Category Archives: Reviews

Destruction Inc Review

Posted on by
Reply

Destructioninc

Destruction Inc, is another Superman short that was made nearly a century ago. The animation definitely holds up nicely considering how old it is and the voice acting is solid as well. In this short, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, hear about a possible story and go to investigate it. Lois moves quickly and leaves before Kent has a chance to say anything. Little does he know, that Louis is in town! Clark quickly confuses the guy and makes his escape. Meanwhile, Lois and the Police Officer need to stay alive, long enough for Superman to come and save the day. Will they make it!? The short is pretty fun and the villains actually give Superman a pretty decent fight. Louis was an intriguing character, but I don’t think that he’ll ever become a really popular character. The Police Officer is pretty intense and he moves very quickly for his age. This is a Superman short that I definitely recommend. It’s one of the better ones created.

Overall 7/10

Justice League Meet The Justice League Review

Posted on by
Reply

9780062210029_p0_v1_s260x420

Justice League is a very large part of the DC franchise. So, it only makes sense that the series would have books for all ages. This one is aimed at a pretty young audience so the book is extremely short, but I flipped through it while at a store and I was able to finish it in about 2 minutes. The plot involves a Starro invasion. The Justice League must gather up all of their members if they wish to combat this threat. Superman is the first to find out about the threat and he seems to be played up as the main character of the book. The characters are all in character so the author did a good job of making sure that the characters stayed true to formula. Superman definitely looked the best, but Batman was also able to take down a group of Starros on his own. Pretty impressive for the Dark Knight! Unfortunately, the art isn’t that great. I suppose that it could be worse, but it’s just not that impressive. The writing is all right, it’s straight to the point. It was fun to read and I recommend checking it out. It’s a Justice League book that you won’t want to miss and it only takes about a minute or two to read.

Overall 7/10

Citizen Kane Review

Posted on by
Reply

220px-Citizenkane_0

Citizen Kane is a pretty classic movie and it’s gotten some very positive reception. Citizen Kane didn’t do so well in the box office, but having a lasting legacy can be more important in the long run. Old black and white films are usually pretty cool because they’re so retro, but does this film succeed?

The plot revolves around a group of news reporters who want to find out the truth about the man known as Mr. Kane. So, most of the film is a series of flashbacks, with the main plot only appearing once in a while. I think that the news reporters subplot was the best part of the film, which is why it’s too bad that it didn’t appear for very long.

Mr. Kane is a man who started out trying to be an honest business man who looked out for the people. As time went by, he started to stray from that and he did some pretty immoral things. Mr. Gettys called him out on this and things got dicey for Charlie Kane. Charlie’s newspapers also started to change as he started to drift away from them. Charlie ends up not being a really likable character and his life gets more alone by the year.

Jerry Thompson is the best character of the film. He follows up with the leads about Mr. Kane and he’s a pretty mysterious figure. One second he will be around, and the next second he’ll be gone. Even at the end, he manages to troll the other reporters with the astounding fact that the word “Rosebud” probably didn’t mean much. Did he actually find out what the word meant or not? You’ll have to watch the film to find out. Thompson is definitely the character that you’ll want to keep an eye on.

Citizen Kane drags during some of the flashback scenes, but the reporter scenes are good. I’d say that all in all, this is an average (non action) live action film. It could have used some better characters and a decent soundtrack, but considering that it was from the early 40’s, it can get away with it. Still, 10/10 worthy? I don’t think so, but it’s still a decent film. I’d recommend checking it out if you like drama films or really old films. If you’re looking for a deep and dangerous mystery about who Citizen Kane was, then you may want to keep on going to Sherlock Holmes.

Overall 3/10

Alien Review

Posted on by
8

post-18044-1301490865

Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version so that it does not receive an R rating. These thoughts are specifically from that version and the score will likely differ from uncut and cut versions.

Alien is a very popular film and it’s known as possibly being the greatest horror film of all time. This film gives Jaws a run for its money in popularity and there have been many rides and spin off media from the film. This is definitely what got aliens so popular, but does the film live up to this day?

The film starts with a crew of 7 in a spaceship. They are on their way back to earth, but they are awakened from their cryogenic sleep a little early. The ship informs them that a distress signal is being sent out from another ship. They go to investigate, but an alien latches itself onto one of the crew. Is the alien hostile!? It doesn’t look so tough, but big things tend to come in small packages. The alien is pretty nimble and there are many places to hide. Can the crew possibly stop him!?

The main cast of characters is pretty underwhelming for the most part. I can’t really say that there were any characters that stood out. Lambert is terrified of the alien creature and never gets past her fears. Her end is a pretty uncool way to go down and I doubt that she has many fans. Ash is the smart guy of the group and he doesn’t always obey orders. He definitely acts a little shady the whole time. Can they trust this guy!? Dallas is the captain of the crew, but he gets a really small role. I’m not sure what his point in the film really was in the end. Parker was the only member of the crew who seemed like he could fight with the alien, but his crew turned out to be a liability and they held him back. Ripley is the main character of the film, but it’s a little hard to guess that. While she does get most of the scenes at the end, she doesn’t get that much screen time for the first half. She ditched her cat at one point which takes points away from her.

