#max hatter

i feel the pacing was quite fast, especially between luis and red specifically. i think it's because of how many "plot points" the directors/writers had to cover. i mean they could've just done a 2hr movie, but okay

i don't know if i missed something but i feel red "ignoring/betraying" chloe felt a bit off because of everything the two went through from the previous movie. though it does line up with her selfishness, but i feel that "trait" of hers was diluted by the end of rise of red so, to me, that whole plot point semi didn't make sense.

i get the idea that since red's an hk now, it felt off to her so she's trying to act more of a vk so that the other vks would be like "red's honorary vk" kinda thing. speaking of, in the "did you hear about them song," we can see red switching from vk to hk side when dancing because she's technically both.

anyways!

i hate the whole excuse of "you can't just do things straightforwardly" whenever the gang comes across a wonderland problem BECAUSE THE THING IS, THEY'RE IN WONDERLAND. topsy-turvy, all things wonder, all things madness—it should've been a given to just say "because we're in wonderland" and not some bullsht for the sake of building up to the plot point.

i feel the setting of wonderland was both used and underused.

next point,

i like maddox here. i really do, but his backstory for this timeline? ....it's like they don't know their own disney characters. "time travel. it's why everyone thinks he's mad." —> what????? he's SUPPOSED to be mad. he's the son of the MAD HATTER. not because of some hoax that he saw when he was a student???? that's so weird???

chassy? i love chassy. great cheshire cat character. that cat was the most wonderlandian character in that entire movie (next to pink). it's great, truly.

speaking of pink, i love her. she's so maddeline hatter (ever after high) core. i wish we saw more of her and red's bond instead of red and luis together. another character i wish we saw more of is felix. HE COULD'VE BEEN SO GREAT. his powers are so versatile and i don't know why he was written out so much. I WOULD ALSO like to add that at the end of the movie with the ending song, felix did cameron boyce's signature move which is the jump into a half split and and then stand right back up. that little bit made me go awe.

and, this might be a hot take, but i think the smee twins and robbie hood was useless characters. they did not need to be there if all they're gonna be is fodder and comic background characters. i mean, i guess the smee twins was for the purpose of hazel HOOK, so i guess that's fine.

HAZEL HOOK. hazel hook. best character in the movie. she had the funniest lines. the actress is so goddamn fine. she's the greatest. best fit in the whole movie too. i love her dynamic with the smee twins—it's like she became the babysitters for those two and it's so funny.

chloe...... chloe....... you know what, valid. i'd semi react like that too if my best friend just threw me to that monster plant. but then you become semi unvalid after folding to max that quick with that bracelet like?? girl, calm down, why'd you accept the bracelet so fast?? i mean, i understand that she's mad and emotions are on a high—and so she's acting on impulse, but still. it was so "ugh c'mon girl *rolls eye*" moment. also, her "evil" look genuinely looks like audrey's queen of mean look but blue. do these people have no other concept of "evil looks"???

red hearts. to pull back what i already mentioned above, her character arc was semi all over the place. though i like the direction of her having this identity crisis, i feel her actions in showing that identity crisis is a bit much, especially with chloe. i don't know if it's because they wanted an "evil chloe," but still. it would have been nice to use this plot point and combining it with luis as her love interest.

in other words, luis could've been there to serve as the anchor of "being an hk isn't all too bad." HOWEVER, luis also felt very......... nepotism?

AND BEFORE anyone says about "but they're all nepo babies"—no they ain't. nepotism is to take advantage of status in order to get PRIVILEGES—you can't get privileges from a NEGATIVE status/background.

okay well, i think nepotism was the wrong word here. but what i mean is.... shallow? i think, to me, luis's character didn't feel refined. he felt shallow at best and was just there for the sake of pairing up with red. also felt like he was the "simpleton" to the "overthinker" (which is red). or something along those lines. he didn't feel naive, but he also just felt clueless as a character overall.

anyways

luis felt so ego in a way, but not the same way as hazel. luis is like honing on that hk status while hazel was only confident in her skills that she got from being a vk.

...or maybe i'm biased, but whatever.

luis could've been that anchor for red as an hk and then shows or shares to red how an hk really is. i say this specifically because i think red has this stereotype of what hks are because, she was a vk and technically, her first encounter with an hk is chloe (which she isn't a good example of).

about max...... i have nothing to say. this is not the bias talking, like genuinely, but he felt the most solid character. he had a motive, he had personality, he had a clear diction as well—he was solid. he felt like the next uma character, but, obviously, a bit less—nothing can beat uma.

ALTHOUGH, near the ending, i can't believe he just simply extinguished his anger that fast and easy. it was such a whiplash moment like—max, you're supposed to be mad, not just go "okay whatever, i'm beat, back to being the good guy" or some sht like that. at that point, it's movie pacing fault.

i also wish that he and red had more scenes and talks together—not because i ship them, but because of the fact they're both wonderlandians. as mentioned, red technically knew max from the old timeline but they never really interacted. so why didn't they? especially since red and maddox were friends in that timeline. was max afraid of red? their dynamic could've been explored as this two sides of the same coin. two people who had their fates exchanged after time traveling.

okay next segment,

the songs.....

perfect princes is great. good opening. nothing much to say. i was also super obsessed with the vks' part in the song and it's how i got obsessed with max and slowly hazel the more i watched it.

mad (maddox hatter ver.) is pretty good too actually. i really like how maddox sounds while singing this song—he genuinely sounds mad and there's this playful tone in some of his lines.

did you hear about them. FUNNY SONG. i was taken aback at the latin(?) pop, but man it fits hazel and luis so badly. this song is so cheesy but man it's kinda catchy and funny. i find it funny how they both started lying worse and worse as the song went on. i mean, not to say they're lying, but to me they do sound like they're lying—if they aren't then good on them, i guess. the harmonies between the rest of the vks and hks are amazing also—it fits together nicely.

dancing with the enemy. LOVE IT. i love the dance. the direction of the song is great also. dare i say, it's the most descendant song in the movie next to perfect princess and mad (pink, red, chloe ver.).

for once in my life. hmmmmmmm. it's kinda eh. it's super cheesy and feels sudden. i did already express how i felt about luis and red arc so, not that much of a surprise. the dance between the two is kinda nice.

the girl i used to be. highkey i skipped this, so i can't say much else. i got impatient at this point of the movie.

heartless. honestly, it could've been a great song. i don't know how chloe mispronounced heartless, but whatever.... also this song sounds really familar.... not in the instrumental wise, but in a progression of song/lyric wise. i find it funny how max resorted to flirting with chloe for the sake of the bracelet, only for chloe to immediately fold with no pressure whatsoever.

who i am. it's okay. solid red song. solid character arc song about finding themself. i wish pink was in the song more and then the song would become this sibling bond type of song.

go live it. fun song. nothing much to say.

CHLOE, RED, AND PINK'S VERSION OF MAD. best song. i love how the girls sang it. i'm utterly addicted to this song and i wish it was a lot longer.

true to your heart. liamani is a great singer. nothing much to say. not my kind of song, but i can admit it's got good vocals.

THAT'S IT :)))