Beyblade is a series that’s always great and this manga’s already off to a really good start. Having to climb a tower to prove that you are the very best sounds good to me after all. Ultimately if this one can run long enough I see no reason why it can’t become the next elite title. I will have a review for it up as soon as it’s completed.
Overall 8/10
Cardfight returns with another dynamite season! It truly is one of the most legendary comebacks out there and once the Dress franchise is over it will be fun to formally compare this segment of the franchise to the original, G, and then the reboot. While Tohya gets the shaft in this one, we still get a ton of great duels in each episode. The tensions are constantly high and you really feel like the action never stops. Trust me you don’t want to put this series down until you have completed it!
The main plot here follows Yu-Yu, Tohya, and Raika as they travel to America after having won the last big tournament. It should be a fun event where they just test their limits against the most powerful fighters out there but ultimately that’s not all that is in store for them. See, Cardfighters have been vanishing, defecting from their teams, and generally playing a more soulless game. There seems to be a group at the center of all this and it’s become such a big deal that even the government is involve. With Yu-Yu away on business, can his friends back home really defend themselves? They’re definitely going to need to improve their skills if they want to make a difference here.
First off I appreciate that the plot is really going strong here. The villains over at Team Uniformers are done with hiding/biding their time. They’re going straight for the wins now and that makes them quite the sizable threat. This feels like a modern version of the Link Joker story. Sure they may not literally be sealing people’s souls but it’s the same effect as anyone who is defeated quickly drinks the Kool-Aid and stops dueling like themself. It does result in a massive boost of power too which is something you always want in a duel so that makes thing tempting. I would have added some explicit supernatural theme to the mix just because otherwise it’s in an odd middle ground that makes the defeated fighters just look bad.
One loss shouldn’t be enough to make you toss your deck and lifetime of experience away right? That’s where the Link Joker plot had the edge since it was actual magic. The villain group is quite stacked though as their members were already super powerful before they got turned. Now that they have embraced the powers of darkness their abilities have grown even more to an absolutely terrifying degree. At this point the only heroes I would trust to hold their own in a fight would be Yu-Yu, Tohya, Danji, and Raika and even then Raika is already starting to get outmatched. Meanwhile the villains have at least 5 top tier fighters and they’re only getting better.
The season is fairly short as always compared to the good ole days when the seasons were 30+ episodes but they still cover a lot of ground in these 12 episodes. Like I said pretty much every episode has a big duel in it. Additionally each of the characters have their own battle themes here which is nice since it makes the soundtrack a lot more versatile. Plus just about all of the characters have hype rock type themes. Ironically Yu-Yu’s theme is one of the only ones I don’t care for so when he’s dueling it just doesn’t make for a very satisfying climax. Usually your theme plays when you’re about to win after all.
An excellent overall soundtrack is another reason why this season is so good though. Then we have the animation which is quite sharp. I’m not going to say that it is the best in the business or anything like that but it’s very clean, bright, and smooth. You couldn’t ask for much more than that. The battles really pop out at you. Also back to the soundtrack, this one starts to play the ending theme during the last scenes of an episode which is always a great move because it works so well for the cliffhanger. Another great decision there. So now lets talk about the characters.
Yu-Yu has really come a long way over the years. He’s a really confident fighter here who is an undeniable powerhouse. At this point he’s one of the strongest fighters in the verse and while he isn’t unbeatable, I would still choose him to win in a fight against anyone except Tohya. Danji can beat him but Yu-Yu can also win so their battles tend to be more 50/50. Just as important as the power though is the fact that Yu-Yu actually feels like a leader now. He has a Goku moment where he walks in once everyone else has been defeated and you know that things are going to be all right.
His final duel in the season was definitely great and his character got to shine through. I’ll be able to point to him as a great example of a complete character arc. Meanwhile the main heroine Megumi hasn’t had as much to do lately. I think she’s going to need to get a bigger role soon because otherwise Urara has basically replaced her as the main heroine at this point. Megumi can fight well, she just needs more opportunities to get up there.
Tomari actually gets a fairly big duel here. You don’t really expect that things will go great for her but she does tend to step up as one of the senior members of the team when the chips are down so you do have to give her some props there. I don’t find her super impressive power-wise but I like her confidence. She’s a lot more likable than Zakusa who gets his share of big moments but I never end up buying into it. It feels like he always makes the wrong decisions and I would say that this season is no exception. This guy is not leadership material.
It’s sad to say but there isn’t much to talk about for Tohya here. He gets a duel and then basically vanishes for the season. It feels like they are building up for a big revenge match for him but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s a bit odd since he is one of their best bets to take down the villains but as long as it leads up to something soon then it’s fine. He got the biggest duel in both the first and second season so I guess he needed a break this time around.
Danji actually gets to take center stage near the end instead and looks great. I feel like he had lost a lot of hype since the older days where he was the big threat so his fans should be pleased here. As always I do think that he makes a lot of mistakes with his judgment like Zakusa. Danji needs to trust his friends more but he’s finally getting close to that. His intense fighting style with the fire and soccer is always fun to watch. When he brings his A game then he is definitely one of the best fighters.
Masanori is around as always and I will give him credit for being a persistent villain across every season. Seriously this guy never goes down and that is impressive in its own right. That being said, he hasn’t done anything to make himself stand out so by this point he has just become boring. I’m much more interested in every single one of the other villains. For example Jinki is still a compelling main villain. There are times where he seems to be against all of the violence so he is maybe thinking that he is the actual hero in all of this. We’ll have to see, but for the most part he doesn’t need that. In general just being a fun villain is enough here.
Then you have Sophie who is a really powerful villain as well. She went out of her way to humiliate Raika the whole time during their duel. You feel bad for Raika since he tries really hard in this season but just doesn’t look great. His skills have just reached their cap and he needs to either surpass his limits or be satisfied with taking loss after loss. Letting her bark at him without coming up with a counter was certainly a low moment for him. I still like Raika a lot as a more antagonist type character but as a hero it does feel like he immediately got a lot weaker.
