Category Archives: Animated Movies

One Piece: Heart of Gold Review

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It’s time for a One Piece adventure! Generally I’ve enjoyed all of the One Piece movies and this one’s no exception. I would say it is one of the weakest titles in the franchise as it can’t really keep up on a story or battle basis. Still, you’ll be entertained which is the important part and it’s always fun to see the gang in new situations.

The story starts with the Strawhats coming across a girl who has just escaped from a bunch of other pirates. She has a piece of gold with her that will enable her to find a hidden city. The main characters are pirates so this sounds like a good time to them. They all end up getting sucked into a giant fish where the island is being hidden. Can Luffy and friends secure the treasure and get out or have they just stumbled onto a massive conspiracy?

This is a classic adventure which feels like a return to the original One Piece days. The nostalgia adds a nice boost to things and the film also does out of its way to try and give everyone something to do. I’d say the main exception is Franky but you had Chopper blocking projectiles and Brook even got to play the piano. Naturally Zoro and Sanji get to have their big fights at the end while Luffy takes on the big shot. Now there are some power level issues here but you would probably expect that from the jump. Mad is strong but nowhere near the level he would need to be in order to take down someone like Luffy.

The film extends things a bit to make it exciting. I can sort of look the other way, it’s not going to hurt the score or anything but seeing Luffy struggle with some chains was definitely rough. That’s not something that I would expect out of him at this stage in the game. Personality wise the Strawhats all looked good though with the exception of Sanji. For Sanji they really leaned into his more pervy side here so he was definitely taking L after L the whole time. I would have liked him to have done better but I’m not the biggest fan of his anyway.

Now for the new characters, the main one here is Olga who is basically a kid who says her thoughts out loud. It’s a classic gimmick that you see from time to time in different titles and I’d say it’s not a bad one. There isn’t much to her beyond this but her character design is memorable and she has a tough personality so she automatically beats a bunch of the other film OCs. Now if she could just fight then she would really rise up.

Mad is a fairly generic villain. He basically wants treasure and likes a good fight. Nothing particularly bad about him but I don’t think anyone will be talking about the guy after a few years. The chains ability is really handy though and it was nice to see animated. There aren’t a ton of chain users out there so I always like to see another user. If the chains themselves were stronger I could definitely see this guy being a top fighter.

Meanwhile the animation is good but nothing amazing. The chain fights are really the only times when the film is actively flexing. Beyond that it’s fairly standard stuff. Better than what you’ll see in the average mainstream movie but not quite near where you’d expect the anime movies to be at. I did like the effect they used for when Luffy was using observation haki though. The red eyes really looked menacing. In terms of soundtrack, not really any big knockout tunes to change things up. The main themes are good enough though. That’s sort of the feel of the whole movie. It’s all good enough without actively trying to be the best or anything more than that. So it’s a pretty good time and you will have fun with it but then it will blend with the background.

The best character here is definitely Zoro and I dare say that will be the reaction of just about anyone who checks out the film. He gets his fight and dominates from start to finish. There is no point where you think he will be on the losing side or anything like that. He even gives a nice speech the whole time and you wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually stronger than Luffy. The guy definitely carries that level of confidence after all.

In terms of the general story, it may be a stretch to have someone from CP0 losing to the new villain but I know it’s a quick way to build up some hype. The film needs an ultimate treasure and so having a secret elixir or immortality is one way to do it. It’s perhaps a little too overpowered though considering there are basically no side effects and it doesn’t seem all that hard to mass produce. It certainly works well in upping the stakes and everything but yeah the world government would be all over that in a heart beat.

Overall, The idea of a movie to set up another movie is pretty interesting. That’s such a bold movie that I can respect it. One Piece Film Gold definitely looks way more impressive and is also the better movie but this is a good title all around. You do have to ignore the fact that the heroes could have ended this film within 5 minutes when the villains showed up due to the gap in power though. I would recommend it if you like One Piece or generally if you like a good adventure film. It’s a very stand alone adventure and only a few cameos will just feel meaningless to someone who is not a fan. The story’s framework and the general plot are both straight forward enough where this won’t be confusing or anything like that.

Overall 7/10

The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree Review

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The Berenstain Bears is a series that I grew up with but you don’t really see it much anymore. It didn’t really survive the test of time as well as some other titles. That said, it still has a good amount of quality to it and I was eager to see what their Christmas special looks like. It’s definitely really crazy and I would also say that it plays out more like a Dr. Seuss story with all of the rhyming throughout the dialogue. It’s very different from the usual adventure.

The basic plot is that Christmas is nearly here and the bears don’t have a Christmas tree yet! Mama Bear says they should buy one from Gus but Papa Bear scoffs at the idea. He will get a tree the old fashioned way and quickly gets Brother and Sister Bear to go along with him. The problem is that every tree is already spoken for with different animals living in them. Time is ticking and the heroes are no closer to their goal. What can they do?

It should be noted that most of the problems here are directly a result of Papa Bear’s actions. The guy really cannot be reasoned with and in this special he also doesn’t seem to be very smart. At one point he forgets what his name is and he basically ignores the rest of the characters when they are talking. It’s his way or the highway at all times which is not really what you want to hear from the guy since he has no plan. I appreciate wanting to cut down the tree yourself but then you should probably have done that well in advance. It is nice that he stops once the animals are in trouble but it’s definitely more of a hollow victory at times.

I do think the animals were pretty mean to the guy though. He actively stopped in his efforts to cut down the tree so the animals should probably be grateful. Instead they go after Papa and try to murder him but if he fought back they would be the ones to lose. They were not really thinking with their heads on that one. I was glad that generally speaking the kids weren’t too upset with Papa though. They were sad about the circumstances but didn’t try to put all of the blame on his feet or anything like that. It would have still been valid but I was glad they didn’t kick him while he was down.

