Category Archives: Reviews

Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime Review

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It’s time for a quick anime OVA that adapts the beginning of the Gunvolt game. That game was really a blast when I got to play through the trilogy and I can say that it was fun to see some of the events again here. It reminds me why Gunvolt is such a great character as he defies orders to get the job done. He does what he has to here and not many characters could have followed suit. It’s also nice to be following a prodigy who is known for the best as opposed to some rookie. It’s not like this is the only story like that but they are still rarer than the alternative so I enjoy each instance.

The story starts pretty fast as you’re thrown into some battles and we see Gunvolt get captured by the enemies The Sumeragi company basically owns the world and they are as corrupt as possible. Gunvolt is part of a resistance group that saved him a while back and he uses his powers to help out. There are people who have special abilities like Gunvolt and they are all basically hunted down or end up joining the villains. This should have been a routine mission of sabotage but it all goes sideways when it turns out that the thing powering up the villains is actually a little girl. Gunvolt is ordered to murder her but naturally he refuses such an order. What all these characters forget is that Gunvolt is a hero!

Naturally that should be an easy decision for any main character because murdering a child would make them no better than the villains. It also immediately ensures that you don’t like any of the members of the resistance since Gunvolt was the only one to stand against them there. Sure, it’s easier for him since he is the strongest one but the others still could have done something instead of just watching the whole time. So that’s why Gunvolt is the only true hero here.

We also get a glimpse of his fighting style when he takes out a bunch of minions and we even cover one of the boss fights. The cameo from the rival is a bit random as he fires some shots at Gunvolt and the villain before vanishing. I suppose it just took him a while to get there. He is a fun character to have around though. You just don’t really know what his deal is from this episode.

The animation is not the best but I wouldn’t call it bad or anything like that. It gets the job done in terms of the action and showing us the electricity effects. The voice acting definitely could use more energy as well. It feels a bit too low and the characters don’t sound as if they are in the middle of a deadly conflict. You can’t be quite so calm in such a circumstance. So that’s definitely something they really could have improved upon. It’s clear that the technical elements weren’t a top concern for this special but at least we did get a song.

This is almost like a pilot chapter for a series. It just gives you the intro and you’re on your own from there. So I would say that this one succeeds because it would have definitely made me want to check out the games. If I hadn’t played them already I would definitely be racing to order them off Ebay. While the video games feel like Mega Man, I would say the anime and concept are sufficiently different so this does feel like a new experience. Definitely full credit and bravo to Gunvolt here. The special is really over in the blink of an eye.

It’s why you don’t really want to buy any excuses for series that take until episode 10 or more to get good. You need to be good right out of the gate. If you aren’t able to be good by the end of episode 1 then you did something wrong. Even with the technical limitations, we had good writing and a solid story here. Right away you could buy into the bond between Gunvolt and the kid he saved. Gunvolt will definitely be a good mentor and protector. You can feel the hero vibes off of him immediately.

Overall, This was a good special. It certainly didn’t get top production values or anything like that but it told a good story. The concept is enough to hold the product up on its own after all. The game will just have to show you the rest of the content. Hopefully one day we will get a proper adaption of Gunvolt because this could really be an awesome story. It’s also a completed one at this point so that should also help in terms of helping the creators pace it. In the meantime this special will have to do though so enjoy it while you can.

Overall 7/10

West of the Divide Review

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It’s time for a fairly short western this time around. Watching these old 1930s titles is pretty fun to see what would stick around for future generations of films and what wouldn’t. One thing’s for sure, the black and white camera doesn’t help make it any easier to differentiate the characters. For some reason they had the main duo and villain duo wearing similar hats and outfits. Ah well at least you can usually tell who is who based on what’s happening in the story but they sure could have made that a whole lot easier.

The movie has all of the classic corruption themes going around as one guy is trying to steal cattle and money from everyone else. A lady named Fay is even attacked for her money but fortunately Ted and his partner Dusty manage to get it back. This is a full on villain group they’re dealing with though so they decide to deceive the enemies into thinking that Ted is an unfamous murderer. Now he can be involved in the plans and find a way to make sure that Fay and her father are able to get out of this in one piece. Ted will need to really make sure that his gun skills are up to task though or this will be a very short adventure for him.

One difference compared to newer films is that there is a much bigger emphasis on fist fights over gun fights. Ted takes on different opponents as the film goes on and the battles tend to be rather close. He eats some really nasty shots during the course of the film which really puts him in a rough spot. I guess these villains actually train in hand to hand combat or maybe Ted’s just weak. We can’t rule that out either because his opponents didn’t exactly look to be in the best shape of their lives.

The important thing is that Ted wins in the end though and that’s what happens. He puts up a good fight each time and is definitely a strong competitor. Naturally he is unbeatable with a gun as well and looks pretty good in those fights. His partner Dusty is also a trusty sidekick. The guy doesn’t really get much action but he brings in the backup whenever they are needed so the guy has a key role. Additionally it’s just nice to have someone as support. The whole film would be way more difficult if Ted was all by himself.

Meanwhile the villains are fairly generic. There isn’t a lot to these guys, they just want to get rich and do it fast. They figure that might makes right and had been succeeding before Ted got there. Fay doesn’t do much as the main heroine to be honest but I guess there’s not really a lot that she could do at the time. It’s not like she was secretly great with a gun or anything like that.

Probably the most noticeable area where the film feels old is with the soundtrack and sound effects. When the music plays, there aren’t any real sound effects that can be played. It also seems like there is only one piece of music in the film so they just keep on reusing it for all of the action scenes and everything. Not a ton of variety to be found here. At least the music is good but it’s also the same one that was used in a previous film so I guess there weren’t many options back then. It’s not like this holds the film back but it gives you a greater appreciation for the future where there were a ton of tracks going on at all times.

The film also has time to throw in some twists which was surprising. For example we find out that Ted is related to someone which was unexpected. It definitely makes the situation more personal and it’s good that Ted stopped someone from beating the kid up. Ted would have done it anyway of course but it was a good example for the kid. The kid doesn’t look great here as he messes up his first horse ride but I suppose there wasn’t a whole lot that he could have done about that. At least the kid never complained or anything and was just doing his best the whole time.

Overall, West of the Divide is a good film. If you like westerns then you should get a nice kick out of this one. It is old and definitely feels dated but at the same time you can definitely say that it is a quality picture. It doesn’t really have any glaring weaknesses and the pacing is really good at all times. It is the kind of movie you can easily recommend to anybody passing by. The short runtime also makes it very accessible. It’s easy to see why people really enjoyed these short films back in the day.

