Transformers Review

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Nothing beats the original Transformers film and that never changes no matter how many times I see it. It’s easily the definitive robot film and I actually don’t believe that any will ever be able to pass it. Nonstop action and a solid cast of characters keep this classic afloat and after Transformers 4, it was time to relive the good ole days. Get ready for an emotional war as the Autobots and Decepticons have their climatic clash!

The plot starts after most of the TV show events have already occurred. The Decepticons have a huge advantage thanks to the fact that they have already conquered Cybertron and the Autobots seem to be very weakened. The heroes are low on energon and they only have a city on Earth as well as a pair of moons. The Decepticons decide to destroy this resistance once and for all and a climatic battle ensues. Meanwhile, the legendary Unicron is on his way to Cybertron and he’s already conquered several planets. Defeating him is basically out of the question at this point. Can the Autobots even afford to worry about him with all of the Decepticons who are around? Only time will tell!

The film is really fast paced and so many plots develop throughout the course of the film. This is considering that the film isn’t even a full 90 minutes! The first half hour is easily the best part of the film as we witness a big Decepticon invasion and the heroes heroically try to fend them off. It’s emotional and the fight scenes are just intense. The film doesn’t really slow down until we get to the planet of Junk where the film gives the audience a brief rest. After that, it’s time for the climax against the planet eater.

Ironically enough, the climax is one of the least exciting parts. After the first 50-60 minutes of nonstop action and battles between the two sides of Transformers, the final half hour is a little uneventful. We have a water planet, the junk planet, and then a quick battle against Unicron. It’s still solid of course, but nothing beats the first chunk of the film. All of the classic fighters get their chance to show what they’re made of.

Optimus Prime is still the fearless leader of the Autobots and this continuity was easily his best portrayal. Prime means business and he effortlessly takes out quite a few Decepticon warriors. His climatic battle against Megatron is still famous and the battle was very well done. Prime is essentially the perfect main character and he really had no flaws in the film. I doubt we’ll ever see him look quite this good again, but he’s consistently been a solid character across the multiverse anyway. His shotgun/cannon also looks impressive and it’s definitely one of the stronger weapons in the film. He may not have gotten a very large role, but it was definitely a critical one.

Megatron is also an excellent villain. He is a great leader for the Decepticons and his plan is a solid one. Infiltrating Autobot city nearly ended the war in an instant. He took out quite a few Autobots and he seems to have a lot of energon since he was fighting all day. I will admit that I was always surprised with the fact that Megatron begs for his life at one point. I suppose that he doesn’t care what he has to do in order to defeat Optimus Prime, but as Prime said “I thought you were made of sterner stuff.” Megatron is able to get past this thanks to the fact that he’s an awesome villain and the film wouldn’t have been the same without him.

It was good to see Grimlock since I really didn’t like his portrayal in TF 4. This is the Dinobot that I remember and he’s acknowledged as one of the strongest Autobots. There’s a reason why Prime sent the Dinobots to take out Devastator! Few other robots could have been challenged with such a task. Grimlock may not have crushed Devastator, but he did pretty well with the other Dinobots. (The other Dinobots are cool as well and I believe that Slag may have done more damage than Grimlock, but their roles were a lot smaller so I won’t really be talking about them) Grimlock even humors Wheelie for a while and then takes command of a huge army of Sharkticons. That’s what I’m talking about!

Hot Rod is essentially the main character of the film and this is how I became a big fan of the character. He may have gotten a little watered down in the comics that came out after this, but he still looks pretty good in the film. He shoots at the Decepticons upon seeing them and then he embarks on a dangerous journey with the others so that they can mount a counter attack. When he finds out that the Matrix has been stolen, Hot Rod immediately says that they should attack and get it back.

Now, his only sad moment is when Megatron is able to easily overpower him and shoot Prime. It’s a controversial move since it can be said that Prime would have won otherwise. I am confident that Megatron would have still shot him, but maybe it would have only been once instead of several times. It’s definitely a debate, but Hot Rod’s intentions were sound and he really did try to help. It just turns out that his power was feeble compared to Megatron’s and he never stood a chance. He still pulls through when it counts and that’s what ultimately matters. He officially ended the wars and changed history!
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Bumblebee gets a very small role in the film and he only gets a line or maybe a few more. His design is definitely interesting and it’s one of the only ones from G1 that didn’t really become mainstream. I will always prefer this version since he can talk to most of the others, but he definitely wasn’t a star in this film. He doesn’t even say thanks at the end when Daniel saves his life. It was still good to see him get a cameo though.

Unicron is the big bad villain of the film and he makes for a solid threat. Instead of talking tough and doing something gritty to call attention to himself, Unicron just destroys the planet in one fell swoop. After that, he sets his sights on Cybertron and it’s a pretty epic journey. He takes out two moons for fun as he gets closer and closer to his goal. His attack on Cybertron is also one of the few times where we actually get to see Shockwave mobilize the troops so that was cool. (Although the Decepticons did not last for very long) Unicron’s decision to transform into robot mode was his big mistake. The enemies quickly took advantage of this and Unicron is essentially defenseless in this form. It’s why I am opposed to villains being too large. It just makes them vulnerable in the end. Ignoring that, he was still a pretty solid opponent for the Autobots and his voice was nice and menacing. Not even Megatron was able to stand up to his tricks.

Galvatron is the new villain who was introduced for the film. He’s not as new as you may think, but that’s another story and you’ll realize this as you watch the film. His arsenal is impressive and taking on Starscream is a pretty good feat. The scene should be pretty cool if you’re a fan of Galvatron or if you’ve just wanted to see this happen to Starscream for a while now. Galvatron talks tough throughout the film and he can back it up with his high amounts of power. You have to respect the fact that he never gives up and keeps on trying to make his plans succeed. He’s just in a very difficult position to make this actually happen. He is a very good villain for the film.

Wheelie is definitely the worst Transformers robot. His voice is definitely tough to understand and you stop trying after a while. The rhymes were a little over the top. I do applaud the fact that the film tried to make the voices unique, but it just didn’t work this time. Wheelie ends up sticking around through the next TV show, but I can’t say that it was a good thing. He doesn’t really bring down the film a whole lot, but he’s still unnecessary.

Wreck Gar is from the Planet Junk and he talks in radio signals mixed in with TV. It’s very hard to understand him and I can’t say that I liked him as a character. It helps that the whole Planet of Junk was a little uneventful and I didn’t like the Piranha world that much either. Wreck Gar just doesn’t really add much to the plot and I’m a little skeptical on how that junk would be so sturdy. He must know something that I do not.

Kup is one of the major players in this film, but he’s never been one of my favorite Autobots. He can fight and he has a lot of experience, but it just wasn’t enough to win me over. He’s not a bad character, but he’s really not the type of guy that I tend to find likable. He’s just too old and he doesn’t fight all that much. He talks a good game, but he typically can’t back it up. Still, he did pretty well when he took out the tank so I give him props for that.

Ultra Magnus is one of the major Autobots and I used to think that he was a powerful fighter based on the name. I’m sure that he’s tough, but there’s nothing to really suggest that he’s tougher than the other Autobots in this film. I’m definitely a fan of his, but the film really tried to show why he wasn’t a terrific leader. He didn’t have time to worry about his comrades and his one on two fight didn’t go over so well. Dropping the Matrix of Leadership was likely his biggest mistake. It would have been great if Ultra Magnus could have went down putting up more of a fight. He may not be the next Prime, but he’s still a likable Autobot.

Daniel is the new human companion to the Autobots, but he isn’t a great character. He means well and he helped the Autobots to become aware of the Decepticon threat, which likely saved many bots. However, he just wasn’t much of an asset to the team and he didn’t figure out how to use his energy gun until the climax of the film. Also, asking the Autobots what happened to Spike during such a dangerous situation was a little on the dicey side and he even broke the great air board from the intro of the film. He’s still a step up from the protagonist of the Transformers Trilogy.

Spike was one of the main characters from the TV show, but he doesn’t get a huge role in the movie. He decides to leave Unicron a little present in the form of a bomb, but he took too long admiring his craftsmanship to make enough time to escape. I can’t say that he was very likable, but he wasn’t a bad character either. He was just pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and he definitely panicked a lot when Daniel hesitated to save his life. I suppose that it was understandable though….

Arcee doesn’t look very good in this film and it was before the big social wave that helped to make female characters much stronger in today’s media. This is before Arcee became the pro fighter that we see in Transformers Prime. She helps Daniel out through the tough times, but she never gets a chance to fight back. I would have liked to see her fight some Decepticons and the closest that she comes to this is when she breaks one of the tires on an enemy car when the Junk bots attack. So, she definitely couldn’t look as good as the other Transformers without any fight scenes, but she was all right I suppose. Definitely needed some action though.

Starscream really steals the show for the Decepticons. He’s the one Decepticon in the film that I prefer to Megatron. His shreeky voice is iconic at this point and some would even say that it is more memorable than Prime’s or Megatron’s. That may go a little far, but it’s definitely one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Transformers. This is Starscream as he was meant to be portrayed and the fact that he directly insults Megatron instead of beating around the bush is intense. “How do you feel mighty Megatron!” as Starscream kicks him while he’s down. His lines to Megatron as he throws him out of the starship are great as well and he even got to wear a crown. It’s hard to find any character that’s as good as Starscream.

