Category Archives: Reviews

Dark Waters Review

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Dark Waters is a horror film that features water in a scary way. The title may have tipped you off to that part, but I hope that you’re not afraid of the substance. This film isn’t incredibly long and it’s not immensely popular, but those things don’t matter that much when you’re watching the film. The important part is whether the film was good and scary, or bad and funny!

Well, the film is about Dahlia and her daughter as they move to a new place. This home looks very shady and broken down, not to mention that the girl has a bad feeling about the place. She changes her mind after seeing the backpack. (Or getting possessed) The main character decides to move in, but her ex husband says that he’s going to sue her. He has moved to another place as well and he wants their daughter to be closer to his place. The main character plays it cool and gets her lawyer at the ready. Legal battles will become the least of her worries as the house proves to be a challenge. The residents of the floor above her are gone, but she hears strange sounds during the night.

There is always water that keeps on falling through the ceiling and damaging her apartment and the water has a tendency to come out dirty. Things get even worse when her daughter thinks up an imaginary friend, but she claims that the person is not imaginary! Is their really a ghost haunting them? Why would someone want to haunt the main character!? It looks like we’re going to find out!

Dahlia is a decent main character although she makes a lot of classic horror movie mistakes. She doesn’t really take most of the obstacles in stride, but she’s made to be an average person, not an ultimately brave hero I guess…she doesn’t look that great in the ending. She basically threw in the towel and stopped fighting for what was right. The main character definitely annoyed me in that scene and was a pretty sad way to end the film.

Her ex husband is pretty bad. We never get any proof that he’s an awful person, but there are hints through the film. The main character certainly believes this and she wouldn’t be mistaken…right? We’ve also got the lawyer who started out as a sub par character, but he ended up being a pretty good character. He’s actually pretty skilled at his trade and he doesn’t back down from a fight. He may not be a hero, but he’s as heroic as they get in this film!

The other characters are pretty unmemorable. We have the daughter who tries to fight the supernatural forces that are upon her, but it is just too much. We have the main villain, who is a casual reality warper. Unfortunately, the humans are unable to cope with this level of ability. The main villain isn’t very likable and the ending doesn’t exactly make her look good. The owner of the building is pretty tricky and he gets people to sign the lease before they can really stop themselves. I wouldn’t underestimate such a crafty fellow. He was a pretty good character, but his door man wasn’t as good. A pretty suspicious character and he makes things hard on the heroes. There are other characters up and about, but we don’t need to worry about them.

Overall, this was a decent film if you ignore the whole horror element. It barely felt like a horror film at several points and the threats were not scary. The main character had a tragic life, but it didn’t really have anything to do with the film. The horror moments couldn’t really hold up against other horror films like the Grudge or the Ring. This film definitely has a lot of drama to it and fans of the genre should like it. There isn’t really any excessive violence or scary moments that will make you want to turn away. That being said, the ending is pretty awful and does help to crush the film. If you want a legendary horror, I’d turn to Godzilla the GMK movie.

Overall 4/10

Aliens Review

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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.

You may remember my review of the first Alien film as it was only a few months ago. It was a pretty decent Alien film and while it may not be as amazing as all of the hype, it was solid. If not for the small aliens that blow people up, the score may have been even higher. Can the sequel surpass the original classic? Let’s find out!

First, I will say that the premise is excellent! “This time it’s War” is a great tagline and it does get you hyped for the film. Unfortunately, it may raise the bar a little too high for the actual film to reach. The main problem is that the film doesn’t feel like it is a war. The scientists are skeptical so once again, an unprepared team is sent out to fight the creatures. Aw man……

The plot involves Ripley as she makes it back home in one piece. Her cat appears briefly, but that’s a good thing. This film manages to avoid one crucial fact…no animals are destroyed! Awesome eh? Ripley tries to warn everyone that there are Aliens out there, but “they” (The big shots) don’t believe her. After all, a lot of families are living on the planet, so it sounds like it’s all good right? (Where were they in the first film? Well, the main character was asleep for 50 years, but even so…)

Unfortunately, they lose contact with the planet. This could only mean one thing….obviously there are no such things as aliens, so the government seems to think that it’s another country. At least, that’s the vibe that I was picking up. They convince Ripley to go along with a group of….Trained Professionals! Obviously, they’re prepared to deal with what comes up. Unfortunately, they joke around a lot and are very unlikable. “Game Over Man!” is probably the best line that’s uttered in the film.

