One of the Worst Movie Sequels!
This is a badly written and scripted Mary Sue story. It's the type of Mary Sue that is also known as a 'Senna Marie'. Everything in that category gets a thumbs-down from yours truly.
the dreck that was supposed to pass as the third Anne movie. It was a Kevin Sullivan production with some of the original cast from the first two movies; Megan Follows as anne, Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert, etc. But they were not acting anything like the characters I had grown up reading about and watching on TV. It was as if they had taken some kind of drug or potion that completely changed their personalities beyond recognition. Starry-eyed, demure little Diana was changed into a bossy snob in an unhappy marriage. Rachel Lynde hardly got any air time. Ditto for Gilbert.
As for Anne, well...here we go.
Anne and Gil have a rushed wedding, well, at least there isn't nearly as much footage of Anne's wedding as there was of Diana's in the second movie. Hel-lo! I thought Anne's marriage to Gil, her one true love was supposed to be a climactic event, so why rush through it after taking more time with Diana's wedding? Please. The viewer doesn't even see all but a few fleeting seconds of Fred and Diana before their wedding in Anne 2.
Anne and Gil get a good chunk of romantic onscreen time during the first two great movies, so it just seems they should've spent more footage on Anne's and Gil's big day in this movie, instead of rushing it so they could send Gil away and bring in this horrible Mary Sue! Or, Gary Stu in this case since it happens to be a male.
So...
Right after the wedding, war breaks out.
Gilbert, Anne's husband is sent away.
He is M. I. A...For the rest of the movie until the very end!
Anne goes to look for him.
Enter: Jack, the Gary-Stu (Senna Marie!)
Anne meets Jack...uh...Jack Garison? Garret? Heck, I can't remember that stupid character's darn surname.
Jack whatsit is among other things, a rogue, a liar and a thief. I sort of remember something about his taking the credit for some book Anne wrote or something like that.
Anyway, he falls in lust with Anne. And all through the movie, he hangs around, helping Anne search for Gilbert like every hero should, but you know what's really going through his mind. I mean come on; he tries throughout the movie to seduce Anne - starting with trying to get her up into some hotel room with him - and she doesn't cuff him but good and tell him in no uncertain terms where to go, which is what she would and should have done. She actually tolerates his hanging around after his initial rotten behavior. Sheesh! Morgan Harris was bad enough in the second movie with that, and even he wasn't quite so obvious about it; besides, that was still back before Anne was married. She and Gil were still not quite sure they were committed to each other at that point.
In Anne2, the storyline was interesting, moving, and funny, and it would've come off wonderfully even if Harris hadn't been there. his lame attempt at a relationship with Anne was merely a subplot within the whole story. He didn't dominate the whole movie, and Anne was very spirited and great at spurning his annoying advances and his arrogance. Other relationships among Anne and her students and the Kingsport staff were explored, with many touching and humorous situations. The other main characters still got a lot of screen time, before and after Anne went off to teach at the junior college. Even during her stay, that movie still showed Rachel Lynde and Marilla talking back at home in Avonlea, so they were never really left out of things. All of that made Anne2 a great movie, which would've been even better minus the Morgan/Anne near-romance. At least that part of it didn't take over and ruin the movie.
I can't say the same about Jack, the Gary-Stu (Senna Marie) in the so-called Anne3. What's more, Jack's girlfriend died, leaving their kid behind - so you know what kind of guy he is, sleeping around, getting girls pregnant, something a main or strong supporting character in this setting just doesn't do let alone worm his way right into the center of Anne's life for a while. But the baby is there, without a mom, so Anne naturally takes care of this kid, who is the most squally baby you could imagine. So through much of the movie, you get to listen to a screaming kid, and the sounds of war. Yeah, great fun! NOT...
anne mumbles her lines throughout the whole cotton-pickin movie, is rather cold toward people she normally wouldn't be, and even seems to almost give in to this Jack whatever, she's certainly not objecting to his advances the way she should, and normally would. In one scene, she's drunk, and wearing a nun's habit; what the freaking heck's up with that!? *Grrrrrr!* Character violation! ARGH!
All through the movie as Anne travels with Jack Jerk and the kid around the world, the plot is filled with meaningless little misadventures that are obviously contrived to keep Jack in the spotlight trying to play hero, helping to find Anne's husband, all the while you know he's secretly hoping they won't so he can get a chance at her. It is all half-baked, and deplorably convoluted, unmoving except to disgust, unfunny, and at best, boring.
Anne does not get reunited with her husband, Gilbert, until the very end.
Jack only goes away at the end of the movie as well..by dying a heroic death! *rolling eyes* oh,puhleeze!!! I wanted him to take a hike within the first ten minutes of his time on screen for crying out loud! Did they really think that a lame plot contrivance, making him die as a hero or martyr was going to endear him to the audience? Get real! That didn't make up for the couple hours of totally wasted time on this idiotic Anne/Jack pairing!
As for the squally kid, he gets adopted by Gilbert and Anne! *Another roll of the eyes* Big probs with that as well!
In the books, Anne and Gilbert don't start their family by adopting a baby boy left behind by parents that die, much less the son of some sorry loser who slept around and got some girl preggo with his kid, and then lusted after another woman soon after his gf died!
Anne and Gilbert's first baby, a girl, dies at birth, and they have a few biological children who thrive. So this movie wasn't just a slight deviation from the books, it was a complete departure, all for the sake of this stupid Senna Marie character, Jack Whatsit.
If you don't like this kind of character violation or idiotic pairings, this movie could put you in need of several things; a barf bag, a punching bag, and the wish that you had known beforehand it was going to be this bad, along with the question of what in blue blazes made them churn out such a dud? What the heck were they thinking!?
the first two movies were so great! But this one doesn't even warrant being numbered in the Anne movie sequels. They should make a different movie, more true to character, and call that one "Anne 3" and burn this one; it is a miserable disappointment, an unmittigated flop!
Excuse me while I scream. You may want to plug your ears, this is gonna be loud.
*deep breath in* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*deep breath and sigh* Ahhhhhhhh, that feels better. You can unplug your ears now. :p
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