Borderlands Review

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Whenever a film like Borderlands gets bad reviews you have to consider if it bombed for not being faithful to the games, it was too much like the games, or it just ended up being boring. The first two can result in really fun films while the latter is definitely a miss. I don’t even know which category this one falls into because I never played the games but to me it does feel like it’s leaning hard into being a video game film. This one goes through a whole lot of funny story beats as it pokes fun at itself the whole time. As a result it really ends up being a fun film and I would definitely recommend it. We don’t get enough parody type titles like this nowadays.

The movie starts off with Tina being rescued from some kind of sci-fi ship by Roland. He has defected from the corrupt army and wants to help her out. They are assisted by an escaped inmate named Krieg. In the future, everything basically went bad but out of all the planets, Pandora is the worst. It’s like a Mad Max wasteland there and crime rules the day. We cut to a bounty hunter named Lilith who is constantly complaining and is glad to have left that place. Well, she is hired by a man named Atlas to find his daughter Tina and rescue her from this Roland fellow. Lilith agrees due to the big pay day but is she really on the right side?

So first off, the whole introduction phase to the film is great. First we get a full Star Wars parody and then after that we get a parody to the usual bounty hunter intro. Lilith is approached by a bunch of thugs and immediately takes them out. Just straight up obliterates all of them. If she’s anything like this in the games then we’re looking at a top tier video game protagonist right out of the gate. Then when the “Mysterious leader” figure shows up, she shoots him dead too. It’s just such a great deconstruction of the usual scene and like I emphasized before, we need more well written parodies like this.

Ultimately Lilith decides to help not out of the goodness of her heart or anything like that but just because of the money. When she lands on the planet we see the Mad Max fighters except they’re basically all losers who get immediately crushed. You will always get points from me for making fun of that overrated series. Yeah they look more impressive deeper in the film when a bunch of them rush the heroes but this was a great introduction. As with most parodies, I would say the film tends to be a bit weaker once we get to the serious stuff.

I didn’t really care about Lilith’s origin story and it’s played a little too straight. Maybe there can be some parody appeal in being as generic as possible? Eh that’s probably a stretch. Either way the film wasn’t quite able to sell me on the emotional/serious bits. Fortunately that is a pretty small part of the film. For the most part this is a film that is just having a good time with itself and that’s the right tone for this film. It adds a lot of replay value and there are a ton of laugh out loud moments.

Claptrap is really one of the standout characters here. Pretty much all of his lines are absolutely great. The guy pulls off being the sarcastic bot persona really well. He is always there to make the heroes feel worse and to kick them while they’re down. In his defense they tend to treat him terribly so what goes around comes around. He is quite helpful a lot of the time even if he also gets them into trouble at other circumstances. Basically he is a true wild card and one that both sides really have to account for or they will get crushed in the process.

I already talked about her a bit but Lilith is really an excellent character here. She is completely jaded with everything and tries to always keep a large distance away from everyone. She’s not looking to create any bonds or relationships. She is just trying to get this mission over with for the money. As the film goes on her true heroic side comes out and all but not without a whole lot of journeying to get there. Additionally by the end she gets some fun abilities that will be fun for the sequel.

The movie had a bigger scale climax than I was expecting that’s for sure. I could see that being a final boss in the games. The main guy Roland was also pretty fun. Now it can be a little tough to take him seriously but I’d argue that’s the point. He’s very easy to overlook and that’s when he crushes his enemies. He’s a solid all around fighter and is around to help Tina the whole time. You have to give him credit for his drive the whole time.

Krieg gets overshadowed a bit in comparison but definitely seems like a great ally. The kind of guy who will really put it all on the line to help Tina. He also does really good in all of his fights and shows off some true super strength. Definitely nothing to dislike about him. As for Tina, I was a little unsure of her at first but the way she handled Lilith the first time they met definitely put her on the good side. She’s really crafty and quick witted. She can take care of herself without any problems and is very proactive. Most kids would be panicking the whole time but not her.

Out of all the characters, Tina is probably the biggest surprise at how much fun she is. I would have assumed that she would be more annoying. The villains tend to be more on the forgettable side though. You got some army grunts and Mr. Atlas himself but none of them are that noteworthy. They do have cool costumes though and Atlas’ protective energy barrier is actually extremely useful. It keeps him in the fight a lot more than you may have expected that it would.

Meanwhile the soundtrack is excellent. It’s extremely good and dominates every scene. You do see a lot of the “bad films” tend to have great soundtracks. I think it’s because some would say that the music shouldn’t dominate the scene so the big films tend to have more generic scores but this one goes hard with the rock music. It’s all really catchy and upbeat holding its own with Mortal Kombat 2, The Resident Evil films, etc. I was really surprised because the games didn’t strike me as having this kind of music.

Now as with all comedy films I wouldn’t expect every joke to land with you. The film does have a big crude humor sequence with some jokes which aren’t really my style. On the whole the jokes tend to work well though so the film is a lot funnier than it isn’t. The pacing is good with a lot happening the whole time as well. The fight scenes are a lot of fun and all the uniforms for the heroes and villains are on point. Again it feels very video game inspired without trying to tone the colors down. That’s the way to do an adaption, everything should really pop out at you.

Overall, I don’t know much at all about the Borderland games. They always looked pretty boring and unappealing but if this film is any indication then maybe they are actually really solid. Still don’t see myself ever playing them but if the film were to get a sequel I would definitely be up for that. That would be absolutely historic! I somehow get the feeling that the odds of that are not very high though. So in the meantime you should definitely check this film out. It may very well surprise you.

Overall 8/10

Imaginary Review

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Blumhouse continues to surpass the average horror films with its products. They’re rarely ever great but they avoid a lot of the pitfalls of other titles. Give me this over titles like Alien, Friday the 13th, and a bunch of the other big horror franchises. These films tend to avoid getting too violent or anything which is nice. That said, at times it can also feel like the villain is being too merciful to the point where it doesn’t make sense. After a point you gotta just take the opponents out right?

The film starts off with introducing us to Jessica and her husband Max. Max had a messy divorce a while back but he is hoping things will be stable now and his two daughters Alice and Taylor will like Jessica. They all moved to a new place for a fresh start but unfortunately this house comes with a dark secret. There is a teddy bear named Chauncey here who quickly becomes friends with Alice. Nothing wrong with having an imaginary friend right?….well there might be a problem with this one. Chauncey is constantly in a bloodlusted state and continues to get more and more demented. Can Jessica stop something that may not have a physical body?

Now I will say that the premise is handled in a rather generic way. This is pretty much the same as M3gan, and all the Chucky films. You have a stuffed animal that talks to a kid and gradually gives more and more demented conditions to friendship. The little girl Alice is incredibly naive and not particularly smart so she falls for this every time. It’s a story concept that we’ve seen many times before. Now granted, this does beat all of the Chucky films and M3gan but you will still be surprised that it didn’t try something a bit different. The film doesn’t really make use of its premise until the very end.

