Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town Review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by dreager1

This is one of those old Christmas stories that didn’t become quite as legendary as Rudolph or Frosty. It’s still big enough that you will likely have heard of it though and who doesn’t want to learn about Santa’s origin story? I don’t think that it holds up quite as well as the others though and Santa just isn’t as much of an endearing lead as he could have been. Still, the film is a little more serious than the others and the stakes are much higher than usual.

A nice guy by the name of Mr. Kluger is getting ready to deliver some gifts when he realizes that a lot of children are asking questions about Santa Claus. Since he is the resident expert on the subject he decided to take some time out of his busy schedule to humor them. He tells them the story of Santa’s origin. Santa was left at the doorstep of some nice dwarves and they decided to call him Kris Kringle. They liked to make presents, but they could never deliver them because of a sinister Warlock who lived in the mountains. Time went by and Santa grew up enough so that he could defeat the Warlock. He set off, but little did he know that the true threat was waiting to pounce!

It’s a pretty cool plot on paper and it’s filled with twists, but it didn’t hold my attention quite the same way that the others did. It’s simply less charming and it’s not filled with wonder and excitement like the others. It may be in part because of the stop motion animation though because that style makes the world seem rather bleak in universe. The snow is not quite as majestic even though you can definitely tell that it is in fact snow. The animation isn’t bad for its time though and it’s not hard to watch, but stop motion is certainly one of my least favorite styles of animation.

Burgermeister is the big villain of the film and would you be shocked if I said that he doesn’t end up turning into a good guy by the end? This guy wasn’t going to fold so easily and you can practically see his sinister nature the instant that you hear his name. I know that Burgers are usually synonymous with excellent, but the meister part is what should make his name ominous. He’s not very powerful…he’s just a normal guy, but he has a lot of influence. As a villain, he’s actually quite good and he’s always munching on something. It keeps him ready for what comes next.

Santa Claus is a nice enough guy. He decides that he is going to get the toys to the kids one way or the other and he sets off on a very dangerous quest from which he knows that there may be no return. It’s the kind of heroism that you may remember from the good ole days. He’s pretty selfless and he lets bygones be bygones with the Warlock in the end. His reasoning for only giving gifts once a year by the end is pretty sound since everyone starts to weaken eventually. He’s a nice guy, but I still stand by my claim that he’s not quite as good as Frosty. He’s simply not as charismatic.

The Winter Warlock is an imposing figure who becomes sympathetic as the film goes on. It all happens so fast that you’ll probably be suspicious of the Warlock for a while, but he ultimately seems genuine. That being said, he doesn’t look very good considering that he has a nice array of magical abilities. By the end, we find out that most of his spells are actually pretty useless in a fight and breaking out of a simple prison is beyond his capabilities. He may have powers, which makes him stronger than most of the other Christmas special villains, but it’s still not saying a whole lot.

Jessica has a twist hear that you will start to realize as the film goes on. She plays the main heroine, which may be a first for the Christmas stories. Frosty’s Winter Wonderland had one, but I’m thinking that the title came after this one anyway. She plays a key role when she reminds the Warlock that he has a lot of magic so he takes out the corn. Otherwise, the heroes had basically given up and they wouldn’t have lasted much longer. Her screen time is a little limited, but everyone’s ultimately was since the film is still pretty short.

I think that one more factor which impacted the film was that Santa Claus wasn’t all powerful here. It’s always fun to see him being portrayed as an invincible being who can do just about anything. If we’re going to make a legend, we may as well make him an invincible one right? Santa should have inherited the powers of previous or future Santas in the climax and materialized some kind of super gift. It may be asking for a lot, but that would have been a good way to end the film on a pretty high note.

Overall, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a pretty decent film, but it’s one that could have been a little better. Santa Claus just doesn’t draw a crowd the way that his Christmas counterparts do, but it was nice to see how it all began for him. Having a villain with the word “Burger” in his name was pure genius and the Warlock made for a unique villain since most of them didn’t have magic powers back in the day. The special is well over an hour so it won’t take too long to finish it. Considering this, I think it’s probably a good bet to check it out as we are not too far past Christmas, but you could also watch the original Frosty The Snowman as a good alternative. After all, you’ll want to stay frosty during these cold days right?

Overall 5/10

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland Review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by dreager1

Well, now that I finally got to review the original Frosty The Snowman, it was time to check out the sequel. I’m sure that you are aware of how sequels can rarely challenge the original right? This is one of those cases and the plot is definitely not as engaging as the first. It’s still a good Christmas story, but it has less to do with Christmas and more to do with the cold.

Frosty has been at the North Pole for a very long time now so he finally decides to head back to town to play with the kids. Little does he know that this upsets Jack Frost! Jack Frost feels left out since nobody plays with him anymore and he decides to put a stop to this effective immediately! He plans to steal Frosty’s hat, which will turn him back into a lifeless creature. Will the kids be able to put a stop to this?

This actually sounds like a pretty good plot on the surface, but we quickly find out that the film misses more than a few opportunities. One of the plots that was rather unnecessary was the invention of a Ms Frosty. Frosty got lonely so the kids decided to create a wife for him, but it takes away the uniqueness of Frosty. They also go overboard as they create another guy to also be a Snowman. Also, Frosty no longer needs the hat to survive because he can simply get by on the power of friendship. It’s pretty touching of course, but the hat is why he’s alive and they shouldn’t have changed such a crucial element to his origin.

Jack Frost is probably a better villain than Mr. Hickle since he actually has powers, but he also seems to be a little less intimidating than the former. He just wants friends so you can probably tell where that plot will lead as soon as you see him. After all, Frosty’s a very nice guy so I’m sure that he can straighten this fellow out. It’s good to have someone with powers, but he’s probably not the villain that you were looking for.

Frosty The Snowman is still a pretty great lead, but his naivety goes into borderline parody mode as he welcomes insults. Jack Frost takes some shots at him, but he doesn’t notice and thanks him. Jack Frost also nearly takes down the whole town with his sudden blizzard, but Frosty and Ms. Frosty decide to invite him for the wedding. He may have been trying to destroy it, but that won’t stop Frosty. Frosty lives up to his name since nothing ever seems to ruffle his feathers. The only time where he drops this front is when he lets the kids know how lonely he is.

The animation is about as good as the first one although they decided to switch a lot of the character designs for some reason. It also helps to try and trick the audience at first as Frosty’s eyes are red, but then we quickly learn that he is a fake. The soundtrack is certainly a little more bland and we don’t get the cheery Christmas songs that you may have been looking forward too. Beyond that, there are many nods to the first film like the Police Man who was shocked the first time. I think he shouldn’t have been shocked here so that wasn’t a very believable scene, but it’s good to see him come back I suppose.

The narrator still seems to be the wisest character in the series and he’s always ready for the change in seasons. The action scenes are probably more intense than the first film’s although you can barely call them “action” scenes. The film is still pretty fun and enjoyable while you’re watching it, but the Ms. Frosty parts do tend to drag a little. Frosty didn’t need a match and that’s the part that I find a little hard to get over. She’s not a bad character at all. Maybe a little generic, but that’s to be expected. I just would have preferred if she was a childhood friend of Frosty’s or something.

Overall, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is about what you would expect from a sequel. It’s decent and Frosty’s still a pretty good character, but it lacks most of the charm and wit that the first film had. This one is simply a pale shadow from that title and Santa Clause doesn’t even get to appear. The animation is still good enough, but the soundtrack might be a little worse. It’s a bit of a stretch to recommend this film, but it’s very short at around 30 minutes so it can’t hurt that much and you’ll get to see Frosty again. That may be a good enough deal right?

Overall 5/10

Batman Mask of the Phantasm Review

Posted on December 29, 2014 by dreager1

It’s time for one of the first great Batman films to finally be reviewed and Mask of the Phantasm was certainly a film that turned the tides for animated superhero films as we know them. This film was in the same continuity as the 90’s Batman TV show so that was definitely a draw for many since it was known as the definitive version of Batman. I can’t argue there and seeing him on the big screen was probably a lot of fun. This is a pretty solid film that also contains the Joker so expectations were certainly high coming into it. I’ve seen it several times at this point and it’s always been one of the better Batman films.

