Author Archives: dreager1

Unknown's avatar

About dreager1

Ultimate Battles is what this site is all about! Always wanted to see a battle? Request it and see who would win!

Nowhere to Run Review

Posted on by
Reply

This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. Al thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film with a pretty direct title. Nowhere Left to Run just sounds like a fun film and it definitely doesn’t hold back on having a lot of action the whole time. The characters can be a bit weak but in general it had good attitude and fights so this works out for me. It may not be ambitious but makes for a good watch on a rainy afternoon. Just expect the characters to be making annoying decisions the whole time.

The film starts off with a prison bus being attacked by a group of thugs. The prisoners are all freed so they fight over the car. This results in a bunch of deaths but before dying, Billy says he is glad to have finally gotten Sam out. It’s implied that Sam shouldn’t have been in prison and now the guy has to decide what to do with his life. He hangs out on a large property for now when he notices some bruisers trying to intimidate the local owner. Her name is Clydie and she is refusing to sell her property to a real estate mogul who is trying to demolish all of the houses in the area. There are only two houses left standing but this guy is willing to use illegal methods to get the homeowners out. What can Clydie do?

Okay so lets get to the biggest problem of the film right out of the gate. Clydie seems completely unable to read context clues. The villain in this film is not exactly subtle either. He hires some brutes to beat her and the kids up in one of the first scenes and they only do not succeed because Sam shows up to beat them. Clydie is still rather apprehensive for a while and that’s fine because she doesn’t know Sam yet. She should be prepping her shotgun that is shown off throughout the film so that she is ready to fight off any more invaders.

Instead she just lives life as normal. The villains show up again later on and she just says to their face that she will never sell…and they can’t make her sell. Very brave and all but she sees how they torch up the other family’s house so that should be ringing some alarm bells. Instead she decides to stay the course and even tells Sam to go away because he’s a criminal. Obviously the villains show up anyway and claim the victory but the whole thing felt very avoidable.

Lets put it this way, Clydie has two real options here. The first one is to accept the bribe for the house and leave. The other is to grab her gun and start taking people out. Those are her only two options because in this small town there are no cops to help her out. They’re already on the payroll and the villains have free reign to do whatever they want. Her character just feels completely unrealistic the whole time. I think the film was trying to show that she’s just really emotional after going on the rebound with Sam but that’s a terrible excuse on the whole.

I would even say that Sam’s plot twist at the time shouldn’t be coming as a big shock to her. She knew that he was hiding things when they first met and the guy was a top tier fighter. What did she think the truth of his backstory was going to be? If she’s also some kind of a big pacifist, then that was never going to be a good deal for her. She shouldn’t have gotten involved with him then. Her kids can be a bit annoying but they’re too young to be doing much about anything. I can’t blame them too hard as a result of that.

Now for Sam, he’s a reasonably solid character. He shows up to beat up the bad guys and eventually leaves when he isn’t wanted there anymore. Sam is generally going into situations where he is outnumbered or on the losing side but he still fights all the way. I think he should have fought back against Lonnie during one scene where he is trying to be the bigger man though. I never agree with just standing there and taking a beating. It’s virtually never the right answer to a situation.

As far as the romance goes, Sam should not have been moving fast. He doesn’t technically know Clydie pretty much at all and a romance that starts off in such a rushed way is not going to be all that strong. There simply isn’t time for it to have been built up almost at all. The situation gets real rocky and he’s shocked at how she turns on him but he shouldn’t be. Again, Sam doesn’t even know her by this point. He should have stuck to being a nice guy who helps out and then left from that point.

You have to keep in mind that she was still with Lonnie by this point. She didn’t know that he was a corrupt cop and was still immediately cheating on him for the new guy on the block. Lonnie exposed himself as being a terrible character right away so it’s not like I felt too bad for him but it does underscore how weak the romance was here. It’s the kind of romance that is here to pad out the time without really adding anything to the film. I’d rather we have gotten more scenes of the villains making plans or something.

The main villain’s a fairly clever old guy. He has been in the game for a long time and the film lets us know on multiple occasions that this isn’t his first rodeo. He has been taking over land for a long time and that’s why he only hires the best to work for him. He suspects early on that Lonnie won’t be tough enough and so that’s why he gets the magician. The magician is pretty good and gives Sam a solid fight. I enjoyed their quick back and forths as the two would subtlety threaten each other. Well, okay it was never all that subtle at all but the dialogue was still strong.

This was when the film was at its best. So we could have used some extra time to explain why the last remaining townsfolk were so confident that corporate wouldn’t burn their house down and beat them up. Everyone just looked so naïve that it was crazy. It also makes one scene look weird as one guy is yelling about how he will stay in his house forever and they can’t make him leave. Clydie naturally agrees and tells him that she is taking the same approach. Then the guy randomly contradicts himself just to disagree with her and then storms off. Like he actually knows that everything he was saying was hot air and it took someone else saying the same thing for him to realize it?

