| The Acolyte - The Insert Cointent Cut V 1.3 | 14th August 2024 | Osha' StoryFirst, I’d say that reviewing the work of another faneditor is not easy. We put much hard work into fixing movies and Tv shows, by making something into a product that we think is more suitable. Fanediting is the ultimate form of criticism in the age of participatory culture! It is made with “noble intentions” ;-p! It is also a matter of perspective and from (a certain) point of view. For example, I might think that my choices are better, I own my choices, but it is my perspective only. So, this short review is somewhat biased from the get-go…
However, I had much fun watching this cut, like watching the speed run of a game (I had the same feeling as another reviewer) you wouldn’t have wasted your time to play (or watch) otherwise. You know what’s going on, from A to B. The choice to make the twins the main characters, but essentially Osha, is owned and well executed. Keeping out the flashback episodes entirely is a bold move, risky, but I’m not sure it pays off, because we are always looking, as the audience, for something to relate to, finding something dramatically to hold on to, to keep us invested in the story. So from my perspective only, it lacks some scenes that could help the character development, to give the audience some hint at the intention of every scene, so the audience would wanna ask themselves, like David Mamet says: “What is gonna happen next?” A 2hrs movie can feel very long, it is not the case here, but; a 3hrs movie can feel like the bullet train between Tokyo and Kyoto LOL! There is several nice touch, like the prequel music during Yord introduction meeting with the Neimodians; the cross-cutting between Osha waking up in the crashed ship AND the prison where Sol and Vernestra are is well thought (there are a few other well executed cross-cutting scenes in this cut)! I would have cut entirely the Torbin scene floating, but at least they cut it down by throwing away Mae’s attempt to hit him with “all her strength”. Cutting Mae and Q'mir arrival on Khofar with their ship is not a bad idea and it works! About the transition from scene to scene, as an editor I feel that some love is still needed, and that’s probably where the “speed run” feeling comes from. Musical transitions feels sometimes abrupt, and makes the passage from one place to another a bit jarring, like quitting a discussion in a middle of a sentence without saying goodbye. Smoothing the transition using existing soundtrack in the scene and overlapping on the next would be a great improvement for future fanedits. Giving some breather too, which I think this cut would benefit. The end of a scene should always be linked narratively to the beginning of the next, which is not always the case here… Like when Sol points out to Osha/Mae that she found Pip, then we left the scene - that information is not necessary to make the story going forward. Ultimately, as a storyteller we must ask ourselves “Whose story is this?” “What do I wanna tell the audience” “What is the character’s arc and is this interesting enough for the audience to relate to?” “Does my protagonist learns something about themselves? The idea of progression is always important in storytelling”. Then we move forward with our choices and take the shot! This cut is told from Osha point of view, this is her story, she was being lied to, and the Insert Cointent does a great job at keeping her front and center!
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