Father of the Bride Part II Review

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It’s time for Part II of this saga. Unfortunately, it falls into what I call the Airplane II trap. This film decides to just reuse all of the jokes and gags from the first film before calling it a day. You ever know someone who told a great joke once but then they got too much praise for it so after that they began to keep on using the same joke over and over and over again? That’s usually not a good idea because eventually the joke’s not going to work and that’s this film in a nutshell. In general it’ll probably be a bit better if you haven’t seen the first film but I would make the case that the premise is weaker in general.

The film starts off with George explaining that he finally has some free time as Annie has left the roost with Bryan so now he can do all the fun retiree stuff. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last long as his wife gets pregnant and will be having her baby around the same time as their daughter Annie. George must now deal with both of them essentially being out of commission but he’s rather old at this point. Can he look after them and basically go without sleep until the babies arrive? George may have to work with Franck on this.

So right away we have all of the recycled jokes. Annie and Bryan have another 2 minute fight about some nonsense that doesn’t make any sense. George is all upset again even though having a baby is pretty normal by this point in the relationship. Then Franck show up for a baby shower event where he spends all of George’s money again. What did George do to deserve all of this? George is absolutely more out of line in this film but still does step up to take care of his family when it counts. He even got a fun new hairdo and everything but doesn’t really get any support. That’s gotta be rough. He just wanted to prove that he wasn’t so old yet.

The whole expensive baby shower part also doesn’t make any sense. That’s really not a super popular thing compared to weddings. Everyone does a baby shower, but an expensive one with a 5 course meal and all the same trimmings as a Wedding? Cmon that’s just not a thing and doesn’t make any sense here. You’ll just be shaking your head the whole time and for good reason. Franck did not need to return and his scenes tend to be rather painful.

I can’t really fault Nina or Annie much this time. Ultimately they are pregnant for a good chunk of the adventure and that does mess with the mind a whole lot. They’re naturally going to be sleepy and having random cravings for most of the adventure. Maybe Nina could have been a little more considerate when George was unable to get a proper place to sleep because of the two guard dogs but that’s about it.

Mainly the film’s problem is that it just isn’t all that funny. I thought the gags were a step down and of course the reused ones won’t hit as hard this way either. It’s the kind of film that’s not really going to have an antagonist so in that case you need a different kind of hook. This time the film was unable to come up with one and that became the problem here. Just a little hook would have gone a long way here like maybe Annie wanted to have a special doll for her baby’s birth. So George has to go on a journey and find it or something like that.

A little goal would have gone a long way. Or perhaps having more arguments with the In Laws about the baby’s name. That doesn’t end up being a big part of the film as George doesn’t care a whole lot. For once Nina would have been on his side otherwise though and it could have made for some fun tension. Maybe both families keep trying to outdo the other one and it becomes a crazy competition? I could see a lot of potential there.

In this film Bryan and the In Laws don’t actually get to do much anyway. The cast is pretty small and we also get a whole subplot where George sell the house and things go crazy from there. The joke being that George loses even more money when he has to reverse the charge and you realize that he can never possibly win. At least that was a different angle though so I’ll give the film that. It made for an interesting, albeit somber plot. I wouldn’t have minded the characters moving to a new house in the end to really show that a new chapter was beginning.

George had a point that the house is rather big for just him and Nina. Of course now that they have a baby that will be a little different but I do think that the overall point stands. They could downsize a bit and still be really comfortable. That may have been a better final goal to really go with. The emotional beats of the film also ring a bit more hollow as George already had his final goodbyes to Annie’s kid self. He had moved on so the extra flashbacks here don’t really do anything. I suppose I can use this film as an example of an empty sequel. It’s not bad by any means but just feels a bit pointless.

Overall, Father of the Bride is the kind of film that didn’t really need a sequel but I can see why you would want to explore what happened after having a kid. So nothing wrong there but the film didn’t really think it through much beyond that. The double baby angle may help to up the drama but there aren’t a whole lot of funny jokes to associate with it. This is a movie that you will watch and be fairly ambivalent about by the end. It happened and it’s not a bad film but nothing really stood out. There are many alternative plots you could think of like the kid being a few years older so George and Nina have to babysit him which means missing out on a fun retiree vacation or something. Well, if you missed the old characters then you should check this one out.

Overall 5/10

Father of the Bride (1991) Review

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It’s time for a remake of a very classic movie. The premise for Father of the Bride is pretty solid right away. Anyone can empathize with a father who wants to make sure that his daughter doesn’t end up marrying the wrong guy. Along the way we have a lot of crazy shenanigans going on but at its core this is an uplifting movie. I do think that the end of the movie becomes a little more mean spirited than it should have been though.

The film starts off by spoiling the ending of the movie which is always a horrible way to kick things off. George talks about how he was initially against his daughter’s wedding and it was a real tough event but he hopes to laugh about it in the future. It’s a rather long monologue that tries a bit too hard to be funny and you’re just really waiting to get to the start of the actual adventure. So from here we get a flashback where George’s daughter Nina shows up and explains that she is engaged. Moreover, she plans to marry this guy named Bryan right away. George’s wife Nina is super excited so it looks like George is the only one left to add some rational thinking to this situation. Can he do this without alienating his whole family?

Right away there is a big problem with this which is that I don’t understand why Nina was immediately on board with this. I get the whole trusting your kids judgment thing but you do need to put that into a bit of context. Annie and Bryan have not known each other for very long so you just have to be practical about this. The film could have still had Nina be supportive without being blind about everything. I’m betting they just wanted a strong contrast to George being 1 billion percent against the wedding but it does end up hurting Nina as a result.

She gets her big victory against George in the end while she forces him to make a long apology after he is arrested. After that George is still punished further by running into a string of bad luck and having to miss every important event. He also loses so much money as a result of this wedding and that’s where you just have to be rooting for him the whole time. The wedding planner is clearly a hack and is overpricing them on everything. George is the only one trying to stop him and it’s portrayed as a bad thing.

