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Beelzebub Bangai Hen Review

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Well…we got our spinoff/sequel to Beelzebub folks! I finished the series in a little over 3 months and it is safe to say that it was not quite as good as the original series. It was only 6 chapters so that was to be expected, but the author really went off the deep end here. Not only is there no real substance, but he falls into the fanservice trap, which is something that I would have preferred to avoid. Also, the author wrecked one of my favorite characters…noooo.

All right, the world is at peace now and Oga lives happily ever after. There may not be any real villains anymore, but Oga’s life it still busy as Beel keeps on getting into trouble. Oga must help his Dad alter the past and he even gets to pay a trip to the demon world filled with several flashbacks. Can Oga really solve all of the problems that are around him without messing up his hairstyle? It’s going to take a lot of skills and a lot of power!

First of all, I have to say that the series was essentially doomed from the very first page. Yep, you heard me. The very first page already had a fanservice scene and it was a pretty sad one at that. From then on, I knew that the series was going to sink very quickly. The first chapter is about making friends and we learn about bullies. Yeah..they could do better. Then we got the generic beach chapter, which went as you would expect. Furuichi got a chapter, the heroes got stranded on a beach in one chapter, demon world visit, time travel, etc.

The fanservice is naturally my biggest complaint with the series. It’s completely unnecessary and it certainly doesn’t make any of the characters more likable. The main heroine only gets a real role in one chapter and naturally it’s a romance one where no development can be had instead of a good adventure. The author just seems to be fishing for votes in the polls so that the series could continue, but this evidently backfired.

Another problem with the series is what he did during the demon world visit arc. Athrun was a cool being of the demon world who vanished in the original series. We got a glimpse of his immense power and then he was completely written out. He appears here, but we get a huge twist that makes him look terrible. Let’s just say that he went from serious business to being a comic relief character. That’s not a twist that I had wanted and I doubt that many people were happy about this either. There’s also a doctor who was pretty serious in the original series, but now he’s just a pervert. Seriously, the author just jumped the shark for this series.

The art is one of the only positives for this series. The author hasn’t lost his touch and it looks just like the original series. Good art can carry a series a long way, but it still can’t save something that is failing in all other areas. It is simply not possible, but at least we got some kind of consolation prize here. There is no real action to be found here, which is rather regrettable since that’s one of the main reasons why Beelzebub had been so good. It had action scenes that would make Bleach and DBZ proud!

As far as anthologies go, most series have been able to do it better than Beelzebub. The best chapter here was probably the final one as it was decent, but the rest of them simply weren’t good. On the bright side, the time travel at the end actually felt a little important since it permanently changed one of the characters for the better. I guess the author felt like it wouldn’t matter anyway since the franchise is all but over so the change ended up sticking. It’s a good thing for the character since the guy had been fairly weak before this.

The characters are all in character aside from Athrun and the doctor so that’s a good thing. It’s not a good thing for characters like Furuichi, but at least Oga still cleans shop when he’s around. Now that he’s incredibly powerful, he tends to defeat his opponents with a single punch. We can say goodbye to our fight scenes, but at the same time, I am glad that he hasn’t become weaker for the sake of some new villains. He should be able to mow down all villains who stand in his way at this point considering just how good he is. He’s saved the world and now he gets to just relax.

Overall, Beelzebub devolved into a fanservice series with this title and the 6 chapters couldn’t fly by fast enough! It’s too bad that the franchise had to end on this low note since the original series was so good. Hopefully Beelzebub can get a real sequel series someday that keeps the original series’ comedy atmosphere while still having serious fights. Of course, the important thing is simply to eradicate the fanservice. If the series can do that, then we shall have a winner once more. At least the art stayed consistently good and Oga is still a really good main character. I highly recommend staying far away from this spinoff and let’s hope that Naruto can do a better job. Rock Lee epicly failed, but I have much higher hopes for the upcoming spinoff.

Overall 2/10

Cinderella Review

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Whoops, were you expecting the 2015 version!? Well, it’s always good to look back to the originals first as it will be easier to compare it to the newer version while it is fresh in your mind. This very well could be the most popular Disney Princess although most of the classics would like to contend with that. (Snow White!) This title was better than Aladdin, but not quite as good as Sleeping Beauty so it’s in the middle when compared to those two. It’s certainly nostalgic when watching this title though.

Cinderella’s father died (not mysteriously in this version) so the step mom took over the family fortune and squandered it on her two daughters. She never liked Cinderella and forced her to become a slave. One day, a large party is to be held in the castle and Cinderella wants to go. The Step Mom stops that from happening and quickly scampers off. Cinderella’s fairy god mother gives Cinderella a quick wardrobe change and a mode of transportation as well. The catch is that she must be back from the party by 12! Cinderella rushed off, knowing that missing the deadline is the last thing she would do!

All right, the story is certainly classic so you are likely familiar with the plot. Cinderella is a pretty nice main character. She goes through some difficult times and always gets through them cheerfully. It is a bit much to see her just agree with everything that the step relatives are doing though. It’s not like they could do much in a fight. The worst scene for her is probably when the villains lock the door. Breaking it down shouldn’t be too difficult for her. Ah well, for the most part she takes it all in stride. I do think it would be great if she was a little more defiant, but that isn’t for everyone.

Naturally, the whole love at first sight thing will still make you wince, but at this point it is just part of the legend. The Prince seems like a good guy so at least she’ll have a good future. It would have been nice for her to have had a reason to like him though. Maybe saving her from a dragon or if they had engaged in a good game of Chess. That could have made the bond a little more real. As it stands, the King was a little more charismatic here. He’s not actually a nice guy as he just wants Cinderella to be married to the Prince so that he can have grandchildren, but at least he’s serious about his goals. His minion doesn’t seem to value his life quite as much as he takes many risks with the King. There are several times where you may begin to think that it will be the end for the attendant!

The step sisters are both pretty annoying and are made to be unlikable characters from the start. There are no redeemable qualities for them or for the step mom. Every film needs an antagonist I suppose, but I much prefer some of the other villains like the witch in Snow White or Maleficent. These villains can’t fight and they can only use their social standing to battle. That’s probably why I couldn’t really take them seriously here.

Naturally, the animation looks good. For its time, the animation is pretty great. It’s a 50’s show, but it looks just as good as a 2015 cartoon like Teen Titans Go, which is very embarrassing for the latter. It was certainly a tough and tedious task making each frame hand by hand back in the day. It’s one that would be very tough for the average animator to do today, but it was worth it since Cinderella holds up to this day. Considering that Cinderella didn’t need fancy computers, that gives it an edge over the 2015 cartoon.

