Crime Story Review

Posted on August 18, 2024 by dreager1

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

It’s time for a Jackie Chan film that was actually rather serious. I was on the fence about whether this would get a score or not since it’s based on true events. The names were all changed around and it seemed like it was lose enough though so I decided to just go with it. It’s definitely a reasonably solid film for most of the run but makes enough mistakes to keep it treading water in the middle. You’ve got a good amount of action here but the main character can be rather annoying with how much he puts up with the whole time. The villains definitely needed to get beaten up sooner.

Mr. Wong is a pretty wealthy guy and he has a lot of disputes with his workers over the conditions. He has reason to believe that he will soon be kidnapped and asks for police protection for when this happens. Unfortunately the cops don’t really believe him. Chan is put on as Wong’s bodyguard but he also thinks that the threat isn’t very tangible so he doesn’t take things as seriously as he should. At one point Wong is being followed by a car and asks for help but Chan thinks it’s just some disgruntled workers at first. Chan still does go over to help but it’s too late and Wong is gone. Chan must now find him before the villains do something drastic but can he pull the trigger as needed?

See, Chan is dealing with some PTSD from an earlier case. He was chasing a bunch of crooks through the city and they were just not cooperating so in self defense Chan ended up shooting. There were fatalities and in a way he blames himself although I would say he handled the mission well. Look, sometimes people are gonna die, that’s pretty much inevitable in this kind of situation especially when the crook isn’t stopping. Of course you want to aim for a leg so it’s not fatal but when the crooks also have a gun then that’s game over.

We have a bit of a subplot where Chan works with a counselor to try and get him through the distress. She’s a fun character and the whole time you’re wondering if she’s connected a bit deeper into the film. It’s just good acting in the end but she has such a big emphasis early on that the jaded part of you figures this is some kind of a trap. Either way this is part of why Chan doesn’t just mess everyone up because he’s a little more reserved than usual. He still does all of the usual parkour and running around but isn’t firing off the shots as quickly.

That’s fine, it takes time to get over trauma but what I didn’t like is how he takes so much abuse from the villains. At one point he is questioning a suspicious lady who has been seen with the corrupt cop Mr. Hung. While he is there, the guys minions are tripping Chan, shoving him, etc. They really mess with the guy and go for the ultimate disrespect and Chan just keeps on trying to run out of there. After a point you need to just beat these guys up straight away. There are a lot of ways you could promote this as self defense and if you think the force is too corrupt for this then you just have to hide the villains afterwards.

It was just annoying how he was a punching bag for so long there. I also think he could have handled the situation with Hung a whole lot better. Chan had his suspicions from the start but no proof so he sort of waited and bided his time. The problem with this is that it buys Hung a lot of time to do things. By all accounts Chan should have been dead in this film several times. It’s why you gotta be proactive and make a move based on your gut. The only time Chan really did this was when he roughed up a witness for a while despite everyone warning him not to. That was definitely a good move.

Meanwhile Hung doesn’t make for a great main villain. He may not be the head honcho but he has the biggest role because of his connection with the cops. The guy is a fairly high ranking official so everyone believes him with all of his false information. The guy does a whole lot of damage the whole time and you’re waiting for the heroes to take him out. I will at least give the guy props for his confidence because he really swindles the heroes like a champ even when they could have potentially called his bluff several times. Confidence is the first step towards messing everyone up after all.

He has this random toxic relationship with a girl who shows up a few times during the film. Unfortunately all this does is weaken the film as a whole. The whole affair in the elevator is rather crazy and didn’t have much of a purpose here. I won’t say the relationship itself is unrealistic because you could totally picture this being the case but it’s definitely not something that the film needed. We already knew that Hung was not a good guy and even if this was meant to drum up the slightest bit of sympathy for the guy and why he wanted more money, it definitely didn’t work.

The only one you really feel bad for here is Wong’s wife who is doing her best to comply with the demands and get her husband to safety. It’s just not an easy position to be in and that’s before you consider the corrupt cop and everything going on. All she knows is the cops don’t have a great game plan and keep leading her on a wild goose chase. She does everything she can to save her husband so I would definitely call her the best character in the film.

The film has some good action like I mentioned before and I think that’s something the film should have leaned on a bit harder. Give us more action scenes and solid athletics. That would have helped to also establish Chan as a better main character if he was fighting a lot. Toss the club scene and a few small rewrites would make this solid right off the gate. The film does keep your interest but you see all of the missed potential throughout the movie.

Overall, Crime Story is a film that has a lot of good moments and solid action throughout but definitely gets weakened by the lower points of the film. The whole scene of Chan being hazed at the club was just awful and made no sense. He was too slow to make a move and the toxic relationship with Hung was just wasting valuable screentime. The writing itself isn’t bad and there’s some decent pacing here but in the end these issues definitely start to add up and keep the film from reaching its full potential. I would sooner recommend most of Jackie Chan’s other films.

Overall 5/10

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Review

Posted on August 17, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to jump back into the world of the rankings. The first season was fun with a lot going on and some pretty dynamic fights. The cast may not be the strongest but the show still holds its own. That said, this one is more like a mini season so that does put it in a bit of a tricky place right out of the gate. Could the season win without a big story? Well, I found it fun enough so I would say it was still good. The first season definitely wins without a doubt but at least since we know the characters by now, they were able to hold their own stories without too much trouble. The 10 episodes definitely go by real quickly so in a lot of ways this really does feel like a mini season even aside from the story.

I’ll jump into each segment and talk about them so you get a feel for the stories. That’s always the most enjoyable way to review an anthology after all and it gets you right into the thick of things! The only exception to this is the final episode where it actually continues the story and works like a preview of what the next full season will be like. I thought that was a real interesting touch so I was glad to see that. It ends the season off on a really strong note which is definitely what you’re looking for here.

The first short in the series shows us once again why Kage is such a great character. He’s looking for an herb that he needs for Boji’s mentor and yet he can’t help but stop to assist an old lady who needs him. He performs each and every chore even while he is super busy and you have to acknowledge his good strength of heart here. Ultimately the good deed pays for itself and things work out but he was willing to help out with no reward which is always good. He’s definitely one of the most heroic characters.

In the next story we had Boji and Kage get tasked to raise a ton of money. They come up with a genius plan to have people try to throw rocks at Boji and he needed to dodge. They racked up a lot of money this way but ultimately needed to give most of it away to a poor kid who needed their help. Another instance of Boji and Kage being good heroes here so I can appreciate that. The town’s not in the best shape so I imagine that a lot of people there are in a rough spot. Hopefully they can keep helping everyone out, one spot at a time.

After that we get to see how their heroism can sometimes put them in dicey situations. They didn’t realize that a bunch of bandits were villains and just thought they were people down on their luck. Kage and Boji got suckered rather easily but at least they are strong enough where they can win the fights without any trouble. So ultimately that helps to reduce the damage from all of this. I can’t blame them too hard for being super kind hearted when they have the power to get out of a jam on their own after all. It’s a nice enough story and we got some action in this time.

We also had a short involving a desert but the tough part about having 3 shorts in one episode instead of 2 is that one will really get the shaft. That was the case here as there wasn’t much time for anything. We had a nice feels moment with the monster but that’s about it. I would probably consider this to be the weakest short in the season. There just isn’t much to absorb or talk about here.

After that was a fun one though as Hiling is getting ready to mount a counterattack to take back the kingdom. So she heads off and finds out of her friends. So the friend agrees to help if Hilling saves the day first. It’s a nice team up and this is also a good place to mention to you that the setting of the episode changes each time. So some take place at the end of the series, some before the series, etc. So definitely something to really keep in mind here. Obviously this plot would not make sense if Boji was already the king. It was good to see Hilling as the main character, she tends to be fun.