George made his share of mistakes to be sure like snooping through the in law’s checkbook, general snooping, and being a little overly mean to Bryan. The guy isn’t without fault but half the time he is saying some reasonable stuff and the film is making him out to be the bad guy. Bryan’s job definitely did sound fake and I would have assumed he was lying too. Bryan tries to say all of the right things but I can also see how it would all sound fake. Bryan didn’t make the best first impression.

At the end of the day it’s George’s job to look after Annie and I’d say that he did a good job. I also don’t see why he should have to waste so much money on such a fancy wedding. It doesn’t make sense and anyone can recognize that he was being used here. They were wrecking his house and making a true spectacle of things. Nobody was thinking about George at all during this and that’s what felt bad. He was cut out of the celebration in the end and so the film felt rather sad there.

Now while I have all this to say about how the film treats George unfairly, the film does succeed in being an entertaining experience. The dialogue tends to be really strong and I enjoyed the humor. George’s various internal monologues are handled really well. I thought they were definitely funny the whole time and the film’s absurdist style makes for a lot of funny moments throughout the wedding. The pacing is good as well and the writing is solid.

Also while some characters can annoy me, they are ultimately all still likable except for the wedding planner. Annie may seem a little overly emotional and defensive throughout the film but deep down she also knows that the whole situation is crazy and a little absurd so that makes sense. The scene where she and Bryan decide to break up was super rushed and completely unnecessary though. That made both of them look bad but mostly Annie for being the one to rush out. I get the feeling Bryan was no being aggressive or doubling down at all.

As for Bryan, well he seems nice enough. The guy is moving rather quickly which is usually a red flag but if you think that you’ve found the right person then it makes sense not to hesitate. No reason to go slowly at all from his perspective. So while it looks harsh to everyone else, it doesn’t make him a bad guy. Likewise I think Nina’s being naive here but I get that she wants to support Annie. So even the worst characters have motivations and actions that make sense from their point of view.

Overall, Father of the Bride is a pretty good film. It can be a little frustrating at times because there are several scenes and moments that could have been a whole lot better with just a little tweaking. At the very least you have to remove the opening scene because spoiling the entire movie is never a good idea. How can you feel any drama for when the wedding gets called off when you already know that it’s going to happen? This is really filmmaking 101. I would also have at least given George a small win at the end to show how he finally learned to let go and is rewarded by seeing the wedding up close. The writers had other ideas this time but either way I would recommend checking this one out. I’d give the older adaption the slight edge but this one is impressively close.

Overall 7/10

Geostorm Review

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It’s time for a good ole disaster film. This one is fairly unique by starting off with the disaster and then handling it off screen. Then in the present…the disaster is happening again. Due to the story the film wanted to tell it probably had to happen this way but I have to admit that I still found it just a little bit funny. This is a pretty good movie all around though.

The film is centered around Jake who successfully built a weather satellite station that can control the weather and prevent disasters from happening. It worked very well for a long time but then Jake got fired for talking back to the government. Several years passed and now things are going wrong. The system is creating the disasters that it swore to protect. Jake is reluctantly asked to come back and fix things but it’s awkward since his brother Max is now the new boss. Jake feels like Max betrayed him by taking the position and not fighting harder to get Jake back into the mix earlier. Can they get past their sibling drama to save the world?

So right away I will say that the weakest part here is definitely the brother drama. Neither character looks great by the end of this. Jake should be taking responsibility for how he was acting towards the government and should realize that there was nothing Max could have done to save his job. Jake very thoroughly burned every bridge that he could and so the end was inevitable.

The drama would have been better if Jake had acknowledged this more but it never really comes up. I don’t think Jake’s attitude of not really wanting to be a people person is inherently bad but it does come with its share of weaknesses. Particularly in jobs where you do have to answer to other people while staying calm. Jake knows what he is doing but just being the best at what you do is really not always going to be enough in these situations. Also Jake loses a fight after having the element of surprise and two free shots which was incredibly embarrassing.

As for Max, well I still blame him for going out of his way to be a jerk about things at times. He seemed to really resent Jake for a large part of the movie and does lie to his face on different occasions. I imagine that over time the rift between them just kept on growing so it made for negative feelings on both sides but one of them needed to be the bigger man. So they both just end up looking rough.

Also I wouldn’t say that he handled the romance with Sarah particularly well. He acts shocked when she has to go on last second assignments but that is the life of the secret service which is fairly similar to his line of work. Most of their dialogue just tends to be banter otherwise which is fine but that was the one moment where you definitely look at him sideways. Sarah is a much better character than either of the main two.

She is very quick to use her elite skills to fight off the villains and actually takes down a whole squad. That helped to put some more action into the film and without her they would have all been doomed without a doubt. I’ll also give the President a thumbs up here for being on the ball real quick and not just having a shocked face the whole time. He had to endure some pretty big twists with no warning and handled them well.

Geostorm is at its best when it just embraces the crazy setup here. It was nice looking at all the big disaster scenes and the film is very fast paced. Something is always happening whether it is Jake’s investigation in space or Max’s on the ground. There is a good amount of conspiracy here to keep the tension and intrigue high at all times. The action scenes are also fun and having a human opponent helps a lot as opposed to it just being humanity against a bunch of natural disasters.

Realistically if we ever made a giant weather machine over the globe, it makes sense that someone would try to use it for nefarious purposes. Whether that means destroying it outright or just sabotaging it, that would only be a matter of time. Even as the film ends, things are going to be really rough for humanity for a while. The body count was rather huge by the end of the film so it feels like they only put of the disaster by a bit. Ultimately humanity cold not fight back against nature.

If the film wanted to fix the brother plot I think they would have needed both of them to be on the space station. Have them be forced to work together and slowly becoming close again. I would cut Jake’s kid out entirely because there’s just no way to fit that plot in and it makes the film over crowded. She didn’t end up having much of a point in the film. Then when Jake and Max save the days, you’ve got a pretty complete ending right there. Of course you don’t even need that drama in the first place. You could have easily just made Max another one of the government bureaucrats that Jake doesn’t like and he’s forced to learn how to play nice by the end. With how this film ends, you could make the strong argument that Jake didn’t learn any lessons and will blow up at Congress during his next meeting.