Batman is framed by a new vigilante in Gotham, but this new figure is willing to cross the line. He has already vanquished several members of a mob and he intends to finish off the last survivors. Batman won’t have this and he decides that he’s going to have to take this Phantasm down. Will Batman really have what it takes to pull off such a feat? The film also deals with Batman’s meeting with a lady named Andrea. She has something to do with his past and now she has returned after 10 years…what’s her angle!? The Joker also decides to show himself towards the second half of the film so he adds to the intrigue.

Mask of the Phantasm certainly delivers on the animation front as Batman’s cloak looks very crisp and modern. You would think that this was a high budget episode of Justice League and that’s what I expect from a theatrical film. I think that the beginning of the film certainly got the most attention as it looks considerably better than the rest of the film, but the whole thing still looks really good. For a film, it also makes sense to trow most of your budget into the opening to really hook people in as opposed to a show where you want to put some budget into the beginning, but then you’ll want to save a lot of it for the climax. A good indicator of how good the animation looks here is to look at Batman’s design. The way that they design his cape and cowl are pretty good indicators of if the animation is good or great. Mask of the Phantasm is definitely on the latter side of that.

This film’s soundtrack uses a few tunes from the TV show while also inventing a new theme that plays during the intro and ending. It’s an operatic piece that works pretty well with Batman since it lets you know that something serious is about to happen. It’s more fitting with the ending than the beginning since it highlights a key decision that has now been made. It’s rather dramatic and it works well. You definitely won’t doubt that this is a theater film while you’re listening to the soundtrack.

Batman looks pretty good for the most part although I certainly have some qualms with his portrayal here. It naturally revolves around his scenes with Andrea. Many of the events with them take place 10 years earlier during Batman’s first adventures as a crime fighter. She arrived and he started to consider hanging up the mantle before he had even begun so that he could lead a normal life. It’s not the “I am the night. I am vengeance. I am Batman!!!” character that I remember, but this was fairly early on in his career so I could cut him a tiny bit of slack. Now, what I can’t simply overlook is that 10 years later Batman is once again in shambles because Andrea has returned.

No matter how close they were, there’s no way that anything would cause Batman to hesitate at this point. He’s already decided that being Batman is something that he’s going to do until he’s physically unable to handle the job anymore. He definitely wouldn’t consider stopping now for any reason. So, that subplot was definitely a pretty big stretch and it was a little sad how his secret identity was found out so easily. I don’t think he would typically make the mistake of standing in front of the Wayne’s grave or at least being caught doing so. He just didn’t look too good there and I have warned films about the possible traps involved where romance is concerned. I think it did hurt his portrayal here.

That aside, Batman tended to look pretty good in the fight scenes. It’s safe to say that he had the edge against the Phantasm and he took out the Joker with sufficient strength and finesse. It was only close because Joker had the home field advantage and I can live with that. He is still a tough villain after all so a close fight is to be expected. Batman put together the clues for the mysteries pretty quickly here and he also put Alfred in his place when he started to go a little too far. This is definitely the Batman that I am used too and it will be tough for any continuity to ever surpass the DCAU version of Batman.

The Phantasm is a pretty intense villain. I naturally won’t disclose his secret identity even though the film is so old because spoilers must be protected through thin and thin. So, naturally these lines just pertain to when he is in costume. He’s a pretty intense villain and he seems to show no fear as he hunts down gang boss after gang boss. He is equipped with a pretty sharp gauntlet that can cut through guns without effort and he is quite adept at moving through smoke. I think that some of his feats are certainly a little exaggerated since there is no possible way (Barring supernatural powers) that he can accomplish them. One example is where he throws a smoke bomb and Batman immediately grabs at him, but the Phantasm is gone. It’s pretty spooky, but a little hard to buy.

Andrea is one of the new characters for this film and she’s pretty decent although it can be tough for Batman fans since we don’t like to see him give up like this. Unfortunately, Andrea is in a pretty tricky situation since her father got involved with gangsters so now their lives are in jeopardy. That’s why she ended up leaving Batman 10 years ago and then she returns for this film. She seems nice enough, but also a little too easy and the whole affair with Batman happened way too quickly. Naturally, both of them are to blame for this, but also allowing the flirting by Reeves was a bit much on her part. I probably prefer some of the original characters from the final film in the Batman DCAU trilogy, but Andrea certainly could have been worse. At it stands, Andrea didn’t make the film lose any stars. (A star probably could have been gained without her subplot though)

Joker appears to give the film some star power on the villain front. Admittedly, the film probably wouldn’t have been quite as exciting without him. A super villain is always appreciated and you feel pretty confident that he will be able to stand up to the Phantasm. He is the Joker after all and he’s always prepared for every eventuality. His home base is pretty cool and he’s just a very charismatic character. I always did like him in the DCAU even if he’s not my favorite villain in most of the other forms of media. His fans will certainly be pleased with his portrayal here and he is seen as a pretty big threat from the get go.

Arthur Reeves is one of those guys who likes to be at the top of the Anti Batman game. He appears on TV constantly to remind people that Batman is a menace and you would almost think that he was Harvey Dent at first. It makes you wonder how this guy always manages to get on TV, but he is a politician. Let’s just say that all original characters tend to have something to do with the plot so he’s entangled in the past full of mysteries in this film. He’s definitely not a good character and I wouldn’t have minded if he hadn’t been in it. I guess we do need more villains though and he beats some of the sub villains. He just brings shame to the Arthur name! If it helps….he does have the courage to laugh at the Batman!

You may wonder about a certain figure on a boat as the film ends and what it all means. Well, I like to think that the figure threw another figure away as a certain explosion hit and quickly escaped, which is how the figure is here. That also explains why the other figure continues to appear in future media in this continuity. I think it makes sense, but it also undermines one character’s big moment at the ending. Ah well, at least it means that the character resisted from crossing the line one last time…even if it was accidental. This may sound vague, but you’ll know what I’m talking about as you watch the film.

One scene that may make you wince is when Batman takes on the cops. Typically, that is an easy feat for Batman, but they were probably trying to make it a little more realistic for the casual moviegoers so Batman actually doesn’t look good. We’ve seen him take on a planet full of enemies in the past so no true Batman fan will really be able to buy the scene. It’s also sad since Batman ultimately has to be saved. I think it would have been more appropriate for Alfred to have saved Batman since it would have left the crimefighter with more dignity. As the scene stood, it was a pretty sad moment for the Dark Knight. It also makes Bullock look worse than usual since he just shot someone who has been helping him out since day one. That’s definitely what I call being not grateful to someone.

The main plot is a lot more interesting than the flashbacks, but I did enjoy this rendition of Batman’s origin. It was fun to see his first fights against the hoodlums of Gotham. I just think that it would have been even more fun without the romance in Andrea’s subplot. This film definitely has a lot of romance in it and it’s interesting that the other two Batman films have romance plots involved in some way. It may help the general audience I suppose since they expect that, but you can certainly do a good Batman film without such a subplot. After all…what would the fans have to say about all of this? Batman is the ~~solitary~~ Dark Knight…end of story.

Overall, Batman Mask of the Phantasm is a pretty good way to start off the classic Batman trilogy of animated films in the DCAU continuity. The soundtrack is pretty good and the animation is superb. It tops several of the DC films that have come out in the last few years and that’s no small feat. Batman’s portrayal is hardly perfect, but he still looks smart and tough, which is good. The Phantasm makes for a nice villain and the Joker’s certainly a classic villain to use. The opening action scene is pretty great and you really feel the blows. The film may only be a little over an hour, but there are a lot of danger/combat scenes to help make up for that and the action never get boring. I definitely recommend checking this film out whether you’ve watched the TV show or not. It’s good as a stand alone Batman film no matter how much experience with Batman you have. Even if you’ve never heard of Batman before, (Is that even possible?) this is a pretty good place to start.