It can easily come across as victim blaming in these films but I just don’t get why you would not have taken the time to come up with some kind of a plan here. Otherwise you’re just a complete sitting duck which is a dumb position to find yourself in. So this works as a fast paced action blockbuster where Sam is the town’s only hope but in large part it’s because the villagers really aren’t fighting back at all.

I did appreciate that we had some good one liners in here as well. The film was not afraid to throw a little humor in from time to time and I always like one liners when finishing off an opponent. That’s just a good idea in general and this film was effective at it. The movie’s also not quite as violent as you might expect. It tends to focus more on the choreography than on focusing on each kill. There absolutely is blood and such but nothing all that crazy.

Overall, Nowhere to Run is a good film that is relying a lot on big action scenes. Fortunately that is often enough to win me over. At one point we get a long motorcycle chase scene and I feel like that was added in to live up to the title. Otherwise it’s a bit random and I gotta say that Sam acts in the most suspicious way possible. He could have kept eating his steak and at least tried to engage in small talk. It may have been futile but instead he gave all of the most suspicious answers possible which didn’t really help his case. The main thing to remember is if you’re up against corrupt corporate officials, you’re probably going to need to go on the offensive sooner than later. I’d recommend this film if you’re looking for a quick action flick.

Overall 7/10

Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man Review

Posted on by
Reply


Recently we have been getting a lot of shot Marvel titles from Japan. It’s been fun to read adventures with Spiderman in all kinds of situations. This latest title has him meeting up with Ultraman and the series lasted longer than I had expected. It’s a pretty fun crossover all the way through and I’d definitely like to see more of these. The timing is also pretty solid with Dr Doom being the main villain here. The guy has really been making his rounds among the different titles. You don’t need to be super familiar with Ultraman in order to understand the story as we get enough exposition in the series but it’ll probably help give the series an extra boost for you.

The series starts with Spiderman and the Avengers fighting against Dr. Doom and the battle gets really explosive. Spiderman is stopping to help every civilian that he can but gets thoroughly chewed out and even hit by Iron-Man for this. The armored Avenger states that taking out Doom comes first and you can’t save every person. Spiderman disagrees but this does lead to his death as he is hit by a train. Fortunately it was an Isekai train and he is warped with Dr Doom to Ultraman’s universe. Dr Doom quickly sees this as an opportunity to gain unlimited power and take over the universe while Spiderman decides to team up with Ultraman to save the day. Can he discover what it really means to be a hero?

The whole crisis of faith for Spiderman is an interesting plot point. This feels like a younger version of the character so it works well enough. I’d say it actually makes the Avengers look worse in comparison because Spiderman was right during the initial battle. Protecting the bystanders must always come first. It is his manga of course so you’re expecting Spiderman to look good but fans of the Avengers may not love their portrayal here. It would be one thing if it really wasn’t possible to save the civilians but the 3 that Spiderman saved would have been 100% dead otherwise. That would have completely been on the Avengers heads for allowing that to happen. Definitely not the plot point you may have been expecting going into this one.

Spiderman looks consistently good during the adventure. He gets to help out as both Peter Parker and as Spiderman. He’s essentially starting from ground zero in this new universe and it allows him to really decide what kind of hero he wants to be. You may find it to be a bit of a stretch on how he’s able to handle the various monsters but I guess we can just say that the ultra verse isn’t one of the stronger ones. The normal agents are able to handle quite a lot of them as well after all.

Hayata is the main host of Ultraman so he gets a big role as you would expect. He believes in a similar sense of heroism as Spiderman. He always aims to save whoever he can and wants to protect all life. Unfortunately Dr. Doom and Mefilas make that difficult with their brainwashing so at one point he is forced to destroy one of the monsters. It was a pretty somber chapter but sets up the tone for the series. It is mainly a hopeful manga series but one that isn’t afraid to really get into the deeper themes. Hayata has to make his own sacrifices as well during the adventure but never shrinks in the moment. He is determined to do whatever he can and that’s always important. Hayata would fit in well as the main character for any Shonen title. He may be a bit old school but it’s all in the right ways. His fellow teammates at the SSSP mainly don’t get as much to do. You have the gruff captain who means well and plays it by the book. The heroine who is always looking after Hayata but doesn’t suspect that he is secretly Ultraman. And of course you have the comedic best friend who means well but is usually well out of his depth. This time he actually gets a pretty big role with his super weapon near the end of the series though. I get the feeling that the author really liked his character from the TV show.