Overall, Geostorm is a pretty good movie and I would recommend checking it out. It covers all the bases you would expect from a thriller film and executes the plot well. Whether you haven’t seen many disaster films before or if you’ve seen them all; Geostorm holds up. I’d be ready for a sequel to this one. It’s also got just enough high tech elements where you could really have any number of plots within it.

Overall 7/10

Manhattan Murder Mystery Review

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It’s time for an old fashioned murder mystery. The film is a comedy first and foremost but does still manage to have a body count here. The writing could use a lot of work though and the film suffers from all the usual issues of a Woody Allen film. Namely that the dialogue is laughable at best and the characters are quite weak but at least the case itself is pretty interesting.

The film starts off with Larry and Carol returning home and chatting with their neighbors. Larry finds the whole experience to be painful but Carol doesn’t want to be rude. It turns out that would be the last time they see one neighbor as she died of a heart attack. The husband is taking this as well as can be expected…perhaps too well. Carol believes that he murdered his wife and now she wants to investigate the whole thing. Larry doesn’t really want to entertain this but has no way of stopping Carol. Meanwhile both of them are being pursued by would be suitors who don’t care about their married status. Can Larry and Carol stay strong here?

So right away the film does lose out on the technical elements. The writing only succeeds in making the characters as annoying as possible. The general plot about the murder mystery is solid enough but technically tends to be more of a backdrop. I do appreciate that it gives the film more of a plot in general though as a lot of the other Allen films just tend to be rather aimless. This one also does deliver with a pretty solid climax.

The strongest part of the film is the climax which homages the James Bond film with the Golden Gun. The shootout is solid and definitely more action packed than you may have expected. There is also no real cop out at the end so it’s not like the adventure was a bad dream or anything like that. I was half expecting the film to have some crazy explanation to distance itself from the story. Not a dream but something along those lines that would have resulted in a ton of misunderstandings. After all the film is always trying to go for a certain kind of realism that I ironically think makes it end up being less realistic because most people don’t act like these characters.

As for the characters, well lets start with the most desperate ones first. Marcia and Ted. So Marcia basically just wants some action so she tries to seduce Larry but is never able to get tough to him and settles for making Carol jealous by helping out with the murder mystery. While Larry never really faltered, I do think he needed to put more space between them. Keeping yourself in a tricky situation is always a recipe for disaster.

Then we have Ted who is far worse than Marcia with how direct he is. He basically confesses to Carol in the film aside from all the obvious hintings. This guy just has no class and honestly she needed to remove him as a friend. It’s one thing to have a friend who may like you deep down but one who is this upfront about it? That’s trouble and for that reason all of the scenes make Carol look extra bad as well.

Carol even goes as far as to try and make Larry jealous about this with how she keeps comparing his lack of enthusiasm in the mystery to how Ted is jumping at every opportunity. That basically forces Larry to have to get more involved when he knows that this is a bad idea. Also since the lady is dead, the situation is different than if they thought he had kidnapped someone. In that case then you have to act even without evidence.

Larry does still tend to get the funniest scenes of the film but his jokes still miss more than they land. I just enjoy the nervous, fast talking kind of humor that he has. With good writing then the film would probably be in a pretty good spot. Larry’s take on the situation is certainly more rational than the others. He has a point that heart attacks can happen for any number of reasons and jumping to murder feels a bit drastic. Even the lying could easily be explained by the neighbor just not being comfortable enough around the main characters to spill his beans.

Now granted, everyone seems to love giving way too much information to each other in these films but this could have been an exception. A neighbor is far from being a friend or a member of the family after all. Perhaps I’m just being anti social here but I wouldn’t want my neighbors barging in with snacks and drinks to randomly start talking. Especially in the evening I’d be relaxing and playing video games by that point.

It sort of goes without saying that all of the “romance” in the film is pretty weak. I’m not even sure if you could call any of it romance. The main leads are married here even if they seem to just love taking pot shots at each other the whole time. The side characters seem to just want to claim victory but I couldn’t detect any true passion there at all. Finally with the neighbors things obviously didn’t turn out well by the end and there was some extra drama after a twist or two.

The characters end up being too easy and just try to enjoy the moment without thinking of the ramifications. These are characters who might be fun to hang out with in a very limited time frame but you could not trust them as friends at all. They will always be putting themselves into dicey situations that are absolutely going to lead to dangerous habits and tempting arenas for cheating. If you were to stick with them then you’d be doomed. In some ways I could see these films being interesting watches for people who are stuck in areas outside of civilization like posts in the Arctic. It would give you a really interesting view of society if you didn’t live in it.

Overall, This is definitely not going to be a winning film. Even though it has a bit more of a plot going on than some of the other Allen films it still ends up being more noise than anything else. The kind of film that you might have on in the background while you’re doing chores or something. The film still needs more of a central focus for me to ever even begin to start calling it a solid title. Throw in some good writing as well and then we have a chance. If you really love the Woody Allen films then this one is worth watching. At the very least it does try to have a serious climax and to the film’s credit it really does play this straight. That’s the only real piece of credit I can give to the movie though because otherwise there’s just a lot of nothing going around. You are really better off with many other slice of life type titles.

Overall 3/10

Baby Boom Review

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It’s time for one of those films that tries to explain why you don’t want to be team corporate. Unfortunately, it does not make a strong argument and the film doesn’t live up to its full potential. The ending comes across as more tragic than wholesome and you will have a hard time rooting for the characters by the end. That’s just how it goes sometimes I suppose but you do feel like the movie could have really gone for a bolder ending that would have landed a better message for the film.