We also have a short special with Daida learning some basic healing magic and helping Boji out when the lead gets hurt. You can tell it’s not going to be Daida’s forte so I wouldn’t expect to see him doing anything crazy with healing in the future but every bit certainly helps. This one felt fairly short, not a whole lot is going on here. So it’s not bad, but won’t hook your interest particularly well next to some of the other episodes.

Then we get one about Ouken and the Desha/Despa brothers. We already saw a lot of this in the main series so this is really a way to expand upon it a bit. They each got super abilities from their father but they aren’t perfectly balanced. One of them is immortal, one has super strength/magic, and I forget what the final one has. Maybe intelligence? He’s not really a fighter but is a good teacher. Either way I always like seeing the Underworld, it’s established pretty well in the series and always makes for a good episode.

The next one actually continues the plot in a lot of ways. Ouken’s friend Fren decides to search for a cure to the immortality and goes on a whole quest. He takes on a lot of dangers and threats as he searches for a lead. Ultimately he is able to get some intel which will set up the cure/next steps for a future arc. Fren was definitely loyal and you always want someone like that in order to have your back during a pinch. So this was another fun one.

We have another weak one coming up sadly. In this one, the horse that Despa owns has gotten really fat. So the mission is to have him lose weight and this starts to work when the horse sees a girl horse that he likes. Unfortunately for him it turns out that she already has someone. The guy is absolutely crushed and gains all of the weight back. It’s why if you are going to change something or set a personal goal, it needs to be for you. Otherwise you will inevitably get disheartened at some point and will lose all progress. You can’t let it get to that point so the ending is actually a rather sad one. It also just feels like straight up filler since the episode ends as it started so they could have done more here or had a better message.

After that is an origin episode for Hokuro. Hokuro really wanted to be a knight. Someone who would be able to watch over Boji and keep the kingdom safe. Unfortunately he isn’t very strong but the guy does know sign language which ends up helping him out. Without that you know that Hokuro would have been tossed out, so his instincts of wanting to be able to communicate with Boji were good ones. Ultimately he did as well as he could, but personally I would not have recommended him to be a soldier. He has a good story of course but there is not much point in a soldier who cannot protect his king.

Then we have two shorts that don’t have a ton of plot but are excuses to really see what is going on in the kingdom. We have one where Boji helps out a lot of different people while he still misses Kage. Life just isn’t the same on his own. Boji is a king though and I want to say that the point is that he still continues to help people and fulfills his duties rather than running out of the kingdom on a wild goose chase to find his friend. Meanwhile Daida’s short is rather similar. He is working to rebuild the kingdom but a lot of people still don’t trust him. He was just too evil and possessed for too long. So he takes it slow and in the meantime continues training with the Big 4. So he’s doing his best but it’s just a long road.

We get a story about how Bebin trained hard so that he wouldn’t be so much weaker than the other members of the big 4. He had good technique but completely lacked power and so as he got desperate he would make more and more mistakes that would really come back to bite him. It definitely put him in quite the tough bind but ultimately he got better at using his techniques after some formal training. I still don’ really see him beating any of the other members of the Big 4 but at least now it’s definitely a lot closer. He certainly made a lot of progress.

My favorite short in the series was definitely when the Big 4 are challenged to a game of arm wrestling. It should be an easy thing for them and yet they are getting absolutely dominated for most of the episode. It’s pretty crazy especially because there weren’t any big gimmicks here. Yes, the guy they were fighting was a master of the craft and knew how to use his leverage but at the end of the day it was still his strength that was proving to be superior. It was extremely impressive the whole time. I was glad that the heroes finally started working together but the Big 4 definitely did lose a good amount of hype here. This short easily had the most amount of hype behind it.

We get a story Kage’s mom and how she raised Kage right. He used to get picked on by the local kids and everything but instead of worrying about that, he still just had a good time. When villains would attack, Kage ended up saving them. He’s definitely someone you can count on in a pinch and he has certainly saved Boji many times at this point. It’s a nice little short even if it does make the town look rather mean and corrupt as always.

King Bosse gets a segment to go more in depth on his having Boji. We already saw part of this in the show but this way it’s a little extended. He has to fight off all kinds of enemies but in the back of his head he still knows his own guilt. At the end of the day, he made a deal that was not worth it and has been paying ever since. He would only get worse as the series went on unfortunately. I still don’t like King Bosse and probably never will with how drastic he got. At best you could say that he is a very imposing villain with his high levels of raw power and all but in the end this isn’t going to be enough to start rehabilitating his overall character. The guy doesn’t really get any sympathy from me.

Miranjo had a segment with her as a kid running around with the kid demon. The little thing was real afraid of her back then but since she was a kid i’s not like she could totally tell and so she chased him for a while. It’s a nice look at things before she got ultra depressed with everything going really badly for her. A lot of characters here had pretty tough backgrounds which definitely do not excuse their later actions but at least it’s nice to see some happy times occurred.

The final segment is about Boji giving some gifts to all of his friends. It’s a pretty solid way to end the season since it ties into the treasure chest and everything. You get to say your final goodbyes to all of the characters as well which is nice. Of course this wouldn’t literally be the last episode but in a way it’s the last episode of the arc so either way it works out pretty well. It’s a low key episode of course but it’s nice seeing all of the characters again. It could be a while before we see any of them again.

Now like I said this brings us to the final episode where things get real intense. The next #1 king has been chosen at last but of course we know that things never go well for the top king. He always seems to vanish. So why even go through with the process? Well, Desha is still trying to cure the curse of immortality on his brother and so this is a risk he has to take. We get to wrap up that plotline here and in general the episode feels rather fast paced. It keeps up some mysteries to be sure but you know this will be a pretty interesting plot that’s going to keep on going. The gods may feel a bit nerfed right now but I suppose we can assume that this was the weakest one or something like that. You always feel like King Bosse should be the only one able to take these guys out.

The heroes may regret not asking for help from Boji and Daida but I get why they wouldn’t want to be asking the kingdom for help every time something happens. They need to be able to hold their own in a pinch after all and that’s completely valid. Desha is also no slouch in the power department, he looked really good in season 1 after all so it’s not like you would assume that he could be defeated. Power itself doesn’t seem to be much of a counter for the price of the king’s reward but in the back of your head you would probably feel pretty secure about the whole thing.

The animation for the show is okay. It’s certainly below average compared to most titles but we do get one solid looking fight in the very final episode. More of a quick cut than the full fight but close enough. The show has always gone for an intentionally simplified look and I’m not the biggest fan of it but it could still work for those fights. We just need more movement and everything here along with some nice/colorful special abilities.

As for the soundtrack the tunes are basically the same as in season 1. They’re not super dynamic but they’re okay. They feel nostalgic while watching the show at least. Nothing that I would be likely to Youtube afterwards or anything like that though. The theme song could definitely stand to be a lot more exciting though. It’s all just so mellow and everything. I want the theme song to embrace more of how crazy the show can be with demons and gods running around. It may not be the tone the show is totally going for but I think it would work well.

Right now the technical elements aren’t doing a whole lot to back up the show itself and that’s what has got to change here. Lets pump the show up with a bit more hype. The world building is already there after all, we just need to make it all a lot more hype. This is more of a wishlist for season 2 at this point I suppose. Nothing wrong with just being a good show of course, but I know this could be a great show.