I would say Alice is super annoying here the whole time. I understand that she’s young but she should still be old enough to tell that Chauncey is psychotic. Telling her she has to hurt herself is just unhinged and that would be the time to tell her parents. There is no indication that there is any mind control at work here or anything like that so instead that just means Alice is making these mistakes out of her own free will. It’s a really bad look because this just goes past the realms of common sense. Even right up through the end she is still making a lot of mistakes.

Her older sister Taylor isn’t the smartest either though. She is also naive but in other ways like when she invites a guy over to her house while the mother is gone despite not even knowing him. Naturally the guy is into drugs and is not a good role model at all. So things could have gotten even worse for her if Jessica wasn’t around. Taylor just likes to be a rebel even when it doesn’t make sense to be one. It’s hard to sympathize with her when she is in the wrong on every scene. Not a very reasonable person at all.

As for Max, he seems okay but doesn’t really end up being helpful at all. He is gone for large portions of the film and is generally oblivious. It might be for the best since I can picture him being annoying and not believing what is going on. As for Jessica, she is a good character even if I find it hard to believe just how much of her past she forgot. The film’s weak rationale for the memory loss just doesn’t work. Well I suppose that’s more about suspension of disbelief than blaming the character.

There’s nothing bad about Jessica, she does an admirable job of trying to bond with the two kids. I also think she was very appropriate in jumping into the conversation Taylor was having with the guy to set boundaries. So Jessica had a solid backbone the whole time and did her best with stopping the villains. She was more proactive than a lot of other characters would be in her place.

I do have some problems with Chauncey though. The first is that he’s on fraud watch the whole time. He doesn’t manage to take down the boy who messed with Alice’s stuff. Since Chauncey is supposed to be super protective why not bump the guy off? That part didn’t really make any sense. Then once the characters are in his domain, he isn’t able to take down almost anybody? He takes out a single victim and that’s it. Very disappointing showing for this guy. I also think his true form could have been cooler.

The giant bear is hype but the shadow human silhouette? Nahhh that was a bit too generic. The eye popping out effect also looked a bit more strange than scary. Honestly the film just overthought itself. The big bear form was plenty scary, focusing on that would be a really good idea. Chauncey’s also not that spooky when talking through Alice. Having him do more on his own would be a good idea. Even the final jump scare of the movie is really half hearted. Should have gone a bit further/had some movement to really work.

A very valid criticism for the film is that it’s not particularly scary. At its core this feels more like a film about Jessica trying to fit into the family and it’s a wholesome enough plot. The horror around it feels rather mild the whole time. Again that is probably good in terms of keeping things from getting too violent. There is really only one bloody scene and it’s mainly off camera. They still could have found ways to have had Chauncey be a little more relevant though.

We do have a spooky next door neighbor character though. Would have been nice if Taylor had more common sense though. Why go into a stranger’s house in the middle of the night? I don’t care if the lady is 90 years old, that still could end really badly especially with how over the top shady she was. Everybody tends to be shady in this kind of film. The weakest part of the film is probably Jessica’s past with her father though. The movie spends a decent amount of time here without a great payoff. At the same time, the two scariest moments of the film involve his transformation so maybe it was worth it to include him in there. It might sound crazy to say this but the spider monster was scarier than Chauncey.

Overall, For a film about an imaginary friend you would expect more scenes that revolve around the supernatural world. The imaginary friend part isn’t really relevant until the literal climax of the film and that’s where the missed opportunities were. I think the climax should have been longer and should have started earlier. That’s the meat and potatoes of the story after all. The twist about Chauncey’s true target was really good and I also liked a good fakeout there. It’s really good stuff but all crammed in at the very end of the adventure when that should have been the main focus. Check this out if you want a decent thriller title but don’t expect to get scared at all. It’s not really that kind of film.

Overall 6/10

Grace & Glorie Review

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It’s time for one of those emotional titles. This one definitely is working on hitting you in the feels the whole time but doesn’t bring a lot to the table beyond that. Glorie is a really good character but everyone else can be really annoying the whole time and so that limits the film a bit. There is also not really anything in the way of replay value so the film has to do its best to succeed in spite of that. It’s not a bad film but I would also say there aren’t many reasons to check it out.

The movie introduces us to Glorie who is a hospice volunteer. She moved away from the big city with her husband after tragic events involving her son and now she can try to put his death behind her. It won’t be so easy though. She meets an old lady named Grace who is slowly dying and not taking things too well. She is refusing all help and is determined to go out on her terms. She doesn’t trust other people like lawyers or doctors and is causing a lot of trouble by not letting anyone help her. Glorie is determined to help her but is she up to the task?

I’d say the toughest part for Glorie is that she is a volunteer so there is a point at which her hands are tied. She can only do so much here after all. Still she goes in with a good attitude and only crashes out once. The crash out wasn’t a great look for her to be honest but in a drama film you are expecting this at least once. All in all she was good and definitely one of the highlight characters in the film. Without her Grace would have really been in trouble. You never really get over the kind of trauma that Grace experienced here but you can do your best to at least make some kind of progress.

For that reason her husband could be a bit annoying here even if he did end up coming in clutch each time when Glorie needed him. He was just way too petty and sulky the whole film. Snapping at his wife real quick each time and being in a rush despite what she’s going through. The fact that he even wanted another kid after what happened to the last one is pretty crazy. You can float the idea once but if Glorie isn’t up for it then you definitely shouldn’t bring it up again. It’s a rough situation but that’s gotta be the last thing she would want to hear at that point.

Meanwhile Grace’s last direct relative looks awful here. His wife really wants some kind of inheritance and he shuts that down at least but he is really quick to turn on Grace and even Glorie later. The guy is completely self absorbed and acts like a jerk throughout the movie. He just needs to toughen up and get with the program. I understand that his role isn’t easy but it still doesn’t give him any reason to be acting like a child here. He should have explained things better to Grace and made his points without being so petty. Sending her back to the senior home would be good for him but certainly not for her. It’s an especially bad look when she was always talking about how helpful he was. He looks better by the end but it’s a bit late by then.

As for his wife talking about the money the whole time, that has to be one of the most annoying things you can imagine when you’re dying. The last thing you want is for people to be worried about your money. I’d have half a mind to change up the will and put it somewhere else to spite them after that. Not like they’d see the will until I was dead anyway. I was glad that the kid got half though because she was the only one who seemed to really care for Grace’s wellbeing the whole time. The fact that she wrote so many letters and was so consistent about this for years is really quite something. Definitely above and beyond what you would usually expect from a kid.

I think to really make the film more fun they should have made Grace a bit more fun. Instead of her being a little bitter and uptight the whole time, just have her be super optimistic. Maybe the reason she didn’t want to stay at the senior home was because she just wanted to explore a lot and make some final memories. Maybe have her talk Glorie through her trauma instead of just adding onto it. There are a lot of ways this could have gone like even fighting the construction crew in court a bit more. I think those would have all been a lot more interesting and would have really gotten you engaged in what was going on.

