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Saint Seiya: Hades: Chapter 3: Elysion Review

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It’s time to wrap up the Saint Seiya saga. Chapter 3 closes out the Hades arc. It took 3 OVAs to knock out the arc but I’m glad that they persisted and kept churning these out until it was over. The arc ends in an epic fashion and is certainly not an adventure you are likely to forget. It’s been an emotional ride with the Saints from start to finish but every adventure has to end at some point. With great fights, story, soundtrack, and animation, you are in for a very solid time here.

The OVA picks up immediately where the last one ended. The heroes are finally closing in on Elysion, but are confronted by some more spectres. Shiryu stays behind to fight them while the other Saints arrive to take down Hades and the other two gods who serve him. Meanwhile Phoenix Ikki is getting ready to make his own move but what secrets of the past bind him together with Pandora? Her assistance could be the critical point of the war or if she stays evil, that could signal the final defeat of the Saints. Will Athena’s awful plan look any better in hindsight? Time to find out!

With only 6 episodes the OVA has to move quickly but we still get a good amount of time for the fights which is the important thing. There are a lot of characters running around at this point but the OVA juggles them well. At this point the only plot you probably won’t care about is with the other bronze and silver saints at home. They have a crucial moment where they protect against Hades’ attacks but otherwise you’re ready to go back to the Saints where all the battles are taking place.

Shiryu gets a big role to start things off with his fight against 3 spectres at the same time. I always thought that was a really impressive moment in the manga and it definitely keeps that same intensity in the OVA. Each spectre is no joke power-wise so beating 3 is impressive. You don’t expect the Saints to get a whole lot to do now that we’re near the end so it’s cool that Shiryu got to have one last hurrah. He is around during the climax fight as well but this is a match he can say that he won completely on his own.

For example, Andromeda and Hyoga get moments of their own of course but not in quite the same way. Hyoga takes on one of the top 3 Spectres and even manages to win on a technicality that they can’t exist in the void since they have no god blood while Hyoga does. Then you have Andromeda who is closely tied to Hades with a lot of twists there. This was a good way for Andromeda to finally be relevant though so I was all for it. In a power sense he’ll never be one of the top Saints but he at least did well in trying to hold Hades back the whole time. Ultimately Ikki was never going to sacrifice him though.

Phoenix Ikki looks great here as always. You have to give him a lot of props, right up through the final arc he is holding his own with Seiya and getting involved in the battles. He actually gets to go up against Hades and is the final Saint left standing with the main character. I like Ikki’s confidence and he also tends to be the most perceptive of the Saints. He was able to get here on his own after all which is impressive and he officially took down the final Spectres as he swore to avenge Pandora.

Even the scenes of him as a kid protecting Andromeda are really intense since most kids would have folded at that point. Ikki really did the rest of the Saints proud and I would expect no less from such a true fighter. He always reminds me why he is my favorite Saint Seiya character although Kanon and Aiolos are both very close. Saint Seiya really has a stacked cast here. Then of course you can’t forget Seiya himself who does well here as always. He really has to put up with a lot of punishment but always manages to get up.

He embodies the saint saying that no attack will work on him twice. He may go down after the first hit but once he gets up then you know that there is no chance left for the villains. Seiya’s an inspiring character who leaves his defeated opponents to trail behind him. Ultimately he steps up when it counts at the end of this OVA as well and does well in his golden mode. I would say he tanked the ending and made it back safely but there are definitely different ways to interpret the ending as you see the credits start to roll. Either way it makes for an emotional end to Seiya’s character arc.

The only aspect that isn’t very satisfying is how Seika reappears. So throughout the entire series Seiya has been looking for her but she was nowhere to be found. Even Saori with her vast resources and wealth could not locate her and we find out that Seika just had amnesia and was wandering around for a while. That’s really not a very satisfying resolution, certainly not the one you would expect to see after such a big build up. She comes in clutch with motivating Seiya to fight on but it just felt like this was a forgotten plot point that was thrown in at the last second.

As for the villains, in general I liked all of the important ones. The throwaway Spectres were mainly forgettable but the three judges and then the two gods were on point. The only exception to this would have to be Hades himself. I just never cared much for the villain and seeing as how I didn’t like Poseidon much I guess you could say that Saint Seiya has a bit of a main villain problem. It’s not that Hades is weak or anything but his goals and motivations aren’t super interesting.

So he wants to create a great eclipse so that the underworld will rise and he will rule over all. Athena tries to talk him out of the plan a few times and he refuses but it’s hard to even get a gauge on the guy’s character. He seems to be annoyed when anyone attacks him since the guy sees himself as being above everyone. He has the arrogance of a god type villain but none of the usual charisma that you need with it. I like his character design at least. Hades looks the part and appears as a very intimidating threat. He’s just not interesting and always lets things escalate until it’s far too late for him to stop the heroes. Even in the Lost Canvass he didn’t get to do much and that series went out of its way to develop everyone a whole lot.

For a main villain who improved here, I have to say that Poseidon was impressive. I didn’t like him in the last arc but it was cool to see him pitch in a bit here to help out when the chips were down. It shows that at the end of the day he will protect the planet and that makes sense since if Hades wins that will be the end for everyone. The oceans won’t be exempt from such a fate. It’s a very small cameo but I thought it was an effective one.

As for the gods Thanatos and Hypnos, both of them were fun. Hypnos certainly seems to be the wiser one and also a little more powerful. He warns Thanatos time and time again not to get too overconfident and yet the guy does so anyway. This is often the folly of any fighter who goes up against Athena’s saints. Lost Canvass retroactively makes this look even worse for Thanatos since he never learns his lessons. In this case, I prefer Thanatos’ confidence to Hades though. Thanatos has the charisma that Hades was lacking and I just like to see him talk a good game. He was able to back it up for a while as well with how his fight against Seiya went. Ultimately he gave it his best effort but he just wasn’t strong enough. Hypnos also gets a good fight but it is quite a bit shorter.

Then we have Pandora who I always thought was a very interesting character. At first glance she is just the evil version of Athena only in her case, Pandora was pretty much forced into this life. Her whole family was murdered and two gods threatened to make things quite rough for her if she didn’t help them out. While you can’t really throw out excuses for her since Pandora still acted as a villain, there’s not much stronger coercion than that. Unlike Athena she can actually fight as well. The Spectres are actively afraid of Pandora and she ends up being rather helpful in the arc. Without her, Ikki wouldn’t have made it to the end and without Ikki, Seiya would have certainly been defeated. So it’s no exaggeration to say that she saved the day here. That’s why she is a very memorable character and also a solid villain. Ultimately you know that things won’t end very happily for her but that’s just how it goes.

Finally, to answer the question on if Athena’s mission/plan looks any better in hindsight….it doesn’t. So lets look at the plan here. Athena decided to destroy herself and allowed the evil Saints to murder almost all of her guards so she could go to the Underworld. From there she would travel to meet Hades and ask him nicely to stop his plan of destroying the world. She would let him murder her and in exchange he would stop and allow the world to continue. I have so many problems with this plan but the biggest one is that there’s no reason to assume this would ever succeed. I don’t think Hades has any problems with lying so he could just say “Sure, I’ll be good” and then after murdering Athena he goes through with the plan.