The film follows JC who has had a very solid career so far. She works for one of the biggest companies in the market and is getting close to being promoted as a partner within the firm. Her personal life is going well too and so JC feels like she has conquered life. Unfortunately a distant relative dies and now JC is inheriting a baby girl. Her boyfriend says that JC should give the baby away to an orphanage but she can’t bring herself to do this. Unfortunately this baby is quickly destroying her career and everything JC has spent her life building is being knocked to the ground. Her boyfriend runs off as well and so JC realizes that she may have to restart her life in a small town. Fortunately there’s a rebound guy here but can JC really be happy away from the rat race?

Unfortunately I am going to have to start this review by defending corporate here. Her boss actually seemed like a decent guy but of course he had to cut her off from the big projects. JC completely stopped being reliable after the baby entered the picture. JC would end up being late to meetings, forgetting deadlines, etc. At first the incidents weren’t major but they kept getting worse and worse so the boss had to give JC’s junior the position instead. Now it’s clear that this junior had been waiting for the day to get all the jobs over JC but at least he wasn’t cheating or anything.

He evidently still did the work and did it correctly. So JC just needed a better balance here. It makes sense that it would be tough to deal with a kid when she has absolutely no experience but that wasn’t the company’s fault. I won’t fault JC for wanting to take care of the kid so in this case there wasn’t really a villain. Things just went the way that they were bound to in a situation like this.

The small town plot tends to fall a bit flat though and in general the second half of the film is a bit weak. So JC heads into this town but unfortunately the house that she bought was a complete dump. Nothing works and so she has to spend an enormous amount of money to fix it. Then the local vet falls for her and they hook up rather quickly. I guess the relationship with the old boyfriend wasn’t all that strong eh? JC just goes a bit too quickly here and same for the vet.

He basically says that nobody else in the town is within his age range which is probably meant to make JC feel better but it sounds to me like he’s just desperate. JC is somehow able to make her own business in this town to start getting money again and that was good. It showed that she was still a creative genius who could continue to succeed in any environment.

Now where the next issue of the film comes in is when corporate calls her over and makes an incredible offer. JC basically turns it down to prove that she doesn’t need anyone’s help and this feels like a really bad decision. Striking out on her own like this just doesn’t make any sense. In the film it is portrayed like she made the right move and that would have only worked if the offer was more narrow. The problem here is that the company went above and beyond in making an incredible offer so it just makes her look bad for rejecting it.

JC just makes it a bit hard to root for her. She’s too quick to act like a victim in all of this when she gave corporate no choice but to sack her. The romance is really weak in general but only makes her look worse when she protests a whole lot only to quickly come over to Jeff’s side. (The vet) If that’s how it was always going to be, then maybe she shouldn’t have been so antagonistic the whole time.

Then while she may have made the right move in looking after the kid, the kid was not very likable here. She was constantly getting JC into trouble like with all of the crying and throwing the toys around. JC gets more of the blame for not being able to control a toddler but there is enough blame to go around here. It was just one of those very unfortunate things. The baby may not be the main character as that would be even worse but she gets enough screentime to be annoying. The film was at its best during all of the work scenes.

Ironically I would also just say that the movie makes small towns look bad. Sure, it worked out to get together with the vet but before that we see how the whole town is super unhelpful. Nobody is too bothered by the fact that JC bought a scam house where nothing works. They all just leave her alone to her own devices and barely even offer any sympathy. I would have ditched that town so fast because it just seems like an absolute nightmare. The whole point of a small town is the strong community and I didn’t see any of that here.

Overall, Baby Boom is not really my kind of film. It is going for the classic Hallmark feel to an extent but with a bit less of an upbeat attitude. It is going for more of the “realism” angle which can work sometimes but not in this case. I also have to admit that the baby brings things down at times too. She’s just too messy and causes too many problems for JC. If the baby had just been a bit older then maybe that could have been different but as it stands she just ends up being an obstacle the whole time. Check this one out if you want to convince yourself that working for corporate is a super terrible thing. Otherwise you can do better with any of the Hallmark Christmas movies.

Overall 4/10

Greak Memories of Azur Review

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I have to say this is a game that I didn’t know about before it came out. It’s got a fun teamwork mechanic like the Trine games and makes for a pretty good adventure. After playing it, I’d definitely be hyped for a sequel. There were a lot of quality of life features contained within the map and gameplay as well. The only strike against the game is really just how short it is.

The title begins with the main character needing to find his brother and sister so they can all get off of a doomed country. The people of the kingdom are building a giant airship in order to escape but they will need some special artifacts before going. The three main characters will grab these before leaving but it won’t be easy. There are enemies around every corner after all and they are definitely not here to make friends.

Each character has a different gameplay style. The main character plays the way you would as if you were someone like Link from the Legend of Zelda. You have your sword and you slash away at the enemies. Then your sister has the ability to float and shoot energy blasts. Definitely a really handy power and in some ways she feels like the most powerful as a result. Finally the older brother can use a grapple hook to cross large distances and has a shield that can block any energy attack.

There are puzzles that you have to solve by using each character’s unique abilities. Digging, Grappling, Floating. The puzzles are handled pretty well and have a solid amount of variety to them. The game was never too overbearing in this way so I appreciated that. The combat is also good although it does get pretty easy once you figure out one simple thing. Touching enemies actually doesn’t damage you. I was trying to be super careful not to bump into any of the enemies while attacking and so I thought the game was very difficult for a minute there. There was just no way to time everything perfectly but since enemies don’t hurt, it quickly became a full 180.

The game becomes super easy by this point because you can run into enemies with reckless abandon. There is really no downside to doing so after all. So that was definitely surprising. This game is more about having fun than being a challenge which can be a nice change of pace. You get to just embrace your power here and the final dungeon is the only one that actually forces you to use a lot of teamwork among the 3 characters.

Part of the reason for this is that the final member of the trio doesn’t even show up until near the end of the game. The adventure is nearly over by the time that he joins so you would really need to pick up a sequel to get to play as him more. It is also worth noting that a lot of the trophies in the game are missable so you should be very careful before you embark on the last journey. There is no stage select or anything like that.