In a sense this whole manga feels like a crossover since the characters are ripped straight out of the original Ultraman series. The bigger a fan you are of the classic show, the more you will get out of this adventure. From the classic Ultra villains, a good number of them show up. The biggest one would definitely be Mefilas who acts as one of the big bosses of the title. He represents the Ultra verse while Dr. Doom represents Marvel.

Both of them definitely get a lot of hype but I think it’s fair to say that Dr Doom tends to come out on top. He’s just 5 steps ahead and is quick to learn how to harness the powers of this universe. He perhaps underestimated them a bit which caused his downfall but the plan had otherwise been sound. Doom is one of those villains who really thinks that he is the hero for most of this. He takes really extreme measures with the idea that they will eventually lead to peace. There is certainly some logic there but I think he’s just way too extreme for you to be able to take it too seriously.

If the guy wanted to end injustice there are just so many other ways to do it. In a way the series just made him too powerful. If he was a lot weaker then it would make sense why he has to take a lot of compromises on his path to justice. That would have actually squared things away really well but it wasn’t the way this ended up going. Also he makes for an interesting villain to go up against Spiderman because realistically the hero has no shot here. The spider sense can at least extend the fight a while but Spiderman has no way of putting him down. For that reason the climax has a lot going on as opposed to trying to make this a one on one fight.

For the more street level fights, we got different enemies who shows up during the series. One of them was a kid named Onita who used to get bullied a whole lot. One day a shapeshifting Kaiju showed up and his life changed right away. Onita used these abilities to get back at the bullies and lead a more carefree life. The power absolutely corrupted him all the way but Spiderman was able to set him straight. It was a good way to show his heroics without necessarily having to beat someone up.

There were also a handful of nice Kaiju who meant well and then they get to return at the end of the series to help out. You always need to have a grand climax in a title like this one and that was no different here. Now Dr. Doom could have easily won if he had just blown up all of his opponents, but again he does think of himself as a true king. So that would be beneath him. He even sets up a system to give other people the Ultraman power which ends up backfiring. It’s all through a corrupt lens but he was sharing power and living up to his word. Any world ruled by Doom would just not be one where you are able to keep your freedom.

Could he actually keep it safe? Well, I have to admit that he probably could. In a lot of ways that is the trade off here. You are sacrificing autonomy and freedom for absolute safety. In Latveria Doom had some success with this but it’s always hard to tell how much is legit vs just classic brainwashing. In either case, Spiderman wasn’t going to let that go on here.

Mefilas gets a shoutout for having one of the worst possible plans though. He initially holds his own against Doom but then says that a battle between them could destroy the world. So what does he do? He summons a few Kaiju to fight Doom and says that the winner will be able to rule the world. The problem is that we already had established that both of them were far beyond any Kaiju. So Doom promptly beats them in a few hits with 0 effort and Mefilas is surprised by this for some reason. I think this is the one area where the author ran himself into a hole where he just wasn’t sure how to proceed. There would be no easy way to write Mefilas out so I guess he just went with this plan in the end. It may not have been very believable but it was the only option at hand I guess.

Initially I figured this was going to be a pretty quick miniseries but at 53 chapters it lasted a whole lot longer than I had been expecting. The climax is fairly long and the series got to also include a lot of slice of life moments so Spiderman could actually enjoy his time in this new world. It was handled really well and the writing was on point throughout. I would also say that the pacing was really good. The adventure went by quickly and never dragged on. Finally the series had good artwork as well which is important. I’m not going to say that it’s one of the all timers in that regard but it’s clear and easy to read. It’s also very different compared to a lot of the more standard art styles. It uses a lot of white as a way to show off the cosmic energy so the manga is very bright.

As a final note, I have to say that the 3 minute timer for Ultraman still seems like such a crazy huge weakness. It comes up in every fight during this series and makes you think that any opponent could run around to stall for time. Perhaps the Kaiju wouldn’t be thinking about this but any humanoid villain could take advantage of that. Ultraman desperately needs to surpass this weakness because otherwise it will always be looming in the background. You also feel like scoffing when it comes up in each fight because it’s not like Ultraman can hide this limitation either. He has a red orb that starts beeping right on queue which signals everyone in the area. Ultraman is written out for different parts of the manga but you always knew that the limit would return.

Overall, I had a good time with this one. Having Spiderman and Ultraman team up was a good idea. They’re both very heroic figures after all and you don’t need many more similarities than that. Crossovers are just fun in general and sometimes the more random you make the crossover, the better off it is for it. I say to keep them coming. As long as you enjoy either titles or just like a good action manga then I would recommend this one. It’s a pretty safe title to recommend to anyone because it’s not going for any grand angle. This is a classic story of good vs evil and about giving people a second chance. It embodies a kind of classic heroism hat you don’t always see nowadays. It makes for a good title and hopefully we get more crossovers in the future.

