MOVIE TALK: Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies (Part Two)

Recently, I came to the conclusion that 2010 is the most interesting year in film history. Not the best, not the worst, but it's certainly the one that fascinates me the most. I was mostly amused at how 2010 could give us both my number one favorite movie and my number one least favorite movie, but there was a lot more to it than just those things. So I (with the help of my best friend, whose favorite movie also came out in 2010) wrote a blog post about it. Read it here. 

If you'll allow me to pat myself on the back for a minute, I think the stuff I've written on Stellar in Neverland in 2020 has been my best work yet. It's probably because I've been home 24/7 and therefore have a lot of time to dedicate to making my content the best it can be, with the fact that I'm also older and more mature also playing a role. Whatever the reason is, I'm incredibly proud of every single post I've made from this January onward. But even with that, last week's post is easily my personal favorite thing I've ever written. I'm sure somebody could analyze it and find flaws, but it's the one I'm most proud of and the one I had the best time writing. But I realized something about a quarter of the way through the writing of that post: if I was going to talk about everything I found interesting in 2010 cinema, it would have to take two posts. This is Part Two. I'd recommend you read Part One first, just because I'm proud of it, but if you don't feel like it, here's what I covered there, as far as why 2010 was such an interesting year:

1. Tangled, because it's my favorite movie.

2. I had my best friend write a little essay on Inception, because it's her favorite movie.

3. The Last Airbender, because it makes a mockery of what I believe to be the greatest TV show of all time.

4. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, because it's a bizarre coincidence that both my favorite TV series and my favorite book series got terrible live-action adaptations in the same year.

5. Despicable Me, because of how it plagued those damn minions on the masses.

6. Toy Story 3, because it was an epic and emotional conclusion to a series that defined the childhoods of many...even though they made a Toy Story 4. 

7. Alice in Wonderland, because it was the first of the really successful live-action Disney remakes.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, because it's a cult classic that I really wanted to see. 

Now let's quit the rambling and continue with more reasons as to why I find 2010 so interesting. Last week, I talked mostly about individual movies, and while I will be doing that for the first part of today, I'm also talking about general trends for movies in 2010. 

9. Emma Stone, who would go on to win an Oscar and be named the world’s highest-paid actress in 2017, had her breakthrough this year.

Emma Stone first appeared in small TV roles in shows like Malcolm in the Middle before making her film debut in 2007's Superbad. She also found commercial success in 2009's Zombieland, but it wasn't until she scored the lead in 2010's Easy A that she found her true breakthrough. I considered talking about this movie for this post, because I find Stone to be a charismatic and talented actress (and also because I feel like, as an Emma myself, I have to support other Emmas!), but I wasn't sure how I would watch it since it's not Netflix or Amazon Prime. But then I was scrolling through the TV guide and it just so happened to be on Freeform/ABC Family/whatever it's called now. So I watched it and found myself really enjoying it. I'm eighteen years old, so I'm at the prime age for chick flicks, but even then, I was surprised with how clever I found Easy A to be. Loosely (and I mean loosely) based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the film tells the story of Olive Penderghast, a high school student who finds herself reputed as the "school slut." I'm just gonna say right now that I would recommend this movie, but fair warning: there's a lot of sex jokes, so if you're not into that, I wouldn't recommend you watch this. Anyways, Stone plays Olive, and her performance is definitely the best thing about this movie. She's snarky and sassy when she needs to be, and she also nails the moments where she has to be more emotional. The screenplay is also pretty funny. I love how she lies to her best friend about how she's going on a date, just to get out of spending the weekend with her friend's weird hippie parents, and then it cuts to her singing "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield all weekend long. The framing of the movie is also pretty smart, as it's set up as a confessional webcam. Finally, I really liked some of the more feminist messages of the movie. At one point, Olive and her friend Brandon pretend to have sex, because Brandon is gay and wants to stop being bullied for it. When they come out of the room, Brandon gets high-fives and gets treated as a "super-stud boss," while Olive only gets dirty looks and shame. This scene is a great example of the double standards for men and women, how a man is rewarded by society for being sexually active while a woman is shamed. I could go on forever about how harmful these double standards are, so I really respected how the film shows the wrongness of these standards. 

10. Even your average, everyday rom-com could stand out from the pack, not for being particularly good, but for having the most batshit cast list I've ever seen.

The movie in question is Valentine's Day, a movie that got negative critical reviews but raked in $216.5 million. I think it's supposed to be an anthology of a bunch of random romance stories. It's on Netflix right now, so I could have watched it, but honestly, I had no interest in doing so. I saw my mom watch it recently, and she said it wasn't great. Besides, I like some rom-coms, but this one just seemed like total fluff. So why am I mentioning it? Because another thing that made 2010 so fascinating was the fact that a bunch of serious A-listers could come together for a generic rom-com. The cast includes Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift. That is quite possibly the most random, but completely star-studded cast I've ever seen. I went on about how Scott Pilgrim vs. the World had a stacked cast, but it was mostly stacked with people who have been in stuff that I care about. Valentine's Day, on the other hand, is filled to the brim with bonafide A-listers, ranging from Oscar winners (Bates, Foxx, Hathaway, and Julia Roberts), Grammy winners (Foxx, Latifah, Swift, and oddly enough, Bradley Cooper has two Grammys for A Star is Born), two famous Jessicas (Alba and Biel), and two stars of That '70s Show (Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher). And they all came together for this thorougly-mediocre-in-every-other-way rom-com. The success of Valentine's Day would lead to two similar movies from the same director, the late Garry Marshall: New Year's Eve in 2011 and Mother's Day in 2016. Personally, I'd want to watch New Year's Eve the most out of any of them, as it features my one true love, Zac Efron. As well as Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sarah Paulson, and Ryan Seacrest. And also former mayor of New York/failed presidential candidate/exceedingly wealthy man Mike Bloomberg. Geez, what is this series?

Now we're going to talk about five general trends of movies in 2010. With these, I used the app PicCollage to have fun and make little collages of the movies I was specifically talking about in each section. They're not great, since I mainly focus on writing and have no graphic design skills whatsoever, but I needed a visual, and PicCollage did in a pinch. 

11. The rise of 3D technology

2009's Avatar (which I will be talking about shortly) was a gargantuan success, and part of that was because it was shown in many formats. It was released for traditional 2D viewing, 3D viewing (using numerous 3D formats, such as RealD 3D and IMAX 3D), and even 4D viewing in select South Korean theatres. Due to the massive success of the film, there was a huge increase in 3D movies in 2010. Alice in Wonderland broke Avatar's record for highest opening-weekend for a 3D movie. Certain movies even advertised the fact that they were 3D in the title, such as Jackass 3D, King Kong: 360 3-D, Saw 3D, The Nutcracker in 3D, and Step Up 3D. All animated films saw releases in 3D as well. Some movies (such as the animated films, Tron: Legacy, and Jackass 3D) were shot or rendered natively in 3D, but others had to be converted, for better or for worse. Clash of the Titans, for example, was a huge box-office success, breaking Scary Movie 4's record for the highest Easter weekend debut. However, the film's director, Louis Leterrier, had this to say in 2013 about the movie's 3D conversion:

It was famously rushed and famously horrible. It was absolutely horrible, the 3D. Nothing was working, it was just a gimmick to steal money from the audience. I’m a good boy and I rolled with the punches and everything, but it’s not my movie.

It says a lot that the Razzie Awards' (a parody award show that recognizes the worst films of a given year) special new category for 2010 was "Most Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D." The nominees were Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Clash of the Titans, The Nutcracker in 3D, and Saw 3D, but of course, the winner was my favorite movie to bash on, The Last Airbender. I’ve already criticized it twice before, first in its own dedicated MOVIE TALK, then in Part One of this post, but I can’t help it. Ragging on The Last Airbender is too much fun because I’m constantly noticing new ways the film fails. One of the film’s countless failures is how messily converted its 3D was. In late April 2010, Paramount saw that Avatar and Alice in Wonderland made some good money due to 3D releases and decided “Hey, we want to make money like that too.” The problem is that the film still had to be released by early July, so the 3D was shoehorned in. They also had to cut parts of the story out, including scenes with the fan-favorite Kyoshi Warriors. And it’s not like the 3D effects were anything spectacular. While the original animated series had stellar, vibrant animation, The Last Airbender’s visuals were dull, cheap, and ugly. Oh, The Last Airbender. It’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I love talking about its failures and listening to people talk about its failures.