The soundtrack is not quite as good as some of the other classics though. I think the singers just weren’t as charismatic although it could also be the songs. They’re not bad of course and they did get quite popular so it will all depend on your style. We also didn’t really have a chance to get any danger or battle themes here since there wasn’t any action. We’ll have to leave that to Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty this time.

One thing that I definitely don’t miss from the old days of Disney are the unique voices. The mice speak in such a high pitched voice that it is very difficult to hear what they are saying. This isn’t a good thing as you will just start to tune out what they are talking about and imagine that they are simply squeaking. It will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. There were a lot of animals who appeared, but one of them was the villain, which isn’t quite as fun as when they’re all nice. The heroes have to fight the cat at times and it results in animal fights that are not a blast to watch. It’s all in slapstick Tom and Jerry style so it’s not actually violent or anything, but you can still feel bad for the cat at times. He’s made to be unlikable of course, but he’s still a cat.

Cinderella is a very short film so it will be over before you know it. It’s one of Disney’s sadder films though as things don’t go Cinderella’s way until we near the very end of the film. It’s why I’m a little wary of the modern film as I hope they don’t drag on the Cinderella being a slave part for too long. That’s certainly the worst part of the film, but it naturally picks up from there. Cinderella could have avoided the last bit of trouble if she had handled the glass shoe situation with more tact, but it all ended up working out thanks to the mice.

I think the main thing that hurts Cinderella here aside from the animals plot and the being a slave plot is probably the lack of action. It’s not quite as exciting as the other Disney classics. There’s rarely any danger to be found here as Cinderella’s life is unpleasant, but not dangerous in the least. I can’t think of any scene where you are fearing for her health. Naturally, you can surpass this with great writing, but it’s still hard to get around. A quick scuffle or a random band of thieves for the prince to fight would have been pretty neat.

Fans who have seen this many times may wonder why Cinderella’s shoes stayed though. Was it a gift, Did the prince grabbing it cause the shoes to stay, was it a plot hole, or was it just one of those things that we try to forget? It’s pretty interesting and my favorite option to pick is still the plot hole although it is certainly debatable. After all, what’s a good film without a plot hole right? It’s also Cinderella’s fault for forgetting about the time. That was something that she should never have forgotten considering how dire the circumstances were at the time.

Overall, Cinderella’s a decent film. I think it’s not quite exciting enough to be called a downright good film though. There’s nothing exceptional about it. The writing, soundtrack, and characters are all there, but they don’t really stand out. The animation does stand out for its time though so that’s a plus. The most enjoying part of the plot is actually the banter between the king and his adviser. They could have likely held their own film and it would have been interesting to see how it would have been. Their brief fight atop the bouncing mattress was pretty fun and it shows that the film could have handled a sword fight. Will this film beat the 2015 version? I’d assume so as this is the kind of story that typically doesn’t translate well into Live Action due to a number of reasons. Live Action is simply limited when it comes to stories that take place in this old era because the actual film tends to look dated at times. Still, maybe it will surprise my like Maleficent. I recommend checking this out if you are going to watch the new version of if you like the Disney classics. Otherwise, I have to recommend going with the modern Disney thriller, Frozen, this time. That one defeats this film in just about every category.

Overall 5/10

X Men vs Hulk Review

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Let’s look at a comic that was a lot more fun! This collection’s main selling point is that it brings the big battle between Hulk and the X Men during the World War Hulk saga. That 3 issue tie in was handled perfectly and it reminds you that a nearly perfect limited series can be done with a variety of different characters. The back up stories aren’t quite as good though and hold it back from being a 9, but they’re still pretty good for the most part.

In the main part of the story, Hulk has arrived for Professor Xavier. Xavier may not have been present when the Illuminati decided to send Hulk away, but he is still a member of the club. Hulk asks him how the Professor would have voted and Charles says that he would have agreed with the others. Hulk prepares to take him away for his sentence when the New Mutants decide that they can’t agree to this. Hulk is not impressed by their efforts, but the New Mutants are quickly joined by the X Men and various other X groups. Nearly all of the mutants left on Earth have assembled to stop the Hulk…but will they be enough?

This comes during a very dangerous moment for the mutants. Scarlet Witch’s curse has ensured that no new mutants will ever be born and they are now an endangered species. The members who are with the X Men are almost all of the mutants left on the planet so if Hulk defeats them..it could be game over for everything that Xavier has ever strived for. This is why Professor Xavier doesn’t want the X Men to fight the Hulk and partially because he feels guilty as well. Cyclops won’t have any of that and Emma Frost focuses on stopping Xavier’s telepathy from stopping the X Men while the rest of the team attacks.

This is one of the best fights in comics and it’s very satisfying. This is what a fight with little to no plot hax looks like and all of the heroes really give it their all. For fans who like to see Wolverine fight the Hulk on an equal playing field, this really shows you what would happen when the Hulk can use some strategy. It’s too bad that Cyclops couldn’t do any better, but he’s still a great leader and handles the situation very well. It’s also good to see the bond between the mutants as everyone who is able to arrive makes sure to do so. You may wonder what the rest of the world is doing at this point, but maybe they’re busy. Either way, with the tensions surrounding the mutants, they may not have been much of a help either way. The art looks great here and that can make the difference between a great comic and an elite one. The art looks almost as sharp as X Sanction and the splash page with Juggernaut facing the Hulk is one to remember. The fight was written well so adding in the art makes it complete.

One of the backup stories features Iceman and Angel as they team up with the Hulk. Hulk is being pursued by harpy robots and he doesn’t want to hurt them because they look like Betty. After Iceman appears to be destroyed, Angel cuts loose and shows the Hulk that these robots are definitely not Betty! The Hulk quickly helps in destroying them and that’s when their friendship started. They became pals with the Hulk and realized that they should never judge a monster by his cover. This issue wasn’t bad, but I can’t say that it was very good either. There is some random romance that isn’t great and the heroes certainly could have looked better. They may be fighting in a desert, but Iceman shouldn’t go down so quickly.

Another backup story has Wolverine decide to test Colossus by tricking the X Man into fighting the Hulk. Colossus is very full of himself at the moment and keeps treating the other members as inferior fighters. Little does he know that the Hulk will give him that feeling after fighting for a little while. Colossus punches the Hulk straight on, but his blows don’t seem to deal any damage. Colossus uses the elements to his advantage and does put up a decent fight, but he knows that he is outmatched. By the end, he figures out that the Hulk isn’t actually a bad guy and he just misjudged him like everyone else. This was the best backup story and the fight was interesting to read.