So with that and making Glorie’s husband more agreeable that would have been a nice combination. Also the picnic that she prepared could probably have had some more normal foods and it would have really been a hit. If I’m nearing my deathbed, the last thing I want to see is a lobster macaroni salad. Seriously that would just make me want to go back home. Brie cheese isn’t bad though. It’s hardly my favorite cheese but I would appreciate the gesture there. In the film Grace talks about how the conventional oven makes things taste better than electric. I’m skeptical that this is anything more than placebo but I can’t rule it out since soda out of a glass bottle does taste a lot better than plastic.

Overall, Grace and Glorie isn’t a bad film but it’s not the most energetic one either. At the end of the day it is about an old lady who is reaching the end of her life after all so you wouldn’t really expect it to be bubbling with energy or anything like that. Still, it can be a bit of a dreary watch so it isn’t super entertaining. I won’t go as far as to say that it’s boring or anything but it can be uneventful. The ending is satisfying enough but it is a film that feels long as you are watching it and that keeps the movie from really achieving greatness. I would sooner recommend pretty much all of the classic Hallmark Christmas titles over this film. Hallmark is still able to handle itself reasonably well with these films but they aren’t quite the all star hits that you have come to expect from the brand.

Overall 5/10

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV Review

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It’s always impressive to see a video game getting an entire prequel film. It really shows how they tried to make Final Fantasy XV a huge hit. Now I remember people being a bit salty since supposedly this content would have all been within the video game had it not decided to be a multi media hit. The fact that Final Fantasy XV is by far the shortest mainline game definitely supports this but either way it’s fun to see the events here. The movie is mainly a political thriller I’d say with a lot of moves being made on both sides and so it makes for a captivating watch. It may be a far cry from Advent Children but most things are.

The movie starts with some lore about how one kingdom decided to aggressively start taking over massive chunks of land. It got to the point where they quickly took over half of the planet. Now there are just 2 kingdoms left, the kingdom that Regis presides over which is protected by an all powerful magical barrier and his ancient energies, and the kingdom of technology which uses robots and demons in order to progress. Both kingdoms could not be more different if they tried. The Kingsglaive are the elite warriors who use King Regis powers in order to fight but there are only so many of them. The kingdom is gradually losing this war.

When you are losing a war you always have to consider at exactly what point should you consider surrender. Do you literally continue to fight until the last people are murdered or do you eventually concede? The enemies come in with terms of full surrender where Regis will give up all territories except their capital city which is as close to full surrender as you are going to get. I would say the big mistake was in accepting this. Whether you surrender ground or not, you don’t accept a treaty that involves a total surrender while also taking them behind enemy lines. That is just a recipe for total disaster.

It was well established that the enemies were not able to break into the main city. The magic barrier was that powerful which is really impressive. Everyone outside the barrier was being slaughtered though and Regis was getting older so once he died of old age then that would be it. Still, there are things you could do like training up Noctis and seeing if he was worthy of the ring. Since he has the birthright I would expect he would be able to pull this off. You have to at least try though and I’d argue sending Noctis away was the worst decision here. It pretty much dooms the team to not have a chance.

Now in hindsight we know Regis would fall anyway given the amount of traitors and such but that doesn’t negate the plan of strengthening the army. Allowing the villains to bring all of their heavy hitters within the walls is lunacy. It was obvious that they would cause trouble right away. The instant you let villains in behind the unbreakable barrier is when it’s all over. There’s just no coming back from that so I would say Regis really didn’t do a good job. I can’t say he did good during the opening either when he abandoned the princess and just kept on running. With his abilities he should have been doing really good.

I guess the main idea here is that the heroes are hopelessly outmatched and that’s fine but I would want to go down swinging. From the villains, the most impressive is the general Glauca. Technically we know that Ardyn is even more powerful but in the film he doesn’t fight while Glauca is taking on the combined might of several generations of kings. That is a really impressive showing and the guy is fighting all on his own. It’s easy to see how they would have dominated the entire planet with how many fighters they had. Even having the ability to drop demons around the planet to cause chao is another effective tactic.

Way I see it, the only possible way to win this war would be to assassinate the heads of the opposing kingdom. You’d have to risk it all and really send your guys in because playing defense was a losing battle. That’s why I enjoy all of this political intrigue though. There isn’t a whole lot of action here until the climax but the dialogue is all pretty strong. We get a good view into how the kingdom was losing hope with the surrender and having to see everything going on. I can see how you would lose all faith in the kingdom if your village was one of the places that had to be sacrificed as collateral damage to the enemies.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. It all sounds a bit generic and doesn’t scream Final Fantasy the way you would like it to. This is one of those films that is not embracing its status as a big video game. Give me some really energetic beats with fast paced music and a lot going on the whole time. That would be a good way to set the stage and also amp up the music. Again, look at Advent Children as an example here. The graphics are really good though and I enjoyed the battling. The teleportation combos are always a lot of fun and it is definitely a creative way to fight. It guarantees that every battle will be really fast paced and energetic. It’s also shown to not be completely invincible since your weapon telegraphs where you will teleport so you have to do this carefully. Most soldiers can’t do this on repeat except for Nyx.

Nyx is a solid character even if he doesn’t have a ton of personality. He’s doing his best to defend his kingdom and stop the enemies so you can give him a good amount of props. He is a strong fighter and isn’t easily led astray like most of his teammates. Libertus is more on the annoying side. He has some valid points but they are drowned out by how he handles the situation. If you want to make a difference then you need to get out there and do something. Also since he is badly injured, there are big limits to what he can do.

I have a ton of issues with King Regis and how slow he is to act but I’ve already gone over that. Lunefreya is pretty solid with how much she has to put up with here. She does her best to help out but isn’t an active fighter so it’s not like she can do everything on her own. Not panicking and continuing to bide her time is a credit in itself. When even Nyx was thinking about retreat she forces him to push on forward which was the correct move.

Overall, This is very much a slow burn movie. You have to really like the various scenes about how the war is going and the characters talking about this or you will get bored. It’s all pretty high stakes and the writing was really solid so I had no problems on my end. It’s not quite an elite movie since I would need more action for that but it has a good amount of replay value and would make for an easy watch. The climax is also a lot of fun to be sure. One of the twists near the end may be hard to believe but with how careless the heroes can be, I suppose that adds a bit of credibility there. Either way, I hope we get more Final Fantasy films soon and I would still recommend this one. With or without context, you can appreciate a good fight as the soldiers do their best in what is basically a futile war after a point.

Overall 8/10

Tower of God Season 2 Review

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We had to wait a long time for Tower of God to make its big return so everyone was eager to see just how good it would look. Well, unfortunately the series isn’t one of the more big budget ones to put it mildly. The story is a 10/10 though so the series was always going to be great unless they changed something about the plot. Fortunately the cuts weren’t all that bad here. Some stuff is missing to be sure but all in all I thought they did an impressive job with it. It’s no season 1 but this show was definitely a lot of fun.

The story takes place a long time after season 1. Our new main character is Wangnan who is trying to climb up the tower but he has been having a hard time so far. He owes a lot of money to the local Yakuza so this is his last chance. There are a scary batch of recruits this time around too including the mysterious Viole who is the latest Slayer candidate. Since he is sponsored directly by FUG, getting on his bad side would not be a good idea. As luck would have it, they are placed on the same team along with a variety of other colorful characters. Will they be able to succeed or are they all doomed to die? In the meantime, the old characters like Khun are still making their moves to climb the tower and get justice for Baam.