In a way Papa Bear is the main character and the only one to constantly be doing something so having him in the center of the action the whole time did help keep things entertaining. They did a good job with the animation of showing just how psycho his eyes would get the whole time. Even right to the end with the fish, Sister Bear brings up a good point and then he immediately goes into psycho mode. That was definitely pretty crazy and a super intense way to end the special. He may be crazy but that’s exactly why you want him on your side.

It’s also a good thing that the special was short because if it was too long then I think it would have ended up having a serious pacing issue. As it stands, I would say it was balanced well. Papa Bear keeps it just interesting enough where you aren’t waiting for it to end or anything. It’s not really my kind of style of special generally with the dialogue being a bit too slow but the novelty factor really helps it out. If you like the Berenstain Bears then you’ll probably appreciate this take on them.

Once again I’d give a shoutout to the animation here because it really matches the chaotic energy of the special well. In fact you could argue that without the animation, the rest of the story wouldn’t work so well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the story was based around the animation as opposed to the other way around. It can be a little rarer to see animation this chaotic outside of anime nowadays so you definitely need to savor it while you can.

Overall, The Christmas Tree made for a pretty fun adventure as you watched the heroes do their best and everything got really chaotic. It’s certainly really out there and by the end you don’t really know if this was a super cheerful adventure or not. What you do know is that it was generally entertaining. I think it’s a tricky recommendation though, I would only suggest it if you are really familiar with the franchise. Otherwise as a general viewing I would definitely say to check some other titles out first. This definitely feels like a very hit or miss kind of special.

Overall 6/10

The Legend of Frosty the Snowman Review

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It’s time for Frosty The Snowman to return to action but I can tell you that he is playing for keeps here. This time Frosty is the one breaking the rules and trying to get everyone to follow along. The Mayor will need to stop him but doing so may end up breaking all of his relationships. This time there will be no easy winners.

The movie starts by introducing us to a small town that is ruled by Tinkerton. Everybody is taught to follow the rules quite strictly from the start and then from there they grow up to be law abiding citizens. The main catch is that they have given up most of their free will in order to achieve this to the point where everybody is like a zombie. They must all repress their emotions and creativity. Well Frosty has decided to end this and so he starts appearing to some of the kids in town to lead them down the dark path. In the meantime the mayor’s right hand man figures this is his time to take over the village.

There’s quite a lot to unpack here but the main thing about this film is that it is absolutely insane. It is not trying to be all that realistic like the older films. Instead it’s really leaning into how the world could turn into a dystopia some day just by following the rules. The fact that everybody listens to the mayor is really quite telling and you wonder just how long it has been like this. Years, Decades? We know that at least when the mayor was a kid things seemed to be normal based on the book but that’s still more of an assumption I suppose.

The fact that there is a book that shows events of the future is another crazy thing. The inner mechanics of the book are never fully explained but it seems to show you the knowledge that you need in the moment. The best character here was the mayor because of how absolutely busted he was. The guy had more tears to shed about his clipboard than about his own sons. He was absolutely drunk with power and yet he is able to let it go a lot easier than you would expect. He becomes a completely broken man without the clipboard and then we learn that he has been gaslighting himself for years into thinking that Frosty wasn’t real.

I would say in some ways it feels like South Park or Family Guy where the characters can be rather cruel to each other but then this is still obviously aimed at kids. It just makes for a crazy experience where it’s like you’re watching a parody. It succeeds in the most important aspect which is that the film is absolutely hilarious! You’ll definitely be cracking up with the movie the whole time even when that may not have been the overall intent. Characters change personalities on a dime and keep getting in each other’s way but that just increases your enjoyment of the madness.

Pankley is probably the weak point of the film if I have to pick one. It’s more of a by default pick since he still made for a good villain but he’s playing the role a lot straighter than the rest. He doesn’t have to act like a parody because compared to the others you could see him working as a standard villain. The pettiness of his goal is definitely impressive though. This guy never gave up and he nearly succeeded in his master plans. He just got a little sloppy at the end.

Tommy was okay but also mishandled most of his moments. He should have managed to get close to the kids to either prove he wasn’t a snitch, or to become one and make his dad proud. Instead he sort of does neither and fades in the background. The kids all avoid him completely as soon as he got the #1 sticker so it really wasn’t his day. I was definitely expecting that he would do a whole lot better.

Frosty is definitely not as heroic as in previous versions of the character. He’s not singing about good morals and things like that. Instead he’s mainly just messing around and gets sloppy by falling into the villain’s trap. You’d think that freezing water wouldn’t be the most effective thing against him but my guy Frosty folds immediately. He definitely needed some more power because this version of him just felt really weak the whole time.

All of the kids have fairly significant shortcomings the whole time though so it’s not like Timmy is on his own here. You have one kid who gets really selfish and wants Frosty all to himself. Not a very cool thing to do and so it’s easy for him to get manipulated. Then you have the girl who is rather rude to Timmy for no reason until the time skip ending. I know that he was terrible at making conversation but he wasn’t even breaking the rules at that point. There’s his brother who was a bully from the start but gradually got nicer. At least he had full agency the whole time.

In a town where everyone has their personalities suppressed, I suppose they’re all on eggshells. The characters being this flawed is part of what makes the film so much fun though. You’ve really just got to see it, it’s hard to do the whole scenario justice without you seeing it first hand. Even the animation is really crazy with the characters going on and off model the whole time. The character designs are poor to start with so the blend is crazy. The soundtrack is fairly weak. So you’re really here for the writing which is what hard carries the film. There ae just so many great moments here and a clever Youtuber could have a field day making an abridged version or just poking fun at it. For my money, this is a film with a tremendous amount of replay value. It’s certainly short enough to keep on rewatching it anyway and it’s just good high quality fun.