There was also a black and white story at the end, which was decent, but also pretty uneventful. We have monsters and villains and I can barely even remember what the plot was at this point. Needless to say, the comic wasn’t the greatest, but at least the X Men were here as well. I wonder if the graphic novel managed to show off every time the X Men have fought the Hulk since I don’t think they have clashed that many times over the years. Needless to say, the Hulk seems to typically have the edge in their matches.

The collection is extremely short and you will be able to breeze through it in no time. Still, the stories are packed with entertainment and that’s what counts. This is one of those rare times where the addition of the extra stories ultimately hurt the graphic novel as it lost it a star. None of the stories were downright bad, but they were average enough to bring it down to an 8 for great.

Naturally, this is why you will want to focus your attention on the first three issues. They’re simply amazing and watching many mutants attack the Hulk is not something that you see very often. The heavy hitters that he faces include Colossus, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, X 23, Juggernaut, Strong Guy, and a lady who is apparently invulnerable. He takes them all on back to back and his high speed regeneration seems to be as good as ever. The heroes all look very good and in character. I certainly have no qualms with their portrayal and I agree with their decision.

Professor X and the Illuminati started this fight and they certainly deserve to go to jail, but the Hulk has a more permanent fate for them so the X Men have made the right call in going up against them. The Hulk is simply another villain now and they have to protect their own. That’s why it can be a little irritating to see Professor X try to stop them, but we also learn that Charles can’t add anything to the fight anyway. Hulk is currently too enraged for telepathy to be of any use against him so that rules the Professor out. The heroes all give it their all and prove why they are selfless heroes.

The Hulk may be the villain here, but it’s still a great portrayal of him. You can certainly see why he is upset and the Illuminati definitely crossed the line. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but the Hulk is going to try and see what happens when he does just that anyway. Because his will is so decisive right now, The Hulk has also kept his reason along with the rage. This quite possibly makes him the most dangerous Hulk of all time and it is interesting to see him think rationally as he fights. His logic skills when in battle seem to be similar to Superman’s during the Unchained saga along with the other great Superman comics. When he has this much control, The Hulk really is one of the strongest fighters there is. Fans may feel bad for Juggernaut since he definitely is no match here, but it makes you wonder how well he would do if he could unleash all of his power. I actually think it could have been a close fight and the Juggernaut is certainly underrated.

Overall, X Men vs Hulk is an excellent trade even if you just buy it for the first three issues. The Hulk really takes it to the X Men and both sides are fighting for something that they believe in. The backup stories may not be great, but they’re not bad either and at least they increase the length of the graphic novel. I definitely recommend checking it out and you won’t be disappointed after reading this epic. It would be fun to see the Hulk take on Thor while in this state although I believe they only had a brief scuffle in one of the other side parts of this series. I still haven’t read the main World War Hulk title, but maybe I’ll come across it at some point in the future.

Overall 8/10

Justice League 3000 Volume 1 Yesterday Lives Review

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Booooooooooooooo. Okay, Justice League 3000 wasn’t terrible, but it was certainly pretty bad. This is a plot that had a lot of potential and it was a little similar to Future’s End. Unfortunately, the series couldn’t live up to its potential and you can tell that things are going south right from the get go. I just don’t understand why the writers made some of the decisions that they did.

It has been ages since the Justice League formed. The year is now 3000 and the universe is essentially ruled by The Five. They are super villains who did what no other ever could, they conquered everything. If a hero tries to rise up, they just blow up his/her planet and move on. The only thing that stands in their way is Cadmus and they aren’t much better. Cadmus is basically what’s left of the government. The only problem is that they have no real heroes and there are spies everywhere. Nowhere is safe from them! Cadmus decides to change this by bringing the famous Justice League back to life. They do this by placing their DNA in normal humans, so that the DNA takes over the vessel and essentially becomes the hero. With the exception of Cyborg, The New 52 Justice League roster is back…with some changes. Can they defeat The Five and liberate their future?

The plot should have been good, but it just didn’t work out. The main reason is the twist that the heroes have lost some key memories so they are not acting as they once did. Superman is now much meaner than usual and he’s about as likable as the average horror film protagonist. He’s extremely unintelligent and he basically acts like a cave man. Wonder Woman is back to being extreme in her views on how she strongly dislikes all men and likes to slaughter any foe she comes across. Green Lantern, Batman, and the Flash are mostly like their usual selves although Batman doesn’t mind cracking a joke once in a while. It essentially plays out like a fanfic and that’s the last thing that I could have wanted here.

Superman is also badly nerfed to help move the plot along. He can no longer fly and his physical abilities seem to be a lot worse as well. Wonder Woman and Superman were getting crushed by a goddess, one of The Five, and that’s something that I can’t see happening to their true New 52 selves. This lady may be strong, but one simply doesn’t take out the top 2 Justice League members so easily. The humiliation doesn’t end there as the strongest member of The Five, a Reality Warper, defeats the League with ease. Already, you can tell that this is going to be the kind of series where the heroes are on the run for the whole time and that can certainly get old rather quickly.

Towards the second half of the graphic novel, Firestorm joins the ranks and the sad thing is that he’s the most likable member of the team. It’s just sad because he’s essentially a villain here as his mind is even more corrupted than the other members. He wants to slaughter anyone who gets in his path and luckily he has the power to do it. His abilities come in handy against the villains, but it’s too bad that he couldn’t have kept his moral compass along the way. Ah well, at least the Justice League has one member who can fight.

Let’s talk about The Five. One of their members is named Locus and she appears to be the strongest member by far. She is the reality warper that I mentioned and her abilities are limitless. The only way to beat her is to knock her out before she can form a thought Naturally, this leads to plot hax whenever she has to fight and cannot win at the moment. She’s a psycho, but I’m sure that we expected this. Kali is a warrior whose strength seems to surpass that of Superman and Wonder Woman’s. Both of these villains have yet to be on the losing edge of a fight aside from a knockout blow from behind and Firestorm’s impressive debut. Convert is one of the more useful members of The Five even if he’s not a fighter. He invades people like a plague or the Phalanx. He currently controls billions of people across the universe and he can literally turn an entire population against you by controlling them. Finally, we have Coeval who attacks from the cyber world. He seeks to weaken the wills of the heroes by playing on their doubts.

Naturally, to be The Five, those 4 need a leader. He does end up appearing at the end of the graphic novel and it should come across as a decent surprise. It certainly makes things look a little dicier for the heroes as there is not much they can do about the situation anymore. The leader is probably the weakest member aside from Coeval as the average human could probably beat him, but I’m sure that the leader will dig up a robot somewhere to finish the job.