Overall 7/10

Toy Soldiers Review

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

When you watch films about how tough the bullies were back in school, you may sometimes wonder how they would fare against an actual threat. Well, this film isn’t quite about this as the main characters aren’t bullies but they are big time delinquents and this is their chance to do something big. They can save the school and really make everybody owe them. Do they really have what it takes though?

The film introduces us to the villains early on with Luis and his gang breaking in and causing some chaos. Luis didn’t realize that his father was already taken away though so he leaves. A long time passes by and this time he breaks into a school containing the sons of the most powerful people around. He aims to use them as hostages to get his father out of prison but the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists. Will they break the rules on this one to save the kids or leave them be?

What the villains don’t realize is that this is Billy’s school. He’s been a delinquent for as long as he can remember and likes doing all kinds of pranks like taking the dean’s office and throwing everything outside or messing with the phones. Edward has decided not to expel him in each case though because he really wants to fix Billy. Billy’s already been expelled several times after all an Edward doesn’t want his school to just become another one of those. That said, when the terrorists invade the school, we may need some delinquents on hand.

Now you’re probably wondering how some random school kids can do anything in this situation and well…they do need a lot of plot armor. The film tries to balance the happy go lucky tone of a school film with the bleak moments when the terrorists are murdering people. It makes for a bit of an odd balance and this even affects the kids as they are pulling off crazy Home Alone type plans while in a fairly serious situation. So yeah realistically they would probably be blown away to Kingdom Come but the film lets them have their fun.

I’d say it ends up being a fun result at the very least. Yeah I wouldn’t take it too seriously so if you are looking for a very serious title then this one probably isn’t for you. The switching back and forth can be a bit jarring but I kind of get it since it’s hard to maintain the serious tone the whole time with the kids. Not impossible of course as others have done it but this one wasn’t quite ready for that.

Billy makes for a decent main character although I do think he is unreasonable for most of the film. There was really no reason to be acting up in school so much. We get a glimpse into his backstory enough to know that he’s not particularly close with any of his parents but for that reason he should be trying to make sure that he does well in school. This is his last bastion of peace after all. Once he’s out of here then it will get tricky. I know he’s just not looking ahead like that but he should be. He also loses his nerve later on in the film but gets the courage back when it counts.

There is a body count here so things don’t go great for everyone but for the most part the villains are taken down. One kid in particular who went down looked good before taking the loss. He was at least trying to do something and was ultimately just a bit too slow in the draw. I’ll take that over not even attempting to do something like most of the other kids here. Those could have used a real lesson in bravery and learning what to do next.

As for Edward, he was a fun adult here. Perhaps a bit too lenient at times but I do appreciate that he was trying to look out for the kids. He also works as the hype character in the film as he tries to tell the FBI that these aren’t your average kids. These delinquents don’t get scared or anything like that. That’s why it would have been fun if we could have seen more out of them. Ultimately there isn’t much time for the delinquent phase before the stakes go high.

As for the main villain Luis, he’s really solid as an antagonist. The guy has clear goals and well thought out plans at his disposal. Realistically he takes the win in most situations here. I did like how the fact that one of the kids was the son of a mafia boss actually played a role in the story here. It’s why Luis decided to let him go but then things went sideways right after that. The mafia gets their revenge rather quickly and we see just how much power they have. Luis may be a terrorist but he certainly doesn’t have the same level of reach and influence as an established Mafia. Not even close.

I appreciate the fact that the film actually had the government get involved but to be honest they look pretty weak here. They literally lose their entire 3 man sneak squad right they begin the infiltration. Yeah it was bad luck that wasn’t really their fault but still. These are supposed to be the professionals and they’re going down like that? No wonder the kids had to really take matters into their own hands. This is considering that the kids had earlier gotten them the full locations of where all the enemies where. If the kids had all seen that, they’d have definitely been a little irritated to say the least.

Overall, Toy Soldiers is a good film. I thought it was entertaining all the way through. Not saying it’s a great film or anything like that but I did think the premise itself was rather solid. While hostage films can be annoying at times as the heroes have their hands held behind their back in terms of what they can do, it’s fun once you reach the counter attack stage. Since the heroes are kids you shouldn’t be expecting a ton of fights or anything like that but at the same time we still do get our action moments. As long as you like a good action film then I think you will be enjoying yourself here. It’s what I would call a true popcorn flick for you to just turn your mind off and enjoy.

Overall 6/10

The Purple Rose of Cairo Review

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It’s time for a movie that has an interesting premise but never really gets into it. The movie has some ideas but the whole thing is bogged down by a terrible romance. Ultimately the film’s humor style just didn’t work out so the whole thing ends up being a dud but I do appreciate the attempt. Sometimes these films just can’t score the big W and that’s just how it goes. I’d like a remake some day that’s more of a horror thriller about the real subplot going on here.

The movie introduces us to Cecilia who is a very unhappy person. She is married to a rather abusive guy who is always cheating on her and doesn’t bring in any money. He’s basically a deadbeat. Meanwhile she has a hard time concentrating on anything and keeps on messing up at her job until she is fired. Her only real place to be calm and have a good time is at the movie theater so she goes there to continually watch a film as much as possible. One day the main character Tom jumps out of the screen and announces that he’s in love with her. Cecilia is shocked by this but then the actor who plays the character (Gil) shows up and also says he likes her. She must now choose between these men but of course she is also still married an has to think about this. What can she do?

First off Cecilia looks really bad here. At the risk of sounding like victim blaming here, she really gets herself into constant trouble. Everything at the job was completely her fault. She was not focusing at all and was instead gossiping the entire time. That’s never going to be a good idea and will naturally get her into trouble. She kept on dropping things and getting the wrong order so yeah that was a bad look. Then with the husband this is easier said than done but she needed to actually leave him. You just can’t get past this many red flags in one guy. Cheating and abusive and broke? That’s just absolutely terrible and it sounds like he has been like this for a very long time so it’s not like this is recent either. Oh no this is definitely a bad look all the way.

Finally when he comes down to choosing Tom or his actor, Cecilia looks really bad and naive here. For starters, it’s not like Gil was subtle at all about wanting to force Tom back in the screen to save his acting career. So didn’t Cecilia think for a second it was odd that Gil suddenly started liking her? Almost like this would make Tom lose his hope and just settle back into the screen? Basically Cecilia was played here and so while it leads to a sad ending, it ultimately it a situation that she created once again.

Gil isn’t a nice guy but you don’t expect him to be. He’s one of those Hollywood hotshots who is basically doing whatever he likes and she should have seen through that way easier. As for Tom, the guy is super oblivious to everything and seems to be lacking in common sense but at least he tries his best. He was able to turn down a bunch of the sketchy women who were after him after all so I can give him some credit there. That whole scene lasted a bit too long though.