Overall, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is definitely a really solid film. It may not have the heart of some of the old Frosty titles but this one is just having a lot of fun. You have to imagine the writers were grinning the whole time as they made this one. It’s definitely got much more of a comedic flair than the previous films but again it just works really well! It’s not like the laughs come out of nowhere or anything like that. It’s all balanced towards a grand goal and I expect it’ll be a hit for anyone looking for a fun time watching their Christmas flicks this year.

Overall 7/10

Sonic Christmas Blast Review

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Sonic The Hedgehog is one of the most influential video game characters of all time. Here’s a guy who has always managed to stay relevant in all eras and it is only fitting that the series would get a Christmas special at some point. It’s definitely a really fun one. The whole special goes by very quickly but throws in the classic Sonic fun that always works out well.

The special starts out with Santa Clause deciding to give the role over to Eggman. He just doesn’t feel up to the task anymore and while the guy seems a bit more mechanical than usual, the people don’t really suspect that something is up. Unfortunately Eggman has decided to ruin Christmas and changed the holiday so that now people must give him presents instead! It is an absolutely diabolical change in procedure and the heroes won’t stand for it but now what can they do? It is nearly Christmas after all….their only hope might be in Sonic The Hedgehog!

Sonic gets roped into this because he was trying to find a present for Princess Sally. Well, now’s his chance to make her happy and also save the day. Eggman doesn’t really have a chance once the Blue Blur shows up and from there Sonic even ends up taking on the mantle of Santa. It was all in a day’s work for the hero and while the plot may sound basic, this is a Christmas special. It’s not like they were going to have a whole lot of crazy shenanigans going on at the same time. It was enough for me though with all of the fun moments here to smile about.

The animation is pretty classic here. There’s nothing that will shake your world but it’s fun to see the old speed effects as Sonic zooms around the place. The character models are on point and the background stage designs are good. The soundtrack is less memorable but when the character designs and animation are good enough you can overlook that to an extent. Only to an extent mind you, I think there’s a lot they could have done with the Sonic music.

Whether you really like this one or not will really depend on what you think of the humor though. I tend to like all of the cheesy puns as Sonic messes with everyone but it is considered to be a retro humor style so I know it won’t work for everyone. Sonic dressing up as a garbageman and tossing out the robots is just classic though. This Sonic doesn’t have a care in the world and just has fun trolling and messing with everyone. It’s really awesome to see and I would even say that’s part of his appeal. Sonic is so strong and so fast that there are no threats to him so he can just laugh everything off. He’ll keep everyone safe in the meantime.

It’s why even Santa Claus is willing to immediately turn everything over to him. He knows that Sonic will be a better Santa than he ever could. It’s not something that discourages him though. No, in fact you could argue that this actually makes Santa feel good because it’s like a big burden is off his shoulders. Other characters would have declined the position while Sonic jumps at the chance! (Well after being buttered up at least)

I would say the only humor that doesn’t work as well is for the scenes that involve Eggman’s two robot lackeys. They just can’t keep up at all and it can almost be hard to understand them at times with hos shrill the voices are. I generally tend to prefer the heroes joking around while they’re on top than the villains joking around while they’re losing. The first dynamic just works better but if you have to have a comedy villain then you want to be like Eggman. He is clearly on the losing side the whole time but he is fairly oblivious to this and keeps on talking tough the whole time. That’s not easy but he pulls through.

I would have liked a little more combat but it’s clear that wasn’t in the cards here. It’s really just a fun adventure about Sonic clowning on Eggman. Low key Eggman did well though since he took over a city with ease and generally seems to have a lot of power in this continuity. We just know that Sonic can take him out at any time. That’s why Sonic is a full blown hero. Princes Sally fans may be saddened to know that she doesn’t do much. Even a random kid who breaks free from Eggman’s prison gets a bigger role than Tails. Sonic is the only hero to really get a big role here so you can tell that it’s squarely taking place back in the days when he was a solo act.

Sonic even gets a power up in the special although you get the feeling that Sonic could have saved the day regardless. No way he’s turn down the opportunity to get even faster though. All in all the special feels like a classic episode and has the pacing to match it. Eggman’s santa costume was also rather intense I have to say. The whole thing is absolutely bonkers from top to bottom and unashamedly so. As long as you like things to be as crazy as possible then you’ll have a great time. This special is as chaotic as they come.

Overall, Sonic’s Christmas Blast was definitely a fun special. It was nice seeing the retro designs since I hadn’t been in this era for a while. They should do a modern version of this someday with all of the new characters involved. I imagine a lot of people growing up nowadays probably won’t even recognize this version of Sonic so they are definitely in for a treat. It’s got a good amount of replay value and so I can recommend this to anyone looking to just enjoy a fun story.

Overall 7/10

The Black Cauldron Review

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It’s time for a film that very much feels like how I would picture a Legend of Zelda movie to play out. There are some differences to be sure but you can definitely see the inspiration the whole time. It’s a very serviceable film. There have been way better ones out there to be sure but there’s also nothing really bad about this one. It’s a film that goes by quickly and should keep your attention.

The film starts off by introducing us to Taran who is super bored the whole time. He wants to be a cool warrior who gets stuff done and instead he basically just looks after the livestock. Well, things change one day when his pig uses future-sight to see that the Black Cauldron threat is very real and the Horned King will be making a move. Fortunately the King doesn’t know where it is so Taran heads out with the pig to keep him safe. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long at all for the pig to be captured. The King is ever closer to his goal. Can Taran become the hero he has always known that he could be or is it game over for him?