There is a lot going on here as you would expect since this was always a very dialogue heavy series with a lot of storylines going on. This one adds a whole lot of characters to the existing roster which was already quite sizable. There is definitely a lot to keep up with here and the story has to move fast so don’t expect to have too many moments to relax and digest what just happened. Naturally I tend to enjoy fast pacing so that was pretty fun. I’d say it is still enough where you can understand what is going on even without reading the original manhua. It makes things easier for sure though.

So the story is super compelling as always and that’s why I say the series was destined for greatness. As for the animation, it’s not bad. It went for a more traditional look than the first season and while I think that can be good to show off the higher power levels, it really isn’t taken to the fullest. This animation style feels very familiar after all but it doesn’t have the same budget that bigger titles have. So as a result the fights aren’t super fluid or tend to have a lot of movement. At the very end of the season we get some quick cuts but that’s about it. The big punch with Viole and Urek is still a lot of fun even if the animation isn’t super high tier or anything though. I guess it’s another moment where I would give the story itself the most credit.

Fortunately the soundtrack is still really good like in season 1. There are a lot of reused tracks but they still age well. The cliffhanger theme when Urek is fighting Viole is definitely the best one. The openings/endings aren’t as catchy as season 1’s were but they are still good. I’ve listened to them a whole lot and at this point I’m used to them but I still couldn’t say that they are elite or really stand out. They do work better when you ignore the images though. The first opening’s is still criminally low budget. There were some artistic ideas there but they failed.

The decision to make this season 2 cours was definitely a really good one because of how much content there was to adapt. They will probably need 4 cours in order to adapt the Hell Train arc properly but we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully the wait isn’t super long for the next season because it’s rough to have to wait for so long each time. The next arc is my personal favorite of the series after all so I need it right away!

Wangnan makes for a pretty fun main character and I would say he’s a lot more fun than Baam from the first season. That kid was nice enough but Wangnan has more of a personality. He has dreams and aspirations and works hard to make them come true. He may not be the most powerful fighter in the tower but he doesn’t need to be. He just needs good allies and gets some decent feats as the season goes on. He’s more of a comedic lead but that doesn’t stop him from getting serious moments as well. He does what he needs to in order to go higher in the tower.

Miseng is one of the main party members but she can’t really fight much which puts her in a tough spot. The tower is a cruel place and trying to climb it without being able to fight is a really terrible idea. I feel bad for her of course but cmon now. This is just not going to work. She just ends up holding the team back the whole time and since she knows it, this causes Miseng to make some pretty bad moves the whole time. The whole thing is really just a wash for her and she should probably have gotten kicked out of the exams earlier. It only gets rougher the more you climb up after all.

Then there is Goseng who is in a similar boat as she can’t fight. What’s with all of these civilians trying to climb the tower? It’s just such a bad idea and the series sets up a little romance for her but you can’t imagine it ending in anything other than a tragic way. It’s just not possible to climb while constantly having to protect others. She doesn’t seem to be working on her abilities either so for now she isn’t rising up for me.

Akraptor is the tough guy who seems unhinged at first but has a soft side. Still, this is finally someone who can really fight so I am on board with having him around. He is able to keep his cool and keep the others in line when needed. He also tries to put up a fight against Viole although going for cheap shots against Horyang wasn’t smart with how high the stakes were. The guy adds a little spice to the team dynamic by being someone who can’t 100% be trusted so I appreciated that.

Horyang is another pretty powerful fighter and he’s got a sinister past. Definitely someone to keep an eye on and he gets a big role in the arc as other figures from his past turn up. I think he can be a bit too soft spoken but once his mini arc starts, he did get more serious and pro active. So I would say I hesitantly like him. I would like him to do more in the future though instead of just being dragged around a whole lot. He also needs to not make such a reckless move in leaving the heroes again since that just puts them all in danger.

Yeon is a pretty high ranking individual among the family hierarchy so when she shows up you expect a whole lot out of her. Unfortunately she can’t control her flames which is a classic way to nerf her. She’s not bad but considering how much hype the flames themselves get, it can be annoying to see people blocking them or straight up tanking the blasts. She absolutely needs to improve her abilities and do it quickly. Fortunately for her, Tower of God is one of those titles that doesn’t put a ton of stock on speed so she will still be able to tag speedsters even if it doesn’t make sense. Still, you need more than flames to win in this world because being a one trick pony is a recipe for disaster.

Viole is the power hitter that the team needed so it’s always good to have him around. He also doesn’t live up to the hype as much as you would want in the show version. As the slayer candidate his abilities are supposed to be absolutely legendary and on a whole different level yet he doesn’t look quite as overwhelmingly powerful as you would expect. If anything it just seems like his aura is slightly greater than the others which isn’t the all powerful buff that you would think it is. I would have liked to have seen more out of him.

Even so, it’s clear that he is stronger than the rest of the guys on his team so that’s good. Additionally just the fact that he stood up to Urek even for a moment was impressive since everybody else was chickening out immediately. When you are trying to climb the tower, you sometimes have to have a defining moment where you stand against the strong and this was it. It’s a lesson that the other characters could definitely learn from.

Take Prince for example. He may have looked tough at first as one of the villains but the instant he joined the heroes, the guy lost all his hype. It’s not like we needed another kid type character on the crew either. He doesn’t really contribute much at all except to hold the heroes back so I can’t say that I was a big fan of his either. On the whole you can see why I preferred the team from the season 1 group. I tended to enjoy everybody there while here the team can be hit or miss.

Then of course we have Khun’s team led by the man himself. Khun is solid as always here as he thinks 3 steps ahead and always has a plan. This is around the time he became a full time strategist. In season 1 he was also rather dominant physically but I suppose by this time the opponents are getting stronger. I would like to see him fight more though because I have to assume he’s still stronger than a lot of people. He doesn’t see into every possible contingency nor does he win every battle but on the whole he looks good. Khun is great at adapting to the circumstance and always keeping a confident demeanor up no matter what.

Dan is the new recruit Khun finds who has super speed. Uh oh, we all know how super speed can get kinda dicey when it comes to power levels right? Well, naturally it’s not all that good for Dan and he doesn’t get to show it off as much as I would like. The show does a good job of making him immediately likable though. I thought he was a really well developed character though and somebody who was just fun to root for.

Most of Khun’s other members aren’t all that memorable but there were two others who left an impact. First up is Novik who is one of those strong guys who is always overshadowed by having someone more powerful than him on the team. That has to be rough to know that you are pretty powerful but will never get that elusive #1 spot. Doesn’t feel all that fair right? Well he doesn’t let it get him down. It’s a bit hard to gauge Novik’s strength as well because he’s often either much stronger than his opponent or much weaker. There’s not really much of an in between here.