What you’re really interested in is the subplot of how Tom broke through the film screen. We find out that as soon as the film is digitized, the characters become real. They’re also all unique to the exact picture that is being played. So for example if you have 100 copies of the film, then there are 100 Toms. No character has ever left the movie before but it seems like it’s something that is possible if a character ever thought about it. We find out that this has started a bit of a revolt abroad to the point where people are pulling the movie.

The fact that all the characters are actually sentient is pretty crazy. They are also immortal as shown when Tom could not be hurt despite someone trying to beat him up. There are a whole lot of ramifications to this but the movie is mainly a comedy so the characters just laugh about it. It’s a shame because that was the most interesting part of the film with ease. The whole movie industry would suddenly become a lot more dangerous if the characters could just leap out of the screen like that. Additionally we see that real people can jump into the movies as well.

Unfortunately we end up having to go back to the romance plot. Putting everything else to the side for a moment, if Cecilia was actually a decisive person that would have helped out a lot. Like if she decided to be with Tom, then not giving Gil the time of day would have been good. Maybe making it official with her husband that they are through, etc. These are all steps that she should have taken and that would have been a really good idea. Instead she is just too scattered and starts rambling about random things all the time.

Her character is just way too weak willed throughout the movie and that’s the real problem here. Even before she gets suckered at the end of the film, she never really makes the right decisions. The writing in general isn’t great either. I did like the movie itself within the movie because there all of the dialogue was on point. In the present though, the characters were all a bit too extreme like Tom being oblivious, Cecilia being indecisive, her husband being whiny, etc. It’s not exactly the kind of writing that grips you.

Overall, This is not a movie I would recommend. Just like how Cecilia wastes money on movie tickets and popcorn every night despite being ultra broke, it would not be the wisest decision for you to watch this film. Check out a different romance title instead. There are plenty of much better ones out there after all and they will all steer you down a better path. This is the path you want to go, only if you want to see an interesting premise that is shoved to the side. There are few things more tragic than a great premise that is never explored.

Overall 4/10

Heavenly Sword Review

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It’s time for a game with a really iconic cover but I admit that I completely forgot it existed for a while there. Heavenly Sword is one of those rare 3D beat em ups that isn’t a warriors title. I love the beat em up genre so this was definitely fun although the game is very short. So keep that in mind because you will have this game done in under 6 hours easy and there are no PS3 trophies in terms of replay value. The initial playthrough needs to be enough for you to get all your enjoyment in.

The game starts off in the climax with Nariko fighting off legions of warriors but the cursed blade is draining her life force. Her battle is at an end but then we cut back to 5 days earlier. Nariko always grew up as someone that everybody disliked and she wasn’t treated particularly well. People wanted a boy, not a girl. Well Nariko did her best to get strong either way and it turns out that she is the one destined to use the Heaven’s Sword. Now she will have to fight off the enemies for a people who don’t even respect her. She only has one friend in the world, a girl named Kai. Perhaps that will be all the inspiration that Nariko needs.

Honestly if Kai wasn’t around I would not blame Nariko if she just up and left. Even up through the end when she’s saving lives you still have the NPCs being rude for no reason. Nariko is basically a one woman army and without her the main fighters would have died out ages ago. The whole thing is just so absurd that you get annoyed when thinking about it. Her own father was tempted to murder her several times and just doesn’t seem like a good guy. I know the game tries to redeem him to an extent but it’s all just too late and he nearly convinces Kai not to help Nariko near the climax.

Kai is the only solid heroine here to help out. She may not be nearly as strong as Nariko but her bow and arrow skills are really good. While most of the gameplay is your classic 3D slasher, her levels are more motion based. You shoot arrows and then control them by tilting your controller to hit the soldiers from the opposing side. While I am not a fan of motion controls and this was the weakest point of the game, I did really like the concept they were going for here. An archer or any kind of sniper is always a huge asset on the battlefield because of how many people they can take out.

Due to the game’s war setting it’s fun to see her taking people out even while the main fights are occurring elsewhere. So that was pretty cool but of course the best part is playing as Nariko. You have light, normal, and heavy attacks. You switch them up to cancel the opponent’s moves and then keep attacking to land damage. It is like a game of rock paper scissors with the 3 elements and it can be tough to memorize them. The game has a lot more depth than the average beat em up. I was actually button mashing for a good chunk of time towards the end of the game because it was hard to land the hits perfectly.

My biggest piece of advice is to roll a lot because that allows you to get out of the line of fire and start some counter attacks. Especially with the final boss who has a huge health bar you need to do this. Any time he lands a hit on you, that’s going to set you back big time. So keep that in mind here. There is some motion control elements with the platforming but not too many. You also have a lot of quick time events which are fun but the timing is incredibly fast. I wasn’t able to react to almost any of those and just had to memorize them for the second run through. Fortunately there are constant check points in this game.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid. It’s going for a big of a realistic vibe but the effects have aged well. The characters do tend to look rather ugly though and while that is the point, I wouldn’t mind a more stylized version for a sequel. The soundtrack is also pretty solid. Nothing out of this world but it works well within what the game is trying to do. You can easily picture this being a movie so I’ll be curious to check that out at some point.

The story ends with some interesting directions they could go in although I would need them to undo one decision near the end of the game. You need certain characters to make this a success. I’m cool with a whole new cast of villains though as none of the bosses you fight in the game are particularly impressive. I enjoy them more for the banter than for their actual characters. I also give Nariko a lot of credit here for her own tough lines of dialogue which bring out the best in her opponents. The shadow bird is really our best hope of a big villain for a new game.

Overall, Heavenly Sword is a short game but it is a hype experience. So how much you enjoy the game will really come down to how well that balance works for you. If you don’t think that’s good enough then you may end up skipping it but at the same time the going price for it isn’t all that bad nowadays. So to me there isn’t really a downside anymore. I would also say the high quality of the hours that we do get is more than enough to keep you going here. The levels will even give you a reasonable challenge. So I’d definitely be hyped for a sequel.

Overall 8/10

I.Q. Review

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It’s time for a romance film that has a fairly unique gimmick but at the same time it doesn’t feel like this actually changes the flow of the movie all that much. In fact, the movie would likely be about the same either way. Unfortunately it suffers from having a particularly weak romance and the characters aren’t really likable. When you’ve got an unlikable cast and the romance in a romance film is weak…well there’s not a whole lot more you can do about this. The film just ends up being doomed upon arrival.

The movie starts with introducing us to Catherine and James who are engaged to be married. It’s a rather big deal for them of course but their individual careers are also rather big. They aren’t really the romantic types but things just worked out. Well, one day their car breaks down and so they head to a mechanic’s shop to fix it. Unfortunately one of the workers there is a very unprofessional gentleman named Ed who immediately falls for Catherine and starts to bad mouth James. Ed has no sense of tact or anything like that and basically just does whatever he wants. Naturally Catherine isn’t overly fond of him so Ed works with her uncle Einstein to try and make a favorable impression. To do this, he pretends to suddenly be a genius who solved the problem of nuclear energy. Sure enough this does catch Catherine’s attention but the other problem here is that now the whole state of New Jersey is really hyped about this. Has he set himself up to fail?