Soundwave gets a pretty small role in the film, but he is the only Decepticon to show any loyalty to Megatron. He may not have stopped the others from throwing him off of the ship, but he did save him from the being left at the Autobot base. Soundwave’s definitely one of the more useful Decepticons and I’ve always liked him as a character. Letting the constructicons know who was superior was definitely a nice line as well.

The film’s soundtrack is dynamite and just about all of the songs are catchy. The only one that I didn’t care for played during the planet of Junk as they all held hands and danced around. It really wasn’t my type of film and I definitely could have gone without it. Aside from that, it’s hard to even know where to begin. It really makes you feel like you’re watching a theatrical film. The music is loud and it’s energetic. You really get into the fight scenes and they’re well played. The main Transformers theme is easily my favorite tune and I’ve listened to it many times. It ends up making the opening credits really exciting and you know that you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.

The animation is also excellent. This film came out in the 80’s and yet, it looks so much better than some 2014 shows like Pac Man and Teen Titans Go. (Still airing in 2014 anyway) This film always helps to reinforce the fact that animation has been on the decline in America. We need to get away from Flash and CGI so that we can go back to traditional hand drawn shows/films. I’ve viewed this film on dvd many times and it’s finally starting to show some wear and tear. The final 20-30 minutes saw a drop in quality, but it wasn’t the film, just the disk. This film definitely deserves the blu ray treatment and then more people can see the epicness from which Transformers was born. The animation definitely holds up very well to this day and I can say with confidence that it is timeless.
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Overall, this is not just the definitive Transformers film, but it is the best robot film out there. The cast of characters is excellent and the soundtrack is top notch. The animation pulls no punches and there is action throughout the film. The fight scenes are very well done and the robots focus on winning instead of tearing each other to shreds for a while. This results in accurate shots that take the robot down in an instant. There were only a few characters that I didn’t really care for and things slowed down towards the end, but that’s not a major concern. I highly recommend this film to Transformers fans and to anyone that wants to relive the good ole theater experience. The film is nearly perfect and I doubt that it shall ever be surpassed by another Transformers film. I recommend watching this one whenever you are about to watch the Michael Bay version.

Overall 9/10

Pokemon XY The Strongest Mega Evolution Act I Review

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Pokemon is a franchise that continues to grow and it has now gotten a new TV special. Instead of Ash and friends helping out the townsfolk; this special deals with Alain as he tries to become the strongest trainer around. It will be tough and the road is hard, but that’s not going to stop him and Charizard! It was a fun special, but I believe it should have been longer. (No matter what kind of special episode, OVA, or mini movie it is; the item in question should always be around an hour)

I’ve already described most of the plot, but it should be noted that a girl named Mairin gets in on the action. After witnessing an epic clash between Alain and another Pokemon trainer; she takes it upon herself to follow him and learn the secret behind Mega Evolution. Alain doesn’t seem to want her around, but he’s not able to ditch her because of other Mega opponents that are around. He won’t stop until he’s defeated every last one of them!

Alain is our lead in this special and he’s a decent character. Alain is definitely no Ash Ketchum when it comes to personality, but he definitely has some skills. (Of course, Charizard Is doing most of the work…) He tries to be mean to Mairin so that she will ditch him, but it doesn’t work. Beyond that, he tends to be a nice guy, but he also gets straight to the point. He wants to defeat his opponents and that’s what he intends to do. You’re not really able to write a whole lot of personality in a character within 20 minutes so that’s good enough for now. As such, Alain is a bit generic at the moment.

Mairin doesn’t fare much better. She trips quite a lot and it can definitely be a little over the top. She’s definitely out of her league at this point and she has a ways to go. Luckily, she just started her Pokemon journey so this is to be expected at this point. She’s much better than all of the other “Marron” characters that I’ve seen. (DBZ character reference) A solid time skip would work out pretty well for her and she has potential to be a tough trainer. It just won’t be realized at the moment.

Naturally, most of the hype around this special was directed at the Mega Evolutions that were going to be witnessed. The special does a good job of showing just how massive the power upgrade is in this form. The first battle ends up taking down most of the forest in collateral damage. Mega Charizard is always fun to see and Garchomp’s Mega form is very impressive as well. One can watch this special just for the fights because they’re that good. Now more people can accept the fact that Pokemon can definitely keep up with the Justice League or the Avengers.

The overall animation for the special is really good as well. I dare say that it’s slightly flashier than the latest episodes (Which are already awesome) and each attack looks great. The ultimate dragon attack from Blastoise was really large and you could practically feel the power. Every part of the special felt polished and animated to perfection. It’s definitely one of the better animations that I’ve seen in a while.

Unfortunately, the special falls a bit with the soundtrack. It’s very sub par compared to the average array of Pokemon themes and especially in consideration of the recent Pokemon Origins special. The tunes were generic at best and they really did not go well with the fights. That always hurts the overall experience because you need solid music to really be able to enjoy the battles to their full potential.

I recommend watching the special until the very end because we get a cliffhanger. It may be extremely generic, but it’s good enough for me. A generic cliffhanger beats no cliffhanger at all! Hopefully part II comes soon because I’m ready for more Mega fights. I may miss Ash and friends, but I can still enjoy this without them.

Overall, I highly recommend checking this special out. It’s a great way to launch yourself into the Pokemon franchise. The special has heart and a lot of action. Ash Ketchum even gets referenced and it’s in a pretty epic way. Alain better hope that their paths never cross! Their’s also a good intro that shows off a lot of the Pokemon so that you get their Mega Forms can be seen. It’s short as well so there’s no reason not to watch it! Pokemon will always be one of the best franchises out there.

Overall 8/10

Frozen Review

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Frozen is one of the highest grossing films of all time and it appears to be highly likely that it will join the top 5. That’s pretty impressive and the film is still out in theaters in case you want to go and check it out. I’ve finally had the pleasure of viewing the film on DVD and it is definitely one of Disney’s better projects. It has a Barbie feeling to it, but with a little more danger and intrigue. Why did Frozen succeed? Well, in the words of a respectable business man turned villain…”Isn’t that the question of the day?”

Looking at the posters and promotions for Frozen; the film always looked interesting but I had no idea on what the plot would be about. Even after I read a review for the film on another site…I still didn’t remember the plot by the end. Plot is a crucial part of a film, but it can be overshadowed by visuals and character development, which is what happens in this film. It does help that the plot does involve some…plot hax. (Or plot holes if you wish. Not in continuity, but more of a suspense for disbelief issue)

The story begins with two sisters, Elsa and Anna. They were great friends until Elsa managed to knock Anna out with a single ice blast. Their parents quickly save Anna, but at the cost of her memories. Anna remembers Elsa, but she believes that her sister is a mere mortal. (Which is a fair assumption) Elsa’s parents tell her to stay in her room for the next 10+ years until she masters her abilities and no one can ever know that she has powers! Unfortunately, Elsa cannot control her powers so she never gets to see another human being until her coronation ceremony. Anna has always wanted to rekindle their friendship and she attempts to do so, but things do not work out. Anna must now track down Elsa and get her to reverse the curse that she has placed on the town. It will be a dangerous trek!

Elsa is arguably the main character although one could make a very strong case for Anna being the true main character. Elsa is a lot more charismatic than Anna and one can sympathize with her plight. I had some issues with it, but I shall address those in due time. Her ice abilities are a lot more powerful than I had imagined and she can definitely hold her own against fellow Disney protagonists. (She could possibly hold her own against the Avengers depending on how thick she can make the ice that she creates.) She also has more common sense than Anna as she realizes that any man who would claim to be in love with someone after an hour or two and then propose cannot be trusted. He’s either greedy, evil, confused or all of the above!

Anna plays a large role in this film. She is a lot more outgoing than Elsa, but she’s also a little more naive. She takes her dangerous situations in stride because she doesn’t really seem to know how much danger she is in. She was involved in the scene that made me cringe a little inside and it definitely hurt the film a bit. I will go into that scene in a short while, but it wasn’t a great moment for the film. Anna’s a good character for the most part, but it’s too bad that she succumbed to the romance part of the film. The romance itself wasn’t a huge issue, but one day is way too quick to make any decisions.

At one point in the film, Elsa creates an Ice Creature to protect her Kingdom. This Ice Monster is pretty skilled in the art of fighting as he quickly takes down a few fighters. His durability is also shown to be at a high level and he’s pretty merciless. At one point, he attempts to destroy one of the main characters and you may find yourself at the edge of your seat as you wonder if the heroes will survive. (So long as you haven’t seen a film in a while) This creature never gets a name, but fans of the film aren’t likely to forget him anytime soon!

Hans is one of the first characters to appear, but he may come across as a little cheesy. As one point, Anna bursts into song and he quickly interrupts her to say that he was thinking the same thing…and then he continues the song. I can’t buy that! Anna should have immediately dashed out of there because coincidences like that don’t work. Hans just seemed really fake and he definitely is not someone that you would want to hang out with. He is one of the fighters who goes up against the ice creature and only one of them gets to walk away. Hans isn’t a likable character and he’s definitely one of the worst ones. Why? You’ll need to watch the film to find out!