The trophies will definitely help for the replay value though. Getting them all will take some serious time since you will also have to beat the game in 3 hours. It’s definitely doable but will take some trial and error. There is also another one about beating the game while only saving 5 times or less. You could maybe do both of those trophies at the same time since not saving would definitely save you some time.

The graphics are definitely pretty good. The art style is certainly charming and everything is very bright and colorful. The soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable but it’s not bad either. So on the whole there are a lot of positives to be had here. The technical aspects hold up well. As for the quality of life features I mentioned, the maps are very clear. Each character with an important conversation will have a yellow exclamation point above them. The item menus are good and the save points are spread across the world very well. There aren’t large gaps where you cannot save or anything like that.

The story may not be the most interesting but I was glad to have one in general. There are also little cutscenes at different points in the game. There is plenty of room for a sequel as well so maybe we will see Greak return some day. This time the characters would probably be together from the start so you could have the teamwork levels start right away. I can easily see that making the game more difficult.

Switching between the characters is seamless and all in real time so you could make for some really fun battles that way. The A.I. helps out a little bit when you’re not playing as a character but they tend to be lackluster. The damage that the other characters take also sticks around so if you don’t switch back right away then you’ll get a game over. Each of the characters have their own health bars after all as opposed to a big shared one. You have to eat different fruits and use items to get the health back.

Overall, Greak is a pretty good game. It’s what I would call a basic Metroidvania. There is a little backtracking but for a 4 hour game there isn’t a lot of time to be going back and forth like that. As you can imagine, the game is really over before you even know it. That said, the game is not all that expensive. So you should check it out and think of it as a fun proof of concept game. Hopefully it gets a full length sequel at some point. In the meantime this works as a perfect example of a game that is pretty fun and isn’t trying to be super ambitious. It’s meant to pass a few hours by with tight gameplay and succeeds in that mission.

Overall 7/10

David

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It’s time for a recent film based on the events of King David from the Bible. This one is particularly focusing on his rise to becoming the King. This makes for a pretty good adventure as that focuses on his strengths and his devotion to God. At this point we are only seeing the tail-end of Saul’s journey where he began to go crazy. Unfortunately being king is a huge burden and one that is far too much for just about any man after enough time has passed.

The film starts off by showing David being a good shepherd as he protects his sheep from a Lion. David was brave the whole way through even while knowing that he could be ripped apart by the Lion. David was not going to back down and that is absolutely crucial here. He would have to continue fighting opponents of a much larger stature than him like when he goes up against Goliath. That’s probably the most famous part of David’s journey so naturally it was going to be here.

Surprisingly it’s a fairly small part of the film though as a good chunk of it is really about dodging Saul’s many assassination attempts. I’d say this was a good idea because these are the scenes that you don’t see animated very often. It was definitely a really stressful time for David because having an actual king and his armies after you isn’t easy. Additionally, David’s troops continuously pressure him to murder Saul but David refuses. He refuses to go that far and will wait for Saul to see reason.

The animation may take you a little bit to get used to though. The character models and everything feels a bit off like this is almost a mix of 3D and stop motion. Still, the film does get the horror imagery across pretty well with how the Amalekite tribe looks. Their clothes really seem demonic and make them a clan that you don’t want to fight. David was able to put his trust in the Lord though and got everyone else to do this as they all began to sing and put their fear aside.

The film is part musical so there are different songs that play during the movie. On the whole I would say that the songs are good. None of them are going to end up being super memorable but they do work well in the scenes that they are in so I didn’t have any complaints there. Additionally, they don’t overdo it with the songs the way some musicals have one playing every 5 minutes. They are spread out pretty well here so there is always a purpose to the song.

The movie is also pretty straight forward so there isn’t a need for a bunch of twists and turns. Naturally if you’ve read the Bible before then you will know how the events play out so there wasn’t going to be much of a purpose in trying to keep anything hidden. Saul definitely feels like a very imposing character from the start who isn’t exactly oozing goodness so you’re not surprised when he ends up being a big antagonist.

It was good to see more of Jonathan as well since he was David’s best friend in the Bible and got a lot of screentime. Generally you don’t see him much in the adaptions though so this was really good. David’s brothers tend to appear a lot but this is the first time that his sister also got a role. So the film did well in expanding the characters and really fleshing everyone out.

It was also important to start off by showing David’s work as a shepherd. It’s a big part of his character growing up and sets the tone well. I was also glad about the fake out because initially it seemed like we would be starting the film off with animal violence which would have really been a rough beginning. It also would have completely undercut the first scene if you ask me so everything really turned out for the best here.

Finally David’s story is a classic example of how these situations were not ones that he could have solved on his own. If he had chosen to fight without God and just trust in his own skills, he would have lost. The odds were not in his favor and by any human metric David would never have survived this encounter. He would not have defeated Goliath with a slingshot under his own power. Nor would he have been able to evade Saul’s men for years and always find a way to make a counter attack. David was only able to survive this because he put his complete trust and control in God’s hands. While David would go on to have a rough adventure, this is why he is still looked up to as one of the men closest to God’s heart throughout the Bible. You tend to see him and Paul mentioned a lot in that respect. Paul went through a rough period to start things off while David hit the rough patch near the beginning. Ultimately they had to repent and confront their own weakness.

Overall, This was definitely a really good film and it’s clear that the writers were paying attention to the source material here. The animation may not be one of my favorite styles but you’ll quickly be drawn into the narrative so it won’t be a big deal. The film is really paying attention to details and has good pacing throughout. They cover a whole lot of ground here and the characters all act as they should. There is plenty of room left for a sequel should they ever want to do that but this one definitely covers the key events. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I definitely recommend changing that. Whenever we get a well done adaption of the Bible like this, you really want to see it as soon as possible!

