Restrospective on the Qixote derivatives

Some time ago I wrote reviews for The Inseparables and Giants of La Mancha and yeah, it’s weird how two films derived from Don Quixote on a modern setting were released so close together, like with 2022 and it’s slew of Pinocchio movies.

For the moment though, this seems to be a duology so I might as well compare both films.

Both of them have obviously a Don Quixote stand-in with wild imagination. I feel this was a bigger plot point in The Inseparables since it’s how the day is solved and ties to the themes of being different and possible neurodivergence allegory, whereas in Giants it was just kind of random. There, it’s simply a contrived way to make a rift between Alfonso and Pancho, and while it’s seen in the final battle it really does nothing besides reskinning what’s actually happening on-screen with Alfonso’s imagination.

Both films naturally miss the point of Don Quixote’s delusions, which I feel would have made for a powerful lesson or at least an interesting theme, but the closest we get is it provoking three act low points. They just want the Bluey pie and eat it too, neverminding the fact that on shows like Bluey imagination still is grounded while the characters in these films are literally hallucinating. Alfonso in particular is constantly surrounded by imaginary rabbits; this is not the mark of a quirk personality, it’s genuinely concerning.

Overall, I’d say neither are good movies, and I can’t decide which is worst.