Overall, The treasures season was fun enough. There may not be much stakes or plot progression for most of the season but the stories themselves were solid enough to hold your attention. So I didn’t have any real complaints here. I think it went about as far as it could with this format and not being able to jump far ahead just yet. Fans of the first season should check this out to see all of the old characters again while people who have not jumped into the franchise just yet will not really have any reason to do so. This is really an experience for the fans compared to season 1 which is easier for everyone to just jump into. Hopefully the actual season 2 comes sooner than later.

Overall 6/10

The Asphalt Jungle Review

Posted on August 15, 2024 by dreager1

Now it’s time for a pretty fun noir title. It’s definitely got its share of intrigue, drama, and emotional beats. So on the whole it’s really the definition of being an all around complete title. I tend to enjoy heist films like this that have a lot of story and planning going on in the background. You can bet that none of the characters can afford to let their guards down for even a moment or it’s all over.

The movie starts by introducing us to Doc who has finally left jail. He was there for a long time but now he is free to terrorize the world once more. He doesn’t do this with violence though, instead he goes and uses his wits. So he’s got a full proof plan to rob a bank and make 500K but he needs a team to do this and someone to come up with the funds. He meets up with a guy called Cobby who knows a rich guy named Alonzo. Alonzo says he can handle the money part but Doc doesn’t trust him. So Doc asks Dix, to keep an eye out as he’s the only one that can really be trusted. Dix is the strong man of the group and assures Doc that nobody will be messing with his future money. Now it’s time for the crew to try and strike it rich, but do they have what it takes?

In a lot of ways this might be the easiest heist for a heist film. I wouldn’t say the villains ever have any real resistance. For the most part they are really only having to worry about each other which is definitely one of the risks of being a common crook like that. They don’t exactly have the strongest set of morals and ethics right? So it’s not surprising when everything begins to crumble around them. In fact, you could even argue that it’s probably expected. They’ve all got issues after all.

Alonzo is actually dirt poor and right now he’s cheating on his wife with someone else. The guy is morally bankrupt and desperate which is a really dangerous combination. When you’ve got both of those things lined up, it definitely means that he can’t be trusted. Obviously I have no real sympathy for the guy. I mean all of these villains are crooks but this guy is definitely the worst of the bunch. He’s confident but doesn’t really have any skill of his own which is why he’s broke.

Then we have Cobby who talks a good game but only when the others have their backs turned. This guy isn’t confident in the slightest and definitely folds when the pressure is on. It was fun to see the crooked cop show up and take him out. It was interesting the way the movie presented the cop. Yes, he turned to the dark side for money and definitely made the wrong choices but ultimately he went straight once enough heat was on him. The whole ending has a speech about this as there may be a few bad cops around but the majority are still out on the beat stopping crooks every day. I thought it was an effective illustration on scale there. This cop wasn’t out murdering anybody either, he was basically not taking a law that he disagreed with all that seriously.

Still a bad thing without a doubt, yet a cut different than the hardened criminals all around him. As for Doc, I actually liked him for most of the movie. He kept his cool and always had a plan no matter what was coming up. This was a guy who could not be cornered too easily and had experience. It’s why his ending makes no real sense. I just don’t get the logic here at all of how he would take such a risk. Surely he would have the self control to wait to do anything that might delay him until he was out of the state? It all just felt like a big stretch. The film was probably going for some kind of irony or message but I wasn’t buying it. It was a weak way to get him out of there.

Then you have Dix who in a way felt like the main character. He’s a very prideful guy who takes no disrespect from anybody. He’s also honorable in his own way. The guy made a lot of bad choices and is absolutely a villain yet he doesn’t have a lot of malice like the others. He has nightmares about his past with the horses and is definitely going crazy but you feel like with the right circumstances he could be okay. Ultimately these were not the right circumstances but he did have a great shootout with Bob.

That’s probably the best scene in the film as the film was building up to the big fight between villains for a while. So seeing them all get to confront each other at the end was some good stuff. It’s a quick blink and you miss it kind of scene but when the characters have guns, that only makes sense. It’s not like these guys are bulletproof or anything like that after all. I also liked Bob. His screentime may have been a lot lower than the other characters but he made for a very imposing villain when he did show up.

I’d say one of the subtle messages here though is how the supporting cast all lost out due to the villain’s actions. The wife of Alonzo is certainly in for a rough time with her husband being taken out. The young girlfriend is also out of luck although she wasn’t very smart and was basically complicit so I don’t feel too bad for her. Then you have Dix’s girlfriend who is also going to be in a rough spot. Basically villains get the direct repercussions and anyone associated with them will fall as well. You can be sad about it without regretting it though. The villains absolutely did need to be stopped and the cops really did their job here.

The writing is strong and the pacing is good. This is the classic kind of noir title that really does the genre justice. I suppose if it’s not officially considered a noir then I may be giving it the wrong credit but the fact remains that this was good stuff. The film properly developed the characters and really got things moving. I didn’t even mind that the heist itself was fairly easy because it’s an interesting change of pace.

Overall, The Asphalt Jungle is a pretty good movie. It definitely had a solid climax with a lot of tension even if the way the mastermind goes down was definitely underwhelming to the highest degree. It just felt so out of character. I suppose anyone can have a vice but to go down like that are all of the build up and planning? I’ve never really seen anything like it, that was absolutely crazy. So you should check out this film either way and see what you think about how the ringleader is taken care of.

Overall 7/10

Absence of Malice Review

Posted on August 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a film about the fine line you walk between what is true and what is speculation. It’s a pretty interesting movie and I had a good time with it but I wasn’t crazy about the ending. I feel like some of the characters really got off very easy considering all of the damage that was done. Not like you want to be super vindictive or anything but they definitely could have done more here. At the very least I can safely say that the main romance really had no reason to be included in the movie and made no sense.

The movie starts off with some guys investigating a mysterious disappearance/possible murder. The news is leaked to reporter Megan by a secretary who was probably fired shortly afterwards. The government shares the building with the newspaper so sometimes these things happen but this is a big story so Megan is told to drop it by this one guy who has a crush on her. So she stomps on his feelings and quickly rushes the report through. The government is investigating Michael Gallagher! Michael isn’t thrilled about this and shows up to the newspaper office but he is given the brush off. It’s all fair use so they can ruin his life with complete immunity. Michael doesn’t think this is fair and is working to find out the source for this story. Meanwhile the governor is getting involved as well and Megan will be on the hot seat if she can’t verify some details.

So there’s a lot going on here. Right off the bat I would say Megan is very irresponsible here for putting out such a hit piece on flimsy information. Here’s the thing, while it’s true that Michael is under investigation, you don’t want to go around publishing that because it immediately puts him in a certain kind of light. People tend to think you’re guilty if you’re under suspicion and that shows how jaded the average person is. It’s regrettable but that’s really just how it is. It’s a rough start but I think she could have recovered a bit by just telling him. Just sell the government out, they would do the same in a heartbeat.

Instead she doubles down and keeps trying to crack him. Michael ends up liking her so he asks her out on a date and the idea is to get to know each other. Maybe she will give him some more information or at least see that he is a decent guy. It’s a thought at least even if it’s not a very realistic one. Megan immediately wants to do more than just hang out because she’s “modern” and all. He initially resists but unfortunately doesn’t do they have their affair and common sense kicks back in as they are still enemies.

All of this is already rough but it gets way worse when Michael’s friend Teresa shows up to try and defend him. She explains to Megan that he has a rock solid alibi and she can prove it but not to use her name or anything. So Megan ignores her and uses the girl’s name, occupation, and tells all the details of what was a super private and controversial affair. It ultimately doesn’t go well for Teresa and the problem here is that Megan knew it wouldn’t end well. Sure, she acts a bit surprised and gets depressed, but the whole thing was nutty. In no possible universe was this going to end well for Teresa. Megan is a reporter and it’s not like this is her first day on the job so I don’t get the confusion here. This is pretty basic stuff.

