by Specium Ray » Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:13 pm
I have no problem with people enjoying nostalgia for it's own sake, and while I have issues with the book, I will probably go to see this movie for the sheer spectacle of it. But there are two things that really nagged at me when (I tried) to read it.
He drives a DeLorean, it had the Oscillation Overthruster, gets the Beta Capsule, fights Kiryu, etc etc, all stuff I love. These references are rattled off like a grocery list, but there is no insight into why he likes them, what makes them cool, why they are appropriate for whatever scene. I was so psyched when I heard Ultraman was in this, and skipped directly to the relevant chapter and it was just... there. It could have be Iron Giant, or an original creation. It could have just said "He turned into a red and silver giant". The references don't serve the narrative, or give any insight into the characters or even tell you why the author thinks they are cool; a tasty treat but without substance. The book is the literary equivalent of eating cake frosting right of the can. Which, like, I do sometimes, not being judgmental, but at the same time I don't tell myself it's hummus when I do it.
The other thing is the setting, and this might just be because I am a parent, but the idea that my grandkids would be living in this dystopian future and not trying to change it, not engage with their world in any meaningful way, but strapped into a VR helmet, studying the minutia of my childhood instead of living one of their own is just depressing. That's not an escape, it's a prison. I grew up reading superhero comics, and at some point in the late 90s the Baby Boomers came in and decided that their versions of the superheroes were more relevant than the versions I had as a kid and this is like the same thing but for the entirety of all pop culture. Every generation deserves their own heroes, not a rehash of their parents and grandparents.