Alternately he doesn’t even need to lie. He could just wink and say he’s going to destroy the world anyway. Athena is far too weak to stop him and she has helped decimate her own forces. Athena is probably one of the worst rulers I’ve ever seen. She is consistently attacking her own members by proxy like when she refused to let Seiya help out and her plans are poorly thought out. At no point in this entire scheme did she do something that made sense. Stopping the Spectres from the start would have been the absolute best plan of hers. Given how powerful the Gold Saints are shown to be, they likely would have won the battle.

The villains can regenerate which is true, but not when Shaka uses his beads so there is a counter. It’s not full proof but the odds of victory would have still been terrific. Athena’s Saints are simply stronger and that’s all you really need to know in such a battle. I never quite forgave Athena’s plan here. At the end of the day it just resulted in countless deaths that were completely needless. None of the characters call her out on this which is probably the worst part.

As expected, the animation is solid here. Considering how much newer it is than the show, it may not look as spectacular as you would hope but it does the job. The character designs are on point and the fights are good. The armors are really shiny which is always cool. If anything that’s the first part that always catches your attention for any Saint Seiya product so you want to make sure that it looks on point. The OVA did well here so I was satisfied.

As for the soundtrack, it’s got all the usual tunes you would expect from the show so that’s good. The battle theme and every other song are just iconic by this point. Eventually I’d like to see the series experiment with some more songs but considering that this was the end of an era, I really don’t see an issue with bringing the same tracks back. It can work as a very nostalgic kind of thing.

Overall, This was a great way to end the Hades arc. It really ended up being a blast and it’s good to have made it to the end. It’s easy to see why the Saint Seiya franchise has expanded so far. The characters are fun and the battles are always intense. The plots are easy to follow so it’s the kind of title you can pick up and watch at any time. The fights are dramatic and the stakes are always super high. Sometimes pride will keep the characters from making the right decisions but you know that the bronze saints will always be around to reign in the Gold fighters if they go too far off the path. If you haven’t seen this OVA yet, then you will want to change that so you can say that you’ve ended the saga once and for all. It’s only 6 episodes so it won’t take long and it’s almost all nonstop battles. After all, this is the climax now so there’s no time to rest.

Overall 8/10

Santa Claus vs the Devil Review

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With a title like this you would really be expecting something really intense right? Well, it’s a very strange and odd film to be sure but unfortunately it doesn’t stick the landing. That’s not quite right though as that would imply that it had a good beginning. The movie started out on a low note and then it just never improved as the film went on. It’s held back by slow pacing, no likable characters, and a boring plot. When you’ve got all of these elements working against you, it is very hard to have a good film.

The film starts off with showing us Santa’s workshop. It’s a little different in this verse as his reindeer are mechanical toys, he has the wizard Merlin to help him turn invisible, and he even uses technology to get fit enough to go down the chimneys. It’s all a very different setup and instead of elves, he is helped by alien creatures who look just like kids from different cultures and customs. They help operate the telescope which can track any person’s movements on the Earth. There’s also a giant mouth that can hear anyone talking while on planet Earth. Santa came prepared at least on a tech level but the Devil has decided to stop Christmas this year. He sends his loyal minion Pitch to put a damper on things. Pitch will try to tempt various kids into doing the wrong thing so they’ll be on the naughty list. Can Santa stop him?

Well..not really since Santa just watches for 80% of the movie from his telescope. Sometimes it’s unclear if it’s Santa yelling or the narrator but they’re always panicking as Pitch goes around spinning his webs of deceit. The main kid he focuses on is a poor little girl who just wants a doll. The problem is that her parents can’t afford one and so she is tempted to just steal one. Pitch keeps trying to egg her on while Santa clenches his fists and watches in dismay. Ultimately the girl is able to stay strong even when she has a very disturbing dream about this.

I’ll give the dream some slight props for being unique. The backgrounds and little puppet creatures were a bit disturbing. That said, it loses a lot of these points right away since the scene drags on as the girl just repeats over and over again that stealing is wrong and she won’t do it. We get this by the third time she says the line but it just keeps on cycling. Pitch needs to have better material if he wants to trick the kids.

This is also a sleight against Santa when you think about it though. So he never got her a toy all these years when it was her big wish? At best you could say this was really the first year she wanted a doll and in other years she wanted something else but I have big doubts. Additionally, it doesn’t seem like she had any possessions so does Santa just not deliver to the poor? It’s almost like the film itself forgot that Santa was real and treats this like the first time he is going to deliver her some presents. That part doesn’t make any sense the more you think about it.

It’s hard to like Santa though. The guy is constantly laughing at everything to the point where you can tell that he isn’t focused. He falls for all of Pitch’s tricks with ease. Even the narrator seems surprised at times like when Santa tried jumping into a chimney that wasn’t really there. Pitch has the upper hand a lot of the time but fortunately for Santa, the guy is rather inept as well. None of them are able to really gain any ground on each other as a result and just end up being a nuisance. Neither character has a really fun Christmas. It’s interesting that Santa’s reindeer turn to dust if the sun rises though. You’d think that Santa is a vampire or something.

There are quite a lot of interesting ideas here. The only thing I can say positively for the film is that it’s a very fresh take on Santa. It really seems like he is an alien from a highly advanced planet and he wants to make the humans happy. It’s a different look on things and we know he isn’t even immortal as he explains that he is much younger than Lucifer. Some backstory into why Santa wants to help people and how he got this setup would be pretty cool. Unfortunately the film doesn’t ask any of the interesting questions or even approaches them.

A tug of war battle with Pitch and Santa could have been fun as well but it’s hurt by how every scene is so dragged out. Take the intro scene when Santa is listening to the kids all playing their instruments and having a good time. That may have been okay for a minute or two but the scene drags on for ages as we have to see literally every kid play their instruments and sing their songs. It’s all very repetitive and just not engaging. The film will have you asleep before things have even started happening. It’s a shame.

The writing is okay at least though. Santa does remember the true meaning of Christmas and brings up the birth of Jesus Christ a few times. I’ll always give a film some props for doing that rather than trying to say that Christmas is about presents and good wishes or something. No beating around the bush here so when a film directly says that it’s because Jesus Christ was born then I’ll give out some kudos. Beyond that I suppose the narrator had some fun lines. Again they’re all super obvious lines and the film has all the subtlety of a cheeseburger sandwich but at least you can tell that the guy is invested.

Overall, it’s almost like a backhanded complement but that’s about all I could do there. It’s just a shame because somewhere in this film is buried some really cool concepts that we will probably never see again. This really could have been a smash hit and yet the film is just boring. It’s really boring at times and that’s really something you don’t want to see in any film. It especially shouldn’t be happening in a vs title but here we are. If you want to watch a film about Santa Claus, you could do better with almost any other title. The fact of the matter is that this one will ultimately leave you wanting for more or for the film to end much sooner. Either way you just won’t be satisfied here.

Overall 4/10

Where the Sidewalk Ends Review

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Next up on the review list is an old murder thriller. This time we really get to see what happens at the end of the road. It’s an engaging film that shows what happens when mistakes are made on every side and how this keeps on snowballing. I do like the idea of a hero trying to frame a villain. It’s something that doesn’t happen too often but is something to think about. Of course this is also morally dubious at best but ultimately the film has a satisfying conclusion.

