Somebody Up There Likes Me

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a film about a guy who got quite a few rough breaks. Some of them were situations that he got himself into and others were really out of his control. Still, none of them knocked him all the way out of the fight so he was able to continue going on. At times the film can get a little annoying with the mistakes he made, but all in all I would say it was a good movie. If you like a good boxing drama then this is definitely one to check out.

The movie starts by introducing us to Rocky. No, not Balboa but the original Rocky Graziano. I wasn’t kidding about the rough start either as he grows up in a broken home with an abusive father, then he gets mixed up into a life of crime. Even the army can’t really convert him as Rocky defies everybody. He just has so much aggression and no real outlet for it. Fortunately that leads him to boxing where he can actually fight and get paid for it. Perhaps now he can lead a stable life but the problem is that crimes of the past always come back to haunt you. Will he be able to have a stable relationship or is he about to lose everything?

That’s the tough part about making mistakes, you don’t know when it will be time to collect. You may figure that everyone has forgotten or something like that but this always comes back to bite you eventually and it will usually be at the absolute worst possible time. Why do you think a lot of famous people have crimes show up when they have reached their peak? If you have dirt on somebody, why bother bringing it up while they are still some random joe? You keep it in the back pocket to be used later on. I’m even talking about legitimate grievances you might have with someone. They tend to just stay on the backburner until they can be used. It’s definitely rough but yeah the best thing to do is not make mistakes.

Of course that’s impossible, everyone makes some mistakes. There are certain mistakes you should never make of course but you’ll make a mistake of some kind. So the best thing to do is just try to live as well as you can. This film’s based on a true story and so I’ll try not to be too harsh on the lead here but he definitely did annoy me quite a few times. I think he could have handled the blackmailing a bit better. When someone has blackmail you just need to beat them to the punch. It won’t be easy since obviously the blackmail is gonna be hurtful but at the same time it’s only going to get stronger and stronger if you just leave it alone.

In the end he chooses an option that avoids making the mistake but doesn’t quite go far enough in my opinion. You need to shut down the villain so he can’t do that to anyone else and for that you have to expose him. Rocky makes a tough decision to basically just not say anything and it’s 100% understandable but I still thought it was rather annoying. He is a well meaning guy though and it’s why it was fun to watch him box. He definitely had a real talent for it.

Rocky could certainly be more awkward in the romance scenes though. That subplot I didn’t think was quite as smooth but I could certainly see it being realistic. When fighting is the only thing you know, it’s not as if love is going to come by very easily. You have to learn how to navigate that space from scratch since the banter and attitudes are a lot different. The main heroine was nice and patient the whole time though so she gets credit there. This is where I’d usually say the romance could have been skipped and wasn’t needed in the film but again since it’s based on a true story it’s not like you could really do much about that. If that’s when it happened then of course you have to keep this in order.

So again I don’t know much about the events but the pacing and writing were really solid to me. I definitely didn’t have any problems there. The characters are all fairly reasonable and even the antagonists are well spoken. I still enjoy the fake politeness and the film really covers a good amount in a fairly short amount of time. I could have easily not even realized that this was based on a true story because of how eventful it was as well. In the end this is the kind of title I could really recommend to anyone as just good natured fun.

Also, while it may have been tough to see Rocky have to deal with enough hardships, they were all fair aside from the blackmail. Obviously you sympathize with the lead character and all but when you do a crime you have to do the time. He may have been a changed man from the opening scenes but ultimately he still has to pay for them. None of the punishments were excessive though and that’s really the way that it ought to be. I thought the army and other such figures were all treated really fairly even if they were the antagonists relative to Rocky at times.

Overall, This is a fun film. They definitely give Rocky a whole lot of issues to get through but he never gives up. Ultimately he continues to push through even if he may need some encouragement from time to time. At its core this is an uplifting film about always continuing to stay strong and move forward. I was also not really familiar with the real life person so all of the film’s events were brand new for me. In some ways I actually think that’s the best way to do an auto biographical film. Do them based on fairly well known people but not ones where everyone already know the story. I’m sure a lot of people knew about Rocky, certainly all boxing fans probably did but I didn’t do that made it extra fun.

Escape Plan: The Extractors Review

Posted on by
Reply

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

Another Escape Plan? Hey some characters have a hard time staying out of jail but at least you know they have a lot of experience by now. This one really goes back to the original in a lot of ways with the main character getting more screentime and doing a lot of fighting. I would even go as far as to say that it’s definitely the most intense one. It has its moments but you can definitely tell that the series is faltering somewhat.

All right so the film starts with reminding us why a bunch of bodyguards just aren’t worth it. Daya’s group is immediately defeated and she is kidnapped. Always better to have one all star than a group tbh. Her father is a big time criminal who operates a lot of prisons and so Ray has decided to take him down. It won’t be easy though because Ray’s group isn’t all that great and they are defeated along with Abigail getting kidnapped. Ah well…looks like Ray is gonna need to do a lot of the heavy lifting here. He’s fairly used to it though. Can he murder all of the villains before they execute the final hostages or is it already too late?

One thing you can definitely tell about this film is that it’s quite a bit edgier than the first two. Gone are the more sci-fi type prisons in place of a very dusty, sand type of area. It looks more like a prison you would see in real life which in a way is good for realism but by film 3 it’s not like that should be a huge consideration right? That’s already all done with by this point. Even the fights are more on the realistic side without all of the big choreography. You just have people getting shot and stabbed.

The fight scenes aren’t bad but they do tend to end with rather violent finishers. You may think Ray is a little too old for all of this but he definitely handles himself well in a fight. you can expect him to typically dominate in the ring. Of course he does have a lot of rage due to the events of this film. There is definitely a body count to be had here and with films always needing to top themselves and elevate things to the next level, you could say that this film took the next logical step. Can’t say it’s one that I’m a really big fan of but hey….that’s how it goes. It’s a big spoiler to say much more than that but one character ends up biting it and I would say this was unnecessary.

I feel like it could have set up some sequels since the dynamic is different but I suppose they didn’t have enough fuel in the tank to squeeze out a 4th one of these. It would definitely be nice if Ray’s teammates could hold their own a bit better. Yeah they each have their specialties like we have the jokester hacker, but at the end of the day it doesn’t feel like he will come through when it counts. You actually want to have someone inside the jail with you taking down tons of opponents.

Ironically the best assistant Ray has is DeRosa who isn’t actually part of the main team. When he shows up the villains start falling like dominoes but his role isn’t quite as big here. He shows up a few times and then at the very end but this is not really his film so think of him more like a guest star. He would do pretty well in continuing the franchise if you had to switch main characters I would say.

The film does give the main villains a connection to the first film so that helps in terms of connecting everything together. I can appreciate that as a writing strategy even if you don’t really need to do it. I understand how you want to end things on a bang and that makes everything feel more personal. It reminds you that you really can’t trust anyone in the prison breaking game. At the end of the day everyone is out for themselves and will mess you over if given half a chance.