Overall 7/10

Slayers Perfect Review

Posted on December 24, 2014 by dreager1

I’ve already seen the first two series (or seasons if you prefer) of Slayers and I’m currently in the middle of the third one so it’s good timing to check out the first film. It’s time to leave Gourry and friends as Lina teams up with a new ally this time…Naga! It certainly feels a lot different from the show in some regards while still keeping in many similar aspects. You could say the same about the title character, but I’ll discuss that more as we get deeper into the review. It’s a decent film, but it never manages to reach up to the level of the shows.

Lina is just enjoying a regular day of beating up thugs and gangs when she bumps into Naga, an old friend/rival. Naga informs her of some intense hot springs that are on a nearby country so they decide to go there since the Earth isn’t at stake at the moment. That changes when a wise sage visits Lina in her dreams and informs her that a demon is terrorizing many people. His name is Joyrock. Joyrock’s name may not be that scary, but his skills are respectable as it will take everything that Lina and Naga have if they want to defeat him. They also have to make time to defeat petty con artists and let people know the true nature of the hot springs. After all, the island has a ranking system so they will have to defeat all of the strong opponents if they want to become the very best!

Lina Inverse is our protagonist and she still has the reputation of being a pretty vicious fighter. That being said, she really doesn’t act like the Lina that we are used too from the TV show. She’s still pretty tough, but she has less interest in treasure and riches. Right now she is totally preoccupied with food so at least that is a trait that she has kept up with. Her abilities are also not quite as formidable as her Dragon Slave takes a lot more time to draw up and her array of attacks is considerably reduced. That being said, it’s not as if she’s going to have to face off against someone like Rezo anytime soon so she doesn’t need all of that extra power. She starts off pretty well by beating up a gang and she’s mostly taking charge during the whole film as she mows down fighter after fighter.

On the other hand, her inexperience shows at some points as well. She takes an old man’s word at face value about a special hot springs and she falls for a simple hypnosis trick. Finally, Lina doesn’t look very impressive against Joyrock. Now, Joyrock is a good fighter so I’m not going to take credit away from him on that front, but I would expect Lina to put up a longer fight. Throw some good spells at him or something! I always thought that magicians shouldn’t be afraid to just beam spam as long as their energy levels can hold out and that has never really been a problem in this series. I also have to admit that her voice really takes some getting used too. The accent is just very different from all of the other characters and it helps to make her sound younger, but it also makes her sound less self assured and confident than her TV show counterpart. I’m not sure how many years this takes place before the show, but I would guess no more than 10. I think I would probably like the voice more without the accent, but I’ll probably be used to it by the second or third film. It’ll be like Sonic’s new voice in Boom. I still end up liking it a lot as a good voice for Sonic, but nothing will beat the Adventure 2 Battle days. Overall, Lina’s still a solid protagonist who just needs to work on a few things.

I’m mostly pulling a blank on the soundtrack. I’m inclined to say that it was decent, but I can’t remember a single tune. It may be one of the most forgettable soundtracks that I’ve ever heard in an anime film. Slayers has never been at the top of its game in this area though. At least this gives the sequel an easy way to improve on this one since one good song is all that it would need to claim victory on this front.

Animation wise, it’s about on par with the first show. I’d say that it’s definitely worse than the high budget episodes of that series, but it can beat some of the earlier episodes. It’s probably not J.C. Staff’s best work, but sometimes it all depends on who works on the character designs or backgrounds. Usually, the energy blasts are what stand out, but Lina’s Dragon Slave just looked very unimpressive this time. It was just faded out and didn’t even look like it would be a threat to Joyrock. That being said, I think it would hold out pretty well if we compared it to other films of that year.

Naga is one of the big characters and she’s really similar to Martina. It’s never explained how she knows Lina, but they’ve clearly been friends for quite a while. She’s a skilled sorcerer as well although she rarely takes things very seriously. She does have a thing for hot springs though and she makes sure to put store owners on the spot if they try to use cheap ingredients to trick consumers. It’s hard to call her a hero, but at least she is usually on the side of justice if there is a reward to be had or just if she feels like it. She is unfortunately used for fanservice, but at least she typically acts like a decently good character. She’s not very likable, but as far as supporting characters go, she could certainly be worse. I’ll need to see her in more action scenes to see if she really has what it takes to stay on the crew.

Roudy is one of the main characters at the end of the film, but he doesn’t appear for most of the beginning. He’s a nice swordsman who grew up to be an old man who wasn’t quite as interesting. As a kid, he will definitely remind you of Gourry. I liked him in that form and he put up a brave fight against Joyrock, but he’s still just a kid. I guess he beat Gourry to the punch with mixing the Dragon Slave with the Sword of Light to create a form of the Giga Slave, but it’s not quite as all powerful. He was probably the best supporting character here if we ignore his elderly self. If we do not, then he ends up just being a decent character or maybe even a little unlikable.

Joyrock is the big antagonist of the film. He has a great design, but as a character he could certainly be better. He’s pretty generic and his overall goals are simply not that interesting. He’s a pretty good fighter, but you just know that he wouldn’t stand a chance if Lina had been more experienced. I guess he’s basically what you would expect from the average film villain. He doesn’t really get likable as the film goes on, but at least he treats us to some intense fight scenes. I suppose that this will have to do for now.

Naturally, Slayers Perfect’s biggest weakness is the fanservice. It’s a little more in your face than it is in the shows while still giving us more rude comments about Lina’s chest. It’s a running gag that unfortunately seems like it’s going to stick around and that’s not cool. Naga’s first appearance is quickly bogged down by fanservice as well and I could tell almost right away that this wasn’t going to be quite as good as the show. The show had some of this as well, but luckily it mostly died down after a while or we could go several episodes without it popping up. The film is only about an hour, but similar scenes occur throughout so it’s harder to cut the film any slack. I mean, just look at the poster! I had to apply some subtle edits since I thought that it would be a little too risque for the blog since this is still a family friendly blog with impressionable youngsters. So, this definitely took away a few points and was the main reason why a 7 was unattainable for Slayers.

The action scenes are pretty good when they happen. We get a few of them during Lina’s gauntlet against the island’s strongest fighters. The hypnosis couldn’t really fight, but we had someone who could multiply fish and naturally Joyrock’s fight. His stab against Lina was a pretty good cut although it was handled a little undramatic ally afterwards. The hit looked like it did a lot of damage, but in the end it appeared to be no more than a flesh wound. This is actually the main reason why I think the film should have been longer. A lot of the fights are fairly brief and a little more screen time would have been great.

Naturally, Slayers always tries to blend comedy and action together so most of the fights aren’t totally meant to be taken seriously, but a longer fight is always a better fight right? Exceptions are valid of course, but another 30 minutes would have been really good. The time travel plot also could have been longer since Lina basically had to save the day in a few minutes. That plot could have held its own hour by itself since time travel is always fun to see.

Overall, Slayers Perfect is a decent film. I would almost call it your perfectly average anime film as it has the pros and cons that you could expect from a normal film. The negatives include the excessive fan service and short duration (It’s not always a negative, but the film could have used some extra time) while the positives include some good action scenes and a solid main character. The soundtrack was surprisingly bland, but I’m sure that the sequel could get past this. I recommend checking this out if you are a big Slayers fan or if you want a fantasy adventure and don’t mind the negatives listed. That being said, you’re better off just watching the original Slayers series since it has the definitive version of Lina Inverse and Gourry is a better sidekick than Naga. Now that is the series that revolutionized the fantasy genre at the time.

Overall 5/10

Frosty The Snowman Review

Posted on December 24, 2014 by dreager1

I’m sure that just about everyone has heard of Frosty The Snowman. This guy is a living legend when it comes to Christmas movies and you definitely don’t want to miss the yearly airing of his film. It’s a pretty nice story that leaves you feeling good. It’s rather old, but the animation is still easy to look at and it doesn’t hamper the movie.

The plot is pretty simple as a few kids decide to celebrate as they get off from the final day of school. They didn’t like the magician who came in to entertain the class very much so they dashed outside to build a snowman. They put a magic hat on him and he becomes…Frosty The Snowman! Unfortunately, the weather begins to warm up so their big plans will have to be put on hold. Frosty knows that the only way he can survive is if he makes it to the North Pole so Karen decides to accompany him there. Will they really make it all the way there and still get Karen home in time for supper? This will be close!

