Monthly Archives: December 2021

Moriking Review

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It’s time for the next big Jump manga…or at least it could have been in a different timeline. Alas, I can see why this one didn’t last very long. It’s a comedic manga that tries to have some action elements but ends up succeeding at neither. I’ve certainly read way funnier titles in Jump like Reborn! and have read numerous better action ones. The issue with trying to be two things is that you will often fail at both and so Moriking didn’t stand much of a chance from the start.

The story starts with a kid named Shota getting all excited because he’s finally getting a bug of his own. Shota is obsessed with insects of any kind. His sister Shoko is not very excited about this but she does her best to be as supportive as possible. Well, the insect hatches…into a grown up dude named Moriking. He explains that he is one of the King candidates to rule the insect kingdom. Others will appear to fight him for the throne. He still has the same life expectancy as a normal beetle though and will die when Autumn ends. Shota is psyched to have such a cool beetle while Shoko has a hard time believing this. None of this seems natural. Cue the comedy shenanigans!

This is a comedy first and foremost. We do get some action scenes as the series goes on but you still won’t be mixing up the genres. Trust me on this, it’s still clear what the focus here is throughout. The series is 35 chapters long and I would say around 30 of those are comedy chapters. So having 5 action ones wouldn’t change the main genre for me. Unfortunately the series just isn’t that funny which is a really big issue for a comedy manga. In fact, you could say that it’s an absolutely massive issue.

The issue here is that the comedy is very limited. The main gag is the fact that Moriking is a bug and yet nobody seems to care. He goes to school, helps the police, etc. All the while he still keeps some beetle characteristics. The only one who seems to care is Shoko who constantly yells about this. She’s always asking everyone why they’re just playing along. She is the straight man to every joke and this same template of “Moriking does something crazy. Nobody reacts. Shoko yells about nobody reacting” over and over and over again. This is really the extent of the series humor for 90% of its runtime.

Unfortunately that has always been one of my least favorite styles of humor. A reaction to a non reaction just isn’t very funny to me. I like quick dialogue, meta humor, cool homages, etc. This humor just doesn’t do much for me. Ah well, a series can still be good without being funny right? Well…yes but this one doesn’t quite make it. The other humor it uses is that Moriking is always stripping. As a bug he doesn’t want to be stifled by clothes after all and the main villain feels the same way.

Every page censors them by having a leaf block them or steam and things like that but it gets old quickly. In Fairy Tail the gag with Gray works rather well in part because he doesn’t know why it happens and Fairy Tail’s dialogue and writing is just leagues beyond Moriking. In Moriking it feels like they’re just trying to get a cheap laugh and it is not working. The cast isn’t quite strong enough in this short series to get by it either.

Now there is something good I can say about the series. The art is very good. Each page is very clear and the characters have dynamic designs that really stand out. I can give a lot of praise in this arena and the action scenes are also on point. This is important because towards the end of the series we get a lot of homages to famous jump moments like Ichigo using Bankai and Goku’s Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu. The artist here is able to recreate the scenes really well so you immediately know what the reference is. That is something Moriking does well.

Likewise, I can also say that the action scenes are handled well when they happen. The first “arc” of Moriking is really about day to day adventures as each King appears one by one. Only the final king gets a serious fight where we have Morking give it his all. In that battle the stakes are very real and so is the battle. You’ll be very satisfied with how it all plays out. Then in the final arc as we take this global, we see some more battles which are also drawn really well. I’m fully convinced that the series would have been immensely better had it gone for an action angle from the start.

As for the cast, well two of the main characters are kids who can’t fight and that doesn’t bode well. That’s a bit more natural for a comedy manga but even then they feel too you. You have Shota as the lead and he’s just a little kid who always wanted a bug. He cries when he doesn’t get his way and is easily impressed by everything. There just isn’t anything to really like about him. He gets in the way more than he actually helps. If he could assist Moriking in any way that would be different, but he can’t.

