Tag Archives: Adventure

Hopscotch Review

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This review is of the edited 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.

It’s time for a look at a more comedic kind of spy film. It’s a pretty clever premise and one that the film executes pretty well. What you’ve got here is effectively a parody of those big films you tend to see about spies like James Bond or Jason Bourne. The fact that this one predates some of those installments just makes it all the more impressive. I think the whole scenario lends itself pretty well to humor as there’s quite a lot you can do here. It also reminds you why when you are in a pretty tricky position your boss really ought to actually show you to the door on the spot so things don’t get dicey. It wouldn’t have done much in this case though so the film handled itself well there too.

The film starts with the CIA working on a Russian case. That’s when Kendig walks in and busts the operation while also letting Yaskov go. His boss isn’t thrilled about this while Kendig explains that he always lets the boss go so they can read their movements a little better. That is a risky gambit in itself so I can understand Myerson’s reasoning for being upset to an extent but either way he’s not portrayed as a reasonable character here. He just wants to sack Kendig and is willing to do whatever he has to in order to do it. This was the excuse he needed so he demotes Kendig to office work. Kendig decides to leave in retaliation and decides to write a book exposing everything about the CIA to all of the other intelligence agencies.

Just to torment the CIA, Kendig decides to send in the novel one chapter at a time to the newspapers. Now the CIA wants to silence him and Russian intelligence definitely wants their hands on Kendig. He’ll have to try to outwit everyone as he keeps on travelling around the globe. He’ll need some help though so he visits his old friend Isobel and convinces her to get on board with this plan as well. She’s reluctant at first but finds the whole thing rather amusing and ultimately agrees to assist. They’ll have to tread carefully. They’re mainly dealing with the CIA so it’s not like they’re fighting some random villains but if they’re caught it’s definitely game over.

Isobel is definitely the standout character here. She’s a really great partner to have and does a good job of supporting Kendig the whole time. She’s also got a whole lot more to lose than Kendig at this point as she has built quite a nice life for herself. Everything was on the upwards trend but with the CIA she could end up losing out on everything. Still, she stays strong throughout and even helps out on the missions even if it means losing out on sleep. The movie wouldn’t have been quite the same without her.

Kendig is also a solid main character. It’s fun to see how sarcastic he is the whole time and always has a witty comeback at the ready. I think it goes a long way into also showing just how solid the writing is in the film. It’s consistently good all the way through and this film could not succeed if the writing was not on point. The humor plays a big part into the execution and the movie manages to nail that. The characters are just a lot of fun.

Myerson makes for a solid antagonist. He just wants to take Kendig down no matter what he has to do. Even at the end he shows no real remorse for possibly shooting Kendig down. That really solidifies the fact that he was completely on the other side of the fence by then. He would do whatever he needed to do in order to stay on top. The man he had in charge of the Kendig case was also pretty good. His name was Cutter and he looks up to Kendig so this was pretty tough for him. There’s also not a whole lot he can do here since Kendig always seems to be one step ahead of him. Cutter’s still learning after all and it’ll take him a while to make it all the way to Kendig’s level.

If I had a complaint, it’s that I would have liked to have seen the international reactions a bit more. I think they could have really played that up quite a bit. The closest we got was the European response as their Prime Minister couldn’t stop laughing at the whole thing. I wanted to see more of that because it would make for a lot of great interactions. One scene that was also handled really well was when the CIA arrived to try and blackmail the paper into not publishing the novel. This publisher was pretty intelligent and wasn’t about to fold. He already had a lot of plans underway and that’s exactly how you have to handle such a situation. He was determined to let the freedom of the press do its thing.

Overall, Hopscotch definitely surpassed my expectations and ended up being a great film. It’s really got everything you could want in such a title. The humor is on point and the writing is solid. The pacing is on point and quite a lot happens without the film ever dragging out. Kendig always finds a new way to keep on humiliating and embarrassing the other characters. You have to admire the guy’s creativity here. He’s able to think quickly even when he actually does get stopped by one of the police groups at one point. It’s clear to see that he was quite the field agent which shows how he would know all of these techniques in the first place. Yes, if you want a good spy thriller taken from a different angle than the usual fare then this is definitely one you should check out.

Overall 8/10

Mob Psycho 100 II: The First Spirits and Such Company Trip Review

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It’s time to look at a quick Mob Psycho OVA from a while back. It’s always fun to see the gang return and hopefully we get a proper sequel at some point. This one gathers the characters in a new environment and Reigen gets to be the main character so you can’t really top that. The new villain even gets quite a bit of hype. It’s a reasonably sized special at around half n hour so you’ve got time to have some fun here. It’s really a good chance to hang out with the cast in a fun environment.

The special starts with a lady showing up and asking Reigen for help. Her inn is being haunted as travelers who attempt to go there fall into another dimension during the trip. As a result the Inn is losing business and she has also grown rather ill. Reigen figures this is probably fake, but the lady agrees to pay for the trip and all expenses so he agrees to help. Serizawa is now a member of the team and Reigen also invites Ritsu and Teruki in addition to his partner Mob. They all get on the train but after dozing off, Reigen awakens to find that only Serizawa remains. Not only are the other characters gone but they seem to be trapped in the car. Whenever Reigen attempts to leave he ends up right back where he started in a loop. He is clearly getting nowhere fast and that’s starting to worry him. Still, he has to keep a brave face on in front of Serizawa. How long can Reigen keep the two of them alive?