The story itself is a classic of one person pretending to be somebody that they’re not in order to attract the other but of course it usually does equal out to being a bad romance. For starters this means the relationship will be starting off of a massive deception. You also have to factor in that she is already engaged here. Yes, the film tries to show us that James is a boring guy who doesn’t add a lot of spice to the world but at the same time it’s not like Catherine really signed up for a super romantic guy.

His one really bad scene was when he wouldn’t start having fun with her during the middle of a dinner engagement. It wasn’t the best time for that anyway but even so it’s not like she was actively trying to leave the relationship. So Ed going after her so hard was just a bad look. Make no mistake, he takes the bulk of the blame on this one. He really should have just kept on living his life and not pursuing her. I also think the way he did it just came across as being distasteful too because he immediately started bashing James. Not a very nice thing to do.

Ed’s just hard to root for and the guy is constantly annoying. Meanwhile I do have to dock some points for Catherine for entertaining this at all. Yeah this guy is super smart now but that doesn’t means he has to play along and entertain the guy. She is already taken and off the market, that’s really all that he needs to know. She needs to completely leave the current relationship first before any of this could happen so yeah she isn’t a solid character either.

Finally you have Einstein and his team who are supporting Ed the whole time. It’s not a good look for them either since they should have been respecting the fact that she was already in a committed relationship. It also would have been nice if Einstein was more supportive of Catherine in general like when she found an error in Ed’s work and Einstein played dumb to help the guy out. Einstein may be a genius but he was completely out of his depth here.

The film actually showed some good restraint in not making James out to be some terrible creep. Ultimately they settled for just making him boring which is fine. That’s certainly not a terrible quality particularly with it being so subjective. You automatically end up rooting for the guy. The real losers in this fight were the American people though. Everybody was so excited about being the first to have nuclear power. Even the President was ready to get involved and it was going to be a huge victory for New Jersey in general. Ed got everybody’s hopes up only to let them down afterwards. Just not a good moment for him at all.

I rather liked Catherine’s boss as a character because he’s really emotionally involved in what he does. The guy was really trying to get Catherine to find a way to help out the company and then after that he did their best. It’s why lying is always a bad approach because there will always be several victims involved. Ed never actually seems all that remorseful for what he did though. They definitely could have made things a little tougher for him.

In terms of the comedic aspects of the film, it’s okay. It’s not the funniest film out there but there are a decent amount of jokes running around. It’s one of those things where the jokes would work better if you really enjoyed the characters. I liked Ed’s boss though, the guy was trying to keep it real the whole time but would crumble when it was time to get famous. He told Ed that the whole thing was a bad idea from the start though so I have to give him credit there. Then you had the scientists feeding Ed the right answers during tests but the whole thing was so obvious that it mainly just makes the side characters look bad.

Overall, I.Q. is not one of the better films. I feel like the premise absolutely dooms it from the start. The worst part is that you could cut out her fiancé and almost nothing changes yet it would help the film out quite a bit. Ed would still be annoying but at least he wouldn’t feel like a bad character so that’s an immediate improvement. It’s a reminder of how even small plot elements can really change a whole lot of things. All it takes is one story element to really shut things down. If they ever do a remake of this film perhaps they could really improve it. I doubt it’ll return tho.

Overall 4/10

One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia Review

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It’s time for another big adventure from the Strawhats. This one brings back the Foxy pirates who actually got reasonably popular after their original story arc. That said, it is one of the weaker films in the series mainly because of how low key it is. Everyone gets to appear and have some fun but there isn’t a ton of action in this one. It’s an adventure first and foremost so you will see the characters have to use their smarts to win this time. Pure strength won’t get the job done, not against the master strategist who appears!

The film starts off with the Strawhats having fun as normal and then they land on a fun island. Sanji in particular is super excited because there are a lot of girls there who were stranded and need a ride back. What he didn’t realize is that this was actually Foxy and his gang of henchmen. Some of them were girls but the rest just had good disguises on. They are here to challenge Luffy and friends to a Davyback fight where the loser must have someone join the winner’s crew. Obviously the stakes are way too high to even think of accepting this but Luffy and friends do anyway. After all the worst thing can’t happen as long as they win right? What they don’t realize is that one of Foxy’s new teammates, Komei, is actually a government agent who is here to shut the Strawhats down once and for all. Can they get away from this trap?

The movie’s whole dilemma only stands a chance because the sleepy mushrooms actually affect Luffy. I think it’s debatable on if they would do anything thanks to his immunity though. Sure this isn’t a lethal poison but the sleepiness is still an adverse effect which Luffy’s body should have knocked out. At least if you ask me that would have been the most likely scenario. Still, that’s how they manage to take out the most powerful members of the crew since otherwise Zoro would have ended this in an instant.

It’s pretty in character for Luffy and friends to eat the mushrooms so I don’t have any issues there. It’s just a shame that the rest of the team aren’t really great fighters. It’s why a lot of people say that the Strawhats need to get stronger because only a select few really carry the team at this point. They desperately need to shed that reputation and this film doesn’t help with that. The power levels will also make you sneeze in this film. Like at one point Luffy goes to attack Komei and the guy just slaps some oil onto the boat so Luffy slips.

The whole thing is mega embarrassing and it’s why some people have a hard time thinking of Luffy as a mega powerhouse. I wouldn’t take the scene too seriously but either way it does show that Luffy got absolutely crushed in this fight. Once we get to the serious battle it’s all over fairly quick. Komei is good at planning things out but he’s no big fighter. Once you get past his defenses then it’s really all over for the guy. He’s just not going to be coming back from that.

I did like Komei as the villain though. He gives off the right vibes for a strategic villain like this. Yeah it may be hard to take him seriously at times but he does say all of the right things. I just have the sneaking suspicion that I won’t remember the guy very well after a while so that’s why I can’t call him amazing or anything like that. He’s still better than Dojaku though who just feels like an absolute henchman the whole time. Not the kind of guy who could ever end up being the powerful leader type.

As for Foxy’s group, they were being manipulated the whole time so I wouldn’t say they look good or anything like that. You’d think they would have realized that the new members weren’t what they seemed to be. That may be a little easy to say in hindsight though. Foxy’s slow power is still super broken and overpowered so he could become a real threat if he was ever to return. The rest of his crew are super weak though so he has to carry the team on his own.