 

12. It was the first year to have three movies gross over a billion dollars

The highest-grossing films of the year were Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, both of which I covered extensively in Part One. According to Wikipedia (which, yes, isn't always accurate, but I trust it in this case), Toy Story 3 grossed $1,066,969,703, while Alice in Wonderland grossed $1,025,467,110. There was another movie, however, that grossed over a billion dollars very early into 2010. James Cameron's Avatar was released in the US on December 18, 2009 and shattered box-office records left and right, so much so that there is literally a Wikipedia article titled "List of box office records set by Avatar." On literally the third day of 2010, nineteen days after its release, Avatar became the fastest movie to gross a billion dollars at the time (it has since been surpassed by 2019's Avengers: Endgame, which only took five days to make a billion.) It also was the first movie to gross over $2 billion, totaling at $2.79 billion at the end of its run and becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time for almost a decade, until it was beaten, again, by Avengers: Endgame. While Avatar was the only movie from 2009 to gross a billion dollars, it didn't hit the billion-dollar point until early 2010. Compare that to 2010, which had three movies make a billion. As for the movie Avatar, I've never seen it and don't really have an interest in doing so, but the phenomenon around the movie fascinates me. It just blows my mind how this movie could make so much money, but really hasn't had much staying power in the public. I don't hear people talk about this movie much anymore. My friend Nike and I were actually talking the other day about how there have been four Avatar sequels greenlit, but they've gotten indefinitely delayed. It's just like, how much hype do they think a new Avatar movie will have? The first one came out over a decade ago, and for many people, it's old news now. The only legacy the film has had is in the form of "Papyrus," one of my personal favorite Saturday Night Live bits. It's a faux movie trailer for a psychological drama where Ryan Gosling has a mental breakdown over the fact that the Avatar logo is literally just the Papyrus font. I support the release of Avatar 2, but only if we get "Papyrus 2," where it's a normal SNL show intercut with footage of Ryan Gosling crying himself to sleep over the laziness of the Avatar logo. 

13. Animation had a really good year. 

I just want to say that the image came from We Got This Covered. I didn't make it. Half of the top 10 highest-grossing movies in 2010 were animated: Toy Story 3 was the highest-grossing movie of the entire year, Shrek Forever After was fifth, Tangled was eighth, Despicable Me was ninth, and How to Train Your Dragon was tenth. Outside of the top ten, we also had movies like Megamind, which was one of DreamWorks' lower-grossing animated films this decade, but got decent reviews. In Japan, Studio Ghibli released Arrietty, another critically acclaimed, whimsical anime from a studio that's known for those. (I've still never seen Arrietty or any Ghibli movie, because I suck.) The Zack Snyder-directed Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole also came out, which, despite being criticized for its story and characters, has been named one of the most visually gorgeous animated movies ever by CineFix and SlashFilm, among others. Compare that to 2019, where only three animated movies are in the top ten (The Lion King was second, Frozen II was third, and Toy Story 4 was fourth). All three of those movies were extremely successful (with The Lion King remake being the highest-grossing animated movie in history), but disappointingly, they were all sequels or remakes. I adore animation. It's probably my favorite medium for storytelling, as the possibilities of what can happen in animation are endless. It's just infuriating how this medium can be used to tell any story the mind can think of, but people just want to watch things they've already seen before. Of course, there were fresh, original animated movies in 2019, such as Abominable and Missing Link, but those weren't nearly as successful as the sequels and remakes. 2010 did give us some animated sequels, like Toy Story 3, but most of the biggest animated movies that year told unique stories with characters we had never seen before. (Even though movies like Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon would get sequels). I wish that both Hollywood and the general public would give some of the more original animated movies a chance, just like they did in 2010. 

14. Sequels and remakes were very popular, but didn’t oversaturate the market like they would a few years later.

This is sort of a continuation of what I was just saying, but it's something I noticed. Thirty-four movies hit #1 at the box office. Of those thirty-four, thirteen (Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Jackass 3D, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Tron: Legacy, and Little Fockers) were sequels, while four (Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Karate Kid) were remakes. Exactly half of the number one films were sequels or remakes and half were originals. Let’s compare this to 2019. There were also thirty-four #1 movies in 2019, but twenty-two of those movies were sequels or part of a franchise. That’s 64%! Add in the four #1 movies that were remakes of previously existing movies (three of the four were Disney remakes, of course) and a whopping 76% of all the #1 movies in 2019 were either sequels or series. Looking at the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2019, only one of them (Joker) wasn’t a sequel or remake (technically, it’s not a part of the DC Extended Universe.) For a few years now, I’ve felt like the box office is just cluttered with sequels, franchises, and remakes, which is disappointing. It’s great to see familiar characters and situations, but I also find myself craving originality. 2010 is the perfect middle ground. We had our fair share of sequels and franchises, but we also had new, fresh stories being told. I wish we could go back to this 50/50 ratio between sequels and remakes vs. original stories, but sadly, I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon. 

15. The explosion of social media was reflected in our movies.

For Empire, Helen O'Hara published an excellent piece detailing trends in 2010 film. This piece was really helpful for coming up with trends, and initially, I was going to crib from her article a lot more, but then I came up with more general trends on my own. I did decide to take inspiration from one of her ideas, which is how social media began to impact our movies more heavily. By the end of 2010, Facebook saw 608 million users, while Twitter gained over 100 million new users by the end of the year. Other popular social media sites like Pinterest, Quora, and the ubiquitous Instagram were launched in 2010 as well. Seeing as social media was blowing up, it makes a lot of sense that it started sinking into our movies. O'Hara specifically names Catfish, a documentary about online relationships that broke the term "catfishing" into the public consciousness, and Going the Distance, a rom-com about a long-distance relationship that makes use of Skype. I also noticed how the aforementioned Easy A uses a live-streaming webcam for its framing. But of course, the most noteworthy film from 2010 that dealt with social media is David Fincher's The Social Network. The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how he founded Facebook. Zuckerberg has actually said that the film was largely fictitious, saying "And basically the framing is that the whole reason for making Facebook is because I wanted to get girls, or wanted to get into clubs. They [the film's creators] just can't wrap their head around the idea that someone might build something because they like building things.” However, the film received rapturous critical acclaim. It won Best Picture from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, making it only the third film in history to sweep the “Big Four” critics awards. The Social Network has a legacy of inspiring people to start their own companies, specifically regarding social media. Critic Bob Lefsetz said “Watching this movie makes you want to run from the theatre, grab your laptop and build your own empire. You’ve got the ability.” The film has also been named the best of the decade by several sources, including Esquire, Polygon, and even Quentin Tarantino. Writing about the film for Polygon, Clayton Ashley spoke about the film’s legacy saying “But after nearly a decade of watching Facebook “move fast and break things,” including news websites, social video, politics, etc., the movie’s tangible sense of tension can easily be reinterpreted as foreboding for what comes after you make a billion friends.”

MOVIE TALK: Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies (Part One)

Because we're in a global pandemic, I've had plenty of time to think to myself. And one day, I randomly came to the conclusion that 2010 might be the most utterly fascinating year for movies I can think of. It's not the best year for film, not when 1994 gave us The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and The Lion King, but the most fascinating as a whole. In this post, I'm going to explain why I think that. I was initially going to have fifteen reasons, but I realized that I had a lot to say for each bullet point, so I split that into two parts. Today, I'm going to be looking at some 2010 movies that personally interest me, while next week, I'll delve into general trends of 2010 cinema. 