Taran means well and he makes for a pretty decent main character. The guy may be quick to get frustrated but at the end of the day he is trying to do his best. It would be good if he had some more real skill though. Sure he may not have had an opportunity to fight against any powerful super villains but he could have been training his body so that he would be ready when the trials arrived. The guy is incredibly weak and has to rely on a super sword to do anything. The sword is really cool but Taran needed to put in more work.

Then we have the Princess who is a go getter. She proactively goes after her goals and makes for a solid ally. Even when Taran blows up at her early on, she doesn’t let it stop her for long. She tends to look on the bright side of things. Whenever a princess is out there on the front lines I definitely respect that. She looks way better than Gurgi who takes too long to have his big courageous moment. It’s a classic character arc of going from being the coward to being a talented ally but you still have to go through it quickly because otherwise you’re just dreading his scenes. Giving up and deciding not to help out when the time comes is hard to really come back from.

I’m sure the old man who owned the pig was scared to send Taran out the way that he did but the guy just steadied himself and made the tough choices. It’s what you have to do. Then we have another ally in Fflam who is also not the bravest sort but he gets with the program right away. This guy was a lot more fun and had way more of a complete personality. In a way you could argue that his presence alone ended up hurting Gurgi quite a bit because it showed the gap between them even more than you would have naturally noticed otherwise.

Generally speaking the supporting cast are a bit on the weaker side though. I didn’t care for the small old fairies, the three fairy godmother of sorts who would be bartering, etc. One of them was constantly flirting which was definitely a choice but yeah these characters were just not going to keep the film interesting. It’s why we are very fortunate that Tara and the Princess were solid since thing could have been tricky otherwise.

I did like the main villain but he suffers from an incredible lack of screentime. He talks tough here and there but then he vanishes for large portions of the film. He’s just completely gone and then when he does show up in the climax he isn’t strong enough to resist gravity. Ultimately this makes him lose all of his hype because the tough talk means nothing by that point. It’s a shame because he has the design and the voice down 100%! Just another minutes could have really done wonders to make the film more memorable as well.

The animation certainly holds up really well too. It’s very active with a lot going on as the characters move around very rapidly. There is some intriguing CG type visuals near the end but those are still fun to see. The bolder CG can at least leave more of an impression than some of the modern ones that aren’t really trying anything serious. The best looking shot of the film is probably when the burning sword activates. It really makes an impact and just looks really impressive. It works well as a Master Sword substitute.

So at the end of the day the characters are the weak point here and what could easily fix the film is to make them a bit bolder next time around. Give Taran more of a hook or an edge to him beyond just wanting to be a hero. Give the princess more witty banter and for the coward sidekick, maybe just make him evil from the jump and eventually he starts to turn good. Just some ideas on how you could make them resonate more with the audience, I think that would be effective in keeping this from just blending in.

Overall, The Black Cauldron is a good movie. It starts out fast with the hero getting into the evil castle right away and from there the plot continues to adapt and change. It may not stand out next to other fantasy adventures but it still makes for an easy watch when you have the time. I would have liked a longer climax with more action against the main villain though. The actual ending was more on the anticlimactic side. They could probably do better in a remake but instead I’d say this film should just get a sequel. With the intros out of the way we can jump right into the action.

Overall 7/10

Her Blue Sky Review

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Imagine for a moment that you’re the coolest guy in the room. Everyone has standard black hair but you have cool red hair. Everyone grew old and let themselves get wasted while you are young and immortal. Then you find out the catch..you are stuck in a single room for the rest of your life while you watch a doppelganger of yourself mess up everybody’s lives. This is the tragic drama that unfolds in this movie and it’s a pretty good one that will keep your attention. One characters gets off wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too easily though.

The movie starts with Aoi’s parents getting destroyed so her older sister Akane is forced to take care of the two of them. Akane basically gives everything up including her boyfriend in order to be ready for this task and does a masterful job. The great impact of this sacrifice is not lost on Aoi who blames herself for this. She aims to move to Tokyo as soon as possible so Akane can get her life back and plans to do this through music. Well one day, she bumps into Akane’s old boyfriend Shinno inside of the practice dojo but he hasn’t aged a day. He is stuck in there though and his older self shows up for the town concert but the guy has become a womanizing creep. Should Aoi help the older Shinno get back together with Akane to free the younger self or is this all a big mistake?

There’s a lot going on here and right off the bat you should know that the characters have no idea why the old Shinno has appeared. I’m glad that he doesn’t randomly know either, it helps add some drama on not knowing how to free him. They make the assumption that he has some kind of regret so matchmaking him to Akane makes some sense but it’s also a bit of a leap in logic. Shinnosuke (That’s how I’ll refer to the older one like Aoi does in the movie) is also such a bad guy that you can’t root for them anyway. He would only be making her life a lot worse.

Shinnosuke is really my biggest problem with the movie because he seems like a completely different character. I know some years have passed but for him to have changed this much is absolutely crazy. He has gone against all of his old values and goes out of his way to be a massive jerk. From saying how he thinks girls shouldn’t be in the band, to insulting Akane immediately, there’s no reason to like the guy. I would have liked for him to have been booted out of the band. The film half heartedly tries to massage his flaws in the end but I did not buy it at all. I also thought it was a stretch for Akane to go back to him so quickly. It shouldn’t have even been a tempting proposition for her, I would have expected her to have been completely disillusioned.

So in short, all scenes with Shinnosuke were completely undeserved. He should have been knocked out and the best scene in the film is when Shinno chews him out. It has to be absolutely depressing to meet your future self and find out that you became a total loser. It’s more incentive to make sure you never turn out that way and I’d probably just be in denial that there’s no way I could turn out like that. On some level it would definitely hurt though and Shinno did good to not be crushed.