Olaf is not someone that you want to cross. Once he realized that Kristoff had gone crazy, he quickly decided to hold him off so that Anna could escape. That’s what I call bravery and he should definitely be considered as a hero. He’s easily one of the best characters in the film and he is always ready for a hug. His body is a little frail, which gets in the way of his heroics, but Olaf never gives up. He’s always ready to risk life and limb to help his friends and hopefully he gets a nice role when he returns for the inevitable sequel.

Kristoff is another one of the main characters and I can’t say that I was a big fan of him. His friends are known as the “love experts” and I really didn’t like them either. Kristoff has his “hero” moment at the end, but it was a little hard to watch. Kristoff was really mean to one of the shop owners, going as far as to call him a thief. (I believe that is the term that he used…or maybe he called the owner a crook) Kristoff has a reindeer by his side named Sven. Sven is decently cool and he’s never afraid to speak his mind. He makes sure to keep Kristoff in line and he also knows when it’s time for Kristoff to take a swim. Once again, I do have to say that Kristoff’s friends weren’t that cool. They didn’t do a great job of helping out in the opening and they had the worst song in the entire film. Their scenes tended to drag on and I believe that they could have been written out.

The one scene that hurt the film more than anything else was the Wolf scene. In it, Anna and Kristoff are forced to throw away their heroic nature as they injure a group of wolves. That was pretty terrible and I lost a lot of respect for both of them. Anna’s still a decently good character overall, but that really threw away her character development. Kristoff never recovered from the incident as well and the film’s score took a bit of a hit. The film also had a lot of romance, but that’s to be expected. I think the film should have cut it out though since it wasn’t needed in this film. If Kristoff and Anna decided to just be pen pals and if Anna and Hans had decided to stay as rivals…then that would have worked out perfectly.

Finally, Elsa’s predicament is pretty hard to believe. How she hid from her sister for about a decade by staying in her room all day is beyond me. The parents made a pretty bad decision in that regard as they left the sisters in that state as they headed off for a cruise or something. Elsa shouldn’t have gone along with this plan and she could have stayed friends with Anna through mail. (Or phone calls if those were around back then) Their first meeting at the ball room could have gone better as well if Elsa had just explained things. She can definitely trust Anna with her secret so that shouldn’t be a concern. Ah well…the plot had to get rolling somehow right?

The animation for the film is decent. The ice abilities that Elsa possessed were pretty impressive visually. Character wise, this isn’t my favorite art style. It’s the way that most American animated films look, but give me the Super Friends or the original Gundam show’s animation any day. There’s something about these visuals that just don’t strike me in the same way.

The soundtrack for the film was pretty forgettable. That is not counting the lyrical songs of course. Elsa’s main song was pretty good when she first goes to the castle in her new hairdo. Beyond that, I can’t say that I really cared for the other songs. I’m not into lyrical songs (for the most part) so that was to be expected. At least it’s not a bad soundtrack!

Overall, this was a pretty solid Disney film. I really got a Barbie feeling from it, which was nostalgic since I used to watch a lot of those films. Elsa is a solid protagonist and her ice abilities are fun to watch. The film had more action than your typical animated film and we really only had one scene that would make you cringe a little inside. I can definitely see why everyone loves the film so much and I won’t mind seeing it in the top 5. It’s a fun film and you’ll walk away remembering how much fun the songs were and hoping that Elsa will be in Kingdom Hearts III. I definitely recommend this film to all audiences. I just don’t see how you can dislike this film unless the Wolf scene is the first scene of the film that you witness.

Overall 6/10

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 Review

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I was just going to call it Mighty 7, but unfortunately Stan Lee’s is always ahead of that part. I will admit that adding his name is sure to help the film do well and it’s a pretty epic name, but Mighty 7 would have been an even better title. Ah well, time to see how Stan Lee successfully shows us that we can still have a happy superhero adventure!

The plot of the film is essentially what you would expect from a superhero film. Aliens have decided to invade Earth and it’s up to Stan The Man Lee, AKA, Super Stan, AKA, Stan Smashing Lee to save the day! He was driving and thinking of new ideas when a spaceship crash landed near him. After some hasty introductions, Stan helped the aliens get to his friend’s mansion that is near the beach. The heroes are going to have to learn to follow Stan Lee’s advice if they are going to have any chance of defeating the powerful aliens!!

The main villain is Xanar and his power levels are definitely considerable. It’s not unreasonable to assume that he could defeat several of the heroes in a one on one fight. He’s essentially the Lizard…so he’s a pretty uninspired character. I can’t say that I cared for the villain and I’m hoping that he doesn’t come back for the sequel. He can jump around a lot, but that’s basically all that he can do.

The real villain is Mr. Cross and he’s a member of the government! He seems to think that he’s doing the Earth a service by taking the heroes down, but he has misinterpreted the situation. He actually captures Stan The Man Lee at one point, but things don’t go very well for Cross. One simply does not try to capture someone like Super Stan! Still, this is someone that I can root for as a villain and if the ending is anything to judge by, he’ll definitely be back. I can’t wait to see him defeat Strong Arm and then take on Stan Lee.

Unfortunately, the main team of aliens aren’t very likable. Strong Arm is the leader of the group and he acts as the hero. Unfortunately, he actually turns out to be one of the meanest heroes and he isn’t likable. He doesn’t want to protect Earth since it’s outside of his jurisdiction and he’s always trying to show the world why Lazer Lord is a villain. Strong Arm thought that he saw Lazer Lord commit a criminal act, but he was probably seeing things. He’s just not someone that you can root for. He’s certainly not the next Captain America, but I suspect that the writers were trying for us to dislike Strong Arm. If so, they succeeded!

Lazer Lord is another one of the big players and he used to be a respectable hero. The only problem was that he was framed for destroying someone and then Strong Arm made sure that he was taken to court. Lazer Lord escaped and that’s how we get to the Earth subplot. He wants to save the planet from the aliens, but Strong Arm and the other heroes quickly stop him. To their defense, he didn’t bother to tell them that he was after an alien and they just thought that he had cracked. He definitely could have explained things a little better! He does have the best power (aside from super speed) and he’s definitely one of the tougher members. He’ll be critical in the sequel!

Silver Skylark is Strong Arm’s partner, but that doesn’t mean that she’s quite as petty or annoying. Silver Skylark is always willing to give people a second chance and while she’s not the best fighter of the group, she definitely seems to be more of a hero than Strong Arm. She hasn’t gotten that much development yet, but we’ll likely learn more about her in the sequel. She’s a decent character overall.

We also have Lady Lightning, who has the power of super speed. It doesn’t even need to be said that super speed is one of the greatest powers of all time. She should be invincible right? Relatively speaking, nobody can really match her in this film. Unfortunately, she gets an unneeded origin that doesn’t help her toughness, but it’s tragic……(This film didn’t need any tragic elements to it!) It’ll be tough for any of the villains to realistically fight her in the sequel, so I’m already guessing that they’ll just use plot hax.

We’ve also got Kid Kinergy and Micro. They get to share a paragraph because it’s easy to mix theme up. They’re probably as bland as a character can get personality wise. Micro is decent since he accepted his name so quickly, but it’s hard to root for him. I can’t really root for either of these guys and their origin story didn’t help matters. All teams have their weak link and these guys would be that link. (If not for Strong Arm) Kid Kinergy does have useful powers, so at least that’s a plus.

We can’t forget about Roller Man……yeah, that’s really his superhero name! I’m guessing that he didn’t give Stan the proper respect. He’s all right at best, but he’s basically a Bouncing Boy ripoff. There isn’t really anything that makes him unique and that’s always a bad sign. I do like his voice a lot since it’s about as annoying as a voice can get. He’s essentially mocking the other characters whenever he talks. It’s usually intentional, which just makes things worse for everyone else. Although, the drinking from the toilet scene was pretty unnecessary. (You may want to back away from the TV for that scene!)

(Super) Stan (The Man) Lee is one of the main characters and I can easily tell you that he’s the best character. Stan Lee isn’t a noble hero and he’s only helping the others so that he can get rich and famous. He always looks out for himself and he’s realistic. At one point, he lets Strong Arm know that he can’t help them save the world because he has bills to pay. That’s a man who knows his priorities! Stan’s best line is when he says, “Fear isn’t in my vocabulary!” as the aliens “threaten” him. I gained a lot of respect for Stan in that scene and that’s tough since I’m already a huge fan!

Stan Lee has a pretty incredible car and he doesn’t let anybody badmouth it! One of the very rude heroes tries to do so, but Stan puts him in his place right away. Stan Lee is definitely a likable fellow and he always speaks his mind. If the sequel is to be as good as this one, Stan Lee will definitely have to play a critical role. Seriously, just about every line that he uttered was priceless! Stan Lee even gets his own car chase scene and we see how he handles an interrogation. This guy is definitely made of sterner stuff!