Also, before we begin, I just want to clarify that I'm mostly going to be focusing on the big blockbusters and not the critical darlings or indie movies. I don't really know much or care about all the more prestigious, critically acclaimed movies, so those aren't as interesting to me. Now let's start!

1. First and foremost, my favorite movie of all time came out in 2010! 

I guess I could try to give reasons why the 2010 release of Disney's Tangled was objectively significant. It was the 50th Disney animated feature film, a landmark for the studio. Its budget was an estimated $260 million, which, if accurate, makes it the most expensive animated movie ever. It earned $592 million at the box office worldwide and received praise from both critics and audiences. It even got a spinoff cartoon in 2017! But at the end of the day, none of that really matters. The release of Tangled was important because, plain and simple, it’s my favorite movie. On this blog, I've made two lists of my favorite movies, one in 2017 and the other this June. While a lot of opinions changed between those three years, one thing was a constant: Tangled was number one. I actually saw it in theatres a few months after it came out, not expecting much at all. I was eight years old and growing out of the obsessive Disney Princess phase of my younger years. But when I did see it, it blew me away. It's one of those movies where everything comes together perfectly. The characters are great, especially our two leads. Rapunzel is so spirited and lively, and Flynn is the perfect boyish rogue with a heart of gold. Flynn is easily my favorite Disney prince, and while Mulan is my favorite Disney Princess if you go by the official Disney Princess lineup, Rapunzel’s my favorite legitimate princess. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi both do a stellar job in their voice roles as Rapunzel and Flynn, respectively. Together, Rapunzel and Flynn are my favorite Disney couple and watching them grow together is so enjoyable. The animation is gorgeous, especially with the lantern scene. In Thailand, there is a lantern festival called Yi Peng (video here) that's basically the Tangled lantern scene in real life and I need to attend it before I die. Tangled manages to have all the qualities we love from classic Disney movies, but still have its own distinctive flair. What other Disney movie would have a prince use a frying pan to swordfight a horse? And I know I say this nearly every time I talk about this movie, but "I See The Light" is a gorgeous song that needs to be played at my wedding, whenever/if it happens. It was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, but lost to some song from Toy Story 3 that I don't remember at all. I love Toy Story 3 and will actually be talking about it in a minute, but Tangled deserved that Oscar. I've seen many movies, and I still have a lot more that I need to see, but Tangled will always have a special place in my heart as one of, if not my absolute favorite, movies. 

2. So did my best friend’s favorite movie! 

One of 2010’s highest-grossing, most critically acclaimed movies was Inception. The Christopher Nolan-directed film grossed $825 million worldwide (the fourth highest-grossing of the year) and was nominated for eight Oscars, winning four. It also happens to be my best friend’s favorite movie. That was a big factor in my fascination with 2010’s cinema: the fact that both my favorite movie and my best friend’s favorite came out this year. And since she loves this movie so much, I thought I’d have her write a little segment about it. So without further ado, my friend Nike! 

"It comes as a surprise to those close to me that my favorite movie is Inception. After all, I’m not one to watch every Oscar-hopeful as award seasons come around. To me, it is however the best movie—objectively and subjectively—that I have ever seen, and a large part of that is due to the incredible ensemble cast (shout out to Elliot Page) and Leonardo DiCaprio’s role in the film.

Many considered DiCaprio to be one of the world’s best actors even before his first Oscars win—which, in my opinion, was several years too late. I would say that DiCaprio is the best actor in the world right now for a stand-out reason. Of the many skilled and experienced actors we see time after time in films—Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, for instance—DiCaprio is the only actor who comes to mind whose name washes away at the beginning of the movie and stays that way. All the love for Morgan Freeman, but every time I see him in a movie, I can’t help but think “Oh my God, there’s Morgan Freeman in this movie!” DiCaprio becomes his characters due to the combination of his incredible acting skills and the perfect casting in each movie he features in. There’s a reason we can see him as Gatsby in The Great Gatsby or Cobb in Inception, and that’s because each character he plays falls into his typecast. DiCaprio melts into Cobb and makes us believe that such a skilled dreamer and thief in corporate espionage does in fact exist. Leonardo DiCaprio who? We only know Cobb.

Besides the immersive acting, Inception also features riveting action sequences alongside a thought-provoking plot that has stuck with me personally ever since my first viewing years ago. The most important aspect of an action movie is its pacing, which neither the plot nor—critically—the action slows down in this instance. Oftentimes in this genre, the action scenes and shoot-outs carry on for too long or stagnate. Inception suffers from neither. Every burst of energy moves the story along, never occurring just to get the audience's heartbeat racing. Importantly, these scenes are always fresh and new with the mind-twisting visuals and effects used throughout the movie to create each dreamscape.

My favorite theme and topic that this movie makes me consider is the importance of reality. I have pondered the final scenes of this film hundreds of times. The top spinning at the cut to the credits is a powerful statement that reminds me of a philosophy of truth. This philosophy is that the condition of having lies or truths told to oneself is irrelevant if the subject doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter whether Cobb actually returned to the waking world or if he is deep within limbo. It is all the same to Cobb, as he is happy. Reality as a concept often takes the form of what society as a whole perceives, but Inception reminds its audience of the importance of an individual’s reality.

All in all, this is the movie that I recommend to everyone. If you like movies, you will like Inception. Much like a dream, there are layers to it; you will find a layer to this film that you will hold onto for years."

Thanks to Nike for writing that amazing reflection on a film that, according to review aggregation blog CriticsTop10, appeared on 273 different film critics' "Best Movies of 2010" list and topped 55 of those lists. I haven't seen it, but it's clearly an amazing movie. Now it's time to talk about something on the opposite side of the spectrum.

3. 2010 wasn’t content with just giving us some all-time favorites: it also gave us my least favorite movie of all time.

On July 1, 2010, Paramount Pictures released The Last Airbender under their division Nickelodeon Movies. The film, a live-action adaptation of the much-beloved Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, was written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan of The Sixth Sense fame. Although the film made $319 million worldwide, it was derided by critics and fans, and it has since garnered a reputation as one of the worst movies ever made, receiving nine Razzie nominations and winning five. Now, I've already written a 3,365-word rant (yes, I counted) on why The Last Airbender is exactly as bad as everyone says it is (link here!), so I planned on keeping this short. But since I wrote that, I've watched the outstanding original series, which I hadn't really done in years, and I've noticed even more ways M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation failed. So here we go.

1. In the show, firebenders are able to produce fire out of thin air, but in the movie, they are only able to control pre-existing fire. To add salt to the wound, Iroh makes his own fire in the climax of the film and the characters are like, "He's making fire out of nothing!" as if it's supposed to be something groundbreaking. Um, hello, that's what firebenders are supposed to do! Shyamalan actually said that he made this choice to prevent the Fire Nation from being overpowered, which is also missing the point. They're supposed to be the most powerful! How else do you think they were able to maintain a century of imperialism and wipe out the entire Air Nomad population?

2. Sokka's romance with Princess Yue is even worse than I initially thought it was. I joked about how in the movie, they just look at each other, smile, and then Katara says in a voiceover that "My brother and the princess were friends right away." And that's already pretty dumb, but there's so much to their romance that wasn't in the movie. Sokka does fall in love with Princess Yue right when he sees her, but she doesn't notice him immediately, and he spends a good amount of time flirting with her in his charming Sokka way. She then tells him that she does like him, but can't be with him because she's in an arranged engagement for the good of her people. None of this happened in the movie. However the actress who played Yue in the film, Seychelle Gabriel, would go on to voice the character Asami Sato in the ATLA sequel series, The Legend of Korra. I'm watching Korra right now and Asami is my favorite character (she's so badass and cool and pretty and AHHHH), so she can be forgiven for appearing for this movie. 

3. Another problem with the scenes in the Northern Water Tribe is the absence of Katara's conflict with Master Pakku. In the show, Aang, Katara, and Sokka go to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang can learn waterbending with a true master of the art, which turns out to be Master Pakku. Katara is also a waterbender, and although she's pretty good at that point, she wants to learn from the master to get better. However, Master Pakku refuses to teach her, stating that the only suitable role for women is that of a healer.  She confronts Pakku and demonstrates her skills, proving that she's more than worthy of learning from a master. Of course, none of this is in the movie, even though it added so much to her character. Katara is motherly and caring, but she's also a total badass and one of the best waterbenders in the world. She always fights for what she believes in and won't tolerate any sexist bullshit. But again, none of this is in the movie, because she barely has any character traits to speak of. The film spends so much time on exposition that it forgets to develop its characters, even though the show's biggest strength (out of the thousands of things it does right) is its magnificent character development. 

4. Zuko's scar is way, way too hard to see:

Because making the live-action actors actually look like the animated characters is too much for Mr. Shyamalan.

Zuko is my personal favorite character in the show (although I love every single one of them, to be fair) because of how well-done both his backstory and character development are, which is represented by the scar. He's the Prince of the Fire Nation and his father is the Fire Lord Ozai, the most powerful/worst man in the world. When he was thirteen, he spoke out of turn at a war meeting, so he was forced to battle his father in an Agni Kai (a traditional Fire Nation duel). He lost the battle, was banished from the Fire Nation, and became permanently scarred on his face. His scar is his defining physical trait, but you can barely see it in the movie. They also messed up Zuko's alter ego, The Blue Spirit, and made the mask look really stupid and cheap. At least Dev Patel, who played Zuko in the movie, has actually apologized, saying "I'm sorry about this film. It was a little bit shit, wasn't it?" He said that he was a big fan of the cartoon growing up and he regrets appearing in the movie, so he can also be forgiven for it.

5. I complained about how they changed the pronunciation, and I complained about the whitewashing, casting white actors as characters who are from Asian and Inuit inspired cultures. But I failed to mention that the reason why the names were pronounced is because Shyamalan wanted to make it more accurate to Asian pronunciations. He told Wired, "For me, the whole point of making the adaptation was to ground it deeper in reality. So I pronounced the names as Asians would. It’s just impossible to pronounce Aang the way it is used in the series. It’s incorrect! I can’t do it. So I just pronounced it correctly." The show is a fantasy, and it's stupid to act like it isn't. It's a fictional story, it's not real life, and those are their names. You can’t just throw away all the established elements of the story to fit them to your liking. What if I was making a new Star Wars movie, but I decided “Hmm, I don’t like the name ‘Darth Vader.’ I’m gonna name him Francis”? See, that would be ridiculous. That’s basically what Shyamalan did. But even more than that, you can't say you're trying to make it more "Asian-accurate" with the pronunciations, then cast white people as the heroes! 

In conclusion: I've never used this word on this blog uncensored, but I need to say: Fuck The Last Airbender. That is all. 

4. In fact, ruining my favorite fictional properties was kind of a thing in 2010. 

Rick Riordan first released The Lightning Thief, the first installment of his bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, in 2005. The books are about what would happen if the Greek gods were able to have demigod children in the modern day. Percy Jackson, for example, has a human mother, but his father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas. I haven't read the books since middle school, but if I were to pick a favorite series of all time, I'd probably pick PJO, in addition to its spinoff series The Heroes of Olympus. I like comparing it to Avatar: The Last Airbender in my head. Both series just have everything: well-rounded, unique characters, kick-ass action, a fantastic blend of serious moments and lighter comic relief, incredible worldbuilding, a plot that cleverly alludes to various mythologies while still being its own thing, and even some pretty solid romance. On top of that, both series initially came out in 2005 and got atrocious live-action film adaptations in 2010! Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is nowhere near the monstrosity that The Last Airbender is. A lot of the casting choices were good (disregarding the fact that he's supposed to be twelve in the books, Logan Lerman really was the perfect Percy, and it's a shame he's too old to play him in the Disney+ Percy Jackson series that's supposed to be coming), and unlike The Last Airbender, I can see somebody enjoying it if they have no experience with the source material. But that's the thing: I have read the books, and this movie makes so many ridiculous changes that desecrate on the story I loved so much. The basic plot of the book is that Percy, Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom), and Grover Underwood (a satyr) have to find Zeus's stolen lightning bolt, but the film adds in this weird sidequest where they have to look for Persephone's pearls so they can get information about the lightning bolt. They also made many changes to the characters that didn't need to be changed. Percy lacked his sass and sense of humor, Annabeth was more arrogant, and Grover was too confident compared to his book counterpart. The movie also forgot important characters, like Clarisse, the daughter of the war god Ares, and Mr. D/Dionysus, the god of wine who runs Camp Half-Blood. (There's also the frivolous-but-still-infuriating fact that Annabeth is a brunette in the movie, despite Rick Riordan stating countless times in the book that she is blonde.) But as much as the fans hated the movies, nobody seems to hate them more than Uncle Rick himself. He tweeted, "Well, to you guys, it's a couple hours entertainment. To me, it's my life's work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with them not to do it." However, he also said, "I still have not seen the movies, and don't plan on ever doing so. I judge them from having read the scripts, because I care most about the story. I certainly have nothing against the very talented actors. Not their fault. I'm just sorry they got dragged into that mess." I think that's a good summation of the movie's failures. The cast did a good job with what they were given, but what they were given was terrible. 

5. Capitalism was born in 2010.

Animation had a really good year in 2010. I've already mentioned my personal favorite animated movie from 2010 and I'll continue to write about some of the many successful, influential, and acclaimed animated films from this year, especially in Part Two. In 2007, Chris Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios and founded a new film and animation studio, called Illumination. In 2010, Illumination released their first movie, Despicable Me. The film starred The Office's Steve Carell as Gru, a supervillain with the DIABOLICAL PLAN to steal the moon, only to have his plans thwarted after becoming a makeshift father to three little girls, named Margo, Edith, and Agnes. But of course, none of Gru's antics are the reason why we remember the film. Nope, we remember it for those damn minions. Minions are yellow Tic Tac-shaped...things...that wear overalls and speak in unintelligible tongues, except for when they start screaming about bananas. They're the official mascots of Illumination and have been described as a corporate icon for the studio's parent company, Universal. After Universal merged with Comcast in 2016, the New York Times even referred to the minions as "the company’s Mickey Mouse." Minions are goddamn everywhere. Obviously, my heading of "Capitalism was born in 2010" is a lie, because capitalism has existed for hundreds of years, but when I think of capitalism, those idiotic yellow Mike and Ikes are the first thing to pop in my head. If there is a product out there, you can bet there's a minion-themed version of it. To quote Jetta Rae on Medium, 

You can start your day with Minion cereal, smoke from your Minions vaporizer on the way to work, RVSP to your friend’s Minion-themed wedding and come home to find a Minion safeguarding the books you bought from Amazon. That book will make for a welcome respite from a social media feed replete with Minion tattoos, Minion makeup tutorials, hand-painted Minion bra and panty sets. You might find yourself popping off a desperate Minion pun to your friends, like a burst of suffocated steam — you’re really one in a Minion — in the tired and tepid hope that crying Minion will liberate you from this headlock.

It's easy to see why minions are so popular. They're easily recognizable and people find them cute and funny. But that doesn't make their presence any less infuriating. Kids love them, obviously, but nobody loves them more than Facebook moms, who regularly post embarrassing memes about them. The popularity of the minions resulted in two sequels to Despicable Me, 2013's Despicable Me 2 and 2017's Despicable Me 3,  but more importantly, these hellspawns got their own movie, 2015's Minions, which grossed $1.1 billion dollars and is the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film in history. (I actually contributed to that, as I saw it at a drive-in theatre with my friends in middle school. I'm deeply sorry.) As a film, Despicable Me got decently positive reviews, but the impact its yellow capitalistic fiends had on the world cannot be denied. 

6. 2010 saw the end of an era. 

In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios released Toy Story, a buddy comedy about the secret lives of toys. It was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, and a landmark for film as a whole. Although the computer animation itself looks dated by today's standards, it was truly groundbreaking for the time and the film received acclaim from both critics and audiences. Naturally, with the film being so successful, it inspired a sequel, Toy Story 2, in 1999. The sequel was originally supposed to be direct-to-video, but Disney demanded it get a theatrical release, which proved to be just as successful, and in many cases, better than the original. (I personally think it's better, Jessie's "When She Loved Me" song breaks my heart every damn time.) However, after a decade, Pixar released what would be the end to the trilogy, Toy Story 3, in 2010. Toy Story 3 was the highest-grossing movie of the year and was the highest-grossing animated movie ever at the time (it has since become the seventh highest-grossing). It was also the third animated movie, after 1991's Beauty and the Beast and 2009's Up, to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Although I've long said that my favorite Toy Story movie was the second one, I honestly think the third one has always been my favorite. I saw it in theatres with my family, and those memories still hold a special place in my heart. My parents and I still make fun of my brother for crying when the toys were in the incinerator. I really think Toy Story 3 was the perfect note for the trilogy to end on. It has everything you want from a Toy Story movie: both the old and new characters are likable (special mention to Lotso, who is probably my favorite Pixar villain), the humor is spot-on, the plot has many twists and turns, and above all else, it's a gut punch of emotion. Even the most uptight of adults cry at that ending. However, although most agreed that Toy Story 3 was the best way to say goodbye to Woody, Buzz, and the gang, they still made a Toy Story 4 last year. And against all odds, it not only warranted its existence, but proved to be on par with the insane highs of the first three films. The third one is still my favorite, though,and will always have a special place in my heart. 

7. And the beginning of another.

2010's Alice in Wonderland wasn't the first live-action Disney remake. Technically, 1994's Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, 1996's 101 Dalmatians, and the latter's 2000 sequel 102 Dalmatians predated it. But if Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland remake hadn't made a billion dollars, it's likely that our theatres wouldn't be cluttered with all the mediocre Disney remakes we see today. Since 2010, there have been eleven(!) live-action remakes, with sixteen(!!) set to be released at some point. Many people will tell you that the live-action remakes are soulless cash-grabs. They only exist because people think "Hey, I remember that movie from my childhood! Now it has super realistic CGI and a bunch of famous people! It's gonna be great!" And when I say "many people," I absolutely count myself as one of those "many people." I think that live-action Disney remakes are thoroughly useless, and I see no reason to watch them over the animated versions. They forget the qualities that made the originals so memorable. For example, I haven't seen the Aladdin or The Lion King remakes, but both of those seem to have really dull color palettes, which is a disgrace considering that their animated counterparts were so vibrant. They also like to add a bunch of frivolous garbage that doesn't need to be there. My favorite example of this is the Beauty and the Beast remake, which bafflingly insists on adding this backstory on Belle's mom dying of the plague. The original was already as perfect as a Disney movie could be, why the hell was this needed? I admit that I have fallen victim to the appeal of Disney's live-action remakes, and it's all because of the damn casts. When The Lion King was announced, I remember Nike and I were freaking out because of how stacked the cast was: Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, John Oliver as Zazu, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Keegan-Michael Key as one of the hyenas, James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa, and most of all, Donald Glover as Simba and freaking Beyoncé as Nala! The idea of a Childish Gambino/Beyoncé cover of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was simply too exciting for me to handle. I had fully planned on going to see it with my friends, but our schedules didn't align, so it didn't happen. Then the reviews for the film came out and were pretty mixed, so I was glad I didn't see it. However, despite the criticisms it received, the 2019 The Lion King still made $1.6 billion at the box office. And I don't know if it would have ever existed if not for the success of Alice in Wonderland. Alice set the blueprint for the modern Disney live-action remake: famous director, star-studded cast (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, and Alan Rickman!), overabundance on CGI, and overall mixed reviews from critics (the only Disney remake that seems to have unequivocal acclaim is 2016's The Jungle Book). But it was influential, alright, and it led to all the mediocre remakes we have today. 

8. 2010 had many blockbuster films, but it also saw the release of one of the decade’s biggest cult classics. 

On August 13, 2010, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released in theatres in the US. The film was directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) and based on the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Although the film was a box-office bomb, it received positive reviews from critics and garnered a cult following. I had heard good things about the movie, and I saw it was on Netflix, so I decided to check it out for this post. And yeah, it's really good. It's kind of an acquired taste and it's got a lot of quirky charm to it, but I liked it. The main idea of it is that Scott Pilgrim, a nerdy bass player in a band called Sex Bob-omb, falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers and has to defeat her seven evil exes. The first thing that stands out to me is just how stacked this cast is. Michael Cera is perfectly adorkable as Scott, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead nails her role as the manic pixie dream girl Ramona. There are two Marvel Cinematic Universe actors, with Chris Evans playing one of Ramona's evil exes and Brie Larson playing one of Scott's exes. Anna Kendrick from Pitch Perfect plays Scott's younger sister Stacey, Aubrey Plaza from Parks and Recreation does the same perfect deadpan snarky stuff she does on Parks and Rec (I haven't gotten too far into Parks and Rec, but I like it, and Plaza's character, April, is probably my favorite), and of course, the eternal Avatar: The Last Airbender nerd in me has to note that Mae Whitman, the voice of Katara, did a great job as another one of Ramona's evil exes. I really loved the visual style of the film, which is heavily inspired by both video games and comic books. I loved the special effects, especially at the Battle of the Bands scene, and the fight scenes were endearingly ridiculous. To quote Entertainment Weekly's excellent oral history of the film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is "a superhero film, martial-arts epic, coming-of-age comedy, rock musical, exercise in magical realism, and love letter to vintage videogames." It's one of the most singular films I've seen, and I'm glad I saw it. Despite its initial failure, people did start appreciating it over time, with Evans himself saying in the aforementioned oral history, "The Marvel fan base is rabid, but the Scott Pilgrim fandom is just as dedicated and loyal as any fandom I’ve ever seen." It deserves its reputation as a cult classic. 

~~~

That's all I have for Part One. Next week, we're gonna talk about a few more 2010 movies I find interesting and then talk about some trends from the year. I can't wait to write it!

Stellar

My Top 20 Favorite Pokémon

One thing you should know about me is that I go through phases. I find something that I like, and suddenly all of my thoughts are about that thing. Around 2014, I was absolutely obsessed with The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Divergent, and a very popular series that I will not mention by name because of the author’s (who I will also not mention by name) recent instances of transphobia. In 2016, all of my thoughts were about Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Twenty One Pilots. And at the tail end of 2018 up until this May or so, my obsessive thoughts were about Pokémon. 

The first Pokémon games, Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue were released in 1996, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and the Pokémon Company. Since then, Pokémon has become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, grossing $92 billion between video games, an anime, a trading card game, films, manga, and so many other aspects. The franchise has a simple premise: Pokémon are fictional creatures that you have to “catch” in the iconic Pokéballs. Once you catch them, they’re basically your pets, except for the fact that you can fight with them. I like the battle aspects of Pokémon, mostly because making smart moves is just as important to winning as making powerful ones. But most of my love for Pokémon is due to the creatures themselves. As of July 2020, there are a total of 896 different Pokémon species, which means that there is at least one species for anyone to appreciate. Whether you’re more interested in the intimidating and powerful creatures or the ones that are so cute they make you cry, there’s a Pokémon for you. I love so many Pokémon, but these are my top 20 favorites. I’m growing out of my Pokémon phase, with my current obsessive phase being around Avatar: The Last Airbender. With this post, I’m saying goodbye to my Pokémon phase, celebrating my ultimate favorites. After this, I don’t have any need to make any more Pokémon-related content, since this is the biggest and most important one I’ll make, at least, pertaining to my Pokémon fandom. 

But first, I always feel the need to write as if the person reading has no idea what anything I’m talking about is. So here are some terms I’m going to use a lot that I should probably explain.

-Pokémon type: Types are a way of categorizing Pokémon based on what kind of powers they have. There are eighteen types: Grass, Fire, Water, Normal, Electric, Psychic, Fighting, Rock, Ground, Flying, Bug, Poison, Dark, Ghost, Ice, Steel, Dragon, and Fairy. Some Pokémon have one type, some have two. 

-Pokédex: The Pokédex is a device that gives information about Pokémon. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a Pokemon index. It is a log that allows you to learn about the Pokémon you find on your journey, as well as recording every Pokémon you catch. Many players enjoy completing the Pokédex and catching every Pokémon in the game. 

-Competitive Pokémon: In addition to the video games, many fans like playing Pokémon competitively. Competitive Pokémon is like playing a normal Pokémon game, but only with the battling parts. No story, no characters, just you and another person doing a Pokémon battle. It’s over the Internet and free to play, so I do it from time to time. I like it because it’s essentially a strategy game. It’s more about battle mechanics and making sure you have a well-rounded team than just winning. Smogon is the biggest of the competitive play sites, so that’s what I use. Smogon is known for categorizing Pokémon into tiers based on how good they are. The tiers make sure that the Pokémon in a battle are evenly matched, so you can’t put a legendary Pokémon against a baby Pokémon, which is good.

-Starter Pokémon: At the beginning of each game, you get a choice of three Pokémon, one grass-type, one fire-type, and one water-type. Starter Pokémon almost always start out adorable, then have an awkward middle stage, then evolve into a more powerful, cool beast. I genuinely love all 24 starters in one way or another, and many of them will appear on this list. 

One last thing before we begin: I've already posted three Pokémon-related things, so check those out if you're interested!

-Ranking the Baby Pokemon

-Why I Love the Pokemon Sun & Moon Anime

-The Top 25 Most Adorable Pokémon

Now let's get started!

20. Goodra

First up, we have the pseudo-legendary Pokémon of Pokémon X and Y. Pseudo-legendary Pokémon are usually the most powerful non-legendary creatures in the game, noteworthy for having a base stat total of exactly 600. I love pretty much all of the pseudo-legendary Pokémon, especially Metagross, Dragonite, and Garchomp, but my personal favorite (at this very moment, at least) is Goodra. Dragon-type Pokémon are normally exactly what it says on the tin: they’re dragons. (Although there are a few oddballs, like an apple and a palm tree.) They’re the closest thing the series has to an objective “best” type, and to match their power, they’re usually intimidating brutes. Goodra is great because it is extremely powerful, but it’s also quite adorable. Dragonite, the series’ first pseudo-legendary, also has a dopey, non-threatening charm to it, but Goodra takes its huggability (is that a word?) up to eleven. Despite its slimy exterior, Goodra just looks like it would give amazing hugs, and I love that. Its base stage, Goomy, is also the cutest little ball of goo you will ever see. 

19. Torterra

I literally said this was coming a few weeks ago when I talked about my top ten favorite Avatar: The Last Airbender animals. One of the creatures I had on that list is the lion turtle, which instantly reminded me of Torterra. This makes sense, as both creatures take inspiration from the World Turtle of various mythologies, a turtle capable of supporting the entire world on its back. Torterra also takes inspiration from the ankylosaur dinosaur with its bulky armor. It is the final evolution of the Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum grass starter, Turtwig, which I also love. Turtwig is an endearing little snapping turtle with an precious seedling on its head, and seeing the adorkable turtle evolve into a seven-foot, almost 700-pound beast is absolutely wonderful.

18. Flygon

I’ve still never played a real Pokémon game, but Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald were probably my favorite when it comes to new Pokémon. Five of the twenty Pokémon on this list debuted in those games, and the first of those is Flygon. It’s one of the more unique dragon-types in the series, resembling a dragonfly. (It’s actually inspired by the antlion, another insect.) If I were to describe Flygon’s design in one word, it would be “quirky.” The red covers on its eyes look like goggles, and its limbs are hilariously tiny in comparison to the rest of its body. These design choices make it stand out from all the other dragons. Flygon has a great typing of ground/dragon, making it pretty useful in Pokémon battles.

17. Aegislash

The ghost type is by far my favorite in the series. They’re known for having some brilliantly horrifying concepts and backstories, with some of the darkest being a neglected doll that came to life, seeking revenge on the child that threw it out, an undead cicada husk, a balloon that exists to grab the hands of children and take them to the afterlife , and a friendly reminder that climate change is bad and that we are all doomed, in addition to a few others we’ll get to later. While Aegislash, the living sword, doesn’t have any terrifying stories like that, I still think it’s awesome. I play competitive Pokémon from time to time, and let me tell you, Aegislash is an absolute monster there. It boasts an insane nine resistances, as well as two unique forms, one offensively-oriented , one defensive, so it can fit into any team. It’s by far one of my favorites to use when playing competitively.

16. Gardevoir