Technically, it’s a good idea to have a supervillain team to face the League. Kali and Locus were good starts even if they were overpowered, but the other members can’t fight, which limits the potential. One thing that hurts the comic is the natural need for it to be gritty. A lot of Superman’s lines revolve around him flirting, making suggestive comments or threatening to hurt people. Locus literally rips one of the heroes to shreds and while the page has a lot of energy and spacial effects to distract you, the scene is much more violent than it needs to be. We have the classic Man of Steel moment as well to make sure that the comic covered all of the bases. An eye stab also happens and nothing Narutoesque happens since the opponent is basically invurlnable, but I always found that to be a rather dirty fighting technique that crosses the lines of justice and injustice.

Really, the comic just isn’t that good. Even the art isn’t up to par with the high level of quality that DC is known for. It helps that the character designs are mostly lacking. Only Batman’s looks good from the original team although Firestorm joins him later on. Green Lantern’s cloak is cool, but without it, he doesn’t have a very good design. The fight scenes are where the art shines, but there aren’t many true fight scenes to see so this is pretty limited.

It goes without saying that the writing isn’t very good either. Meanwhile, it has certainly been a long time since the year 2000, but I find it hard to believe that some of this happened. How could the Five conquer the galaxy and the Green Lantern race was eliminated so easily? I don’t buy it and I don’t see how Earth fell so quickly as well considering that we have such an unstoppable army of superheroes. Locus is strong, but Kali would be defeated by a good fighter like Supergirl or Darkseid and the rest of the team could seriously be beaten by the Teen Titans. Where’s Lex Luthor when you need him!?

This is only the first volume so the series still has some hope, but it’s going to have to move quickly. For starters, the series should not try to be as dark and gritty as can be. Right now, the heroes really have no hope unless they can revive the other heroes, but what then? Even if they defeat The Five, they’re living in a future where just about everything was eradicated. It’s not going to be much of a life. Toning down the dark atmosphere should be enough to tip the scales, but the comic also needs to make the Justice League a whole lot more likable. Superman’s already getting some development, which is a start, but we’re going to need the writers to accelerate the process.

Overall, I currently don’t see the point of this title. The future is grim and the heroes must save the day again, but this kind of story has already been done and with much greater efficiency. Typically, a future story is extremely interesting and that’s what keeps you reading. The new villains have conquered to be sure, but the heroes are still ready to deal out some damage. Here, the writers have stacked the deck so much in the villain’s favor that the heroes really do not stand a chance. Locus just has to think and they’re all dead. So, there’s literally no way that they should win and the amount of plot hax in future issues is going to be immense. Just check out the time travel episode in Justice League Unlimited and you’ll witness what this comic should have been like. Likewise, Hitman Reborn had an arc with this kind of plot that was infinitely superior. The heroes should have definitely been in character and I guarantee that this comic would have been much more enjoyable. Well, if I do check out volume 2 anytime soon, we’ll see if the series will have managed to improve. As of now, I recommend checking out Superman Unchained instead as it’s an epic action story with some guest stars to help you out as well.

Overall 4/10

New Super Mario Bros 2 Review

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It’s time to review one of the modern Mario games. This one definitely got more mixed reception than usual because many fans felt that it was too similar to the first title. Well, there are certainly similarities to be found and I can understand the critique, but….it doesn’t change the fact that this game is a blast to play. It’s a thrill a minute and Mario continues to be one of Nintendo’s best franchises. This game certainly holds its own against the original.

The plot is that…Peach is kidnapped by the Koopa Kids. Mario and Luigi didn’t want this to happen, but they were quickly overwhelmed and outran by these villains. This means trouble for the Mushroom Kingdom and the heroes are going to have to work together if they want to win this battle! The plot is certainly as generic as we come and I would prefer to have an actual plot, but it is what it is. The day a 2D Mario game has an actual plot is the day I replay Mario Sunshine’s epic levels once more. Galaxy 1 was a good start, but it’s 3D so it’s not quite the same.

The gameplay is your average Mario styled gameplay so I should not really have to describe it. Just in case, the basic goal of the game is to get to the end of the level by heading right. You can jump and land on enemies to take them out of the equation. Another useful application of the jump is to hit blocks and grab some items to make the journey a little easier. The gameplay is simple yet effective and it can actually be quite challenging. Not this game in particular because they are typically a lot easier nowadays, but if you’ve played Super Mario World, then you’ll remember a tough game.

I would count this as a negative thing, but it’s not quite that major. I do wish there was some kind of Master Quest mode where each of the levels became significantly harder, but it would likely be difficult to achieve. You really need the actual level designs to be created with that frame of mind. Hopefully something like this happens soon, but it’s not an absolute necessity. What I wouldn’t want is for the game to just speed the screen along in each stage. That would make it more difficult, but in an artificial way that wouldn’t be quite as fun.

This title is very easy, but that probably does help its charm a little bit. You can jump right into the game and breeze through the levels with your Mario expertise. You’re still enjoying the level designs, but you can jump all the way through without any stops or backpedaling. It’s simply different than the more strategic ways of playing Mario back in the day. The Raccoon Tail is also guilty of this as it is even more useful than the Cape from World. You can float over just about anything and running for a long enough time will allow you to fly like with the cape. I have been able to essentially skip whole levels using this technique.

The graphics in this game certainly hold up well and show just how powerful the 3DS can be. It’s safe to say that this is probably the best looking game on the console although 3D Land and Dream Drop Distance give this title a run for its money. The colors really stand out and it looks like it could be a home console Mario title. Are the graphics are good as Mario Galaxy 2? Probably not, but the fact that it is even close is pretty cool.

The soundtrack is another big positive for the title and the Mario series is pretty legendary for this aspect as this point. It’s hard for more of a casual listener like myself to tell what is original and what is a remix nowadays, but they all sound so great that it barely matters. Mario has always upheld a high level of quality for its music and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

The game is a little short, which is probably the only thing that should make you wary about the title. (The difficulty level shouldn’t make you wary even if I did mention it) You can go through an entire world in the time that it would take you to beat a level in War For Cybertron or another one of those long games. Some of the bosses can be beat in a matter of seconds or 1-3 minutes. The Rhino’s are hilarious to fight because you just jump under them as soon as the stage officially begins and it’s game over for the poor guys. The whole game was completed in two sittings for me and it does feel shorter than the average Mario game, but it’s probably about as long. It’s not that the levels have shrunk, but the Raccoon just helps out a lot in these situations. It’s also the kind of game that makes you want to play it for long periods of time and in normal bursts, it would certainly last longer.