If we did get another film we’d have to see how they force Ray back into a prison. Are we going with the ole hostage routine again, some kind of challenge like a mega prison? The latter would look bad for Ray while the first would feel lazy. I dare say the best thing to do is ditch the prison theme. It’s not called prison break after all. Have Ray be on an island where a coup happens and now he has to escape or maybe put him on an airplane that gets hijacked. This franchise could have really expanded in a whole lot of ways but instead it just ended.

The writing here isn’t bad either. Perhaps a bit on the generic side but I had no real problems with it. The setup is decent and the film’s pacing is good. If you just take away some of the excessive violence and grit here then this would really be fine. It may be hard to avoid all of that in a prison film but I would say the first two films did a better job of this. It all just feels a little less hopeless with how things are going. You feel like there really is something worth fighting for while by the end of this film things are a bit too far gone. Still not pointless by any means as there are people to save but it doesn’t hit in quite the same way.

Overall, Escape Plan 3 is probably the weakest one here. It goes a bit far at times to be sure. I don’t think the plot itself was bad. The supporting cast may be a bit annoying in how they hold Ray back but realistically he is the leader for a reason. It makes sense that he would be the strongest after all. Maybe they can just make his teammates a bit stronger next time, I liked the main fighter in film 2 after all and DeRosa is solid. Put them as the main trio for a whole film and then we’re talking. Still, unless you absolutely need to watch the whole trilogy I would say to watch the first two films and then call it a day.

Overall 4/10

Pokemon Go Update

Posted on by
Reply

My Pokedex is back to being complete at 437/437! Technically I’m missing one or two evolutions but I haven’t seen them so at least the Pokedex doesn’t show an uneven number. Hopefully I finally hatch a Salandit that I can evolve soon.

Mega Lucario was a nice addition to the mega army! I think they’ve nearly released all of the Megas now so just a few left.


Finally got a Ceruledge! Now the battle resumes to hatch another one so I can get the other evolution. Probably gonna take a while tbh.

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Posted on by
Reply


The sequel to the original Solo Leveling has just started so I expect it will be around for a long time. I’ll be here for when it finishes though and I already know this is going to be a great one! Lots of action right out of the gate and by the end of the series you know there are going to be tons of feats. Hopefully it can be the next Boruto and be a mega hit.

Overall 8/10

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Update

Posted on by
Reply


I now own the movie on Blu Ray! It looks like it’s still going to be a long while before we get to the Granolah saga so for now you’ll need to keep this film close as the final Dragon Ball experience. The power levels definitely get real intense here!

Warrior Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for an action film that was really solid. This one had some great fights in there and a story that actually succeeded in being really emotional. Definitely great stuff all around and the only issue I’d have here is that there is a significant amount of plot armor near the end. As the film goes on you wonder more and more how the final fight will be anything close to even and the movie is ultimately unable to come up with an answer to this. You know who needs to win narratively but the problem is that it doesn’t fit who would actually win realistically. Ideally you want the answer to both of those questions to be the same.

The film starts off by introducing us to our two leads. The first is Tommy who hasn’t had an easy life. He had to escape with his mother from the abusive Paddie and she died in a very rough way. Then he went to the army where some rough stuff happened and while everyone considers him to be a hero, for some reason he seems to be ashamed of what happened. He’s hiding some thing there and so when Paddie shows up to apologize, Tommy doesn’t want to hear anything of it. Tommy does hear about a massive boxing tournament that is being started though and the winner will be receiving millions. Tommy decides to win and give all of the money to the widow of his best friend who died in the army. To that end, Tommy allows Paddie to train him but on the condition that they don’t become friends.

Then we have the other main character Brendan who is Tommy’s older brother. He is a teacher but that doesn’t do much to pay the bills since one of his kids is super sick. His wife doesn’t approve of Brendan’s fighting in the ring but he is convinced that this is the only way to get the money that he needs. So when the big tournament shows up, Brendan really wants to join. The problem is that he was never quite the boxer that Tommy was and he’s going to have to improve dramatically in a super short amount of time to even have a chance of winning this big tournament. Does he really have what it takes here? He also has issues with Paddie but didn’t realize that Tommy heavily resents him for not coming along when the household broke. This tournament is definitely going to be very personal and both combatants have strong reasons for wanting to win.

Brendan definitely has the healthiest home environment at least. The others are dealing with past sins and military crimes while Brendan’s biggest issue is really just getting suspended from school for his part time job as a fighter. Considering it’s not like the guy is doing drugs or anything like that, I don’t really see the harm in being a part time boxer. If it is explicitly against the rules then of course that’s a bad thing but I’m pretty sure the film addressed this and it was not.

Brendan is the underdog fighter here but for that reason it can be a stretch to see him doing well. He is extremely good at grappling which is how he pulls through but he has trouble against the weakest fighters, let alone world class athletes. Any pro will tell you that the gap between an amateur and an elite is absolutely massive. To even think of bridging that divide in such a small amount of time is definitely a stretch to say the least. So I like the guy and he’s a solid character overall but I do think he should have been knocked out of the tournament early.

Meanwhile Tommy is someone who has a lot of experience. He’s been physically fit as he was active in the army until not to long ago and has been in a ton of fights. He is absolutely built for combat and has a lot of power. Throw in the fact that he has a massive chip on his shoulder causing him to be angry at the world and he knocks out most opponents in one move. The gap between these two in the movie is absolutely crazy. Very few fighters in the movie look to be even close to his level. Tommy breezes through the entire tournament up through to the final round. A key thing to keep in mind here is that this should have a good effect on his stamina.

Tommy takes almost 0 hits throughout the film while Brendan was getting the stuffing knocked out of him in every fight. He’s already incredibly injured by the time the battle starts. So that’s another thing to keep in mind. It’s good that Tommy is ultimately able to move forward with his emotions but you do fully understand why he would have such a hard time forgiving Paddie. Realistically it’s very likely that he never would forgive the guy in most scenarios. After someone has died it’s usually past the point of return. Any redemption just feels like it was too late.

Paddie also has a relapse later on in the film which was unfortunate. It’s a rough situation since it is hard not to sympathize when you see a character going through a lot in the present. It’s why I say the film does a good job on the emotional beats here. Everyone is hurting both physically and emotionally throughout the movie. They each have their own reasons and it’s hard to really say that one is worth more than the other. The widow really needs the money right now and Brendan’s daughter is still super sick and so they need a steady income. Both fighters might be able to find alternatives if they lose but this is clearly the best way to get out of the troubles all at once.

Overall, Warrior is definitely a great film. When a film executes the dual main characters strategy well it definitely pays off in a really big way. It’s hard to replicate this as you either run out of time leaving one character underdeveloped or you mess up in trying to set up the contrast and one just ends up being really unlikable. This doesn’t happen here and so I’d definitely recommend watching it. The fight scenes are all super solid as well and the film has great atmosphere throughout. The scene where the brothers finally meet during the rainstorm was definitely really intense. You could feel the tension all the way through there as we almost got an early fight. Whether you are a fan of boxing or just want to watch a film with a great story, this is one you don’t want to miss.