Halona hasn’t done a whole lot yet but as the one who trained up Urara we already know that she is powerful. If she had ended up fighting Yu-Yu at the end we could have really seen her skills but that will have to wait for the next season. So far she is a fun villain to have around. Michiru is also a decent villain but since his heart isn’t really in the mission he doesn’t feel as compelling. The guy is basically going through the motions so that he can fight more powerful opponents but that’s about it. He will need a much stronger ambition if he wants to go further.
His abilities are good though and I always like characters who are really invested in the game. It would just be nice if he used those abilities to take the villains on instead of just working for them. He basically admits to Danji that he disagrees with their mission so that makes working for them even worse. Not a good look for him at all. Meanwhile Samuel is a new character here who gets some screen time but ultimately he hasn’t done a ton yet. He is good at pushing the plot along but as a character he’s a bit bland.
Finally there is Urara who in a lot of ways is one of the biggest focuses here. She falls for the lure of power here and then the heroes have to do their best to bring her back to reason. This does make Urara look rather bad for the most part since she was turned so easily. In a way she’s like a mirror looking back into how Yu-Yu used to be. She lacks confidence and so she is very susceptible to what people tell her. Urara doesn’t yet have the confidence to make her own decisions but by the end of the season she should almost be there.
Now what about the Uniformers’ ultimate objective? Well first we do have to admit that their plan has a tangible benefit. They really do make all of their fighters a lot more powerful. I don’t think you can really argue against that. Everyone immediately jumped up by turning the game into a science. The main problem Yu-Yu had with them was how they would force people to duel their way. If they made it purely optional then there wouldn’t really be a problem. Dueling by the book may not be all that fun but winning is a lot of fun so that should help to balance everything out right?
So I don’t think the idea of dueling with a soulless style is in itself a bad thing. Like any other job some may just want the best results. Like in a video game where you play as the broken character instead of your favorite one right? This is no exception and it’s only the pseudo magical element of brainwashing people that was iffy. It would have made for an interesting character arc if Urara decided to still use this style while keeping some of her personal modifications. I don’t think you should completely disregard the things you’ve learned after all. Skills are skills, they can’t be good or bad. It’s just all in how you use them. At the end of the day this show isn’t about the moral debate of how you obtain power but it’s still fun to think about.
Overall, Cardfight is in a really great spot here. This easily could have been used as more of a setup season and instead the show jumped right in for a ton of great action. The pacing here was on point and you can’t go wrong with everything happening here. The duels are insanely entertaining and extremely explosive. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun time. It’s very energetic throughout and the cast has grown to the point where there are a lot of likable players in every subplot. The final fight of an arc can go to any number of different people and so you get to try and guess who that will be. I’m definitely hyped to see how this wraps up in the next season or if this saga will keep going on for a while longer.
Overall 9/10
It’s time for a quick look at a Mission Impossible game. You may be wondering why you’ve never heard of this one before right? I guess it sort of just got swept under the rug. It’s actually a decent game but to be honest I wouldn’t call it much more than that. The game is fairly short and some of the mechanics aren’t explained very well so you will have to take a while to get used to them. Throw in more of a story and this could have turned the corner a little better. Still, for a few bucks you could do worse and it’s fun while you’re playing through it.
The game starts off with an evil group causing mayhem and you have to stop them! Ethan will be relying on his support staff to get him through but can they really save the world? Honestly the story’s super forgettable. The main villain here is your average suit and can’t really fight. With only 5 levels it’s not like there’s a lot of time for a big story anyway right? It’s for the GBA so I have to give the game some leeway on the lack of cutscenes but I do think they could have been more imaginative with the character portraits and such.
As for the gameplay, this is mainly an overhead shooter. You run through the levels and blast anyone who gets in your way. Each stage has several objectives for you to complete like hacking a computer or protecting someone. So you have to shoot your way through the levels but also while keeping in mind that sometimes you need stealth. If you hide in the shadows then the guards will often forget about you. They have no peripheral vision either so you can run at them from just out of eyesight and karate chop them into the ground. All stealth moves are 1 hit KO techniques after all.
Then you have gadgets which is where the game gets a bit rough. You can deactivate cameras and mines but I never figured out how to even detect the mines. Felt a bit random the whole time. For the cameras, you had to turn the scanner off and on while running around a lot to get it to work. I suspect this is not the intended method but I couldn’t figure out how to make this work so eh….that’ll do. I got the cameras off which is the important thing. If you don’t do that then you end up being attacked by a whole squad of elite soldiers who are incredibly hard to fight off. Trust me it’s not a situation you want to find yourself in.
With enough experimentation and dying you will eventually get the hang of the game. Because of no tutorials and how the mechanics don’t make sense, the first level will by far be the toughest one you encounter. It also feels like the longest by far. The game is only a few hours long and I want to say level 1 out of 5 probably took about half of the runtime. Yes, level 1 was that serious! One pro tip that the game won’t tell you is that to use the grenades, sniper, and other ranged abilities like the tracker you have to hold R and then aim them out. I died quite a few times while trying to figure that out.
If the game had more polish then I think this really would have gone a long way. Trust me a little dab of polish really does help in every area from graphics to gameplay. This game felt like it was thrown together rather quickly. It doesn’t take away from the fact that the actual shooting part of the gameplay is fun and there are a lot of other positives but you know there are much better games in the same genre. This game just didn’t try to surpass its limits and was content just being good.
There isn’t really any replay value so what you see is what you get. I am glad that the levels had save points so you didn’t have to start from scratch though. That would have been absolutely brutal. Although as a lack of quality of life there is no save point when starting a level so you have to go through level select instead of clicking load game which is a little rough. It doesn’t really make sense but hey it’s not a big deal.
Overall, Mission Impossible definitely deserves better as far as video games go. I think you could really make some incredible titles based on the franchise with the right studio. A mix of action, stealth, and adventure? Yes this would really be a hit. In the meantime if you really want to see how the games go then it’s not a bad idea to jump in and check this one out. The low price helps a lot and I do think you will have some fun here. It just won’t last long and you will be ready for the next adventure in a flash.
Overall 6/10
It’s time to return to the world of Police Story. The first one definitely surpassed all of my expectations. Not to say that I ever thought it would be bad but it was just so excellent that I couldn’t have guessed it would be this good. It was definitely really impressive and the sequel while still great isn’t quite able to match how brilliant the first one was. From the fighting to the comedy, it just isn’t ready to match that.