That to me is where Megan completely crossed the line. I just can’t see how Michael is still friendly with her at the end after this. At least he left but in my mind the bridge was so completely burned that they should not get along at all. It’s really a disgrace to Teresa’s memory. They were good friends and all so it just doesn’t make sense. It’s why the romance should have also been omitted. How can you fall for the person who framed you and hung you out to dry. You could say “It’s her job” but is that really a good excuse? I just want you to really think about that one. Do you actually buy into that in your heart of hearts? Enough to still go through with a romance? No shot!

I was at least glad Michael was smart enough to start launching counter attacks and getting his revenge though. The writing in the film is extremely solid. While I may not like some of the characters, that doesn’t take away from the writing itself. I like this 4 way battle with all of the characters trying to move forward while navigating through their opponents. The governor for example is a pretty fun character as he jumps in to try and take hold of the situation but it’s not so easy. He’s one of the only ones who could get to Elliot though which was a good battle of wits. Elliot doesn’t actually work for the governor since he is directly to the federal government level but they each have some leverage over the other.

Elliot is definitely a fun character with how crafty he can be. The guy definitely holds his own with the other various characters and doesn’t go down easy. He actually tried making a decent case by the end but ultimately wasn’t able to pull it off. He was completely outwitted but the attempt was fair. In general the climax of the film is really good and I dare say it might be the best part of the movie. We finally get the entire cast into the same room to all talk it out. The most underrated character there was Megan’s lawyer but unfortunately she kept cutting him off so he couldn’t save the day. Like him or not, the guy was definitely experienced and probably the only one in the room who could really hang with the grand jury for a while there. When you have so many people with huge egos in the same room, it definitely gets entertaining. Maybe at the heart of things, that’s why I tend to love big meeting scenes and moments like this.

Overall, Absence of Malice is a good film. It doesn’t really have the cathartic pleasure you might expect from the characters getting their just desserts but the film is going for a realistic angle and that kind of thing doesn’t always happen. So it does make sense in that case. It may not be the most satisfying ending but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the movie being a real interesting game of cat and mouse. It definitely does show just how powerful a simple editorial or rumor could be. It may not have the same punch nowadays with so many news sources but back in the day it would definitely be difficult to come back from that. When your career is shot, it’s shot all the way.

Overall 6/10

Mars Attacks! Review

Posted on August 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a pretty crazy film that has a lot of fun with itself and the premise. It’s fairly long and gets to really explore a lot of the dynamics of what would happen in a possible alien invasion. While the whole thing is satire, I actually do think a lot of things could play out the way they do in this film. It may lose a little steam by the end as most of the fun parts are in the build up but this is definitely a title that I could recommend.

The film starts by introducing us to a massive amount of characters. You’ve got the president, the army, the advisors, TV reporters, a guy going off to the military, an old lady, people asking for peace, corrupt casino owners, etc. They have so many different plots going on and that’s the fun of it. We find out that aliens from Mars are about to land and so everyone is preparing. Some are nervous, some are thrilled, and the President just wants a good photo op for his ratings. That may seem absurd, but I can picture it. The army of course wants to blast the aliens away but they’re not getting support on that. Unfortunately these aliens are out for blood!

This may seem a bit odd but a lot of times I tend to enjoy building up to a situation even more than the actual payoff. There’s just something really fun about seeing the characters preparing for something and a good movie can really get you right to the absolute peak of intrigue. You just have to see what happens and so the initial fighting and everything is amazing. When I say the film starts to recede by the end, it’s natural to an extent. How can you really top this? The opening of the film can be as comedic and crazy as possible but by the very end it has to start getting a little serious. So the movie is at its best when it is just making fun of everyone. I had a really good time with all of this. I thought it was all good natured fun.

Basically everyone is looking after their own self interests and that seems about right. Others just aren’t smart enough to see any of the big dangers here. When the Martians show up and start blasting everyone, you’re actually happy about it. Humanity just seems so lost in the woods and out of their depths that they absolutely had to be kicked down a notch. They had gotten so complacent in this era of peace that nobody was united or anything. It was really not what you would have expected from the main characters of the universe if it had even just been a few hundred years ago.

I think one of the funnier gags is how the aliens rick them twice though. After the first mass murder event, they actually get the humans to show up and get decimated for a second time. Like are you kidding me? That’s absolutely crazy. They just played on the egos once more and pulled out the W. Like I said, they outplayed us at every corner. Then the final trick was the most embarrassing as they pretended to be a super model to gain access to the president. It was not a very realistic cover up to be honest but I suppose that’s the point. The humans had completely lost their way.

The special effects for the film are actually pretty good. I liked all of the lasers everywhere and the Martians looked funny. This may not have been played very seriously as a whole but the sets and everything could hold their own with an actual disaster film. The writing is also good as a lot of the scenes are genuinely witty so the movie gets full marks there. While the humans were intentionally unlikable, I thought it was done in a way that was legitimately funny so that’s also a big thumbs up.

President James is my favorite character personally. He is just so full of himself and has that loud confidence that I like to see. He’s constantly condescending and really just wants people to say something that he agrees with. It would be real interesting to have someone like him in the White House, that’s for sure. The president’s advisor is a close second though. He just keeps on smoking even as everyone is being blown up. The guy really thinks that it was all a big misunderstanding all the way up to the end. He had some of the best comedic moments because the timing of each scene was absolutely impeccable.

Not every subplot is going to be equally funny of course. The rich lady with her dog was a bit on the weaker side. Basically she’s super ditzy but there’s not a whole lot more to her than that. The old lady who’s going senile is also one that’s fairly generic and not really trying to be different. With such a large cast that is to be expected though. I dare say there are probably at least 20 named characters running around and that really helps you to make the invasion feel real. Films like this should have a large cast and I know it can be hard to balance them but it’s definitely worth the attempt.

The movie doesn’t manage to get by with 0 mistakes though. There is a little animal violence at one point as the aliens do blast a pair of dogs and a bird. The film has them using disintegration rays that are painless and there’s no blood involved so it’s not nearly as bad as the average moment. I would argue it’s still unnecessary though and those don’t really work as jokes. When you tell as many jokes as this film, you are bound to mess up a few times of course but on the whole it did land them more often than not which is the important thing.

I would put this on a fairly high level for an absurd comedy like with Airplane. Now, that is still the greatest comedy of all time and is completely unmatched but this one had that same energy at times with the jokes. The writers had enough knowledge to attack pretty much anyone without ever feeling mean spirited or like it was just targeting one group and I’d say that’s the key to a film like this. As long as you aren’t too sensitive, you’ll be able to have a good laugh at the whole thing.

Overall, Mars Attacks is a pretty fun film. As long as you tend to enjoy humor that borderlines on the absurd then I don’t see you having any problems with this one. Lets face it, we would probably get wrecked by Mars anyway so it’s fun to see them out strategize us at every corner. They were ready for this adventure and were not about to back down. I can definitely respect that. It’s a very long film but one that has a lot happening so you shouldn’t get bored. Trust me, it’s worth the watch.

Overall 7/10

Batman: Return to Arkham Review

Posted on August 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to return to the world of Batman games. Yes, this collection absolutely lives up to the hype and it’s been great playing so many elite games back to back! It’s really hard to see how DC can top this Batman series in the future because of just how well it nailed the mythos and atmosphere. Not to say we’re done with the Arkham series as there are still two games left to get but this was a fantastic start all around.