The film starts off with introducing us to Mark Dixon who is really tough on crime. This is to the point of being excessive though as he tends to rough them up quite a bit during interrogation. He has now been demoted and warned to curb this behavior. Well, this will be difficult as he is wrapped up in another case when a rich man is stabbed to death at a local gaming arena led by some notorious gangsters. Of course the trick is that there is no real proof here and these guys have a habit of getting away. Mark ends up doing some interrogating anyway and ends up murdering Paine by accident as his punch hit the guy in a way where his metal plate shattered. Mark figures he’ll hide the body and then frame Scalise for it.

Unfortunately he ends up framing an innocent cab driver instead. Mark has grown close to the guy’s daughter Morgan and needs to settle this. Will he be able to get proof against Scalise or is this curtains for him? Additionally now that he has murdered someone, even if accidental, he is facing some issues as well. After all, fully attacking someone as part of an investigation was outside the mission parameters.

There’s a lot going on here to be sure. I was glad that the rich guy stepped in to protect Morgan when she was attacked but it is tragic since you know he never stood a chance. The guy was surrounded by gangsters after all and just wouldn’t have lasted either way. It’s hard to trust anyone at these high stakes gambling arenas, especially if it isn’t at a reputable venue. It makes for an intense opening scene as we know what happened and have to see how Mark will put the evidence together.

As a main character, Mark is solid. I do like his determination even if he lets it get the better of him sometimes. He doesn’t buy into the false stories as quickly as the other cops but ultimately there is a limit to what he can do as a cop. It’s not like he can just beat the truth out of everyone although he would certainly like that. His final attempt to frame Scalise was also a very bold approach as he was directly putting his life on the line. Not just anyone could pull that off.

Even Scalise comments on this and how Mark is crazy here. His obsession with taking down Scalise and defying his father’s legacy is certainly impressive. Unfortunately this isn’t a big James Bond action movie and so his big attack on the villain base doesn’t quite go as planned. It would have been intense to have seen him take them all down but realistically that would be nearly impossible without a gun or something like that.

As for Scalise, well he’s your classic noir villain. I’ll give him a little extra kudos for being intelligent though. He sees through Mark’s plans and also knows how to prevent evidence from getting out. He’s an old hand at this and isn’t your run of the mill gangster. While his personality may not be super memorable beyond the usual tough dialogue, this is enough where he holds his own as the main antagonist.

Finally we have Morgan and her father. I liked her Dad’s constant talking about how he helped Mark with a case back in the day. He just seems like a nice guy who is always cheerful and trying to look out for Morgan. Morgan makes some dicey calls with the people she hangs out with like Paine. Ultimately I don’t think she’ll be around those areas much going forward though and has developed quite a bit as a result of this experience. The severity of the case against her father gradually sinks in during the film and she doesn’t take this in stride but then the film shows the contrast of how she handles the news at the end of the film. She’s come a long way and won’t be blindsided anymore.

As a noir thriller kind of movie, this film always has some level of danger present. Whether it’s Mark trying to hide a body or quickly thinking up an alibi, you can tell that he’s never quite safe. It also works well in keeping your interest the whole time through. The movie’s fairly long but the pacing is on point so it never drags on. We see enough of Mark’s life to see what makes him tick and it helps build the world around the mystery. He’s certainly quick on his feet so it’s easy to see why he got such a high rank at the start even if he’s been on a bit of a decline since then with how he beats up the criminals.

Overall, This was a solid movie. It really builds a good atmosphere from the start and the adventure is interesting from start to finish. Mark makes for a good hero and Scalise ends up being a smarter villain than I expected. As a result you have some decent banter with them. The only time Mark goes too far is when he takes such a hard stance against his partner at one point. That was definitely the wrong move and showed him taking out his aggression on the wrong person. Even though the case may be solved, it is fair to say that this line of work may not be right for him. There really is nothing to prevent this kind of scenario from happening again because it’s fair to say that this case hasn’t really changed him. The ending is left up to interpretation on how it will go though so you can ultimately reach your own ending. If you’re looking forward to a good noir title then this is a good one to watch.

Overall 7/10

The Man Who Came Over For Dinner Review

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Time for a crazy comedy film where you get to see what it would be like to have someone living at your place and creating a lot of chaos. You’ll probably have some issues with the main characters getting pushed around so much but it is fun to see Sheridan constantly bash everyone over and over again. The guy is quite committed to taking everyone down verbally to the point where you have to give him some credit. He is quite consistent with how he acts towards them.

The movie starts by introducing us to Sheridan who is a very important man. For publicity he will be having dinner with Ernest and his family although he is not happy about this. Sheridan doesn’t really like people and he doesn’t like anything that messes with his routine. Well, this dinner falls into both of those categories as reasons why he isn’t happy about it. Things get worse for him when he slips on their steps and breaks his hip. Now he must stay in their house for days as he tries to complete his business duties. Will the family continue to be overwhelmed in their own home or will they fight back?

Sheridan is a very entertaining antagonist and he really makes the movie. He never lets a minute slide where he isn’t insulting the cast with his actions or even just verbally. He has utter contempt for all of these guys since he believes he is above them. The only character he seems to care about at all is Maggie and that’s mainly just because he wants a consistent secretary so he doesn’t have to train a new one. Sheridan is a very selfish guy but it’s all so over the top that you can’t help but have fun with him. I’m telling you, the movie would not be the same without him at the helm. This guy’s great and he also has complete confidence in himself.

Whenever he’s concocting a plan, Sheridan knows that it will succeed. He also has quite a lot of allies to help him out in case things don’t go very well. One such character is a guy named Banjo who may be the craziest member of the whole cast. He isn’t crazy in a cool way though and I would consider him one of the weakest characters here. He certainly does have a lot of energy and adds to the insanity of it all but he’s one character that could have been toned down. Traumatizing the maid like that was mean spirited.

As for Maggie, she’s a solid main heroine. She is the only character who can keep up with Sheridan in terms of banter and even takes the edge sometimes. We see just how crucial she is to his success and has really done well for herself. Now that she is entering into the romance game that ultimately pits her against Sheridan. While the film shows that Sheridan will still win any match against an opponent, she puts up a really good fight here. Her cleverness and talent with making plans gets her far.

Bert is someone I didn’t like quite as much. See, my issue with him is how oblivious he is. An actress invites him to spend some time alone with her in a cabin to go over the script? He should have declined right away considering that he was seeing Maggie. Yes, he could have gone and made sure that everything was above board but the optics of that are awful. Especially with Maggie being so distressed and he acts like he has no idea why that could be. The whole thing hurt his character a whole lot.

As for Lorraine, well she is shown to be a character who will do whatever it takes in order to get her roles. She certainly isn’t afraid to admit this and has a lot of drive. The end to her character is rather intense here. You know she’ll be okay but I’d say a few bridges have certainly been burned by the end of this film. Out of all the characters though, Ernest and his family have to be the worst ones. They are actively bullied in their own home and don’t do anything about it.

Ernest’s two kids are quickly tricked by Sheridan and get themselves into trouble. Ernest’s wife ends up just trying to stay polite the whole time even as she is insulted and makes no move to defend herself. Then you have Ernest himself who just rolls over each time even when he is initially talking tough. That’s no way for the head of the household to be acting. Then when he finally makes a move he starts to get blackmailed? The guy should be ashamed of himself for ever letting it get this far. He should have made a stand right away. When Sheridan told everyone to vacate the first floor and use the back door exit he should have just said no and started reading the paper. Realistically there isn’t a whole lot that Sheridan could do about this.

