Yeah, that always bothers me about magic when there are no rules presented for what it can do -- if it can do literally anything you can conceive, you're not coloring outside the lines, you *have* no lines, nothing to give the story shape. Stuff is just going to happen based on what the writer feels should happen, and cleverness can't really operate because... Someone can *say* they're being clever or smart all they want but without rules, there's no real puzzle being solved.
I agree wholeheartedly. It's the sort of thing that would make me tune out when an episode of Star Trek had the major conflict solved by, "Sayyyyyy, if we reverse the polarity on the thingamawhazzits, that JUST ... MIGHT ... WORK!" -- versus the episodes that focused more on personality or even those episodes with a brazenly allegorical setup. Or, Silver-Age Superman, when he'd save the day by pulling a new superpower out of his cape (perhaps literally). Or really cliche shounen anime where a mecha battle consists of "Arrrrrrrgh ... yaaaaaaargh!" "ZOMG! The power of his unstoppable YOUTHFUL SPIRIT is OFF THE SCALE!" **KABOOM* (wipes out entire enemy army at once just because the giant sci-fi robot is somehow powered by the hero's angst level or some-such
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Whoops! I thought from your responses that you must have already seen the movie (so I wouldn't be spoiling anything). Yes, the baker ... hmm. Well, I suppose he provides moral support for the hero? But, no, technically he's not really in any position to DO anything terribly useful. He's mostly just this fish-out-of-water comic relief guy who gets dragged along for the adventure. He just happens to be a great deal more likable and sympathetic than the typical "comic relief sidekick guy" that I can think of.
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Did the baker get to do *anything* useful in the film?
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