The animation in the film is good but again it isn’t trying to do anything fancy here. The animation is going through the motions but this definitely feels like an ordinary episode. he soundtrack doesn’t really have any standout themes either. So it’s all rather ordinary. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but just something to keep in mind. You will not be finding a cinematic experience here. Although for some it probably feels more comfortable that way so this one ends up being easy to plug in at any point.

Overall, It’s nice to see the Strawhats getting to just relax and have fun once in a while. Even with the government threat and all, I imagine it probably feels like a vacation next to the other big battles that they’ve been in. If you enjoy One Piece then you will like this adventure as well. There is nothing to dislike here after all. If they ever bring the Foxy pirates back again, I’d like to see them do a proper competition of sorts without it being interrupted immediately. Maybe do it without the stakes of losing a member so that way you don’t actually know which team would win. It’s a nice way to building tension since of course in a proper fight the Strawhats would obviously win. In a competition it is less certain. Also we really need Zoro to be a main character next time around instead of missing most of the adventure. I get that you don’t want it to be too easy for the heroes but sidelining him like that is definitely not the right answer.

Overall 7/10

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Review

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Hey where’s Bugs Bunny??? That’s the first thing you’ll be asking yourself as you turn on the film and unfortunately he isn’t in this film. This one is really drilling down to a small character cast and it’s definitely a bold decision. I suppose you don’t have to always get the whole gang involved but it’s why this film doesn’t end up matching up against the bigger event films like Space Jam. I just don’t think the Looney Tunes are able to hold their film nearly as well as other comedy franchises and it’s because the banter isn’t quite on the same level. Then for visual humor Tom and Jerry tend to take the solid win. Still, this is a good film, it just doesn’t really have much in the way of replay value.

The film introduces us to Daffy and Porky who grew up together after being adopted by Farmer Jim. Daffy was always a really crazy kid who would get Porky into trouble while Porky was a lot more straight laced. They always got along though and helped each other out. In the present, Porky likes a girl named Petunia and so Daffy helps play wingman. He actually does a really good job of this and things are mainly looking good…except for the fact that they’re about to lose their house. It’s just too destructive and then a comet blew off the roof so there was no real hiding that. They only have a few days to fix this but that’s the least of their problems. The Earth itself is doomed with mysterious aliens showing up. Can Daffy and Porky save the day or are they just too green for the job?

Now if Bugs, Road Runner, and the others were around this would be easy but this is definitely a down to Earth squad. Maybe the plan would be to slowly introduce more and more of the Toons to build up to an Avengers moment of sorts. Although I would say in general this isn’t quite the tone that the film is going for. It’s definitely a comedy first and foremost even with all the danger around. The story is more about seeing if Daffy and Porky can keep their bond strong even amidst what is going on.

In that area, I would say Daffy ends up looking better. He doesn’t let anything shake him and stays the courageous figure that we all know. Yeah he does get into a lot of trouble and doesn’t think things through but he’s a genuine guy. It was disappointing when Porky tried to trick him into staying home and didn’t stay acting as a good friend. It was a bad look for Porky especially since Daffy had always been by his side. For that reason I can’t say that I liked Porky much at all here. It’s not like he’s ever been my favorite character or anything like that but surely he could have been better.

As for Petunia, she’s okay at best but can also be rather scatter brained. Not in a fun chaotic way like Daffy but more when it comes to science for her. When you see Looney Tunes you’re thinking of absolutely crazy characters so she could have stood to be more crazy the whole time. She’s still better than Farmer Jim though. I get the kind of gag they were going for here but all of his scenes did tend to drag a bit. The guy came off as more annoying than anything. Technically he’s a good guy just looking out for his kids but his scenes simply weren’t funny.

I can say that the animation is really good though. The characters look very vibrant and the movie is always moving at a quick pace. There is consistently a whole lot going on visually which is always good and the action scenes aren’t half bad. You do start to get tired of seeing the villains spitting out the gum constantly but that’s a side effect of the mind control. It’s not quite crude humor but getting into that feel. It takes the aura away from the scenes.

The writing’s not bad. We do have some good gags and I liked the scene after the credits. It’s not really the kind of script that is laugh out loud funny but it does depend on just how much you like the Looney Tunes. Longtime fans will likely have a blast even just off of the nostalgia. There’s a lot there to keep you going the whole time. The soundtrack doesn’t have any particularly remarkable tunes though so that’s too bad.

The movie does have a big plot twist involving the alien though. It may make you scratch your head a bit since it’s the kind of twist that makes some actions look sus in retrospect. That said, I applaud the film for adding that in. Ultimately the film covers a lot of ground in 90 minutes. It’s good harmless fun all the way through. I do think it was lacking a bit of a hook though as the plot is fairly simple and it just takes a while to get to the conclusion. I think you could have spent the film really trying to test the bond between Daffy and Porky more. Yeah that does end up happening but mainly it’s just because Porky is looking bad here. In a way it would probably have been easiest if they made Petunia evil and so she would have been tricking Porky the whole time. Of course at that point it is a very different movie so that’s definitely not a small change.

Overall, The Day The Earth Blew Up is a good film. It’s not one I’d really be tempted to watch and I’d say the average Looney Tunes episode is more fun though. This one just felt like it was taking itself too seriously at times. For a film like this you really need to go all out and not take small steps here and there. This should have been a lot crazier and more energetic. Maybe put in less of a real story and just more of the characters messing around. Eh…that could backfire though. Just saying “The film should have been funnier” isn’t particularly helpful either. Well I’d say to still check it out and see what you think. Since the movie is under 2 hours it’s not as if it’ll take too long to watch it anyway.

Overall 6/10

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai Review

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Dragon Quest is one of those massive series where I haven’t really gotten to enter it all that deeply but it always looks super hype. Well it should come as no surprise that the anime is quite excellent. It feels like a DBZ adventure with all the big energy waves and attacks flying around. The series got quite a few episodes too which is nice to see since nowadays that gets rarer and rarer. If you haven’t seen this yet, I don’t blame you since the show didn’t get promoted a ton. That said, better late than never for you to get into it!

The story starts by introducing us to a humble kid named Dai. He grew up on an island inhabited by monsters. Fortunately they are all fairly nice but one day the demon king reawakens which causes a wave of evil to transmit around the globe. Monsters are being turned evil and the world is in danger. Dai’s master Avan sacrifices himself to buy some time while Dai and his best friend Pop now have the daunting task of ending the threat once and for all. Are they really equipped to take on an entire planet of evil fighters and monsters though? They will have some help but it will be the toughest fight imaginable.

I would say this anime even feels like an RPG with how it plays out. You’re not literally watching the characters save a cat out of a tree in episode 1 but they are fighting the weakest demons imaginable during the pre arc and by the end they’re taking on dark gods. This would be tough to pull off in 12 episodes but when you have 100? The sky’s the limit at that point and this series really didn’t hold anything back.