The Animation may definitely take some getting used too for most. It reminds me of the little cutscenes that you may find in a book or a Burger King/McDonalds video game. I’d say that it’s classic 80’s animation and while it’s definitely no DBZ, it can hold its own against today’s modern entertainment. (Hulk Agents of Smash) Hulk may be better in fight scenes, but at least the teeth don’t glare out at you. There is a really sped up scene where the heroes escape from a burning ship, but it just didn’t work. The scene felt artificial as if the writers wanted the viewers to feel a sense of danger. That definitely did not happen!

There aren’t really any fight scenes in this one so I can’t gauge that too well, but it’ll have to rank as the worst fight scenes in a “serious’ superhero film. Teen Titans Go has better fight scenes and that’s a comedy with a little action. It shows you how bad the fight scenes and animation have become in recent years. DC manages to stay strong, but Marvel and even Stan (The Man) lee can’t stop themselves from using animation that gets out shined by media from over 30 years ago. I would go more into the big animation conspiracy in America, but that would get us off topic very quickly and it’s tough to say in a short manner.

So, the target audience throws the film off a bit. They don’t want to really show any fight scenes, but at the same time, we get some tragic back stories. (None of them were necessary btw) The heroes also have the generic moment where they get surrounded by a lot of enemies and then the screen cuts away as they’re easily knocked out and thrown into a prison cell. I never liked that kind of scene because I want to see the heroes fight. Getting knocked around like that makes them look pretty sad to be honest.

Overall, this was a fun throwback to the old days of superheroes. It was pretty fun and I’d say that it was more entertaining than the current Marvel programs on TV. They may have better fight scenes, but the writing wasn’t quite as good as this film. I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel and I’m hoping that Super Stan will get some more screen time. He definitely stole the show in this film and he singlehandedly kept it afloat. I’m also hoping that we get some more fight scenes in the sequel and that the main character looks better. (If not, then he should be written out of the franchise) One problem that probably won’t be addressed is the fact that none of the characters are really likable aside from Super Stan. Still, I highly recommend this film if you enjoyed the good ole days of Superfriends, Scooby Doo, or the 1960’s Marvel cartoons. If you’re looking for something a little more modernized, then check out Batman The Brave and The Bold Justice League.

Overall 6/10

Justice League War Review

Justice League War blu-ray specs
(Spoilers will be included since the Man of Steel ending curse is upon us!) Well, this is the film that we’ve been waiting for since it was first announced. It’s based off of the first Justice League arc in the New 52, but with many significant changes to adapt it for the modern audience. We’ve already had some pretty strong Justice League films in the past, so it would be interesting to see how it stood up to those!

First of all, you must ignore the cover. The cover hints that the animation is the worst that we’ve ever seen from DC and luckily that is not the case. I’m not sure why they decided to use a cover that looks like Kingdom Come style of art, but the live action approach was not necessary and hopefully it won’t affect ticket sales. The plot is pretty simple for the film since it involves a classic alien invasion. These aliens seem like they want to take over the planet and the Justice League members must learn to team up and work with one another. Will they be able to stop these villains!?

I always like to see team origin stories. If DC were to announce that their next film was another case of the Justice League banding together to stop a common threat, I’d still be pretty psyched. The concept doesn’t get old and it’s always fun to see the members meet for the first time since fights will usually ensue. It’s why I enjoyed the recent Avengers film and Ultimate Avengers film so much and why I don’t believe that future installments can pass them. It’s always possible of course, but it’s rare to beat that initial team up!

Since I’m a huge Justice League fan, I will definitely be breaking the film down more than I would for say….A Hulk and Iron Man team up film! (Although the latter should have enough negatives to make for a solid review!) This film is easily one of the best that DC has whipped up and you can expect a pretty high rating, but there were also several areas where I thought that they could improve. I’ll likely alternate between goods and negatives as the review goes on. Let’s talk about one of the most important parts of the film…the characters!

Batman is one of the first fighters to appear and he’s a very good character as you may have expected. There are several scenes that may make you nervous like his first battle against the Parademon. He was actually on the losing side of the battle and that can be a little hard to accept. With a lot of help from Green Lantern, the two heroes manage to subdue the creature. That being said, it may have taken a little more effort than it should have.

Batman got some pretty good props when he managed to steal GL’s Power Ring and we also got to see him take on Darkseid. The big thing that fans were looking forward to was the Batman vs Superman fight and we actually got a rematch as well! Batman looked all right in the 2nd fight and he was clearly outmatched in the first one, but I can live with that. If anyone can overwhelm Batman like that…it’s Superman. He is the strongest comic book character of all time, so it’s only fair. Batman ended up being the best character in the film and he even beat Superman for me in this film, but it may have been due to Superman’s lack of screen time. He basically missed out on the whole climax! A +1 for Batman’s depiction in this film.

Green Lantern is definitely one of the more iffy parts of the film and I’m afraid that it’s one of the film’s biggest negatives. The writers wanted to show us that Hal Jordan is basically a joke who cannot fight for beans. One Parademon is easily overpowering him and nearly destroys him several times. His constructs fall apart far too easily. This is supposed to be funny since he’s constantly talking big, but I can’t say that I liked that. I’m actually a big Hal Jordan fan, so seeing him look so bad was pretty sad.

I actually liked his characterization in the film, but I don’t like the fact that he’s so weak. When Darkseid shows up, Green Lantern is the first one to charge in and fight, but he looks extremely bad. I’m not completely sure who I would choose in a straight fight, (No composite) but either way it would be a very close battle and not as one sided as the film would have you believe. Hal actually gets one of the biggest roles from all of the characters in the film so his scenes can be a little tough to watch for his fans.

Superman is back with his new personality in this film. In the New 52, they tried to make him a little more like Batman. He’s definitely not quite as intense as he was in the DCAU, but he’s all right. I can’t say that I liked many of his lines during the second half of the film, but he started out as a pretty cool character. I still liked him by the end, but his lines about how almost nobody understands him felt a little out of place. It was good to see his skills being used a lot as he beat Batman and Green Lantern without much effort.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the changes that I think the film should not have made. Flash doesn’t get to fight with Superman in this version like he did in the comic. That’s a pretty bad change since I wanted to see Superman’s complete victory! After Superman’s impressive performance in the beginning, he looks pretty bad during the Darkseid fight. He can’t outrun the Omega Lasers and they also knock him out in a single hit. The film also shows that his will power is not enough to stop him from being mind controlled and letting his morals be corrupted. Finally, he gets a chance to change everything and defeat Darkseid, but he epicly fails in that regard. His portrayal isn’t as bad as Green Lantern’s, but he just looked too weak when it counted and I have to say that I do not like his costume/character design. It just doesn’t look right in this film.

Wonder Woman is also sporting a new outfit in this film. As with Superman’s, it definitely does not work as well as her classic costume. I even prefer the Diana Prince superhero uniform that she used during the early 2000s. Ignoring that, she mainly uses her sword to fight in this version and she’s able to use it to beat many Parademons.

Now, I may or may not have mentioned this in the past, but I don’t like when Wonder Woman has a weapon. It would be like Superman drawing a sword…I just don’t get the purpose. Wonder Woman was raised with the Amazons, so they likely had her train with a blade, but it undermines her strength. She fights without the sword briefly, but I wouldn’t have minded if they cut it out altogether. Weapons are only all right if their unique designs help to compliment the hero’s ability or if they lack any ability like the Punisher.

They ended up cutting out Wonder Woman’s most iconic line in the arc from the movie and that was a little disappointing, but she still gets to defeat many Parademons. Wonder Woman also does pretty good against Darkseid and she lands many hits against him. Aside from her appearances with Superman, she’s a good character in the film. Aside from her very inaccurate fight against Cyborg, they did a good job of showing that she is one of the stronger members of the JL.

The Flash is in the movie, but you can easily forget that at times. He definitely has the smallest role in the film since they cut out his most important scene. Sure…he’s there for the final battle and he beats some Parademons along the way, but he doesn’t really do anything important. I still like him more than some of the other members like Cyborg and Shazam, but it would have been nice to see him do more. His super speed is definitely critical to success and he should definitely be able to take care of the alien invasion without breaking a sweat. His portrayal was essentially dead on and the only one that I can say was just about perfect aside from Batman.

Cyborg is in this film since this was during DC’s big push to make him a Justice Leaguer. I wish that they would just give up on that already since I’ll never accept him as anything other than a Teen Titan. His subplot is the only part of the film that you can maybe find a little dragged out. The process of turning into Cyborg definitely took a while and while it was easy to sympathize with him, I wouldn’t have minded if they had just fast blasted through his origin. I actually liked his teammates, but his father was very unlikable. Mocking the sport of Football is simply not done! He definitely should have attended the game and he wouldn’t have missed anything since the action didn’t happen until after the game. It was a decision that the father may regret! (Did I mention that Steve Trevor gets a pair of cameos along with Lois and Jimmy? Well, they look like decent characters, which is good!)

Unfortunately, to “prove” that he can be a member of the Justice League, the film makers hype him up a lot. He defeats Wonder Woman in one hit and while she is not completely passed out, it did enough damage to let the league know that he was serious. He also defeated her in the Doom film. They’re giving him wayyyyy too many props lately and he also gets to save Flash’s life. I definitely don’t mind the character, but they just shouldn’t add him into the films if it will make everyone else look worse. Aside from that, Cyborg is still a good addition to the roster.