It’s why Shinno is such a great contrast because he’s easily the best character in the film. He’s in a really sucky situation. Imagine being trapped in a room with nobody to talk to for hours and hours? Yet he never complains or grumbles and is instead always ready to listen to the other characters and support them. He helps Aoi out a whole lot and when he’s put into awkward positions like having someone confess her feelings to him, he handles it about as well as possible. He’s just a good guy and when Akane is in danger he is ready to jump into action. He’s easily the most passionate character in the film and I was really glad that he got some good closure at the end of the film. It really dodged a bullet as it would have been super unsatisfying otherwise.

If you watch the film, Shinno should be the reason why. Then we have Akane who is a good character but I would argue she has some poor judgment. You have to give her a ton of credit for looking after Aoi so well. She made big sacrifices and just kept on looking forward. She never showed Aoi any hint of weakness and was also very practical in learning how to cook and take care of a kid. Her only fault is in what I would call “settling” when it comes to Shinnosuke. It feels like she just wasn’t able to move on and so in the end she is forced to keep on going after this guy but he doesn’t deserve such a good person. I would have even preferred for her to just leave for Tokyo at the end of the film or something. That would have still been better.

If you have to have her go back with Shinnosuke, have him be begging for a while and she gives a non committal answer like she needs to see him turn his life around first. It should be a long and hard road for him to win her back, not her laughing because he can still play a song. Also, that’s not to say she should go with Michinko because that guy was lame. I’m definitely not a fan of his in the slightest. For starters, he wants to win her over but doesn’t seem to be improving his life at all. He wastes a lot of money in attracting a big singer to the town and then he still drinks a lot of beers and gets drunk?

The guy acts rather desperate wanting her to notice him to the point where everyone knows he has a crush on her. That’s just sad and so I would not have wanted him to have been a rebound either. Meanwhile his son seems to have inherited his timidity in not saying anything to Aoi about his crush. Nothing will ever happen if you stay quiet about these things. Better to say something and get rejected hard than to always hang around and hope you get picked eventually. I’ll never really be able to defend a character like that. It just makes you shake your head instead.

There’s one more supporting character in Aoi’s friend Chika but she doesn’t get to do a whole lot. She’s fun enough and it was nice for Aoi to have at least one friend but you could cut her out and not much would really change. Not for Aoi herself, she is a fun lead. Definitely not the nicest one by a long shot but at least she is a bold character. She is pro active and tries to get things going like when she enters the band and proves herself. She talks tough and is rude to those around her but at least she has the skills to back it up.

While I do say you should be loud and make your feelings known generally, she should have probably kept her peace. Not much use in confessing to a ghost who won’t be here for long. Particularly since it’s someone that her sister likes. It’s one of those unspoken rules that you are not supposed to cross. You just gotta bury those feelings so deep that you never find them again. All in all, it was nice to have a lead who was more on the tough side and wasn’t afraid to call everyone out though. She gave the film a lot of personality.

As for the animation, it’s okay but nothing too noteworthy. The film is pale enough where Shinno’s red hair really stick out though. So it’s a nice contrast like how he stands out from all of the other characters who really can’t keep up. This isn’t exactly an action film so there’s not much opportunity for the film to show off otherwise but I can say that it is far from a low budget experience. The animation is still very smooth and I had no issues there throughout. The music is definitely on the weaker side though, I don’t think any of the tracks really landed.

As for the romance itself, I do tend to like dramatic romances. The more characters and triangles you have, the more intense the drama gets. Naturally I’m not rooting for most of the pairings but so long as the film doesn’t let anyone get too far, it works out well. I’ve already said that I don’t support Shinnosuke and Akane in any way, shape or form but Shinno and her would have worked out well. I can’t support Aoi and Shinno because that would be a massive rebound. Machinko and his son are completely out of luck as well. While I may not be rooting for them, the romances were all developed well though and you can get why the characters would fall for each other. Aside from Akane falling for Shinnosuke again, the others made perfect sense. Like Aoi hangs out with Machinko’s son a lot and her bold attitude probably won him over many times. Machinko being desperate for Akane the whole time makes sense as well since they were close, etc. The writing was on point here.

Overall, Her Blue Sky is a pretty good film. The ending is rather rushed and Shinnosuke got way too lucky the whole time but outside of that I didn’t really have any issues. The film’s pacing is good and a lot is happening the whole time. I’d definitely recommend it so long as you enjoy a good drama film. There is no shortage of that here after all so you can really just enjoy how crazy it all gets. Also a good reminder to always be watching yourself to ensure that your future self doesn’t disappoint your past.

Overall 7/10

The Wild Robot Review

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It’s time for a movie that is very much like Wall-E. It’s an emotional story about a robot trying to connect with an animal and along the way we even get some action scenes near the end. There’s a lot going on here and while the beginning does tend to be a little on the slow side, it picks up as the movie goes on. I would say that the movie had a good balance of good and bad things happening throughout while maintaining a positive tone. Ultimately I would recommend checking it out.

The movie starts with Roz landing in a forest area within Earth. As a proud robot belonging to a massive corporation, her mission to enrich the lives of those around her and fulfill their goals. The problem is that there was an accident and she was never supposed to land in a place like this where there are no humans. She tries to help out the animals initially but can’t understand them so she trains until he is able to do so. Roz then ends up assisting a little bird named Brightbill when hatching and so the bird thinks of her as his mother. A local fox named Fink initially appears as a tricky antagonist but quickly ends up helping her out. The two of them need to help Brightbill learn how to fly and survive on his own. This little bird was the runt of the litter and otherwise would have likely died without any help.

It’s a pretty heartwarming family story going on here with Roz and the gang. It’s got a good message the whole time with the characters all pitching in to help each other out and it has a very strong sense of community. The whole climax is about getting everyone to band together after all. Now this will never be perfect in a forest setting as the cycle of life and the food chain will force some tough realities into existing. That said, it’s still nice to at least see everyone band together against a common enemy.