That would have been amazing to have seen Ernest fight back like this. It would have changed the whole feel of the movie of course but I think this would have been the right direction. If you want to keep the events similar, just have Sheridan bribe a cop to arrest Sheridan or something and then you’ve still got the same scenario but now Ernest did fight back. It’s just almost hard to feel bad for Ernest with how he let everything go up in smokes like this.

The writing is good though and there is a lot of witty banter throughout. That’s where a good deal of the humor comes from and it’s all rather effective. The pacing is good too with a whole lot happening during the movie. You get to feel like it really has been a long time since Sheridan ended up staying at the house. The film also has a pretty solid ending which ends the movie off on the right tone. We’ll see if the characters handle things a bit differently next time.

Overall, The Man Who Came to Dinner is a very interesting comedy film. It’s all rather crazy like with how Sheridan invites murderers over for dinner and is obsessed with criminals in general. A murderer ends up being a part of a plot twist and there’s just always something happening. Whether you enjoy the film or not will completely depend on how much you enjoy Sheridan and how he pushes everyone around. I quite enjoyed that and also seeing how he’s built up quite a few friendships despite his gruff exterior. I doubt any of them would admit to being friends but it shows that even this cold lead needs someone to talk to.

Overall 7/10

Toy Story That Time Forgot Review

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Toy Story has had a good run of animated shorts and movies so far but now it’s time to see if this latest one holds up. This time the heroes have to do battle with some wild toys and the fact that we got some actual action scenes here is quite impressive. The short is held back by a romance subplot which will make you cringe a bit but once you get past that, the rest of the special is on point. It’s a fun little adventure and you should breeze through it.

The story starts with Bonnie being invited to her friend’s place to hang out. When she gets there, she finds out that he has gotten addicted to video games and he quickly gets her on them as well. She tosses her toys aside to have fun here but Woody and friends quickly find out that this place isn’t a very nice area. The Battle Dinosaurs don’t realize that they are actually toys much like Buzz from the first film and so they’ve built a violent arena where they take toys down for the count. The heroes have a dinosaur of their own in Trixie but will she be able to stop these guys?

The standout character as always is Buzz here with how he is quick to fight back and actually does well against the villain. Unfortunately Woody isn’t quite as skilled and ends up holding them back. I was still just surprised at how we had a real action sequence so that was just a lot of fun. It also added to the sense of danger that was present during the special. These dinosaurs were not holding anything back and lived up to their name as the Battlesaurs.

The main fighter on their side was Maximus and he gets a solid role here. He has completely bought into the whole arena atmosphere and seems to have been winning every match for a while now. I doubt any of the heroes could beat him in a straight fight which is why they ultimately need to go for a more emotional approach and to bring in outside help. He’s good as an antagonist but as a hero he can be extremely cheesy. He goes a bit over the top with the whole romance with Trixie.

As mentioned earlier, that’s my main issue with this. The romance isn’t handled well and feels like something out of Scooby Doo. These dinosaurs just met each other and the dialogue is very stilted. Keeping that out of the special would have been a really good idea if you ask me. It’s the only weak point of the special. It also doesn’t let Trixie really get to show her stuff as the lead because this plot is slowing her down. She’s very oblivious to everything during the whole special but in her defense, everyone seems rather oblivious the whole time.

As for the villain mastermind: Cleric. Well he serves his purpose well enough. The guy wants to build his evil empire and has done a really good job of it. He’s hidden the signs that would cause his followers to lose trust in him and has built a rather solid atmosphere for himself all things considered. Considering that the kid could show up at any time and ruin things, the Cleric really showed a lot of guts with this plan. Finally you have Angel Kitty as the mysterious new character here to drop some wisdom on the other toys. She was a fun enough character even if her gimmick gets old a little quickly. One note characters will always need a little something extra to stay interesting so if she ever appears again they’ll probably need to do something more with her.

Not surprisingly, the animation here is as good as ever. You couldn’t really put a big difference between the special and the full movies. Not to say that there is no difference, but it’s close enough where you’re pleased with how the special looks. There isn’t much of a soundtrack to be found here which is too bad but maybe they can squeeze one in next time. A really solid rock theme for the battles is a good opportunity for some music after all. Aside from the romance the writing is on point as well so on a technical level the special is sound. Throw in that I liked the idea of the Battlesaurs and you can see why this is a win.

Overall, That Time Forgot is a bit of an odd title. I feel like it should be “The toys that time forgot” or something like that. As it is, the title just doesn’t feel grammatically correct. Still, it’s a fun special and one that does justice to the Toy Story brand. You’ll have a good time here even as the film feels like it’s over just when it has begun. You could easily make a whole 2 hour film for this premise since Bonnie would probably be playing video games for that long and you could have the toys move their way through the arena by winning some battles. A lot of potential there for sure. Well, we’ll see what Toy Story short comes up next.

Overall 6/10

Christmas in Connecticut Review

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You can’t really go wrong with a Christmas in Connecticut although of course I would recommend New York first and foremost. This is a very classic comedy/romance title that really goes all out in how crazy it can be. The romance is particularly weak which holds the film down a bit but ultimately I would say it’s still decent. It should keep you entertained all the way through which is always good.

The movie starts by introducing us to Jefferson and his friend from the army as they are stranded at sea. They’re slowly floating along after having been at a warzone but so far nobody has spotted them. A few weeks later they are finally found but it was a tough voyage and Jefferson longs for a home cooked meal. His nurse Mary figures that she will send him to Elizabeth, known as the best cook around. Elizabeth’s employer Alexander thinks this is a tremendously good idea and also invites himself to her home in Connecticut. There is just one problem, Elizabeth does not have a home in Connecticut and she doesn’t know how to cook. It’s all just been a bunch of lies that she has been pedaling with the help of her legendary cooking friend Felix. If she comes clean now then she will be fired along with her editor so she has decided to play the ultimate gamble and pretend that the life is real. To do this, she even goes as far as to finally agree to marry John since she is supposed to have a husband and kid. He’s thrilled about this since he’s always wanted to be with her so he aims to make this official with a ceremony before she can back out. Then you have Jefferson who likes her as well but is worried about making a play on a married woman. What will happen next?

So there’s quite a lot going on here and the movie always has a frantic feeling about it. The characters are always running this way and that way to keep the deceptions up and monitor many situations at once. It’s rather impressive just how much they are balancing at the same time although the heroes often make everything harder on themselves. Just think, they could have had the marriage wrapped up if they just left the people by the door a few minutes longer instead of dashing off to open it.

Of course, Elizabeth was glad to do so since she really didn’t want the wedding. It shows just why this was not a great decision on her part. Effectively she was going to get married to someone that she didn’t like in order to keep her job. Marriages for business and such happen of course but it’s certainly not something I would root for. By the end you almost start to feel bad for John since he is the one who will certainly lose out in the end. Elizabeth likes to quite openly flirt with Jefferson in front of John. If anything John should have enough self respect to start shutting this plan down earlier. I suppose he was that desperate to be with her.

This is why the romance is weak though. You don’t care for either character by the end. John is overly desperate to be with Elizabeth even though he knows that she doesn’t like him. Then you have Elizabeth who has been lying for her entire career and seems to enjoy tempting Jefferson into having an affair with her. Even though she knows that he is trying to resist since she is “married”, Elizabeth keeps trying to ensnare him. It’s definitely a very shady thing she’s doing here.