The first game in the collection is Arkham Asylum. Batman was undergoing a normal operation where he took down the Joker and arrested him but unfortunately the jail isn’t as secure as it should be. Joker ends up breaking out and takes over Arkham Asylum real quick. The inmates all answer to him now and they are united in their drive to destroy Batman. Batman will really have to call upon all of his knowledge and gadgets in order to take these guys down. Batman is heavily outnumbered by tons of opponents after all so this won’t be easy.

The game does a terrific job of embracing the combat elements of Batman along with his detective’s nature. It’s all really handled quite spectacularly and whenever you lose, you do feel like you deserved the death. The infiltration missions for example are difficult but never unfair. You have to watch the opponents carefully and if you are caught, take down the opponent as soon as possible. Often times I would get into a gunfight and die but sometimes I would pull off the win. The game felt very open with how many options you had and it was ultimately up to you to use them in the right ways. If you made a mistake then the game would punish you quite harshly for it and I didn’t really see any problem with that. It’s all on you after all.

For example the parry system is quite incredible here. The timing is tight but you always have a visual sign that someone is going to make a move. It’s possible to fight whole scores of enemies and not take a hit or you might have your timing thrown off by getting hit and then suddenly you’re panicking and taking a lot of blows. It feels a lot like a real fight due to this which adds a real layer of realism to the whole thing. I was definitely real impressed and it’s not something that you would see in a lower tier game. It’s all these things that add up.

The gameplay is something I could take about for ages. You have tons of gadgets in the game that allow you to strike at an enemy in a variety of ways. You can just keep on going and really overwhelm them by freezing them, stunning, using a batarang, normal blows, etc. The gadgets are mainly the same across both games but do change up a little bit. I liked each variation and they both ultimately do the same kinds of things. The gameplay is incredibly smooth in both titles so I wouldn’t really change anything. I played them back to back and had no complaints. The games have aged extremely well in either case.

Naturally this goes for the graphics as well. It all looks really HD and crisp. They have all of the little things like the cape fluttering and all of the textures. The artstyle is one that will age really well I’d say so even 10 years from now it will look great. The sequel also went all out in allowing you to change into a bunch of different costumes so I really had fun with that. They all work rather seamlessly into the gameplay.

Arkham City has Hugo Strange show up to take over the city. It was pretty cool to be playing as Bruce Wayne temporarily since he doesn’t appear very much in the video games. It was also the natural follow up with having the whole city being taken over this time around. It really helped to change up the scenery as well. I really liked the Asylum and the whole atmosphere there, but being able to be outside with all of the different environments was great! It may have been a bit easier to get lost at times but that’s just how it goes. It was absolutely worth the trade off.

Getting sniped by randoms on the roof could get a little tricky at times but hey…skill issue. Like I said, you are always really in control so if you lose then it’s on you. The only time where it felt like it would be hard for you to reasonable guess what to do was in the boss fight with Mr. Freeze where you have to use every gadget once in order to take out his health. You basically couldn’t injure him the same way twice. Now that was a super hard boss fight to win. It was extremely difficult but still fun. I also thought it was creative how he would foil any follow up attempts.

It goes back to the game feeling really vibrant and alive. The A.I. is years ahead of many other titles around. The grunts will actually team up and come up with plans to stop you. They’re not just wandering around and wondering what to do. They’re getting out there and doing what has to be done. If you make a wrong move they all gang up on you and cover all exits. It’s really fun and the reason I don’t mind dying a ton of times is how many checkpoints there are. You never lose a significant amount of time for dying which I extremely appreciate. These are the quality of life features that I absolutely live for. Nobody’s walking around talking about why check points make a game amazing but boy do they feel good!

It was also cool to actually play as Catwoman for a few levels in the second game. While the majority of gameplay should always be with Batman, I do think switching it up a bit to other fighters is not a bad thing. Emphasis on fighters of course, I don’t want to be playing as any civilians. Next time Robin should be playable as well. It was cool seeing his cameo and everything and I think they could really do a lot with his gameplay options.

Overall, These two Batman games are absolutely elite! The stories are real interesting and while the campaigns aren’t super long, there is a considerable amount of replay value here. Certainly enough to keep you really engaged. They didn’t rush any part of the experience here and so I can easily recommend this to anyone. This is AAA gaming at its finest and definitely one of the best superhero games out there. You owe it to yourself to play through this collection. There’s really nothing bad to say about the game, it is an absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word. The developers clearly knew what they were doing and had a lot of passion for the product.

Overall 9/10

Urban Champion Review

Posted on August 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for one of those Nintendo games that was unfortunately very weak. I appreciate that they were trying to make a fighting game and of course this is very old but it just didn’t really land at all. The game is way too limited and there is virtually no replay value to be found here. The entire time you’re just hoping there is something you may have missed but ultimately that is not the case. Definitely give this one a full skip and you will be glad that you did. It is not worthy of the champion’s title.

The game really only has two modes. 2 player mode and then single player mode. In each mode, you only have one stage. You have to knock the opponent out 3 times in order to win. When you knock him into a manhole or off the block, then the fight continues with the same kind of background, except they change the store’s name. Yeah that’s not exactly what I would call top budget now is it? I expected better from Nintendo. Both characters are really the same sprite, only slightly color swapped so even that isn’t very original.

The controls are simple as you have a high punch and a low punch. That’s it, there are no other controls here so I hope you enjoyed throwing those shots. Beyond that you just aren’t going to have much left in the tank. I imagine playing with someone else will add a little bit of enjoyment to the game overall but probably not enough to leave a real dent. I don’t think almost any game can pull off the enjoyment factor with a single stage. Pac Man was one of the original games with 1 stage and probably the only one that could pull it off. The thing is…this isn’t Pac Man. It’s definitely not built for that level of success by any margin.

So the graphics aren’t particularly solid, the soundtrack is forgettable….we’re not looking at a very positive game right here. There are no unlockables so there is no replay value. I guess you could say that it’s fun to see the character sort of looking like Mario as he’s throwing punches but that’s just not enough of a hook to get you to play the game. Also you can cheese the main mode a bit by spamming the punch button. Often times the opponent will not be fast enough to block your moves which means you can completely bypass the strategy elements of the game. Not that there is a ton considering there are only two kinds of moves but clearly the intent was there with how the blocking system works. When you don’t move, you block automatically so that’s something to think about.

Overall, Urban Champion is not a good game. It’s one of those titles that you will forget right away because there’s nothing memorable about it. There is no aspect of this game that has held up well over the years at all. I would like Nintendo to consider a modern remake of the game but at the same time there would be little point. Just restart the series from scratch with a whole new name and brand. If you think about it, that would really be the only way to handle this unless you wanted to target the real hardcore fans for nostalgia. Even for free I wouldn’t bother playing this game. There’s just no reason to do so and it’s so limited that there isn’t even much to talk about for this title. Trust me, you’ll know what I mean if you ever decide to play this title.

Overall 3/10

Godzilla Battle Line Review

Posted on August 11, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to jump into the next Godzilla app game but I’m afraid to say that this one is not very good. It’s one of those app games that is a clear cash grab from start to finish. Nothing about the game is very enjoyable to me. It was just missing the key elements to make this a high quality title like fast paced gameplay, quality fights, etc. In the end the strategy styled gameplay just didn’t have anything on the console Godzilla games and this one would have been better off with a connect the dots gameplay style like Fruits Mania. At least that gameplay style is always guaranteed to be off the walls hype. I generally play over 100 levels of that gameplay style real quick.