The movie starts off right away with Ka-Kui being demoted since while he may have saved the country, there was a lot of destruction and the villain has powerful friends. So he’s out of jail already and intends to ruin Ka-Kui’s life. He does this by harassing the guy and threatening his girlfriend. He’s trying to goad Ka-Kui into attacking him and if successful then that will really put him in a jam. Can he really resist these attacks for long though?
The best scene in the movie happens fairly early which is always a risk. Do you have the peak right away to get the audience invested or leave it til the end to make a lasting impression? I doubt it’s something a film maker would think about for too long because in theory every scene is made to be great but for me the restaurant fight was definitely the best part. John Ko and friends finally push him too far so he just beats them all up and it’s super satisfying. You do not mess with this guy.
You’d think that the villains would have learned their lesson after the first film but they are just really confident that no matter what he won’t end their lives. In a way I suppose they are right since Ka-Kui is a hero but that doesn’t mean he has no boiling point. If they took things just a little bit farther I wouldn’t have been surprised if he took John down for the count. Either way it’s great because sometimes you do need to just beat up the villains.
Surprisingly John Ko and his boss basically get written out of the film after this. New villains show up to give Ka-Kui a run for his money while these guys vanish. There is a plot reason for this and it also works as a twist of sorts because the first time you learn this knowledge you just assume the villains were faking so when the twist actually happens it’s a bit surprising. It’s a solid subversion so I enjoyed it well enough. The main problem is that the other villains don’t feel like they are as much of a threat.
The climax still has Ka-Kui go into a very difficult fight to be sure but it never feels insurmountable. I guess the guy’s catchphrase of saying general nonsense while tossing the fire pepper onion wrappers is very memorable though. When Ka-Kui finally turns the tables on that guy it’s definitely satisfying. There are also a lot of explosives so the climax is definitely intense visually. You can’t beat the mall fight from the first film but it’s still a lot of fun.
In general the film has a lot of action, there are several other scenes with a lot of battles as well. The film also keeps the general happy tone that it has from the first with a lot of comedic moments. Ka-Kui still has a lot of trouble with his girlfriend May due to a lot of misunderstandings. While in the first film I felt like 90% of those were directly his fault, at least in this one it can be more 50/50 like when the cops pulled him off the plane. That was one example where there wasn’t really anything he could do. It’s probably not much of a consolation to May who still has to deal with the fallout but hey, it could certainly have been worse is all.
May also ends up going through a lot here as she is captured and actually injured quite a bit. The sequel does have a few moments that are actually rather dark like when May and Ka-Kui get tortured by the villains. So you also empathize with her even more for being upset with Ka-Kui since now she’s in constant danger. She always bounces back really quickly and tries to be cheerful but you wonder how long it can last.
Ka-Kui is taking steps to try and make the relationship be a bit smoother like going on vacation with her but it’s just never as easy as all that. I’ll give him credit for making the attempt though and in general I would say he looks pretty good in the movie. For the most part he takes the right steps and again I give him a lot of credit during the restaurant moment. He wasn’t going to let the villains get away with anything and just charged in there!
While John Ko doesn’t stick around for the whole film, I will give him credit as a persistent villain. The guy can’t even fight super well but he’s always around to make life hard for Ka-Kui and is really resourceful. He appears everywhere and takes his job as the boss’ right hand man very seriously. He’s the biggest thorn in Ka-Kui’s side despite not being a fighter which is impressive in itself. He’s certainly crazy but works well within the role.
In general the supporting cast are solid too. I liked both Ka-Kui’s direct boss and his boss’ supervisor. They’re both always playing an intricate game of appearances where they keep trying to pass the buck off. This can make for a lot of fun comedic moments all throughout. The film wouldn’t be the same if either half of the genre was missing. This is a great comedic action film. You need the high level martial arts but you also need the fun humor. Mi the two together and I don’t see how this series can lose. It’s of course easier said than done to make a film funny and action packed but this team clearly has the right formula.
Overall, Police Story 2 takes just about all of the strengths from the first film and keeps the series moving at a high level. It doesn’t really make any mistakes but it simply can’t keep up with the first movie. It’s close though and that’s the important thing though. You could watch both films back to back and it works really seamlessly. I’m interested in seeing how it goes from here. Can it go 3 for 3 or is this the last hurrah? Only time will tell but the track record is in this one’s favor.
Overall 8/10
Shazam returns for another big adventure in this one. At this point he’s really been overshadowed by Black Adam but in theory Shazam should be able to reach similar levels of power so it would be interesting to see how he fares here. Ultimately I would say he’s still not on the same level but he doesn’t look bad here. Mainly he just needs to get way better at fighting and his durability could use a lot of work too. Once he masters those things then he should be set. This film’s pretty good overall, I’d probably give it the slight edge over the first one. It’s a good blend of humor and action.
The film starts off with Shazam feeling bad because he doesn’t think that he’s been doing a great job of leading the team. It’s like a junior version of the Ruby character arc from RWBY. The rest of the fighters keep ditching him too and they seem to think he’s trying to restrict them too much. They want to come into their own as solo fighters and he thinks it’s too dangerous. Well now there are a trio of gods coming after him. Can Shazam keep his family safe while taking all of these guys down or will it be too much for him?
What the film does right here is the humor. I still find Shazam and his antics to be funny along with the rest of the crew. While some Shazam fans probably still won’t like how he’s basically a joke compared to the rest of the league, he balances the humor well. If he was serious then you’d have to really amp up the villains to Superman level but this way you can put some average fighters in front and have Shazam just mess up every time they attack. Perhaps not the most satisfying resolution for Shazam fans but it’s a way to get him.
I also think the movie had more clever dialogue than the first one. Freddie actually gets a number of funny scenes here as well. Then the fights are also good as we actually get some more super speed usage here. The comedic moments do tend to take away from the fights a bit so you’ll usually get a cool moment, then a comedic break, then a cool moment, etc. I think if the film wanted to pull off a really good fight scene that it probably could but that wasn’t the main goal here.