There are quite a lot of fighters at first, but after the first major Alien scene, let’s just say that the cast is whittled down to size. Will the survivors make it off the planet or will they be the next skeletons on the planet? Ripley doesn’t plan on dying here, but things sometimes take a turn for the worst. Ripley is all right at best, but I’m not a fan of the character. She’s better than the kid, but that’s not saying much. It’s really hard to root for the gunmen and even the android isn’t a great character. The Aliens are definitely a lot more charismatic.

Were the Aliens exceptionally cool? Well, there were a lot of them, but it’s definitely quantity over quality. The Aliens go down pretty quickly when met with gunfire and dozens of them lose to one warrior. The Alien Queen is definitely a smart opponent, but I wouldn’t say that she’s much stronger than the average alien. You seemed to be having some trouble with an outdated mecha that was lying around. Still, the Aliens do have a pretty neat design for the most part.

All in all, this film was much better than the first film. One would expect a higher rating if that’s the case right? Well, sometimes things aren’t so straightforward and the ratings can get sketchy. Still, for the record, Aliens is better than Alien. The film still has it’s share of negatives including some language scattered about, the Aliens who blow people up, (I’ll never like those guys. It’s just too…graphically intense!) and a pretty Awful character roster. With all of the gross out moments that happen in the film, you’ll also want to make sure that you haven’t had lunch in a while. There’s also not much of a soundtrack to get behind, but that’s the case with most films. There were significant moments where a lot of plot hax was used, but it’s to be expected in the long run. If you liked the first film, then you’ll probably like this one. I lightly recommend it to those who want a nice adventure with aliens and “Hardcore” characters, but I wouldn’t recommend it to those who don’t like violence. If you want a true alien adventure, check out Superman vs Doomsday!

Overall 4/10

Tremors Review

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Tremors is a film that you may have heard of, but perhaps it has not been mentioned in your past. There are giant monsters creatures who are out to wreck havok and it’s up to the two main characters to stop him. Will they be able to save the world, or at least their home!? It’s crunch time!

Well, the plot involves Val and Earl as they go around helping people with small jobs. It may not be the greatest work out there, but it’s fulfilling and they’re making a difference. They decide to leave town and head for greater things, but they find a dead person. After that, people start disappearing and the monsters start to show themselves. It may be too late to leave the city and they may not even get to leave this place with their lives!

One thing that I have to note about this film is the fact that I forgot the names of the two main characters almost immediately. I can only vaguely recall them mentioning the names during the film and the characters are more memorable than their names. This may not be very surprising, but it’s still a bad sign when you can’t remember the names of the characters. I wouldn’t say that any of them were likable characters either.

They spend most of the film arguing and they tend to panic when the going gets tough. I doubt that either of them would last a few seconds against a true warrior, which brings me to Burt. Burt was definitely a solid character and I dare say that he was the best one in the film. He had a lot of ammunition and along with Heather, they managed to fend off the worms. Burt may have thrown in the towel a few times, but without his grenades and raw power, the main characters would have died out a long time ago.

There are other characters, but they don’t really do anything important. There’s a character who’s monitoring the tremors in the area and she ends up helping out against the worms. We’ve also got a teenager who keeps on messing with the main characters. There’s a pretty hardcore shop owner who’s ready to name the giant monsters as well.

Let’s talk about the giant monsters, aka, the Graboids. The Graboids may have sounded really hardcore and epic in the trailer, but there are not that cool in the film. The Graboids are very weak and a construction worker injures one by accident. The Graboid can move at a decent pace when they are underground, but they still end up getting outrun by the humans. Bullets do damage the creature if you aim at the correct spot and they will go down. Since the monster wasn’t that great, that pretty much ended the discussion on whether the film would be really cool or not.