Okay so this is similar to Digimon Championship in that you don’t control the Kaiju themselves. You throw them onto the field and then they move towards the enemy. Along the way you can drop them some assistance, items, and such. These will be the difference between victory and defeat so definitely pay very close attention here. If you make the wrong call then that could be it for you. That’s about it, I mean I’m over simplifying this by quite a lot but that’s about the size of it. It all comes down to who has the better strategy and monster team.

I can say that the cast of Kaiju in the game is pretty impressive though. You’ve got numerous different Godzillas running around and pretty much every Kaiju you can think of. The game didn’t feel too greedy in terms of what you need to pay for but granted, they tend to all seem that way at first. I would probably have to stick with this game much longer to see if that is really true or not. The gameplay just wasn’t fun enough to hold me.

So okay, what’s the problem with the gameplay? Well because I can’t control the Kaiju, it feels more like I’m just watching the A.I. attack each other. It’s not interactive enough for me. It’s like watching computers playing against each other in a game, it may be interesting for a minute but for the whole game? No shottttt, that’s just not my cup of tea. What I need is to be doing something. Let me assume direct control of the Kaiju so I could go over there and take the enemy down. I would pull it off even if my opponent had a higher power level or something like that. You’re missing the human touch with this kind of setup.

The graphics aren’t bad at least. It’s not really something to write home about but the chibi character models are good and I liked the explosion effects. As a whole it really doesn’t look super bad or anything but of course it does completely look like a mobile game the instant you lay your eyes on this one. There is really no escaping that fact, that’s for sure. The soundtrack is completely forgettable. You won’t remember the tunes by the end, it’s definitely not the kind of game to sneak in some kind of lyrical song or big metal tune.

At least I can say that the replay value is basically infinite. You can keep on playing until you are the number 1 ranked player in the world or something like that. It is definitely a tough road to the top but if you keep on practicing then anything is achievable. The fact that the game is still going means that at least some people are still playing here and after taking a quick look online I see a lot of positive reviews for it. Granted, the people who are searching up videos for the game are probably fans first and foremost so that makes a lot of sense. They would be more likely to enjoy the game and so I hope their community is able to stay strong. This may not be a game that I was particularly interested in but the plus side is that it helps to continue keeping the Godzilla brand nice and strong. I’m still waiting for that big Godzilla vs Kong game which is supposed to be coming out in early September. Hopefully that one is a lot more fun.

Overall, Godzilla Battle Line is lacking way too much in the actual battling. You’re not fighting here and I know that this is a strategy game but even then I need to be doing something. If I have my hands empty for so long it just doesn’t feel like I’m really playing a game at all. If you’re going to pull off a strategy game like this I dare say that the levels have to be shorter or you have to find some way to make the player more engaged. The original Godzilla mobile game was also strategy oriented but it was a lot more fun as you planned out your resources. That was interactive and high stakes. This game couldn’t quite match up to that no matter how hard it tried.

Overall 3/10

Noragami Review

Posted on August 11, 2024 by dreager1

Noragami is one of those action titles that actually lasted for a long while. I felt like it would just quietly keep updating with new chapters even though almost nobody really talked about it. At least compared to the bigger titles. It does have a solid fanbase and they’re always waiting for the anime to return but the manga just felt really quiet. It’s a good action title but one that is held back by having one of the weakest supporting casts for a long running title that I can think of. Seriously I didn’t care for just about any of the characters which is absolutely crazy. Most of them were forgettable or annoying.

The series focuses around a god named Yato who is in a bit of a pinch. In this world gods gain power based on how many people believe in them. They need humans to build shrines to them and give them gifts. Nobody knows who Yato is though, the average person can’t even see him. So that’s definitely not a good thing. One day he meets a girl named Hiyori who accidentally hops outside of her body. She now has an astral form and is fully aware of the supernatural. It’s an inconvenient power though as she’ll jus randomly fall out of her human body which causes everyone to just think she fainted. It’s also dangerous for her because she can now be attacked by any number of creatures. Yato vows to protect her and get her back to normal condition but he’s no exactly the most reliable guy around. Can he actually pull this off?

Of course that’s the pre arc plot and as you can guess with 27 volumes, that’s going to change real quick. There are a lot of other dangers out there and people who would have the gods be dethroned. The main villain even hits close to home as Yato’s father ends up being a rather big player in all of this. We definitely cover a lot of ground but this is a series where the anime really helps to elevate it a whole lot. The manga itself is less impressive as a whole but still a good time without a doubt.

As a main character Yato is pretty solid. The guy jokes around a lot but he has a good work ethic and really tries hard. The guy’s entire existence is at stake and yet he still finds time to joke around and have fun. He started the whole small businesses thing in order to stay alive and at least get a little recognition. He’s super desperate but never gives up so I can appreciate that. As the series goes on he is tested a whole lot but rarely falters. It’s not a perfect performance, sometimes the villains do get to him but most of the time Yato pulls through. He’s the kind of guy you can count in and a great main character to follow.

In some ways he reminds me of Kenshin and other older main characters like that. Yato has been around for a long time and seen many things. He has vowed to not be an assassin anymore and it takes a whole lot of perseverance to stick true to that path. He’s one of the stronger characters in the series but in a way Yato has to nerf himself so that he doesn’t just murder everybody. It can be a lot harder than it looks.

Hiyori is a solid heroine as well. I appreciate the fact that she doesn’t lament her fate of being stuck to the spirit world all that much. She guilt trips Yato at times but for the most part isn’t worrying about thing. Hiyori even tries to fight once although she quickly thinks better of this after how the first attempt went and I don’t blame her there. The most important thing for her is to stay safe with how many crazy fighters are all around. It would have been nice if she could have learned how to fight a little mor but at least she has enough abilities to run and get out of trouble.

Yukine is a character I never ended up liking though. To be clear, the kid does have it rough since he has a super tough background. It wasn’t an easy life/death but as a ghost he keeps getting in the way. I should explain the spirit system a bit more here. Every spirit master is a god like Yato and they can use familiars which are people who died. These ghosts are given a new name by the master so that they can fight and turn into weapons/items. It is forbidden to tell a spirit about their former life because it will often end up driving them crazy.

The spirits are basically kept in the dark on this. It’s a reasonable enough system. Naturally I don’t agree with this and think the spirits should be told straight up but unfortunately there is a ton of evidence within the system to support that this doesn’t work. Even the best of spirits will inevitably turn evil or panic and get destroyed. So Yukine goes through this drama more than once. The first time he takes a dive is before we even learn about his prior life. He starts perving on Hiyori for a while there and even becomes a delinquent where he is breaking windows. All of these things start blighting Yato of course which nearly goes to the point of no return.

Yukine was definitely way too crazy there and he’s lucky that Yato is so lenient. Most of the other gods would have absolutely destroyed him by that point. The very fact that this was so close was annoying. Then when Yukine starts to learn about his prior self, he really goes off the deep end and becomes a full on villain. Hey I could overlook part of this the first time, but twice? Nah he was on the hot seat by this point with no way off. Then he started falling for Nora and her advances which was not a good look for him. Yukina was just way worse of a character than I expected him to be.

Yukine’s struggles were a good way to end the pre arc though. While he never became a good character, it helped to finish setting up the main cast so we could really get going. At this point in the story we had mainly seen Yato tackle easy cases and beat the occasional monster. Now we would really see him going all out against some real opponents and what better way to start than with Bishamon. She is a powerful god who is a master of combat and so the idea of Yato beating her is definitely tricky. Or at least it should be right?