Right away I can tell you that the visuals for the show are really high tier. You can expect to get constant great looking fights throughout the adventure. Not just for Dai’s fighters either even if it’s fair to say that he tends to have the best one but there is a whole lot of shine to go around. Pop’s fights all look really good as well as Mam’s. The fights in the show have a good amount of strategy in addition to all the flash.

Then you have the soundtrack which is really solid. I may not be the biggest fan of the openings here but that’s fine since the music within the episodes is solid. You’ve got good battle themes and everything. There is also a good amount of variety here which is good so the show doesn’t have to rely on the same tunes over and over. No this one is going for the gold with an absolute master class of different tracks. You can feel the drama and cliffhanger hype with even the non action tunes.

I also like the character designs and outfits a lot. This is one of those series that isn’t afraid to switch up the costumes. Each of the main characters gets more than one design/outfit during the series and they really pop out. It may seem like a more minor point next to the others but a good design can really go a long way both in making the enemies look powerful as well as making the characters fun to root for. That’s really the balance you want to strive for.

Meanwhile there are definitely a lot of story arcs throughout the series as you can expect. I’ll definitely dive into a bunch of those as well as the characters. Strap yourself in for a long ride because there is a whole lot of detail to get into. I’ll also preface this by saying the ending is a bit open ended but not bad. You can probably choose how you interpret the ending to an extent but to me there was enough evidence going where it had a pretty bright spin on it. Certainly many ways you could go about doing a sequel some day if you wanted to go about it. Power levels could be tricky but hey in a fantasy world why not invent new even more powerful villains?

First up we have the main character Dai. In a sense you can say he starts out a lot like Goku. He grew up among monsters and definitely wasn’t the most knowledgeable about the outside world. Once he had to leave though, he quickly embraced his destiny as a hero of justice. Someone who would fight to defend the planet from all enemies but that could be humanoids or monsters. He’ll protect anyone who is on the side of justice. The guy has a lot of natural power as we get twists about his parents and why he is so strong. It all works out well and may even remind you of the Saiyan plot from DBZ.

Dai gets serious fairly early on. At times he does overthink things and gets himself into trouble but who doesn’t run into those issues from time to time right? He definitely works really well as the lead and he’s the kind of classic hot blooded Shonen character that you will find nostalgic. Definitely a character who has withstood the test of time.

Then there is his best friend Popp who gets a whole lot of character development. He starts out as the really scared, coward kind of character. He’s not particularly good at magic and has an inferiority complex but then he gradually gets more and more confidence as the series goes on. He really learns about what his strengths are and how to make the most of them. He eventually becomes one of the most consistent characters in the series and someone who can be counted on. He makes up for his lack of physical ability by being the greatest mage in the series. Popp has a lot of good strategic moments as well and while the guy has his share of setbacks, he is an easy character to like.

His romance plot can be a bit overly dramatic but it’s not like it ever really takes over the show. It’s what I would call a reoccurring background plot as opposed to ever being the central story plot. He could still handle himself a lot better in those scenes to be honest but it is what it is. The fact that the story has multiple serious romance plots definitely puts it a step ahead of the average Shonen where romance is usually relegated to whispers in the background and a big moment in the final episode.

Then we have Maam as the final member of the big 3. Initially she isn’t much of a fighter as she has a support item but it wasn’t particularly useful from the start. So she very wisely decided to learn martial arts and became extremely talented. In particular she learned a technique that bypasses defense and directly hits an opponent’s life aura. I thought that was really impressive and it stays relevant even to the end. For that reason every enemy finds a way to dodge it but the fact that she makes them aware of her is important. She is able to contribute to the fights and main dynamic the whole time. She also has a tough personality and is never afraid to jump right into the action so I really appreciate that. It’s another reason why the show is so good because when you have 3 solid main characters like this, you are starting the series off on the right foot.

Princess Leona also gets a fairly big role in the series. Although for most of it she cannot really fight which does limit her ability to stay in the fray during the climax of every arc. She does learn a specific magic move near the end of the series that helps a lot though. She is a solid ruler and can always be counted upon to help out. I would have liked her to have done a bit more but you can’t just have everyone become a big fighter I suppose. At the end of the day she is still always there to help.

Then we have the rival Hyunckel. Initially he starts out more as a full blown villain and gradually becomes a trusty ally. His abilities were always very high and he manages to stay on Dai’s level for quite a while. He’s a fun character who got a really effective backstory to support his character development. Definitely not the kind of character who stays on the backburner for very long. Whenever he does lose, the guy gets a good power up. His armor can stop nearly any projectile which is super handy.

Additionally, he tends to be the most pragmatic of the main fighters. You can count on him to stop the others from walking into obvious traps or anything like that. He also keeps Avan at arm’s length near the end of the series and for good reason since the guy seems super shady. Yeah you definitely want Hyunckel around to watch out for any suspicious activity and shut it down at the source.

Avan is certainly a big character here. As the original mentor he served as a goal to aspire to. Although it feels like the characters surpass him rather early on. I was glad that the series even acknowledged this since often times the original mentor can get a little too much credit. The next generation will often have enough screentime to pass the old fighters after all. Avan makes up for his lack of overall magical ability with smarts and tons of backup plans. If anything it makes him look even more impressive because not just anybody could pull that off. He regularly goes up against fighters many times his strength and still winning.

Yes, some of these fights may make you shake your head a bit but it’s the thought that counts. It’s also nice to have a mentor that you can really respect for a change. So many times you have mentors like Roshi and Jiraiya that you forget mentors can be cool as well. Avan shines as a beacon of justice for the rest of the characters the whole time and it’s really impressive. It took me a little time to really warm up to the guy but by the end he was definitely one of the best.

Gomechan is essentially Dai’s little animal mascot that is around for most of the series. The whole time you are waiting to see what Gomechan will end up doing. It’s a bit of a classic trope but always a fun one. In the end Gomechan comes in clutch as needed. Ultimately I wouldn’t say the character ever really became one of my favorites or anything but wasn’t bad. I would just forget about this character for large portions of time.

Then we have Crocodine who is another ally who initially started out as a villain but quickly became a powerful fighter. I do feel bad for him a bit though as his gimmick was being the power hitter of the group but that goes away very quickly. He is surpassed by a whole bunch of characters early on and never really ends up catching up to them. If anything the gap only continues to grow as the series goes on. He is still a good character and I like his honor code but he could have had a bigger role in the second half. At the end of the day he always did his best though.

Matoriv is a senior magician who helps Popp a lot on his journey. This master is of more questionable character and you get the feeling that he should be helping more than he actually is. At least you can count on him for advice and such. I never got super invested into his backstory or anything but you could do a lot worse for a mentor. The guy just feels too old and doesn’t have the super speed of the other old timer. You never really get too old for magic so he can help out in a supportive role but you probably don’t want him on the front lines.