Shoko is an improvement but not a big one. She is obsessed with getting a boyfriend but despite being the most popular and beautiful girl in school (Or so she says) Shoko has not had any luck yet. Worse is the fact that everyone thinks she is dating Moriking now. Shoko’s whole role in the series is to panic during every chapter which means you won’t be getting a lot of great scenes out of her. She holds herself back more times than not. By the end of the series she is a bit more accepting of Moriking but even then you can bet that she will be panicking a lot.

How about Moriking himself? Well, he’s certainly better than the kids but I still wouldn’t say he is great. He has good ambitions on being the king and helping the Earth stay peaceful but he doesn’t know his own limits. He faints from having a single glass of water and fails his only case as a detective. Of course this is all for gags and all that but it still doesn’t help his character. He has some good serious moments but I wouldn’t say he is a very memorable main character or one that I would like all that much as long as the series went down this route. He’s super oblivious and doesn’t realize why clothes are important, etc. These are a combination of character traits that don’t work very well for him.

At the very least, he is strong though. Moriking is able to defeat just about anyone who gets in his way. Then we have the first King, Oka who is a praying mantis. The character names get a bit confusing as we have an Oka, Oki, Oga, etc. Why do the names have to be so similar? Well, Oka is the nicest member of the Kings so as you can guess she is the weakest. She can barely fight and turns good almost immediately since she realizes that she has no shot at becoming the king. I guess she’s not bad, but there isn’t a whole lot to her personality. Being nice is really the only character that she has.

We then meet a weak bug named Ko who worked for the mysterious final king but got booted out of there. He can’t fight and he’s always really nervous but Moriking allows this guy to serve as his retainer. It was a nice gesture by Moriking but don’t expect this guy to be very helpful at all. He monitors the Moricave and helps out around the house but that’s pretty much the extent of what he does. It’s handy that he has super speed but he never really uses it. The guy is just way too nervous for me to find him likable.

Next up is Sakura, the next door neighbor. She’s a human like Shota but her thing is that she has a king for a pet as well in Oki. She’s nice enough and wants to be a good friend to Shota. There is some mild hintings at a future romance here but both of these kids are way too young for that so it’s not a real concern. She’s okay I guess but again, no real reason to remember or like her much. She’s less annoying than Shota but that’s about it.

As for her bug Oki, well that guy’s fun. He’s the first serious rival that Moriking gets and they appear evenly matched initially. Once Oki turns good right away the power dynamic changes though and Moriking is shown to be far stronger. You kind of knew this would happen eventually though so it’s not a huge surprise. It’s just sad that Oki starts to be more of a comic relief character who is kicked around by everybody. He’s afraid of ghosts and gets slapped around in his final arc fight. Too bad since I thought he had a lot of potential. By default he’s one of the better characters in the series but it isn’t saying a whole lot.

Then you have Mio the hornet who is the next member of the King candidates. She is ultra popular and part of her ability is that everyone pretty much wants to serve her. It’s like she was born to be a queen and in fact she was. I like her enthusiasm and everything but while she was serious for a few pages, she is immediately crushed by Moriking over and over again to the point where her attempts at victory as reduced to one panel gags. She is just completely out of her league which is just too bad. Still, I would say she is easily better than some of the other characters.

Then we have the best character in the series: Oga. So he’s the main villain of the first arc. He’s a villain who is very confident in both his abilities and his dream to make the world a better place. In that respect he’s given far more credit and props than any of the other villains in the series. He’s not some random gag character and his entire climax fight against Moriking is played very seriously. His abilities are the real deal and he still appears as a strong fighter when he returns later on in the series. He may have been humbled but he put up a good fight first. The battle with their various Zoro references was fun.