This is the kind of film that you just don’t see anymore. It’s charming and it really has no faults. It’s a pretty fun film from start to finish and Frosty is a pretty likable lead. He only wants what is best for everyone and he makes the ultimate sacrifice to help his friends. It’s a very touching story and the implications of one scene are very huge. Let’s just say that Frosty may have had the chance to save his life if he had busted through a window, but he knew that could have endangered the lives of many plants and Karen to he kept still. He is a true hero.

Karen is a pretty good character as well. She makes a rock solid case against Mr. Hickle on why Frosty should keep his hat and she also decides to accompany Frosty to the North Pole without a whole lot of hesitation. Her one negative may be that she didn’t properly thank the rabbit at the beginning. He went to a lot of trouble to help the heroes out so it would have been good if they had acknowledged that.

Mr. Hickle is the main villain and he’s actually pretty sinister. He’ll do just about anything if it means that he can get rich and he resorts to stealing from little kids. It’s a good thing that Frosty and Santa were there or he could have kept embarrassing himself in front of crowds with his fake magic tricks. He is also pretty fast since he chases Frosty across a few hills and he doesn’t feel any remorse when he traps Frosty in the equivalent of an oven to the poor snowman.

Luckily, Santa Clause sets everyone straight by the end. This is Santa Clause as you would expect him to be portrayed. He’s virtually indestructible and his super strength knows no bounds. He is able to basically give every character what he or she wants for Christmas and he does it without breaking a sweat. He probably doesn’t even need the reindeer at this point, but he probably loves the view. It’s a team effort after all so all of the players have to pitch in to help. Santa’s also pretty cunning since he knows just how to break Mr. Hickle without having to use one of his famous energy blasts.

As I mentioned earlier, the animation is pretty decent. It’s old so naturally some of the proportions can be off at times and most of the characters have big heads, but that just gives it an extra boost of nostalgia value. It still feels more real than many of today’s shows and you can tell that a lot of work was put into this one. I’ll still take old hand drawn animation over C.G.I. almost any day. The soundtrack is decent and you’ll hear a lot of Christmas songs. I’m not a huge fan of some of the Frosty The Snowman renditions, but they’re not bad either. They definitely get you in the mood for the film.

Overall, Frosty The Snowman is another good title to watch for Christmas alongside the Little Drummer Boy. It’s a pretty emotional story where the stakes actually end up being pretty high. Frosty may be a little oblivious at some times and you have to question his selective memory, (He knows about thermometers and other snowmen, but he doesn’t know what a traffic light is) but he always tries to learn what to do for next time. Mr. Hickle is a pretty tough villain and he’s someone that you can root against. I’m also sure that everyone will be pleased with Santa’s portrayal since he looks pretty tough from start to finish. The title is only about 30 minutes so you’ll definitely have time to check it out before you go back to your Christmas celebration!

Overall 7/10

Dragon Ball Z Bojack Unbound Review

Posted on December 21, 2014 by dreager1

Looks like it’s time for another classic DBZ review! It really doesn’t get better than that right? This film definitely had me a little concerned seeing as how Goku wouldn’t be a main character. That’s just asking to be thrown under the average anime film, but this title actually manages to get past that due to some pretty good writing and epic action scenes. A certain scene also helped this film really hold its own and end up being one of my top films.

The Earth is hosting yet another big tournament as the film kicks off and Gohan has decided to enter to keep his fighting skills sharp. Tien, Piccolo, Trunks, Krillin, and Yamcha also enter to see who the strongest Z Fighter of all is. The tournament is interrupted as it reaches the final stages though as intergalactic pirates appear. Bojack and his men aren’t here to play and they intend to wipe out everyone on Earth. Gohan is going to have to step up as Earth’s champion even sooner than he thought. Can he really defeat this nemesis?

The film starts out with some solid fights and there is never a breather as the action continues to accelerate. It can be a little sad for Yamcha and Tien fans though because they look absolutely terrible against the new villains. They don’t even last a minute as they are dispatched without effort. Tien got a lot of hype during the opening scenes so that probably shocked his fans to the core. I’m sure that everyone was already rooting for Yamcha to lose though so that’s all right.

An interesting thing that this film points out is that the Z fighters have absolutely no experience with teamwork. They all go at the villains one at a time so they are systematically destroyed by the sheer numbers of the opponents. In the actual series, they never really had to team up against a villain group before, but I like to think that they would do a better job than they did here. The only battle that comes close to this one would probably be the group against Androids 17 and 18. There wasn’t a whole lot of teamwork to be seen there either. Maybe we have just discovered the weakness of our heroes.

Vegeta’s role is very small and unfortunately it is not great. It’s nowhere near as bad as in the Broly or Bills titles, but he basically just appears to get beaten up. He has a decent excuse since he had given up fighting and was clearly rusty, but I think he should have put up a better fight. He only got one or two hits in the entire fight and that’s definitely not what you would expect from the Saiyan prince. His streak of losses in the films continues here. At least he went out swinging.

Trunks is an interesting figure since he is the only guy to actually win his battle in the early part of the film, but then things go downhill for him from there. He is ineffective against the minions and Bojack. He is constantly being double or triple teamed so he never stood a chance. He really highlights the lack of teamwork issue as he is beaten to the ground constantly. He is a tough fighter so it’s sad to see him get so overwhelmed. At least defeating another one of the minions would have made him look better.

To an extent, the reason why all of the heroes look bad is because Gohan gets to look great here. He ends up taking the whole group on by himself. It’s great props for the young Saiyan even if he gets a little help from an old legend. Once he activates Super Saiyan 2, it’s basically over for the villains. It’s too bad that it still takes so much for him to transform, but Goku loves holding back as well so it may just run in the Saiyan family. Gohan is a good example of a solid character. He’s not as charismatic as your average lead, but he’s a good guy and he doesn’t fall into any character holes. I definitely wouldn’t say that he had any faults and he fought bravely until the very end.

Goku doesn’t appear very much in the film, but he still reminds me why he is such a great character. If we were just talking about the films, he would easily be my favorite character. He just looks so great in these titles! He decides to break some intergalactic rules to go and help Gohan, which gives him tremendous brownie points as far as I am concerned. A lesser main character would have just kept shouting encouraging words from the sideline without actually going to help. Going to help someone else escape imminent destruction is always the right move.

Piccolo’s role is even more brief, but he still looks pretty great as well. As always he comes at just the right time and his voice is still as impressive as ever. He is quickly outmatched by Bojack, but at least he gave it his all. His entrance was certainly dramatic and he’s another character who’s hard to dislike. He has an aura of confidence aruond him even if he knows that he will lose.

Bojack’s minions really get no character, but he certainly gets enough to discuss him. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of his although I certainly like him as a villain. His design is perfect for him and wanting to exact revenge on Goku and the Kai’s is a pretty original goal at least. He doesn’t seem to comprehend the meaning of power levels though since he doesn’t notice that Gohan has surpassed him and he’s just not that interesting when it all boils down to it. I’d say that he’s probably around Super Android 13 level in power and certainly under Broly. He’s tough to be sure, but he’s lucky that he was freed when he was. Going to Earth during the next arc would have been pretty difficult for him.

There is a subplot with Hercule that doesn’t really go anywhere, but I suppose that he did contribute in one scene. It’s always good to see him in the spotlight, but it’s hard to beat his canon appearances where he actually gets to help save the universe. Krillin is also around, but he looks so awful that it’s easy to just overlook him. He didn’t put up a real fight at all, which is pretty disappointing. He basically gave up before the fight was even started.

The most annoying attack that the villains have is easily their wires. They can drain away your energy with them and they are extremely hard to break. It can be a little tough to comprehend that a few strings are so strong that a Super Saiyan can’t break through them, but I guess that is just how the ball rolls. I think that the writers could have gave them a more impressive looking attack since that in turn would also make the heroes look more impressive.