Shazam was added instead of good ole Aquaman and it was definitely a mistake. He’s just not a good character and he looks really bad. He is completely missing his power and his attacks seem like they don’t really deal any damage. Instead of using his physical abilities to defeat his opponents, Shazam uses a lot of thunder abilities. As with the whole weapons issue, I don’t like this. If the thunder abilities actually looked good, then that would be okay. Unfortunately, the blasts look weak and it just makes his whole character look weak. Shazam is also mean to the other kids who are around and it’s hard to be sympathetic with him. He’s easily the worst hero in this film. He’s so much weaker than Superman that a Trinity War film will not make any sense if it comes out.

The Parademons get a significant power upgrade in this film and we see them match up against opponents like Green Lantern! They have a good amount of super strength and at first, Batman can barely make them budge with his punches. Later on, they seem to grow weaker and Batman is able to take several of them out. Perhaps their life points are directly linked to Darkseid’s…..or the first Parademon was the leader. That would make the most sense since he was easily the most impressive villain. It’s easy to root for the Parademons and they’re fun villains, but the origin story was a little unneeded.

Darkseid is the big boss of the film and he’s a decent villain. He feels more like a mindless monster than anything, but he does have a mechanical voice. It may help you question whether he is truly alive or merely a cyborg at this point. He is very large in this film and he completely towers over everyone in this film. Unfortunately, like with Cyborg, the producers try too hard to show off how powerful he is. This makes heavy hitters like Shazam and Green Lantern look terrible in the process and Wonder Woman/Superman don’t look as good as they should.

Darkseid constantly takes hits from Shazam and Green Lantern without actually taking any damage and he also proceeds to overwhelm Wonder Woman and Superman. The latter two do all right overall, but it’s because Darkseid is outnumbered and forced to deal with them all. They make sure to show that he could easily defeat them all if it were a one on one fight. He looked very strange when it was crawling on all fours when going after the Flash and it felt like a horror movie. Darkseid is still a cool villain like always, but this is easily his worst incarnation. He comes across like Galactus from the EMH show…less of a character and more of an object. Still, it’s always good to see him take on the League!

The Animation for this film is solid as expected from DC. It’s definitely a lot better than what Marvel is dishing out and I hope that DC continues to use this style for the rest of their films. One problem that I had was with the special effects. The characters all seemed pretty weak during the fight scenes and it was because they took out the shockwaves. Usually when a Strong character shows up, they’ll add a little shockwave effect next to the punch so that you can tell that the character is strong. If you don’t get a shockwave, then you’re not usually a fighter. That’s how the DC films have typically went. Unfortunately, in this film…nobody got that extra effect so most of the hits didn’t really feel like they connected.

I have to say that it is why I was not terribly impressed with the fight scenes. They are definitely a few hundred steps up from Marvel and just about any American superhero dvd that you can find, but at the same time, it’s still not quite as good as Crisis on Two Earths, Public Enemies, or Secret Origins’s fight scenes. They’re very flashy in this film, but you can’t really feel the blows for the most part. I would actually compare it to the new DBZ film. The fight scenes were definitely very high budget, but at the same time, you didn’t really feel the blows like the Broly, Bojack, or Cooler films. I’d say that the film uses speed over power, which is all right in theory, but I just missed the power element to an extent. The fight scenes are definitely still solid.

One area where the film suffers a little is with unnecessary violence. Superman actually destroys one of the villains in the same way that he took out Zod. He may have been mindcontrolled, but it was a very obvious way to recreate what happened in Man of Steel and try to make Superman a little more “hardcore” I also didn’t like the fact that they decided to take out Darkseid by aiming for the eyes. I’ve never liked that tactic since it means that the fight scenes will be a lot more violent than they need too. The heroes also act “edgy” since they throw in more than a few casual swear words. It’s nothing serious for the most part, but it can get a little grating on the ears. You wouldn’t catch that back in the DCAU days! One scene that was not needed either was the origin of the Parademons. It’s pretty gruesome and there were many other ways that we could have learned their origin instead. Superman’s scene didn’t seem to be as graphic as in the comic, which was definitely a plus, but the film definitely had more violence than was necessary.

One last part that could be a little worrisome is how weak the Justice League is. Batman is technically still a human, but it’s the others who don’t look so impressive. Green Lantern definitely can’t fight with the big guns. Wonder Woman and Superman are tough, but they were already outclassed by Darkseid. Cyborg is basically just a human with metal and a cannon and the Flash usually has to deal with plot hax to inhibit his abilities. Shazam is just downright weak. (Which seems to be the latest trend for him. Check out Young Justice) This will mainly just be a worry for Trinity War, but it’ll be interesting to see how they look in the next film. If Ocean Master takes them out…then things could get dicey!

Overall, this was a solid DC film. It’s a really big film (Not by runtime, but by content) so I tried to get in all of my thoughts, but I probably just got most of them in. This is one of those films where you’ll always have extra thoughts and that’s always a good thing. I would’t say that it was quite as good as the original Justice League (Secret Origins and Starcrossed) films or as good as Crisis on Two Earths, but it was definitely one of DC’s best films. I’m confident that it will easily defeat the Throne of Atlantis film as well since we got so much action in this one and we also got to see Batman fight with Superman. It was good to see how the new Justice League are portrayed and while some characters can definitely use some improvement, they got Batman’s character down correctly. That’s always the important part. I’m hoping that they do not continue the Superman and Wonder Woman subplot and that they improve the character portrayal for Green Lantern in particular. I definitely recommend this film for DC fans and you should enjoy it as long as you don’t mind changes to the personalities for the heroes. DC continues to hit us with epic films! (Time to wait for Son of Batman, which I’m guessing will get a 6-7)

Overall 8/10

Mewtwo Prologue to Awakening Review

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The latest Pokemon movie was easily the greatest of all time so a prequel special would definitely be fun. Usually, when a film has a prequel episode it can be tricky since the main characters may be absent. I don’t think that Ichigo got to appear when the anime did an episode on the final movie. Luckily, Ash manages to appear in this film and it’s a pretty epic cameo. Let’s just say that Ash will be going places! Could this prequel episode manage to live up to the movie and prove to be better than the average Pokemon episode? Let’s find out!

The plot is pretty simple and I’ve been saying that a lot lately. It’s just the way that the cookie crumbles or how the mashed potatoes is serves I suppose. Mewtwo is fighting three powerful Pokemon when a mountain shatters from the power and hits all of them. Mewtwo is now gravely injured and someone is still hunting him. Meanwhile, a Pokemon Ranger crash lands when he forgets how to properly use a plane and didn’t notice that he flew off in one that was broken. This guy’s a natural expert on plane mechanics and goes to work. An old man his grandson own a cabin on the land and go to help the guy. They meet a very suspicious Pokemon Hunter who says that Mewtwo saved him, but his Pokemon are injured. The Ranger must now help the guy’s Pokemon and also find Mewtwo to recruit him for the cause!

Virgil is the main character of the special and he’s pretty intense. It may make you wince when he forgets that his plane is damaged and when he can’t bluff his way through a sandwich, but it can be worse. He’s an Eevee user and he owns all of the different types. He’s pretty impressive since he became the champion of the Pokemon League in his region. It’s too bad that he couldn’t face Ash since Ash got knocked out during the early phases of the tournament, but it’s how it goes I suppose. Ash always manages to lose the battles that really count. Virgil doesn’t usually take things in stride and he can get shocked very quickly, but he’s still a good guy deep down. He just doesn’t have the natural leadership qualities that Ash possesses and he doesn’t have quite as much experience. His team wasn’t able to put out a simple forest fire, but they gave it their all!

Dirk is the Pokemon Hunter and he should not be underestimated. He was nearly able to defeat Mewtwo in a fair fight and that’s nothing to sneeze at. I did have to question the accuracy of such a feat, but for now I’ll just take it in stride….nah. That was pretty inaccurate and I just didn’t buy it. Dirk isn’t really a great character since he’s a little bit of a one shot and he wasn’t very impressive. He managed to outsmart the main cast, but that’s nothing to brag about. At least he was taken to the proper authorities so that they could put him behind bars.

Anna and Oscar are also in the film, but there isn’t much to say about them. Anna tries to show Mewtwo that Friendship is Magic and Oscar tries to make sure that Virgil doesn’t have a great experience during his stay there. They team up to give Vergil a really spicy sandwich and Vergil doesn’t take it too well. One bite is enough to take him down and he just wasn’t able to stop it. That was one spicy sandwich!

Mewtwo is the main Pokemon of the film, but she isn’t portrayed too well. The problem is that she’s very depowered so that the villains can actually have a chance. I don’t mind that the villains can get some props since I’ve always liked Tyranitar, but that was a little too much. Mewtwo couldn’t use recover and her speed was very inconsistent. I would have liked to see Mewtwo just take out the planet and go from there. At least Mewtwo will be ready for the movie and she was definitely powerful in that film.