Overall 7/10

Sword Art Online Progressive Canon of The Golden Rule Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another Sword Art online Progressive title. This one has the characters going through a bit more of a peaceful adventure for once. The first volume has a big fight but after that it is more about setup. The pacing can feel a bit odd for this one but I suppose that’s eventually bound to happen when you have a short manga spinoff for each adventure. These 2 volumes have to try their best to tell a complete story which isn’t easy since there is no ending yet. It’s probably one of the most sudden endings you will see in a manga, outside of titles that were literally cancelled.

The title starts with Kirito and Asuna continuing to gradually climb up the tower. They are doing it at their own pace though and for now feel no pressure to join the advance army. They will continue with their dark elf quest as well as take in the sights. Kirito and Asuna even get to check out some new food at a ritzy restaurant. Unfortunately journeys in SAO are never without some kind of danger and a random side quest ends up putting them in the crosshairs of the PKers.

I gotta say this felt a bit sloppy for Kirito. Now, I get that you can’t be paranoid 100% of the time about people trying to show up and murder you but agreeing to do a side quest where you get paralyzed for a while is a pretty bad idea. I blame the devs for this as well since you should at least make sure that the NPCs are near invincible to protect the players. They get easily crushed by the PKers who aren’t even at a super high level yet.

Relatively speaking, this is pretty early on in the SAO adventure after all. So Kirito gets some heat from me for doing the quest but the game itself gets some heat for having a quest that puts you in such danger. I expected better from Kayaba, the creator of the game. Naturally there are a lot of people who would want to be PKs who target other players and so you have to account for them. If the game didn’t have real life death stakes, it would even just be something that people do for fun since that is a legitimate way to play the game.

Otherwise Kirito looks good throughout the adventure. He really tries his best to always protect Asuna and also respecting her boundaries. She tends to blow up at him quite a lot because the two of them get into a lot of dicey situations but that’s not even his fault. I would say that she’s slightly improving in that regard but not by a lot. She is still not being reasonable at all. Her worst moment aside from picking on Kirito is when she stops him from finishing off the assassin.

You need to keep in mind that this assassin has been following them across floors and revels in murdering folks. Letting him stay alive will mean the death of other players. Sure, Asuna may not end up meeting those other players but they will still die all the same. I thought it was extremely selfish to let him live. Kirito listens to her because at the end of the day he will always defer to Asuna but that was not a good decision. It’s not like the series even has much of a jail. We know from the main series that there will eventually be a big confrontation to wipe them all out but it’s hard to say how far in the future that is.

You need to enjoy that PK fight from the first adventure as well because once that’s over, there are really no more big fight scenes. The fight was really good too so it leaves you wanting more. The artwork has been consistently solid for most of the SAO titles and this one is no exception. There is a lot of attention to detail and the choreography is on point. The backgrounds and characters are all drawn well too.

Unfortunately this also means that the series can’t resist the urge to throw in a bunch of fanservice in the second volume. A good chunk of the conversations take place in the hot springs and character keeps forgetting where they are and stand up to talk. Those scenes could have definitely been cut out. It’s a shame because Kizmel is a solid ally who always shows up to help the main characters but she is inevitably used for fanservice. I can’t think of a time where she showed up to help without that quickly becoming the case. It’s like a destiny that she simply can’t get away from.

Regardless, she is a good character though and deserves better. Based on how her plot ends, I assume she will be returning in a future arc. She is going off alone to fight powerful NPCs but in theory the game’s story wouldn’t have her just die off screen right? It’s hard to say because NPCs can absolutely die out of nowhere but it would feel like a rather cruel plot. As for Kirito and Asuna, they’ll have plenty more adventures to go. I believe the characters beat the game on the 70th floor and they’re still around 6 so there are plenty of other floors to complete. At this rate I feel like this series will never end unless the author significantly picks up the pace.

It also feels like the series is using the Dark Elf questline as the overarching plot of the series. This may not be a good idea as it never seemed all that interesting to me. Even here there is a lot of lore about it and their enemy in the war but you’re just not all that invested. Perhaps you can say that about any NPC quest but this one just doesn’t have much of a hook. You care about Kizmel but that’s about it. It’s interesting to see her gaining skills whenever Kirito shows her a new move so you can do a fun plot like that. Maybe she survives longer than she should because of it and it changes the pre set route of the quest.

I’d personally rather have the PK gang be the main plot but I suppose they constantly show up so they may as well be. Those confrontations always have way more tension and the stakes are just higher. Admittedly it is annoying that they always catch Kirito when he’s paralyzed or can’t move but surely that has to end by the next round. Their poison pick also seems pretty OP in this game. The way Kirito acts, it would drain all of your health very quickly which is not something you ever really see in these RPGs. Kayaba may need to rebalance that.