The animation looks great and you can tell that Toei put a lot of effort into it like with the Broly film. Once again, the battles take place in a city and it is during night time in this film so the fight scenes are pretty unique. I would still say that Broly looks slightly better, but this one definitely gives it a run for its money. The Kamehameha at the end is very detailed and looks great and I can’t complain about the designs either. This helps the film to be complete as it is solid in every aspect.

The soundtrack is very underwhelming since it’s just the same songs from the TV show, but that seems to be a staple at this point. Even Battle of Gods used a lot of old music if I am not mistaken. I’m assuming that new ones will eventually pop up, but as long as people continue to enjoy the old ones they may keep on appearing. It’s not a bad soundtrack, but I do think that a lot of the songs do feel more than a little dated.

The only negative would be….Roshi’s plot. He only gets a few minutes to himself, which is great news for us. It manages to be a really awful scene, but luckily he is written out after that so that things can go back to normal. There really isn’t anything else that I would consider as a negative. A missed opportunity is that Goku should have taken Bojack and his gang down, but I know that this would have definitely stolen a lot of thunder from Gohan so I can see why the writers decided not to do that. As long as the Z fighters show some more teamwork next time, I’ll be satisfied.

Where do the DBZ films rank for me? This is subject to change since they are all very close, but I would rank them: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan>>Super Android 13>>Return of Cooler>>Cooler’s Revenge>>Bojack Unbound>>>Battle of Gods>>>>>Fusion Reborn>>Broly Second Coming>>>>Lord Slug>Wrath of the Dragon>>Tree of Might>>>Dr Wheelo>>>Bio Broly>>Dead Zone. It’s lightly possible that I missed one so bear with me here. The new DBZ film is looking like it could end up breaching the top 5, but that would make Bojack drop a spot so it’s definitely a double edged sword in that regard. It’s good to see that DBZ has so many strong films at his disposal.

Overall, Bojack Unbound is an excellent film. Gohan is a likable main character and Goku’s cameo was extremely awesome. They could have done even more with it, but just the fact that the scene happened was pretty cool. Goku should put villains in their place a little more often since that would be pretty fun to watch. The soundtrack doesn’t really get out there as it’s your standard DBZ material, but I can deal with that since the fights are so great. The animation is topnotch and there really aren’t any negatives to be found here. Master Roshi has a quick scene as expected, but luckily it is all over very quickly. I highly recommend checking this film out when you have a chance and then you can see that Dragon Ball Z is a winner with or without Goku.

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Z Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan Review

Posted on December 19, 2014 by dreager1

Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan has been my favorite DBZ film for a while now. I could never get past the fact that Broly is such a great villain and I loved the fight scenes. The soundtrack doesn’t hold up very well, but that won’t be an issue depending on what version you watch. This is still the best film to watch from a battle perspective and it can hold its own against any other film.

Our heroes are enjoying a nice day at the park when a spaceship arrives. It is filled with aliens who work for a Saiyan. He wants Vegeta to rule them on a new planet Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince is not interested until the Legendary Super Saiyan is mentioned. Vegeta can’t let this opportunity go by and he rushes off. Krillin and friends manage to tag along as well. Goku is sent by King Kai to take out the mysterious Saiyan as well and everything converges once Broly reveals himself. It is safe to say that the film never looks back from that point. This is the kind of film where the positives heavily outweigh the negatives so I will talk about some of those first.

This DBZ film probably had the best animation for a big DBZ film until Battle of Gods. The latter is much newer of course so everyone is a little more stream lined, but they still look very good. That being said, I think the animation in this film is able to capture the fights a little better. You really feel all of the blows and there is more destruction to he seen as the Z fighters battle Broly. So, I prefer the animation style in the Broly film, but Battle of Gods certainly keeps up with it. The only other film to reach this high level would be the Bojack film. The DBZ show already had pretty good animation, but you can instantly tell that this film has reached theatrical level.

It is a given that the fight scenes are amazing so I don’t really need to go into detail here. It is good to see Goku show off his hand ti hand skills even if they are ineffective. This film also had the iconic scene where Goku uses the Kamehameha, but it has no effect on Broly. That was definitely a scary moment for us all! The battles also take place in a city for the most part, which is pretty awesome. This is extremely rare for DBZ or just about any show for that matter. Cities will always make for the best backdrop in a fight and I wasn’t disappointed here. Getting thrown through a building will always send a chill down my spine. (I’m sure I would endure such a hit though…)

This is before Broly became a mindless monster in the sequels so he is actually pretty cunning in how he attacks the heroes. He catches Goku off guard by attacking from behind a building and he is constantly surprising the heroes when he appears from out of the blue. Considering that he can’t teleport and that the heroes can sense ki, it is a great speed feat. He is pretty deranged and the reason for his behavior is odd, but that may make it more realistic since a nut’s true nature can be ignited by any small spark. Broly is really everything that you could want in a villain and he really acts as a symbol for your average Shonen opponent. Through thick and thin it will always be fun to face off against such a strong looking opponent.

Goku looks very good as you probably suspected. He is easily the best character in the film and he certainly fights to the end. His unwavering determination and incredible strength have helped him become a top tier fighter so it makes sense that he puts up the best fight against Broly. Goku also doesn’t hold back for very long in this film, which shows how much he respects Broly’s power. You won’t be able to stop rooting for Goku here and he is basically the perfect main character. The film did a good job of keeping his character intact.

Unfortunately, most pf the other Z fighters do not look very good. Gohan feels a little underpowered as he doesn’t put much of an effort into the fight. Goku quickly makes him retreat and you can definitely agree with his decision. Gohan is still noble and it was good to see him helping the oppressed, but he should have looked like more of a fighter. Piccolo’s role is brief, but it is a good one. Once again, he gets to help Gohan out in a pinch and he revives all of the heroes for round 2. Zenkai Boost time! He is outmatched by Broly, but everyone was so it isn’t really a bad moment for Piccolo fans. His role in the films is definitely similar to Tuxedo Mask’s, but in a good way. Trunks is a fighter who is really a non factor here. He should be (remotely) close to Goku in power so you would expect more from him. He Is from the future after all. He mostly just get knocked around by Vegeta and the enemies the whole film. It’s great that he tagged along, but he should have lasted a little longer in the fight.

Unfortunately, the film’s greatest negative may have been its portrayal of Vegeta. They forgot that he is the Prince of all Saiyans and his bravery is matched only by his power. He is uncharacteristically afraid of Broly to the point where he refuses to fight the Saiyan and cannot move. He doesn’t even react as he is being mocked by Paragus and Piccolo just drops him 100+ feet into the ground without Vegeta even struggling. He finally does join the fray and only lasts for about a minute. The writers wanted to show that he is clearly inferior to Goku and that’s just not acceptable. At this point, they were roughly equal in strength and Vegeta would never back down from a fight. You have to watch the film to see just how bad it is, but the whole thing is preeeeetty bad. He also spends most of the first half of the film getting tricked by the villains. (And he doesn’t notice Broly’s attack on Goku during the night even with his perfect ki sensing abilities.

One sideplot that I thought was totally unnecessary was the part where we find out that the Saiyans had enslaved the locals and were forcing them to build the fake cities. I suppose that it adds some drama, but it would have been nice to have seen the Z Fighters stop the men before the whipping began. At their level of super speed it should have been an easy feat for them. Letting innocents get hit in the crossfire is not fun to see and the film could have done just as well without it.

Time to talk Power Levels. Judging from Broly’s power in this film, I’d place him at Super Perfect Cell at the very least, so he’s around SSJ2 level. Even Perfect Cell had a decently tough time with SSJ Goku and the latter couldn’t deal any damage to Broly whatsoever. The combined might of Piccolo and the other Saiyans couldn’t deal any damage either. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a villain overwhelm the heroes so badly apart from this film and it was pretty exciting. I still wouldn’t say that he could beat SSJ2 Gohan, but his LSSJ form is very impressive and it’s basically a variation of the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. His regular SSJ form isn’t impressive though as Goku was easily humiliating him in his base form. That’s a pretty big jump in power eh?