Then we get to one of the big villains in Baran. This guy is seriously powerful and easily one of the most powerful characters in the series. Without him the heroes and villains would both be in a very different spot. I really like the idea of this guy as a wild card although I would have introduced him that way instead of making him a part of the villain’s group. We understand why he joined up after going into the backstory but it would have made even more sense to me if he had decided to be a loner. It would still achieve his objectives.

He is absolutely crucial to the events that close out the series and things would be a whole lot different without him. We rarely get to see him go all out for very long and when we do, he definitely impresses. The way his powers work is also very appealing because it’s all power that he wields from within. He doesn’t have to rely on technology, magic, or any assistance. The power is all his own and it can continue to improve as he trains. Given enough time I would say Baran would easily be the most powerful character in the series. He could have ended all the other threats at the start of the series if he wanted to.

Baduck is a nice character who isn’t particularly powerful or resourceful but he always wants to help. You appreciate how genuine the guy is. You can always count on him to do something and he ends up doing well in repairing equipment. He actually ends up getting power creeped in that department by a legendary blacksmith but he helped out for a while. He’s a good example of a character who was useful without the story having to really stretch to come up with solutions on how he could help out.

Merle is probably one of the more tragic characters because she likes Popp but she’s not the main heroine. You already know how this is going to play out and the worst part is you’re probably rooting for her because she is able to clearly articulate her feelings while the other characters keep on faltering. She’s a very nice character who just gets the short end of the stick here. It’s pretty hard to see even when it is completely expected. She was never really able to help much in the fights either which didn’t make it easy to get close to Popp. She did her best to make up ground anyway but sometimes things just aren’t meant to be.

Then we have Soala whose role is fairly small but pivotal all the same. She ends up jump starting a whole lot of events and proving once again why you can’t trust humans. She was a really nice character who had to go through more than she should. It’s always impressive when you can really hold this level of power in a series without even getting a whole episode’s worth of screentime. At least even with flashbacks I don’t think she reaches that mark.

Lon Berk doesn’t get a huge role until the series starts to close but he was definitely helpful. The guy is strong but what really put him on the map was how he could create immensely powerful weapons. Weapons so powerful that just using them was a risk in itself. He has a really strong finish to his character arc as well so he definitely did good. I had no real complaints with this guy at all.

Another supporting character who got more to do by the end was Nova. He starts out as one of those guys you can’t take all that seriously but he does genuinely want to be a great hero and so that ends up taking him far. He never gets anywhere close to the level of the main characters but he still arrives to the big battles. He even uses his own life force to amp up his attacks and make them even stronger. Definitely not something a half hearted fighter could do.

Brokeena is the definition of half hearted though. He’s an old man and all but the guy is incredibly powerful. We see how he can keep up with the fastest fighters in the verse and he has enough power to injure them. The way I see it, he had no business staying on the sidelines for as long as he did. He should have been there fighting from early on. The fact that he didn’t means I don’t have a ton of respect for the guy. He needs to do better.

I also didn’t really care for Chiu. I guess you could say the guy meant well but eh he was just annoying most of the time. The guy was completely out of his depth and really just getting in the way most of the time. There comes a time where the strength gap is so massive that it isn’t really bravery anymore. At that point it’s just a bad move and you shouldn’t be putting everyone in danger like that.

Hadlar is one of those villains that I did mock for most of the series. Look it wasn’t my fault, the guy was losing just about every fight in the saddest ways possible. He lost to Avann in the intro when the guy was far from his prime and then he lost to Dai and then he just kept on losing. Hadlar gets stronger with every defeat though and by the end of the series he was a legitimate threat. So I give him a lot of credit there. Usually determination is almost exclusively a heroic trait but this time he got a little bit of that action.

The series gave him way more credit than I would have expected so I can say he was actually a very good villain. He really gets the advantage of being in a long running series because this just wouldn’t have been possible if the series had ended sooner. So full props to this guy. Meanwhile Vearn has to wait until the end to really do much but he does make his screen time worth it. Certainly more than the dragon who talked tough but didn’t really get a role here. Vearn spends the whole series talking tough from the shadows so it was absolutely mandatory that he show up to take some names later on.

I would argue Hadlar was probably more powerful than Vearn near the end though. Yes, Vearn’s final form would scale higher but from their brief encounter before that, Hadlar had the edge. It was nice to have some in fighting among the villains and I was also glad that Hadlar didn’t just go down in an instant. It’s not every day that we have villain vs villain matchups after all so that was a real highlight.

Flazzard isn’t as big as the other villains but I have to bring him up because the guy was a lot of fun. He’s one of those villains you almost want to root for because he just has a fun personality aside from being brutally powerful. He ends up getting power creeped hard by the end but he left a good impression. Zaboera is the opposite as he lasts a long time but never gets even remotely likable. He’s the definition of a side villain as the guy has to try to keep on planning and planning to do anything interesting because he lacks the raw power to hang with the others.

I’m not saying that as a villain you have to be powerful but the hand wringing kind of minion like this is always hard for me to root for. I also think he got lucky with his chimera being as powerful as it was because that should have been no sold a lot easier. If I want a strategic villain then I’ll take someone like Mystvearn who can actually fight.

Mystvearn was incredibly impressive because he kept getting better with every appearance. The show treats him like a big deal but you wonder how strong he can really be. Well, he shatters all expectations and ends up easily being one of the strongest fighters in the series. I would even argue that on feats he is probably the strongest in the verse and the heroes got supremely lucky. His quiet rage is always something to give you pause and the guy has a super intimidating aura. Also a great design so yeah you can see how he was great in every way. He has a rival among the heroes but the power gap between them was colossal.

There’s a lot of Vearns in this series and so next up is Killvearn. This guy is a real enigma with his scythe and merciless way of attacking. He likes to mess around with his opponents and matching him up with Avann was a genius move since they are two of the smartest characters in the verse. I do think Avann probably should have gotten wrecked easily but hey I won’t let any power scaling get in the way of a fun fight. Killvearn introduces some interesting elements to the story but they weren’t able to fully be capitalized before the series ended. Something to definitely keep in mind for the future though. If the series ever got a sequel then I think his part of the lore would be really important. In the meanwhile he still made for a great villain.

Larhalt might be the most random character to suddenly get a big role near the end of the series. I only vaguely remembered him from his villainous days and then suddenly he showed up for the big teamup? Well I definitely wasn’t complaining. He ends up being pretty fun. He perhaps looks a bit more powerful than he should considering how he went down the last time though. It was a little hard to buy just how fast he had become in the present. He also showed up at an awkward time since he got power creeped anyway pretty quickly. I guess it can be hard to have the timing down perfectly though. He’s one of those characters who likes a good fight and doesn’t back down so he fit in right away with the other characters. Sometimes doing something random can really work out.