Overall, This is a very quiet SAO title. It makes for a quick read and is easy to blast through but does fall into some easy pitfalls like the fanservice. I also would have appreciated more action but the banter between Kirito and Asuna is always good. He can’t resist messing with her like with the ghosts and she’s always beating him up for being in an inconvenient place at the wrong time. For some the relationship may be a bit too toxic but it’s always in good fun. It does make Asuna look bad to an extent but if Kirito doesn’t mind then you don’t mind as much either. This might be it for Progressive for a while but I’ll definitely be back as soon as another one comes out.

Overall 5/10

101 Dalmatians Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to look at the live action version of 101 Dalmations. It’s definitely quite a bit different than the animated one and is essentially everything you expect from a 90s live action adaption. There is a ton of slapstick and the film has the subtlety of a sledge hammer. You either enjoy this style or you will find it obnoxious real fast. Fortunately I have a pretty high tolerance for the slapstick. The film ends up being a bit of an ironic watch at times so I can’t say that it’s genuinely funny but it’s also pretty harmless. It’s the kind of film I can watch any time but there will always be better alternatives to check out instead.

The movie starts with Roger’s dog falling for one that he met in the park. So he takes Roger on a rapid bike ride until they bump into the other owner. Anita takes a liking to Roger as well so the two of them get married right away. Their dogs have a ton of puppies and it looks like they are really going to live happily ever after. Well, that would have been the case but that’s when Cruella steps in. She intends to turn the dogs into a coat since she likes the spots that Dalmations have. She summons her 3 underlings and they get to work. Can Roger and Anita stop these guys?

The answer to that is no. Roger and Anita are pretty much helpless throughout the film. If you were hoping that they would be boxing the villains, think again. The only ones the dogs can count on are other dogs to spread the word and tip off the cops. Roger and Anita mostly are just stuck at home wishing that they could have done something. There’s a lot of blame to go around in terms of the kidnapping in the first place but it all comes down to the housekeeper for the biggest share.

I’m guessing it’s a super safe area but it was still rough to see her just opening the door without checking to see who was there. She lets the kidnappers in real easily and is then overpowered. These are not the smartest villains either as they are the main comic relief throughout the film. It is really rough to be losing to them in any context. At least I will say that the burglars made for a solid duo. The serious one got in some good lines and there was at least some effort put into the humor there.

Cruella is of course the main villain that everyone remembers and she does well too. She’s just not making direct moves in the same way. She mostly coordinates the attack from the shadows and comes up with the big plans. You won’t see her actually out there fighting. Cruella still isn’t spared from the comedy though as the whole climax has her getting badly beaten in a lot of different ways. You can bet that this is the kind of film that is also having a lot of fun with the visual gags in addition to slapstick.

One thing that the film could have leaned into a lot more was how Roger was a video game developer. Have him figure out where the villains are hiding based on what he would do in the game. Then you could have him and Anita being the ones to try and save the day. It would be considerably more interesting to have them be the leads. The film was going for the animals being the ones to save the day but since they can’t talk, it’s not quite as engaging. The main characters should not be the most forgettable parts of the film.

I’m also a bit surprised that they had the animals not be able to talk in this version because it feels like something that would not have been strange for a live action film. We’d already had the Homeward Bound series by this point after all. I’ve always been a big advocate for more dialogue being a good thing and this film is no exception. Having more dialogue would have been a good thing here. It’s not like the writing was stellar but it would still give the film a little more depth.

Finally the film is going for some intentional cringe during the adventure so you just have to decide if it’s too much for you or if it’s the right amount. Roger and Anita are both rather terrible at flirting and so their brief scenes can go on a bit long. You’re surprised that they even get together with how bad their first encounter was. Then you naturally have the film throwing in some crude humor like a skunk and excessive dog licking. Your tolerance will be tested here.

I would still say that the film has more good things going for it than bad but it is fair to say that this is a bit of an obnoxious film. It’s the kind of title that is really made for kids but overdoes it quite a bit so I don’t think it would be very popular with them as well. While Cruella may have gotten really popular, I’m not sure if I would have been completely sold from this film. I suppose the gag of everyone being terrified of her was one of the better ones in the film. It’s just really brief since we don’t spend much time at her company. If anything I would have liked to have seen more of Cruella at her day to day business. Show her crushing dreams and getting lots of wins before turning her attention to the Dalmatians.

Overall, I’d say this is a pretty reasonable film. It’s not one that I’m likely to pick out to watch on my own but if it’s on TV I wouldn’t mind it for background noise. The characters aren’t bad and the pacing is decent. I would say the main problem for 101 Dalmatians is that it’s just trying way too hard with all of the gags. Sometimes you can brute force a joke into working but that wasn’t the case here. If the film was half as funny as it thought it was, then this would be a completely different experience. We’ll see if the sequel is able to top this one at some point.