The level designs should be applauded as they are very diverse and also a lot of fun. That being said, there is one level that deserves a shout out for being pretty bad. I’m talking about one of the Ghost Houses. I’m not really a fan of them in this game to be honest although I enjoyed them in World so it probably depends. I miss the classic ghost theme this time. Back to the point, one level had a little too much fun with the trap doors. You could go through the level over and over again as you’re stuck in a loop of unending scariness. I still think it was a glitch one time where I kept going through all of the doors, but it’s possible that I took a misstep. Still, that level just wasn’t cool. I prefer my difficulty increases through hard jumps and more enemies like in World than adding mazes where you can get lost. The former is simply exhilarating while the latter is tedious.

On an unrelated note, this is why I’m a little sad by the fact that Nintendo has slowed down the Mario series so much. I am now just about caught up with the franchise at least as far as the 2D World is concerned. A New Super Mario Bros 3 would come in handy right about now. Luckily, I still have New Super Mario Bros U to keep me busy in the future. The price has kept me away, but it’s certainly something to consider for next Christmas.

One improvement I would suggest for a future game is to get Bowser more involved. He doesn’t even appear until the very end and he goes down very quickly. I’d like a bit more of a climactic clash with the big Koopa and preferably he should fight through some mini boss levels before the end. He needs more screen time seeing as how he’s Mario’s big adversary right? Throwing Luigi into the plot early could also be something to look into.

Before I forget, the game also added a new gimmick through the gold coins. If you collect enough of them or grab the item, everything will turn gold. You can shoot gold bolts of energy and every enemy will drop a bunch of coins. It’s pretty fun, but it doesn’t actually happen very often so I wonder why it was marketed to heavily. It’s a nifty feature, but also a forgettable one that won’t really impact your video game experience. With a game like this one though, that’s no problem!

There’s a whole lot of replay value to be found here so it almost doesn’t even need to be said. You’ll want to replay all of the levels to collect the Star Coins and you’ll also unlock new ones along the way. Reaching 1 million coins will unlock something pretty neat and that will take some time no matter how good you are at collecting them. The sheer enjoyment of playing through a level also counts for the replay value as the levels never get boring.

Overall, New Super Mario Bros 2 is a great game. It is certainly following a formula and it didn’t add many new features to the system, but that’s all right because the system still works. Granted, there was a rather large gap for me between this game and the first one so the levels felt more like a nostalgia boost than an unfortunate copy. Still, the levels are so fun that you can’t tire of them very quickly. That’s a good thing since you’ll be playing them a lot as you go through the game. I certainly recommend this title and collecting a lot of coins gives you an extra incentive to really get your money’s worth (See what I did there?) out of this game. I had been leaning towards an 8 for this game, but when I think about it, there are very few games that I find to be quite as fun. Super Smash Bros and Madden have earned 9’s with ease in the past, I think this game is worthy of the title as well. It’s missing some elements like a plot for the story mode..but you could say the same about the other two games. I’m eagerly awaiting Mario’s next portable adventure and this one shall not be forgotten. Mario basically invented the word “fun” with its various installments.

Overall 9/10

Grill Off with Ultra Hand Review

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This game was world exclusive to the members of Club Nintendo. That was pretty awesome and while it probably meant that the game was rather cheap to produce, it was pretty thoughtful on their part. As Club Nintendo closed its doors for the last time, I had exactly enough points to buy this title. After seeing the “epic” live action trailer on the site, how could I not be intrigued? Let’s just say that motion controls get in the way here.

Essentially, you’re grilling in this game. There’s no story mode as there is just an infinite arcade mode like in Pac Man as well as a Vs Mode option. You use the wii remote and nunchuk to reach out to the grill by tilting your remotes towards each other and then press A to grab the piece of meat. Next, you tilt your remotes away from each other and release to let it go. You have to rinse and repeat as you try to grab all of the meat at just the right time for bonus points. If you drop one too close to the grill or burn a piece, then you automatically lose.

In theory, this game had the potential to be the next Flappy Bird or Pac Man. At least, that seems to be what the game developers were gunning for here. The problem is not the actual gameplay, but the controls. The Wii Remotes simply aren’t good for this kind of thing as they will constantly make you let the meat go or not move when you want too. It makes playing the game a bit of a struggle and it’s hard to have fun when your remote keeps sabotaging your efforts to win.

Otherwise, it’s a great concept that works flawlessly. The gameplay is addicting and it’s easy to get into the game since it just starts up right away. It’s the kind of game where you can have fun competing with a friend for the high score. Even if it didn’t have a local Vs. Mode, you could just take turns or post your scores online. The scores get higher and higher as you go on so you really want to increase your combos. Each piece of meat will then be worth up to 9 meats from the beginning part of the game.

The graphics are decent I suppose. There’s not much to look at as you are always on the same stage with a very limited selection of meats at the ready. This must have made animating the game rather easy for the developers. It’s still not going to be one of the greatest games that you have ever seen as far as graphics go, but it looks good enough.

The soundtrack is also limited of course, but the main theme when you pick the title from the startup menu is catchy. There’s not much more to say about that. This is the kind of game that you may have felt bad about if you paid 20-30 dollars for it, but it’s a free game. There’s literally no way to buy it from stores unless you decide to purchase a copy from a friend or on Ebay. Because of that, you can’t say that it’s a rip-off. How can something that’s free be a rip-off right? More effort probably could have been put into the game, but it’s simply as advanced as your average phone or mobile app game. In that sense, this title succeeds.

Overall, Grill Off With Ultra Hand is slightly worse than I expected and you can totally blame that on the controls. If you could play this with Gamecube controls, I can guarantee at least a 2 point boost and it could maybe try for 3 depending on how much I felt like replaying the game. The replay value is really the main incentive of this game and it should be rather high, but the controls negate that. I recommend grabbing this from Club Nintendo while you can since it will be out of print soon. It may not be much, but it’s free and it’ll be a good way to say goodbye to Club Nintendo once and for all. If you would rather play something that’s a little more fun, check out Wii Sports!

Overall 3/10

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Review

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I recently saw Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer so I really wanted to play the game! I finally managed to find it in the outskirts of the city and it was well worth the 1.89$ that I paid for it! I have to admit that I feel really bad for the people who paid 30 dollars to buy it on opening day though. Man, those people must have been shocked at what arrived in their homes that day. Heh heh heh…okay, let’s start the review!