I do want to underscore again that this is not an action movie. So don’t let me trick you into getting the tone wrong. This is a family movie first and foremost about the bonds of friendship. The climax at the end does give us some action but it’s not played super serious for the most part and these are hardly the strongest foes out there. The main villain A.I. is pretty impressive though. She is certainly persistent and has quite a few methods available to use in attacking the heroes. It really ended the film on a high note.

The literal ending of the film I was not a big fan of though. We got a heart warming moment but I thought Roz made the wrong call here. Hopefully a sequel would address this. Back to the characters though, Roz makes for a fun lead. She can be a little slow on the uptake initially, but then learns what it really means to look out for other people. It becomes less about the programming and more about her individually which was really nice. It was the kind of character development you like to see.

As for Fink, he brings a lot of the heart to the film. His quick wit is always a lot of fun and he brings up the film’s energy. Now it is fair to say that he does take some of the gags a little far. You get the feeling that he actually was serious about ending Brightbill for a little while in the beginning. Still, he turns over the leaf and becomes a force for good which is ultimately the important thing. The film would lose a lot if he wasn’t there because he just brings a lot of depth to it. You could argue that he definitely had the roughest upbringing among the characters.

Finally for Brightbill, well I wasn’t a big fan of his. I thought that the other two characters were considerably better. He’s earnest and means well but I didn’t like how easy it was to turn him against Roz. I felt like that plot development needed to have happened a lot sooner for it to be believable. For it to have happened so late in the game just makes him look absolutely terrible. Yeah, I was not really a fan of that at all. It was tough for him to recover, which may sound a bit harsh but I consider this to be a kind of betrayal which is never cool.

I’ll give the film props for also not making the bullying too overdone or anything. Brightbill got teased quite a bit for sure but it’s not like they were beating up on him the whole time. I guess the closest to that was when they started dunking him in the water and Roz quickly broke that up. The film just feels fairly realistic and you could substitute the animals for humans and quickly understand the message just as clearly. It is a well written film, I could stand by that 100%.

As for the animation, it looks decent. I wouldn’t say I was crazy about it but I don’t really have any big complaints. It’s not going to touch the hand drawn animation for the last 30-40 years but it can hold its own with the average CG production. I would just say it’s a film that will be relying more on the writing and story than any technical elements. There isn’t much of a soundtrack either with the exception of a song or two in there. Nothing in particular to really write home about though.

As a final note, the film also did good with the supporting characters. I liked Brightbill’s mentor who taught him how to really fly with a high level of skill. I also liked the elder who did his best to try and help Brightbill fit in. There were a real number of characters all doing their best here and the film did a good job of establishing their characters. There would probably be quite a few new characters if they ever did a sequel to this one but I’m confident that they would work out well enough.

Overall, The Wild Robot is a good movie from start to finish. Yes, it can be a little understated and I will admit that I tend to miss the humans a bit from time to time. The first half was a bit slow as Roz is getting used to things and the fox could have used one more character to help him with all the snappy quips and such but at the end of the day the positives outweigh these. You will be entertained and I would recommend checking it out if you are looking for a fun family film. It’s definitely quality content and the movie goes by quickly. The climax is also fun since you may not be expecting things to get quite as explosive as it did. Ultimately that makes for a fun film and I’d definitely check out a sequel.

Overall 6/10

Blue Lock: Episode Nagi Review

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Blue Lock is definitely one of the top tier anime titles that I’ve seen. The ost was incredible and the story was just so good. I also liked the animation quite a bit so it was really the complete package. Naturally Episode Nagi is quite great as well. It doesn’t match the show though as most scenes that were in both versions end up being better in the anime version. That said, it is cool to see things from Nagi’s perspective. At the end of the day it’s hard to picture any Blue Lock product being bad.

The movie starts by introducing us to Nagi who is a very lazy guy. He doesn’t really like doing anything and prefers to just lounge around all day playing video games. To him that is his idea of having fun. Well, one day he is scouted by a classmate named Reo who wants them to be the greatest soccer players of all time. Nagi isn’t thrilled about this but lets Reo take him to the Blue Lock program. It’s a place that has gathered the 300 top strikers in all of Japan in order to make one of them the best. They can then enter the Japanese team and finally win the World Cup. Does Nagi really have what it takes?

I’d say that the first thing to keep in mind here is that the film is really marketed towards people who saw the show. With how much gets cut out and matches that are sped through you can tell that it’s not really for the general audience. I would still argue that it holds up super well as an individual product, that just wasn’t the intent either way. The movie covers a lot of ground too as it goes from before episode 1 of the show all the way past the entire season.

The skipping does start to get really noticeable after the battle against Team Z though. We move through the 2 on 2 battle in an instant, the 3 on 3 and 4 on 4 fights basically become a montage at that point. The unfortunate part is that we probably won’t go back to those even if we do get an Episode Nagi sequel but even if it was brief it was fun to see Rin dominate again. That guy really was an absolute beast within Blue Lock and nobody was safe from him. The song that played during the montage was definitely pretty fun.

It helps make up for the movie being a little quieter than the show at times. The show had one of the best osts out there like I said before so initially I was definitely missing it. Maybe they felt that a movie needs to have more quiet time for the audience to think or something like that. It’s why generally speaking an anime will meet a movie version since it has more time, cliffhangers, and can go as crazy as it wants. Anime don’t have to follow conventional movie rules.

