Unspoiled Stories

Every so often I'll experience a story for the first time without having any knowledge of it going in. Most recently two stories that amazed me were Nimona and The Wild Robot. There's a perfect level of "knowing what it's about" before watching or reading something, and sometimes that perfect level is "I know it exists" and nothing more.

Roz and Brightbill from The Wild Robot; image from IMDB

Nimona

For Nimona, I stumbled across a brief glowing review from someone I trust, and I knew nothing else about it.  Watching it that way was absolutely the right decision. Without even any knowledge of why the title character is special, I was able to be pleasantly surprised throughout.

When pitching the movie to people, I say that it's a buddy-cop/odd-couple comedy to investigate a murder and clear the name of an innocent in a medieval-future world. That leaves out a lot, but hopefully gives enough flavor to get people interested. I know the ignorance is valuable because I might have been the only watcher in the world who didn't know what was coming after the line, "Look, I can get us out of here, but things are about to get...weird," and I enjoyed the film even more because of it.

Nimona also has some of the best-choreographed fight scenes that I've seen, especially the mid-movie battle after "You want to know who the kid is?" Teamwork and mutual trust with the heroes, sustaining the humor and tone, and advancing the plot and characterization. It's a wonderful "stand up and cheer" sequence.

The Wild Robot

A few months ago, I glanced into the TV room while my wife and children were watching The Wild Robot, decided that it might be worth watching, and wandered out to do some more chores. This meant that when I sat down to watch the movie, I was not prepared (this is a good thing).

I expected "robot bonds with nature" and a "fish out of water" comedy. That was there, I wasn't wrong! But I didn't expect a heartfelt parable about parenthood and found family that had tears standing in my eyes for the entire middle third of the movie.

This movie is less damaged by spoilers, it was just the surprise that made the feels hit harder for me. This movie is not afraid of its emotions: at the end of the flight training / "Kiss the Sky" sequence, Roz (the titular robot) literally glows with pride in her adopted son. It's a great moment of visual storytelling to show the shared triumph for them both. This scene more than any other has earned The Wild Robot a place in my comfort media collection.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Being a fan of the first film in the trilogy (Into the Spider-Verse), I was excited to see this film. I had more expectations because it was the second film, but have come to enjoy it more upon repeat viewings.

Although excellently put-together, Across the Spider-Verse is dark: it's the second film in a (planned) trilogy, which means that it sets up conflict for the third film rather than resolves it. Think of the end of The Empire Strikes Back: Luke is minus a hand, the rebels are minus their main base of operations, and Han is captured. I wasn't prepared for how dark Across the Spider-Verse is, and so didn't enjoy it as much on my first viewing. But now that I know that I'm not going to feel great at the end, I do enjoy it. Sometimes having the film "spoiled" is better for enjoyment.