In a lot of ways Yato reminds me of Archer from Fate. Everyone tries to gaslight you in universe that he’s super weak and yet he seems to be able to hang with anybody. That’s the case with Yato as well, half the time he isn’t even trying to fight. You actually get the impression that he would completely crush Bishamon if he was fighting seriously. Technically I don’t think that’s even what the author was going for here but it’s definitely what it felt like to me. Yato also had to go through a lot with murdering Bishamon’s army a while back to save her and having to come close to doing it again. Yato’s job really is a thankless one and if anything just creates more enemies for him.

Bishamon also ends up looking a little naive here. Like I mentioned before, getting stung can be absolutely fatal. If the spirits continue to do or even think bad thoughts, then the master get injured and can eventually die. So it’s a huge deal and Bishamon needed to do more about it. Instead without Yato she definitely would have died for a second time. She really lost sight of the forest for the trees which was not a good look. She was also too quick to take Kuguha’s side and banish Kazuma despite the kid being her most trusted advisor for years. That just made no sense. I do happen to like Bishamon though. She definitely has her large set of flaws but she’s a great fighter and is less of a government stooge than most of the other gods who just follow orders. I would like more rule breaking from this series because too many of the gods show that they just don’t have any internal ethics and do whatever they’re ordered to.

I also can’t say that I like Kazuma all that much. He’s a little too arrogant at times and while he respects Yato, he could probably show more gratitude as well. Then he allows himself to fall for Bishamon which is not a good idea since she is literally his god. Kazuma is at least reasonably strong and he was at his best when he joined up with Yato. Still, he’s not really one of the better characters. He’s useful in a fight but that’s about all that I can say for the guy.

Kuguha made for an interested villain but the guy got way too lucky the whole time. I don’t get how everyone trusted him so much considering he was basically a newcomer next to most of the other characters. Sure he was a good healer but that’s about all that you could say for the guy. It’s definitely not enough to be putting him on a pedestal. His plans just didn’t feel all that great even though he got pretty far. Fairly underwhelming villain all things considered and his ultimate motive didn’t help him.

Tenjin is a supporting character who shows up a lot but he tends to be super annoying. This guy pretty much always gives the wrong advice like telling Hiyori to cut ties with Yato. You can feel free to skip all of his dialogue because the guy is nuts. Now granted, he is knowledgeable of course so if you want an info dump then he’s your guy. If you want quality advice and good vibes though? Definitely avoid this guy and he’s so old that he can’t even fight.

Kofuku is a lot more entertaining at least. She brings bad luck to those around her but she never lets this get her down. I appreciate her optimism. She can be a little shady at times like with how people waste their money on her but I do get the logic of it being their choice. Either way she’s a fun supporting character and does step in to help Yato when she can. I would think of her as a good friend without a doubt.

In the next arc Yato basically gets blackmailed by his father into going on another mission. So he takes the stray Nora and heads into the underworld. The god Ebisu is there as well for knowledge and now they have to contend with the ruler Izanami. She is a powerful shapeshifter who really just wants to be loved and the whole thing is pretty rough for her. Nobody ever ends up wanting to stay with her. Personally I feel like she would find a ton of able volunteers if she checked the real world a bit more though. Considering she intends to use force though, you can really only be so sympathetic to her plight.

This arc is fairly big because it starts up a ton of subplots. For one, this is Ebisu’s final appearance as an adult since he is reincarnated back to being a kid after this. That was annoying because he was very interesting as an adult but I didn’t really like him as a kid. He just didn’t have that air of being distinguished anymore and I felt like he lost a considerable amount of his skills in the process. There was just no going back after this point.

We also got to see the stray Nora finally show up in a real role. She’s actually a lot of fun but unfortunately she has basically been brainwashed by Fujisaki into being the ultimate murder weapon. She has tons of names so any god can use her. She really wants to be close to Yato and is jealous of Yukine but he wants nothing to do with her. I do feel like Yato should have found some way to try and bring Nora to the light side though. For the most part I feel like she is always on her own and it’s tough because there is no way she can escape on her own. She absolutely needs some help so can’t anyone show up and actually try to help her? That would have definitely been appreciated.

She is also one of the stronger fighters in the series so she would have been a real asset to the series. If she was a good guy then the final arc would play out way differently. Ah well, things definitely aren’t easy for her but she sure keeps things interesting. It was a pretty solid mini arc and there were definitely some good action scenes while in the underground. You could even argue that Yato is near the peak of his power here since I would still argue that Nora is more powerful than Yukine despite his blessed blade status.

After a pair of arcs we get to one of the biggest arcs in the series where the heavens show up to take down Bishamon. I would say this is around where we see just how weak willed most of the supporting cast are. The heavens are insanely corrupt and yet so many of the characters just watch or decide not to help. I don’t know about you but if the characters aren’t stepping up to help then they are basically accomplices. There’s no easy way to slice it, that’s just how it goes. In this arc Bishamon looks really good though. After Fujisaki murdered one of her guardians, Bishamon has decided that she wants revenge.

As Yato’s father, Fujisaki’s death would mean that the lead dies too so it is a little complicated there but she’s still got to do it. Also I don’t think she knows about the link at this point in time. So she even wakes up a legendary fighter named Nana to help her in the big battle. It’s a pretty impressive climax to be sure and Nana is one of my favorite characters. Here’s someone who loves to fight and is also super talented at it. That’s what I call a very useful combo here. Nana doesn’t get to appear a ton but makes the most of each appearance. Taking on a whole army of heaven’s finest is no easy task after all.

Meanwhile Yato take scare of Takemikazuchi, another yes man who was annoying the whole time. At least getting absolutely demolished helped calm his mind for a while there so he got better. Even then he never left much of an impression on me which does tend to be the case here a lot of the time. This is probably my favorite arc in the series though. It was real solid all the way through and we definitely got a really solid rage mode from Bishamon. It also wouldn’t be the last time that the heavens decide to make a move.

After that Fujisaki causes more trouble like trying to get Yukine to look into his past so his soul will crumble and he turns into a monster or fades away. It becomes imperative that Yato take him out so he turns back to Kazuma. The annoying thing about this is it does mean that once again Yukine has a lot of loyalty issues and thinks Yato is turning his back on him. Solid communication would definitely prevent a lot of the issues that continue to come up here, that’s for sure. We are deep enough in the series though where I wish that Yukine would just listen more. It’s obvious that Yato is here to help and isn’t trying to hurt him. So Yukine should trust him for once instead of constantly being manipulated with ridiculous ease.

Then we quickly approach the ending here which was long enough where I remember getting faked out a few times. The heavens decide to destroy Fujisaki and do their best but they all get absolutely crushed so the task falls to Yato once again. Fujisaki really looks impressive and deserves his hype because he still does great in the fight here. The guy has so many names, powers, and summons at his disposal. He’s a super versatile combatant and proves why his experience is the real deal here. Yato is consistently outgunned the whole time here and has an extremely hard time fighting. There is also still the fact to consider that is Yato wins, he will still die due to how the system works. He also has to worry about Yukine and Hiyori the whole time.

There’s a super boring subplot about Ebisu and the thunder god going to a village to find the root of why Fujisaki is basically immortal. Turns out the guy is like Voldemort and you have to destroy objects that are connected to him as well. I still wonder what the gods were even doing to let things get this far though. We get some cool super forms in the end and a lot of fights so that’s always fun. The ending had me a little nervous there but ultimately it wasn’t bad. The very ending definitely saved it there because things were looking dicey for a minute there.