Then you have Ran who is a lot of fun. The guy is super confident and powerful. He reminds me a lot of Killua from Hunter X Hunter. His smugness is definitely deserved with how easily he dispatches his opponents. I like his fighting style so you could say that everything about the character is great from start to finish. He’s really fun to root for and gets a good amount of screentime. Khun definitely did really well to recruit this guy.

Shibisu has his own team as well which is a mix of new characters and old ones. The guy has really come a long way from being more of a loudmouth to a strategist who is treated a lot like Khun. The first season set up the seeds for this and the payoff was really good. He’s still not really a fighter though so tactics are really how he shines in the battles. If you take that away from him then he will really be in a tough spot here.

One of his new recruits is Vespa who is a strong fighter. Vespa brags a lot about having an awakened form and being the fastest but ends up fighting people who are either faster or who have hax which is unfortunate. I still like the character though. I don’t like Verdi as much because she seems borderline evil. She likes to collect people as puppets and brainwash them. That’s not exactly hero behavior so I don’t know what she is doing with these guys. I guess it was one of those strategic partnerships to look the other way but that isn’t a huge consolation to me. You have to reign that “Anything goes” attitude a little bit or you will become the villains.

Endorsi is also part of the group but she really does whatever she wants. It’s fun to see her absolute freedom though and continues to be one of the more powerful fighters. She gets a lot of hype on this one and also on an intellectual level as she quickly figures out that something is a little off about Viole. I definitely look forward to her continuing to have a pretty big role.

Anaak also gets her own solid fight so her fans should be pleased. Her durability gets a lot of respect and she is a high end fighter as well. For the most part you would expect her to be able to defeat most of the other fighters in each group. She is quick to want to get revenge for Baam which I appreciate. That’s how a real friend does it. Unfortunately I would say Hatz looks far less impressive. I really liked him in season 1 but it’s clear that he has lost to the power creep. Gone are the days where he could fight on par with Anaak. Hatz gets his own sub plot ad everything but he just doesn’t have the edge that he used to which is a shame.

Then on the FUG team we have Refejo at the helm. He’s a rather mysterious guy who seems loyal but is always having a backup plan at the ready. In fairness to the guy, trusting anyone in the Tower of God is a really bad move so I don’t blame him. His suspicions turn out to be correct more often than not. He ends up making for a really good villain and is one of the standout antagonists here. The guy can back up his tough talk really well.

Varagav may be stronger but the guy has less character. We get to see him fight Endorsi but that’s about it. I do like the foreshadowing with Baylord Yama being mentioned though. Beta was a more impressive villain as he really gave Viole a tough fight. The guy was pretty whiny so I won’t say he’s as likable as some of the other villains but the guy made his presence known. He really gave all of the characters a really tough fight throughout.

Another villain is Quaetro but he stops being a threat early on. His fight with Wangnan was a lot of fun though. For the most part the fights in the series tend to be serious so having a little comedic moment once in a while isn’t bad. His partner Chang gets even less to do but does seem to be stronger. Maybe one day we will really get to see him cut loose although it feels like the power creep has already passed him. The series really moves fast when it comes to powers.

That’s not even counting characters who appear but haven’t fought yet. Karaka gets a few appearances to gloat and look tough. He’s a solid villain so I look forward to him getting a role. Then of course we have his master Jinsung who gets even more hype. The kind of guy who doesn’t mind walking into a villain’s base all on his own just to talk smack. Now that’s a good level of confidence that I like to see.

Of course Urek towers above all of those as one of the strongest characters in the whole franchise. The guy loves a good fight and really shows off his power. Definitely someone you will want to see more of and he really steals the show even with a very limited amount of screentime. It will be a while before he does anything again so you better savor the moment while you can. His appearance was like a glimpse into the end game.

Then we have Xia Xia who isn’t the strongest villain but she still finds ways to shake everybody up so I can appreciate that. She is crazy in a very dangerous way with no tactic being out of bounds. I thought she did a good job of playing everybody and while her role isn’t large, it was impactful. She’s almost like the reverse Hwaryun who also trolls everybody constantly. Hwaryun gets more hype though since as a guide her foresight is pretty much unstoppable. She will always be on the path that she needs to be. Granted, it doesn’t stop her from being knocked out but you always assume that she got knocked out at a good time for her or something like that.

Emily is a mysterious figure and most of her scenes had to get cut out for the anime. Not that it changes much since she keeps the mysterious aura either way. I wasn’t crazy about the subplot in regards to her true identity but I did like the idea of a texting app that everybody was using in order to stay ahead. That added a fun wrinkle to the Workshop battle arc and kept all of the characters guessing. The more mind games in Tower of God the better!

Still, any scene with the Traveler would usually be pretty uneventful and dare I say a bit boring. I just didn’t care about the guy and not even the anime adaption would end up fixing that. He doesn’t appear a ton fortunately so that worked out. As one more miscellaneous hero, Rak shows up for the second half and even gets some fights. I would say he is an unfortunate victim of the power creep so don’t expect him to look too overpowering but he gets his share of fun moments. He’s not exactly my favorite character but the guy is super loyal so I really appreciate that.

Somebody like Cassano can learn from that. Cassano is a solid villain but you wonder how far he has thought ahead in his plans. he makes a whole lot of enemies out of pretty much every faction which can’t be a good idea for his long term health. He’s a solid fighter but not one of the top tiers. I guess relative to the average fighter he would be considered near the top though. I think he works as an interesting wild card and just needs at least one more power up.

Then of course we have Rachel who is still a standout character. She’s just an absolute blast and always shakes up the tower. It’s clear to see why she is considered one of the destined ones by the tower itself. She also has the most brutal moments in the series. She doesn’t appear much in the second half but of course you can look forward to seeing a whole lot more out of her down the road.

Overall, Season 2 was definitely a blast. It’s a great show even if it’s not downright elite the way that season 1 was. There is a lot going on here and a lot of plot developments set up for the next saga. Regardless of how the animation ends up looking, the next part should be super elite. Although of course I will be hoping for better animation as well because why not have the full package right? A series like Tower of God absolutely deserves every bit of effort it can get. I definitely recommend this title.

Overall 8/10

Fall Review

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Fall is one of those films that basically just has one location and the challenge is to try and keep the film captivating for the full runtime. I think there’s a decent amount of potential in that kind of idea but this premise in particular was pretty limited the whole time. There’s only so much you can do with the tower the whole time and this movie had to resort to some desperate tactics the whole time. Needless to say, this film was not a winner.

The movie starts by introducing us to Becky and her best friend Hunter. They both like climbing a lot but it is a rather dangerous sport and Becky’s husband ends up dying during one such adventure. A year passes and Becky has not been able to recover at all. So Hunter shows up and tells Becky that it’s time to face her fears by climbing an incredibly dangerous radio tower that was decommissioned years ago. Naturally that means it is not up to code anymore and so climbing it is going to be pretty rough. Hunter needs the views for her social media though and Becky is weak to peer pressure so she agrees to go on the mission. Will this be a fatal mistake?