For example, one of the goddesses can manipulate the environment, moving buildings and such. This made for some really cool visuals and is a form of reality warping that I can actually find appealing. If you did that for a longer period of time then that would have been great but it’s only for quick bursts so that it’s over just as it has begun. It was also done in a way where you can see how even someone with Shazam’s speed could have a hard time dodging it. I’m not saying the fights we got were bad but they could have been a lot better. The best battle here was definitely Shazam against the leader of the trio. The battle with the large dragon isn’t as impressive since it feels more one sided even when the dragon is landing hits.
The special effects all look cool here. I feel like Shazam’s costume getting singed and turning black was possibly a nod to Black Adam. The energy effects are cool and the movie didn’t hold back with the visuals. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but I enjoyed seeing the hero song play. Now that was a good bit of fun especially with how often the song has been appearing lately. It’s a really good song so why not have it just keep on appearing right?
The film has a pair of after credit scenes here and I can safely say that both of them are pretty good. The first one could have maybe been a little more hype but I like the setup. I’m doubtful on if it’ll go anywhere with the DC direction often changing but if it does it would be fun to put Shazam in a new environment. Most likely he couldn’t bring his friends along so they’d have to lose out but from a power levels standpoint that makes sense. Without shenanigans or depowering rays how can you stop a whole group of Shazams right?
The second scene is also a lot of fun. In a way it really works because the humor is breaking the fourth wall to an extent. For fans who have been waiting for something in particular this tease is basically saying that it’s not happening anytime soon if ever. I feel like that was the film’s way of slamming the door on it but it also could still mean something for a Shazam 3 if it ever came out. Jury’s out on that but regardless the scene itself was executed well.
So a lot of good positives here but now onto the negatives. The first one is I think Billy can still be a little too obsessive about Wonder Woman. That seems to be a core part of his character in different continuities at this point but cmon now. He’s a superhero, you need him to have some more dignity here. Also while he is slowly getting more used to his powers, I feel like he’s been a hero for years now so I’d expect him to do better here. Did he really think that he beat a goddess by slamming her to the ground?
I think writers often underestimate how strong the heroes are. For example the goddess throws a box at Shazam at one point which knocks him over. A normal box…. Here’s the thing, the writer probably figured that the box was thrown at super speed so it would work. The reason why it wouldn’t is that the box would just shatter on impact at any speed where it would be enough to come close to hitting Shazam. There is no scenario where the box itself pushes him, likewise the ground isn’t knocking someone out who is at his strength level.
So some of the power levels can be a little interesting but that’s how it goes I suppose. Shazam’s foster parents don’t get as much of a role in this one but they’re still nice enough. Most of the siblings don’t have a lot to do either. I would say the main one with a big role is Freddy since he gets a romance subplot with a new girl in school named Anne. They hit it off right away and so he now has extra incentive to be a big hero all on his own without waiting for Billy. The romance may be a little heavy handed with Freddy not handling things so well but it could be worse. By the end I just don’t think this should really work out long term.
Now there is one part of the film where I definitely disagree with Billy. So the other kids, mainly Freddy want to go out and do hero things but Billy says they either all have to go or none of them do. Here’s the problem with that, they have super powers and can realistically save a ton of lives. Functionally it’s like having half a dozen Supermen at the ready. They should be going around making the world a better place, not waiting until everyone is together. I know it’s safer when you’re in a group but realistically they can solo over 90% of the threats on the planet. If Freddy wants to go stop some thieves or escaped convicts then he should be able to. So the characters were right about Billy holding them back a bit.
That said, I still found the Wizard annoying because he spends a large chunk of the film bashing Billy and it doesn’t feel deserved. Like when he tells Billy that he regrets giving him the powers. Kind of a nasty thing to say to a kid just trying to do his best. By the end of the film they try to make the Wizard more likable but those opening scenes for him were really rough. It’s definitely hard to come back from that.
As for the goddesses, they were okay but could have used more scenes. For example the oldest one is all about getting revenge and seems like a decent villain but gets a little wishy washy by the end. She starts getting sloppy and dropping her guard which is never a good idea. The middle one is the most intense and ready to do anything for the mission. You can definitely respect that but at the same time I wanted to see her fight more. Physically she doesn’t do much here and she’s actually lucky the heroes didn’t try to take her down during the cheesesteak lunch because she would have had no way to defend herself. It was a tactical blunder.
Finally you have the youngest one who seems nice enough but can also be a bit wishy washy about the whole thing. Ultimately you need to pick a side and while she has more compassion than the others, it doesn’t mean as much if she won’t actually step in there to stop things right? I wanted to see her get more of a real fight too. There’s a cool scene of her dodging an energy blast but of course she ends up letting her guard down anyway. Not her best moment.
Overall, Shazam! delivers another pretty good film here. The skittles scene definitely feels like ultimate product placement but the fact that the film is so shameless about it does make it more impressive to an extent. Reminds me of an infamous Transformers scene involving beer. Ultimately the movie has got a solid amount of replay value and was a cheerful film so you could really watch it at any point. I’d like to see more of a prolonged fight in the third film but in the end this is still one that you could pop in and watch any day because it is easy to watch again. It definitely feels a lot shorter than 2 hours which is a good credit to the writing/pacing here.
Overall 7/10
I remember when I first saw the trailer for this film I thought it looked really good. Like surprisingly really good because I just wasn’t ready for this at such a high level. Well, I finally got to see the film and I dare say that it’s even better than I had expected. The witty banter is on point and it manages to nail the Dungeons and Dragons vibe without the many downsides of a film that takes place back in an older setting. It’s a rare W for the past and while it would still likely be tricky for a sequel to replicate this success, at least the chance is there now.
The movie starts off with Edgin and Holga locked up, they’ve been locked up for 2 years which is rough but now they can finally get out if the court votes to release them early. Fortunately, the council does see things in their favor although the heroes break out anyway. The problem is that their old partner Forge has ended up lying to Edgin’s daughter for the last two years and has turned her against him. The guy is also the king of the kingdom now so it won’t be easy to get back at him. Edgin and Holga will have to put together a powerful team in order to break in but can they really pull this off? In the end they are thieves, not conquerors and an infiltration of this level sounds very daunting.