The Cat was pretty cool and I’m glad that he didn’t end up dying. Alien must be one of the only horror films that avoided the obligatory animal death which earns the film some points. The Xenomorph is definitely deadly, but I preferred his portrayal in Aliens vs Predator. He’s still a pretty dangerous creature and was definitely the best character of the film.

Overall, Alien is a film that all horror fans will want to check out. There is a lot of tension throughout the film and it also goes into a lot of detail. The opening minutes are all for showing off the ship and the schematics. The ship is also advanced and has an A.I. named “Mother” Unfortunately it never seems to have enough data to make a decision. Alien lives up well as an alien classic, but I think we could have used some more alien action.

Overall 4/10

The Man of Steel Cyborg Superman Review

Posted on by
Reply

159157_s0

This is another chapter book in the Superman series. The art style is still DCAU style and the story feels like something that could have come out of that era. This book is pretty unique since Superman is barely the main character at all. Cyborg Superman gets most of the screentime in his plot for revenge.

Hank Henshaw and his friends get cosmic powers when something goes wrong during their rocket ship flight. Unfortunately, these powers aren’t very safe not all of them make it. Hank gets the best powers since he can go inside cybernetics. He almost gets one of his friends to join him, but Superman and Lex Luthor put a stop to that. Cyborg Superman finds Superman’s fortress of solitude and the final battle for supremacy begins.

Lex Luthor doesn’t appear for very long, but most of his scenes are pretty good. He’s still worried about his safety first and foremost. Superman acts pretty high and mighty as I was hoping he would act and he gives Cyborg Superman a decently good fight. (Although it was very short) You may not expect how the fight ends, but it’s pretty intriguing, but also a little hard to believe.

All in all, it was a fun Superman novel. It may not have been as good as some of the other ones, but it did have the best villain. Cyborg Superman is pretty intense and he’s definitely an underrated character. I recommend reading this novel. It’s pretty short, but you’ll still enjoy the nice adventure and it’s a good throwback to the golden years of DC. (DCAU)

Overall 7/10

Achievements
Own It

Megaman NT Warrior Review

Posted on by
Reply

Megaman-NT-Warrior-Episode-25-English-Dubbed

After recently reviewing the Megaman NT Warrior manga it seemed like a good time to review the anime. While not quite as spectacular, it’s still a very solid anime and one that you won’t want to miss.

Lan is having a pretty bad day when the series starts, since he loses to the bully known as Dex. Dex isn’t quite as cruel as most bullies and he just has his fun messing with Lan. The whole school knows about his constant victories over Lan’s generic navi. Lan must have one of the weakest navies in all of existence, but that’s about to change. Lan gets a mysterious package from his father (Not directly since he’s rarely home) and installs the program. His navi is turned into the super powerful…Megaman!

Lan’s luck quickly changes for the better and Megaman crushes and humiliates Gutsman. The two heroes also go on to foil threats by World Three and they save lives. Things get serious when they announce that the N1 Grand Prix is coming up. Any battler who wants to boost his rep will be there and Lan definitely wants to win it all. We meet up with expert duelists like Chaud and….World Three? There are also fighters that you may have not expected, like the local fortune teller and a guy with a fish shaped helmet. Unbeknownst to all, the three (Sal is the third member) fighters are actually part of a superhero organization that is out to stop World Three. Their leader, Commander Beef, is actually a strong fighter and he shatters Protoman’s record for fastest victory in the tournament. Can Megaman possibly defeat these guys!? There are also two mysterious figures who operate the navies known as Blasterman and Stoneman…something seems odd about them! The tournament was definitely my favorite part of the series, but things stay epic as the tournament concludes.

An ultimately powerful navi by the name of Ba-Pharohman has been awakened and his power knows no limits. After terminating one of the main characters, (A pretty emotional scene) he proceeds to conquer the entire cyber network in a matter of seconds. Only a few characters are left to form the resistance against his tyranny, but can they possibly defeat his awesome power!? This was a very short arc, but it was definitely epic.

Things get a little lighter for Megaman and friends as they enjoy Net City. Unfortunately an evil organization by the name of Grave is out to wreck the place. They unleash their operatives around the city (Though Airman aims small and only seeks to defeat one civilian) and they unleash terror across the nation. Freezeman is a very high ranking officer and easily the best member of the group. He had an intense fight with Megaman and his battle against Torchman still ranks as one of the most epic battles of the series. The fight wasn’t long, but the stakes were a lot higher than usual. His battle with Megaman was also intense because he was the first seriously tough opponent to challenge the Blue Bomber in a long time. Things look dire for the heroes until…BASS shows up! Naturally, things get extremely dicey for Freezeman when that happens, but you’ll want to see the scene for yourself.