Overall 6/10

Heavenly Sword Review

Posted on by
Reply


Heavenly Sword is a video game that was a lot of fun to play but you’d never have expected it to get a movie as well. They were really confident that this could be the next big franchise and unfortunately that was not in the cards. It makes for a solid action movie but there isn’t a lot to it beyond that. It has some ups and downs but all in all I would still say that this one gets a thumbs up.

The movie starts by explaining that there was supposed to be a chosen warrior who would save his humble village from an impending invasion. Unfortunately for the king, he gives birth to a daughter instead and is now completely distraught. He considers her to be a failure and doesn’t even bother to train her. Sure enough, King Bohan and his army show up to murder everybody and now there is nobody left to fight him. Nariko does her best but the sheer numbers are much too vast and so she is forced to flee with her friend Kai. They have to try and find Nariko’s long lost brother Loki who may be the chosen hero of legend. Finding him will not be easy.

Now right away you may be wondering how Nariko is able to fight at such a high level if she never trained. Well, it turns out that one of the king’s advisors trained her anyway and that was a smart move. She is one of the only people able to fight off the invaders. She probably beats over 50 of them as the film goes on and that’s probably undercounting the effort. Her skill with the blade is unmatched and she also has a strong personality. Nariko is easily one of the highlights of the film and always has a biting remark for the characters around her.

Her father deserved every one of those comments because he is just a lousy character from start to finish. The film even takes him down a darker route than I remember from the games but it probably just stands out more in a movie. He really kept trying to have a proper heir and abused his power in order to do it. There’s just no way to root for him by that point. Most of the folks in the village are also hard to root for. How do you have bullies running around in a village that must always be prepared for life or death fights? There just aren’t a lot of survival skills here.

The only good ally Nariko had was Kai. Kai looks excellent here as she takes out numerous fighters with her crossbow. It was really impressive to see and this may be the first title that gives proper respect to how important it is to have an archer. Particularly in the olden days where there were no guns, it makes sense that arrows would be overpowered. Kai is able to stay at a distance and pick off foes left and right. Her skill with the bow is also unreal. I was always glad to see her at the ready and it makes a difference having at least one ally. Nariko’s journey would have been a lonely one otherwise.

There is also her brother Loki but due to how the plot is set up, the guy doesn’t show up for very long. I immediately liked him though. The guy had a strong sense of self importance without being arrogant and was also quick on the uptake. He wasn’t the kind of guy who was going to just stay back and watch how things played out. He even hit the He Man pose briefly to show off his power. I would have liked to have seen more of him but he was definitely fun.

As for the main villain Bohan, he’s mainly here to serve as an antagonist to defeat. There’s not much to him beyond being the King. He’s a powerful fighter thanks in part to his contract with a demon but the movie doesn’t go into this very much. So if you haven’t played the game then it’s going to feel a bit random but still makes for a fun fight. His henchmen were also pretty tough even if the film had to go through them quickly. The guy with the shimmering wings was particularly powerful and was probably the strongest character in the film, at least not counting end level power ups.

The guy really dealt a lot of damage too. This is one of those films that doesn’t hold back with the body count and it’s not a happy adventure by any means. It felt like every character was doing their best to make Nariko’s life as miserable as possible. I would have liked for their to have at least been a happier ending. It’s the kind of ending that just hurts replay value for this film all the way.

As far as the graphics go, it looks a lot like the video game. I’ve always been cool with this kind of CG. It’s not going for a very life like approach and doesn’t have the top level production values but I always enjoy video games. So this style is just nostalgic and still works for all of the fights. Otherwise the film would be in trouble because the film is essentially a collection of nonstop fight scenes. They just keep on coming over and over.

The battles can be rather violent as the film isn’t holding back on the bloodshed. Every character is fighting to kill after all so there is no room for holding back or taking the enemies alive. This is a war after all. Unfortunately the characters also go after the horses but at least the film doesn’t focus on that too much. Those scenes never get particularly brutal which may be an animation limitation but I’ll accept that. No matter how it happened, the film avoided getting bogged down in animal violence which is really important.

The movie is also really quick so the pacing is on point. How much you enjoy the film will likely be based around how much you enjoy the fights. To be honest the plot often takes a backseat here. It’s fairly straight forward after all so the rest of the runtime is padded out by the battles. It’s always fun to see Nariko crushing her opponents and if anything you just wish she could jump in sooner to save others. The amount of people who die in this film is crazy but it definitely establishes why an invasion is so scary.