Ash also gets a cameo and it’s a pretty intense one. He doesn’t seem to have fully recovered from his humiliating loss in the Pokemon League and watching his rival Vergil win it all must have been devastating. Professor Oak tells them that they should go visit a town that’s not too far away. He’s likely telling Ash this so that Ash can take his mind off of his big losses. Ash continues to lose in the big championships, but at least he gives it his all! Ash came across as a winner in this special and I like to think that he would have won in a rematch.

The only problem with this episode is that it feels like they were trying to make everyone look bad. The voice acting was definitely over the top and they felt as if they were talking in slow motion for some scenes. I hope that this isn’t the case with all of the current episodes, although it could be a little funny I suppose. The only problem is that good scenes won’t sound as hardcore and bad scenes will sound even worse. It’s a risky gambit so I hope that they know what they’re doing!

Overall, this was a fun episode. It’s pretty nostalgic to see the gang once again and Ash will always be an inspiring hero to all! I wonder if he still plans to catch them all, but he probably just wants to become the Pokemon Champion. It’ll be fun to finally see him fulfill that objective in the Kalos region. It’s also good to see Mewtwo again and the mega transformations never get all. It’ll be awesome if Pikachu learns how to do that in the anime. The soundtrack and animation were great and it felt like they were aiming this at the movie crowd. They probably grabbed some movie animators as well, for better or for worse. I definitely recommend checking this special out, but if you are watching the anime then you’ll come across it in time. I also recommend checking out the film right after you watch this episode so that you can watch as Ash’s Pikachu takes on Genesect!

Overall 7/10

Trigun Badlands Rumble Review

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I watched the Trigun series not too long ago and it was pretty fun. It was probably the first anime that I’ve seen in a while that could make an old wild west fight actually be fun. (Granted that this isn’t the same “Wild West” that you see in the films. The film came out pretty recently so it would be interesting to see how the animation has changed over the years. It wouldn’t be as nostalgic for me as it would be for the original fans since the gap between the show and movie was relatively short in my case. That being said, I was ready for anything!

The plot involved Vash The Stampede…also known as the Humanoid Typhoon as he saves the life of a notorious villain called Gasback. Since Vash opposes death in all cases, he lets all of the villains get away. 20 years later, Gasback is back and he wants revenge on the three underlings who betrayed him. He enlists the help of Wormwood, who cannot refuse because he owes his life to Gasback. Vash happens to be in town and he must protect everyone while also making sure that nobody dies in this big adventure. Meryl and Milly are also around because they can’t afford to let Gasback win and break the statue in town. If he does, then the insurance company may be out of business for good! A bounty hunter by the name of Amelia is also in town and she has a personal vandetta against Gasback. Everyone heads to the same town with their own reasons and the fight starts!

Well, this film was a nice throwback to the old days of Trigun. Vash’s character is definitely like his older days, but I’m afraid that it’s not a really good thing. He can be a solid character in some scenes, but he’s very over the top when it comes to Amelia so it’s really hard/impossible to root for him. He’s just not the noble main character that you would expect to see in this film. He’s really powerful and he doesn’t have a challenge in the whole film since the villains are mere mortals, but he likes to give them a shot to fight back. He pretends to be weak while he beats the opponent “by accident”. At one point, he steals everyone’s bullets in the blink of an eye which is an impressive speed feat and shows just how much of his abilities he is holding back.

Gasback is the main villain of the film and he’s all right. He’s not very impressive as far as villains go, but he’s good with a gun. He just doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of the heroes because he isn’t a threat. He gets some character development and he’s one of the nicer villains since he doesn’t always destroy people for no reason. He just wants to commit the perfect crime.

Meryl and Milly are still around as per usual, but they don’t look incredibly good. Milly still has her gun at the ready and likes to insult people to their face, but she doesn’t get much of a role. She still looked a lot better than Meryl. Meryl ends up getting drunk and she tends to panic a lot more when it comes to Vash The Stampede. I definitely prefer Milly as a character and she tends to take things in stride while Meryl panics.

Amelia is the main heroine in this film and she has the tragic backstory that comes with most characters who are introduced in an anime film. She’s a decent shot and she has some decent combat skills, but I wouldn’t say that she was necessary to the story. She’s a decent bounty hunter and she has a grudge with Gasback, but she is usually just attacked by other bounty hunters or harassed by Vash The Stampede. At least she manages to keep him away for the most part, but getting drunk at the bar didn’t help her case either. She’s a decent character in the end, she certainly could have been worse. (Naruto movie 5 heroine)

Wolfwood was one of the cooler characters in the TV show, but he doesn’t look that good in this film. The main villain saves his life so he decides to work for him for a while, but this job involves dangerous operations which will prove deadly for a lot of people. Wolfwood doesn’t seem to mind since his “honor” is on the line. I didn’t find anything honorable in his actions and it made him seem like a pretty bad character. His portrayal was definitely bad in this film, but it happens to everyone at some point. (Vegeta in the Broly film)

The animation in this film was decent, but not really that great. It definitely didn’t help me gain any respect for Mad House. (Studio Pierrot is where it’s at) They may have been trying to give it a bit of a dated feel since it takes place in an “old” setting, but it just could have looked so much better. I would actually say that the TV show can hold its own to the movie in animation and that shouldn’t be possible. The film came out in 2010 so I was expecting something a little more polished. That being said, there wasn’t anything wrong with the animation. It was solid, but it looked more like an average episode than a big movie.

I still have to wonder why everyone fears Vash The Stampede! He got a huge rep, but I don’t really see why. The whole moon incident was intense, but nobody should believe that and everyone who does see Vash either thinks that he is faking or quickly becomes scared of him. Vash walks around in public all of the time and he’s always a nice fellow. I don’t really see why the reputation still persists, but I do like his “Humanoid Typhoon” nickname. It’s also cool to see everyone yell Vash The Stampede whenever he appears.

I do have to say that Gasback’s big invasion towards the end is very hard to believe. There are dozens and dozens of bounty hunters and Gasback just runs right up the middle. He was not in a tank and he had no real protection as he just blasted away at them all. There’s no way that all of the bullets and rockets would miss the guy and he should have been down for the count instantly. There is nothing superhuman about this guy and he’s just an average joe. He’s actually pretty old because he was already old before the 20 year timeskip. The plot hax was strong in those scenes, but most films have a few of those scenes I suppose.

Overall, this was a fun movie. It was nice to see Vash and the gang fight a new opponent. That being said, it was more like a homage to the old series than a full movie. It was movie length and technically, it was a big adventure. The thing is, since there was no threat and we didn’t really get any fight scenes until the end, it just felt more like a side story or a filler episode. This film just didn’t have a cinematic feeling to it and in that regard it’s like the OVA that DBZ came up with where they just had fun and had a brief fight at the end. It’s fun in its own right and you’ll likely still enjoy the film if you haven’t seen the show. That being said, I’d recommend the show a little more highly than the movie.

Overall 6/10

Naruto Shippuden The Lost Tower Review

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Naruto may not have always had the best movies in the past but things have been shaping up. The first Shippuden film was a lot better than I had expected and Bonds was decently good as well. It wasn’t until the third Shippuden film that I saw true greatness in what will probably stay as the best Naruto film of all time. With things looking up, could this film truly make it in the big leagues?

I should mention that I did not have very high hopes for this film. I figured that it would definitely be one of the worst Naruto films since it involved time travel and there wouldn’t be a really tough humanoid for Naruto to fight. Turns out that I underestimated this film and it ended up being one of the best Naruto films of all time…one of the best films of all time period! Avengers, Titanic, Man of Steel…and even Godzilla pale in comparison to this film. This film completely decimated my guesses of how good it would be on every level and should serve as a staple for how to do things right in several areas.

The plot involves Naruto and Squad 7 (Minus Kakashi while adding in Sai and Yamato.) (I’ll never count those two as members of Squad 7!) as they head off to stop Mukade. Right from the start you can tell that this villain means business and he does his best to destroy Naruto and friends. With the help of Sakura, Naruto makes quick work of the first enemy and they head into the shrine…but they’re too late! Mukade has already started to absorb the seal and now he can rule the entire universe! Naruto quickly chases after him along with Yamato. (Who’s basically copying Naruto) Sakura also attempts to go in with them, but Sai stops her and keeps on proving me right when I say that he’s an awful character. They won’t appear again until the very ending of the film.

Naruto lands in a place that is filled with giant towers and he’s attacked by a group of mecha robots. (Not all robots are mecha so it’s not redundant…I hope!) Naruto is quickly overwhelmed due to major plot hax and the fact that he was slightly unprepared for this battle. He’s saved by fellow Leaf Shinobi who quickly run away and leave him to fend for himself. Naruto ends up saving a queen by the name of Sara and fears for her safety. Can he protect her and save the world universe from Mukade?

This film doesn’t waste any time and there are fight scenes basically every 10 minutes or less. The film opens up with a great action scene involving Squad 7 fighting a puppet master. Afterwards, we get a very emotional and epic moment where the seal starts to unravel and Naruto quickly charges in. Then we’re lead into another fight with the puppet robots and fight after fight after fight. The final battle starts at around the halfway mark of the film and lasts until the end which is around 40+ minutes. That’s pretty impressive for any film that isn’t DBZ!