First off one of the big advantages that the film has going its way is that the humor is really funny. It’s not one of those titles that is just trying super hard the whole time. No the gags actually land most of the time and the script is as clever as it appeared to be in the trailers. You’ll have a lot of good laughs here and so this ends up feeling a lot like those classic upbeat adventure films of the good ole days. The film still balances in a lot of great visuals and action scenes though. It just knows when to take things easy.
The special effects here can’t be understated as they just look really good. In just about every scene there is some kind of treasure that really stands out. Then you have the energy effects for the swords and other weapons. For example the energy sword battle was really good in large part because the energy swords looked so real. They deserve a whole lot of props for that. The fights here really delivered.
It’s another example of how the film ended up surpassing my expectations. Everything about it is just so well rounded. The characters are great, the action is great, and so ultimately the film itself was also great. This is a really good video game adaption title. I may not be all that familiar with the games so I couldn’t tell you how accurate the movie is but at the same time my understanding is that the franchise is mostly building the world for you and then from there the stories are endless. So this is just a fun story about a group of thieves and that’s all I needed.
This movie also had the most accurate depiction of an in game dungeon that I’ve ever seen. From the corridors all looking the same to the random chests scattered about, it was great. They even got the fake chests in there as well. This plays out like if you were playing a video game although of course with much higher stakes than usual. I would have ended the film with more of a huge cliffhanger to bait in some sequels but I’m still satisfied with the ending overall. You can plug this movie in at any time because of how self contained it is.
Edgin works well as the main character here. Ultimately he was only captured initially because he went on a super dangerous mission to try and bring his wife back to life. It’s a very noble goal so I wouldn’t fault him for that. He may not be the most powerful guy on the block and he gets mocked very regularly but he never loses faith. That’s what makes Edgin strong. He’s able to just take the shots and keep it moving. Nothing ever gets to this guy.
The film also doesn’t make him comically weak or anything like that. It’s just that he has no special abilities or strength like the others. He’s what I would call an average guy physically with above average resourcefulness. He can break out of being tied up on his own and can quickly jump from portal to portal. He just ends up being the comic relief because the other characters are simply better. It’s a clear distinction from not actually being a strong character so you want to keep that in mind.
Then you have Holga as a very good heroine. She’s one of the standout characters here and can fight with the best of them. Holga is the very stoic character of the group but she’s not uncaring. She’s always nice to Edgin’s daughter and when her friend wants a hug then she’ll let it happen even though she doesn’t love those. Holga’s another very well written character who simply isn’t one dimensional.
This is also where I have to point out that the film pulled off what 99% of movies could not…a good friendship. As Edgin and Holga are the main characters you’re probably expecting a big romance the whole time but that doesn’t happen. Edgin doesn’t suddenly move on from his wife and Holga doesn’t forget about her ex boy friend. These two just get along really well and team up to take care of the kid. They’re good friends and joke/rib each other a lot without things ever getting awkward.
It’s the definition of a great friendship and I really appreciate that. It’s fairly rare to see this nowadays. The only other recent film I can think of off the top is the latest Mission Impossible. There are certainly others when you think about it but in the vast majority of instances the two characters just end up getting together because that’s what the movie figures the audience wants. It would have been super disappointing if that happened here so I was glad that it didn’t. At the end of the day not only is it possible for men and women to simply be friends but it’s an extremely common occurrence. Step outside for a few minutes and that’s the reality around you no matter what the movies may have you believe.
Without that romance drama to split up the team, we get to really see everyone having a lot of fun. The team is hardly the most unified one but they’re a fun one to follow along. The movie’s a blast from start to finish and the light tone just works really well. I would also say on the whole I liked all of the characters. Simon may not be very good at magic but he gets a character arc about learning to believe in himself and harnessing his powers which was definitely good. That’s always a solid story beat to follow.
Doric is another valuable ally to the cause and I really liked how her shapeshifting was handled here. The scene of her starting out as a fly and then transforming into a ton of different animals as she progressed through the castle was great. This is truly not an opponent to underestimate and it was a great way to show off Sofina’s magical abilities without having one of the main cast get caught. I don’t think any of the other heroes would have been able to pull off the infiltration. It would have been way too much for them.
The most powerful fighter of the group has to be Xenk though. He’s a guy who takes everything literally and can be hard to talk too, but he has a solid honor code and is someone you can count on. He won’t ditch the other heroes for anything in the world and his burning blade was the only reason they could get away from the assassins. This guy was really a beast in combat and I’d have liked to see him appear even more.
As for Kira, Edgin’s daughter, well she wasn’t the best. I think she was rather gullible the whole time. I know it’s been 2 years but you should still trust your own father way more than his friend. Forge may have given her a good life all this time but at the end of the day you still have to choose a side and I was surprised that she picked him. I also expected her to do a little more with her invisibility charm although I guess the one big moment is enough.
The only other character that I felt was a little underdeveloped would have been Sofina. She’s a very interesting red mage and one of the first villains from that type I remember seeing. They’re really handy in the Final Fantasy games since they can use both light and dark magic. In this film she’s clearly one of the most powerful characters and should be able to destroy the heroes at any moment but often gets overconfident. By the time she does make a move then it ends up being too late. I still liked her as a villain but would have liked more screen time. Likewise for her master who talks tough in the shadows but there really isn’t much time for him.
Finally we have Forge and he makes for a fun villain. The guy is definitely evil all the way but jokes around a lot so you can quickly mistake him for just being a whimsical type of fellow. Definitely don’t fall for the act, he shows his true colors on more than one occasion. He can’t really fight but serves his role as the more comedic kind of villain. It also did take ambition and resourcefulness to become the lord of the kingdom so you have to give him some credit there.
Overall, Dungeons and Dragons is a really fun film. I had a blast all the way and hope it does get a sequel at some point. Again, films taking place in a setting made to be like the olden days is often very difficult to pull off so the fact that this one did was very impressive. I highly recommend this to anyone who was on the fence about watching it. The positives really outweigh the negatives by a wide margin. Sometimes you just want a really fun action film and this one’s the ticket for you. The writing is particularly impressive but the action and effects are also good so it’s a win/win.