In terms of animation, I’d say it looked pretty good. Of course a lot of it is directly from the anime so you do have to keep that in mind. The movie original stuff is also good of course. There are a lot of aura effects and eye changes throughout the movie and I always really enjoy that kind of thing. The games feel very epic and that’s the kind of tone you want for any kind of sports title. Each match feels like the end of the world and all of the players continue to get more and more powerful so there isn’t really a ceiling. Nagi was the genius from the start after all but then you run into guys like Bachira and Rin who can handle him.

It’s basically a nonstop onslaught of battle after battle for most of the film which was a really good idea. It’s also fun seeing the main characters from an outside point of view since that is rare in any title. Isagi and the gang definitely look imposing right from the start due to their team all having real designs compared to the rest of the teams that often has only 2-3 real members. That is a massive difference right from the start. They all get a quick moment to shine as well.

For the main 3 on Nagi’s team, Nagi himself is the most interesting of course. Being a genius who never actually wants to train is pretty interesting because it really pushes the theme of talent vs hard work to the max. How long can Nagi survive by coasting on his own skills without training? He will ultimately have to find out. Due to the fast pacing, Nagi does come off as a total jerk for abandoning Reo though. We really didn’t get a lot of justification or much of a look inside his psyche on why this was such an easy decision for him. You’d think that he would have had to think a whole lot harder before making such a move.

Reo definitely gets the short end of the stick here considering just how hard he was working. He really tried hard to set everything up perfectly for Nagi so you wish there could have been some more gratitude. Of course you can’t expect Nagi to hold himself back forever but it really came out of nowhere which is why it hit so hard. If he could have at least been given a chance to keep Nagi on his side then that would have been different.

Finally there is Zantetsu who is reasonable. His gimmick of not being very smart can be a little annoying at times but overall he’s a fun enough character. He’s someone who you can root for and all. It just doesn’t feel like he has quite the same amount of talent as the main two so he would eventually be discarded no matter how hard he fought. Particularly since we already have a main speed user in Chigiri who seems to be a lot more versatile while also being smarter. At that point, Zantetsu was really doomed.

Of course the film also gives you a bunch of fun cameos like Kira showing up briefly. That guy was known as the Jewel of Japanese soccer for a good reason after all. The fact that he got the title even over guys like Rin shows what an absolute monster he was. Definitely not someone to underestimate. I’m still waiting for the guy to return one of these days. When he does, things are really going to get intense. Of course first we have to see if this movie even gets a sequel. I’m certainly rooting for it to happen at least.

Overall, Episode Nagi was definitely great. I can’t say that I had any serious complaints here. Yes, I’d love for the film to have been longer so it could have properly adapted the final battles. Making this 2 hours would have really given it the time that it needed. Of course you could just go and watch the anime but for people just watching the movie, it is pretty clear how it just starts to jump by the end. I’d say the best way to think of the movie is probably as a fancy recap title. It’s no purely a recap of course as there is new footage and all but it’s just small enough where I would make that case. Either way I would recommend this to anybody.

Overall 8/10

The Rescuers Down Under Review

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It’s time for the big sequel to the original Rescuers. It’s pretty impressive that they managed to really capture the feel and atmosphere of the first film after such a long break. It’s a film that has definitely aged well and made for a good watch. It’s what I would call a fairly basic animated film. Nothing too fancy but you generally enjoy i either way with no big negatives to stop it.

The movie starts with Cody adventuring through the wilderness and helping animals along the way. Unfortunately he is captured by Percival, a big animal hunter who wants to take down one of the legendary birds in the area. Cody is presumed dead by the authorities so it is up to the Rescue agents to save him this time. They send their best operatives Bernard and Bianca for one last mission. It’s not good timing for Bernard since he was getting ready to propose to Bianca but hey villains don’t wait for a good spot after all. They are greeted by Jake, a guy who is a little too comfortable flirting with Bianca while Bernard is right there. Will Bernard still be able to bring his A game and save Cody or will he be too distracted to be of much help?

Now while this plot is mainly for laughs at Bernard’s expense, it doesn’t make Bianca look particularly good. To an extent you should always be able to know when someone is flirting with you. The fact that for pretty much the whole film she just thinks he is being polite was a little hard to buy. I appreciate Bianca being a super nice character who is always trying to help but even that has limits. A the end of the day, you gotta keep your guard up.

This is also a really bad look for Bernard for not saying anything. He just needed to be direct. I know the guy is always really nervous and has a hard time doing anything but this would have absolutely been the time to change his reputation. He needed to man up and set the record straight. While he’s not as nervous as in the first film, it’s still a pretty big knock against him.

The only one you don’t really blame for this is Jake who has every reason to be oblivious about Bianca already being taken. So yeah that guy just has natural charisma and confidence. He is even quick to cheer Bernard on in the final scene. That may have been sudden and super forced but hey he’s a good sport. I wouldn’t say he’s a great character or anything but he’s entertaining and definitely gives the cast some real energy.

Then we get to the main villain Percival who is actually really good. This guy makes plans and is highly effective at his job. Yeah perhaps tricking a kid isn’t so hard but he still pulled it off. He’s also rather intimidating like when he pointed his gun straight at Cody. It’s the little things like that which you imagine would be a whole lot tougher to do nowadays. This guy was completely unhinged and an absolute danger to all parties involved. He was constantly threatening his animal assistant but unlike other villains you could actually picture those threats as being credible.

It really helps in any movie to have a villain who is a serious threat like this. Whether it’s an animated film for kids or not, you should be able to pull this off. The short length of the film also helps for things to be moving fast at all times. The only part that felt rather forced and a bit drawn out was the subplot with the bird trying to have his back fixed. Ehhh I just didn’t think it was all that funny and I wanted to go back to the main plot. The character himself is pretty fun without a doubt but this didn’t add anything to the film at all. Give me more scenes of Cody working to break out of the facility or the mice getting closer to their goal instead.