Grave also unleashes the Grave Virus Beast, whose defense is very formidable. The combined efforts of Megaman and Protoman don’t seem to put a dent in the monster. The heroes are very outmatched from the start and the Virus Beast would likely have ended everything in their first battle if not for the mighty…Bass! He’s always arriving at the nick of time isn’t he? The villains had prepared for this and the Virus Beast is ready…can Bass really defeat this opponent!?

That was the final big arc of the series, but there are still fun one-shot episodes that will keep you entertained. The final episode of the series leads into the sequel (Which will be reviewed very soon) and there’s also an episode that features a climatic battle between Megaman and Protoman. Snakeman’s episode was also pretty good and featured some good battles.

Lan is a much better character in this version than in the manga. He’s a character that you can root for and he never loses sight of his ideals. He’s more confident and he likes to defeat his opponents as quickly as possible. Megaman is not even close to as cool as his manga counterpart, but he’s still a decent hero. He’s just not as tough and his resolve can be shaken. He’s very dependent upon Lan’s help in a battle which also isn’t a plus. He’s still a good main character, but he definitely could have been better. His worst appearance was definitely in the Empress Roll episodes.

Chaud’s definitely epic for most of the series and likewise with Protoman. Chaud can be pretty rude and he likes putting others down, but that’s basically what rivals do in these situations. Lan tries to teach Chaud a lesson and they have a big fight in a public intersection. Protoman is also highly skilled and for the most part he defeats just about anyone he meets. (Though his battle with Stoneman got pretty unbelievable)

Lan’s friends get a much larger role in the anime, but they never develop into really good characters. Dex has realized the error of his ways and he’s no longer a bully. Unfortunately, he’s still really weak, but he doesn’t know it. Yai has a lot of good chips, but she’s not much of a fighter. Maylu can battle if she’s in a pinch, but she usually doesn’t fight unless she has too. She did enter the tournament though, so maybe she likes fighting more than I thought. Roll, Iceman, and Gutsman also aren’t that great, but I suppose that they are bearable.

Commander Beef has some pretty intense scenes, but aside from his light tower fight, he was mostly filler. Sharkman is labeled as one of the best fighters in the series, but he never impressed me. He doesn’t have any really good attacks and his speed isn’t that great. Sal and Woodman weren’t that much better, but Miyu and Skullman were a huge improvement. Miyu actually took on the legendary Lan and Megaman with her Skullman. Skullman’s speed is pretty good and he was able to keep up (And out speed) Megaman. The ending to the fight was a bit disappointing, but it was definitely one of the better battles.

World Three’s members were all pretty bad. Luckily their netnavies were a lot better. Torchman was a pretty decent threat in his first battle and he gets some solid character development. He’s definitely the best navi out of the group and he’s the only one to do some damage against the Grave operatives. Elecman was good in his very first appearance, but his personality did a 180 and he stopped being cool. Magicman is a cool concept, but his voice and personality wreck his character. Wackoman…I can’t even get started with that guy.

Blasterman was a pretty solid opponent and this is easily the best adaption of his character. He’s actually a pretty solid threat and he can go up against Megaman in a decently even fight. (With circumstances) Stoneman was also cool, but he got less chances to show his stuff. He was a decently good villain nonetheless.

Pharohman is also a really cool villain and his attacks are deadly. He succeeds in destroying one of the heroes and he doesn’t go down without a fight. The Virus Beast is also decently cool, but not quite as epic as his manga counterpart. He’s still an epic beast to keep your eye out for.

Bass is not quite as epic as his manga version, but that would be next to impossible! He’s definitely an imposing figure, but he didn’t get enough screen time. That was a pretty big oversight for the anime, but he still got some decently cool scenes. (It only gets better once Stream comes around!) His fight against Freezeman was epic!

Freezeman is definitely one of the best characters in the series. He’s a no nonsense character and he froze the entire city. His abilities are considerable since he was able to take on three ultimately powerful navies in a short span of time. (Heatman, Megaman, and Bass) I’m glad that he got a good amount of screen time, but his extremely cool ending was cut out of the english version.

This is definitely an anime that you guys will want to check out. Their are some obscure, but epic villains like Planetman awaiting you in the series! The fight scenes can get pretty good and the soundtrack is also decent. There are a couple of good songs that you’ll enjoy. I’ve seen this series a lot of times and I consider it an anime classic. It never gets old to hear Lan yell “Jack In Megaman! Power Up!”

Overall 8/10

Achievements
Own Whole Series

Megaman Nt Warrior Review

Posted on by
2

Megaman is a very large franchise which has split into various parts of the franchise. We have the Classic universe (Which spins off once again into another series titled Mega Man X), and the Battle Network universe (Which spins off into Starforce) There are always subtle references in each of the series they may be more connected than we realize. This manga adapts the Battle Network games (Very loosely) and I definitely didn’t realize the sheer magnitude of what I was getting into when I first checked out the series.