The first thing you’ll notice here is that the film loves going for shock value. We see a dog being eaten alive early on in the film in such a gratuitous scene that it dooms the whole movie. At this point there was literally no way the film was going to redeem itself. That just doesn’t happen. Then later on we have a bird getting eaten alive and so the film really wasn’t holding back on the animal violence. Those were 2 really poor options and yeah the film never did even come close to recovering.

I also feel like the movie wasn’t particularly confident in its own plot. For that reason one of the characters wears a fairly impractical outfit which she says is to appease the viewers and get clicks. It’s sadly realistic but still not a good thing for the movie because it’s just taken to the extreme. I would say live action movies don’t generally have a big fanservice issue but this is an actual plot point and the camera angles are always at the ready so this is another thing that is not in the film’s favor.

Going 3 for 3, the film also has a pretty big writing issue. The script is super low effort with the characters swearing up a storm and so they forget to ever make them all that likable. Hunter is being way too pushy about Becky climbing this super dangerous tower and is then irresponsible as well. Forgetting to pack any food is an absolutely massive oversight. Then we also learn more about their past and it turns out that Hunter was no true friend at all. That was really unnecessary and just added extra drama for no real reason. You really shouldn’t do that, it’s another desperate move on the film’s part that doesn’t enhance the experience at all.

I’d also say it’s the worst possible timing to mention this while you are stuck high up in the sky like this. It’s only a good idea if you want to get pushed off. As for Becky, she’s also not likable as she takes out her grief on everybody else. It’s fine not to have moved on after a year but then you need to be able to internalize this pretty well and not just double down on the mistakes. You also shouldn’t let yourself get manipulated so easily and make no mistake, she was easily handled by Hunter. Just not a good idea because usually peer pressure is done in a negative way. It doesn’t have to be that way but that’s usually how it goes.

The film handles its twist pretty well. It feels like the twist was all anybody would talk about for this film after it came out because it was so legendary and I do think that part was handled pretty well. I still have some logic issues with the film though that are hard to overlook. For starters when Hunter heads back down for the drone, why not use it right then? Instead of making a 20/80 jump to try to get back up, use it right away. If you can get help then you will have pulled off a great moment. You could probably even use it to carefully guide the remaining phone down. The low battery issue would have come up either way but they didn’t know that at the time.

You’ll probably have to stretch your disbelief the most when night time comes. You just don’t buy that the characters wouldn’t roll off while asleep or that a big gust of wind wouldn’t blow them away. They are way too sentient and operating logically even after having been up there for well over 24 hours. Adrenaline can get you pretty far but not quite this far. They’re still able to climb and move around with maneuvers that take up a whole lot of upper body strength. It’s especially a stretch for Becky who has spent the last year drinking endless amounts of beer at the bar and just lounging her life away. You will keep some strength but enough to pull off all these stunts? Nah, I don’t even believe it for Hunter much less Becky. Too much energy was spent just getting up the tower, let alone being stuck up there for so long.

Beyond that, the film shows how hopeless the whole thing was pretty well. Once you are on that tower there aren’t a whole lot of options available to you. Climbing that is a bad idea in itself but people do bad ideas for clicks all the time online so it’s not super surprising. It doesn’t make the characters any more likable though. I think what would have made this film more likable would be if they had a great reason for climbing like someone was offering money that they needed for a sick relative or something. You’d get the reasoning a bit better.

Of course the film would obviously still fail if it didn’t clean up the animal violence though. There’s no real getting around that particularly with how violent those moments were. The one location type films can be hit or miss and at the end of the day this one was a miss. We did check off the box of having super mean passerbys though as two guys show up just to really stick it to the leads. Perhaps unnecessary but also a bit funny because what are the odds these guys would be that level of corrupt right? Like at least call the cops after stealing the van or something.

Overall, Fall is not a film that I would recommend. Even aside from all the unnecessary moments, it’s just not a film that is very confident in its own story. I think deep down the writers knew that there was no shut things would work out after being stuck on top and so they had to add a whole lot of drama to try and distract you. The main problem is that the distractions simply don’t work so at the end of the day you’re just shaking your head the whole time. If you want a film with a whole lot more tension you should probably keep on searching elsewhere.

Overall 2/10

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Review

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It’s time for the big sequel at long last. Jedi Survivor definitely took a while to come out but at the same time it took me a while to get it as well. It definitely does a great job of following up on the first title. The gameplay is still top notch with a really well developed combat system and way to get stronger. My one qualm would be that it feels like the Force abilities were all nerfed rather hard. There is virtually no reason to use it at all here as you can really just keep on surviving with lightsaber abilities and beat the enemies a lot quicker. Still, it’s possible there were some force strategies that I didn’t get to try which would have been a lot more useful.

The story starts a few years acter the first game with the heroes all splitting up to go their own ways. Cal is pretty upset because he feels like they all should have kept on fighting the Empire alongside him. Instead one created a bar, one went off to focus on data gathering, another to travel the universe, etc. Cal won’t give up though and continues to attack base after base but doesn’t seem to be making much of an impact. Perhaps it is all hopeless. A new recruit named Bode shows up though and has the old fire that Cal once did. Together perhaps they can meet up with the old members and start fighting again. Additionally, an ex Jedi is on the loose and has to be stopped before he causes some real damage.

There’s a lot going on with the story and you can definitely sympathize with Cal not seeing much in the way of results. That is how the main series tends to be as well. I still remember film 7 basically erasing films 4-6 in the intro with the Empire suddenly being back. The heroes need better logistical support or something because when it comes to the combat they really aren’t doing much at all. Even when they destroy thousands of storm troopers, new ones are just created. The Sith are very few in number but just seem to stick around. It really is hopeless to an extent.

The never ending fight against endless hordes makes for good gameplay though. It’s a bit of a shame that we don’t unlock the dark side until the final chapter of the game in this title. It feels great to be mowing through hundreds and hundreds of troopers the whole time. For the most part your level of power is lower so you won’t be doing that until the end. There is also one level where you play as another character and can one shot everybody which is pretty fun. I get why balance wise they can’t do that all the time but it really is a tremendously good way to have a change of pace.

The graphics are really good like I mentioned before. The lightsaber and general special effects all stand out on a pretty high level. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t say there are any memorable tracks. They at least fit the moment while you are playing the game. The base game is close to 20 hours which is really solid and getting all of the collectibles and such will certainly extend the playthrough by a great deal.

The collectibles are generally not hidden too much which is good for at least getting a solid amount during the normal campaign. There are plenty of areas you don’t need to travel in during the story that will probably have a bunch of extra things to get. There are also a lot of side quests to go through and I didn’t actually end up doing any of them while playing through the game. So you can really see that the replay value is high here. There is a whole lot to add to your experience.

Also the parry system is still a lot of fun. You really have to have fast reaction times though because there are so many attacks which cannot be parried. Those tend to really be a hassle to deal with. Especially when they intermix inside of a combo and throw off your timing. I would just end up brute forcing my way through a bunch of the enemies as I got to the later parts of the game. It was easier than waiting for the parry. If you go for this strategy, just make sure to roll a lot. That’s the safest way to dodge an attack if you aren’t going to actively parry.