The game follows the events of the film, but really only the ending of it. There are a couple of minigames as you build toys for the kid who have waited all year to open their presents. Luckily, you will only have to wait a few minutes to go and deliver it to them. See, the game’s length is rather infamous. Remember when I played the Casper video game that you could beat in around 15-20 minutes? This game is even shorter as the run time is more like 6-10 minutes not including the short cutscenes that probably extend it to around 13-15. It’s a blast and a half….if you have not played a video game before!

One of the video games involves baking cookies. Okay…you basically have to swing your wii remote three different ways. Strike once to pound the batter, Next strike to smooth it out, shove it in the oven, and throw in the toppings. Rinse and repeat until the timer runs out to show that you have completed the game! Next up, you have to punch presents into Santa’s bag or onto the Christmas tree. This is probably the trickiest minigame thanks to the controls. Still, it’s about as easy as World 1-1 of the average Mario game or even easier since you can’t die. Just move with the Wii Remote and you’ll be find. Finally, you have to ride with Rudolph and friends to drop presents on the kid’s houses. This one’s the easiest as you can literally just drop presents for eternity. Just keep dropping them and most of the presents will actually land on the house. You’re not penalized for missing so you can do this with your eyes closed! There’s also a paintball minigame where you have to throw paints at the toys. It’s very similar to the Basketball minigame from Mario Party 4 so it’s pretty catchy.

There’s no way to lose any of the games so completing this title will be simplicity itself. Now, those minigames probably didn’t sound like a lot of fun, but you can try to make them more exciting. See, each game actually has a score at the top so you can try to get it as high as possible. There’s no actual reward or incentive for doing so, but why not right? You may as well to pass the time by. On the bright side, the game is so incredibly short that it never drags on.

The graphics are surprisingly good/decent considering how cheaply produced the game was. The character models aren’t stretched or blurry and the in game graphics are surprisingly clear. I feel like the graphics got all of the attention from the developers so they could at least make the trailer look good. For everyone who bought the game, they probably celebrated with a pizza. There isn’t much of a soundtrack, but that probably goes without saying. (The theme that plays when you start the game is catchy!) We do have the classic Rudolph song though and that’s always great!

I appreciate the fact that there is a story mode even if it is extremely short. After each minigame, you get a small cutscene with the snowman from the intro to the film. He has a new voice actor who isn’t nearly as good, but he tries his best to be warm and friendly. The credits aren’t included when you finish the final minigame so you’ll have to go to the menu and enter the credits that have been available from the start. I guess they knew that you would finish it quickly so they decided to have the credits at the ready. Not a bad strategy right?

We also can’t forget about the hilarious loading screen for this game. In Super Smash Bros for the Wii U, people love to crouch over and over again. It’s a taunt in a way and it especially comes in handy when you are out of the normal ones. Well, the loading screen here just has the Yeti crouch spamming. That’s the loading screen! It’s like an inside joke that the developers are in on and the gamer can’t be apart of it. The loading screen almost makes the game and you’ll remember it for quite some time!

Rudolph is the perfect example of why I am always on the lookout for new games at the 5 dollar bargain bin. In particular, the Wii has a ton of “Shovelware” titles that actually turn out to be a lot of fun or at least highly amusing. This title will always hold a special place in my heart along with Casper for being so short that it is practically a parody of a game. No matter how small the budget was, it’s just incredible that anyone could actually get away with making a game that is this short. You’d almost expect the game to be sued!

Overall, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is a game that is so short that I’m tempted to give it a mere 3 stars. I still feel that it’s worth the extra star because the actual minigames are enjoyable and they don’t feel repetitive. I may have felt differently if I got it for 30 dollars, but at under 2 dollars, 10 minutes sounds pretty decent. I only recommend this game if you know what you are getting into. It’s one of the best 2 dollar games that I have played not counting sport titles. This is the kind of game that you will want to have at parties so that you can laugh at it along with your friends in some good natured fun. I don’t think I’ll ever be playing this game again since there is no real replay value to be found (I guess you could beat your high scores….) but it was a decent one time ride. Don’t believe all of the negative reviews (Mine is negative though) about the game not being fun. It is short, but the actual minigames are fun! Just watch the trailer and get back to me…

Overall 4/10

Unbreakable Review

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It’s time to look at a superhero film that doesn’t involve good ole DC or Marvel. Naturally, that can be a little dicey at times since we don’t have the tried and true Stan Lee to ensure that character development goes well. Unfortunately, my fears were realized as the film quickly crashed once the superhero element began. Seriously, the film was good for over 60% of its run time, but then everything went downhill from there!

David works as a security guard and he’s pretty good at his job. One day, he is approached by Elijah, a man who claims that David may have the uncanny ability of being unbreakable. David cannot get sick and Elijah is on the opposite end of the spectrum as his bones break at the slightest touch. David is intrigued, but he doesn’t know what to do about all this. Ah well, he has about an hour-90 minutes to decide where he goes from here.

All right, here’s why the superhero part failed. The film decided to go for grit and darkness instead of actually providing us with a real threat. David can see the past, which is one of the worst powers that you can think of since he will know that things have happened to people, but he can’t stop them. Conveniently, he sees a problem that he can still help with, but the damage has been done and that’s why the film sunk. The film showed us a bunch of grim happenings that happened to the characters around the lead and there’s no need for it. Assault, Rape, Murder, you basically see all of that and the main character can’t do anything about this. As far as I am concerned, that destroyed any chance that the film had of being even somewhat decent.

David attacks the murderer and defeats him, but the film didn’t need to show us the other situations. If they had to display his ability to see the past, they should have just showed us people stealing jewels or robbing a hot dog stand. Minor crimes would give us the same image without just being dark to be dark. It’s a lesson that more films could definitely learn if they want to succeed the way that Bonds Beyond Time did.

The final fight is actually pretty humorous because of how it happens. Let’s just say that it’s hard to know what the director was going for here. David has been shown to be able to bench press over 350 pounds so we know that he has some degree of super strength. And yet…he can barely take out the average thug. He gets the guy into a choke hold and then they wrestle for an awkward 5-10 minutes. The guy simply won’t go down and David looks extremely unimpressive. Naturally, David decides not to take any prisoners so he pulls a Man of Steel on us. Yeah, this guy’s going to end up being more like the Punisher than a real hero at this rate. He also lost round 1 when he was simply pushed into a pool.

Again, every bit of the superhero part of this film was pretty bad, but it was actually good before that. Elijah’s backstory was pretty sad, but we got to see him make it through that in one piece and own an art gallery. He was pretty unreasonable, but the scene of him defending comics as actual art was pretty funny. Elijah was a decent character for a while. The ending makes him very unlikable of course and the way that he trashed the comic store was completely uncalled for. So, he had his moments in the film, but he could have been better. Considering his condition, he shouldn’t be much of a threat to David.