The series starts out with someone simulating how he’s going to destroy the world. It’s hard to take him seriously since the manga has just started, but we cut away to a school scene. Lan Hikari (The Main character) ditches school and rushes home since his father is expected to have finally made it. He’s often away and that doesn’t change as he is not at home. Something came up, so he had to cancel once again. Lan and Megaman exchange some harsh words, but they later put aside their differences to go save the school.

The series starts out with small time threats (Still serious threats of course, but not world shattering) like a train about to crash, or a prison that is guarded with electricity. Chaud and Protoman make their debut pretty early on and they instantly start off on the wrong foot with our two protagonists. Lan and Megaman decide to take them down since they callously destroy fellow navies, but defeating them will be tough. Protoman can reach mach 5 and his skills are considerable. (Only in volume 2 and I’d say that they’ve surpassed comic book characters) The first big threat is Dr. Wily and the legendary Life Virus monster. It was a solid way to start off the series, but I never really considered those two as a threat.


Eventually, The heroes go into the undernet and meet with the legendary Bass. Bass is the greatest character in all of media, but I’ll go into that a bit later in the review. Bass crushes them with ease and they are forced to find more power. Megaman comes across the four legendary navies and if he is able to defeat them..he will gain overwhelming power! A new villain group by the name of Grave starts to terrorize the world at around the same time. Megaman taps into his Hubstyle form and has a very climatic battle with the Virus Beast. Bass ended up coming along and the two of them have an immensely destructive battle. It’s one of the greatest battles to ever be seen and it was the first time that you could truly call the series High Tier. Remember Dragon Ball Z? This universe even surpasses that legendary series.

Unfortunately, Hubstyle won’t be enough to take on the next opponents. These guys wield dark powers and the light of Hubstyle is sucked away against them. Even without Hubstyle, Megaman has gained tremendous power thanks to his experience and expertise. Protoman also obtains the legendary Muramasa blade which gets stronger whenever Protoman gets inflicted with damage. It’s a very risky blade, but he has Megaman to back him up. The shadow masters are very powerful, but not exactly Megaman level. Things take a turn for the worst when….BASS shows up! His power has now multiplied exponentially and he’s seeking to destroy whoever gets in his way. Megaman and Protoman must use the legendary Double Soul technique if they wish to win. The battle is incredible and just as impressive as the first battle. This time, things don’t end so smoothly as the mighty…..LASERMAN shows up! After a cheap shot from behind and an assist stab from Dark Megaman, they decide to leave…with Bass. Megaman attempts to stop them, but Dark Megaman proves to be too powerful.

This next arc was pretty epic and it was definitely an intriguing experience to see Laserman in on the action. Unfortunately for his fans, Dark Megaman overshadows him for the whole series. Laserman doesn’t retain as much dignity as his anime counterpart, but his lines are definitely intense. Megaman and Dark Megaman have a pretty epic fight and the series continues to be great.

The next arc was the weakest from the bunch and Megaman became a criminal. There’s not much logic behind it, but the Government can do whatever they want, since it’s their country. Megaman tries not to hurt the attackers (Since he’s much stronger than them and could win with a single hit) and eventually he comes face to face with Cosmoman and Nebula Gray. Defeating them alone could prove difficult, but the always awesome Bass is also there to shake things up. Even together, can Megaman and Bass hope to defeat this being of pure evil?

The final arc deals with the menace of the Cybeasts. Megaman is one of the chosen warriors sent to fight in a tournament that will decide the right to battle them. The winner will have absorbed the emblems of the opponents that he defeated so that his power would be great enough to stop the Cybeasts. Things look to be pretty easy for Megaman…until the mighty Bass shows up! Which of them will win in this final battle!? Also, will the winner be able to defeat the Cybeasts!?

Lan makes for a decent character. He loses sight of his morals early on, but after that he never looks back again! Lan may be seen as a pretty generic character, but generic beats being a bad main character right? He will definitely put his life on the line for a comrade and he knows when it’s time to get serious. Chaud is also a pretty solid guy and he’s a good rival. He looks pretty great during his early appearances, but after that things go downhill for him. He tries to be optimistic about the whole thing, but he was utterly surpassed. He is still good for an assist once in a while. At the very least, Chaus is still a pretty smart guy and actually helps to find the mastermind behind the whole Grave incident. (Not that things go very well for him)

Megaman is the real star of this story. He’s a very good guy right from the start. Even after Lan ignores and abandons him, Megaman continues to do the right thing. He never resorts to destroying his opponent (Unless that opponent is endangering someone’s life and needs to be quickly stopped) Megaman’s already great personality becomes even greater when he is in his legendary Hubstyle mode. In that form, he’s easily one of my favorite characters of all time. He’s also immensely fast and his power is basically unstoppable. Megaman is the standard for what all main characters should be like.

Protoman is a good rival and he gives Megaman a good fight during their initial encounters. Once Megaman obtains Hubstyle, the gap in power is greatly changed. Protoman can no longer engage him in an equal battle, but he still finds other ways to be useful. With his Muramasa sword, he can still fight high level opponents. He also trains a lot and by the final chapter, he is once again a very tough opponent. Protoman can also help Megaman out through the Double Soul technique.