There is a whole villain group of chess pieces that show up in the series. They come a bit late into the game but are all rather fun. They can fight and each one has a moveset that makes sense based on the piece that they are. In particular, Hym gets the biggest role here. The guy really gets free will and is able to improve his abilities. He even learns how to use spirit energy which the characters initially did not think would be possible. Once he absorbs a certain energy, he really becomes a threat. I like the idea of a random minion really coming into his own and becoming a big threat so that was fun. Hym is also just a likable character in general so he is easy to root for. The show wrote him really well and this was a redemption arc I could get behind.

Yeah the cast here was really terrific all around. An elite show demands elite characters and so that was not surprising. Meanwhile there were also just a whole lot of great story arcs here throughout. The raid on the demon castle is naturally a contender for best arc. You get a ton of nonstop battles all around and everyone really got to show their stuff. Each character gets to show his/her worth here without any exceptions. All big series are expected to end with a mega climax after all and this one did not disappoint.

The series did a good job of gradually raising the stakes the whole time. The first few pre arcs have Dai and friends going around as rookie adventurers with everyone treating them like kids. We got the battles with Flazzard, opening meeting with Hyunckel, and of course the early battles with Hadlar when he was weak. Then we got more enemy generals and started expanding the side characters. The series even got to have multiple iterations of the villain groups as most of Hadlar’s generals died out early on so then he got a whole new set.

The 100 episodes go really fast because the pacing is super quick. There is still time for long character arcs for everyone but there is always a new threat around the corner. The older generation of heroes may not put in as much work as they should have but at least they do help during the climax and everything. This is really Dai’s story and he gets to shine. This title may perhaps set the bar too high for any other Dragon Quest titles but it does clearly show me why people really love the franchise.

Overall, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is definitely an elite series. Definitely an anime I could really recommend to anyone. It has such a retro feel to it in all of the best ways. It’ll remind you of the big anime you watched as a kid. The characters are really solid and it really succeeds on every technical element. Yes you’re not going to find very many shows like Dragon Quest, hopefully one day they animate the prequel is definitely quite good as well.

Overall 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review

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It’s time for the final Indiana Jones film. I remember this one got a lot of attention when the trailers were coming out. To me it looked like it would be a fun film but I can’t say I’ve ever been super into the franchise. So I sorta just forgot about it for a while there but now after watching the rest of the films I was ready to check this one out. It’s a fun nostalgia sequel and I would put it right in the middle from the previous films. So it definitely does a lot of things right and it’s a really good way to close out the series.

The movie starts out with the best sequence in the entire film as Jones infiltrates a Nazi train and takes down a bunch of agents. He even manages to secure the Dial of Destiny. Many years pass and in the present, the main Nazi scientist has returned. He wants to use the Dial of Destiny in order to go back in time and change history in some major ways. He will need both Dials for this though and that won’t be easy. Additionally he has to contend with a lady named Helena has taken the dial for her own purposes. Well, basically she wants to be rich and now her ex boyfriend and his army is involved. All of these forces are fighting for the dial so Jones is forced to come out of retirement for one last journey. Can he still fight?

Right off the bat I can say the make or break point for this film will be how much you can still enjoy Indiana Jones here. For starters the guy is definitely really old and the film doesn’t try to trick you about this. He feels old the whole time as he can no longer handle the big adventures as much. The guy can still throw a solid punch and gets some running here but you’re not going to see any extended fight scenes. It’s probably why we had the opening flashback sequence. Also like I said that was the best part of the movie so they go through the peak rather quickly.

I appreciate that Jones still has a strong moral compass and is trying to help out even in his old age though. It’s certainly not an easy mission but he’s not complaining and is doing his best here. He’s been through a lot as we find out what happened to his son and his marriage. It does mean that a certain scene at the very end of the film doesn’t really work for me though. It’s just a bit too late and the whole song and dance has happened one too many times. At least that’s the way I see it. I would have ended the film a bit differently although it is still a satisfying journey all the way through.

The new heroine Helena is okay but she really does get them into a whole lot of trouble. She beats the heroine from the second film but definitely loses to any others. As a supporting character she just never really warmed up to me. Likewise I didn’t care for the thief kid here either. So Jones himself really has to carry the team which is hard since he’s not in his prime. We do have an extended car chase scene in the middle of the film and it was fun to see Jones pull out his skills there. If there’s one thing he’s always been really good at, it’s making snap decisions and outwitting everyone else.

The main villain is also a bit on the weak side although I think this is a bit intentional on the film’s part. He’s always very whiny and not particularly strong. He starts to get humiliated from his very first appearance and can’t even hold his own with Jones. The guy has to rely on his thugs the whole time and even then he panics near the end. He’s a very insecure genius and while he has his fun moments like when he’s confidently giving interviews, he never appears as a threat from a villain’s perspective.

The only main part where the film was disappointing is that we don’t get much time travel. With the premise I figured we’d be going to the past fairly early on but as the film ticks on you start to realize that this won’t be possible. At one point I thought we might not even see the past at all. That would have been a lot of fun though since time travel always has a lot of potential. I think the movie should have given lots of scenes for that and this is where they went wrong. The climax involves some really fun imagery and I could have used more of that.

One thing you can’t call the film is boring though. The adventure is pretty fast paced with a whole lot going on. You’ve got villains around every corner and having them infiltrate Jones’ school and start shooting people was intense. You do feel bad for his poor colleagues who got roped into this though. It’s why heroes hide their secret identities because then stuff like this happens. I do think they could have had security/the cops look a bit better during the initial chases though. You’d think a cop getting shot during a huge parade would warrant a much bigger call to arms across the city and get at least some more officers around. The villains never really have to answer for this and while the heroes left the country rather fast, it felt like something that wouldn’t just die out. I’d have liked to have seen the U.S. do a little more later on.

Overall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a pretty fun film. I give the writers serious kudos for having this film feel a whole lot like the older ones. It has the proper fun, action tone that you’d expect from these films. They did a great job on making the film feel very authentic the whole time. While Jones himself is definitely the most different since you’re used to seeing him on the front lines, everything else is as you’d expect it. It’s also fun to see how the cinematography and everything has changed over the years. When the film starts it immediately looks way clearer and more detailed than the previous films. Almost as if the graphics of real life itself have improved. Of course it could also just be a case of streaming making it look more grand or just the cameras that were used. Either way it made this feel like a true cinematic experience that stood above the other titles in the franchise in terms of scale. Although the original film continues to live on as the best one in the series.

Overall 7/10