Finally, there’s the final boss of the final arc. Hercules is a villain who is extremely powerful to the point where Moriking was even getting wrecked. While most of the final arc ended up being a joke, at least this guy was given a proper send off. It’s also telling that he could have beaten Moriking almost immediately but ended up holding back long enough for the speech to buy Moriking some time to turn the tables. He had a good design and while he didn’t have enough time to develop much of a personality, at least he was someone you wouldn’t soon forget.

That covers the cast here and as you can see, it was one of the weaker ones. I’ve really talked about why the series was probably cancelled in my eyes, so what would I have done differently to stop it? Well, I think you have to go with the action a bit sooner. The comedy was not working so once the first king appeared as a joke, I would have made the others more serious. Lean into the part where each King gets 2 minions a little more and have them fight. I feel like this aspect was dropped immediately.

The series was at its best when Moriking and the others had to storm the villain’s base. Now that was a fun part and we got a lot of action scenes which is always good. If the whole series was like that then it would have hit the ground running. I would age up the kids a bit so they could potentially fight down the road. They could gain insect abilities or something like that. If the ratings were better then the final arc involving the world tournament could have been stretched out so instead of it just being around 7 chapters, it could have been a full arc. A big tournament like this should not be rushed so much.

With those changes/improvements I think Moriking would have been in a really good spot. I would have found it to be a lot more interesting at least. Slice of life gag manga just aren’t as fun as full adventures with a concrete storyline behind them. At the most I’ll say that the ending was okay in some ways. It involves memory aspects that I don’t like and one part makes no sense, but I can give it props in one way. Lets just say it involves the whole lifespan of how these characters will all die in about a month or so. That seemed a bit drastic especially if you want this to be a long running manga so it’s good to remove that as soon as possible.

Manga like this can be the saddest to read though because it had potential. At least with titles like Go Go Monster, Black Bird, or Black Butler, they never had a chance from early on. With Moriking, you can see flashes of excellence now and again. When the series is taking itself serious it is quite good. Moriking shows that it can unironically be a solid battle manga. Having excellent artwork is the first step to this and then battles are next. As you can see in the next screenshot, you can have serious moments of planning and things like that. It’s just that every time we get close to a moment like this, it turns into a gag and ruins everything. I may be singing a different tune if the series was good at writing gags, but it just wasn’t.

Overall, Moriking may have had some potential, but it didn’t live up to it. It just wasn’t funny and as a comedy manga that’s a huge strike against the series. The action scenes were good but they were few and far between. You can find romance manga with better developed characters and funnier humor. All of these strikes against the series proved to be fatal. I wouldn’t call this a good manga and while it does enough to not be negative, it ends up staying right in the middle. The crazy thing is if the manga had ended with the first king arc, you’d never have known it was cancelled. It would have had a normal ending. I knew something was up when a whole new villain group and tournament was announced with 7 chapters left though. That was a huge red flag and I feel like by that point the author must have had some idea that things weren’t going well. Starting a new arc like that was bold. I would advise skipping this manga in the end. It’s a fairly painless read, it’s not like it will stick out in a bad way or anything. If you have a few hours you can just go for it, but there are so many better manga to read. I’d advise you to find one of those titles and check that out instead.

Overall 5/10

Megalo Box 2: Nomad Review

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It’s certainly been a long while since Megalo Box season 1 but it’s time to dive back into the boxing arena. The first season appeared to have a definitive ending so it would be interesting to see how this continued the saga. In theory Joe may not be able to fight quite as well as he once could. Well, the show is definitely less of a boxing anime this time and deals more with some fallout that occurred after season 1. It works well as a sequel and while it doesn’t quite match the exciting first season, it’s a solid continuation.

The show starts with a time skip and you are left to figure out what is going on as the show gradually lets you know what is going on. Joe is back to fighting in underground matches only he has now become addicted to drugs and is a shell of his former self. His friends are nowhere to be found and Joe is really coming close to death. Well one day he beats a man named the Chief but is upset when he learns that the match was fixed. (His one condition in every fight is that he doesn’t participate in fixed outcomes) The Chief is the leader of a community of immigrants that are in a bit of a rough patch now because corporate is trying to seize their land. The only way around this is for the Chief to win the big Megalo Box tournament coming up. As Joe begins hanging around this group he starts to remember what it’s like to be a part of a family and offers to help. Still, the drugs have done significant damage to his body as well as the attacks he has endured over the course of the other battles. Has he made his realization too late?