Chief Oda’s navi is very cool, but he’s never given an official name. It’s too bad since he’s a great opponent for Megaman and his skills are considerable. Megaman’s friends (Roll and Gutsman) are all right, but they never really get a great role. Torchman and Elecman are decently good characters, but not one of my favorites. Blasterman is pretty much a joke in the manga.

Serenade is a pretty great navi and his (Sometimes he is called a she so I’m not extremely certain of the gender. For reviewing purposes, I will refer to Serenade as a he) abilities are pretty intense. Serenade is one of the only fighters in existence who was able to go up against Bass on equal ground. He had one of the most emotional moments in the series and helped Megaman and Protoman to realize their full potential.

Laserman wasn’t one of the bigger characters to appear in the manga, but he needed an honorary mention since he’s become so popular on the net. (On the blog I write his name as Lazerman for effect, but if you go to youtube, you’ll find many videos with him) Laserman might not be as intense as his anime version, but he’s still a character that you won’t want to mess with.

Dark Megaman is a very interesting villain and his abilities are on par with Megaman’s. One can even argue that they temporarily exceeded his since Dark Megaman obtained some of Bass’s power. Dark Megaman also got a laser form and he was definitely one of Megaman’s deadliest threats. He’s another one of my favorite characters from the series.

There are several giant monsters in the series like the Life Virus, Virus Beast, Cybeasts, and Nebula Gray. They are all decently cool for the most part, but they don’t have much in the way of character development. Cosmoman briefly appears towards the end and his character was all right. We never really got to see much of him. I didn’t really care for Colonel or Tomohawkman, but they were all right.

There are many more characters that I could mention in the series, but I think that I’ve covered a good number of them. Let’s end off the characters with the greatest character in existence, Bass! Bass has been my favorite character of all time for a while now. I’m not even completely sure when it started, but I think that it must’ve been the manga. Bass has a very cool intro in the manga and he completely crushed the heroes. His power is unparalleled (No character in all of media could defeat him) and his speed is also off the charts. Bass also has a pretty great personality and he has a lot of honor. He would never resort to taking a hostage or hitting someone with a cheap shot. He likes to win fair and square so that his opponent will realize the gap in their power levels. Bass needs to prove that he’s the strongest and he usually does just that. After an opponent has proved himself worthy to be his rival, it’s not entirely out of the question for Bass to help him. Bass definitely isn’t a hero, but he’ll help if he wants to do so. If the world is about to end, he’ll try stopping it so that he can finish his fights. Also, how can an opponent try to destroy the planet when Bass is still around!? Bass also has a pretty tragic back story which helped to shape him into the being that he is today. Bass knows the dark depths of despair and he’s been able to live through it. Bass is not only the strongest physically, but mentally as well. His Get Ability also insures that he’ll never be destroyed. Bass will be around until the end of time. Hopefully this will put some enlightenment into why I think Bass is so great. If you’ve been around my sight, you’ll definitely be aware of my high respect for him.

Megaman NT Warrior is an incredible manga that has it all. The art is very high tier and I never get tired of looking at it. It was definitely very well done and some of the best art that I’ve ever seen. The fight scenes are some of the greatest in existence and the character roster is the greatest in existence. Having a character as great as Bass already boosts the series up, but having Megaman in his Hubstyle mode is overkill. This is a series that I have read and re read over a dozen times. I highly recommend buying it, since this is the ultimate manga experience.

Overall 10/10

Digimon Adventure 02 Review

Posted on by
5

tumblr_mdi500ZduD1r9f70co1_1280

After the amazing Digimon Adventure, the expectations for Digimon Adventure 02 were considerably high. It was a direct sequel to the first show, but a new main cast would be taking over. Only TK and Kari got to stay as main characters while the rest of the DigiDestined were kept out of the (active) loop. They stuck around to help the new guys through a pinch, but for the most part, it wasn’t their show anymore.

It’s been 4 years since the events of the first series. Things are deadlier than ever and Tai and Agumon are basically the last heroes left to stop the evil forces. There doesn’t seem to be a problem at first, (After all, with Agumon’s Warp Digivolution there shouldn’t be a problem right?) but Agumon is unable to digivolve and it stuck at his rookie level. The Digimon Emperor has put up black towers known as Control Spires and they prevent all digimon from evolving. With Tai and Agumon defenseless, they are forced to retreat. Meanwhile in the human world, we are introduced to three new characters. Davis, (The new main character) Cody, and Yolei. They all obtain a new digivice known as a D3. It is able to open links between the two worlds and Davis quickly uses to enter the digital world. (Alongside Kari and TK)

Davis takes the whole thing in stride and uses a mysterious piece of armor to…Armor Digivolve. It is a loophole that allows his digimon to power up even with a Control Spire around. Later on, the other members all go to the digital world and receive their armor digivolutions as well. The first part of the series is mainly about defeating the Digimon Emperor. He seems to be about their age and he uses dark rings to enslave the digimon. He is able to create Control Spires in an instant, so the DigiDestined have their work cut out for them. The DigiDestined from the previous series appear as backup support for several of the episodes and they usually perform decently well. It’s always good to see Tai back in action and he continues to be the most impressive character. Matt has definitely mellowed out a little too much I’d say. He’s really cautious now and acts a little like Joe.