There is also a scene where a lot of animals die and it didn’t really have any point. Once again, animals died because all horror movies need those scenes apparently. This film counts as a horror film in my book because it had giant monsters. The film does contain some pretty graphic violence and I wouldn’t recommend it to kids or the faint of heart and especially not to animal fans

Would I recommend this film to the rest of the world? I don’t think so. When a film lacks a good character cast, any noticeable soundtrack, a good monster, and has animals die for no reason; what did you think would happen? If you want to watch a true Kaiju film, check out Godzilla Final Wars! Otherwise, I’d advise you to just go buy some popcorn at the theater, but don’t watch the actual film. There isn’t really any good reason to watch this one and while it was not awful, I doubt I’ll be seeing it again.

Overall 2/10

Batman Catwoman’s Halloween Heist Review

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Well guys, Halloween is coming up, so it’s time for a Halloween themed review! It’s arguable as to who the main character is in this book, but I’d say that Batgirl may have taken the lead. Most of the plot is with her and Robin, while Batman gets a subplot that is actually more interesting. Let’s see how it played out!

Batgirl decides to go to a big Halloween Party and brings along Robin. Robin takes it in stride and he’s pretty cool for the book. He wears his costume with pride while Batgirl pretends that she only wore it because of Robin. That was definitely a mean move and she keeps trying to undermine Robin’s attempts to do some good for the world. A random guy who happens to be the son of a guy who’s diamond is stolen tries to help out during the final fight, but he’s a lousy fighter.

Oh yeah, the actual plot is that a diamond is stolen. It’s Halloween so the suspects are high. Can they find this person!? Well, Robin does most of the sleuthing himself, but Batman also figures out who the culprit was on his end. Still, this means that Robin was able to match Batman’s intellect which is no mean feat. The villain is decently tough, but I believe that Robin would have been able to win the battle on his own. They don’t call him the Boy Wonder for nothing!

This is a pretty solid book to add to your collection. It is really short and only contains around 40 pages, but this means that the book doesn’t drag on. I would certainly have liked the book to be longer, but it doesn’t really hurt the score that much. Batman was in character this time and he was the best character of the book. One drawback could be that there really aren’t any fight scenes in the book, but considering what the plot was, I hadn’t been expecting any. It’s still a minor negative and it should be noted. I’d recommend this to the average DC fan, but if you want a longer story, then I recommend checking out: Justice League: Any Arc that involves Superman.

Overall 6/10

Wait Until Dark Review

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Wait Until Dark is a pretty inspiring title. You will probably think that it’s a horror film upon first glance right? Well, this one is more of a thriller than a horror, but I suppose that you can think of it either way. This film came out decades ago, but I saw the technicolor version so it’s in color. Can this film hold up to today’s standards?

The film starts out with a guy fixing a doll and then giving it to a woman. She heads for a plane and upon getting off, she gives it to Sam. Sam takes it home and promptly loses the doll. The woman who had given him the doll is murdered and then two villains break into the Sam’s home. Another villain follows them and they make a partnership. Mike and Carlino are the two villains who team up with Harry Roat.

The plan is to find the doll because it’s got to still be in the house right? That’s what they figure, but things may get difficult. They trick Sam into leaving for the day, but they’ve still got to deal with his blind wife, Susy, and Gloria, the little kid. Instead of bumping them off the old fashioned way, they decide to take advantage of Susy’s blindness and trick her into giving them the doll. They’ve just overlooked one thing…she doesn’t know where the doll is! Will Suzy find the doll and stop the fiends?

Well, Susy is the main character and since Sam isn’t one of the greatest characters out there, she’s really on her own. Gloria is around for moral support, but to quote a smart man in Megaman Axess, “What can you kids do?” I believe that the man put it in the best phrasing of words possible. He may have been proven wrong seconds later, but at least he talked a good game. Susy is a decent character I suppose, but the terror of the moment does pretty much consume her several times.

Gloria is a pretty annoying character and her first moment brought her down the ranks. She just couldn’t recover from such a sad display of emotion and lack of control. Sam…..he’s not a good character either. I had my suspicions during his first few appearances, but they were confirmed towards the climax. After realizing that his wide is in trouble, he tries to slow down the police from entering the building. “Take it easy!” he says to them, which was definitely odd considering the circumstances. Sam never even got to take on the villains and wasn’t impressive.