Overall 8/10

Devil in a Blue Dress Review

Posted on by
Reply

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

This is definitely one of those films that is noir all the way to the core. Prepare for a lot of characters, a lot of moving parts, and a lot of inner monologuing. It really manages to nail all of the elements here and there’s even a good amount of dry humor/light banter. Once the main guy’s friend shows up the movie definitely gets real lively. All in all I’d say it did a good job here.

The movie starts by introducing us to Easy who is a man that is rather down on his luck. He’s trying to do things the right away after making a mistake once in his past. He owns a house now but the problem is that it’s very hard to get any kind of job. A rather shady individual shows up saying he has a job and it won’t even be that tough. Dewitt is a private investigator who has been having trouble finding a girl who went missing named Daphne. Her disappearance was strange and her husband Todd was forced to drop out of the mayor race. The whole thing sounds dicey right out of the gate, but unfortunately Easy is quite desperate at this point and needs the money. So now begins a mission that is even more dangerous than he could have ever expected.

Right out of the gate nobody is being very helpful. In fact, you could say everyone is trying to get in his way. He goes to the club where Daphne is supposed to frequent and people conveniently don’t remember anything. One girl named Coretta claims to know about Daphne but after using Easy for a while, doesn’t really prove to be super helpful and ultimately withholds her info a bit too long.

In a noir conspiracy like this you basically have to be super careful when you use your cards. Hold them too long and they become useless but use them too quickly and you have tipped your hand. It’s all about the mind games here and a lot of strategy. Fortunately for Easy he is a quick thinker and good at adapting. The whole first half of the film he gets messed over by pretty much everybody. Every faction from the PI, gangsters, cops, and independents are trying to scare and beat the fight out of him.

It’s why in the second half it feels good when Easy finally has some leverage. Mind you he never really gets to take it easy in this film. It’s one of those adventures where he has to stay ready at all times because things can change at any moment. He works really well as the lead even if he’s not the most heroic character. The affair with Coretta for example wasn’t a good move no matter how her current relationship was going.

Easy does make his share of mistakes but often times there’s really nothing he can do. He’s in the middle of such a large operation that at times all he can really do is wait for his chance to get in on the action. I do remember there were quite a few times Daphne would run off and I feel like he could have done more to prevent her from escaping.

Considering the title of the movie and that Daphne is wearing a blue dress, you probably don’t want to trust her very much at all either. Of course you can’t trust anyone here. Daphne is an interesting character though and just being in the middle of this already shows that she has a lot of courage. I don’t think very many could stay alive and keep on making moves as easily as she did in this situation.

Joppy was the most annoying character in the film by far though. The guy’s supposed to be one of Easy’s best friends and a little money gets to him real quick. I know he tries to talk his way out of it but when the stakes are this high that doesn’t mean much. Betrayals are nearly impossible to come back from when your life is at risk.

Dewitt makes for a solid villain. I do think he falls for the trap of getting his plan so convoluted that it works against him though. In a way that happens to most of the characters here but that’s where those mind games come back into play. Everyone’s got their own ideas of how to come out on top here. Even the mayor candidates get involved.

The simplest character here is Mouse and that’s also why he is a standout. When he shows up the villains either talk or get blown away. He doesn’t exactly take no for an answer and he’s also not the most patient character. He racks up quite a body count considering how late into the film he’s introduced. Without Mouse Easy would have definitely been doomed. Now that’s a fact and Easy really needs to thank him some more.

All in all it’s definitely a fun thriller though. The movie’s pacing is always good from start to finish and it is a movie where you really have to be paying attention or you will absolutely get lost. It’s also a title where you don’t really get the answers until the end so you can have fun building up the case in your head for most of it. See if you can figure out who is the true mastermind and what’s actually going on here. Props if you can assemble the pieces even before Easy does.

Overall, Devil in a Blue Dress is a pretty good film. The heroine herself doesn’t actually have as big a role as you might have expected though. She is still crucial to the plot of course but definitely more as a plot device than a main character. She is still fast enough to nab a car before Easy can get away though. The film can be rather intense at some points but never really goes over the top. I could easily recommend this to any fans of the noir/thriller genres. It’s a satisfying movie all around and it’s a fairly long one so it definitely doesn’t end too quickly.

Overall 7/10

Naruto Shippuden Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for one of the most well known anime of all time. This adapts most of the Naruto manga series after all which may be the second most iconic title of all time right after Dragon Ball Z. So the stakes were high and I’ve been watching this show for well over 10 years. Well, it definitely brings back a lot of good memories and it’s adapting a ton of amazing content. Unfortunately I would say that it has the absolute worst pacing and directing I’ve ever seen for a show. At times I would say it’s the kind of show you want to watch on AMV mode because of all the cutaways and stuff that are thrown in but I’ll get into that more later on. Basically though, it is a pretty good show either way.

The show starts by re-introducing us to Naruto who has returned to the Hidden Leaf village after nearly 3 years. He is now ready to help the village out and maybe they can even bring Sasuke back. The village refuses to acknowledge his hard work and they keep him in Genin status but he will prove them wrong. Together with Sakura and Kakashi he goes on his first mission which is to save his old friend Gaara. Gaara has been abducted by the Akatsuki and they aim to extract his tailed beast which will result in the guy’s death. They ultimately want all of the beasts which means that Naruto is in trouble as well but he is still ready to answer the call. Nobody’s going to get in his way!

Of course with 500 episodes you can bet that the plot is going to change a whole lot and this series does cover a very wide variety of arcs. A lot of them are even exclusive to the anime and were not featured in the manga so you should get excited for those….mayyyybe. They can be rather hit or miss but I’ll talk more about the arcs later on. At its core this is a series with a lot of combat action and adventure throughout. You learn valuable lessons about friendship and everything. It’s a series with quite a lot of good values spread throughout the title.

Of course in that time it will also make some slip ups. The series does have its occasional fanservice but it has always been better with this than other titles. It never gets too excessive so for the most part the series stays classy. With such a large amount of episodes, not all of them are perfect but the majority are good. There is of course some animal violence and other pitfalls here but if I was going to recommend an anime to someone, Naruto would be on the higher end since it feels relatively new user friendly despite the length.

Now despite all of this, why do I take shots at the pacing? Well lets look at a few random fights. Take Naruto and friends against Kaguya. The fight starts up and looks good…then we’re interrupted for several episodes for her really drawn out flashback. Okay, we’re back to the present for a few more punches. Then..back to Obito’s backstory. The fight gets interrupted so much. Then after the initial round with Madara we enter a filler season that lasts over 20 episodes and feels like it goes on forever. You’re just waiting for the show to return each time. It would help if the fillers were better but most of them weren’t all that great.