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 Review

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Season 2 was really a huge one as the heroes were invaded within their own country and casualties were high. Rimuru was nearly destroyed by Hinata and had to make a tough choice. He became the demon lord of legend and was able to power everyone up to all new heights. That was a turning point in a lot of ways, one of which is that there are no longer many threats to Rimuru. While season 3 has its share of fights, there is never a moment where you think that Rimuru is in danger. He’s likely top 5 in his own verse at this point and at least 2 of those other fighters are in his army. Not much to worry about at that point.

The season has 2 main arcs here. The first one wraps up the rivalry with the holy church. Hinata decides to go and call for a true with Rimuru but after receiving a threatening notice from him, realizes that it might come down to a fight. She aims to give it her best but knows that this will likely be futile. Her friends are manipulated into following her and picking a fight with Tempest though. Fights are unavoidable now and they are basically fighting an army of unstoppable demons. That’s not going to go over very well for them.

Then in the second half you have Rimuru throwing a giant festival. Since when is he not throwing one right? Well, it’s an even bigger deal this time as kingdoms from around the world will be attending and they have even set up a big arena for people to fight and have a good time. Among them is a new character named Masayuki. He is known as a legendary hero who is basically unbeatable. While it initially seems to be in a toon force type of way, that is literally his power. He can use plot armor as he pleases and that’s a fun power to have. The guy isn’t evil or anything though o dealing with him won’t be too hard.

Right away it is important to set your expectations here. Rimuru is so strong that there is no danger anymore. Like I said in the intro, that kind of plot stopped with season 2. You still have top budget fights and a great atmosphere, but the series won’t have you on the edge of your seat anymore. So how you feel about that will determine how much you enjoy the season. Fortunately I am totally fine with this. The Slime series has really been more about politics and world building for a while now. It is a power fantasy but one that focuses on teamwork and building ties among comrades. It’s a fairly unique spin on the whole thing.

Put it this way, Rimuru is friends with Vendora, known as one of the strongest forces in the universe. He is functionally immortal and everyone thinks twice before messing with him. Rimuru is best friends with Milim, the most physically powerful of the demon lords. He has the respect of all the others except for 2 who seem like crazy antagonists. Rimuru has earned the allegiance of Diablo, a demon so powerful that he evolved past the ranks of what was deemed possile. Rimuru is friends with all of the tree spirits, he has 3 evolved Oni fighters on his team as well as a master swordsman demon and an entire army of other creatures. Rimuru’s whole country is also boosted by his demonic energy so they can all regenerate from any nonlethal attack. It’s also worth mentioning that Rimuru has all the best scientists working for him so the country is also far more advanced than any others. It’s absolutely not fair…but that’s the fun of it.

There’s an ongoing joke about how the franchise is some kind of underground tax scandal conspiracy because nobody is actually trying to watch 5-6 episodes in a row of nonstop meetings. Well, while the joke is funny, I actually do enjoy the meetings. They feel realistic while never being bring and the characters are likable enough for the interactions to all be interesting. So when Rimuru finishes one meeting, only to start another one immediately afterwards with different characters, you don’t feel bad about it.

It all comes down to the writing which is extremely good. Then you also have meetings about the villains as they all talk tough and threaten each other. The show still has a veil of danger about it after all so you are supposed to be thinking that these villains could be a problem. Perhaps there will be a point where the meetings get boring but so far that has not happened at all. The show is also on the right trajectory here where, ever since it began to take things seriously in season 2, we saw a sharp drop in fanservice. That was the biggest credit to the series because that was quite obnoxious in season 1. Nowadays it is extremely rare and almost never happens.

The technical elements are also extremely good as always. The animation is top tier with some great cuts like when Rimuru has his rematch against Hinata. Diablo getting to show his stuff against the other characters is also very satisfying as always. You don’t necessarily need there to be a big threat to get some really fun battles established after all. Especially since the heroes like to hold back and sandbag a lot so the fight still appears to be competitive for a while there.

Then we have the soundtrack which is really good. There are a whole lot of tunes to the point where it can be difficult to find one that you are looking for on Youtube. You have to be willing to go through a whole lot of different songs. The opening may not be my favorite from the seasons but you still have the classic battle themes as well as new ones. It is very well rounded so I have no issues there.

Okay so lets talk about the characters. First up we have Rimuru who is a pretty fun character. He has improved a whole lot from when he was first introduced after all. Initially he was constantly horny like your average protag but after being a slime for a while he has mostly gotten past that. I won’t say that he is permanently past that but it’s not really a big factor anymore. He has learned what it means to be a king and is even starting to know how to use people. He has even begun to notice the various characters like Yuuki and Raphael being really shady.

Raphael is an interesting character as a result though because they are hinting more and more that she may have some secret plans at the ready. There is nothing definite but at times she seems to give Rimuru the wrong advice or will just hide part of the answer from him. It’s all a bit suspicious but so far there are no hints as to what’s going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a real character who has been pretending to be the A.I. all this time. That would be an interesting twist. After all we do see that all of the otherworlders hear this voice like Hinata when she first got transported to this world. Maybe it’s all connected.

One thing about the Slime series is that the cast of characters is absolutely humongous. As a result not everyone gets to have a big role in each season. There would just be no way to pull that off. So Veldora and Milim don’t get to do much here for example. They are immensely powerful and could end the fights in an instant so they have to get written out. Veldora always wants to help out but Rimuru tells him to cut it out. Likewise he doesn’t trust Milim since she sucks at holding back. These are the kinds of difficulties you run into when your army is too powerful.

Even Gobta and the Oni don’t do a whole lot here. Gobta gets one fight where he does well thanks to hos OP regeneration is in combat. Benimaru and Souei win their fights pretty easily so they don’t get a whole lot to do. Hakuro and Shuna are also around but there isn’t much time for them. They all got big fights in season 2 so that makes sense. Shion is the only one with a really big role in this season. Her new powers after evolution are absolutely intense.