Overall, I would recommend this film if you enjoy the Dynasty Warriors kind of title. This takes place in the pre electronics days and has nonstop action. As long as that sounds like it is up your alley then you will be having a good time here. If you’re looking for a very deep and nuanced story about trying to live up to expectations then this isn’t the right film for you. It’s not going for any deep themes but I don’t consider that to be a negative. Having a good main duo helps out a lot as well so Nariko and Kai really help the film to have a good dynamic going on.

Overall 7/10

Lego One Piece Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s actually been quite a while since my last Lego adventure. Netflix has really been trying to push the live action One Piece series so it makes sense that they would throw some legos into the mix though. It feels a little more standard than the average Lego adventure so I would have liked them to go a bit more crazy but on the whole it is still entertaining enough. This works as a fun recap for folks who want to jump right into season 3 when it comes out instead of going through the entire first two seasons.

The story begins with Usopp deciding to tell Chopper all about the adventures that they have all had. That’s the main framing device for these two lego adventures. Usopp is a chronic liar naturally so Chopper consistently has to correct him on everything. Usopp eventually stops messing around as much so we get the true story of how Luffy and his friends successfully defied the government and fought with big shots like Arlong and his pirates. They even got to go up against Crocodile’s organization and fought several of the numbers.

You’ll naturally get more out of this if you’re already a big fan of the series but I’d say that it is approachable for anyone. At its core this is an adventure about friendship and the characters deciding to help people while still keeping some of their selfish pirate tendencies. Zoro is still the best member of the main characters with how well he can fight. The guy keeps everyone in check and is someone that you can really rely on. He may lose to Mihawk at one point but anyone would have lost that fight as well.

The humor is generally on point. It’s not really laugh out loud funny but the characters are having a good time as they banter with each other. I enjoyed the lego graphics well enough as well and the pacing is good. This adventure is essentially getting through two seasons in two episodes which is not an easy feat. So there is a lot of credit to give there. They also grabbed the music from the Netflix show so you definitely feel the synergy all the way.

So in the end what’s the problem? Well the issue you may feel beneath the surface is just that it can feel a bit empty. I already mentioned this a bit before with how I wished they had done more with the Legos but this remake feels a bit to serious to me. It’s sort of like a corporate version of the Lego title if that makes sense. I think this is something where they should have gotten some huge fans of the series to come in and throw a bunch of inside jokes at the audience. Stuff that most people wouldn’t really get but would still help take this to the next level. At least I feel like that could have worked out really well.

Lego adventures are often remakes so it’s not like this is anything new but they always add something. I would even argue that the inside jokes and references are what make the Lego adventures stand out in the first place. If you’re going to do a tight 1-1 remake then that almost defeats the purpose. The adventure does change things for a few seconds when Usopp starts lying but he is always corrected too quickly. I would have made things feel like much more of an AU. We get one thing like that with Sanji being included in a scene where he shouldn’t be due to time constraints but that’s a little too minor. Still, you could end up nitpicking this all day so the point I’m making is they should have just had more fun with this. It’s not to say that this is an extremely serious special as there is a good amount of humor but it feels really confined. Almost like the writers were trapped in a room with a bunch of corporate suits the whole time.

This is still One Piece and the core story is still fun to watch. I enjoyed the fights with Arlong and Mihawk. I would definitely play a video game in this style. I’m sure the combat would be a blast and I really do need to pick up more Lego games in general. They are fun once I am going through them, I guess they just tend to lose out to most of the other genres. Lego games are more on the basic side but I have yet to play a bad one.

Seeing the live action characters briefly is also a good teaser for season 3. It sure feels like a long time since season 2 aired so it’ll be good to be getting more content there. I am also the king of saying that every series should be milked as much as possible so I certainly won’t turn down spinoffs like this. Keep them coming is what I say!

As I wind down this review it is fair to say that Buggy really outshone Luffy once again though. He was dominating him initially and then would have destroyed him in the rematch if not for other characters stepping in. His devil fruit really is a hard counter to Luffy’s and at this point Luffy doesn’t have the power to stop him. At least based on this lego adventure you probably can’t even imagine Luffy becoming King of the Pirates. He just isn’t ready for that but at least he has enthusiasm all the way.

Overall, There just wasn’t a whole lot to talk about on this one. It’s a great alternative for kids to check out if they don’t have time for the main show and it naturally does work well as a recap if you don’t remember what happened in the first two seasons. I see this as an aid in that sense and it feels more like that than as a complete product this time around. As long as you enjoy One Piece then I can recommend this one. I’m guessing they’ll do another one for season 3 at some point so I’ll definitely return. Of course I think it would be even more fun if they decide to do a stand alone adventure instead. There are unlimited situations you can do with these characters after all.