I did like her boss Alexander though. He’s one of those guys who has really climbed his way to the top and is used to getting what he wants now. He is quite outspoken and decisive whenever he is making a move. Just the kind of guy you want as a boss and while that means he may be slow to see deception, he gives his team a fair shake. He’s a guy you feel bad for by the end since he really did his best at every corner. When a baby is seemingly kidnapped Alexander wastes absolutely no time in calling up the cops, the army, and everyone he can think of. He’s just a good man who is put into a rough spot here.

I also enjoyed the cook, Felix. Felix really knows how to cook and isn’t really a fan of what’s going on here. He wants to make sure that Elizabeth and John don’t get together and does what he can to push them apart. He tends to panic quite a bit but the reactions are always funny. Side characters exist to support the main ones and make the film even better so Felix really succeeds in that role.

As for Jefferson, well I don’t like him either. For starters, while he does resist in getting together with Elizabeth, he certainly cuts it very close. The guy still goes with her on a ride and they have a lot of adventures together. All the while he was already engaged to Mary, the nurse from the hospital. The ending gets very convenient for Jefferson but otherwise he just proved himself to be a very unreliable guy. Someone who quickly jumps from one girl to the next. That’s not what you want to see from the main guy here and he was trying to manipulate Mary at first so he could get some food.

While the characters are able to keep up the charade for a while, I have to say that they didn’t plan any of it very well. Not only did Elizabeth not tell almost anyone which leads to people spilling the beans but then she didn’t even know what gender her baby was, or have any setup for that. She really boxed herself in by saying that the kid was sick as otherwise she could have said he was with the grandparents or something. She did at least attempt to learn cooking from Felix so I’ll give her that. She just gets lucky for most of the film and a lot of the time you figure that everyone would have already figured things out if this wasn’t a comedy.

Overall, Christmas in Connecticut may be lacking a bit compared to other rom-coms because of how the romance angle is fairly weak. That said, it does still have enough good points to keep it in the green. For starters, the writing is still solid. The pacing is good and you will be entertained the whole time. With the characters not being very likable for the most part you may have a tough time actually rooting for the leads (I was rooting for them to get exposed by the boss) but the film is still able to hold itself up. This wouldn’t be my first recommendation but it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.

Overall 6/10

Jumanji: The Video Game Review

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I’ve completed my first game from the Christmas batch! Jumanji was quite a bit different than I had imagined. There is no story mode to be found in this game and the offline content is minimal. Ultimately I can’t imagine buying this game at launch but at least I got it for cheap so it wasn’t a big loss here. You probably won’t be coming back to this one after you beat it though.

So the game has 4 levels which you can play online or offline. That’s the extent of the game which….is quite small. So offline you play with 3 A.I. controlled characters while online you play with 3 other people. Unless you really love the gameplay that means you’ll be feeling that repetition almost immediately. There is no challenge mode, minigames, or anything like that. It’s just 4 levels that you can play by yourself or with friends. I’ve seen mobile games with a whole lot more content than this one. Jumanji definitely ended up falling under expectations here.

Lets talk about the gameplay though. So this is really a third person shooter where you go around blasting away at the enemies who try to take you down. Each stage is divided into several areas. Each area has you either protect a totem pole from the enemies or gather 4 relics. For the relic levels, you just run around until you find them. The levels are just big enough where this can take a few minutes so try to really look around so you don’t miss any and have to run backwards. For the totem levels, you have to stand around the amulet to power it up and the idea is to stay near until the meter fills up. If the enemies chase you out of the area then no more energy will go through until you get back in there.

I don’t really have a problem with the gameplay itself. It’s actually rather fun and I’ve always liked third person shooters. The gameplay has no real glitches or bugs in it. You do have to reload a lot which can hurt your momentum but as long as you grab ammo a lot then it won’t be a problem. Aside from your blaster you also have grenades and your character’s signature attack. The attacks don’t seem all that balanced though. There are 4 characters here. One has a stomp which destroys all nearby enemies. It’s easily my favorite attack in the arsenal. Another character has a boombox which deals damage to all nearby enemies and lasts for a while. Now that’s another pretty good attack.

The third character has a little healing ray that builds up health…this is a pretty bad one. There are health packs everywhere so you’re either at full health or dead during a battle. There’s no real need for this ability at all. Then you have the 4th character who has a monkey of sorts and I’m not even sure what it does. It might help lead you through the map but it’s not like you would really get lost so I don’t think this is all that good either. Perhaps there is another skill that I was missing when playing as him but I was not impressed.

Likewise, the graphics are nothing to make you look at twice either. It looks like something from the PS2 era and even then it has much less personality than a lot of those games. The level designs are decent but nothing is all that detailed and it just looks as generic as possible. There doesn’t seem to be any real effort put into the graphics here. The soundtrack is also pretty much nonexistent. I mean it’s okay but it’s just not very good or anything like that so I would still not put this as a big thumbs up. It’s not a thumbs down but I doubt you will remember any of the tunes by the end.

The game does have some unlockables so I suppose I should say that there is some replay value here. If you play each character long enough you will unlock alternate outfits and weapons. Each character starts at level 1 and by completing levels and earning exp you will get them to higher levels and each unlockable is blocked by a level requirement. The 4 characters each have their own level requirements. It’ll take a while to get everyone maxed out so that offers you something to do…if you are playing this game that long.

I can’t stress enough how little the content is here. There’s just nothing to do before long and it’s pretty much unheard of that there are only 4 maps. I feel like they were planning DLC if the game did well to add more stages or something but otherwise you’re going to have played all the levels in a single day. There’s not enough progression rewards to keep you going here. So even though I enjoyed the gameplay, it loses a lot of points for just not putting anything in here. The levels are decently long at around 20 minutes but that still means you will have beaten all of the levels in under 2 hours. From there on you are just replaying the same levels over and over again which is no good. It’s too bad because there is really a lot you could do with this franchise otherwise.

Overall, Jumanji is really not a good game. In fact I would go as far as to say that it’s a bad game. This could work as a free to play mobile game or something but certainly not to purchase. There is no incentive to buy this game at all. Even if the gameplay was amazing, 4 levels is not enough to do anything. Certainly not without a fighting mode. See, the game would completely change if there was a vs mode both offline and online. If even either of those styles of play had a vs mode that would help a lot. That’s where you get a lot of replay value but bashing enemies over and over will get old extremely quick. I would say to skip out on this game for sure.

Overall 4/10

Hawkeye Review

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Marvel continues with the next installment in the TV show division. This time it’s Hawkeye and so we’ve finally made it to one of the Core Avengers. The shows have been on an upwards trend for me so far. Wandavision<<<Cap and Winter Soldier<<<Loki<<<What If. Well, this one doesn't quite continue the trend as it loses to Loki and What If but it beats the first two shows. While it doesn't have quite the large scale stakes of some of the other shows, Hawkeye makes for a fun lead. This is more of a fun adventure next to the others and is definitely a good pick for Christmas. You can't go wrong here.

The show follows a girl named Kate Bishop who is an aspiring archer. She looks up to Hawkeye after he saved her during the 2012 attacks. Well, one day she ends up noticing that her mother Eleanor's new fiance Jack seems a bit suspicious. Kate follows him down to an auction when a bunch of thugs burst in. Kate takes the chance to steal the outfit of the Ronin which was on sale and uses it to beat up some crooks. The issue here is that the Ronin is infamous in the underworld because during the 5 year gap Hawkeye was going around murdering all of the villains in that costume. Now Kate is a wanted fugitive by the underworld.