From the two arcs in the season this one is definitely a lot more on the low key side. There isn’t a lot of action here and Joe is serving in the role of coach rather than being the primary boxer this time. His body is so beat up that even coaching is difficult as it’s hard for Joe to stay in for the whole round. He’s used to being the boxer that everyone is cheering against and so he can help Chief get past this as well.

The most annoying character in this saga is definitely Maria’s brother Mio. Mio ended up joining a gang to help take down his own town. The character arc here is that Mio is ashamed of his own heritage and figured he could join the other group to save himself. It’s really a sad arc that he would go so far. He sees the light by the end but he just goes so far in this that it’s hard to really sympathize with him. He really put a lot of people in jeopardy with his underground dealings.

Mara was good though, she was quite resolute in finding justice. She helped Joe get back to his feet and made things right by fixing his bike. When she finds out about Mio’s double dealings she takes it in stride and does her best to protect him while also helping out the village. She’s probably the only person the Chief can really count on. As for the Chief, he’s one of those characters you’ll like right away as well. He’s doing his best to protect the village on his own. Not in a selfish way like he doesn’t trust the others but because he has the best realistic chance of protecting them all. He knows if he can just win this tournament everything will be okay.

The Chief does well and certainly fights as best he can in the tournament. The whole time you’re hoping Joe will step in and get some action but a fight scene is a fight scene. It’s still fun to get some boxing in. As a first arc it helps set the stage for Joe’s recovery as this gives him the courage to go back to his home town and settle things with the ungrateful kids hanging around. While everyone being against Joe is really annoying, I would say that the second arc is a big step up.

So we finally learn more about why Joe ran off and nobody likes him. Nanbu was seriously ill as the cigars, beer, and everything had taken their toll. There was a slight chance a medical operation could save him but it was a ton of money and still offered no guarantees. Joe decided to enter one more tournament even though he should not be fighting anymore and told Nanbu to hang on. Unfortunately they both lost their fights. Joe lost to Liu, a new up and coming boxer while Nanbu lost to his illness. As a result, Joe wasn’t there when he died so Sachio and the rest of the town blames him for this. Joe just ran off at that point and never looked back.

So after we get all of the pieces to the story, whose side am I on? Definitely not Sachio’s! I’m definitely with Joe here. Look, it was a tough decision, he could have given up from the start like the rest and just let Nanbu die. Nanbu was fine with this since he had a complete life and sometimes it’s not worth doing a surgery that only might help you survive. Instead you decide to just live out the final days with family and friends. Here’s the thing though, Sachio was the one not satisfied with this at first. He keeps asking Joe if anything can be done.

So even though Joe and Nanbu had wanted to just give up, Sachio is the one who was not content. Joe did his research after that and met up with Nanbu for the other solution. Joe didn’t suddenly go and do this on his own, he first asked Nanbu for his permission and Nanbu said okay. They would fight one last time. Somehow this gets twisted into it being Joe’s idea from the start and when he loses the most important fight of his career, nobody is there to back him up. Joe is shamed for fighting and run out of town. It’s a really bad look not just for Sachio but the rest of the cast to be honest. They should have had Joe’s back since he was really trying to do the right thing.

This is a big part of the second arc. Joe has to deal with his feelings of guilt but the whole time I was on his side so it isn’t as tough a dilemma as you’re supposed to feel it is. I certainly lost all respect for Sachio who is now an underground fighter as well. The issue is that Sachio loses all of his fights since he just isn’t built for this kind of combat. It wasn’t the best career choice he could have made, that’s for sure. He’s an annoying character for the whole season so get ready to wince whenever Sachio is on screen. The other kids are better but I wouldn’t say any of them are good. The closest is the kid who became a reporter.