As for David, I guess he’s a decent character although he’s rather slow on the uptake at times. He just spends a lot of time dragging things out and being rather indecisive. I find it hard to believe that he simply forgot about his past. You don’t really forget events like that and how has he never realized that he had super strength? A bit of a stretch in those areas, but he tries to be a nice guy. The main outlier is the opening scene where David decides to flirt and hides his wedding band. That made him pretty despicable. For most of the film, he’s certainly not a bad character, but you can’t easily forget such a scene. David gets some development later on, which possibly counteracts the scene. Hopefuly..he just needs to work on improving himself a bit. That shouldn’t be a problem. Once he is used to being a hero, maybe he’ll remember that you have to be heroic and take the villains to the authorities to qualify.

David’s kid is a pretty annoying character I’m afraid and he shows why kids should never be main or supporting characters in any films. His decision to shoot David to prove that he was a superhero is pretty crazy and he should know that with great super strength doesn’t always come great durability. The kid certainly hasn’t been keeping up with the comics even though he owns some action figures. There was an odd romance going on between David and the heroine, but it didn’t have a place in the film and it makes you wonder what the point of it all was. They are already married so that subplot could have just been terminated before it even began.

The film isn’t great with pacing. There are many points in the film where it is clearly stalling to inflate the run time. This film could have easily happened in closer to 70 minutes as we have almost half an hour of fluff. David just thinking or other characters standing still and waiting to be blown away. The film needed to move a little quicker and show us that there was still a point to all of this. The problem is that there isn’t much to the plot if they played it straight. It was a little convenient how the characters found out about David’s weakness and it would have been more natural if they hadn’t found out until he fell in the pool. It would have been a big “Connect the dots” moment and more of a shocker that way. Not really a negative though, just a different path that it could have taken.

Overall, Unbreakable is a classic example of what happens to a film without an end goal in mind. Once David became a superhero, the film fell apart very quickly. If it had just stuck to being a suspense thriller, it really could have gone far. As it stands, you are better off checking out Man of Steel or the Avengers. Those superhero films are always ready for action and they will inspire you to see other superhero films while this one can just make you avoid them. I can’t say that I would hold out much hope for a sequel being good, but you never know. Either way, the next time you want something that is unbreakable, I recommend buying some Jaw Breakers! (Disclaimer, those candies are choking hazards and are as tough to chew as they are delicious to eat)

Overall 2/10

Airport Review

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It’s time to look at an older film this time. Airport involves a pretty large cast as they all come together on what could be their most dangerous adventure yet. There are a lot of plots to be found in this film and they all collide for the climax. It’s a fun yet tricky formula and the writing is really key in something like this. I’d say that Airport succeeds even if some of the plots may have been a little unnecessary. I do love a good airplane film!

Of course, due to the nature of the film, it can be a little hard to describe the plot. Needless to say, it has been a very cold winter and a lot of snow has hit the ground. Airplanes are having a tough time trying to get off the ground and there is no room for the ones that are still in the sky. The bigshots want to close it down for a few days, but that would leave some planes stranded. Making matters worse is that an old lady keeps escaping the authorities and escaping onto the planes while an enraged bomber is also preparing for his big move. Throw in a few dramas and guys who are cheating and have divided loyalties…and you’ve got yourself a film!

It’s hard to say that the film has a central plot, but it all leads up to the big airplane ride. That’s where all of the action is of course. When the heroes make their big move on the bomber, it’s fun to see how it all plays out. Let’s just say that you will be impressed by the heroicness of the passengers, but it will also happen to be a bad thing here. “Right place, but wrong time” basically sums it up. It’s still nice to see the passengers defend the defenseless here when push comes to shove. I do have to admit that there may have been some slight plot hax here though. The bomb should have done a lot more damage to the plane unless it was an extremely tiny one. I just don’t buy it.

A negative for the film would be the fact that some of the characters look very similar. None of the names are really that memorable so you really just have to figure out who the character is based on his dialogue or where he is. The guys that I typically mixed up were the pilot and the GM in charge of the company. Luckily, one of them always wore a red tie, which seriously came in handy. Otherwise, I definitely would have been in trouble.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to root for some of the characters. One of the main characters is cheating on his wife and actually gets someone else pregnant. He’s definitely a bad character right from that moment on and before that as well. Once we knew that he was cheating, we knew that this was a character who shouldn’t be trusted or liked. The lady is also to blame of course as she knew that he was married. Still, we don’t just get that plot once, but twice as another couple is having issues. They agree to divorce, but the lady was already seeing someone else and the guy also had his attention diverted. The director must have loved this kind of situation to include it twice, but one of them should have been cut out or tweaked a little bit. We don’t really need that drama here.

Luckily, we had a more entertaining plot at the ready with an old lady. She has been sneaking onto flights for a long time now and she knows just how to handle the situation. Of course, it’s a bit of a stretch that her techniques worked so often, but that’s all right since it was a fun plot. One worker really tried to keep tabs on her, but he was just too nice/gullible for his own good. The old lady tries to help during the climax, but it is of no avail. It’s too bad since she could have helped and really redeemed herself with the staff on that point, but it wasn’t too be.

The film is over two hours, but I can safely say that it never drags on. There’s always something happening and it’s easy to catch your attention. I liked seeing the snow since it really poured over here this year and watching the one shot characters shoot off ideas was fun as well. One of the main characters really knew his stuff and always made sure to shoot them down. Shoveling like that back in the day was probably a lot of work, but it can still be pretty sad to see the workers hiding in the van and shirking their duty. Some things never change eh? The mechanic actually ended up being one of my favorite characters as he showed that putting the plane at full power wouldn’t bust it apart. He did help to build it after all so he should know it much better than any pilot. It would have been very humiliating if the plane had buckled.

The whole bomb subplot will also make you feel even better about the metal detectors that they have at airports nowadays. There’s no way someone could just walk in with a black suitcase, no questions asked nowadays. Seriously, I’m surprised that there weren’t more incidents like this back in the day if it was this easy to get into an airplane. If anything, I’m sure that this film incentivized the officials in the real world to make sure that nobody could try out these tricks.