The second part of the show changes the situation pretty drastically. The DigiDestined meet another one of them. The boy’s name is Ken and he’s a pretty formidable ally. His partner is known as Stingmon and they end up helping the heroes a lot against the new opponents. The Control Spires have been reactivates by a pair villains known as Arukenimon and Mummymon. They are both ultimate level digimon so the heroes armor Digivolutions are definitely not going to cut it anymore. (After all, those forms were only champion level) The heroes can now digivolve the normal way and when they are in their champion forms, they can utilize a new (To the show) method of Digivolution known as DNA Digivolving. In this form, two of the heroes digimon merge into an ultimate level being. There are six DigiDestined so they end up with three different forms. Defeating this new group of beings will be one of their hardest challenges, which gets even harder once they take the fight to the human world.

The new cast of characters is pretty good, but the new DigiDestined aren’t really good for the most part. Davis makes for a very solid protagonist and while he’s no Tai, he’s still a fun character to watch. Unlike the other members, Davis has no insecurities or problems. He’s perfectly content with his life and nothing that the villains say can ever sway him. He’s definitely the most courageous of the group and easily the most heroic as well. There’s not much more to say about him. He’s definitely the best new human character in the show and his main digimon is known as Veemon. Through Digivolution, Veemon can turn into a mega level digimon who’s got a great design.

Cody is another new character, but he’s only all right. He strongly dislikes evil, (Like TK) but there’s not much that he is able to do about it. His digimon partner, Armadillomon, is one of the weaker members of the bunch. He’s decently tough, but easily outshined by the other members. Cody has a lot of inner monologue and has some serious doubts about destroying digimon (Which I’ll go over later on in the review) That’s fine and all, but it ends up putting the lives of his teammates at risk during some key moments.

Yolei is the final new member from the initial new DigiDestined group. Her partner is Hawkmon and he’s all right. He’s not quite as enjoyable to watch as the other digimon. Yolei can be pretty excitable and likes doing dramatic things. She would be a pretty likable character if she didn’t always think of romance at critical times. One should always focus on the mission at hand. (Especially if it’s world threatening)

Ken joins the DigiDestined later on and he gets more character development than the previous three characters put together. He gets a whole episode to himself and he’s in a constant battle against the darkness. Ken also struggles to be accepted by the other DigiDestined (Except for Davis who accepts him immediately) and things are tense for a while. (Especially when they think they see him destroying a digimon)

TK and Kari are main characters and they definitely show their experience. They are used to the Digital World already and they take things in stride much easier than the new kids. Unfortunately a plot twist prevents them from using their full power for a while. It was needed since they would have mopped the floor with the early enemies, but still pretty frustrating.

The cast from the original show appear throughout, but they don’t fight that much. They’re mostly about average, but Tai definitely looks the best. Thanks to power that was borrowed from a legendary digimon, Agumon is able to go into his mega form. None of the other originals are able to do this (No power left over) so they aren’t able to compete as much. As I said earlier, Matt is a very cautious guy now. He has a band, so he doesn’t have as much time as the other guys and he’s just not as cool as he was in the original show.

The Digimon Emperor is a main villain for a while, but he wasn’t a very interesting one. He can’t actually fight and he relies on his enslaved digimon to do the work for him. He builds a decently powerful digimon to aid him (Kimeramon) but it didn’t really make me like him. The Digimon Emperor definitely wasn’t that impressive.

Arukenimon and Mummymon appear later and are the main fighters for a new trio. (Their boss also can’t really fight) Arukenimon starts off as a decently mysterious being, but once Mummymon shows up they instantly become comic relief characters for the rest of the series. Mummymon’s only good scene was his first ever appearance and it was pretty epic. Another character who ends up complicating things for both sides is the legendary Black War Greymon. His power is unparalleled and he’s able to defeat several ultimate level digimon in a single attack. Tai is forced to bring back his War Greymon to combat this threat. It was a very awesome scene for fans of the original series and Black War Greymon is pretty awesome. He’s definitely my favorite digimon character of all time.

As if there weren’t enough groups running around, another group of darkness led by Daemon attacks the human world. They are after the Dark Spore and they are possibly the strongest group. (Unfortunately Black War Greymon never got to fight them. Now that would have been epic!) Daemon is very powerful and not even two ultimates and a mega level digimon are able to damage him…their strongest attacks combined couldn’t even damage him. That’s some serious power folks! Unfortunately his plot point is pretty much deserted.