The game is reasonably difficult so you can definitely be assured that you will have to really concentrate on this one. Sometimes running past an enemy will not be worth it since they will then swarm you from all sides. Also the save points have a fun gimmick where if you choose to rest then all of the enemies you defeated will respawn. So you definitely want to be strategic about how and when you rest. Do it at the wrong time and you are effectively redoing all of the progress that you just made. Something to keep in mind. Also it’s why you should search through as many chests as possible. You should find at least 4 full life power ups during the game and they are permanent. So when you revive each time it’s like you have 5 health bars instead of 2. The game would have been a whole lot harder without those.

Overall, Jedi Survivor is a great game around the board. From the combat to the graphics, soundtrack, etc there is no area where the game is lacking. The length is good and there is a lot of replay value. You will definitely be glad that they decided to continue the series all the way through. There is definitely room for another game I’d say although I’m not sure how close they are to catching up to another big story point. This era with the Jedi is already jam packed but it’s also the most fun era so I get why you want to keep the stories here. It would be nice to see Cal fight Vader next time although Cal may need some serious upgrades first.

Overall 8/10

Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham Review

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It’s time for one of my most random video game purchases. Hey sometimes that’s how you end up getting a top tier talent right? Well this one is hardly at that level but it’s a reasonably serviceable party game. It’s mainly held back by the length and lack of variety here. You won’t have much reason to play it but I do like how seamlessly they incorporate a 2 player mode into the mix. If they ever make a PS5 remake of this game I’d be temped to give it a look.

The basic plot follows that of the book. The characters want to get this one guy to eat their green eggs and ham no matter what. They seriously won’t take no for an answer and are having a really hard time convincing him otherwise. So you get one page out of the book after every minigame but then you will quickly notice that it is the same 5-6 cutscenes that repeat on loop. For example if you activate the train minigame then they will ask the guy to eat the meal on the train. I imagine this could get old on repeated playthroughs since it’s the same stuff each time. You can skip past it easily enough at least.

The gameplay is definitely a party game through and through. You are on a map similar to something like Candy Land as you roll the dice and move forward. Every time you roll the dice you play a matching minigame where you have to match shapes together. Then based on what square you land on is what minigame you will play after that. Once you reach the end of the map, whoever has the highest score/victories is the winner. I will say that the computer kept it close as we had the same amount of victories for a while there but there was also a big reason for this. The matching game keeps your progress which is fine but you can only do one turn at a time. So lets say I win it in turn 4 and now there are only two uncovered cards left. When it is the next player’s turn, he has no choice but to flip those cards and of course they are the right ones so he wins. This happens each time when the matching game is near the end which seems like a pretty big oversight.

Most of the other minigames are like mini platformers. You jump around from area to area as you collect the hams and eggs. You want to get as many as possible and if you’re lucky then you will get them all. The minigames aren’t particularly hard but they are fun. I’m always up for bite sized games like this. The whole game may take you maybe 20 minutes at most to complete. Then after that you are done so that’s why I say the game is ultra short. It’s fun but how high can you really rank a game when you are able to conquer it so easily? Just doesn’t really add up. I think I’d probably be even harsher if I had paid the big bucks for it but fortunately I was able to get it for just a few bucks.

The graphics aren’t bad. Nothing special but you can always tell what is happening at least. The soundtrack isn’t bad either but it also comes across as generic. I don’t imagine a whole lot of time and effort was put into these things but of course I’m still glad they were present. There may not be a whole lot to this game but at least it wasn’t glitchy or anything like that. It’s still a fun game at its core and if you can snag it for a few bucks then it’s not a bad purchase. If you have to spend a whole lot of money on it then that’s another thing though.

Like I mentioned earlier, I do give the game some credit for actually having a multiplayer mode though. Basically you would just hand off the GBA after each turn. Each minigame is meant to be for 1 player after all and then you compare scores like Pac Man. It’s really quite genius when you think about it. Now they still should have had more minigames and you’ll need to find someone who wants to play the game but it’s a small thing the devs did that actually does add some replay value here. l

Overall, Green Eggs and Ham is one of those games where you may be surprised to learn that it got a video game at all. I was pretty surprised myself and figured I would have heard about it by this point. Well, better late than never as they say. It’s not a game I will probably remember as the years go by but it’s definitely crazy enough where that might not be true. Maybe I ought to buy the Cat in the Hat game at some point to see how that one stacks up. I bet the game will definitely be real interesting so at the very least I won’t be bored. I’m hoping it would at least be a bit longer than this game though. Being under 1 hour is always crazy no matter how you look at it.

Overall 5/10

The Lord of the Rings (1978) Review

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It’s time for another Lord of the Rings title! The series is quite consistent with how sleepy each installment makes you. The plots are overbearing, the pacing is abysmal, the characters are annoying, and ultimately this makes for a very bad combination. When the Lord of the Rings is in your corner then you know quality will be left far behind. While I will put this above the average live action film, it’s still just not good. You would need to drastically retool the story in order to make it successful at this point.

The film starts off by giving us a farewell to Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf has returned to make sure he gives the ring to Frodo. He has to be forced into it but this works and so after a few years Frood is the next one in line to go on an adventure. He has to keep the ring really safe though because it is so alluring and tempting that everybody wants it. Even Frodo begins to fall to its charms as his legs get heavier and heavier. Will he be able to make it to his final destination or will the forces of evil stop him?

You have to always contain a lot of suspense for disbelief for the Lord of the Rings title because the heroes are just so much weaker than the villains. Frodo and the other hobbits for example can’t do much of anything against the villains. They will quickly be picked off an dismantled without a fight if it came down to that. There are a few allies who jump in later to help but the party gets split up most of the time. So Frodo lasting as long as he does is always a bit of a headscratcher.

Meanwhile Gandalf is still the biggest poser in the series. The guy is said to have unimaginable power but admits he would fold before the ring almost immediately. He then gets captured early on in the film and even once he returns, the guy spends a lot of time running instead of just ending the villain legions. I know there are limits to his abilities but the problem is that there seem to be countless limits. He is always on the defensive/back foot here. He does not live up to his prestigious title.

Unfortunately the animation is also pretty rough here. It’s not that bad when it’s just the hobbits running around as the animation is traditional but any time we enter a fight or have the villains on screen, it suddenly becomes very abstract with the colors all being very off putting. It’s not a flattering style for the film to say the least and that’s unfortunate. It makes the film appear way more dated than it already is and it’s not like this is a newer film either. The soundtrack is also basically nonexistent at this point so you don’t even have that to distract you from the repeated scenes and recycled animation. No, you’re stuck by that point.

The film could be surprisingly intense at times with how the characters are stabbed and murdered. The film doesn’t have to hold back so much since it is animated but I don’t think it ever goes too far. So it gets some credit there. The fight scenes are still lacking in choreography but at least we did have some battles. With more likable characters then this could have really been good. Instead we’re stuck with Frodo who seems to complain a whole lot. Perhaps less than Bilbo but Frodo is still not having a good time here for the most part.