Aside from that plot, arc 2 introduces us to a guy named Mac. After suffering a devastating injury he nearly had to retire from the sport and was even close to death. Fortunately that’s when a scientist showed up and convinced Mac’s wife to let him use some experimental tech to get him back into living shape. This treatment worked so well that Mac was not only functional again but could be a champ. He beat many boxers to the point where he could just beat one or two more and be the world champ. The issue is that the tech seems to have a downside where he is slowly losing his mind.

He enters into a moment called “Mac Time” where Mac gets ultra aggressive and then doesn’t remember what he has done. It’s rather dangerous and his family is concerned but Mac also feels really grateful to the scientist so he’s a bit mixed about calling it quits. Throw in the new champ Liu who has a chip on his shoulder and Mac has to be careful when getting into the ring. Who will be crowned as the new champ or Megalonia?

This was definitely my favorite plot in season 2. The episode battle with Liu fighting Mac was excellent. The build up, presentation, soundtrack, etc. It was all on point and it also felt very nostalgic to hear the classic music and see the characters start fighting. There’s really nothing quite like having a big tournament match because you get the hype from the audience and everything else. It was well worth the wait without a doubt. Then we also have Joe get a final fight of his own near the end.

The final episodes of season 2 are the best ones in this season. We get a lot of action and the characters have mostly recovered from what they were going through earlier on so each character is at their peak. I was also glad to see Joe fight a bit more since I was worried he would be staying on the sidelines. It’s like if Rocky gets a new film, he may be so old that it’s hard to see him fighting but if you make a Rocky sequel then you have to squeeze in a fight somewhere. Joe still has some good moves and it feels like even with his injuries and age he could be the champion again if he wanted to.

Joe is still a solid lead here. He’s dealing with a lot of issues so he isn’t as good as in season 1 but he still has a lot of determination. He may have lost the big fight to save Nanbu but you can’t say that he didn’t try. His fight with Mac was also on point. Then you have Nanbu who we mainly see as a force ghost this time around. Due to that, he is one of the main antagonists here and doesn’t look nearly as good as he once did. He only pops up to insult Joe and make the lead feel bad.

Yuri doesn’t get much to do here since he is already retired but he is Liu’s coach so he has a bit of a role. I miss seeing him fight but he’s still a solid character. As for Liu he does really well in stepping into the rival slot. He doesn’t hold grudges when he loses and really just wants to be the best. He has a good dynamic with Joe so it would have been nice to have seen them fight further. His battle with Mac was also a lot of fun. Liu just continues to impress me with how professional he was about everything. Whenever he would suffer a setback or something would happen, he never blamed it on anyone else. He would just work harder and harder.

Megalo Boxing is incredibly risky after all. We don’t see a lot of injuries during the show but given that everyone is using super powered robotic arms for the punching, it makes sense that a single clean shot would do incredible damage. Liu just doesn’t blame anyone for it and goes into the rehab right away. Meanwhile Mac also has an emotional character arc and makes for a good character. It’s a good testament to the show when you like each combatant. You can easily root for either Liu or Mac when they have their big title match. Mac’s fighting for his family and Liu’s fighting for his honor. Both are valid reasons to root for each one.

I do think Mac should have stepped away a little sooner once he realized the damage Mac Time was doing but I don’t think he does anything too extreme. He just underestimated the possible damage it would cause. His wife still made the right choice in giving him the experimental tech. They have some regrets about how things turned out but the fact is that Mac would have been a vegetable otherwise so at least with this he can live. Whether he can box or not is a secondary concern at that point.