Mike was easily the best character from the three villains. He was pretty smart and he was able to take on Harry Roat during the beginning. He definitely felt like he was the most professional and he was pretty epic towards the ending. He and Carlino thought of a pretty Brilliant plan to take someone out, but we never learn exactly how they were going to do it. Carlino definitely wasn’t as good, but he’s all right I suppose. He’s a little overweight, not very smart, and comic relief, so there’s definitely a few stereotypes in there. We’ve also got Harry Roat, who was a decent villain. The only problem is that he loses sight of his objectives and he takes too long to finish the job. He does seem to be pretty smart, but I don’t think that he could take on Mike in a fair fight. His weapon of choice was interesting…but wouldn’t have made it against stronger opponents.

Overall, this is a decent thriller film. It’s not my favorite since it doesn’t hold up quite as well as some of the other old movies. I believe that Susy had a hard time carrying her own film and that probably hurt the overall strength of the film a little. When a person is blind, there will always be a lot of belief suspension needed to believe that she can actually fight/outsmart the villains. Mike was the most entertaining character and especially during the beginning piece, but the others were only okay. So, I’m sure that you’ll like it if you want to see a retro thriller film, but if you want to feel true terror…..Check out Final Fantasy The Spirits Within!

Overall 4/10

Tsubasa Review

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Tsubasa is a pretty well known anime/manga. It’s created by Clamp which is an instant plus for many people. To think that Clamp would make a shounen series that featured a lot of intense action was a little out there right? Angelic Layer had some amazing fights as well, but this time the stakes were real. This anime doesn’t play out like an average shounen, so can it stand the test of time?

Well, the main plot stays for the entire series, but the subplots change according to each world. I’m getting a little ahead here so let’s go back. The series starts out with Cardcaptor Sakura and Li Syaoran as they’re in a desert world. Sakura seems to get possessed and ancient symbols of magic appear. Sakura floats into the air and then loses her wings as Syaoran saves her. Out of portals that seem to lead to another dimension, mecha guards with claws attack them. Good thing that we have a magician and a swordsman to back them up. The magician tells Syaoran to leave the planet and help Sakura. They do the only natural thing that could be done in this situation and escape the entire dimension.

One thing that I’ve got to mention is the fact that episode 1 was extremely good. It’s still one of the best episodes in the series and was a great way to start off the series. Not only was the episode fast paced, but a lot of things happened. The villains appeared (With an Awesome theme!) and acted pretty tough. They’ve got a nice plan that they won’t actually reveal for the entire series, but everyone likes a little mystery right? We also get to see glimpses of two other dimensions as Fai and Kurogane also leave their dimensions. Kurogane was forced out while Fai went willingly.

Again, I must stress that this is only the first episode! While things do slow down from this point, that was the perfect way to start off the series and must be one of the best series premieres out there. I really can’t think of many that could top this one. (Yugioh Zexal II (If you count it) could stack up against this one) Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, and Fai are the main characters of the series so let’s go into some detail about them.
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The four of them meet the Space Witch who agrees to let them travel the dimensions, but at a cost. Syaoran wants to find all of Sakura’s memories that have turned into feathers and scattered across the dimensions. His price is the fact that Sakura can never remember the good ole times they had in the past, so Syaoran will be permanently cut out of her memories. Syaoran pays the price so he’s all set on that end.

Fai’s price is the seal on his back because it means a lot to him. Without the seal, Fai has decided not to use magic anymore. Kurogane is forced to give up his legendary sword and with that, all three prices have been paid. Sakura is unconscious, so she doesn’t have to actually pay a toll. The four of them head off with Mokona (A being who can travel across dimensions, sense emotions, and has around 107 techniques) to other dimensions. Mokona can sense if a feather (memory) is nearby and once they have found all of the feathers in the dimension, then they will head off to another dimension.