This happens consistently over and over. When the series doesn’t switch to a different plot point, it will usually instead have a scene get super dragged out. This especially happened in some of the earlier arcs like when Sai showed up. We have him and Naruto clashing kunai for such a long period of time that it makes Naruto look extremely wimpy. Instead of dominating the fight or even winning, it ends up being evenly matched which makes no sense. There are lots of zoom ins and reactions as the characters prepare to fight, etc.

Usually One Piece is the title people talk about in terms of something being drawn out but honestly I never had the same level of issues with that title. I would say it comes down to directing. Even when it’s drawn out, you don’t feel it quite as much as in Naruto. In Naruto it’s like everything just stalls and the added scenes don’t try to disguise themselves. So you’re just waiting for something to happen. A ton of episodes would get absolutely brutal with this. It’s why I say the series is lucky that it’s adapting a 9 star title because that hard carries the whole series. Without that, with the way everything is so delayed and such it would have a really hard time staying afloat.

Ultimately what helps to counter this is that the series does have a ton of nostalgia. I could turn it on to a random episode right now and I would have a good time. It does bring back memories and I do feel like they tried. The results may not have always been stellar but it’s not like the show was just phoning it in. The budget behind the show seemed reasonable. For example the animation is solid. There are some episodes that look absolutely top tier and to this day there are some fights that people say should be in the conversation for greatest of all time. Even for the fights that weren’t given the top of the line budget, I would say they looked good. This is a title that had strong fundamentals all the way through.

Then you have the soundtrack which really is excellent. There are a ton of great tracks all throughout the series and some new tunes that don’t even show up until the final saga. The fact that the show was still adding new tunes left and right like this was definitely impressive. I enjoy more tracks in the show than I can even count so you can bet that these definitely help to amp up the source material as well. Good music always goes a long way.

All right now lets dive into the story. So of course the first arc is about rescuing Gaara and it’s a fun way to kick things off. Deidara and Sasori get most of the screentime from the villains side of things. Yeah Itachi and Kisame show up but they’re more of a distraction than anything else. Don’t expect them to be getting any big character development just yet. Seeing Kakashi and Sakura fight was nice since it had been a while since we saw them. To date this might even be Sakura’s best fight as she really handles herself well against Sasori. Definitely a fun matchup while Kakashi doesn’t get to do as much this time. Deidara is a tough matchup for him since he’s always in the sky.

The stakes were high right off the bat and really the only complaint you would have here is that Naruto didn’t really get to look as strong as you might have expected. He’s the 9 Tailed Jinjuriki and after years of training with Jiraiya, he should be a true power hitter right? Well, surprisingly that just wasn’t really the case. He never felt quite as unstoppable as he should have which definitely left me puzzled. In a fair fight I see him losing to both Sasori and Deidara at this point in time which is absolutely crazy.

Naruto makes for a superb main character and the more I watch the show the more I appreciate him. I still have the battle crazy leads like Goku and Ichigo above him but Naruto is well above the average lead. He’s a surprisingly mature character by the end of his journey and he really learned his lessons instead of staying static. A lot of other leads could really look to him for guidance on this. He gives a lot of speeches and also knows when to stop talking and just start fighting. It’s this balance that makes him one of the greats.

Sakura also gets to look really good in Shippuden. Gone are the days where she would have to run away or duck a fight. Now she can fight alongside Naruto and the others. Her strength is really impressive and she gets some really fun fights in the series. Having the ability to heal her own wounds as well is definitely a massive plus on top of all that.

Kakashi is the ever reliable leader as well and definitely looks good here. The whole running out of chakra thing may be a bit of a running gag but jokes aside, he does take care of business. Without him they would have been absolutely doomed more than once. He may not always win, but you can definitely count on him to show up when the chips are down. He is a Sharingan user after all and that is still one of the absolute best weapons in the series.

Might Guy’s always been a fun rival to Kakashi and you can make the case that he was actually significantly stronger than him for most of the series. The 8 inner gates are really no joke and it was great to finally get to see him use them by the end of the series. He jokes around a lot but at the end of the day he is a sensei and one of the stronger fighters in the leaf village. Without him the heroes would really be in trouble.

Tenten doesn’t get a lot to do in the series but she is always ready to be the voice of reason. I appreciated seeing her show up from time to time but I wish she could have gotten stronger. Rock Lee is the more disappointing character here because he had such great showings in the first series. Taking on fighters like Gaara and Kimimaro is still legendary but you can’t really point to any signature fights in part 2. The same goes for Neji who by all accounts is much stronger but he isn’t really given anyone to fight outside of fillers. I suppose again that does make the case for why filler can be really handy. This way you can give fights to the characters who ended up being skipped over.

Chiyo only showed up for the one arc at the beginning but she did well. She made the most out of her screentime and ended up being a really memorable character. Even nowadays people know her well. She really outshined Kankuro who used to be the best puppet user but got surpassed by an incredibly large margin. He never really gets many scenes to make up for this. In comparison Temari also doesn’t do much but is at least relevant for the final parts of the series thanks to her dynamic with Shikamaru.

Gaara has a lot of screentime here so he does well. I do miss the fiery spirit he used to have back when he was an antagonist but he definitely got a ton of character development so I can’t deny that. His sand abilities are absolutely lethal at this point and he became the ruler of a whole country which is no joke. He gets to meet up with Sasuke and is generally one of the most loyal allies to the leaf.

As for the Akatsuki, I always liked Deidara quite a bit. His flair for the dramatic is handled really well. He’s an entertaining character who will keep you on your feet the whole time. His birds are also incredibly dangerous, the fact that he can use them to give fighters like Sasuke and Gaara a tough fight is super impressive. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up until the end so I can definitely respect that.

Sasori isn’t nearly as ambitious of a character but he is still a strong fighter who should not be underestimated. His poison daggers are tough to deal with since he has so many clones. I ended up liking his abilities more than the character itself but he’s decent. At the very least I will ay that he’s iconic, due in part to being in the first arc that everybody has ingrained into their heads.

Then the next arc has the big return of Sasuke which was hype! We’re introduced as Sai who tries to be Sasuke’s replacement but lets just say that he is absolutely not built for this. He’s not even close and falls far short of those high standards. Sasuke actually has been training over the last 3 years so the gap between him and Naruto was absolutely massive. It’s crazy that he could have finished them all off if he wanted to. The arc is fairly short but we got the big Naruto vs Orochimaru battle so that was pretty fun. Orochimaru was ultimately just soo slippery to really be put down for good. He was seriously just having fun in that match. You get the feeling that he would have crushed Naruto if he was really trying.

Sai is a character I never warmed up to. For sure he went through a lot and going through the Root program is crazy but he’s not my kind of character. He never gets all that emotional and his ability to draw anything is not a very offensive type power. It can be used well but for the most part you can never picture him scaling with the top tiers. Taking Naruto to a draw was absolutely a huge fluke and one that I would never expect to see again. He just got supremely lucky there.

Yamato is someone I’ve warmed up to a bit. I think he had a super rocky start but as the series went on he would get more and more emotional. He actually became someone who would defend Naruto so that was nice to see. He tends to be on the wrong side of almost every issue though so he’s not perfect. I will need to see a lot more improvement out of him.