Yukiko doesn’t get a big role but her company is part of the big deal with the researcher (Sakuma) in charge of the experimental tech. She isn’t too quick to see the issues with this though. Part of this is due to Sakuma hiding the true results and also some willful ignorance on her part since the company really needed this deal. A whole lot is riding on it. Ultimately she does make the right decision here though and stops the bleeding.

Mikio deserves some credit for that as well since he went to a lot of effort to prove how bad this tech was. If not for him putting his career on the line to make that information public, Sakuma may have gotten away with everything. It would have been nice to have seen Mikio fight again but as a background character he did well in his role. I did not like Sakuma but that’s not too surprising. The whiny researcher types are rarely my kind of character. He tries to talk tough but as soon as he loses the advantage then he also loses his confidence immediately.

The animation is solid like in the first season. The battle choreography is on point and you feel the power behind each blow. The first season may still look a bit better with more iconic scenes like the rain battle and various tournament bouts but I would say by and large this matches the original blow for blow. Then the soundtrack is really memorable and has a lot of solid tunes once again. It’s not likely that you will forget the battle themes, lead up to the battle, and other really fun tracks like that. The opening leaves a lot to be desired with how quiet it is though. I think it went too far in being a very somber kind of intro. A little more action never hurts and it could have livened up the music a bit.

If we ever get a season 3 I’d like for the title to be more action focused again but all in all, the show did well for what it set out to do. It’s really about Joe post retirement as he ultimately gets to have one last big fight. With a lot of training he’s able to reach his season 1 form which is impressive since there was a bit of a time skip here. Season 1 ended in a way where you didn’t really think Yuri or Joe would ever fight again. That said, this does still take place in the future so it makes sense that you can push your body more with a lot of tech. If Yuri had been able to get up with robotic legs and fight that would have been crazy.

Nomad is more about the emotional angle though and it works well enough. Arc 1 was considerably weaker to me because there was not a lot of action though. Also both arcs had an annoying kid dragging it down so a sequel likely wouldn’t have that issue. There was a brief moment in arc 1 with a dead dog that seemed to have no real purpose but fortunately we see it alive in the climax. I like to think it was the same dog as opposed to this being a symbolic moment. That said, when you see the characters enter Megalonia one last time with all the bright lights and hype…that’s when Megalo Box is really back.

I just still don’t think Sachio had any kind of point here. While the issue is supposed to be more gray as opposed to black and white, I didn’t think so. Joe was just in the right here. Sure, he could have handled things differently but he didn’t take on the fight until he had both Sachio and Nanbu’s blessing. Sachio twisting this around to Joe being selfish just didn’t sit right with me. It really put a huge burden on Joe’s psyche as well. He just didn’t need any of that and certainly didn’t take it well. He nearly died and that would have been all on Sachio.

Overall, Megalo Box 2 is a good anime title. It doesn’t beat the original but the first Megalo Box would have to be the definitive boxing anime so it’s a hard bar to top. Whether you’re watching for the drama or the action you should have a good time. The show definitely steps up when we get to the final arc and I’d be game for a third season at some point as well. With quality writing and animation you can rarely go wrong. This one never veers off the cliff or makes any big mistakes. That’s why it’s also one of the first anime you’ll think of when recommending a title to someone who hasn’t entered that space. It’s very general audience friendly much like Death Note. That said, I would certainly recommend watching the first season first. This one may be separate enough where you won’t be lost but it does help to know Joe’s journey from before where this one started.

Overall 7/10

Max Rockatansky vs Sasuke

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This is a tribute to the second Mad Max film. Max lives in a rather rough world so you can see how he would want to mind his own business a lot of the time but it doesn’t always paint him in the best light. Sasuke’s not always the best hero either but he definitely gets the job done when it’s crunch time. In terms of ability there is a world of difference between these two. A single good Lightning Blade would take Max out of the fight without a doubt. Sasuke wins.

