem in the world, The Pink Panther, will be his next target so he follows its owner, Princess Dala of Lugash, to Switzerland where he also meets Sir Charles Lytton who, unbeknownst to him, is actually the Phantom.

The very first film in the franchise. It’s lower on the list because most of the focus isn’t actually on Clouseau, but on the Phantom, Sir Charles Lytton since originally, the series was going to revolve around him and his exploits. However, Peter Seller’s performance was so well received that the series was reworked to focus on him instead. 

Anyways, the film isn’t a bundle of laughs all the way through and there’s a lot of long scenes focusing on Sir Charles and his accomplices. However, every single scene with Clouseau is golden! He is hilarious! The film is set up in such a way that you don’t know who to root for and it’s quite enjoyable.

3) The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)

The Pink Panther diamond has been stolen again with the Phantom’s trademark glove left behind at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau is called in to catch the thief again and he is convinced the Phantom has returned. He tracks down the original Phantom, Sir Charles Lytton, and trails his wife in hopes she will lead him to her husband.

This film is filled with tons of laugh out loud moments; like the bathroom flooding, “do you know the way to the Palace hotel?” “Yes”, Clouseau versus the security measures at Lugash, fixing the doorbell, Clouseau watching the girl jump in the pool, “your fly is undone”, and so on. One of the funniest moments where I seriously burst out laughing (sorry to ruin it for anyone) is when he walks into the hotel and a guy walks up to him asking, “Can I have your coat? Gloves? Hat?” and Clouseau gives them to him, thinking he’s a chauffeur or something, but then the guy just thanks him, walks out the door, and drives away. The other one moment I was laughing hysterically is when Clouseau tells a cab driver “follow that car!” and you think the driver is going to drive away without him, but something else totally unexpected happens. I absolutely died! 

There’s also some super stressful (but still funny) moments. Like the whole vacuum cleaner scene, or when he and the bellboy are in the steam room and are about to get caught, or when he’s disguised as the telephone repairman and totally demolishes the room.

The stuff with Sir Charles is a little slow and not super entertaining, but I understand why it’s there so *shrug*

2) A Shot in the Dark (1964)

When the chauffeur of rich and important Monsieur Ballon is found dead, Inspector Clouseau is first on the scene to investigate. While all evidence points to the beautiful maid, Maria Gambrelli, Clouseau suspects otherwise and believes she is hiding something. The bodies continue to pile up as Clouseau continues to set her free and follow her, much to the disgruntlement of his superior, Commissioner Dreyfus.

Even if Clouseau were not in this one, it would still probably work as a pretty solid murder mystery film. However, Clouseau makes it a thousand times better. This is the first movie where classic characters Dreyfus and Cato are introduced. As fantastic and funny as Clouseau is, the series definitely wouldn’t be the same without those two. I love how Dreyfus is slowly driven mad by Clouseau (his twitching eye, haha!). And Cato and Clouseau’s stupid fights are so hilarious! I love this movie for everything it sets up for future movies. 

There are some great moments unique to this one though like the whole nudist colony scene, or how Clouseau keeps getting arrested whenever he’s following the maid, or “good thing I checked my reflexes, I could’ve killed you with a karate chop”, and many others.

1) The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Dreyfus finally cracks after another unsuccessful attempt to kill Clouseau. He gathers together all the top criminals Clouseau has jailed and uses them to kidnap the world’s most renowned scientist to build a doomsday device. He then threatens the world that if they don’t eliminate Clouseau, he will wipe out entire cities with it. With dozens of assassins tailing him, Clouseau decides to track down Dreyfus himself and put him back in the asylum.

Although there are some weird parts (mostly at the end), this film is by far the funniest Pink Panther movie; so many laughs from start to finish. If you want a good idea of who Clouseau is, what he’s about, who all the characters are, what the general tone of the movies are, what kind of jokes are included, and so on, this is the movie to watch. I can’t think of any jokes that fall flat. Everything is hilarious! Almost all the most classic jokes that people remember from this franchise come from this movie: the parallel bars, “that is a priceless Steinway!” “not anymore”, “does your dog bite?”, Clouseau falling in the moat, and some of the best Cato fights out of all the movies. And there’s just so many other things that always have me busting a gut. 

Something that the reboot series with Steve Martin was missing (among other things) was Dreyfus’s madness and pure hatred of Clouseau. He’s not just mildly annoyed with him and inconvenienced, he hates him and constantly tries to kill him. It’s part of what makes this series so hilarious. This movie showcases the extent he goes to in order to eliminate Clouseau because “he’s terrible, he’s the worst” and “it’ll take all of the great nations with all of their trained assassins and all of their sophisticated murder weapons” to get rid of him. And this movie showcases that so well. I love it!

Funny clips of Inspector Clouseau:

Funny Scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again: