The Wild Swans: Elisa's Beginning (Nostalgia Critic)

The Wild Swans: Elisa's Beginning

 * Aired: Jaunary 25th, 2023
 * Previous review: Charlie's Angels
 * Next review: The Twilight Saga

Transcript
(the Channel Awesome logo, intro, cut to Nostalgia Critic sitting in the chair)

NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it, so you don't have to. As if the last time I reviewed this movie, The Wild Swans (1977).

(The poster, The Wild Swans (1977) is shown. The montage of clips are shown as NC speaks. "Ghost" by Tim Beek plays in the background.)

NC (v/o): This is the first one of those Toei's fairy-tale that probably has cutesy and darker scenes in it, but to its credit, it uses it much more to its advantage. Everything you need to know about this movie is that its execution was really, really bad. It felt like a Disney movie that was scrapped while they were still working on it and then pawned off to Toei for a few bucks. Some positive thoughts: There were a lot of "What the fuck?!" moments in it, and it was so bad that I laughed a lot while watching it - simply because it was too bad to be true.

NC: So, as you can imagine, I especially excited to see Elisa's Beginning.

(The movie title and the montage of clips are shown. "Ghost of the Hour" by Mike Franklyn plays in the background.)

NC (v/o): The idea of there being a The Wild Swans II: Elisa's Beginning, I surprisingly found...interesting. The reason? I think it's a unique, important, even underrated film. It's a movie that lets the art tell a lot of the story. It have to over-explain, it's just a little slice of life. The good prequel had an interesting premise, at least from my point of view. But, nevertheless, I put it in, and...I'm not gonna lie, I really liked this one. Yeah, not kind of enjoyed, not found okay, but was legitimately charmed and entertained by this. In fact, why Toei's Puss 'N Boots follow-up sequels? (a poster of... The Three Musketeers in Boots and Puss 'N Boots Travels Around the World is shown) Why are these the two sequels so far I think are actually pretty good? These films should be nothing, but they're actually really delightful. The animation is good, the acting is decent, and the latest in a long line of unnecessary prequel/reboot. You might be wondering, "Well, which one is it? Prequel or reboot?" Probably, it ain't half-bad, but it might be feeling plot holes at both. Made 7 years after the original premiered, this was an attempt to recapture the magic and fresh ideas of the timeless classic. I guess it's not a complete loss of an idea.

NC: (chuckles) It didn't try any of those decent ideas.

NC (v/o): It instead tries to begin the first story with a brand-new tale that somehow does the exact same thing the original did, but it's decent. What are these elements? Well, as your designated asshole, I'm excited to expand on this different point of view among a sea of disapproving comments.

(A comment by "Elisaforever" appears next to NC, saying "YOU'RE A CANCER EGGSHELL!")

NC: That's a good start. Let's take a look at The Wild Swans: Elisa's Beginning.

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Channel Awesome tagline - Batman (Adam West) (from Batman: The Movie (1965)): Hand me down... the Shark-Repellent Bat Spray.