I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT EVER SEARCH FOR THIS POKÉMON ON GOOGLE IMAGES. Due to its feminine, humanoid appearance (Its gender ratio is actually 50-50; it looks feminine, but it’s just as common to see a male Gardevoir as well), many perverts on the Internet enjoy drawing lewd fanarts of it. This February, the Pokémon Company ran a “Pokémon of the Year” poll to see which creatures were most popular. (Results here.) Gardevoir made it into the top ten, and although it’s one of my favorites, I know it only made the top ten because a bunch of horny dudes are attracted to it. But I don’t think that’s entirely fair. While Gardevoir does have a beautiful, almost guardian angel-esque design, there’s so much more to it. It’s underrated in the sense that people only appreciate it for how it looks, because even if it didn’t have that design, there would still be a lot to love about it. Gardevoir is loyal to a fault, as its Pokémon Emerald Pokédex entry says that “It will give its life to protect its Trainer.” Loyalty has always been a quality I’ve really admired, and that Gardevoir is so nobly loyal and willing to sacrifice itself to protect those it cares about, that’s beautiful. As a psychic/fairy type Pokémon, it also has immense power, with its Platinum Pokédex entry stating that “To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole.” I also really love its mega evolution from the sixth generation, which gives it an even more voluminous ballgown.

15. Scizor

I don’t like bugs much, but if you ask me, the bug type is the most underrated Pokémon type. It does have seven weaknesses, but there are many cool, cute, and creative bug Pokémon out there, and some of them are actually pretty good in a battle setting. For example, Scizor, my favorite bug type. Scizor is a dual-type bug/steel Pokémon, and due to steel being a defensive powerhouse typing, most of its weaknesses from the bug type cancel out. Its only weakness is to fire-type Pokémon, but it is a quadruple weakness, so watch out for those. Scizor evolves from the Pokémon Scyther, which is also really cool. They have the same base stat total, so neither is objectively better than the other. I just prefer Scizor because of its striking red, metallic cover. It’s like if Iron Man were a bug.

14. Luxray

The electric-type Luxray is one of the big fan-favorite Pokémon from the fourth generation of games, and it’s not hard to see why. The big thing that makes Luxray stand out for me is its amazing color scheme. The combination of blue, yellow, and black is my absolute favorite color palette, and that’s exactly what this Pokémon has. Another thing I love about Luxray is how it manages to look equally intimidating and adorable. Its dark colors, as well as the fact that it possesses x-ray vision, give it that “cool” factor, but its face is inherently lovable. Whether you prefer cool Pokémon or cute ones, Luxray is certainly one of the most appealing creatures in the franchise. And of course, its pre-evolution, Shinx, is easily one of the top five cutest Pokémon ever made.

13. Snorlax

In February, when I ranked all of the baby Pokémon, I named Munchlax as my favorite for how funny and happy-go-lucky it is. But while I love Munchlax, I love its evolved form, Snorlax, much more. I’ve mentioned before that my absolute favorite character trope is the Gentle Giant, the characters who are large and intimidating at first but really end up being complete sweethearts once you get to know them. It’s why I love characters like Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Baymax from Big Hero 6, and the Iron Giant from the movie of the same name. The Gentle Giant trope is Snorlax’s entire appeal. It’s 6’11” and weights over a thousand pounds, and while it’s quite slow, it always hits with immense power. Yet its Pokédex entries in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire state that “it is such a docile Pokémon that there are children who use its expansive belly as a place to play.” It’s also incredibly lazy and doesn’t enjoy much else other than eating and sleeping, which I relate to more than I’d like to admit.

12. Mudkip

I just think Mudkip is hilarious. It’s so goofy yet charming. I’ve said before that it’s like a doofy, happy puppy that always wants to play with you, and I stand by that. Obviously, it doesn’t look like a puppy, but I feel like its personality is similar to one. In nearly every picture I’ve seen of it, Mudkip has a gigantic smile on its face like it couldn’t be happier to be alive. That adorable, wonderful smile, combined with those giant, goofy fins on its head, it just makes me smile. Mudkip is the water-type starter Pokémon of the Hoenn region from Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and the remakes of the former two, and while it’s not quite my starter of choice from the region, I do love it a whole lot and think it’s the cutest water-type Pokémon. Plus, there’s a random, funny, slightly-NSFW-in-origin meme behind this Pokémon, which makes me like it even more.

11. Greninja

In the aforementioned “Pokémon of the Year” poll, Greninja was voted as the most popular Pokémon. Like it or not, this water/dark-type ninja frog is insanely popular. However, I’ve always been on the “like it” side. Froakie, the water-type starter of Pokémon X and Y, is a cute and quirky, but rather unassuming frog. It’s safe to say that many fans weren’t expecting much from Froakie’s evolution. But then it evolves into Frogadier, one of the most solid middle-stage starter evolutions. Finally, it evolves into the badass ninja frog Greninja, establishing itself as an all-time great. Greninja is so popular for a lot of reasons. First of all, ninjas are objectively cool. Like every good ninja, this Pokémon specializes in stealthy, quick movements, and it’s even able to make throwing stars, or shurikens, out of water. Greninja’s design is sharp, cool, and slick, but it’s not afraid to get a little weird, with that pink thing around its neck literally being its tongue. However, it doesn’t just look cool; it also is a monster in competitive battle, thanks to its amazing hidden ability Protean. This means that this Pokémon can change its type depending on whatever move it’s using, ensuring that it will get same-type attack bonus, or STAB, on literally every move it uses. Finally, it’s so popular due to its prominent usage in the Pokémon XY anime, where it was the star of Ash Ketchum’s team. In the anime, Greninja’s bond with Ash allowed it to transform into a unique form, (very creatively) titled Ash-Greninja. Although I prefer the original Greninja, due to the other form not having the Protean ability, I think this Pokémon is awesome no matter what form it’s in. I also enjoy using it in Super Smash Bros.

10. Umbreon

One of the most well-known Pokémon is Eevee, a fluffy, fox-like creature. Eevee is beloved partially because it’s adorable, but mostly because it is able to evolve into one of eight different Pokémon, known by fans as “Eeveelutions.” All of the “Eeveelutions” are extremely popular with fans, to the point where I feel like they’re pretty overrated. But “overrated” is not the same thing is “bad,” because I like all of the Eevees to some extent. The dark-type Umbreon was voted number five in the Pokémon of the Year poll, making it the most popular of the bunch. Yet, it’s my favorite, although the fairy-type Sylveon is a close second. Its design is so simple, sleek and elegant. Umbreon looks like it can glide through the night without being noticed, almost like a black cat. The yellow rings look really cool and help it glow in the dark. I’ve also gotten some use out of this Pokémon in competitive play. You wouldn’t expect it to be a solid defensive Pokémon, but it’s actually pretty bulky and has an amazing special defense stat of 130. (For those who don’t speak Pokémon: I’m not really sure how to concisely explain the significance between normal defense and special defense, but long story short, that high stat is a really good thing. A Pokémon’s stats reflect how well it performs in a specific area, so high stats mean that it’s more powerful.)

9. Chandelure

The fifth generation of games had more new Pokémon than ever before, and a lot of them are really fantastic. I feel bad that I only have one of them on my list, but alas, there was only one that I really consider one of my absolute favorites, and that’s Chandelure. Many fans like to complain about how inanimate object Pokémon are the worst, most lazily-designed creatures in the franchise. However, I think a lot of them have fun little twists and gimmicks that make them creative and interesting. Chandelure, for example, isn’t just a chandelier: it’s a chandelier with flames powered by the souls of the damned. It’s another brilliantly terrifying ghost-type, but it’s also given the rare dual typing of ghost/fire. The thing I love about Chandelure is just how pretty it is. It has a gothic elegance unlike any other Pokémon and those purple flames are marvelous. Its rare typing, combined with its freakish special attack stat of 145, make it another favorite in competitive play. According to the Pokémon of the Year poll, Chandelure is the fan favorite from the fifth generation, and it’s definitely my favorite, too.

8. Rayquaza

Legendary Pokémon are a group of the rarest, most powerful monsters in the Pokémon world, often having big parts in the game’s storyline. Rayquaza is the only one I have on my list, but it’s by far my favorite. Despite the fact that it’s a hugely powerful dragon, I relate to it quite a lot. The basic plot of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald is that Kyogre, a whale-like monster that can expand the oceans, and Groudon, a Godzilla-like thing that can expand continents, are fighting. Rayquaza, the lord of the skies, lives in the ozone layer and must come down to end Kyogre and Groudon’s conflict and prevent the world from destruction. Like Kyogre and Groudon, my two brothers fight all the time over really petty things and I’m always the peacekeeper in their beefs. The Pokémon Sapphire Pokédex also says “Its existence had been completely unknown because it lived so high in the sky.” Fun fact; one of my neighbors didn’t know that I existed until pretty recently. I’ve been living at the same house since 2009, and this guy knew my parents, but genuinely had no idea that they had a teenage daughter for about eight years. Other than the fact that I relate to it a lot, I just think Rayquaza looks really cool. In its artwork, it looks like it told a really shitty joke and is waiting for people to laugh. That’s fun.

7. Alolan Raichu