I was also glad to see Broly casually break a planet with a little energy blast. That’s the kind of power that I believe DBZ characters to possess even if they don’t show it. That being said, the planet that the heroes were fighting on should have been destroyed when Broly’s energy started to consume him. Just powering up and dropping those energy bombs should have scattered the planet in a million pieces. It’s cool to see things get blown up everywhere, but the planet should have gone with it. Naturally, this didn’t happen due to plot reasons, but it’s scenes like this that encourage Superman fans in their never ending debate against Goku. For the record, I’ve always thought that Frieza could solo the Comic Universes, but you can probably google my debates on that. Ignoring that part, I thought that the film did a pretty good job with the power levels. It was fun to watch and I wasn’t wincing too much. If I had to mention one thing that they could have changed…it would have been for Goku to have actually gotten some good damage in on Broly.

We can’t forget about the ending! I barely even count it and I luckily ended up purchasing a version of the film that cuts out the final punch. It’s gotta be intentional since it’s just way too convenient to end there. The final punch makes no sense since a weakened Vegeta adding a little strength to Goku should have just resulted in another broken fist. Goku was way too weakened to take Broly down and the ending probably ranks in the top 3 most inaccurate endings of all time. It’s seriously that bad and it’s a classic example of how you should not end a film. The writers just dug themselves in too deep by making Broly so strong.

The soundtrack is something that I’m pretty mixed on. I love the beat and rhythm of the tunes so don’t get me wrong on that front. They’re easily Attack on Titan level and it makes the whole film feel very theatrical and epic. An example of this is the opening where Trunks heads inside the ship after Vegeta. This would be an ordinary moment without the soundtrack, but it’s more like a heartfelt goodbye from Trunks and the heroes know that they may never see him again. The music really conveys a whole lot of emotion with it and it’ll make you start tearing up a little. The downside is that the lyrics aren’t always great and it almost sounds like they’re rapping at one point. So, I Love the themes and they’re awesome, but the lyrics wreck it. Try to find an instrumental version of the songs and you’ll see what I mean. So, for better or worse, it makes the film feel a lot bigger in scope, but it’s probably not a worthy tradeoff.

Krillin and Master Roshi’s sideplot is pretty awful though and it has no purpose in this film. The writers probably just wanted to add in Roshi somehow and this was the only way that they could think of. It beats Roshi’s plot in other DBZ films, but it’s still pretty bad and I wish that it hadn’t been there. It wrecks the tension and epicness that the scenes had.

Overall, Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan makes for a great film. It is easily one of the all time best in cinema and the action scenes are intense! Vegeta’s portrayal was very poor though and it is certainly a downer in this excellent movie. The slave subplot was also rather unnecessary and it just makes Vegeta look even worse. The soundtrack has a cinematic feel to it, but some of the songs are not very good. Again, this may not be a problem depending on which version you watch. There are some intense moments during the fight, like Broly hitting Goku so hard that glass breaks for a few miles, but nothing very violent. The worst moment is probably a baby getting stabbed in a flashback, which was admittedly pretty brutal, but it’s over very quickly and then you can just enjoy the popcorn fun. The previous scene that I mentioned isn’t as bad as it sounds since it’s in silhouette form for the most part, but you can have a hand on the remote while keeping your eyes peeled if you wish. I highly recommend this film and it definitely captures the essence of DBZ! You won’t be disappointed and maybe Broly will become your favorite DBZ villain as well.

Overall 9/10

The Little Drummer Boy

Posted on December 19, 2014 by dreager1

The Little Drummer Boy is a short from the 1960’s so it’s pretty old by today’s standards. Luckily, we know that old films can be pretty great (Godzilla, Several Hitchcock films, Superman, etc) and this one gives us a good message to take home for Christmas. Now’s the time to watch this one and it’s a pretty emotional story with some good themes inside.

A little kid begins to hate all humans when his parents are destroyed in a sudden attack by bandits or a hostile nation. He escapes with three of the farm animals and his final gift from his parents..his drum. The animals can feel the love that eminates from the drum and the kid when he plays it and they begin to dance. Unfortunately, this attracts the wrong crowd and the little drummer boy is kidnapped given a deal. He will perform in front of three kings and then he will be set free with half of the money. The kid reluctantly agrees and he gets ready to perform.

This title is only about 20-25 minutes so the plot is pretty continuous and hard to describe without spoiling other parts of the film so that’s as close as I can get to explaining it. One of the cool things about this film is that it’s a Christian Christmas film. It takes place during the birth of Jesus Christ and now you can probably guess who the three kings are. The film does a good job of developing the main story and then connecting it with the virgin birth. We only see Jesus for an instant at the end, but he is definitely portrayed flawlessly. His dominion over all is never in question and there had been a dicey scene earlier involving an animal injury, but let’s just say that it is taken care of.

I was glad to see that since animal violence is the last thing that any of us want to see in this film or in any title for that matter. There is a small scene where a donkey doesn’t make it early on, but luckily they quickly take us away from that scene and it wasn’t a violent death by other wolves or something like that. The drummer boy is accompanied by two corrupt vagabonds for most of the film and they actually get a happy ending for themselves. We can assume that it probably didn’t last, but they are temporarily rich. Maybe they were nicer than they let on. They definitely knew how to earn money quickly, but it’s going to be difficult without the drummer boy’s magical music.

The animation used seems to be a stop motion of sorts with figures. I naturally can’t say that it looks bad since this is the 60’s although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it puts most current shows to shame. It works for the story and I wouldn’t call it a negative. The main character is the drummer boy and I will admit that he’s not the greatest of main characters. I still don’t really care for children playing the lead role in any film, but he is a nice individual and he learns a valuable lesson by the end. He just wants what’s best for his animals and he’s a nice friend to have.

Overall, this is a pretty good story to watch on Christmas. It’s a pretty cheerful film by the end even if it is very somber during the beginning. Most importantly, it’s a Christmas film that reminds us of why we celebrate on December 25th. The birth of Christ is what started this festive day and we always need to keep in mind that this is the true reason for such a day. Obtaining presents and hanging out with the family are two very fun parts of Christmas, but the day is still about Christ first and foremost. Once again, I definitely recommend watching this title for Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone!

Naruto Mission Protect The Waterfall Village Review

Posted on December 8, 2014 by dreager1

This OVA will always hold a special place in my heart since it was at the origin of my venture into being a Naruto fan. I always get a retro feeling from watching this film (Even if this is only my second time watching it) and the climax never disappoints. It’s a fun venture back into the old Naruto days and they did a good job with it. It had its flaws of course, but the pros outweigh the cons.

Naruto and friends have been assigned to protect a man named Shibuki. Shibuki is the leader of the Hidden Waterfall village. The very location of this place is a secret from just about everyone for security reasons. Shibuki then convinces Kakashi to have his team pick up the trash for some extra money. Kakashi gladly agrees to this and he quickly heads back to the Leaf Village. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are to follow once they have completed their mission, but the three shinobi are attacked by some rogue ninja. Will our heroes really be able to deal with this?

Well, it’s pretty interesting to see them try to fight these guys since our heroes were very inexperienced back then. From their power levels and the way that they fight, you would guess that this was either right after Zabuza or right before the Chunin Exams. (Not much of a gap there anyway……) Sasuke has mastered his Sharingan, but he definitely doesn’t have the speed that he acquired to fight Gaara. Naruto is in his clone spamming days and he doesn’t seem to know the Rasengan at this time. This was probably the toughest point in Team 7’s career. The heroes were actually more grounded than the average main characters after 5 or so volumes. (Bleach volume 5- Ichigo is already a supersonic warrior of legend, Yu Yu Hakusho volume 5- Yusuke is already getting familiar with his spirit gun and his abilities would possibly be around Kakashi level or slightly lower, etc) Sakura doesn’t fight at all so it’s hard to gauge just how prepared for action she is.

Nevertheless, the villains couldn’t have picked a better time to attack. It’s unfortunate for the Waterfall Village because the secret location is pretty easy to guess. The village is….behind the local waterfall!!! I don’t know whether that’s ingenius or just sad, but it evidently tricks most ninja. The villains only find out about this because the main one used to be a ninja there. The location of the village also provides a lot of questions. How can kids and seniors be expected to hold their breath for the reeeeeally long swim to and from the village? We see a possible answer since one of the old ladies just walks out of a forest claiming that she’s from the village, but then what’s the point of the shortcut? It seems like you can enter the secret way or you can just go all around through the forest. If that is the case, the writers really didn’t plan this out…..at all.