All right, now we’ve got our formula for the series! At first, Kurogane is really just tagging along because he can’t really do anything about it, but he comes around eventually. Fai is always extra cheerful, but it seems to be an act part of the time. Syaoran is really all business and he’ll do anything to get the feathers back. Sakura starts the series as a pretty weak character for a while, but whenever she gets a feather, more of her strength returns to her.

I can’t get into every dimension that they travel to, but I’ll mention some of the big ones. In one dimension, they head to a world where people can use the powers of Kudan! It’s essentially a way to summon animals and use elemental powers. Syaoran meets a guy named Shogo and they have some battles. This is the first dimension that they travel too, so they’re still a little rusty. Syaoran is definitely the best character at this point and he definitely intends to get all of the feathers back.

One scene that may be notable is the fact that Syaoran says that he’ll get the feather back no matter what. The feather is stuck inside one of the monsters, but Syaoran rips it out. He didn’t seem to care if the guy died, since the feather was the only thing that mattered. Perhaps, he cared a little bit, but not enough that he would pause in his quest. This was a pretty good dimension and a nice place to start things off.

Next up, they go to a dimension where evil dictators have harnessed the powers of the feather. (Did I mention that Sakura’s feathers are immensely powerful objects that have nearly unlimited power?) Syaoran and his friends go to stop these fiends and the battles commence. This arc possibly had even more action than the Kudan part and I’d say that it was more interesting. While Syaoran takes on the dictator and his son, Fai and Kurogane battle Kiishimu. Kiishimu is a witch whose abilities have never been seen in their entirety. Needless to say, she’s a pretty powerful opponent. Fai could possibly have defeated her with ease, but he has vowed never to use magic.
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Oto Country is one of the next dimensions that they travel too and it’s pretty exciting for several reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that the plot seems to finally advance. This dimension has demons and the stakes enter their highest at the time. Kurogane teaches Syaoran how to fight with a sword and they take on many demons. Syaoran wields a fire sword while Kurogane wields a blue sword. A mysterious figure shows up and the plot really starts to thicken.

The man seems to know Syaoran and he’s also after the feathers. He manages to grab one and we find out that he can cross dimensions at will. This makes it virtually impossible to trap him and finding him could definitely be tough. He fights with Fai, Syaoran, and Kurogane in three separate battles. Let’s just say that one character may not have completely made it through that part. This guy definitely makes for a compelling villain and he was a pretty solid character. His sword has a very cool design and he’s possibly the strongest character at this point in the series.

Season one ends with a decent episode that wasn’t great, but it did have a nice battle at the end. For those who don’t read the manga, it may seem like a really important episode since Fei Wang sends his army in to take Syaoran and friends down. Fai and Kurogane stay back to stop the minions while Syaoran and Sakura make it to the top floor of the temple. Can Syaoran defeat the leader of the assassins? It definitely makes for a pretty epic fight and the episode was a nice way to end the season.

One of the dimensions that they visit in season two is a place where there’s a huge library. We finally see Kurogane’s origin and learn more about his reason for fighting. He has a debt to settle and he intends to settle it soon. This planet is pretty important since Fai also makes a crucial decision. Syaoran also starts to feel the influence of the other Syaoran a little more.

Quickly, I should talk about that part. Part of Fei Wang’s ultimate plan seems to involve Syaoran as he has a (Clone?) Syaoran locked away in a water tube. This Syaoran is able to take control of the other Syaoran from time to time and he seems to be a little…meaner! Beyond that, Fei Wang and his partner never reveal what their true plan is so I hope you like mysteries. We never learn why they want the feathers or why they just want to wreck Syaoran’s life.

Finally, the series ends with a dimension that involves royalty. Chaos is the King and he believes that Sakura should travel with him instead of Syaoran and friends. He has dozens of feathers and he can travel across dimensions. Obviously, he’s more qualified to help her on the quest right? Syaoran and friends don’t think so, but he is able to defeat all three of them. They put up a decent fight, but this is the final boss of the series! He’s immensely powerful and he seems to outrank them all in everything. With everything on the line, can Syaoran defeat this guy!?

Those are just some of the dimensions that Syaoran and friends visit during their travels so I recommend watching the series to see the rest. The animation is very good for the series and it holds up well. The soundtrack is dynamite and it has some really good themes in there. There are 3-4 different opera type music that I like a lot and we even get a battle theme. The villain theme is certainly the best in the series and you’ll find yourself looking to Youtube so that you can continue to listen to it.

