As a writer, what would you change? / Happenings In The Outhouse 4-June-2021

I recently went to the movie Cruella with my youngest daughter.  I was surprised that it was over two hours in length, as most movies run the gambit of 90 to 120 minutes.

In a nutshell, it was a fun, entertaining movie.  As we hopped in the car the drive way, my daughter asked me, "Dad, as a writer, what would you change about it?"

My, what a question!

As a writer, I do look at movies or books and ponder how I would change it if given the chance.  What do I look at in a good story?  My first threshold is the entertainment factor.  Did it entertain me?  Even some bad movies/books pass the entertainment factor.  Take the last three Star Wars movies.  I liked them, they entertained me, but I did find issues that made them pale in comparison to all of the other movies.  I also didn't care much for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book) as Harry was always yelling, as it was loaded with exclamation marks, and that took away from the story.  But it still entertained me.

I take those things that I would change and incorporate them into my stories--and this may be an area I'll expand upon later.

Besides the entertainment factor, I look at character depth and pacing.  If both are done well, then I call it a decent movie.

Cruella had a lot of character depth, it was intriguing, and the pacing was well-executed.  I don't recall a single moment where I wondered when it would ever end.  Also, you didn't seem to require any watching of the previous movies to understand it.

My answer to her: nothing.  I wouldn't change a thing.