Back on point, the villains aren’t very interesting. Suien is the main villain and he’s just a corrupt ninja who fled when the going got tough. He wants the Hero’s Water so that he can live a glorious (and short) life. It increases a person’s chakra levels by 10X after all. (It also shortens a person’s life by 10X) We are never given any scenes to develop the villain, which aren’t typically necessary, but then the villain at least needs a cool design to fall back on. This guy has none of that and I can’t say that he’s that impressive without the enhancement. Once he has it, Suien’s super strength certainly looks good…which I found to be interesting to say the least. I’ll make the DBZ comparisons in a moment.

Suien had some partners, but none of them really appear all that much and they look terrible by the end. A single shot takes them down in an instant. The main filler character of the film is Shibuki and he’s pretty bad. He doesn’t want to risk his life and he’s the type of guy who won’t admit it either. He’ll act pretty ungrateful all the time and it’s really hard to root for him. He’s clearly not much of a fighter and he only became the leader because his father was the former (cooler) leader. He has his big moment towards the end, but he still almost let one of the kids die about 3-4 times before he stepped in. That’s pretty unacceptable so he gets a thumbs down from me.

Naruto looks pretty great here and it reminds me that he always has the potential to be a great character even if he doesn’t always live up to that. He stays determined to win and save everyone even while he is being pounded into the ground. It’s hard not to root for Naruto since he really looks great here. I dare say that he is probably the best character if we’re just judging from this OVA. He looks pretty weak if we’re talking about power, but he doesn’t let that stop him. Naturally, Sasuke will always be the better character….

Sasuke still looks pretty great as you would expect. He’s very confident and his abilities speak for themselves. He’s considerably stronger than Naruto at this point in time, but that also means that he has to lose since that will give the film some shock value. I don’t really agree with how he lost, but at least Sasuke dealt a lot of damage first. I have no problems with his portrayal and it was as good as you would expect from him.

Sakura doesn’t look very good and her fans will certainly be disappointed with her portrayal. She doesn’t fight at all and even the villains comment on how weak she is. That’s not what we expect from someone in the Haruno clan! Luckily she got some abilities after the 3 year timeskip, but this was certainly a tough time to be a Sakura fan. It’s hard to find any positives for her in this OVA….better luck next time I guess.

I felt like the writers had watched more DBZ than Naruto before they made this OVA. Chakra levels are treated completely like Ki from DBZ. The more chakra that you have, the greater that your speed and power increases. Suien is practically able to fly by the end and his punches can send his opponents into the distance with ease. He punches Naruto through a mountain and he can break someone’s bones by casually stepping on them. Chakra is good to have, but it doesn’t necessarily increase your physical stats or at least not by such a noticeable amount. It just means that you can use more ninjutsu, which is why your chakra level isn’t a downright huge factor. It’s still fun to see how much chakra a person has since it tends to show how skilled they are, but this felt more like sheer aura power than chakra.

My only negative would probably be in how much the villains get to pound on the heroes because it really makes you wince at Kakashi’s decision to leave. The heroes really take a beating in this OVA and the villagers are not safe either. The kids actually absorb their share of damage, which was a bit much. We don’t need to see the villains hurting the kids do we? Keep it to the ninja! (Who are kids, but they’re fighters so it’s different) That’s the only real negative for the film and the rest of it was classic popcorn fun.

The OVA also follows the concept of Naruto a little more than the show did. Team 7 basically act as mercenaries who simply aren’t holding back. Sasuke terminated nearly 10 of the enemy shinobi without a second thought. It’s not unheard of since that’s what ninja do, but it’s not something that you expect to see from them. Luckily, Naruto doesn’t destroy anyone so he’s still on the path to heroism while Sasuke’s foreshadowing got to start a little earlier than expected.

The animation is pretty good, but it’s not great. It’s basically at the TV show’s level and it looks better than the Zabuza arc, but not as good as the Chunin Exams. The fight scene between the two sword fighters at the end was pretty great and I liked the final battle as well. They were brief, but the animation really gets to shine in the fights. The soundtrack is from the show so it’s pretty great. I think that an OVA for a show should always get an original soundtrack or at least a few new tunes, but you still can’t fault the classic themes. They help to get you pumped up for the battles that are ahead.

Overall, This was a pretty fun OVA. It would have been nice to see Naruto put up a better fight in round 1, but he made up for that performance by the end. The animation is good and the soundtrack is pretty solid as well. It’s not very long (around 40 minutes) so the special will be over before you know it. This is a decent way to get into the Naruto franchise and I recommend it to any action fan. Just try not to wince when Kakashi leaves the main characters to fend themselves off in an unknown land while he heads all the way back to the village by himself…

Overall 7/10

Naruto Shippuden Blood Prison Review

Posted on December 5, 2014 by dreager1

Naruto Shippuden Blood Prison is a Naruto film that got pretty good reception when it came out. There was a decent amount of hype around its release and the concept was a new twist for the franchise. That being said, I was never really hyped for it from the trailer wasn’t amazing although it was pretty good. It is just one of those cases where the trailer was better than the film. The same thing happened with the 5th film while the opposite was true for the 6th and 7th.

The plot begins with a cutaway to the Raikage’s lair. He orders his minions to find a certain box because it can grant any wish, but they are quickly attacked by Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto easily overpowers the minions, but the Raikage sends him packing. Similar incidents occur across the Ninja World so the Hokage banishes Naruto to Blood Prison. Naruto claims that he is innocent, but now he is stuck with a corrupt jailer and actual crooks. Getting out of here could be tougher than he thought.

Well, I thought that the film just had a lot of missed opportunities. It certainly didn’t capitalize on any positives that could have turned the tides for the film. It is still a good movie to be sure, but if could have been better. One twist that would have helped a lot would have been for Naruto to have escaped with his friends in pursuit.

Okay, time to tackle one of the big negatives. I don’t like when allies betray each other and are still portrayed as heroes. Unfortunately, that happens here as Naruto is betrayed by the very people he has been protecting for years. It is a pretty cringeworthy scene and it also shows us the ugly side of the Hidden Leaf village that we always try to forget. The Ninja are very much like Gladiator from X-Men or the Paladin from Blue Exorcist. Friendships seem to mean nothing to them and they will follow their leader’s orders without question. Even if the leader is corrupt they shall keep going. Just look at the sand when Orochimaru was leading them or all of the Leaf Shinobi who followed Danzo. The ninja don’t really think as they let the leader do that for them. It is part of why I like to root against the Leaf sometimes. Still, you wouldn’t expect that from the other Genin or Kakashi. It is just a little too much and I definitely did not like their portrayal here. They also attacked Naruto in film 6……Good thing this is happening in the film and not the show.

The soundtrack is decent, but there isn’t a lot of action for most of the film so we don’t get a chance to see any action scenes for a while. They reuse a theme from film 6 that I liked a lot so it was cool to see that one make a comeback. This film did have an original battle track or two. One of them had a good start and then fizzled out while I remember the other one being decent. I have no qualms with the overall soundtrack.

The animation is decently good. Unfortunately, none of the fighters have real energy attacks so the film can’t really get to show off how good it can be. Likewise, the backgrounds are all pretty similar since he is stuck in a jail. The sun is always red there which probably saves the film’s budget a little. The fight scene at the end does look pretty good though as it goes all Bleach on us and all of the fan favorite characters get to use their big attacks. Naruto’s speed feats also look pretty impressive as well.

The final fight was a pretty mixed bag for me though. It was cool to see a (Slayers) Monster as the big villain, but it was also sad because it meant that we wouldn’t get a real one on one hand to hand fight. The monster is big and he can dodge attacks with ease, but it is not as exciting as it would have been with a fellow humanoid. Just look at the villain from 2 films ago to see what I mean. Of course, watching all of the heroes get beaten up was pretty fun. It is scary just how weak they all look here and the film basically just says that Naruto could beat the whole village. I probably agree with this, but they definitely should have done better. Opening some of the inner gates or using Kamui would have been a nice start for the heroes. Maybe next time.