The best fight in the series may have been the DigiDestined’s battle against SkullSatamon. He was a minion of Darmon and his speed was incredibly deadly. It was a very monumental battle which resulted in both generations of DigiDestined teaming up to fight him. It was pretty awesome to watch and SkullSatmon is a very powerful opponent. His skills seem to be that of a very strong Mega’s.

One plot point that I should mention, is that the new DigiDestined aren’t used to destroying digimon. In the first series, they just blew up whoever they came across. Here, the main characters don’t want to destroy any digimon (Even if they’re evil) because they are living creatures and all. It’s a pretty tough moral question since there are no jails to lock up the opponents. Also, it’s hard to defeat an enemy and not destroy them, since they typically die when they are rendered unconscious. TK, Davis, Ken, and Kari are all for destroying the evil digimon, but Yolei and Cody don’t want to do such a thing. This is a pretty big plot point and you are left to decide which viewpoint you think is correct. Personally, I would try to not destroy the digimon, but I would still fight back to save the world. I’d try to knock them out with destroying them if at all possible…but it tends to not be possible.

One thing I didn’t like that much, was that the main characters acted as if their parents didn’t know about the Digimon for a while. Most of the Earth knows about them, thanks to the first series. I didn’t agree with the whole pretending thing for this season and it would have made things much easier if they had just kept their parents in the loop. A new plot point is that there are now hundreds of DigiDestined roaming the world. They are all very weak for the most part, but the numbers add up. At least the main characters won’t be alone in their battle for justice anymore. I can’t say that I liked any of the new kids though.

The series was definitely one of the better anime out there and right from the start, you could tell that it would be great. The first episode was solid and the show has a very good soundtrack. It’s very energetic and the lyrical songs are pretty good. (For the most part) The Digivolution theme is still awesome and I never get tired of listening to it. There were several different villain groups over the course of the show and a lot of characters from the original show got to appear. The ending may be a bit sketchy, but I highly recommend checking this show out. Believe me, you won’t regret it!

Overall 8/10

Achievements
Own Whole Series

Red Review

Posted on by
4

????????

With the sequel nearly upon us, what better timing to watch Red than now right? Red plays out a bit like a James Bourne film and Frank Moses is constantly on the run. He knows how to handle himself so he’s usually not the one who’s in immediate danger. He has some partners who can be pretty tough as well.

Frank Moses has retired and he’s currently living the good life at home. He still does his daily workout but at least now there’s no pressure. He can do things at his own pace, but one day he is attacked by a hit squad. He dispatches them pretty easily, but now he needs to find out who is after him. Also he had been talking to Sarah Ross over the phone for a while and she was now a target as well. The two of them need to evade the hitmen long enough to find out what is going on.

Frank is a decent main character and for the most part he takes down just about everyone with ease. He’s very experienced at this sort of thing and we learn that he had a very legendary past. He’s made a lot of contacts over the years and they help him out. Some help in small ways and others play a very active role in helping him live through this.

Sarah is one of the other main characters of the film. While she doesn’t have any fighting experience to speak of, she takes it all pretty calmly towards the end. She did have one big fall that almost wrecked everyone’s chances, but I guess she had to make a mistake at some point. Cooper is the main antagonist of the film, but he’s technically not a bad guy. He’s just following orders (Which are pretty sketchy, then again..this is the government!) and he’s a pretty good fighter. He’s the only guy who actually gives Frank a decent fight. Cooper was one of the better characters in the film.

Joe Matheson is another ally, but I didn’t really like him. He never helped that much and his scenes just weren’t as good as the other guys. I think he could have been dropped from the film and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Victoria and Ivan were also not that great. Ivan seemed to be thrown in at the last second and all of Victoria’s character development went down the drain during her final scenes.

Marvin Boggs was a pretty strong character and he’s the only one who seemed to be even more experienced than Frank. He was the only one to notice several things that saved their lives. He’s also a pretty good shot and he’s definitely not someone that you want to underestimate. His bear was also pretty intense.

Overall, Red was better than I had expected. The action was pretty good and the soundtrack was also solid. One negative was that the romance lasted a little longer than necessary. I think that they could have cut out all of those subplots and the film would have been even more epic. Still, Red is a pretty solid action film and I’d recommend it to the average moviegoer.

Overall 6/10

Godzilla Final Wars Review

Posted on by
6


Godzilla is easily one of the most popular franchises of all time. Just about everyone knows about Godzilla and he has spawned countless parodies. (The latest one being PacZilla) Godzilla has been around since the 50’s and he’s adapted to the different ages. Back in the old days, he was a cheerful monster, but by the 90’s he grew darker to fit the culture. This is the final Godzilla movie (At the time of this article anyway) so let’s see if they did justice to his name.