Overall 6/10

The Entertainer Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Entertainer is one of those films that goes a little too far in trying to show just how corrupt folks can become in show business. Ultimately the characters still need to take accountability for their own actions so I wouldn’t purely blame the job space. It’s definitely not a happy film by any means and after a while the constant sadness just overwhelms the rest of the movie. There isn’t a whole lot to enjoy here.

The film starts off by introducing us to Jean who has just had a big fight with her boyfriend. He doesn’t take her work seriously and is always taking shots at it. Now he has a big job opportunity which would force him to move far away. He wants her to come but Jean isn’t thrilled at the prospect. Instead she returns to her old home to visit her family but finds that they are not doing well at all. Her father Archie has really been bombing out at his latest comedy performances and the family is really poor right now. All they can count on is each other but is even that true?

The first problem with the film is that there are no good characters. The worst one right away is Archie for obvious reasons. The guy is cheating on his wife and makes bad decision after bad decision. He doubles down on basically everything with absolutely 0 remorse. You would think that with the stakes this high he would find some way to make ends meet but he does the opposite. Phoebe’s family is ready to offer him a job at any point but his pride forces him to refuse. Archie will live or die by his show business.

That may be a find attitude to have if you’re single but it is beyond selfish when you have a family that is depending on you. It’s not really a surprise that people wouldn’t enjoy his act because it seemed rather dreadful to me. There’s just nothing to it and you’ll be left shaking your head the whole time. Even the quick portions we see in the movie are more head scratching than anything else. Archie still makes promises that he can’t keep and loses even more money.

Usually you put a character in a tough bind so that the audience can feel sympathy for him but again, the guy’s a cheater. There is no sympathy to be had and if anything you’re rooting for his ruination. Then you have his son Frank who is essentially closing his eyes to the whole thing. He is content to just get drunk every day and support his parents. He doesn’t want to think about anything else and just stays out of the way so he is a classic case of being an enabler. When Jean tries to talk to Archie, Frank even runs interference.

Meanwhile Phoebe is another character who is essentially closing her eyes to what is happened. She puts up with a whole lot of grief from Archie who is constantly picking on her. Throw in the fact that she is really worried about her kid who is off in the war and it has not been a happy journey for her either. There are no real winners here. Now why doesn’t Jean rank so highly?

Well, she became complicit the moment that she found out Archie was cheating and didn’t say anything. Obviously it’s a hard topic to broach but she needed to come down hard on him or get out of there. Then when her boyfriend shows up, she basically tells him to leave because she needs to handle this on her own. With both of them always on different sides, I’m not sure how long their relationship is going to last. Jean got herself in the middle of a whole lot of family drama and that was definitely not a good thing. She needed to stay out or get in there and do something. Instead she’s just another passive observer.

The only one who really did something was Billy and the characters really get on his case for it. He’s archie’s father and finds out about the affair/false promises and decides to spill the beans. This causes a whole lot of drama and tough circumstances for Archie but that’s sort of the idea. Billy acts surprised at just how drastic it all gets but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. At the same time, he should have been happy about this because it really put a pin in that sub plot.

Things don’t go very well for him in the end. Billy tried his best but was just too old by this point. I understand that he wanted to help his son here but still should have let Archie dig himself out. It’s hard when you see a family member slipping to the dark side but if you try to help, the most likely outcome is that you’ll end up falling as well. That’s really the obvious ending to this kind of problem.

I dare say one improvement to the film would have been having Jean trying to fix things the whole time. Perhaps trying to redeem Archie, trying to get Phoebe to be more proactive, etc. Then as the film goes on she realizes that none of these attempts are working. So when her boyfriend shows up, Jean just leaves with him. That would have made for a more interesting plot and would have made her more likable as the lead. It’s really the best balance you could hope for. After all when the topics got serious here, the characters were quick to treat her coldly. Phoebe talking about how Jean isn’t her direct daughter, Archie just waving her off, etc. While we didn’t have much time for the boyfriend to reflect on his actions from the opening, we can assume that they are still okay. Jean’s side job will just be something that the two of them will continue to argue about probably even after they get married. It’s a bit of a red flag but could be worse.

Overall, I would say that this was just not a good film. It’s incredibly hard to make a good film with bad characters. I’m not saying that it is absolutely impossible but it is certainly difficult enough where I’m surprised whenever it works out. You’re just waiting for the cops to catch up and take this guy away. Archie shouldn’t have tried forcing his way through a business where he had lost the talent many years ago. Perhaps he could have trained himself into learning new skills and being a success again but then his ego was the other problem. Archie seemed to think that he was doing a fine job and so he didn’t need to learn any new tricks. Rookie mistake to be honest. The most tragic thing is that almost any of the other characters would have been more interesting as the lead.

Overall 3/10