Pikachu is the most iconic Pokémon, full stop. Even people who don’t know anything about Pokémon can recognize and identify Pikachu. Because the electric rat is so popular, many people either forget or don’t know that it can evolve into a larger, stronger Pokémon, Raichu. For decades, Raichu was overshadowed by its evolutionary relative, until 2016, when Pokémon Sun and Moon revealed the concept of regional variants. Those games take place in the tropical Alola region, which has many new forms of old favorite Pokémon, including Raichu. The new Alolan version of Raichu has always been my favorite electric-type. I love how its body shape is rounder and softer than the original Raichu, and its face is completely adorable. My favorite thing about it is that it’s also a psychic-type, able to use psychic powers to surf on its tail. That’s incredibly fun and clever, considering that its home is inspired by Hawaii. I also remember it being one of the first good Pokémon I got in Pokémon Go, so it’s kind of sentimental to me for that reason. Both the Pokémon Sun & Moon games and anime state that the Alolan Raichu’s favorite food is pancakes, even suggesting that pancakes hold the key to its evolution. Because of this, I always call my Raichus “Pancake.”

6. Bulbasaur

Bulbasaur was the original grass-type starter Pokémon (it's also part poison-type, and was actually the only starter to start out with a dual type for twenty years!) . It has a long legacy as one of the most iconic Pokémon ever created. I love all three of the original starter Pokémon, but Bulbasaur is easily my favorite. Its design is mostly frog-like, but it’s not just a normal frog. It has that adorable little bulb on its back. Bulbasaur is so sweet. It’s a classic, reliable Pokémon who can get the job done no matter what it is. In the anime, Ash’s Bulbasaur serves as the caretaker of the Pokémon at Professor Oak’s lab, a perfect task for it. I think of it as being incredibly loyal, a friend that will never leave your side and die for you. It’s also really cute, especially when it smiles.

5. Sobble

I was just starting to get into Pokémon when the newest games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, were announced. The three starter Pokémon, Grookey (a curious grass-type monkey), Scorbunny (a hyperactive fire-type bunny), and Sobble (an introverted water-type chameleon) were the first Pokémon announced from the games. At first, I wasn’t sure which one I liked best, as I thought they were all pretty cute. But as I learned more about them, I decided Sobble was easily my favorite. It’s very timid, turning invisible when it feels afraid, as well as crying. Oh, the crying! The Pokémon Sword Pokédex says, “When scared, this Pokémon cries. Its tears pack the chemical punch of 100 onions, and attackers won't be able to resist weeping.” I’m also extremely anxious, introverted, and a big crybaby, so of course I connected with Sobble. I love its official artwork, where it’s making the same face as the Surprised Pikachu meme from a few years ago, as well as looking like it doesn’t know what to do with its hands. Shigeru Ohmori, the director of the Sword and Shield games, said “In Japan, there definitely is a culture of feeling like something is cute because you kind of feel sorry for it a little bit.” Because of this, the developers knew the water lizard would be popular in Japan, but they were pleasantly surprised to see that so many people worldwide loved Sobble for that exact reason. We relate to Sobble’s sadness and anxiety, and we want to protect it. I wish Sobble was real so I could give it candy and hugs when it’s sad.

4. Mimikyu

I’ve featured a few ghost-type Pokémon on my list already, and while I love them, as well as a bunch of others that didn’t make the list, Mimikyu is by far my favorite ghost in the series. Like so many of the best ghost-type Pokémon, it has a terrifying backstory, but it mixes that terrifying story with one of tragedy and sympathy. Under its disguise, Mimikyu is a spirit so unbelievably horrifying the Pokémon Sun Pokédex says that “A scholar who saw what was under its rag was overwhelmed by terror and died from the shock.” It can’t make any friends due to how it looks and is dreadfully lonely. It noticed that Pikachu is the most popular Pokémon and it’s jealous of the attention Pikachu gets. It constructed a shoddy Pikachu disguise out of an old rag, hoping to be as popular as Pikachu. However, if the “Pokémon of the Year 2020” survey is anything to go by, it more than succeeded at its job. Mimikyu isn’t as popular as Pikachu; it’s more popular than Pikachu! In fact, the only Pokémon who got more votes than Mimikyu were Greninja and Lucario. I think Mimikyu is so beloved because people relate to it. Deep down, we all want to be loved, and we all know what it’s like to be rejected for who we are. Mimikyu is just trying its best to make friends and be appreciated in this cruel world, just like we are. I definitely relate to that feeling. It also has a unique ghost/fairy typing and is actually pretty fantastic in battle, along with an adorably creepy design. I know it’s supposed to be pretty dangerous, but I wish Mimikyu was real, just so it could see how much people love it. That would mean a lot to it.

3. Blaziken

The Hoenn region had by far the best group of starters in the series’ history. While I love the impossibly cool Sceptile and the tanky Swampert, my favorite has always been Blaziken. I knew my best friend had said that Blaziken was her favorite Pokémon, so when I started playing Pokémon Go, I worked really hard to get one. It was the first Pokémon I fully evolved and I was so proud of myself for doing so. I also think it’s really cool. Its design takes inspiration from chickens, specifically the Japanese Shamo chicken, and while it looks more humanoid than any chicken I’ve ever seen, I still think it looks awesome. Blaziken’s standout features for me are its powerful legs, which makes sense, as the Sapphire Pokédex says “Blaziken has incredibly strong legs - it can easily clear a 30-story building in one leap.” Its Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Pokédex entries also reveal, “Flames spout from its wrists, enveloping its knuckles. Its punches scorch its foes.” In conclusion, Blaziken can jump over buildings, punch you in the face, give you third-degree burns, and absolutely kick the shit out of you. Don’t mess with it. (Also spoilers for that one list I made: its base form, Torchic, is the cutest Pokémon of all time. Precious fiery chicken baby…)

2. Lapras

I’m a pretty okay writer if I do say so myself, and I like to think I’m really good at writing passionately about things I like. That being said, I have no idea how to put into words just how Lapras makes me feel. I love it, but in such a primal way that I can’t properly articulate. But I’ll try. Lapras was one of the first Pokémon ever designed, and it’s still one of the best. It takes inspiration from the fabled Loch Ness monster and combines that with a plesiosaur, an order of extinct marine reptiles. The resulting design is both majestic and awe-inspiring, yet completely adorable. It’s another Gentle Giant, as it’s eight feet tall and 485 pounds, yet gentle enough to let people ride on its back. However, the Pokémon Gold Pokédex says “They have gentle hearts. Because they rarely fight, many have been caught. Their number has dwindled.” It’s a tragedy, people taking advantage of the species’ innocence and killing them…but seventeen years later, the Pokémon Moon Pokédex says,  “These Pokémon were once near extinction due to poaching. Following protective regulations, there is now an overabundance of them.” This just makes me really happy, and I hope that we see many endangered species meeting similar fates. Lapras is smart, gentle, kind, and likes to sing. It would be a great friend. It’s also capable of understanding human speech and has used telepathy to speak to humans before in the anime! And it’s not even a psychic-type! It’s a water/ice type! Lapras is so special and it makes me want to be a better person. But it’s not number one. What is my number one, you ask?


1. Rowlet

I’ve said that Rowlet was my favorite Pokémon in a few other posts, so if you’ve read my blog, then you won’t be surprised that it’s taking the top spot. But it would be a disgrace to have anybody other than my favorite little owl in the number one position. I first saw Rowlet around 2016, when I just happened to see Pokémon Sun and Moon stuff around the internet. I’ve always loved owls because of how smart, fierce, and cute they could be. Because of that, I gravitated towards the baby owl right away. However, I didn’t really think about Rowlet until I started getting deeper into Pokémon, when I remembered it and thought of it as my favorite. More than any other Pokémon, it’s the one I have an emotional connection with. I have a Rowlet plushie that I hug whenever I’m feeling anxious, and it instantly makes me feel better. Rowlet is so small and cute and the little leafy bow tie on its chest was a genius design choice on Game Freak’s end. Not only does it say “Hey, this is a grass type!” in a subtle way, it also gives it so much character and personality. This little owl wants to look its best and do its best! Rowlet’s middle evolution, Dartrix, is not my favorite, but Decidueye, that archer-esque final evolution, totally is. It looks really cool, and it’s amazing to see the little owl I fell in love with evolve into a fierce, feathery assassin. Rowlet also gains the Ghost typing in a quite inspired instance of Game Freak doing their homework and studying up. The Alola region, where the Generation 7 games take place, was inspired by Hawaii. In Hawaii, there used to be a species of owl called the stilt owl, which is now extinct. Decidueye is inspired by the stilt owl, a permanently dead species, so it makes perfect sense that it is part-Ghost. The idea of putting an owl-based Pokemon in this Hawaiian region is just brilliant as a whole, because owls are seen as protectors and heroes in Hawaiian mythology. Rowlet is the total package. It’s incredibly adorable, has some amazing appearances in the anime, and has a cool concept. But more than that, I’m attached to it. I’m moving out of my Pokémon phase, but I’ll always have more than a soft spot for Rowlet.

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I'm sorry I posted this later in the day than I usually do. I had a graduation party today so I was mostly occupied with that. Also, I know this post is really long and passionately nerdy, but I've been sort of compiling my thoughts on this topic for two years. I needed to get it out. Next week, I'm planning to do another MOVIE TALK, but it won't necessarily be a review, more of a discussion on something I've thought about for a while now. I'm excited to write it. 

Stellar