Well, the film starts out with the army defeating Godzilla in the opening minutes. (I’m sure that many Godzilla fans wanted to leave the theater at that very moment) While that is a very edge way to start off the film, at least it shows that the movie is willing to take some risks. Years later, some hum-mutants are sparring in a dojo. They seem slightly stronger and a bit quicker than an average human, but that’s about it. One character almost goes too far during the training exercise and the other one seems to be the main character since he held back at the end. We learn that Kaijus are now hunted by the EDF to protect the world from their threat. They quickly take down Ebirah and we are reminded that some of the Kaiju have not aged well. If the Kaiju are unable to defend themselves from the army, they definitely live in a dangerous world.

Out of nowhere, A large array of Kaiju attack the earth. They manage to hit just about every corner of the globe and it makes you wonder when the Kaiju all learned how to work as a team….The Earth is saved by a friendly alien race. Aliens have been a very frequent plot point in Godzilla, so it was good to see them. The main characters also find out that aliens currently live among them as undercover agents. They uncover the plot, which leads to the aliens sending out all of the Kaiju. Earth counters with the Mighty Godzilla! That’s basically the story for the film. Can Godzilla take down every last kaiju!?

All right, let’s go over the human side of things first. I didn’t really care for any of the heroes. The main character had one decent moment where he attempted to punch one of the top ranked aliens, but after his attempt was effortlessly blocked, (And he didn’t attempt to continue fighting) the scene went to waste. Technically the human scenes were a lot more explosive and action packed than most Godzilla films, but I found myself missing some of the old Showa plots. The humans there knew how to have a good time even when they were in peril. The voice acting was also a lot more intense. Still, I am glad that Final Wars attempted to have some very epic human scenes. I think that the scenes are a lot better the first time around, but they’re still all right. At the very least, it’s still a fight.

The Aliens make for interesting villain. The initial leader is pretty generic and I doubt that he would have been the best choice. The guy who replaces him is pretty cool for the most part and his fight scene is the best (human one) in the film. Also, the main character looks a bit like Goku (DB Evolution) so when he fights with Kumasaka (The villain) it feels a bit like a DB Evolution sequel.

Of course, the meat of the movie is the Kaiju scenes! Not literally since they don’t get an abundance of screen time, but the monster scenes are the best part of the film. Once Godzilla is freed, the movie picks up tremendously. His opening fight with Gigan is a great way to start the monster battles. This is also my favorite incarnation of Godzilla (GMK being a close second) since he’s always ready to fight. He also doesn’t forget that the army tried to put him on ice and the movie doesn’t forget this. Godzilla seems to have gotten more skilled with his Atomic Breath and he uses it pretty frequently. It also has a lot more power than usual and the blast looks very impressive. It’s definitely the best shot that he’s ever taken. (The Meteorite shot)

Gigan got a very cool design upgrade and it made him seem that much cooler. He got several different fights in the film and he even took on the mighty Godzilla. His attack power is about average and his defense is very low, but he makes up for that with his ability to fly. Gigan’s first battle against Godzilla was definitely his highlight. Kumonga makes an appearance and I thought that it was a pretty accurate one. The outcome was how I had originally pictured his first fight against Godzilla to end up. Kamacuras gets a brief cameo, but he doesn’t look so good. At least they remembered to add him.

Zilla easily got one of the best roles in the film and I gained a lot of respect for him as a fighter. For those of you who are unaware, Zilla is the American monster who appeared in the 98 film. His intro is dynamic and he’s sent from the ship to attack Godzilla right off the bat. A great song by the name of “We Are All To Blame” plays during their battle and it still ranks as one of the best Godzilla battles of all time. Zilla’s speed is truly immense.

Hedorah gets a small cameo as well and he gets tied up with Ebirah. His fight scene wasn’t as fun as Godzilla’s and I think that he was pretty under powered. Ebirah looked pretty bad for most of the film and he actually lost to the army. Manda appears pretty early on in the film, but blink and you’ll miss him. Minya also returns, but his scenes are very boring. No cool Kaiju fights for him I’m afraid.

Godzilla’s old friends Rodan, Anguirus, and King Caesar team up to take him on. It was good to see some of the monsters try and team up to take the King down, but Godzilla was definitely far too strong for them. They’re nowhere near his level of power, so even teaming up it wouldn’t work. Anguirus can roll, but overall he’s one of the weaker monsters out there. Rodan has some pretty good flying abilities, but his attack power isn’t the best. King Caesar is pretty nimble, but his attacks seem to have no power behind them.

Mothra is the only monster to help Godzilla in this film. Once again she outshines his other friends and actually manages to take on Gigan. It’s a pretty epic scene, even if it’s a little tough to buy. A mysterious challenger attacks Godzilla as well. While I won’t say who it is, I will say that he’s pretty powerful and one of the coolest Kaiju out there.

Final Wars is definitely a film that all G fans should check out. The soundtrack for the film is pretty great and it’s easily the best Godzilla soundtrack to date. While the film missed out on four key monsters, Mecha Godzilla, Orga, Destoroyah, and Space Godzilla; They did a pretty good job making sure that most of the monsters came back. It was a great way to end the Godzilla movie series and I highly recommend it.

Overall 9/10

Achievements
Own It