She went from having a tough time (Albeit there were some specific circumstances there) in season 2 against one of the other outworlders to taking on multiple holy knights at once here. She is incredibly powerful now and is nearly invulnerable. Raphael even mentions that her rule breaker sword could even hurt Rimuru at this point. Shion’s loyalty is completely unmatched so that’s not a worry for him but shows how powerful she is. Shion is the kind of character that is super easy to root for throughout. I love characters who show that kind of loyalty and she has only continued to go up as the seasons go on. I may have her in my top 5 characters at this point. Off the top at least it would be Diablo > Milim > Hinata > Shion > Luminous

That’s why I really enjoy Diablo as well. He has enough power to really do whatever he wants but the guy is completely loyal to Rimuru. He intends to follow that guy forever and does his best to accomplish each goal. His role is that of a butler so Diablo has to find ways to win without murdering his opponents. That’s not always easy and goes against his nature but he makes it work. Diablo is very earnest and has good instincts. He has quickly become my favorite character in the series and that’s not easy with how many great characters are in this series.

On the villain side, Luminous gets more of a role here although you could say that she is a total good guy now. We learn a bit more about how her group operates and it turns out that she has been using kid gloves the whole time. She was never downright evil like the other demon lords and so that makes you re-evaluate the character. She’s certainly not blameless or anything like how she let this cult of the Seven Luminaries get away with so much. Still, she has no intentions of going against Rimuru so that’s handy.

I do have to give the Seven Luminaries a shoutout for talking such a grand game though. They all go out like chumps but still made for some good cliffhangers. They made great speeches and are technically very powerful. They just happened to pick a fight with opponents who really cannot be defeated. None of them come remotely close to winning a fight and the entire group is defeated in this season. So much for those guys eh?

At least we had a big villain though. Otherwise Hinata would be the biggest antagonist here even though she is a good guy as well. We finally see the rest of her origin story here and how she would ultimately be manipulated by the holy church. In all fairness, those guys aren’t evil either, there are just a lot of bad actors to filter through. She has made a lot of great friends along the way and will be a valuable ally going forward. Rimuru may not have needed more powerful fighters but you may as well keep stacking the deck against the villains.

By the time the season ends there are really just 3 villain groups left. First you have the merchants, then you have the old man who seemed to control the Seven Luminaries, finally you have Yuuki. We know that Yuuki is powerful from his one spar with Rimuru a while back but you have to wonder how he can possibly be a match nowadays. None of these villain groups seem like serious threats but they could surprise me. In particular Yuuki seems like the most interesting figure, I want to see what his overall goals are. For now his being evil just feels random with how much time he spends being a nice guy and helping out. If it’s something as petty as being jealous of Rimuru then that will be a bad look for him.

There’s plenty of time to introduce more characters and keep the fights going though. Last season we saw the council of demon lords and in theory each of the other 6-7 could give Rimuru a good fight. So things could change soon but as it stands, most of them would be allies anyway. So whether we throw more festivals or get more fights in, I’m looking forward to what’s next. Slime absolutely knows how to manufacture a fun atmosphere and develop a ton of interesting characters. When your fundamentals are that good, it becomes very easy to have a successful season in any genre. While I hope we continue the fights in each season, a season of slice of life episodes would also end up working very well.

Overall, This is the best example of a comfort show that I can think of. You can pull up any episode and have a good time knowing that the heroes are too strong for anyone to really challenge them. It is nice to just see everyone getting along and imagining yourself being one of the residents of the country. This is one of the only series where you can feel really safe and not expect a random villain to just blow up the town or something like that. It’s a fresh change of pace and I definitely expect big things from season 3 as well.

Overall 8/10

007 First Light Review

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This was a game that looked like a blast right from the start. In a way First Light was kind of like a successor to the old Uncharted franchise. Yes this would be about James Bond but there was more of a focus on the hand to hand combat than on the gun gameplay. Can’t really say I minded that all that much. After all I love the hand to hand gameplay. Throw in a compelling story and you really have a great title here.

The game is essentially an origin story for James Bond as we start the game with him being a soldier. After one mission goes haywire, Bond ends up joining M16 and trains to become a numbered agent. Along the way he will have to deal with powerful rival agents and an information leak that could end the civilized world. Fortunately Bond is ready for all of this. He’s never been the kind of guy to shy away from a fight after all.

Bond is one of those characters that I don’t generally like. I feel like he tends to lose far too quickly in most films and gets outsmarted all the time. He’s also way too girl crazy and this comes at the expense of the mission. While those traits still exist in this game, they are certainly not played nearly as much as in the movies. Bond is much more focused here for the most part even if he still makes time for a few one night stands every now and again. That keeps him from being a great character but at least he came a lot closer here than he ever did in the movies.

The game is fairly long so you won’t beat the campaign too quickly. It’s certainly not 20 hours but is easily in the double digits and I was satisfied with the campaign. There are 10 main chapters here and there are a lot of collectibles and extra dialogue options in each level. Unfortunately the simulator mode is online only which is a shame since that part is supposed to be a whole lot of fun. I guess I will work on playing through that during a free PSN weekend or something like that.

For the gameplay, the action part has you focusing on lots of punches and grabs. Grabs are completely broken in this game. They go through any attack and you can trap enemies in unescapable combos. They only don’t work on bosses who are immune to physical attacks and you must use the environment against them. Not a problem, there are always a lot of things to throw everywhere. You also have your gadgets which can short change any fight. Each gadget can one shot the opponent standing in your way.

I think the goal was to make sure that the game is accessible to everyone and for that reason it is a little bit on the easier side. Tere are times you will die though. I definitely died in quite a few of the shootouts which are the toughest part s of the game. The stealth and hand to hand parts though? You will breeze through those.

For the stealth there isn’t much of a punishment to failing thanks to the bluff mechanics that are around. Just back up and start again or use one of your gadgets to stun the guy and walk past him. Likewise for the punching parts, if they manage to land a blow on you then you can just run away. Your health regenerates really quickly so you can go back to full health and then fight again. So if you really want a challenge then you should probably start on hard mode.