Syaoran is a solid character and definitely someone that you can root for. He has several plot twists (As with everyone else) but none of them take away from the fact that he’s a good character. His fighting skills are pretty good and they keep on improving as the series goes on. The fact that there is another Syaoran is definitely an interesting plot point that may have been left hanging, but it was still epic.

Fai has a very high degree of magical ability, but since he decided not to use it anymore so we don’t really get to see his abilities in action. Even without them, Fai has shown that he’s very proficient at hand to hand combat. He tends to give Kurogane a hard time, but he’s pretty nice to everyone. He jokes around the most and Mokona always helps him. He seems to have a dicey past, since he has sealed someone away and had to hide by escaping the dimension. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t return, but it’s a good concept.

Kurogane is the tough guy who has a lot of battle experience. He’s been wielding a blade for a while and he really just wants to go back home. The Princess of the land banished him from the dimension since he was hurting too many people and also cursed him. Whenever Kurogane destroys someone, he loses a bit of his power, which can definitely be distressing. Kurogane is definitely a solid character and he gets more friendly with the others as the series goes on.

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There are several other characters who are pretty solid, but they’re scattered through the dimensions. Chaos and the other guy who could cross dimensions definitely made for some solid villains. The mysterious figure vanished and we never saw him again, so that plot should be interesting.

So, the only negative to the series would probably be the fact that most of the plots don’t end. The series ends with nothing being resolved and feels like it was cancelled. There is a sequel in the form of an OVA, and you can see the rest by checking out the manga, but it’s sad for those who were stuck with the anime. Even so, the anime is definitely solid and having an open ending could be a nice change of pace.

I wouldn’t really say that there are any other negatives. The soundtrack is great, the animation is superb, the characters are fun, and the series is over 50 episodes. Some of the characters may have some mild romance, but it’s really mild so you can ignore it for the most part. I highly recommend checking the series out. Since I own the series, I’ll likely be watching it again in the future. It’s the perfect anime for those who want fights, but a deep plot to go along with it.

Overall 8/10

Bakugan Defenders of The Core Review

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Bakugan has spawned several video games in the past and I am proud to say that I own them all. I did not review the first game as it was before I started reviewing games, but it was great. The second game had a very solid battle style, but I deducted points since it was so short. Finally, we have this one. The gameplay is completely different from the previous installments, which could definitely pose a problem. Was the game fun anyway? I suppose that it’s time for us to find out!

You play as an original character who looks very similar to the guy from the first game. I like to think that it’s the same guy, but that would present some plot problems. Nonetheless, he becomes a pretty good character by the end of the game, but never becomes as exciting as the hero of the first game. The main character uses Drago and the game starts you off with a bang! Dan has challenged you to a brawl and he’s using Maxus Drago, the ultimate Bakugan monster. Things go haywire and the main character is sent to an alternate dimension!

The characters have the same personalities, but they seem to be a lot weaker. Dan has no idea who Maxus Drago is and he just uses the standard version. The Vexos have been attacking the planet and they’ve kidnapped/taken control of nearly every monster. Drago escapes and the main character uses him to fight the villains. Will one monster be enough to stop everyone else?

The other characters aren’t able to help in this battle since the Vexos have created a way to make them unable to brawl. Dan and friends can only watch as the main character takes on legions of villains by himself. Will the main character be able to defeat them all, or is it a lost cause already?

The actual story mode is pretty short and you’ll probably finish it in under 4 hours. This game definitely wasn’t created for its length, but that’s a small downer. I won’t be taking major points off for that since the content that’s in the game is really fun. The actual story mode never drags on and while the graphics aren’t the greatest, the character designs are good. The villains are fairly uninteresting although Spectra isn’t bad. At least he had a cool design to back him up.

Let’s get into the gameplay, which is the meat of the game. The gameplay is definitely similar to the classic DBZ BT series, but with giant monsters. You’re in complete 3D environments and you knock the opponents out with solid combos and energy blasts. One critical part of the battle is the blocking factor. You can usually block in a fighting game, but Bakugan takes it to the next level. You can block just about any attack and quickly start your counter.