Well, the animation is definitely quite solid as you would expect. The movie has a very fast paced/chaotic vibe to it the whole time. The characters are super expressive and the colors are very sharp. It’s the kind of movie that will continue to look really good even 50 years from now. A true feat if I do say so myself. The music is okay, nothing all that special but it’s not as big a focus as in the original movie anyway.

The writing is good so at the end of the day the film nailed the fundamentals. I even enjoyed the setting and Australia is not always the best backdrop. They just did a really good job of making the backgrounds all look fun. I also enjoyed the accents the whole time, I thought they did a really good job with that.

As with the first film, you may question just how effective the animal army can be at times. A lot has to go right for them to even set up the missions since they have to distract the human at the controls every time. This movie goes a bit more in depth on how the missions are set up so it makes sense to spend a few lines on it. This is just the kind of film that you can’t think about too hard. You have to suspend a little disbelief here but I would say it’s honestly not a ton. The film is still smartly written overall so I have no problems here. I do think there is quite a nice opportunity to eventually have the humans get involved though. No reason why they couldn’t right? Humans can understand the animals after all so a joint partnership could work really well. Maybe the villain could be a disgruntled UN agent who doesn’t like the new competition or something like that.

Overall, The Rescuers have maintained an impressive level of quality and consistency here. I would easily be able to recommend this to anyone. It’s just a fun story that doesn’t overstay its welcome and produces a lot of fun characters. The main villain was especially impressive with just how hype they were allowed to make him. He’s a total villain through and through. They just allowed him to have some actual charisma and bravado within that role. I’d definitely be down for more films in this series.

Overall 7/10

The Rescuers Review

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Now lets look at the original rescuing film. Right away you can see that this film has a really bright art style and just looks sharp all around. I can’t say I was super familiar with the movie but it definitely does its job of being a fun adventure film with no real downsides. I had a good time with it and the film really ends up finishing quickly so the pacing is always on point here.

The movie starts with a girl named Penny sending out a call for help as she has been kidnapped by the cruel Medusa. This SOS reaches the rescue organization comprised of mice from all areas around the world. They know that something must be done and so Bianca will be heading out there. She gets to pick who she wants to go with and so she chooses a guy named Bernard. Bernard’s the janitor and has never been out on a mission so he’s extremely nervous. He just doesn’t think that he is really ready for this kind of thing but in the end he doesn’t have much of a choice. They will be flown in by Orville and from there they will really have to prove themselves.

Since the main characters are tiny mice there are naturally a lot of obstacles that they really have to try and get past. By no means is this an easy mission for them. Still, for all of Bernard’s grumbling and nervousness I will give him credit for going through with this. He doesn’t duck out at the first sign of trouble or anything like that. His personality doesn’t work too well for me as the kind of character that I will end up being a big fan of or anything like that but he wasn’t bad.

Bianca’s a lot more fun as she is always having a good time and doing what she can in order to help. She gets bravery from her politeness as she will walk up to anyone to ask some questions. It’s probably not the smartest thing to do from a safety perspective but hey it’s worked out for her so far. She has tons of fans as we see in the opening scene and is respected around the world. She makes for a good team with Bernard even if they do tend to feel outmatched. Technically Medusa would be able to easily crush them in a fight if they were to get within arm’s reach. At that point it would really be all over.

Medusa also makes for a fun villain. For starters she is just so over the top evil. I mean just look at that name. Medusa? Yeah you aren’t going to forget that and then she has the eye shadow and all the visual hallmarks of a villain. She is absolutely in control on the antagonist side and is always pushing around Snoops. I don’t have any sympathy for that guy since he is just standing there and taking it the whole time though. He should have just ran out already and not doing so is his choice.

I’ll give Penny some props for her repeated escape attempts though. She did good at finding holes in the perimeter and making a break for it. Ultimately she would usually not think it through enough but I won’t ask much more out of a little kid. This is still far better than crumbling under pressure and panicking or anything like that. Then there is Orville who is a fun supporting character. He’s generally confident and always ready to lighten the mood. Without him the heroes would definitely not have gotten very far. He may not usually enter the combat arena but he is definitely someone who provides support the whole time. You just feel a lot safer and more secure when he is around. When he is not around, then it’s easier to panic.

He tends to get a lot of the funny dialogue as well. The film has a good sense of humor and sprinkles that into a lot of scenes. Considering that the writing is already really good, that makes for a really good pairing. The pacing is tight and meanwhile the animation is also really good. There is a lot of attention to detail the whole time and it is a very rapid style. You won’t be bored at any point since something is always happening on screen. The music is fairly forgettable though. Nothing that will really make you turn your head or remember it for very long to be honest.

You do feel like the mice should come equipped with some kind of weapons though. Considering that they are often rescuing people from outside threats, shouldn’t they have a means of defending themselves? Since they are mice, by default that means at least 90% of the types of opponents they face will be bigger and stronger than they are. If you ask me, that means they will have to rely on plot armor and luck almost all the time. So if they had some kind of stun dart or something that would be a vast improvement. As a last resort you could also just alert the humans. Perhaps dial 9-11 on a mini phone or something like that. Figuring out a way to rope the humans in would absolutely be a lot safer and likely more effective as well. Perhaps it would feel like copping out on the premise but it’s definitely something you will be thinking about during the film since the main villain has two gators and is also physically strong enough to crush the two mice as needed.

Overall, The Rescuers is a pretty good movie. I had a good amount of fun with it. To an extent I would say there is not a whole lot of depth here and you should be thinking about it more as a classic adventure film. I don’t think there is a lot you would really be analyzing or debating about but at the end of the day as long as the movie was fun, then you’re in a good spot. The Rescuers had a good amount of world building set up so you could easily leverage this into a complete franchise. I’d have pretty high hopes for that.

Overall 7/10