Orochimaru has a lot to do here as you can probably guess. The guy is getting close to needing to switch bodies after all. He probably could have planned things out a bit better but he was dealing with an Uchiha prodigy so that’s not easy. His durability is still very impressive to me. The guy never really goes down. He definitely gets off way too easily in the series though. This guy is psychotic and a mass murderer. He should be in jail at the very least. That part kind of annoys me but ultimately he does deserve his spot as one of the most memorable characters in the series.

Kabuto still works well as the right hand man. He gets a surprising amount of power near the end which was definitely a very impressive power up. By the end he is one of the strongest fighters and while we knew he would be strong, I was still impressed. He is a really fun wild card. I don’t love the character but he absolutely made the final arc better. Without him bringing all of the old characters back it just wouldn’t have been intense.

Sasuke is one of the biggest characters in the series so naturally there is a whole lot to talk about with him. He goes on a journey into the darkness where he sinks further and further as the series goes on. Just when you think he might be getting heroic, something would happen that would send him back. It’s a really tough cycle to be sure but at the end of the day, it’s a mission that he was ready for. He has his share of points and that’s why the battle of ideologies between him and Naruto was really good. He wanted Revolution while Naruto was effectively fighting for the status quo. Both sides have pros and cons to them.

Their rivalry is still one of the best of all times for any series. It’s just super impressive by all accounts. Sasuke is also my favorite character in the series. There are none who are even close. His character is just so deep and you could talk about him for an entire article. He survived one of the toughest experiences imaginable and he didn’t let it break him. If nothing else, you definitely have to look at that amount of fortitude and be impressed. It was really something. Then throw in some of the best attacks and theme musics and it’s a wrap!

The first of the really big filler arcs involves Sora. He’s a kid who is constantly upset and yelling so get ready for that. What I liked about the arc was they constantly played the anger theme which works well for battles but that’s about it. It’s a relatively uninspired arc and one that goes on for too long. There were some cool ideas too like a widespread 3 Tailed Jinjuriki battle but that was not enough to save this one in the end. You can easily tell which arcs are filler or not based on the quality which is kind of crazy. Well maybe not too crazy since in theory the original author knows his characters best but you’d still expect it to be a little closer.

In the following big arc, we get to focus on two more Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu show up and destroy Asuma so now the Leaf have to avenge him. It’s one of the only times we see a real switch in the team rosters so that was pretty fun. Kakashi vs Kakuzu is a really underrated fight that had a lot of great choreography the whole time. I also liked Hidan vs Shikamaru even though I felt like the hero didn’t stand a chance in that matchup. Then Naruto has his big return which is always super hype. He really got a lot of the best return moments across the series. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though, such is a hero’s job right?

Hidan is one of the most enjoyable Akatsuki members. He’s always laughing and messing around while destroying everyone. The guy is unhinged and that works really well for his character. Trust me, he’s just a blast and to this day I’m waiting for Jashin to show up. Hidan got his immortality from someone after all. This could really work like in a sequel series or something.

Kakuzu by contrast is much quieter and more of a serious fighter. He wants to complete the mission and that’s it. He’s not really thinking about anything else. His trait of having more than 1 heart is definitely super handy though and the guy can fight in hand to hand. He’s a very well balanced member of the Akatsuki and definitely would have been a tough fight for most of the heroes. I also liked the idea of someone who is immortal being teamed with someone who has multiple lives. I think the second layer to that is how Kakuzu would always murder all of his partners back in the day but there’s no chance of that now.

Ino and Choji are sort of along for the ride in this series. They don’t really get to do much of anything and don’t really have the skills to stay relevant either. They get their moments but don’t expect too much out of them. Asuma get some really solid moments before he goes out though. I always liked his chakra blades, they seem super practical as a weapon. Ultimately he just needed to be stronger to hang in there more but the guy fought well.

Shikamaru gets a super big role in the series. He is still the man with a plan no matter what happens. He may not have the strongest attacks but he can get people to the right spots. I liked him for most of the series although I’m not as big on the character once he starts working for the Hokage. It felt to me like he basically sold out by that point and began getting more and more corrupted. I know that someone has to watch the dark side but above all else you need to trust your Hokage and I don’t feel like Shikamaru did. At times he felt like he knew best which is a dangerous assumption.

The 3 Tails Guren gets a mini filler arc and it wasn’t half bad. I remember the main annoying thing being the heroes being slow to act while the villains would monologue over and over again. Sometimes you just have to break the anime rules and land a hit real quick. I think this arc would probably work better if released as a mini series outside of the main anime. That said, I know filler was necessary to keep the show on the air without further destroying the pacing so it is always worth it. While I may not be the most positive about these things, it’s not like it was terrible or anything.

After this we finally start getting to the big Sasuke arc. He first forms a team with a bunch of new quirky characters and then heads off to go and take down Itachi. It’s a fairly short arc in the grand scheme of things but it was a fun one. I enjoyed seeing the rematch after all this time and it was easily one of the best fights in the series. I also think Sasuke’s group Taka isn’t even that bad. They’re not all stars by any stretch of the imagination but they actually had some decent banter the whole time and contrast with Sasuke pretty well. Sasuke also got a super great theme in this arc which was really good stuff. I loved it whenever that theme would appear.

Itachi is definitely a massive characters. No worries if the backstory confuses you because you’re going to be seeing it a lot. To be direct on this, he is a villain and no matter how many times we see the flashback, he was definitely in the wrong there. He was murdering women and children in his massacre and should have worked with the Hokage to find another way. No matter how you slice it, he took the villainous path. Still, he makes for a solid wild card who really can change the whole direction of the battlefield. He’s one of the most interesting characters in the series and one of the most powerful. The fact that he couldn’t be controlled even by the mass reanimation jutsu was definitely a big point in his favor. He really had backup plans on top of backup plans.

Kisame is not quite as powerful. Despite being partners, I would say they probably had the biggest gap in ability between them. You always got the feeling that Kisame could be destroyed at any moment if Itachi willed it. That’s how powerful he was. Kisame’s true form was still impressive though and he definitely did a lot of damage. As a fast yet powerful fighter, it would be difficult for most heroes to stop him. That’s how it should be too, each member of the Akatsuki should be someone that it either takes an entire team to bring down, or some of the absolute top tier fighters. Anything less just would not match the hype that this villain group got when they showed up.

For example none of the junior fighters like Suigetsu should stand a chance here. I like his confidence and the guy is ready to pick a fight but he’s in a completely different league. A much smaller league if you will. Even the idea of him trying to take on Kisame is funny. I don’t know what Suigetsu would do without Sasuke. His water powers are handy though, he just lacks the physical stats to really make the most of them.

I like him more than Jugo though. Jugo is just a bit too quiet and serious. We already have enough of those characters so he doesn’t really end up adding much to the dynamic at all. I needed characters who could provide banter. I’m not a big fan of Karin either but at least she definitely delivers on that front. When she is around you can bet that there will be a good amount of tough talk at all times. She was all business all the time except when Sasuke was involved. In that case she would break down immediately which really held her back. That gag got old fast.