Why do we care? Well, this really means that you’ve got to stay alert at all times. When two fighters are taking random swings at each other, there can be many different block/counters in a single barrage. Your reflexes need to be in top shape to handle this. The concept was definitely risky, but I’d say that it payed off. It makes the battles a little more exciting. Each Kaiju monster gets two cards to help him out during the fight. Usually, you’ll have some sort of energy blast and a large combo, or a barrier. Once you’ve built up enough energy, you can go ahead and use the card. They aren’t a huge factor, but they can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

The game has many positives, but replay value may be an issue. The gameplay is awesome so you’ll always have fun through multiplayer, but if you’re playing by yourself, then it may get old. The A.I. isn’t especially difficult and there really isn’t anything to do once you’ve gotten all of the items in Story Mode. You’ll eventually come to the point where there’s really no reason to play. Replay Value may hurt the game a little, but multiplayer is the important part.

I definitely have a soft spot for the Bakugan franchise. With this game out of the way, I only have one game in the series that I need to play. The first three games were very good so the fourth will have big shoes to fill. Considering that it’s a Bakugan game, I doubt that it will present much of a problem. The soundtrack for this game is pretty good and while it’s not up to par with the first one, it’s definitely good enough. I’d highly recommend buying this one as soon as you can. It may not last you as long as a Final Fantasy game, but it’s just so fun that you need to play it. Such a great experience just can’t be missed when the price isn’t even so high. I enjoyed the game so much that I even went and got the Platinum!

Overall 8/10

Family Game Night 4 The Game Show Review

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Family Game Night is a pretty fun franchise since you can just jump in and start playing the games. You don’t need to worry about entering really hard levels or wondering where you are up to in the plot. That being said, there aren’t a lot of minigames to choose from, which means that the game won’t have as much replay value as other games that focus on recreational activities. I’ll talk about each of the games and then we’ll see how the game stacks up.

First, let’s talk about Connect 4 Basketball! The game is pretty fun, but the aiming can be difficult to master. One problem is that the balls are launched pretty quickly, which means that many players may just fire 4 balls into the same spot as quickly as they can. It’ll become more of a speed battle than a battle of wits at that point. I guess that would be where the tricky aiming would come into play. It’s a decently fun game, but it’s not something that will hold your interest for a very long time. That being said, it is my second favorite game in the video game.

Next up, we have Sorry! Sliders. This one is my least favorite from the batch. I’ve never been a fan of the game, (I do like the Sorry! game though) and it takes a lot longer to finish a round than the others. The controls are simple enough and the computers usually won’t do so well, but this game is meant to be a multiplayer experience anyway. Still, I would recommend skipping this minigame.

Another game on the list is Yahtzee! Bowling. I’m not a huge fan of this minigame either. The actual card part is fun since it’s essentially Poker. Poker is one of the best card games and the rules are simple, but effective. The bowling is really unnecessary and doesn’t really add anything to the game. It just ends up slowing everything down and making the minigame less enjoyable. The game is all right, but relies heavily on luck and that doesn’t really translate well into a video game.

We also have Bop It! Boptagon. This one is easily one of the best minigames and I’d say that it may have the second most replay value. It’s essentially “Simon Says” as you follow the commands that are on the screen. This one does take concentration as the sudden lights can make you pick something that you weren’t planning on picking. Your reflexes actually work against you in this game which is a nice change of pace. If you are buying this video game, I would assume that this minigame is the main reason for your purchase.

Finally, we have Scrabble Flash. This game is my personal favorite out of the bunch. Picking out the words hidden among the letters can actually be pretty challenging. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart and it takes a good vocabulary. Some of the words may seem obvious, but others can be extremely difficult to pick out. This game never really gets old and has a great level of replay value.

Those are all of the minigames that are in Family Game Night. You can challenge the Game Show, but it’s basically just a mode that lets you play all five of the minigames. You should do it for the PS3 trophies, but there’s not much of a point to play it otherwise. The animation for the game is sub par at best and I would say that there are many Nintendo 64 games that show more heart. The mascot can be extremely annoying and is essentially a Mario that went wrong.