The soundtrack in this film is one of the highlights as it may be the best soundtrack that I’ve encountered in any film. Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time may give it some competition in that regard, but this film may actually take the title. Every fight scene has a great theme to go along with it and the seal unraveling scene also had a great opera theme. There’s also a piece that is basically techno mixed with rock and it sounds awesome on all levels. I can’t think of any bad themes in the film and nearly all of them were battle themes anyway. This is one of the few films that you can almost watch purely for the soundtrack. It’s just that good!

The animation is pretty solid and it feels a lot higher budget than the other Naruto films. This one actually felt like it could have been a theater film and you could tell that they put a lot of effort into it this time. That explains why there aren’t any scenes where the film really drags on and why the fight scenes are so good. This film has enemies that can shoot lasers!!!!

Character wise this may have been one of Naruto’s best appearances ever. Even his canon moments would have a hard time competing with his scenes in this film. This film encompasses all of Naruto’s good traits while leaving out all of the annoying ones and I dare say that he’s essentially a perfect main character in this film. Naruto was definitely under powered in this film, but he never gave up and continued to try his best. I wish we could see more of that in some of the other current stuff out there. Sakura started out as a pretty good character and she was on pace to have her best appearance in a long time, but Sai wrecked her epic moment and then she spoiled the ending. If not for the ending, then she definitely had a solid role, but we can’t just forget the ending. Yamoto was pretty awful, but he’s never been a good character anyway so that’s hardly surprising.
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Sara is the character added for this film and I wouldn’t say that she was a great character either. She refused to believe things even when they were perfectly obvious and not even hidden from her. That was pretty disappointing and the fact that she didn’t really put up a fight just made things worse. When you can’t tell that the people cheering for you are puppets, it’s time to put on the glasses and retire from being a Queen. Considering the suspicious circumstances, I don’t understand how she got to be so close to Mukade and I don’t know why she waited so long until she decided to close out the energy. That seemed like it should have been obvious to her from the beginning since she could see energy and all.

A lot of the hype for the film was because of the 4th Hokage appearing which is why I’m glad that I wasn’t exactly thrilled for this. The 4th Hokage looks pretty bad and very weak as well. His partners weren’t likable character either and Minato’s final scene is pretty awful. He spends the whole film hiding from the villains and he’s just not a cool character. He was completely out of character and it was a little disappointing but this film can’t be perfect in all areas I suppose.

This is a film that I highly recommend to everyone. Naruto finally looks like a true main character and aside from the fact that his abilities are toned down, he’s a very solid character. The battles are really good and while the enemies aren’t humanoid, the music makes up for that easily. The film isn’t very long, but you’ll love every minute of it. You haven’t watched a truly epic Naruto film with 5 Star music until you’ve watched this one!

Overall 8/10

Pokemon Genesect and the Legend Awakened Review

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Pokemon is one of the greatest franchises out there. It has spawned many different manga, books, games, movies, and also got an extremely popular TV series. This film got a lot of hype since it would be the return of Mewtwo! I can say that this fact attracted me to the film as well and I could not stop my expectations from rising drastically. I’m glad to say that the film succeeded where others have failed!

The Genesect are looking for their home and wander about a snowy mountain. There are five gray Genesect and the Master Genesect. His color scheme is red and he’s vastly stronger than the others, even being able to manipulate them through telepathy. Mewtwo comes to help them out of a pinch when an avalanche occurs, but a fight breaks out and the Genesect escape. Mewtwo heads after them and then we cut away to Ash and friends. I forgot why they are here, but they’re having fun at the Pokepark when they’re attacked by the Genesect. Pikachu puts up a brave fight, but he’s outnumbered and these guys do have some impressive abilities. Ash and friends ditch the guy who was giving them a tour (Technically he left first, but they’re the main characters so we get to reverse the roles) and get ready for the climax.

The rest of the movie is essentially a very long fight scene that features the Genesect taking on Mewtwo, Feraligatr, and some of the other pokemon who are out there. The film is barely over an hour, but it is still impressive to see a Pokemon film that has more action than talking. One would have thought that we were watching a DBZ film!

Before I go deeper into the fights, let’s talk about Ash Ketchum, who happens to be from Pallet Town. His first line is great and while I don’t remember it word for word, it was something like, “I feel Awesome!” That may not have been the exact quote, but it was something to that effect and it was the perfect entrance for a man of his caliber. His friends didn’t look as impressive with their opening lines of dialogue. Unfortunately, Ash goes downhill fast from that scene.

When Genesect attacks, Ash quickly retaliates with his heavy hitter, Pikachu. Pikachu is able to block two beams at the same time, but Ash doesn’t give him any backup and he ends up being seriously injured. Instead of turning his cap around and throwing out Charizard, Ash seems to freeze up. It’s a good thing that Mewtwo was around! Later on, Ash makes a nice promise with Genesect to get him back to his home, but he’s pretty cheesy about it.

Also, Ash doesn’t make the best decisions. After hearing Genesect’s proclamation that he will destroy them all, Ash tries to stop Mewtwo from taking him down. Mewtwo’s not going to destroy him, but he does need to teach Genesect a lesson. Unfortunately, Ash gets in the way, which could have jeopardized everything. In fact, Ash doesn’t help out at all during the climax and the situation may not have been as dire if he and Pikachu had attacked as well.

I should mention that Ash’s brainwashing/time travel seems to be getting more thorough. He doesn’t even recognize Mewtwo and acts like he’s never seen such a being before. The anime really needs to address this issue before it’s too late. Did Ash go back in time so that he’s 10 again? Did someone brainwash Ash? Was Ash abducted from time right after he started his journey and skipped all the way to this region? It would explain why he’s lost all of his experience, but most of the plot holes would still be around. I think that the writers have dug themselves into a hole in this issue.
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There’s not much to say about Ash’s friends. They were essentially a non-factor and didn’t end up helping at all. Cilan seemed a little intimidated the whole time and Iris was too busy showing Ash up at every corner to actually fight. Yes, things were definitely up to Ash as far as the humans were concerned and he didn’t end up helping. Team Rocket appears and they get one of the highest budget scenes in the film, but it’s just a small cameo.

Let’s talk about Mewtwo. Mewtwo has the same origin, but she’s not a guy in this version and we don’t get to see her casually destroy an island by powering up. She’s a decent character, but she could have been a lot better. She gave Genesect way too many chances to launch a sneak attack by trying to reform him. Genesect is basically a machine at this point so why would he change? Ignoring the scene in space, Mewtwo just needed to take him down. Not for good, but at least knock some sense into him.

Mewtwo does give us a glimpse as to how Mega Evolutions may look in the anime. She can casually transform into her Mega form at will and it doesn’t seem to drain that much energy from her. Moreover, Mewtwo doesn’t need a long time to recharge before transforming once again. In her Mega form, we see Mewtwo casually crash the sound barrier and probably enter light speed. Mewtwo’s ability to slow time/use super speed is definitely useful. Mewtwo has a large array of attacks and we got to see several that had not been used by Mewtwo in the past.

Genesect is a pretty good Pokemon and the red one was my favorite. Finally, a Pokemon who is ready to rumble and also wants to destroy all who oppose him. Genesect made for a great antagonist and he’s one of the better pokemon out there. He’s easily Top 50 and probably a lot higher than that in the grand scheme of things. Genesect’s speed is very impressive and the only Pokemon who could possibly keep up with him would be Deoxys, Mewtwo, and Pikachu. I really can’t see any other Pokemon matching that level of ability.

Let’s get into the fights, this film definitely knocks the others out in this area. Mewtwo and Genesect actually fight in the middle of a city, which was really awesome. At one point, Genesect rams Mewtwo into a building and they chase each other across the entire city. It was great to see Pokemon moving at such high speeds and they can both take some solid hits. At one point, Mewtwo has to fend off the 5 of them and she actually does pretty well. Mewtwo is still the ultimate Pokemon (Except for Deoxys and that one is still arguable) and she proves it in this film.

Mewtwo vs Genesect is definitely the best fight of the film, but we also have the 4 regular Genesect against the Pokemon Army. Feraligatr was basically the leader of the resistance and it was nice to see him getting some respect. Feraligatr is one of my favorite Pokemon and I’m glad that he didn’t cower in fear like the others. After seeing his bravery, the other Pokemon step in to fight as well. A pair of Geodudes attack the Genesect and the other Pokemon all jump in the action. Persian actually lands a pretty decent Hyper Beam on one of the Genesect as well. At one point, the Pokemon army is actually winning, but then the red one came back and basically annihilated them all. Ash could have helped to prevent this, but he was still frozen. There is a pretty big opportunity that was missed with Charizard. He appears towards the beginning of the film, but then he doesn’t do anything until the very end. I would have liked to see him go up against Genesect. Since the film put an emphasis on the fact that Charizard was there, I figured that he would have done something. At the very least, I wanted some sort of fight, but Charizard didn’t get any action in the film.
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Mewtwo realizes that Genesect is pure evil and that he’s not going to stop. Every second that Genesect stays on Earth is another Pokemon that may be eradicated. Mewtwo ends up making the Ultimate choice..which I won’t say due to spoilers. Let’s just say that Mewtwo was put in a very similar situation to what Superman went through in Man of Steel. Zod’s about to destroy some people so Superman did an evil act to stop him. Mewtwo has the same option available to her and I’m sure that many would have cut her some slack if she made the same move, but Mewtwo is a true hero. Superman is as well, but not in the Man of Steel movie. The decision that Mewtwo makes is one that I’d been saying that Superman should have done for ages. Ever since I saw Man of Steel, this is what I thought should happen. I’m glad that Mewtwo used this method so now I can show people an example of what I believe Superman should have done.