Tome (Hard-Boiled Cop) vs Robocop

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This is a tribute to Robocop 3. Robocop is back to losing against everyone in this film. It was definitely not his best appearance. Meanwhile Tome was able to unlock her final form which further boosts her abilities. It’s hard to see Robocop being able to keep up for very long before getting overwhelmed. His robotic parts are a bad matchup against her blows which deal internal damage. He will ultimately fall to pieces here. Tome (Hard-Boiled Cop) wins.

Boyle Samejima vs Robocop

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This is a tribute to Robocop 2. In this film Robocop just didn’t seem like his usual self. He was extra slow here and lost to random thugs. He wouldn’t ultimately be a match for Boyle who gained good amounts of speed and power by the end of his series. Mix that in with his aura attacks and Robocop just wouldn’t stand a chance here. His armaments would simply be overpowered and the guy would be broken before long. Boyle Samejima wins.

Risa Aioi vs Robocop

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This is a tribute to the first Robocop. Robocop looked good in this one. He proves himself to be a capable fighter who may be a bit slow but had the durability to back it up. Aioi isn’t really much of a fighter, she has a normal gun but that isn’t going to get through Robocop’s armor. While she was a very unique detective, I wouldn’t say that she was a very good one. At the end of the day, she wouldn’t be able to think up a way to beat Robocop. Robocop wins.

John Gustafson Sr vs Paul Atreides

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This is a tribute to Dune 2021. Paul looked really solid in this version. He was ready to fight at close range and can do well even without his barrier technology. Throw that in as well and Gustafson Sr has no real shot here. The guy is just too old and doesn’t have the stamina needed to take on a fighter like this. I’d give Paul the edge to win this in a rather quick battle. Paul Atreides wins.

Joker vs Flash (Barry)

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This is a tribute to the Joker film. Joker got to have his tragic backstory this time around but mostly spent the film getting beaten around by society. He won’t be able to land a hit on someone as fast as the Flash though, I can tell you that much. The Flash is so fast that he can travel the world before the Joker can even throw a punch. There’s just no way to fight that kind of speed. Flash (Barry) wins.

Bullet vs Usopp

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It’s time for Bullet to make his debut onto the blog. This guy is extremely powerful to say the least as he was able to take on the complete Worst Generation. Usopp may have solid sniper skills but he just would not be able to contend with this level of power. Bullet’s haki would protect him from any and all attacks. At that point Usopp is out of luck. Bullet wins.

The Family Man Review

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Time for a classic Christmas switcheroo film. Whenever a character is given a glimpse of a What If scenario you have to wonder if this other life is better or not. I’m sure everyone’s thought of What Ifs at some point or another. I still remember how if I had rolled another way I would have likely won the Super Smash Bros national. Now that would have been absolutely insane. Back to the movie though, it’s a fun enough adventure even if it feels like the lead can’t catch a break.

The movie opens with Jack and Kate having a tearful goodbye as Jack has to go abroad to accept his promotion. Kate warns him not to go since she thinks Jack won’t return. He promises that he will be back though and we jump ahead a few years. Jack is now one of the richest people on the planet and is about to engineer the biggest merger in history. Unfortunately he did not go back to Kate so he is now single. Jack’s living it up though and seems to be as happy as can be. His life is borderline perfect or at least it feels that way. He has everything that he could ever want and is happily single. He doesn’t even think about the road not travelled. Well, one day he stops a hold up that was in progress with some quick thinking. The potential shooter, a guy named Cash tells Jack that he went too far when Jack casually tries to get Cash some help and talks about how his current life is perfect.

Cash curses Jack into another dimension, the dimension of what if. In this world, Jack ended up going back to Kate. They’re now fairly poor as they live in a house where they still have over 100 payments to make. Jack works at a tire shop now and is very unhappy. He wants to go back to his real life but there seems to be no way to do so. With no prior memories of this current life, Jack keeps getting himself into trouble. Can he make it back to his standard timeline or is this game over for him as a rich CEO?