Of course, the fight still looks really good and the villain lasts for a while. He certainly wasn’t going down without a fight and he can fire energy blasts. That’s really all you need to help elevate the average film and it was exciting to watch. The fight also felt a little closer to DBZ than usual since Naruto was basically relying on fist barrages for most of the battle.

One plotline still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me though. After “Naruto” attacks the Raikage he tells his minions to go get Killer Bee since they needed to find the box ASAP. Then they vanish until the very ending. Did it really take them so long to find the box? It wasn’t very well hidden to be honest and it makes the heroes look pretty bad. Of course, they already looked pretty bad.

Maroi is one of the main prisoners since he is pretty shifty. He seems to be working for Mui one minute and then for the heroes the next. He’s definitely not the kind of guy that you would trust in a heartbeat. I actually expected a plot twist involving his character that simply never took place. He seems to be a decently tough shinobi, but he’s nowhere near the real ninja. (So, I’d call him Chunin level) He’s still not likable though and we learn that he certainly cannot be a hero. He’s just out to save his own skin and he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure his own survival.

Mui is one of the big characters and I guess you can argue that he’s the big villain of the film. He can fight as seen when he beat Naruto up when they had a quick sparring match. We don’t get to see a whole lot more than that from him, but his curse styled ninjutsu is very powerful. I don’t see him lasting long against one of the stronger characters, but a weakened Naruto is right up his ally. (According to this film) I can’t say that I like him a whole lot though and his character development is good…except for his origin. The origin just doesn’t fit in and he must have been pretty crazy to allow it to be so. He’s changed his thought processes on this, but there’s still no excuse for falling for something like that in the first place. He has a pretty cool voice in the English dub, which helps his character a little.

Naruto is the main character as expected and I’m glad to say that his character portrayal is basically spot on. He looks very good and this is probably the best that he has looked…since the last film. That may not sound very impressive, but it’s just that the films have been Reeeeeeeally good at making Naruto a likable hero. He may be better in the films than in the normal show although I like him there a lot too. He has his good and bad moments in the show while the film is really just about his good moments. He’s a pretty selfless hero who always wants to do the right thing and he refuses to cross the line. That’s the kind of hero that you want to follow. My only qualm with his portrayal is probably that he looks a little too weak.

Naruto should have easily crushed Mui. Naruto may have had to fight without chakra, but he’s still a very experienced fighter and I would expect him to have the upper hand in a fight. I also like to think that Naruto would have been able to have enough chakra to overpower the jutsu since he has the Nine Tailed Fox inside of him. We’ve seen time and time again that few things can really hope to overpower such a beast. Naruto’s brief escape at the beginning was also a little sad and he should have broken through the current. As you can see, I wasn’t pleased with the depiction of his power level for most of the film, but they had to nerf him or the whole thing would have been over in an instant. Bleach and DBZ never nerf their main characters, but I guess they were able to think of a main villain who could fight while keeping it believable. Naruto’s writers may have feared the power of the plot holes.

Ryuzetsu is the mysterious ninja who turns out to be a lady. Only Naruto is surprised at this twist since it’s fairly obvious in the Dub (The Sub as well since the character design looks female from the get go. It’s anime so you can never be too sure, but I still would have assumed that Ryuzetsu was a she) thanks to the voice. She has a role to play in all of this because there is a sub plot that is completely unnecessary about a sub faction called the Flowers. They don’t like what is happening at this prison and they’re going to put a stop to it. You don’t have to remember that though since it has absolutely no bearing on the plot. She’s a pretty nice person and she is also a very talented swimmer. When it comes down to a battle she’s decent, but she doesn’t seem to have any real special abilities. I guess she just didn’t get a chance to use them, but that would have been nice. As far as filler heroes go, she’s a marked improvement over the norm.

Muku is voiced by the same guy who voices Kirito and Rin so that was pretty awesome. His brief moments in the sob story are pretty intense because of this. Aside from that, I sill don’t care for him. At one point, he got my hopes really high because I thought that I was about to get the big fight scene that I had been waiting for. Unfortunately, it was just a red herring and I slumped back in my seat. He’s tough and a genius like Sasuke, but we don’t get a chance to really see that. I don’t think that we will ever forget Muku, but he’s just one of those guys who cracked and lost his shot at being a true hero.

There was a pretty pointless character who had the ability to transform into many people. He was probably only needed for the framing scene and even the writers seemed to have forgotten that he was around. A classic example of this is when the 6 members of the ~~Zodiac~~ animal mask wearing villains have a meeting. They discuss how it will take all of them teaming up to take him down and they’ll only manage it because of the shapeshifter’s weakness. The battle occurs and it takes one of the members a split second to win the battle. I thought this bald guy was supposed to be a threat? The whole scene just made you wince since the villains have paralysis techniques that are so powerful that nobody can break through them. Even Naruto is instantly ensnared by the technique. The villains are pretty cheap though and they never actually get a real fight scene so they are thrown by the wayside.

I also thought that the ending was extremely abrupt. There’s a “true” ending if you stick around long enough, but the screen just fading to black and Naruto seeming pretty emotionless is not exactly how you captivate an audience. It’s a decently emotional scene (Or as emotional as you can get for a character that you didn’t even know for 100 minutes) so you would expect Naruto to put up more of a fight. At least a “nooooooo” type of scene would have helped there. Once again, it also made the Leaf look pretty bad since you could tell that they really didn’t care that much. It was just a casualty of war after all. That’s how they seemed to think of it instead of owning up to the fact that none of this would have happened if the Leaf Shinobi had arrived sooner.

The plot twist about the villain’s ability is also pretty bad. It’s the worst possible way that they could have explained it. Why not just make him a telepath? Instead, he reads the heroes’ fear and that’s how he follows their movements. At the end, Naruto stops fearing the unknown so the villain can’t track him anymore. Are we really supposed to believe that Kakashi and Killer Bee were scared when they joined the fray? I don’t believe that for a second and neither would Maka. Fear powers are fun when they are used correctly, but that is difficult which is why few authors even bother to give it a whirl. It’s nice to see a big villain with this ability, but it was handled very poorly. The heroes were not given a reason to fear the monster and Naruto didn’t seem to be scared at all initially. That was just sloppy writing in the end.

As a final thought, I think that the series needs to stop hyping up Gamabunta. Haven’t we already confirmed that he’s infinitely weaker than Naruto at this point? I don’t think Naruto should have summoned him at all since he should be a liability at this point. There’s no good reason why he can keep up with the heroes anymore aside from the fact that he’s a fan favorite character. He was good in the old days when the Legendary Sannin were considered to be a threat, but those days are over. It’s why nobody summons animals unless they are desperate anymore. Naruto needs to follow suit.

Overall, Blood Prison is a solid film despite how negative the review seems. I will admit that I was pretty disappointed with the film, but not as much so as I was with Battle of Gods. (Pro tip, Do Not watch the trailer or you’ll get the wrong idea for either one of these films) I probably would have liked Blood Prison a little more if I had not seen the trailer, but I would still be disappointed with the lack of action. Blood Prison is probably the weakest installment in the Shippuden series. The only one that may be worse is Bonds and that one may actually have the slight edge over this one. (I’ll have to rewatch it again at some point. I remember not liking it much and the final fight was short, but the opponent was still a buff humanoid so there’s always that) It has its faults to be sure, but Blood Prison’s action scenes are still good when they happen and Naruto’s portrayal is spot on. The animation and soundtrack are good enough to keep the film afloat as well. The film drags on a little during the early prison scenes and the whole thing is rather unnecessary, but it gets more interesting once the monster appears. I recommend this title if you’re looking for an old school ninja film or if you just want to see some monster action. Just be warned that this film barely qualifies as an action since we don’t get a real fight scene until the end. It’s better to just call it a mystery. Go into the film expecting that and you should be pleased.

Overall 7/10

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