Then was the big arc that may still be the most iconic in all of Shippuden, the big Pain saga. Pain finally launches his invasion on the hidden leaf and immediately destroys a whole ton of people. The body count is super high and Naruto is basically the only one who can stand against him. It’s always a fun what if to imagine if Sasuke was in town at the time. I thin he would have done really well to put it mildly. Aside from all of the awesome fighting which is of course great, we also get the conclusion to the debate on the cycle of violence. It’s a really well written sequence of scenes with both characters making a true case and then we see how it plays out. Ultimately it’s not like the cycle will ever end, but you can at least hope for the best.

Pain is of course one of the big villains of the series and he’s great all around. From the character design to his skills, this guy was the real deal. Seeing him basically take on an entire village was crazy and to date he has some of the most memorable moments in the series. You never forgot any of Pain’s big moments because that’s how influential the guy was. Each of his different bodies had more and more abilities as well. It was hard to keep track of them all, much less counter each form. That would be near impossible. Definitely a great pick as the leader of the Akatsuki.

While she isn’t mentioned as much, Konan is definitely right up there as well. Her paper abilities are super handy and she almost took down Obito early on. To think that could have seriously changed the trajectory of the series. She may appear to be meek compared to some of the other fighters but once she is in the battle she definitely goes all out. This is also a decent point to mention Jiraiya. Unfortunately I have to say that I’m still not a big fan of the guy. He had a heroic death and all but he had too many character flaws in the end. Those definitely cost him big time.

We get a random flashback arc about the old days here. I suppose people were probably getting nostalgic so it’s not a bad idea but it does sort of wreck the flow a bit. You want to get to the next big adventures after all and this is the only thing left standing in your way. It has to be removed as soon as possible. The arc isn’t super long but it’s still fairly long so you definitely have to wait for a while.

After that we have the Kage Summit, another small arc but a real doozy. Sasuke decides to take on all of the Kages and he actually has them on the defensive. That is absolutely crazy when you think about it. His fight with Danzo was also awesome and this is really the arc where he goes full on villain. Before now he wouldn’t murder innocents or anything like that but now everyone is fair game. He has really changed a whole lot from the Sasuke that we once knew. We also got the big Team 7 reunion which was cool even if it maybe wasn’t quite as big as you might have expected. There is a cool fan animation that heavily extends the fight with Kakashi and Sasuke while one of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games officially extended Naruto’s fight with him. Regardless, it’s a top tier arc.

Danzo is one of those guys who was running around causing trouble for ages so it was nice to finally see him get taken down. Honestly he got away with way too much the whole time. The fact that the Lead Village would look the other way is rather disgraceful if we’re being honest. If Sasuke didn’t take him down I don’t know what would have happened and that’s annoying because it never should have come down to that. It doesn’t make any sense. His skills are the real deal so I will give him that though. The guy has masterful tactics and it makes sense how he could reach the level of Hokage.

The Raikage is another Kage who really earns his station. He is always ready to fight and doesn’t hide behind minions. His speed and power are both off the charts which makes him a top fighter. I like his personality and he is the kind of guy who is always ready to take charge. I may not have agreed with some of his decisions but he was usually on the right side. In fact, he had to be convinced to put Naruto on the shelf when originally he was planning on deploying him to the front lines. That would have been the best plan to take advantage of his abilities.

The Mitsukage gets less to do but she is around. Her lava abilities aren’t bad but I think her main problem is that the technique doesn’t feel as special. You can’t compare it to instant regen, new lives, or invincibility. Her power is just lava and I know that is lethal but it feels like a normal ninjutsu. I wish we could have seen more out of her. Then we have the Tsuchikage who has the cube style. His particle attacks are definitely super impressive so to balance him out, the guy has chronic back pain. Honestly that gag could get annoying sometimes but I get why they needed to nerf him. Now there is a really solid technique.

After that..it’s time for the big war. You could argue that the war itself had a bunch of mini arcs within it as well. Of course you have the long dream saga where each character imagines what the future could be like. Some are simple AUs while one extended one recaps the whole series. That one was unfortunately a bit too ambitious for its own good. With an arc as long as the war, it wasn’t always able to be consistent but there are a ton of super memorable moments to be found here. Madara finally making his move and of course seeing all of the reanimated shinobi was a lot of fun. All big Shonen titles should end with some kind of a huge war because it’s the perfect way to really show off your extended cast. Without that then it’s harder to bring everyone in. So the arc may be controversial but I still thought it was very good. The climax really makes it. You’re seeing the strongest shinobi of all time all going at it. Who can’t help but not get excited at such a prospect right? This is what we came here for, this is why we are Naruto fans.

Madara is a villain who was hyped up for the entire series and I’m glad to say that he absolutely lived up to it. He is a beast in battle and the kind of guy who loves fighting. You already know that would win me over right from the start. This is a villain who shook the entire world with just his name. Now that’s presence, I don’t think there is any other villain with that much aura. It’s a shame how his character ended up going out because he was absolutely cooking everyone. There’s definitely a whole lot more you could have done with the character. Still, he got so much screentime that I can’t complain much.

Then we have Obito who was also a really big threat. Perhaps not as strong as Madara but still a top tier within the verse. You definitely understand his motivations, not just because losing someone is something we can all sympathize with but because of the fact that we got to see Rin die like 100 times throughout the series. I felt bad for her because that flashback would never stop looping. It was absolutely crazy. I do think that Obito got off way too easily in terms of reputation though. I’m glad that the series deals with redemption arcs but this man did hurt a ton of people. Lets not forget that so easily.

Zetsu has a consistent role throughout the series and then he really turns up near the end. He’s actually a rather fun character with how tough he talks the whole time. The guy has a lot of good plans and while it may stretch disbelief at times, hey the guy is patient. He is the ultimate strategist who waits on the sidelines but technically can’t fight at a high level. If he could fight too then the world would really be finished.

Kushina has a solid role as Naruto’s Mom. She was a real fun character and a go getter. It’s a shame that her screentime was so low but she gave him good advice throughout and was a super solid parent. Then you have Minato who also looked really good. We actually got to see him fight a lot which was awesome. He always had a very cool air about him. The guy was also a top tier parent. He ends up being one of the better characters in the series and he definitely has the best reputation as the Yellow Flash. People knew not to mess with him.

The 3rd Hokage doesn’t do much here but I’ll just say that he’s annoying. Every time we get a new flashback, we see how more and more of the problems were all his fault. If he had just stood up and stopped at least one of the internal villains then things could have been very different. It’s hard to be as harsh on the 2nd Hokage since most of his actions were off screen. He seems to be a solid fighter but again we just don’t know a ton about him.