As this involves his persona as the "Ronin", Hawkeye can't really ignore this issue. He heads into town and promises the family that he will be back in time for Christmas. That'll be tough though as the situation gets more complicated with the arrival of Black Widow and one of the biggest crime lords in town. Can Hawkeye help Kate stay out of danger or are they both in over their heads?

One thing I noticed during the show is that Hawkeye is portrayed as being much older than I remember. He didn't seem that way in Endgame but it's almost like Wolverine from X-Men Evolution where he just seems a lot slower and as if he's near the end of his career. Hopefully Hawkeye has some more moves in his arsenal since I'd like to see him around for a while. Of course as a mentor figure which the show is leading him towards, it's fine not to always be in the front lines.

Hawkeye makes for a charismatic main character. He's been around the block a few times and knows how to handle himself in a situation. It can always be a bit annoying when he's telling Kate to stay back when she is saving him though. You get why he would rather not have a kid around but he would have been finished off several times if not for her. There was a key moment when she broke into a villain lair to save him which was certainly a good moment. Hawkeye gradually lightens up by the end of the series though and learns how to have some fun.

As for Kate, she's one of the standout characters here. It's safe to say that her character was always going to be pivotal in the show because if she was unlikable or annoying then it would drag the whole story down. Fortunately she is a lot of fun though and she even reminds me of Katniss a lot. (Which the show references as well) Her outfit and appearance are extremely similar to the point where I'd assume it was the same actress if not for such a gap between now and when Hunger Games came out.

Kate can also fight which puts her well above the average aspiring hero. Now, some of her fights can get a bit cheesy yes. I had some power level issues with this show. They aren't as extensive as the ones I had with Loki but are definitely noticeable. What If had the biggest power level moments but that's to be expected with such a big cast. Kate's a loyal ally and she always has Hawkeye's back. I look forward to seeing her get another big role in season 2.

As for Jack, he's a rather solid fiancé. He's extremely suspicious throughout the show such as when he holds back his power in a fencing match but on the surface it does seem like he's doing his best to fit in with the family. You have to give him a lot of credit there and he even gets a fight by the end of the show. I liked him more than I thought that I would. Then you have Eleanor who wants to make sure and protect Kate at all costs. No matter what lines she has to cross, this ends up being Eleanor's main goal.

I thought she was a really solid character as well. Her very last scene in the whole show felt a little out of character and petty to be honest but she was really solid in every other moment. Kate could potentially end up with a really strong group of parents. Then you've got the villain group who all wear jackets. They're not nearly as intimidating as they think they are. There are really only two important members to the group. First off is Kazi who whines a lot and is always trying to pick the easiest route to success. I never really liked him. I feel like he's only confident when he completely has the upper hand. He's the kind of villain that I can picture making excuses at every corner. He's a decent fighter but takes a lot of Ls in this series. Ultimately I could do without him. He's even trying to translate for someone at the end of the series who knows and understands sign language. I was shaking my head because it seemed like Kazi was just trying to score some points.

Maya is one of the highest ranking members of the gang and she has a lot of development here. She isn’t able to hear but was still able to become a great fighter. It shows the level of talent that she has as this would definitely not be an easy feat. Sound is how you predict enemy movements and prepare for sneak attacks. Without that you’re in a much tougher spot. She can be a bit unreasonable at times though and didn’t really think the whole situation through. I think she’ll get better as she goes on but I wouldn’t say I was a big fan of hers. Much better than Kazi though.

Then we have Yelena who gets to make her big return after the Black Widow film. As always she is a lot of fun here and does her best to try and make sure it isn’t personal to Kate and the others when she takes down Hawkeye. Yelena definitely trolls Kate a lot during their interactions. It’s not that Yelena doesn’t take anything seriously but she always seems to like breaking the ice first. She’s sort of like Spider-Man with how she’s joking around although it’s less on the quippy side.

While she is a lot of fun, I do think the rationale for having her fight Hawkeye felt a bit flimsy. I had a hard time believing that this would actually happen or that Yelena would be so quick to believe just anyone. Not after she has already experienced so much deceit while being one of the Black Widows. It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense there. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, it should all be up hill for her. Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know about a certain guest star. I don’t really consider this to be a spoiler as I don’t consider it to be a huge plot spoiler or something that would change your experience but even so this is a heads up. If you skip the next paragraph then you’re all good.

Towards the end of the show we even get to see Kingpin for a bit. Netflix fans will be happy since we have one of their fighters appearing in the big Marvel show. That said, while he gets a lot of hype from Hawkeye and the others, I wasn’t very impressed with him. The guy barely has any kind of plan and underestimates his opponents a lot. The amount of times he just throws Kate away instead of knocking her out is quite numerous. Now you can say he’s just trying to be nice and doesn’t want to fight a kid. That’s fair but you still feel like he should have been able to escape numerous times. He’s never been all that threatening though as any hero should be able to quickly beat him since he’s the equivalent of just being a really strong henchmen. That’s why I would have kept him in the background instead of having him appear. It was surreal to have him show up though.

So to quickly touch on the power level stuff, it happened as early as the first episode for me when Kate showed up and took down a whole gang by herself. She was flipping over minions and knocking everyone around. Considering that she never had any real practical experience before now and just the skills she was taught, it felt a bit like a stretch. Then you have Kate giving Yelena a good fight. Sure, Yelena was holding back but since it was putting her mission in jeopardy I would have liked to have seen her show a bit more urgency and take the win instead of it being so even. The difference in skill here should be massive so Yelena would be able to win without going through all of that.

Likewise on the rooftop fight, Yelena is considerably more powerful than the other 3 fighters. She should have completely knocked them for a loop and there was no reason to retreat. Just secure the victory and take them out. Yelena was the most nerfed character here and while I can see why this was done, I think it could have been smoother overall. Power levels aren’t the kind of thing that loses a show any real points but it’s still something you want to try and avoid.

The rooftop fight is the best battle in the series though. It’s cool to have two different fights going on at the same time here. All of the combatants knew how to fight as well so there was really a lot of action there. Hawkeye isn’t a show that’s filled with action scenes but the ones that we do get are all pretty good. As mentioned before, what makes Hawkeye really work is that it’s just a lot of fun. The writing is good and there is consistently solid banter throughout the show. Each episode really flies by and the pacing is good. There’s no episode that is boring and something big happens in each one. The show makes the most of its miniseries format.

For the soundtrack, the show doesn’t quite match up to some of the previous ones but we have some good tunes on occasion here as well. Whenever a Christmas song shows up that’s always a lot of fun. Season 2 won’t be able to rely on those songs though so that means the show will need to develop more themes soon. One episode had a good end credits theme but for the most part the show usually didn’t have anything too spectacular.

Meanwhile the team had a dog who was fun in his quick appearances. I’m still game for the dog never appearing again though as it’s too risky. There’s also a group of would be adventurers who help Hawkeye and Kate at times but they’re probably the cheesiest parts of the adventure so you really don’t need them here. They somehow manage to beat a few henchmen and that just shouldn’t be happening. As it is I didn’t believe it when Kate was taking everyone down and she is considerably more skilled than these guys. I think the best thing to do is to really just keep those guys out of it.