Aside from the awesome fights, there were some disappointing things in the film. Mostly, it’s the fact that the Pokemon had a lot of “Anti Feats” Fire was shown to be greatly lethal to the Genesect. In one scene, they seem to forget that they have super speed and energy blasts as they cower away from a little fire. A cannon almost falls on one of their heads so Ash quickly uses Pikachu to deflect it, but they act like Genesect would have been seriously hurt. At one point, Genesect launches a direct attack at the building and there isn’t even a notable crater. Is the film saying that a very powerful energy blast can’t even blow up a building, or at least make a nice explosion? I definitely don’t buy that! Mewtwo faints and loses power after entering space, but Mewtwo should be fine. Her energy and defense are more than enough to withstand the rigors of space.

There were many scenes that undermined the Pokemon and made them look like they were weaker than Bakugan, Yugioh, and Monsuno. I’m not saying that they’re stronger than those guys, but Pokemon do deserve a level of respect. This movie acted as if they were extremely powerful…compared to other Pokemon. I felt that it was like Bionicles. To the average person, their abilities seem tough…against someone who’s tiny. When you have powers, your size shouldn’t matter so much. In the film, Mewtwo’s blast should have blown up a country and likewise with Genesect. The force of their speed should be enough to blow up the buildings around them! To an extent, I can overlook this, but it shouldn’t need to be overlooked. Aside from Ash looking bad, that was my only other major complaint with this film.

This is easily one of my favorite Pokemon films and I don’t think that any of the other ones coming up will be able to pass this one. This film had the best fight scenes in a Pokemon film and things finally felt a little more high budget. The fight scenes looked like Dragon Ball Z’s new Battle of Gods film and that’s definitely a plus. I expect Ash to look better in the next one since that was something that should quickly be addressed. I highly recommend checking the film out, Pokemon isn’t kid stuff anymore!!

Overall 8/10

Pokemon Origins Review

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Pokemon Origins is a Pokemon special that got a lot of hype. Not only would Red finally take center stage as the main character, but Ash and friends are nowhere to be found. The first few seconds will confirm what you may have begun to suspect…this isn’t your classic Pokemon show! The animation is less colorful and Saturday morning style. Instead it plays out more like Summer Wars. The two animation styles are extremely different and Summer Wars type is considered to be far better than, the classic Tai Chi Chasers. (For example) This can be arguable and it’s all about preference, but it does help to set the tone for the movie. (Personally, I do prefer the TV show animation, but they’re both solid) The fight scenes are also pretty impressive in the special.

Pokemon Origins is significantly darker than the Pokemon show (Although, I don’t want to mislead you into thinking that this is Death Note. Just picture the Pokemon anime without all of the little kids and the colorful animations. Also, there is murder and the stakes are a lot higher. Like I said…this isn’t your classic Pokemon episode!) and the dangers have never been more real. The beginning starts out pretty similarly to the Pokemon show as Red and Blue head to Professor Oak’s lab. I could have done without the Red tripping (for no legitimate reason) scene, but it wasn’t awful. Just out of character, but we’ll get more into that later.

Professor Oak wants Red and Blue to complete the Pokedex because he is too old for such things. Red obliges while Blue decides to become the strongest in the world. He’ll fill out the Pokedex as well…in all due time! He quickly challenges Red to a battle, but made sure that he had the type advantage. Charmander doesn’t do so well against Squirtle and it’s a lopsided battle. The director really wanted to stress how much grimmer this special is, so we get to see Charmander yelling in pain for a very drawn out scene. It was definitely unneeded and may wreck the impression that Pokemon battles are all about having fun. That isn’t always the case, but I would have been satisfied with a simple victory. Also….Charmander should really be able to make the fight a little closer than that. This scene definitely should not have been in the special and makes you wish for a 4Kids edit. Well, just make sure to quickly turn up some music for this scene and you’ll be okay.

Red realizes the importance of becoming stronger on his way to completing the Pokedex. He slowly starts to learn the ropes and he even takes on Brock. The special covers the entire video game so they have to skip a lot of things. They only have 60 minutes to cover many hours of content. It’s definitely a tough job, but they do a pretty good job of it. We get some montage scenes and narration to keep us in the loop. We also get to gauge how much we’ve missed based on Red’s GBA screen. He has to save the game sometimes, so you can follow him along via the play time.

Eventually, Red meets up with Giovanni and they have their first fight. It was pretty epic, but I’m not sure that Charizard would go down so easily. Giovanni is tough and I’m not doubting that, but so is Charizard. That guy definitely won’t go down without a really tough fight! It was one of Pokemon’s few true night scenes and it was definitely epic.

Another one of the scenes that got a lot of screen time in the special was the…..GHOST TOWER!! Red and Blue go in, but the ghost scares the living daylights out of Blue. Blue quickly lets Red wrap things up, while he goes on to fight the Team Rocket members. The story is a little sad since Team Rocket ends up murdering one of the Pokemon. It’s pretty unbelievable and while they did it to show us how “Evil” Team Rocket is, it was pretty unnecessary and made Marowak look bad. How could a fully evolved Pokemon lose to a mere human and his whip? I don’t think I buy that and I think that any Pokemon should be able to beat a human. Humans lack the speed and attack power that Pokemon possess so it should be a quick victory for the magical creature. So, that scene was really uncalled for and definitely hurts the film, but it won’t traumatize you for life or anything. It’s just something that you wish you had not seen.

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Well, that aside, things really heat up once Red clobbers the Elite Four. Blue is the final boss and he has some truly epic lines. He even says that he’s the strongest Pokemon Trainer on the planet! With that last line rocking you to the very core of your being, he throws his Pokeball. The battle starts so suddenly that you may be left in shock. Red does the only thing that makes sense in this situation and gives Blue a good fight. Professor Oak was a little cruel since he was late. If he had been on time, Blue could have gone into the legendary room of fame, since Red wouldn’t have made it yet. Ah well, you win some and you lose some right?

Unfortunately, Blue doesn’t regain his pride and he takes another loss to a mysterious Pokemon. Red goes off to avenge him…or just to see the Pokemon. He has a pretty climatic battle with this opponent and he even unlocks the power of the Mega Pokemon! It’s truly an epic moment and it means that Red has beaten Ash to the punch yet again.

Let’s talk about the main character, Red. The anime special had a lot of hype to live up to, since Red is known as one of the coolest main characters on the block. He’s a very no nonsense fighter and many have come to accept the fact that Red is the greatest Pokemon Trainer who ever lived. When the first trailer popped up, warning bells sounded in many heads. Could this rookie really be Red?

In the special, Red does mature as the series goes on, but is this the character that we all grew up with? He’s not quite as quiet and professional as he used to be, but Red is still a solid main character. He’s at his best towards the end of the special. He may not be the Pokemon Master that we’ve come to expect, but that’s all right. If we are being honest, there’s no way that Red could possibly top his reputation. He’s already known to be the perfect main character and we can’t ask for much more than that. The special still gave him a good role and that’s what counts.

Blue (They call him Green, but Blue is how I know him. We both know who I’m talking about anyway right?) gets a good role, although he looks pretty bad in the haunted part of the special. Not only is he afraid of ghosts, (Which is bad enough already) but he actually considered ditching Red and a helpless civilian. Definitely not hero material and while Blue may act stuck up, he’s a good guy deep down. He was really awesome when he made the speech in the final part of the special and had many good lines. He’s definitely a solid rival and gave Red a run for his money.

There aren’t really any other characters to talk about. Professor Oak gets a small role and appears very briefly. I’ve never been a big fan of the character and that didn’t change with this special. Giovanni had a cheesy scene at the end, but I’m glad that Red was able to get through to him. That took guys, courage, and epicness!

One thing that we can’t forget is the soundtrack! The special had an incredible array of themes that will blow you away. They really make every scene even more exciting as you are watching the special. They’re definitely nostalgic to hear and it shows that music is something that is timeless. I’ll still be enjoying these tunes 50 years from now. The music was definitely a solid positive that helped to improve the whole experience.

This is definitely a special that I recommend. You may miss Ash and pals, but you can always watch the new Mewtwo film to see those guys. This one is a nice change of pace and we get to see what Pokemon could have been. Imagine the whole anime series like this and it makes for a nice “What If?”. Hopefully we get a sequel to adapt the next games or a full series someday. Aside from the one scene with Charmander and the Marowak scene, I can completely recommend this film to all ages. You can rest assured that you will definitely enjoy this film. The music, animation, fights, and characters are all solid and that’s a very good thing for a special. With all of those positives, how can you not watch it!?

Overall 7/10