Sauron continues to look very uninspired as well. He doesn’t even get a proper opening fight here as he loses the ring during narration as he suffers a humiliating defeat. I will still never be able to take that villain seriously after the way he lost. You wouldn’t see the average minion lose as easily as he did. How can you possibly come back from that? I just don’t think there is any way to do that. Not like the heroes look any more impressive though. On the whole the villains have cooler designs and abilities so it’s easy to see why they are always in the lead but even with that it’s just hard to get very engaged in what’s going on.

At the end of the day I would say that is the film’s biggest problem. Before working on the animation and fights, you need to focus on the plot because that is the most important element for a film. That is where you will either win or lose. You need to have a story that is interesting so the audience can identify with the characters and have a blast. Technically speaking the film has a fairly large cast of characters but the problem is that none of them are able to hold their own scenes at all and so what you really have is just a lot of things happening on screen with no way to really care about the outcomes.

As for how specifically you change this, that’s tough. There is no objective way to make a character likable after all. I’d say maybe a change of scenery and a big change to the writing structure as well. The characters tend to be a bit repetitive and while Gollum is intentional, the rest aren’t. Gollum ends up being one of the most entertaining characters because of how over the top he is but it’s in a very ironic way. I would never be able to say that I actually like him as a character because he doesn’t rank at all. He’s the kind of character who you are waiting for the heroes to bump off. They take some real chances letting him stay as close as he is.

I suppose the whole ring plot in itself is also a problem because it makes the characters look so weak. Gandalf exploding with anger and telling Frodo off because of his own weakness to the ring is just a terrible scene for the guy. Then another one of Frodo’s so called loyal companions has a bout of madness and tries stealing the ring as well. Not exactly the kind of allies you want around you and since this is our only context for the characters, they haven’t earned enough good will to survive such negative scenes.

Overall, The Lord of the Rings is about the same as you would expect. It’s still a rather boring experience which is unfortunate because you can feel the potential. It may not live up to this potential most of the time but it still exists. That is the kind of potential that shines through if you look at the video games because both titles for Gamecube were actually pretty good. That shows that this can work in at least one format and if you can work in one then you can work in all of them. They just need to speed up the pacing and make the characters vastly more interesting. If the films ever do that then it will be a step in the right direction but for now you should skip this one real quick.

Overall 4/10

The Imaginary Review

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It’s time for a film about the powers of imagination. It’s a pretty nice film that even has a little more intensity to it than you might expect. I never got into the habit of having an imaginary friend when I was younger but I know that was a pretty popular thing for a while there. So a whole film around that premise seemed like a pretty interesting idea. I would have liked the climax to have been extended a little but all in all you’ll have fun.

The story begins with introducing us to Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger. In this world, imaginary friends can only be seen and make contact with their human partners. They are real but exist on a different plane from the rest of humanity. When the human dies, the friend will die as well and the same goes for if they are forgotten. The only way around this is to reach a nexus of imagination such as a library. Amanda and Rudger have had a lot of fun times together but one day Rudger is attacked by a mysterious girl in black as well as Mr. Bunting. He is nearly devoured but gets saved by Amanda at the potential cost of her life. She is now in a coma and Rudger can only survive in the outside world for a day without her. Can he find a way to wake her up and stop the villains?

I was definitely glad that we had a villain here since it adds a big level of danger to the whole film. That sad, the film does have a hard explaining how the heroes aren’t destroyed in every encounter. Keep in mind that he is a grown adult with supernatural abilities but he gets shoved and tripped a whole lot in the battles. The girl of shadows has super speed and some strength but often gets overpowered at the wrong moment. Each time the villains lose you couldn’t help but think that they probably should have won. Mr. Bunting’s absorption technique is also comically slow to the point where it takes whole minutes to actually devour anyone. It’s no wonder that he is constantly interrupted.

That said, he is still hyped up as the master villain with all kinds of reality warping abilities so I would have liked to have seen him prove himself a bit more here. Towards the end we get a fun battle of imagination which I would say is the part you’ve probably been waiting for and it’s really over in the blink of an eye so you don’t get to properly enjoy it for as long as you would like.

The movie can also have a bit of a tonal problem but that’s normal when the main characters are kids. They don’t react quite as seriously to the dark moments as you would expect. Like Amanda grinning and laughing with happy music when they are nearly destroyed in the climax. You gotta overlook a little bit but with a better soundtrack the film would be that much more epic. There are a ton of really intense scenes here after all and the animation handles them well.

It may not be a top tier production but the film looks good enough. It’s not really an action film so it’s not going to be showing off a lot of special effects there. The music is more on the underwhelming side, no real tunes that you will be humming or singing afterwards. As for the writing, I’d say it was good enough. The film is fast so the pacing is good and it definitely doesn’t drag on at any point in time.

As the main character Amanda is fairly decent. She’s not the most well behaved little girl out there and definitely makes her share of mistakes but she tries her best. She did end up defending Rudger near the end when it counted so I give her full credit there. Without her he would have been taken out sooner. She did put him in a tough position to start with but at least helped to make it up.

Rudger is also solid as he is determined to help Amanda throughout the film. I appreciated his dedication as the other characters would have had him give up a long time ago. He was the one who had to keep on pushing for this and otherwise oblivion was the only outcome. He could maybe learn how to fight a little better but I suppose there wasn’t much time for a training montage.

At the spirit realm we meet Zinzan and Emily among some other characters but they weren’t too high. Zinzan wasn’t helpful when it counted. Despite all of his wise verbiage and all, he didn’t do anything against Bunting and didn’t show up when it counted. Nice enough but not dependable. Likewise Emily was disappointing when she didn’t want to hear about Mr. Bunting. Not realizing that he was real was a pretty big L especially with how scared everyone was of him. You wouldn’t see that for a simple rumor and so she ended up looking rather naive. It’s the world of imagination, it would stand to reason that some kind of antagonist is out there.

The most disappointing character had to be Amanda’s mom Lizzie by the end though. She looks unrealistically slow on the uptake by the end of the film. Imagine that you go to your daughter’s hospital room and the weird stalker is in there and suddenly she’s out of the coma but in a ton of pain? You should have a lot of quick reactions, most of them being violent but instead she just keeps asking what’s wrong and why Bunting is in there. Then even once she starts to get clued in on the supernatural elements, she refuses to say the name that Amanda and the others are begging her to say.

The whole scene will have you rolling your eyes because it just takes her an eternity to piece the two things together. It’s not rocket science, this should be 1-2-3. So while the film didn’t intend for her to be annoying or unlikable, that really took a big shot against her character. That was just really rough. Meanwhile the girl in shadows stepped up a lot quicker and for her quick character moment at the end. I’d rather she stay super sinister and just crush everybody but I could see how that would get old after centuries and centuries of being around. You’d want a break at some point.

Overall, The Imaginary is a pretty fun film with some nice concepts. Without the villains I don’t think it would have been quite as enjoyable but with them it’s a good adventure. It might be lacking a little in replay value but the initial watch is fun and creative. If you want to revisit your days of being a kid and enjoying your imagination then this is a solid flick to check out. You won’t be forgetting the villain any time soon!

Overall 7/10