The show has an after credits scene but it’s definitely skippable. It’s one of those scenes that isn’t actually plot important nor does it contain any of the good characters. I wouldn’t even call it entertaining so just skip it and go full blast towards season 2. Of course it may be a bit of a wait before that comes out but I’m expecting good things from it once that does eventually happen. The cast here is just solid and will hold their own in a sequel.

As a final note, I liked the way that they filmed the car chase scene in one of the episodes. The way it was filmed was really unique and just helped to make the chase feel different from most car battles. We got to see how arrows can be quite useful for attacking and defending even while in the car. There are a lot you can do with trick arrows in general so I would like to see more of those in season 2 as well.

Overall, Hawkeye is another fun Marvel show. The shows have done a good job of really feeling like the movies both in tone and graphics. The special effects here wouldn’t be out of place in a future film and since all of the big characters are here, it does feel like a proper continuation of their stories. There’s a lot you can do even if the characters stay in the town and fight local threats. Especially with someone like Hawkeye who was really built for street level encounters. His whole jaded outlook towards being a hero will always be a fun contrast to Kate’s more upbeat personality. In a way it’s fitting that this review is shorter than the other Marvel shows so far because there is less to talk about. There’s no time travel, moral debates with terrorists, seeing a lead get corrupted by her own power, having a battle across realities, or anything like that. Hawkeye isn’t a show that has any tough questions or big plots to deal with. It’s really a street level adventure dealing with some mild villains. It may not leave you with a whole lot to talk about, debate, and theory craft but you’ll leave the final episode satisfied that you watched a fun adventure fold. At the end of the day, that’ll always mean that the product was a success.

Overall 7/10

Pokémon Evolutions Review

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Pokemon has had quite a few mini series so far. They all tend to be pretty solid. Some are more action based while others follow the story more. They’re always a glimpse at some fun concepts for an ongoing story but at the end of the day they can sometimes just make you wish that it was a title that you could pick up and watch for 20+ episodes. Well, Evolutions is the strongest show to date. It may also make you wish that they could just adapt all of the games like this already but each episode does still manage to have a complete story within so it doesn’t feel like you’re missing everything. There are 8 episodes contained within and each region gets an episode. I’ll break them all down below.

The first episode is almost a somber one to an extent as the champion Leon recalls the big battle against Chairman Rose’s legendary monster. Even Leon’s Charizard wasn’t quite a match for this powerful Pokemon. They got to show their strong bond here though as Charizard never gave up and Leon gets his swagger back by the end of the episode. Leon’s always been a fun character since his whole thing is that he is incredibly powerful. While I wouldn’t say he is the strongest Pokemon Trainer out there, he has earned a very solid reputation for himself. If we get to see him take on some more powerful trainers and continue to win in the main anime that could change things. Either way this was a good episode to start things off with. It’s not one of the most intense ones but with the action scene we did get and the solid animation, it was a good omen of things to come.

Episode 2 brings in the Sun and Moon cast as Necrozma shows up and starts dishing out the damage. Lunala has to fight against him and it’s nice to actually see Lunala fighting with great animation like this. Lunala has rarely gotten the spotlight compared to some of the other legendaries so this was a good chance to change things. That being said, Necrozma is not a Pokemon that goes down easily and is even one of the stronger Pokemon legendaries I would say. This one really ends with a lot of momentum on the villain’s side. The fight is one of the best in the series and you can feel the tension. It was an excellent way to continue on from the first episode.

In the third episode we get Lysandre making his speech about why he’s actually the good guy. We see his past and also how he originally had good intentions that just started getting more and more extreme until he was completely the villain. It’s a much weaker episode than the first two. Not a bad one but I think the issue is that he just isn’t a very convincing villain. See, someone like N I could understand. I think you can make some valid points for why Pokemon should not be fighting and he just made sense. There’s just no part during Lysandre’s pitch where you actually think he’s in the right, especially not when he’s strapped to a giant machine and fighting off the other Pokemon. A villain with a strong goal is always at least interesting though so while this episode couldn’t compete with the first two, it still kept a high amount of energy.

Following up that episode has N appear which is quite fitting since he was a good comparison in the last one. It’s from Ghetis’ point of view for the most part though as we see how he orchestrated all of these events. He was at the front of the situation from the very beginning and it turns out that he really was a tactical genius. I was never a big Ghetis fan but his plan was sound. N is really the one doing all the work though as we see him take down the Champion and get ready to fight the main character. It’s another reason why I always found N so fascinating. Defeating a champion is pretty much unheard of except for the main character and rival. A villain taking down the champion has never really happened before. This episode didn’t have any really long action scenes but it was really hype throughout.

Episode 5 is certainly more of an upbeat one. We get a glimpse into Barry’s life as he lost to Team Galactic initially and then pressed forward until he gained the skills needed to stand up to them. It’s one of the more emotional episodes. He may not be as strong as the main character yet, but he’s giving it his best effort. I always like how stoic the main character of the relevant Pokemon game is in these episodes but more on that later. It was a bit more low key than the last episode but still a fun adventure and it ended up covering quite a lot.

Episode 6 is my favorite episode in the series. We get to see the ceremony with Zinnia as she explains the prophecy of her people to Ruby. They climb up the tower as May tries to get the stone back before they make it to the top where the summoning begins. This was a really powerful moment in the manga with how Zinnia lived her whole life for this moment only to find out that she wasn’t the right person. It’s definitely tough because she did everything that she possibly could and yet it was not enough. That’s the kind of thing that’s hard to really get any silver lining out of. Still, she makes the hero call and lets May be the one to summon Rayquaza and save the world. She at least gets to have her fight at the end though. It’s a dynamite episode from start to finish, Zinnie continues to show why she is one of the best Pokemon characters and we still do get some action in this episode even if that isn’t the main focus this time around.

It’s fitting that episode 7 is my least favorite for the ultimate whiplash. Episode 7 has a few girls telling a story about Ho-Oh and Lugia. If it sounds familiar it’s because we also got a story for the Johto portion in one of the previous Pokemon miniseries when we learn how the dog trio were created. Is Johto just not good enough to get the big action treatment like the others? I guess the most interesting thing here is seeing how the Pokemon contribute to the show. It’s like real life special effects in this verse but at the same time there was just no big hook and to me that’s what held this episode back. The whole time you’re waiting for some kind of fight or something but it never comes. The artistic style here was a big step down from the other episodes as well. Ultimately it was just not a very engaging episode.

Finally we end with Kanto so you know things are going to get hype. Green is searching for the final Pokemon in the Pokedex: Mewtwo. Unfortunately another trainer is already in the cave so now it’s a race to the finish. That said, both trainers have a good amount of chivalry so there isn’t any cheating or things like that. They both want to win in a clean fashion. At first I didn’t recognize Green since it appears more like her new design. I actually thought that it was the Let’s Go main characters at first and then Red and the others would get their cameos. Red and Blue do get a quick cameo at the end but this was in fact Green. (Don’t know the names of the Let’s Go crew assuming that they have new names) This was a great way to end the series though. It doesn’t quite defeat the Zinnia episode, however it had the longest action scenes. Not necessarily in a fighting context but with all the acrobatics and running around in the cave. We also got to see a fun look at how some of the gameplay mechanics would work out like how a fight is initiated when two characters meet each other’s gaze. Of course the guy chickened out the first time though.

