Alma's redemption felt too rushed, like she even didn't earn it.

What hurts me is the idea to have a grandma as the antagonist. That's so ridiculous.

But the big weakness I have with Jared Bush is that he isn't that able to write compelling villains (with the exception of Tamatoa). His villains ended up to be misunderstood.

The ending was a bit rushed, but I wouldn’t say the redemption was unearned.

Also, I don’t see a problem with a grandma being an antagonist.

"I don’t see a problem with a grandma being an antagonist."

No comment

If that’s the way you reply, I don’t think I’ll argue with you.

Ah, don't forget Lord Grigon from Elio.

I haven't watched Elio yet so don't give any spoilers.

My personal problem with sympathetic villains is that their personalities are often very one-note. Like they are serious or angry most of the time. For me, Tai Lung and Gorr work because their personalities have a lot of flavors. They had tragic origin stories but still have moments of charisma and calm-headedness which complement their tragic and serious moments. This makes them feel alive and engaging. I know Namor is praised a lot in the MCU fandom but one of the reasons he doesn't work for me is how he is serious and arrogant almost all the time. Other than that, he is also forgiven for his heinous crimes and feels like a rehash of Killmonger.

Not the one who started it, but a good example in my opinion is Negan Smith having a redemption story. Why? Grimes has killed people WAY worse than Negan, yet when it comes to Negan all of a sudden it's, "you don't have to be the bad guy." That doesn't make any sense! Now Negan is a hero for whatever reason.

I'm not sure who started this but I argue it's more so how those characters are written and less that they are sympathetic.

Bad writing,rushed redemption,and too many heinous crimes to be redeemed

If you watched Ghibli well you kinda see most of them