Overall 8/10
It’s always good to see Naruto returning back to the world with a new story. To this day the original series is one of the most influential titles in the entire world. Almost everybody has heard of this series at some point after all. Well, this one’s a prequel about Boruto’s grandfather Minato after he won the global popularity poll. It’s always nice to see more of this guy since he’s so great and the story is handled really well. It’s got action and a lot of character development. Minato and Kushina is also easily the best romance in the series and one of the best in all of Jump.
The story starts off with Minato getting jumped by two Jinjuriki but he manages to escape them. It does give him the inspiration to create a new ninjutsu though and so he creates the Rasengan. It’ll come in handy because Kushina loses control in a fit of rage so he’ll need to take down the Fox once and for all and save her from her destiny. It’s definitely a pretty fun story through and through as we see his true power. No way Obito should have been able to hold his own against this guy. I’m just saying….no shottttttt.
The art here is excellent so right away you can see that the artist has not lost a step. He’s as good as he ever was. The details are really on point and the action scenes are really impressive. It’s cool to see Minato using the true Rasengan. I still think it’s way more impressive how he creates it with one hand compared to Naruto who usually had to use multiple hands to form it. This way’s more instant and lethal in a fight. Since part of the chapter takes place more in a meta dreamscape of sorts I wouldn’t use the attacks for power scaling personally but if you do then Minato scales up considerably since he’s 1 v 1ng the Nine Tails on his own.
The most important thing here though is how devoted Minato is to keeping Kushina safe. He doesn’t waver in that goal and is really someone that she can depend on the whole time. He makes sure not to injure her at all and takes some pretty serious injuries in getting her control again. He clearly trained in the sealing jutsus a whole lot off screen and from the chapter we see that he was meeting with Kushina almost daily to improve his skills. Minato definitely has the level of determination that we usually see Naruto with.
You could absolutely make a whole miniseries out of this so in a way it’s too bad that this is just a oneshot. You can feel that there is a lot of story left to tell even though it’s unlikely that we will ever get to see this. We even see more of Minato’s squad including an Uchiha but it’s hard to say who that would have even been. Possibly a whole new character I suppose. It’s also interesting seeing the Nine Tails as more of a true villain again.
Of course the Hidden Leaf looks as tactless and corrupt as always. They surely could have handled Kushina with more grace than basically threatening her not to leave the village constantly so she wouldn’t run out of control. She wouldn’t be trying to run off and everything if she wasn’t under so much pressure. That’s just common sense but these guys are dragging her anyway. I was glad to see her take them for a loop. While the chapter is definitely more Minato focused, she definitely gets her time to shine here too. In the end she was also pivotal with coming up with a good name for the new jutsu.
Overall, This was a really fun story. It’s very well contained and the 50 pages go by in a flash. You’ll read this in minutes because it’s just such a good story. Hopefully we get more one shot adventures in the future. In the meantime you can read this even if you haven’t started Naruto yet and maybe it’ll inspire you to check out the series. It’s very new reader friendly but of course if you’ve read the main series then you will enjoy it even more.
Overall 8/10
Mission Impossible is one of those series that always delvers high quality pictures and this one is no exception. I’ve been looking forward to Dead Reckoning for quite a while now and it’s really everything you could hope for it to be. The dialogue is very strong, there are a bunch of great characters, and the pacing is on point. Something is always going on here and there is a lot of replay value despite the length. This movie is definitely the complete package.
The film starts off with a submarine testing out some new tech but unfortunately things don’t go very well for it. We then cut to Ethan Hunt receiving a new mission, however this time he gets it with a lot of subtle threats as well. This is apparently the biggest mission of his career. He needs to recover two keys that open something that isn’t any of his business and the whole world is at stake. Ethan’s not really satisfied with that answer and decides to delve into this a bit further but this is at the cost of the whole world being after him. Every special intelligence agency in the world is on his tail now. He may be the most powerful Agent in the world but can even Ethan beat the combined forces of the planet?
Fortunately Ethan isn’t completely alone. His two steadfast allies Luther and Benji are around as always. Luther’s still great at hacking and managing everything from the control room. Meanwhile Benji always ends up getting a side mission of his own and he does well in them. These two are fun characters here as always. They may feel out of their depth in a lot of ways but it is a fact that Ethan would have been in big trouble without them.
Ethan here is a very solid main character who makes the right calls at the right times. I appreciate that he still has a strong sense of justice here and is always ready to save a friend even if it means defying orders. Ultimately that’s what you need to be able to do because if you just follow orders then you will inevitably become the villain. It’s not the first time Ethan’s had to go against the government either although I will say that it’s probably the quickest. He has to go rogue almost immediately here.
It’s another thing I appreciate about this film. The action starts up very quickly. We go to the desert and have an opening fight, after that we have an infiltration by Ethan, then a bunch of chase scenes and they just keep on going. Ethan certainly gets a lot of running done here that’ for sure but he gets to show off his intelligence and resourcefulness as well. Ethan is a fighter but the reason he is the best is because he always finds a way to win. His quick thinking in posing as a lawyer for example got him out of one jam.
The guy pulls off plans and disguises pretty much back to back and does it seamlessly. Also while the film’s a pretty serious one with an intense plot it does still make some for some good humor. There are a lot of quick lines that are really funny and all of the jokes are well thought out. You won’t be groaning at any point or anything like that here. The movie cycles through all of the genres rather effortlessly.
So it goes without saying that Ethan is the best character here. Then as the main heroine we have Grace who is a thief. A very good one at that as she manages to even pick Ethan’s pocket more than once. She causes a lot of damage and destruction throughout the movie because of how persistent she is. After a point you’ll probably just find yourself wishing Ethan would capture her already with how many times she betrays the group but ultimately that’s not how he operates. He wants to do his best to get her on his side as opposed to using force.
At times Grace really seems to act against basic survival instincts with how she handles this but ultimately she’s still a good character. She is a nice character for Ethan to have some banter with and she can actually fight which is always a plus. Automatically that helps her character out and when the chips were down she did get up and deliver so she has my respect.