As a villain Fujisaki is not bad. The guy wants to change the system and is absolutely crazy so you can go far on that kind of combination. In some ways he is like a budget Aizen but the society here isn’t nearly as corrupt as the Soul Society so what that means is it’s a little harder to really sympathize with the guy. Instead it just looks like he is completely off his rocker. I’m no fans of the heavens in this verse either. They seem needlessly cruel with their punishments and murder each other over the smallest infraction. That said, at least they are protecting the human world while this guy is just indiscriminately murdering everyone in his way.

The art is definitely pretty solid throughout the series. At times it can get a little chaotic, especially near the end of the series with all of the big explosions and wide attacks. You can generally tell what is happening without too much fuss though. The fights are on point which is the important thing but it can also be clear during the comedic moments. At worst sometimes there is just so much text on the screen that it can be a little intimidating. That goes back to one of my issues in the series which is that it can be a little too lore heavy at times.

A title like Jujutsu Kaisen or Hunter X Hunter can get away with it because the dialogue is always very interesting but that’s not really the case here. A lot of the time you just really don’t care about what they are saying. It’s basically inconsequential. Most of the lore isn’t really taken advantage of which is why you don’t even want to hear about it. This just isn’t that kind of series in the end and so no amount of lore could really change that. This is mainly an action title with a lot of good comedic moments and the lore is like white noise in the background.

Then throw in the weak cast like I mentioned earlier and that gets thing trickier. Again, I tended to like them all a lot more in the anime so that should help but I barely cared about the gods in the subplot because of this. Every time it would cut to the characters on the boat I would be shaking my heads. Also, so many of the gods died and turned back to kids/new selves that it was a bit annoying. It may be the same soul but they often have no recollection of the previous life so it may as well have been a new character.

I’m still skeptical as well as how close Fujisaki came to winning here. He was outnumbered so badly by the heavens so why are they so weak and ineffectual? He should have been taken down real quick. Also, it’s all not a great consolation to all of the humans down below as they started getting slaughtered for being corrupted. The heavens were certainly not merciful here as they basically told the gods to wipe everyone out. Now that’s just great. In general I’m not sure that some of the world building here holds up. The whole gods being damaged by their minions even thinking bad things still seems absolutely excessive. They can never be sad or mad or anything without blighting the host. It seems to me that you’d basically have to brainwash them in order for anything like that to be possible.

Noragami should have really kept things a little more simple here. In some respects you almost could have gone the full on comedy route here and it would have worked pretty well. Or have your occasional action scene with it but you don’t need this massive cinematic experience of huge world building and hundreds of characters fighting in a big war. That part really felt like the series bit off a bit more than it can chew. If the series played to its strengths on a more local setting it would just be even better but at least that’s the way I see it. I sort of know what it’s like when fans say that for other series now although I tend to disagree 99% of the time and again I may feel differently there when I read it as a marathon.

Overall, Noragami is a good series. I think it’s one of those series that will also play better on the re read when I can binge through all of the story beats. Any that seemed to drag on a lot like the Yukine scenes won’t be as bad this way and you also get the payoff a lot quicker. This series deserves a lot of credit for lasting so long. I definitely look forward to the next anime season because you know they will continue to amp up all of the fun moments and the action scenes. It’s what the anime does after all, they are always ready to pull this off. It looks like that is going to take a while though so in the meantime I definitely recommend reading this series. In a way Noragami is at its best when it’s having fun mixing the action and comedy as opposed to getting ultra serious but in the end it still does good on both fronts.

Overall 6/10

Odd Man Out Review

Posted on August 11, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a film about how crime doesn’t pay. It’s a pretty fun story with a unique setup. You have an Irish gang trying to steal money from the government and from that point on everything gets a little crazy. The writing is solid and I enjoyed all of the characters. The villains were good in their roles and the cops definitely did a good job on their end. In a sense both factions got to have half of the movie although the point of view is always from the villains and heroine. It’s a film that has good pacing and replay value.

The movie starts by explaining to us that the leader of this gang is a guy named Johnny but he’s been in jail for a long time. After he returned, he spent 6 months hiding out in a house and so the rest of the group is thinking that maybe he has gone soft. Johnny is even talking about how perhaps violence isn’t the answer so jail really has changed him quite a lot. Still, Johnny refuses to step aside and still leads the mission. This goes very poorly due to Johnny freezing at the end and so he ends up falling out of the car and a policeman dies. Now the gang is really on the hot seat. Can they find Johnny or even escape with their lives at this point? Once you down a police officer, the heat absolutely multiplies several times over.

First off, Johnny should take a significant amount of heat for everything that happens in the film. When you really think about it, the guy was not ready to get back into the fold. I admire his enthusiasm and everything but he should have recognized that. Getting dizzy and messing everyone up is what caused someone to be dead. The plan would have went off without a hitch otherwise. There’s also not much point in talking about ethics and everything when you are still going to go ahead with the plan anyway. What this really told me is that at the end of the day, Johnny was going to still keep on going at it with the gang even if he thought it was the wrong thing to do.

The film doesn’t hold back on the high price that he has to pay though. He pretty much gets every kind of injury you can after this. The guy can barely stand or move by the end which is why Kathleen had to make a rather serious move. Johnny definitely could and should have done a whole lot better in order to make sure everything was fine. His deputy actually did the best here in that he was the only one brave enough to tell Johnny directly that this was a bad idea. He tried his best but the guy just wouldn’t listen to him at all. That’s just how it goes I suppose.

It was fun seeing everyone get bumped off one by one though. The worst way to go out was for two of them who stop at an old lady’s house. I think she was a friend of the family or something but how can you trust anyone when the heat is this high. It sure was convenient that she noticed them passing by right? Then immediately they start drinking up a storm so they won’t be in peak fighting condition. As always my sympathy starts to go way down when a character starts drinking because now they are really putting themselves in a rotten position. So yeah W for the old lady. I mean she’s a big traitor and all but that’s just what happens when you’re a villain.

Now I keep calling them villains but I admit I’m not super familiar with the Irish background here. Perhaps their cause was decent and all but as they say, once you start murdering then the line is really drawn. You have to be super sure that you’re on the right side by that point and at least from how this film appears, I would say they were on the wrong side. Nothing within made it seem as if they were somehow the true fighters of justice or anything like that.

If anything, in the second half when the cops are taking them all out, I thought the officers looked really reasonable. They didn’t want to murder everyone but weren’t really given much of a choice. They also had to move with a sense of urgency after losing one of their own. They tried everything in order to find Johnny and it was tough since everyone was helping the guy out. You had a painter, Kathleen, a beggar, random people, and even a priest all being rather sympathetic to the guy. Some of them had their motives to be sure but none were being super helpful to the cops, that’s for sure. Even with all of those obstacles the cops managed to go and take names though.

The ending is definitely intense to be sure. When you can choose how to go out, often that is preferable to being taken alive so I get the logic. Kathleen had to make a difficult call and she did not hesitate. It’s a rather sad ending in some respects but also a sign to be careful who you fall in love with. Kathleen’s mother warned her about this as well but she just wouldn’t listen. It’s not easy to control your emotions of course but if you fall in love with a crook then it stands to reason that your end may not be great.

Overall, Odd Man Out is an interesting gang film. I have to admit that I really enjoyed the accents the whole time. I haven’t watched a super large amount of films taking place in Ireland after all. The plot is interesting and there are a whole lot of characters running around. Johnny is basically on the run for almost the entire movie. He’s out there in the rough conditions for over an hour in the movie which is crazy. He bumps into a whole lot of characters and while this can be the only part of the film that feels a bit slow, it works out well enough. It’s a satisfying movie and the strong script really backs it up every step of the way. You’ll definitely be entertained while watching it.

Overall 7/10

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