Talk:Bellwether/@comment-26450181-20160308215707/@comment-1635429-20160401201244

You have to understand what I'm saying here: I don't dislike Bellwether because she's a "twist villain". What I dislike is how Disney is neglecting the development of her character for the sake of keeping her villainy a surprise.

The only aspect of the movie that justifies her villainy being kept a secret is the fact that the movie is a mystery. If it weren't, Bellwether revealing herself much earlier wouldn't have made a difference to the story. The characters don't have to know she's evil early on, but the audience should. Once again, audiences need time spent with the character in order for said character to actually make an impact. That's why Nick and Judy are so popular. We spend time with them (acting as themselves, as not some puppet persona meant to keep the shock-value alive), so we feel and understand their characters. Bellwether, we don't get that. We spend time with a meek, sweet assistant, and in the last five minutes, we're supposed to believe she's some brilliant, bitter mastermind. Because of the limited timeframe, there's no room for development on that aspect, so it doesn't come off as clever, it comes off as rushed and cheap. Like a throwaway afterthought.

A movie is a movie first, and a social message second. The message, the social commentary, all of it is useless unless your characters are strong. Messages don't drive Disney movies, there are plenty of Disney films with great messages but ultimately fall under the radar because the characters are weak and forgettable. What drives a story are the characters that you have to follow, and that includes the villain. Unfortunately, with Frozen, Big Hero 6, and definitely Zootopia, they neglect character development for the sake of a twist.

And let's not forget, Jafar and Scar give off the same, exact message as these revival villains. They're viewed as allies to the heroes for most of the movie, but they're revealed to be traitors at the end. What's the difference between Jafar/Scar and Hans/Bellwether? Both Jafar and Scar are given numerous scenes in the spotlight. We don't see a puppet, we see their true personalities shine and perform, and that's why we love them. The filmakers didn't relegate Jafar and Scar to cheap shock-values during the last twenty minutes, they treated them like characters with an equal amount of development as the heroes.

Again, it has nothing to do with her being a "twist villain". You don't have to keep defending them, because the trope isn't the problem. It's about how they develop the character. They do so poorly. These are terrible, underdeveloped, inconsistent characters. And the primary reason for that is because the filmmakers are so obsessed with surprising the audience.

This is all just my opinion, of course, but after three movies of the same nonsense, three movies with the same glaring flaw, it gets a little tiring.