Then there’s Ilsa who is another solid character. She doesn’t do quite as much here but we get to see how she’s still a really good shot and of course her close combat abilities are nothing to sneeze at. Definitely not someone you want to underestimate. Good ole Kittridge returns here as well although I can’t say that he looks too impressive. A bit of a shady fellow and while he may want what’s right for the country, his views aren’t always the best ones. I was definitely on Ethan’s side the whole time.
Alanna is one of the big villains/wild card characters here and she was a fun character to shake things up. She has a lot of connections/resources so whenever there is danger you can bet that she’s watching it unfold somewhere. I think the way she was dealt with near the end was a bit too easy so I couldn’t really buy into it but she definitely did a lot in this title.
Then there’s the main villain but it seems like the trailers avoided showing much of this guy so I won’t name him. Then the main villain has a boss that is mentioned constantly but we don’t know much about it. I’m not expecting the boss to really do anything other than get terminated in part two but the human villain has a lot to do here. He is able to fight really well and has a ton of confidence. He’s smirking in just about every scene that he is in and the guy keeps up with Ethan the whole time. This guy had to play his cards perfectly and that’s exactly what he did. Definitely not the kind of character that you can easily forget and I dare say that he may be the best out of all the Mission Impossible villains. It’s just hard to pull one over the guy.
Having a good villain like that is definitely huge for the movie. There are other villains here like one of his main minions but ultimately they’re more for the action while he is doing the thinking. They would not be able to keep up in that arena. Now if I had any small issue with the film it is that I would have liked to have seen some more factions. After all, think about it for a moment. The entire world is after Ethan so we should be seeing the CIA, M16, Japanese special forces, etc. Really the only main faction getting in on the action here are the Americans and for the most part the others are mentioned but don’t do as much.
I think in a lot of ways this should have been as chaotic as John Wick 3. You should have had people shooting from every direction and causing a lot of trouble. Of course this film isn’t a full action like that but I think you could still pull this off really naturally. I really liked the main cop who was after Ethan the whole time and think having more characters like that would have been great.
The soundtrack is really good as you would expect. The Mission Impossible theme plays quite a few times and it is definitely a catchy tune. There are a number of solid action themes within the movie as well so it never misses a beat. Of course the graphics are also really good as you would expect. The part looked very futuristic and every special effect was really clear. The series is second to none when it comes to showing off a bunch of great locations and making them all fit in.
There may be less actual fight scenes compared to some of the other Mission Impossible films but in the end you will still get a satisfying amount of action. Ethan takes a lot of fighters down and the supporting characters get to fight as well. There are also a lot of chase scenes as you would expect so you’re also getting action in that way as well. This is a very smart film so you can expect a lot of good planning too. At most you could make the case that maybe the main villain should have already won but otherwise I didn’t have any issues with the power levels or the plans going on. It all operated on a high level and had logic that made sense within the film.
It’s always a big thing when a film never gets boring and this one was really engaging the whole time through. There’s a lot more to say about the movie in the spoilers realm but I’ll let you see that for yourself. Sometimes I end up including a warning and then doing a spoiler section when there’s something I really need to dive into but in this case I would say there isn’t. Main thing to know is just that I was on Ethan’s side the whole time. The villains/antagonists and all of their goals are interesting to be sure but still not ones that I can get behind.
Overall, Mission Impossible succeeds in a big way once again. There’s a whole lot happening in this movie and it’s all balanced really well. I would say another strength to the film is how much was hidden. The trailers really didn’t touch on much of anything at all which meant there was a lot more to be surprised about. It can be a risky strategy nowadays since people probably want to see a lot to know if they’re going to theaters or not, but I would say the risk definitely paid off big time. I’m eagerly awaiting part 2 now to see if it can top part 1 and of course to see how this whole saga comes to a close. It’s going to be a long year!
Overall 8/10
Time for a classic tale of the Three Musketeers. They’re a decent group although to me they have never been one of the top ones. You see them now and again but I’ve never seen any incarnation that completely wow’d me. Well this one is more of the same. It’s not all that solid and sometimes messes up on the mix between action and comedy. Ultimately you want to root for a group that’s a bit more heroic and in a way a film about the trio without the main guy from this film probably would have worked better.
The movie starts with D’artagnan (I’ll just call him Dart after this) finally getting ready to head out on his own. He has his sword and his dignity and so he can finally become a knight and serve the royal family. Unfortunately his abilities are truly awful and he ends up getting on the wrong foot with every character imaginable. He must now face several duels to the death in a row and may find himself dead before he can even make a name for himself. Even worse, he has fallen in love with a married woman and is trying to take her away from the husband. Can he fall ever further?
That’s one of the big problems with the film which is that he’s just not a likable main character. You can’t root for him when he’s actively trying to convince someone to cheat. That’s awful and one of many reasons why the romance is really bad in this film. You already know he’s going to succeed and yet you’re just disappointed as that happens. I also think he should have looked a little more powerful. I get that he is in over his head but I’d have liked him to have at least had some kind of abilities to back up his bravado. Instead he just looks desperate. By the end of the film he can fight to a degree but I’m just going to say that he got lucky tbh.
In a way Dart being so unlikeable retroactively makes the intro even better as everyone clowns on him. The guy definitely doesn’t deserve much respect so I can also see why the team isn’t thrilled to have him around. The Three Musketeers already had a good dynamic going without him after all. On the roof they beat up the royal soldiers rather easily and based on the dialogue we have to assume that they do this rather often. They have a mutual understanding going where they beat up the enemies but spare their lives each time so it works out. At least you don’t have to worry about losing your life in the struggle.
The fights are handled well where you do get some good choreography at times before the gags come in. I also thought the most clever scene in the film is also one that involved the trio as they pretended to start fighting each other but were actually just stealing food left and right. It actually takes you a minute or two to notice that this is what they were doing so to my mind that means it was a very convincing moment. I was definitely impressed at any rate. There aren’t a whole lot of moments that impressed me so I’ll take what I can get.