The 1st Hokage is easily the most impressive. You could make a decent case for him being the strongest character in the series. The guy’s abilities were super terrifying. Personally I still have Madara above him but the two were rivals for a good reason. It definitely wasn’t one sided in either direction. The scene where he powers up to freeze all of the Hokage and Sasuke was definitely a true flex and one of the biggest hype moments in the series. It’s hard to imagine him ever going down in the past.

Killer Bee is the only Tailed Beast holder aside from Naruto who gets a big role. He definitely makes the most of it as his debut appearance against Sasuke was definitely a really memorable one. It was nice to see an owner who actually bonded with the beast. Eventually Naruto would do this as well but it would take a long time. Killer Bee’s rapping gimmick also wasn’t that bad to be honest. Not really my thing but the execution was okay.

Hinata doesn’t do much for most of the series but she starts to get a role by the end so I should mention her. My main issue with Hinata is the same as with a bunch of other characters. She is too soft spoken the whole time and needs to assert herself more. This is what keeps me from becoming a big fan. I want to see a Hinata who gets really tough and just starts blasting the enemy. Still, I’d say her fans should be satisfied with her portrayal here.

Side note, it was cool seeing Zabuza and Haku return. They may have appeared super briefly but that was a lot of fun. One old character who shows up a bit is Iruka but I still don’t like the guy. He’s way too harsh on Naruto and wouldn’t even hear the guy out when his wedding day was approaching. I think some people find the dynamic charming with Iruka constantly bashing Naruto and apologizing for him since he assumes that the lead is up to no good. The problem for me is that this gag has the opposite effect. He should trust Naruto completely by now. It’s definitely a big L for Iruka.

The 9 Tails himself gets a ton of character development and it’s fun to see how far he has come. Gone are the days where he would just be yelling and trying to scare everybody. Now he is actually a rather reasonable person which is cool. He supports Naruto and really helps him to improve. It’s a superb dynamic and I like how they build each other up. No matter what, Naruto and the 9 Tails will always have each other as friends.

Finally we have Kaguya and unfortunately the anime does her a disservice. The extra scenes actually make her look worse instead of better which is crazy. She just appears to be too naive and slow on the uptake there. I would have liked her to have fought more and just messed over anyone in her way. She is Kaguya, one of the strongest people in the verse. That shouldn’t be asking for too much right? Great design and everything but the flashback definitely hurts.

After that, the series mainly starts to wind down. We get a quick mini arc for Shikamaru based on his novel, a Sasuke arc for his, a mini arc on picking out presents for Naruto, and episodes for some of the characters as kids. The anime really wanted to make sure you had time to see what the characters were doing in the present which is a nice touch. I mean personally I’m cool with just ending on the big fight but the longer you can extend a series the better and it was worth it to reach 500 episodes. That is an absolutely crazy amount that almost no show nowadays can ever hope to reach. It is simply too impressive.

Even with a review this long there are tons of characters and episodes I didn’t touch on. It’s why watching this show is a true saga. It’s an experience that you can’t complete in a few days. It would be literally impossible to do so. That’s the charm of the series after all. Even I would probably not remember everything if I gave it a re watch so in that way there is always a ton of replay value here. You can try to notice extra easter eggs and lore that you didn’t notice the first time. Then you will have made it to the level of grand Naruto scholar and you can use that as super bragging rights. Of course the next step will be to enter the world of Boruto at some point but that’s a discussion for another day. That is technically a separate series after all so it should be looked on separately as well.

Overall, Naruto Shippuden is one of those titles that I will never forget. It will always be very important to me because of all the memories and the experiences I had with the show. It was a title that lasted a long time and there are very few titles that can keep going for 500 episodes nowadays. It’s lucky for most to reach 100 after all. I would definitely recommend this to any action fan. For a long title like this, you are really given time to know all of the characters and get emotionally invested into the whole thing. That definitely goes a long way and at the end of the day watching this is like watching a big piece of anime history. You owe it to yourself to experience what this global phenomenon was all about. On an episode by episode battle it may not beat the higher tier shows but while those end every 12 episodes, this one will just keep on going and going.

Overall 7/10

Anatomy of a Murder Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a very long courtroom drama. This one definitely has the length of an epic but it allows the movie to really go in depth on every piece of evidence. The movie is based on a book based on a real case but wit the names and everything switched I figured it should still get the full review and score treatment. It is definitely an intense case all the way and should keep your attention all the way through. It’s dealing with some pretty severe subject matter but actually shows enough restraint not to have any of it on screen so I can really appreciate that.

The film starts with Biegler relaxing. Business has been slow but that’s all about to change. He is asked to represent Laura’s husband Manny in a rather big case. Manny murdered someone but he did it to avenge his wife who had been attacked and Sword Art Online’d by another guy. So Manny’s murder was righteous justice. At least that’s the way he sees it. Biegler has to point out that no matter how awful the other person was, this would still be considered pre mediated murder as it didn’t happen immediately. It’s not self defense or anything as the act had already happened after the guy violated Laura. They could try for temporary insanity but it doesn’t seem like that will hold up. Biegler’s going to really have to fight hard to win this case..but should he win it?

There is a whole lot going on here and so one of the themes is really about just looking ahead and doing your job. It’s the toughest part about being a lawyer to be honest as it means you will sometimes need to defend crooks and people that you know are guilty. You can’t let your personal feelings sway your judgment and have to trust in the jury and the courts system to come up with the right verdict. Manny’s no saint by any stretch of the imagination. For starters he is a domestic abuser who is always hitting Laura and the guy gets insanely jealous. He has a full on violent streak which doesn’t help his case at all. If Biegler is able to get him off, then Laura’s life is about to get a lot worse.

Meanwhile for Laura, she continues to live it up at the clubs. She doesn’t act in the way one would be expected to after such a traumatic experience. It could be the way she is coping but as Biegler says, that doesn’t matter right now, they need the good optics. So he tells her to stop looking so beautiful all the time which is a rather difficult demand for her. Throughout the movie everyone keeps commenting on how beautiful she is and she loves flirting nonstop. That’s basically her gimmick and it doesn’t do wonders for Biegler here. After all, she told the group what happened and there was circumstantial evidence to support it but it’s not like anyone else was there and the cleanup crew could find no evidence.

Thing is, they weren’t likely to find evidence since they didn’t show up until the next day. The movie never actually confirms what happened one way or the other as you are meant to come to a decision on this just like the jury. Personally I do think it happened. Going back to the coping part, I think that’s exactly what happened here. She could have froze up and completely broken mentally but instead she tried to just move past this and use her beauty as a weapon. Her history of flirting and going around started even before the event so most likely it is an event that went sideways. She doesn’t intend to change her ways after one bad outing and either way it doesn’t excuse the guy who got murdered in any way. He got what was coming to him and that’s that.

The film acknowledging that optics are important is a realistic move. Most things are about optics which is why PR is so important. Even if the facts haven’t changed, it does make sense that more people will be sympathetic to Laura’s plight if she looks really homely. It’s a huge bias to be sure but one that does track when you take data samples. In a perfect world she should be able to dress and act however she likes without it affecting her case but nobody lives in a perfect world just yet. I am glad that Biegler stayed strong when she was flirting with him though. That would definitely have been a whole mess and someone has to stay professional. She was really goading him on too but he didn’t take the bait. It is a dangerous game because eventually someone might make a move but at least that day was not today.

