I know I said that I would tell my thoughts on the third Anne movie, "Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story" after I watched it. Well...I watched it last weekend.
The movie, in itself, is not bad. If it was just a random, stand alone movie that was in no way connected with AOGG, then it might even be good. But as it's made to be a continuation of the story of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, it's not good.
Everything is different. The characters have changed a lot. At the very beginning, Diana was so enthusiastic and Anne was so quiet and forlorn that I wondered if they had switched personalities. Anne and Gilbert and Diana and everyone else do things that are so out of character. (By the way, did you know that Schuyler Grant, the girl who plays Diana, is Katharine Hepburn's great-niece?)
This movie has a lot of war action. A lot. And I'm not really into that sort of thing. It also has (I guess due to the war era) a much more dark and depressing tone than the first two movies. It felt unrealistic as well. I mean, there's one point where Anne and another woman are trapped in a tiny room, soon to be executed by Nazi soldiers. I would have believed it in another movie. But it was hard for me to accept that Anne could go from her quiet, domestic life as a teacher to this extreme. It felt out of place.
Anne and Gilbert finally get married. And the wedding scene lasts less than five minutes. Honestly, while it was sweet, it was very disappointing and unsatisfying.
So here's my advice. If you are nosy like me and can't bear to go through life having not watched the third Anne movie, go ahead and watch it. Read the Amazon reviews...some Anne fans really do like it. I mostly only watched this movie for some sort of closure in Anne and Gil's relationship.
But if you love the books and hate it when movies drastically differ from the books, don't watch it. It'll only make you angry. :) It's better left unwatched. I doubt I'll ever watch it again.
I do have to admit one thing, though. The reunion scene between Anne and Gilbert, at the end, is really good. Almost worth watching the movie for. :)
Until next time,
I haven't watched this since it initially aired. I don't remember hating it, just thinking it was weird to see Anne and Gil in a war movie...definitely more her daughter Rilla's story than her own, but even then Rilla was on the homefront.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.. I was a bit disappointed in this last one. :(
ReplyDeleteI left you a little blog award over on my blog.. just for fun!
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ReplyDeleteI was definitely disappointed in this one, too. :P Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your comments. In the books, it is Anne's sons who go off to World War 1. And of course, in a particularly wrenching scene Rilla finds out that Walter has been killed. I am not sure why Producer Kevin Sullivan decided to alter the story so drastically. I watched the third movie once and don't intend to ever watch it again. Like you, I HAD to know what it was like. I have multiple copies of the book, two copies of the 1st and 2nd movies, but never bought the 3rd. Just left me with a sad, frustrated feeling. Ah well.....the books are always there to re-read!
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