I will still say that the movie is at its best during the battles. If it focused more on all of the fencing then the movie would have benefited from it. It also does have some solid moments of humor. I tend to enjoy the dialogue and the banter with the villains. So really the sticking point here is the sorry romance with Dart. It’s just no good and does a disservice to his character. There’s also a subplot with another royal having an affair and you really see just how depraved most of the cast is.
Politics and affairs tend to be a big part of any adventures back in the day like this but you expect the hero to at least stay away from them. The ending is really about them finally being a team but I think the better ending would have been to have the 3 leave Dart behind and say he just wasn’t ready or something like that. I think that would have worked out really well.
In the end this just isn’t a film that will end up being very high for you. It doesn’t have enough hooks to keep you engaged the whole time and you know that you’ve seen plenty of better films tackling similar themes. The newbie who gradually becomes good enough to become one of the big members of a team is a fairly common dynamic after all. The problem is that Dart just doesn’t have the work ethic or skills to seriously be considered no matter how well he may have done by the end.
Overall, The Three Musketeers is going to have to wait a little longer to get a definitive version of the characters. At least the villain was a lot of fun with his planning and usually being one step ahead. I can always appreciate a villain like that, someone to keep the heroes on their toes. If we can get the heroes to be a little better then it’ll work even better. Of course there is a sequel so it is absolutely possible that it’ll be the turning point. Only time will tell but in the meantime I’d say that you can skip this one. It’s not awful or anything but I don’t think there’s much reason to watch it imo.
Overall 4/10
SWAT is one of those franchises that I have heard about on many occasions but I still wouldn’t say that I knew a whole lot about the actual details of it. In the end I suppose it doesn’t really matter though as in a lot of ways the film is a fairly standard adventure. You’re not really going to see a lot of things that surprise you here and I would say the biggest knock against the film could be in how it’s satisfied being a normal thriller. That said, I always defend a film for being just a regular action film as long as the execution is good and that was on point here.
The movie starts with showing us the Swat team in action. They show up and clean out the bad guys rather quickly although in the process they do end up shooting one of the hostages. While the civilian lived, the issue is that this still broke protocol and so Brian is fired while Jim is demoted to being the guy who checks in the guns. Jim’s not happy but figures he’ll just stick around until he can move up again. That opportunity comes soon as Hondo is brought in to help the Swat’s poor public image. He is putting together a team of his own and decides that he wants Jim on it. This is Jim’s chance to finally make a comeback, but can he still hang with the rest of these professionals? Only time will tell!
First off I have to give the film credit for the soundtrack. There are quite a few lyrical songs that show up in this film which sound really good. The fast paced rock and high intensity of the action really mix well together here. The movie may lay it on a bit thick with the songs as they just show up out of nowhere in max volume but I had a lot of fun with it. It certainly makes the film stand out more than it would otherwise.
The action scenes here are also pretty solid as you would expect. Then the film also did subvert my expectations in one way that was fun. So there’s this big villain who gets his big intro scene with a lot of hype as you’d expect. He destroys someone, laughs about it and starts to monologue about how awesome he is. The guy then takes his car out for a joy ride…and gets pulled over by a cop and ultimately arrested. This…is the big bad. No, it’s not a big master plan like the Joker and he actually just made a mistake.
I think the film actually could have capitalized on this more because it’s a fun turn of events. Sometimes mistakes happen and this one just so happened to nearly end the villain’s plans in a single instant. It was really good fun there and it takes the guy a whole long time to get back in action. There is a double edged sword to this which I’ll get into in a minute, but yeah that was fun. I just kept waiting for some super big plot twist to happen and it didn’t arrive.
Don’t get me wrong, there are twists here but nothing too crazy and you can probably see one coming a mile away. Now the double edged sword of this is that without a main villain, the first half of the film is very low key. I even want to say the first 70% but that might be going too far. Mainly we get to see Jim train with the Swat team and a lot of setup as they locate each of the members for the team one by one. You get to see the team learning to get along, the training montages, etc. It plays out like an origin story to a large extent but that means there isn’t a lot of time for the high stakes battles.
It feels like we’re closing in on the end by the time this arrives. It delivers though and I still enjoyed the whole getting the team together part of the movie. It’s a classic way to set things up and it was satisfying. I would have just altered events slightly to setup the climax earlier and maybe thrown in an extra fight scene or two near the middle to really shake things up. Then this would really be a perfect setup.
Jim makes for a pretty solid main character here. He’s someone who does the right thing and he doesn’t rat out his partner even when someone tries to tempt him into doing so. You have to give the guy props for that and he also didn’t let his skills get rusty while he was on the bench. His partner Brian is annoying throughout the movie though. The guy really didn’t have a great plan and then didn’t take the consequences well. I don’t mind him running in there to try and save the hostage, that actually made sense but ultimately you still need to be able to take responsibility for that. If you don’t then you’re just being petty at that point and doubling down.
Meanwhile Hondo is definitely a solid character. He definitely doesn’t take too much disrespect from the Swat head who keeps trying to make new enemies. Ultimately Hondo trusts his team and puts them in the best position to win. You can’t really ask for much more than that out of any leader. He shows up in crunch time and gets the job done. The rest of the team also tend to be solid. One guy is perhaps a little too cocky and always ready to pick fights but it helps throw some tension into the mix. Then you have the tough heroine who is definitely ready to beat up anyone in her way.
The film does throw in some classic romance really just to tick off a box. There isn’t much point to the romance and it doesn’t change the film at all. It’s the definition of the Hollywood romance that doesn’t work as these people barely even know each other and it’s all so sudden. Not enough to really hurt the film mind you, but you’ll probably be rolling your eyes at that. If you want to go the romance route that should probably be saved for the second or third film so that enough time has passed for this to make sense.
Overall, Swat’s a pretty good film. I had a good time with it and can also see why the franchise had enough potential to keep on going. There’s a whole lot you can do in terms of different adventures with this crew. There will always be villains to beat up and since the Swat is the best of the best, I like the idea of their always arriving at the end once the villains have been around for a while. They should be treated as the climax of an adventure they weren’t apart of each time because that’s really their role. They show up when local law enforcement is having a difficult time. Even the weakest member on Swat should be an excellent, top of the line fighter. We’ll see if the next film can keep up the momentum but I had a good time here.
Overall 7/10
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