Overall, Airport is a pretty enjoyable film. I can’t stress enough how important the writing is here since that is the difference between this being a 7 or a 4. (Or maybe lower) In this kind of film, you need the writing to be funny and engaging or else all of the different plots will just start to blend together and you’ll become bored. There isn’t a lot of danger or action here so you have to start to like or dislike the characters in order to continue without a problem. Some of the plots certainly could have been taken out, but at least they are handled with dignity. This is really how a film should be. No language, questionable romance, animal violence, etc. It’s why I liked the retro days for films so much. They simply don’t make them like it used too. I definitely recommend this film for anyone who wants a charming film to watch one evening. It’s a good way to relax and it will remind you to travel via airplane sometime in the near future.

Overall 7/10

Dracula Untold Review

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It’s time to check out a film with vampires in it! That’s typically a bad sign for me to be honest since vampires = blood sucking which = instant loss. Luckily, that doesn’t really happen much until the end of the film, which is a big plus. It’s still filled with enough negatives to fill a bowl of mashed potatoes, but it’s a start and a franchise with this film at the center could be pretty decent. It should also be noted that the poster for this film is pretty incredible!

Dracula grew up as a nice guy until he was sold to the villains. He helped them destroy hundreds/thousands of opponents and then left to rule his homeland. Well, the villains are back and they want most of the youth along with Dracula’s son. Dracula quickly slays the minions who report this and prepares for war. If he is to beat an army, he will need some extra power! (Especially since Dracula’s allies are extremely weak) Dracula heads to a mountain where an old vampire gives him vampire abilities. This is how the legend of Dracula begins! The change will not be permanent if Dracula can resist the urge of blood for 3 days. Can he really win the war in that time? Let’s hope so!

Considering that this film is about Dracula, I think it’s safe to say that we know the answer to that last question. Still, he tries pretty hard not to give in to the temptation and he certainly had the potential to win the war in 3 days. His strength and speed were greatly enhanced and this could be one of the strongest incarnations of Dracula that we have seen. He can manipulate the weather and his super speed allows him to take down dozens of opponents in an instant. That is certainly a feat that one can respect.

All right, let’s go into the negatives before we look at the rest of the film. It was teetering on the edge between 3-4 stars, but one area ended up plunging it down. I nearly forgot about it at first, but the film has quite a few romance scenes that do not age well. The film isn’t that old, but the writers may already realize the problem here. There’s no point to the scenes with Dracula and his wife as they don’t impact the plot. It’s also not a good or developed romance as they just make out with each other for no reason. That’s the kind of romance that will hurt any film and this one is no exception.

The next negative would be the classic animal violence part. A dog is attacked in the background. Again…there is no reason for this! We also watch as a spider catches his prey and there’s no need for this as well. Unfortunately, this is where we get to the blood sucking part and it’s no better than usual. It’s pretty gross to see Dracula drink the blood from a cup from the get go, but it’s even worse once he starts to bite his opponents and steal their strength. Dracula even goes as far as to bite someone who was already dying for his extra bit of power. His excessive biting eventually backfires on him, but he really over did it.

The fight scenes were better than anticipated at first. Dracula was finishing everyone off, but it wasn’t in an unnecessarily gritty/violent way. That changed for the climax as it went all Lord of the Rings/Prince Caspian on us. The heroes were biting all of the villains that they could find and then we remembered that there were no more heroes. They were all gone or corrupted by this point. The film definitely lost steam by the end.

Still, the film does end on a great note. Not just a good note, but a great one as we see the true potential of this new universe. The ending involves a certain character in the modern world. A necessary step if we are to have a shared universe after all and then we see the big villain. Presumably, he shall be the big threat in the first crossover film. He states that the games will now begin and you can’t help but feel excited for what may come next. There appears to be a war between two immortal figures. We know that one of them is the old vampire and he has already recruited Dracula to his side. (Dracula has no choice in the matter) I’m speculating that Imhotep is the other one and maybe he’ll recruit a Werewolf or Frankenstein. Then we’ll have the biggest fight on our hands since Batman vs Superman! Of course, we need the shared universe to really start if that’s to happen so they’re going to need to hurry with that. If they back off now, that’ll be sad for the fans!

There’s not much of a soundtrack to be found here I’m afraid. The effects are decently good and it’s fun to see Dracula in his bat form. How likable is Dracula as a character? He’s actually good for a while and I can sympathize with his desire to protect his people at any price. That being said, he should have easily ended the war right away. When it was night time, he should have headed straight for the opposing king after messing up the enemies. He also could have done a better job commanding the troops and letting them know of his abilities so that others could not spoil the opportunity for him. It’s pretty terrible that the people were so scared of him when they found out, but that’s the casual observers for you. They simply were not ready. Dracula was also very powerful before he became a vampire, which was certainly a welcome twist. He made the right decision when he didn’t hand over his son.

The final battle between Dracula and the human is riddled with plot hax all around, but the important thing is that he still won. The film had to make the clash dramatic somehow, but they should have simply thought of another way. I’m sure they could have made it a little more believable if they really put their mind to it. It was interesting to see the main villain because he looks a lot like Howard Stark from Agent Carter. I couldn’t help but think of the guy whenever the villain appeared so it was always humorous to see him. The characters are stark contrasts of each other after all.

There’s not much of a cast here though since almost all of the other characters don’t actually get any personality. They’re just here to talk big or to lose dramatically. The ending proves that none of them have any strength of will and most of the heroes are traitors anyway. The only one Dracula can count on is himself. There’s an odd guy who follows Dracula around and wants to be his servant. The guy just didn’t make any sense as he wanted to help Dracula one moment and destroy him the next. He seriously needed to make up his mind!

I give the film some props for its mention of Heaven considering how much Hell is discussed. Dracula says something along the lines of “Now that I know Hell is real, I know Heaven exists as well” when a certain someone dies. The Cross also continues to have power over the vampires once they have consumed human blood. It’s always good to see those influences here since horror films tend to only show you half of the equation. It’s not much, but it’s a start!

Overall, Dracula Untold suffered from the negatives that follow just about any vampire film, but it did have some enjoyable moments. The ending really leaves it with a lot of potential for a good sequel and the film did a good job of making Dracula more likable and sympathetic than usual. Unfortunately, the romance, animal violence, and blood sucking ensure that I cannot recommend this film. If you want to see a good horror film that doesn’t even try to take itself seriously, go check out Scooby Doo Frankencreepy. If you want to see something with Dracula in it, I recommend waiting for the (possible) sequel or maybe checking out The Batman vs Dracula if you’re feeling bold. Finally, I know you have one more question. Could Dracula defeat the Avengers? The sad answer is…yes…yes he could. At least, the movie versions, but we’ll see if I still think this once Age of Ultron comes out!!!

Overall 3/10