In a lot of these What Ifs, the character goes to the other world because they wanted to. They made a wish on a crystal ball or talked about their issues with Santa. This film is an interesting reverse of the usual scenario as Jack absolutely did not want to leave his current status. He was quite happy with how things had gone and it’s really Cash who claims that Jack would be happier this way. Of course you figure Jack will give in by the end but it almost feels like he was being punished for helping Cash out and doing the right thing. Not exactly the big reward you would have expected for nearly saving the day.

There are a lot of fun moments here and the Family Man makes for a fun comedy. The writing is strong and while not every joke will land, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The script is definitely on point and the opening 10 minutes with Jack in the original timeline may be the highlight here. It’s just nice to see him really going over the top with how much or a “Profits first” guy he is. Thing is, he’s not even a super unreasonable boss. He’s paying everyone for their time and securing a big deal. He even says they can have a party, just once the merger is in effect.

Jack seems like the kind of boss you would like to have. He may not give you all the vacation time you would want but he does the toughest jobs himself. He’s the one who actually goes out to meet up with the execs and secure the deals. Jack really put in a lot of effort so I can see why he would be upset at having to lose all of that. He definitely made a mistake in ditching Kate like that, he probably should have called her over. That could have been the ideal timeline.

That said, I just don’t think Cash was correct about Jack not being happy with his life deep down or anything like that. Jack was clearly having a blast, there’s no way you can tell me he was sad or anything like that. He just got the biggest deal in history and enjoyed where he was. He even has a good working relationship with his subordinates and peers. Usually in these films one of the messages is that you can’t be happy if you’re single but that was a big myth and Jack really busted it here.

So in this other world, you can understand why he is upset because it does feel like a downgrade. He has a family now but has lost years of work and effort. Put it this way, it’s easier to find someone and start a family than it is to become rich again. If Jack really wanted someone, I’m sure he could probably have done that. Where the film goes a bit far in stopping him is when Jack ends up finding a path that will let him be rich again while also keeping his family. It’s sounding good until Kate tells him this is a bad idea and he has to decline that deal. It’s a shame because that would have been the best of both worlds. I’m sure Cash would have stopped him either way but it was a good effort.

Jack isn’t the nicest guy though and so a lot of the time you will feel worse for Kate and the kids. Jack could have done better to take this all in stride. Even if the situation wasn’t fair for him, it’s not like they had anything to do with it. Kate’s a nice heroine who does her best to support Jack at all times. I think she could have handled the end better with him trying to get rich again but he didn’t really think it through very well either. The whole sending the kids off to private school was definitely not the way you open that conversation.

The movie’s romance would be the weakest part which is what keeps the film from being a little higher. I was glad Jack at least turned down the side affair, that would have been too much to come back from. When he was single he had a lot of affairs which are definitely the weaker moments for his character. I still wouldn’t use that to show that he’s unhappy though, that’s just something you see all the rich characters do to flaunt their power. So long as they aren’t cheating on someone, it’s not nearly as big a deal.

I could also do without the kids to be honest as they usually seem to be here to guilt trip Jack. Also, the kid let him down with not telling him about the anniversary gift in time. That’s a really big thing not to mention and it nearly put Jack in the dog house. If you’re going to remember one thing, that would be the event to remember since the others just don’t matter in comparison.

Overall, you’ll have a good time with The Family Man. It’s a fun film that manages to cover quite a lot by the time that it’s over. The long length is good here because you get to really see both of his lives. The supporting cast is good too like Jack’s best friend in the new world. He really did his best to try and help Jack out through the tough patches. You always want to have a friend like that because he was both loyal and dependable. Without him Jack would have certainly gone down the wrong road. It’s not perfect but it’s a fun adventure. I definitely had fun with it and it’s certainly the kind of feel good film that succeeds in its efforts. You’ll leave with a positive spirit even if you may feel like his old life was still the best one. It’s hard to turn down being a CEO after all and I still stand by the fact that he seemed to be a rather good/fair boss.

Overall 6/10