I gotta say that I approved of these mechanics though. It’s going to be hard going back to normal stealth after this since all of the bluffing just feels so satisfying. Additionally you feel the impact from every punch. The combat is super satisfying all the way around. I really don’t have anything bad to say about the gameplay. It is always consistently top tier and you have a whole lot of freedom to attack the levels in any way that you want to. I certainly have a lot of fun with freedom like that.

If I had any kind of nitpick with the game it could be that at times the story could move a bit slowly. I really enjoyed the intro, the climax, and a lot of stuff in between but then sometimes things would go a bit slowly. Walking through the villain HQ in the arctic for example was a bit on the slow side as you must maintain your cover and can’t just go in blasting. I know why we had to be subtle but I just wanted to get on with it. If anything I wish that the final part could have been longer since having to play as Bond without any gadgets or special powers was fun. It lets you see just how strong he still is even without any kind of backup like that.

I’m betting that the sequels will only continue to add new gameplay styles and gadgets to the mix so I’m sure things will only get better from here. Of course with a different game studio coming in that may not be as much of a guarantee as I was thinking. Either way I have high hopes though. This is definitely the kind of game that you should play right away. The story is still very good even if I thought it had some pacing issues. The villains also end up being quite memorable. The best boss fight in the game is pretty early on though where you have to take on two assassins at once. That was a great fight, wish we could have gotten more like that. Later on the bosses are all immune to physical attacks like I mentioned before so they are a bit more gimmicky than the usual battles.

Overall, The term “AAA” may have taken some shots over the years but this is exactly the kind of game that you would think of for this acronym. First Light feels like a game that had a lot of development time put into it and this was not wasted. Every part of the game is treated with a lot of care and dedication. The gameplay is smooth and every technical element is accounted for. There may have been one or two times where the game crashed but it auto saves constantly so you don’t lose much progress. All of the classic quality of life features are in this game as well which is another credit to its favor.

Overall 8/10

Hollow Knight: Silksong Review

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It hasn’t been super long since I played Hollow Knight so I was definitely ready to check this one out. Silksong is known as being even more difficult than Hollow Knight so I was really excited for that. There was a patch though so the gap has definitely been reduced. On the whole I think it is safe to say that Silksong may be a little more difficult….maybe. Honestly it was really close. The final boss is definitely easier though.

The game centers around Hornet, who is abruptly kidnapped from her land and taken to the mysterious Citadel. She wants out of this place and intends to slaughter everyone in her way. If anyone surrenders then that is fine but most of these creatures just want to fight it out anyway. Fortunately Hornet is no stranger to combat and I just love how aggressive she is throughout the whole game.

It’s a major reason why this one beats the first Hollow Knight for me. Hornet just has such great dialogue throughout the game and that adds so much depth to the title. The plot feels a lot more detailed as a result and she even has her own rival to deal with. A lot of the characters like to talk very vaguely like in the first game but Hornet just throws in a few threats and they cease all of that foolishness.

As for the gameplay, special attacks are much less of a thing than in the first game. You are instead using a bunch of loadouts based on your crest. There are around 8-9 different styles to use. I unlocked most of them by the end but mostly stuck to the power crest the whole time. It’s a bit slower but the downwards slash covers such a wide area. I was able to use that to successfully trounce just about every boss. The only time I had to switch was in the final rival battle where the Beast Crest carried me to victory. Each crest has its pros and cons so it will all depend on your battle style.

For example, the beast crest does not allow you to heal but you can use a primal attack that drains your opponent’s health while you fight. So it’s really risky but you do deal a ton of damage. That was key against the rival because I just couldn’t dodge her attacks consistently so trading blows was my best chance there. You also have a lot of accessories that you unlock throughout the game but they tend to be a whole lot weaker than the Hollow Knight ones. Aside from the map and collecting beads along the way, the rest of them don’t tend to do much.

I would have liked some stronger items to really incentivize you while walking through the map but I guess they didn’t want the game to get too easy. As it is, there is still a good amount of variety as you play through the game with your gear. Some abilities also tend to be huge game changers like when you get the double jump. Of course I got that after beating the final boss so it sure felt pretty late in the game.

There is a good amount of replay value to be had here as beating the game is just the stat. You will unlock a third act when you go down the true ending path which adds new bosses and such. Considering that the game was $20, this is really a steal. It’s just hard to beat that kind of a deal. The main campaign took me around 20 hours and getting the Platinum would likely be at least another 20-30.

The bosses are also well crafted. They’re all very different so one boss that might be super difficult for me might be easy for you and vice versa. It just depends a lot on your fighting style. In general I would say the best thing to do is fight slow and methodically look for counter strikes. That’s not generally how I play games but in this game it makes sense because their attacks deal a ton of damage. Just eating one attack will significantly set you back so you don’t want that to happen.

Go slow and you’ll eventually win. If I have a small nitpick it is that there should have been a few more quick travel points. Based on where you want to go, there will be times where you have to cross a long distance on foot and it’s a journey that you will have already done many times before. So you don’t really want to do it yet again. Not a big deal overall but you do start to feel the repetition a little bit by the end. Just one or two more train stops could have solved that issue.

As for the graphics, the game looks great like you would expect. The characters are really striking and the special effects are on point. I like the mini cutscenes that play every now and again as well. These are all small things that helped to pass the first game. This was really a worthy sequel. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though so that’s one thing that this game does not have in its favor.

Overall, Silksong is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s a great game with a whole lot of content and it was all crafted very carefully. there is a lot of replay value here and I will definitely be hyped when they announce the next big title. I know everyone is hyped for the Sea of Sorrow expansion in the meantime though. I’m sure that will be great as well but nothing beats a whole new game. Perhaps a crossover where you play as both characters or something like that. If you haven’t played the game yet and are worried about the difficulty, I would advise you to play it anyway. The difficulty level is high but it’s always in a air way. When you die to an attack, it is one that you definitely had the opportunity to dodge.

Overall 8/10