This definitely wouldn’t be the highest game on my list to recommend, but if you want to check it out…by all means. It’s certainly not the worst game that you could get and it’s much better than Family Game Night 3. This can be a fun little game to play with your friends or to use as a way to relax. That being said, if you want to play a real Party game, check out Mario Party 4!!

Overall 6/10

Pokemon Genesect and the Legend Awakened Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 8/10

Paranormal Activity Review

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Paranormal Activity is a pretty famous horror film and it’s almost considered a household name at this point. I believe that I can safely say that every big horror fan has seen it at this point. I’d definitely heard of the film, but I’d never gotten around to seeing it before. Could it match up against the Ring or the Grudge? Let’s find out!

Disclaimer time! This review is of the edited version that you may come across on TV, which edits out the language and tones the film down to an acceptable rating. Naturally if I were reviewing the uncut version, the score would be lower. Either way that’s an impossibility since I don’t watch R rated films. Now back to the review!

Paranormal Activity uses a shaky camera which is always a bad sign when you really think about it. Maybe it adds a sense of horror to the movie, but I think that you don’t need to have a camera to generate that effect. I’ve never been a fan of the whole shaky camera technique and it may have wrecked Cloverfield. That being said, it worked well for the scenes where it wasn’t moving, but was left on the tripod. Night vision always looks pretty intense in movies.

It’s still intense how they were able to do the whole film inside the house and in the backyard. That could have gotten old if a lot of films had done this already, but it’s so unique that it was fun. I didn’t really find myself missing the outside world at any point. Considering the low budget that the film had, this one definitely did well. This is why we really don’t need to have huge budgets to make a decent film.

The main characters are Katie and Micah. Katie is worried because a demon has been following her around for a long time. We don’t know how long the demon has been following her, (Not at the beginning anyway) but we can safely say that it has been for a while. She decided not to tell Micah for a while, but now he knows…and he’s ready! Micah thinks he’s ready at any rate, but how can you beat an invisible, intangible demon?

Well, this demon isn’t very fast, which definitely helps Micah’s case, but it’s also supernaturally strong. Micah uses powder to follow the demon’s movements, but Katie believes that he’s letting them follow his tracks. The demon even leaves clues for them to follow which is pretty thoughtful of him.

Katie calls in a Professor/Doctor type of fellow, but he’s no help. He senses how disturbing the whole affair is and quickly dashes out. We don’t see him again and it’s safe to say that he may have survived this ordeal. Sometimes the tactical retreat option actually works, but I can’t say that it made me like the character.

Katie and Micah panic a lot, but I guess it’s to be expected. I can’t say that I liked either character, but when do I like the main characters of a horror film? Micah was able to overpower the demon at one point, but did the demon just let him think that? Also, you do have to ask several questions. “Is Katie the demon?” It may not seem like it at first, but she does have moments where she will go in a trance. Perhaps she just gets possessed once in a while or maybe she’s finally cracked. During the ending where she yells and the Micah goes to help, I think that the demon may have just been sending him into a trap. Katie did mention that the demon may have left a trap for them earlier in the film. The demon may be more cunning than we realize.

The ending is pretty epic and while Micah doesn’t look so good, it’s to be expected. I like to think that he put up a decent fight, but it’s possible that he went down without dealing much damage. Since we are stuck with the camera, we have to miss out on the intense fight. The ending definitely shows that the demon is in control, but we’ve still got to consider the Katie is a demon theory. It would explain how her picture got into the attic, maybe she put it there? Either way, if she isn’t the demon, it doesn’t matter. The demon can possess people whenever it wants and there’s no defense against the supernatural powers that it possesses. If only the military had gotten involved!

So, in the end this was a pretty good horror film. I’d say that it wasn’t nearly as creepy or scary as The Grudge or The Ring, but it would be hard to top those 2 in that area. No animals get taken down for the count which is shocking, but definitely epic. I can see why many people like the series and I recommend it for horror fans. That being said, you should definitely watch out for the shaky camera!

Overall 5/10