One thing that’s always tricky here though is when a film is trying to present someone as super beautiful. A lady so gorgeous that every guy falls for her immediately. There are standards of beauty and people who will immediately be found attractive by most but it’s never to this kind of exaggeration. I would have liked at least one character to have not appeared to be interested just to keep it from being this one sided. Like Biegler admitting she wasn’t his type or something. It’s a super mild nitpick though and I suppose anyone reviewing the film who does think she is super beautiful may disagree on that point. It’s just a pretty large generalization but maybe everyone in the area grew up with roughly the same standards and she would meet all of their criteria each time.

I’d say the only weak part of the film is how people in the courtroom couldn’t really stay professional. The fact that talking about underwear in such a serious case would have people laughing was just weird. I know cultural norms change over time but that felt like a bit much. For a case this serious I wouldn’t expect very many smiles to be had at all, let alone full laughter. Based on that I would assume Laura had already lost the whole jury if they weren’t taking this seriously.

The ending was rather unexpected I have to say. I just wasn’t prepared for things to go in that direction but it’s an interesting way to end things. Sort of like the cycle continues and it also makes you rethink how the case ended one last time. This is really a movie that did not end until the very last moment. I don’t see things going well for the two characters who vanished at the end but maybe things will be better this time. Who knows in the end…..

Overall, This was definitely a very intense movie. There are a ton of characters and supporting evidence that show up at different points in the film. Different twists, half truths, and new developments that recontextualize everything before it. You really have to be paying attention at all times or you might miss something. I’d have preferred the case was about a different topic as the gravity of this one does lower replay value to an extent but you will want to watch it at least once to see what was really going on here. It’s super well known for good reason after all. I doubt you will find very many titles that are quite as detailed as this one. Of course whether or not the law would agree with this, I would say Manny made the right move in taking the guy out. Manny was a terrible character overall but you can’t let that guy live after what he did to Laura. That would really have been the wrong move.

Overall 7/10

The Road to El Dorado Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Road to El Dorado is one of those animated films that is fairly fast paced with a lot going on at all times. This really frantic style of animation definitely works really well and it’s important to continue to use it a lot when you’ve got a film that is hand drawn. The reason is, it allows you to show off why it is the best form of animation. You just don’t have quite the same amount of moving parts in another kind of animation style. So here your interest is always captured by what’s happening on screen. I do feel like the film doesn’t keep up with the strongest animated pictures but works well enough as a pretty solid adventure.

We are introduced to the two brothers Miguel and Tulio who are good at scamming people. They just finished another scam operation and got a map to the lost city of El Dorado! They manage to make it to this city of gold and even meet a nice lady named Chel who tags along with them. Some hijinx occur and the village elders believe the two to be gods. This is a solid opportunity for Miguel and Tulio so they really lean into this. They convince the village to stop performing human sacrifices and really start changing all of the old traditions. This does lead the elders to be rather suspicious. Are these two really the gods they claim to be? Miguel and Tulio better start thinking about an exit strategy.

That’s probably their biggest mistake to be honest. If we’re being honest the ruse was never going to last forever. At some point it was going to be discovered and so they should have been ready for it. Unfortunately they really weren’t until it was too late. The most annoying part of the story is when we finally get to the big fight between the main two. I expected it would be over the main heroine initially and in a way it is, but not in the usual sense. Tulio talks about leaving with Chel as just the two of them which hurts Miguel. I thought that whole scene was extremely forced. Why would that even be something you say and why before you have actually left the kingdom. You’re going to need all 3 of you no matter what the end game plan is. So that was definitely very annoying.

It also just felt out of character but that leads to a lot of petty dialogue and disagreements between the two for a while. So for the record, I blame everything on Tulio here, everything after that is basically retaliation. Yes, it was super annoying retaliation but he didn’t start it at least. It seems like the movie needed some way to break the two apart and I am glad that it didn’t become one of those big love triangles. That said, it still could have been done smoother. Plus you have the corrupt priest Tzekel as a villain already so you could have used him to trick the main duo.

Tzekel is one of those villains who almost didn’t go all the way crazy. Basically he just didn’t think the main two were legit (They weren’t) and he felt like they were changing all of the traditions. They probably could have thrown him a bone and he would have been happy to serve. They just didn’t play up to his ego here. You could make the case that he would have gone evil anyway since the guy was always shady but it’s hard to say for sure. Either way the heroes did good in stopping the sacrifices and everything like that.

Chel is a nice heroine. She actually does contribute when the fighting starts and never just runs off to save herself. I can definitely appreciate that quite a bit. You’re not going to see her fainting or panicking. She already has good street, well I suppose jungle smarts about her. Then you have the horse Altivo who is a fun character. His role may not be as big as some of the other horse characters in these animated movies but he still makes a difference when it counts..

As for the main two, Miguel and Tulio are more fun than likable at times. I like their energy and they always have some good banter. They do tend to lose focus at times though. Look they came here for the gold, not for status, women, food, drink, or anything like that. If they just locked in and didn’t get too greedy then this could have been a very short film. Imagine if after their debut they said that they needed a ride out for celestial business? There are a lot of ways they could have tricked the priest and the other characters. Especially in the start when they had no idea what was going on. Obviously the longer you wait, the more you’re in danger.

I don’t really remember the soundtrack to the movie so I want to say none of the tracks really stuck out to me. Nothing bad as far as I remember but I suppose it was more on the generic side. At least the animation was really solid so that covers the bases on the technical stuff. The final boss does start to get into one of those “I’m huge!” areas which is unfortunate but at this point I suppose that’s the case for almost all of the climaxes nowadays. Most writers still think that making a villain huge is automatically a big W and super impressive.

This isn’t an action film first and foremost though so it’s not a really bad thing or anything. We still get a lot of chase scenes and everything. I also liked the sport that they played early on. The rules were pretty fun and there was a lot going on. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of that only this time without the main characters cheating the whole time. Lets just see what the characters have got even if they lose big time. In a way maybe the film could have stood to have had more scenes of them just hanging out. The storyline is rather straight forward and it’s not like the film is very long. That’s part of why the review is very straight forward too. There’s not a whole lot to really discuss or unpack next to other titles. So I say you lean into that and just have more time with the heroes exploring. Maybe make it a bit longer before they actually bump into anyone so they are just exploring the mysterious island.

Overall, The Road to El Dorado is a pretty fun film. It does end a bit abruptly and I’m not really super thrilled with how it ended but it’s not bad. It just feels more like one character was forced into a decision rather than choosing it himself. It’s a small thing but it does have a big impact if you ask me. Either way if you like the jungle backdrop or in general are just looking forward to a fun film with a lot of banter, you should check this one out. After all how many other films have a setting quite like this one right?

Overall 7/10