There you have it, those are the 8 episodes of Pokemon Evolutions. The animation throughout the series is really solid. The battles are on point and the character designs are smooth. I dare say that the animation here could hold up with the main series and the battles in particular probably beat some of the main title fights as well. Of course I imagine it’s easier to make the fights look spectacular when it isn’t weekly 20+ minute episodes. The soundtrack also deserves a lot of respect here with how many solid tunes and remixes we get.

Pokemon Evolutions succeeds in all areas and just makes for a really fun experience. As mentioned, it feels more self contained and complete compared to the other Pokemon titles. I would say this is the best one. Yes, the episodes still tend to have cliffhangers but we got to see the fights before that happened as opposed to the battles being left to your imagination. That’s a big difference. Also, this series covered more of the big events. You’ll likely remember all of these scenes from when you played through the video games and that’s a lot of fun since now you get to see it happen in real time.

Additionally, the video game main characters all look really hype. You have Ruby who gets to prove that she is the chosen one to go and fight with Rayquaza. Then you have the main character of the Diamond and Pearl games who is holding his own against Jupiter and the others. Green gets to show her persistence in combat and Red/Blue appear to be pros as always. The fact that they are all silent for the most part just increases their mysterious aura. Not all of them are silent though like Green has a lot to say but for the most part they silently dare their opponent to make a move. Their unlimited confidence makes it easy to see how they would end up becoming the champions.

Now that we’ve gotten to explore all of the regions a bit, I’d really like to have a crossover at some point. Pokemon Adventures did this so why not a show right? Red interacting with Black or Green meeting up with Platinum would be a lot of fun. If they can keep this big animation budget as well then you could also splurge on some really big fights. Of course the best way would be to have a full TV show for this but even if the episodes were shorts, you could still do a lot. Maybe go back to the series’ roots and make it a big tournament anime. The possibilities are really endless although my money would be on Red to go all the way of course. You couldn’t rule any of the other characters out though as they all became champions by the end of their journies.

Overall, Pokemon Evolutions is a really solid title. It’s a short one so you’ll definitely be done with it in a blast but it should help to inspire you to go back to the games or read some of the manga. If you’re a Pokemon fan then you will definitely have a major blast with this one and even if you don’t know Pokemon (Somehow) you should still be able to enjoy the quality writing and pacing of the episodes. Given that you can easily complete the whole series in less time than it takes to watch a movie, there’s no reason not to watch this one. Hopefully at some point this leads to a full movie or show but in the meantime I’ll be satisfied with getting another mini series as well.

Overall 8/10

My Reputation Review

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The film’s title might as well be “My Rebound” with how the romance here works. Right off the bat I can tell you that the romance here doesn’t work. Unfortunately in the movie the characters who are against this are two kids who are very unreasonable all the time so it’s hard to really use them as a good source for anything. The movie’s an old time title that has good writing and all but since the romance is right at the forefront, that hurts it quite a bit right from the jump.

Okay so Jessica’s husband died after a long battle with illness. Jessica’s mother Mary wants Jessica to wear black for the rest of her life so as to never stop grieving. She should not remarry and just spend the rest of her days like this. Jessica doesn’t agree to that and in fact she wants to move on as quickly as possible. The problem is that nobody in town is any good. Her old friend Frank is okay but not the right person. Jessica ends up going on a retreat where she meets a guy named Scott and they quickly hit it off. They get together so quickly that the whole town starts talking about it and now there are endless rumors about Jessica. Is there anything she can do to salvage her reputation at this point?

Well, Jessica shouldn’t care about her reputation within the town all that much as everyone is gossiping anyway. I do think that she found this other guy way too quickly though. This is almost a textbook rebound to me. Her husband dies and then she goes out and finds some other guy and gets serious about him very quickly. While the kids handle this poorly by running away and causing a fuss, it is definitely iffy. That’s why it’s too bad it wasn’t a friend who debated Jessica instead. The kids wouldn’t listen to anything so at least this way we could have a balanced conversation of some sort. It would be a big improvement there.

At the end of the day each person is different of course so yeah some might be ready to move on right away. It just never makes for a good romance plot in a movie. If anything I’m more in line with Jessica’s mother Mary on basically never moving on. You get one shot to pick a partner out and after that, that’s it. Win or lose, live or die, you have made your pick and stick to it. Ultimately I do think Jessica should have mentioned something to their kids so they didn’t find out about this at a random party. That has to be the worst way to find out.

As for Scott, well he doesn’t even seen like the greatest guy. He mentions how he’s not really the marriage kind of guy which is a massive red flag right out of the gate. After all, it sounds like he would be someone who is up for affairs then, he was really quick to try and pull the moves on Jessica after all and they barely knew each other. If that’s how he always acts, well that’s going to be a little difficult. He does say that he’ll clean up his act though which is good.

Ginna and Cary are at least good friends for Jessica. It’s good that she has someone to rely on since the town is so suspect. There’s a really dicey scene where a guy names George attacks Jessica and the whole thing is just so out of place. It was a really dicey moment for sure. The guy had a lot of red flags ever since his debut but you still never expect something quite like that to happen. Unfortunately we don’t get to see him arrested or anything like that. It would have been a great way to have ended his plot off. It’s just not good to know that he basically got off completely free.

As for Frank, well I wouldn’t have been rooting for him even if he had tried for Jessica more. It seems like he liked her and since the death was so recent, it would at least imply he liked her even while she was together. So this would be like he’s seizing his moment and that would definitely not go over well for me. It was sort of a lose-lose situation with all the candidates here to be honest.

Well, that’s enough on the romance. Beyond that, the writing is good at least. Everyone is quite formal and all, but without much of a plot beyond the romance there isn’t a lot to it either. I mean this is a case of the romance really being just about every part of the film. I guess the only other thing to talk about here is the reputation angle. Well, this part is one Jessica shouldn’t care about.

It’s clear that the neighborhood is always grumbling and gossiping about something. So Jessica is the topic today and someone else will be the topic tomorrow. That’s the nature of gossip circles. If everyone is always willing to gossip with you, you can bet that they will be gossiping about you as well. It’s all a big circle here and that’s just the name of the game. If you’re only upset when they gossip about you then that’s not really a good look.

Besides which, if they don’t even have the decency to not gossip in front of kids then I don’t think you need to worry about their opinions. Just keep it moving and if you don’t take it personal, they’ll probably still try to keep up the appearance of being your friend at least. Man, come to think of it there really were almost no good characters in this one. Ginna and Cary were probably the only two you could even root for since they at least appeared as very decent people. Well I liked Mary as well. She may be rather extreme at times but she came through to help when it counted.

If anything Jessica kept trying to be on the opposing side so much that she would be extreme herself. At one point she’s the one pursuing Scott like when she ran to his hotel room. It was a moment of emotional outburst and this time he played hard to get but it seems like she was willing to go quite far just to spite everyone. This relationship really doesn’t seem like a positive one the more I write/think about it.

Overall, My Reputation is a film that’s built off of a n iffy premise right from the jump. Jessica is doing her best to move on from her old husband but she seems to really be rushing things. Now it’s fair to say that she could really love Scott but I think she would need to slow things down quite a lot to make sure of that and that this isn’t a passing crush. Her kids may not be ready to accept this yet but if it’s a true love then that’s fine. You just have your doubts on this throughout the movie. Since most of the movie is her trying to get together with Scott…if you don’t like either character that’s a bad sign. This is one of the weaker romances I’ve seen as of late and I’d say to skip it.

Overall 4/10