As always Reigen is in over his head on this one but I always like how he is able to fake his way through it all. He doesn’t know that everyone else escaped because of their psychic powers so he’s just doing his best to think things through rationally. Throughout it all he still has the drive to save half of the food for Serizawa despite starving to death. At his core Reigen’s still a good guy as always. He’s one of those interesting characters that you can count on for the big stuff although he will cheat you in the smaller ways. It makes for a pretty unique character trait if you ask me. You don’t really see a whole lot of characters who are quite like that.

Reigen’s also just a lot of fun and is a big part of why the adventures are so enjoyable. He’s always quick to double down on his deceptions and just doesn’t give an inch no matter what. It’s really quite impressive when you think about it. You also feel bad for him as the others are never around when he needs them. A big example of this is when he’s ready to have a pillow fight near the end since he was just sleeping for days and nobody wanted to do it. They tend to leave him high and dry all the time which is pretty unfortunate.

Meanwhile Serizawa gets a pretty big role here too as he’s nervous about working for Reigen. His whole character has always been that he gets extremely nervous in all scenarios so you can’t really blame him. Part of why Reigen is so endearing is because he’s ready to help out in times like this and does his best to help Serizawa regain his confidence. Mob and the others don’t get much of a role although they quickly help out a bit in the final fight. I thought this made the villain look good since he was able to survive a hit that was launched by the whole gang of Espers all teaming up. You have to admit that not just any villain can do that. I don’t think it’s meant to be a serious feat and just an excuse for some action here but we take those.

The animation looks solid. The style naturally means it won’t touch most of the other current animations right now, but at this point I’m pretty used to it. The colors look solid for the energy blasts too. The soundtrack is taken from the show and works out pretty well here. As the OVA isn’t long the pacing is also pretty tight with the plot moving from part A to B without any issues. This is just a fun journey and one that you’ll definitely have fun with. At the end of the day this is the kind of plot that would work with almost any series. A lot of the time I think it would be fun if we could hang out with the characters a little more after the main story is done and this is definitely one way that you could do it.

Overall, I’m not going to repeat that long name, but this Mob Psycho OVA is quite good. It’s a good reminder that you don’t always need to have a super big climax filled with tons of explosions to make for an epic adventure. Sometimes all you need is just a nice scenario to have the gang back together with some fun dialogue. As expected Mob Psycho delivers on that. It’s a very fun adventure that will really breeze right past you. I’d definitely recommend checking it out and it’s the kind of title that needs no context. If you haven’t jumped into Mob Psycho yet but have been thinking about it then this may be a pretty good way for you to start.

Overall 7/10

Seven Deadly Sins Review

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It’s time to look at a manga that at this point finished quite a while ago. It’s a very long series though so the review would be pretty long too so I held off on it for a bit. This is one of those titles like Fairy Tail that is quite tragic. It has a terrific climax and a lot of hype moments. Unfortunately it is held back by fanservice issues which prevented it from being the next big thing. It’s a manga I will have fond memories of though even if it could live up to its full potential.

The series starts off with Elizabeth searching for help. The knights have become corrupt and the only ones she can turn to are the Seven Deadly Sins. Despite the name they used to be Britain’s finest warriors. Unfortunately the group has been split apart and they are all wanted for capital crimes. She runs into Meliodas who now runs a tavern. He agrees to help her and while the guy is incredibly sketchy, Elizabeth figures she will need his help. The first arc is mainly about gathering all 7 of the members to stop the Knights and bring Britain to peace once more. This won’t be an easy task, but if anyone can pull it off, it is Meliodas and his merry crew.

The second main arc involves the return of the Ten Commandments. These guys are some of the deadliest villains to ever walk the planet. They also seem to have ties to Meliodas. The Sins may be strong, but all of them are weaker than the weakest Commandment. It adds a nice sense of danger to the whole mix since the heroes all have to get massively stronger. It’s cool because the series started on the premise that the heroes were the strongest people around and now you’re throwing in villains who are way more powerful than them. Needless to say, the series’ power levels start to get pretty insane the more the series goes on.

Finally we get involved with the holy war. The Angels have returned to slay the Demons. The only problem is that they appear to be just as evil and corrupt as the monsters they fight. This forces Meliodas and the others to wonder who to ally with. Meliodas also has to come to terms with his demonic past as everyone is trying to control him. The Demon King also shows up for a pretty intense final battle that also became a bit of a running gag among fans. Let me tell you, reading this weekly was a blast because of that. The comments are just so much fun and they just never miss a beat.

So lets rewind a bit and talk about the series as a whole. For starters, the art is excellent. It’s one of the clearest manga I’ve read and I would consider it to be top tier in that respect. You can really follow along with the fight scenes and the character designs are on point as well. This makes for a pretty great mix at all times. Solid artwork is half the battle after all and it helps you get across the epic scenes a lot better than it possibly could if the art wasn’t all that good. The series is also quite long with a good amount of replay value and plots to keep you interested.

The character cast is quite strong with a lot of solid villains in this case. I’ll talk about the characters more in depth later on. The fight scenes are particularly intense and the series is known for them. My favorite fight in the series was Meliodas vs the 10 Commandments. There’s one fight early on where he takes the whole group for a spin which was pretty neat. He also came so close to winning that it cemented him as being the fiercest fighter in the group. Unlike many titles where they try to keep the main characters balanced at first, Meliodas was always head and shoulders above the other members of the team. He consistently shows why he is the leader and it all makes sense.

Now where the series goes wrong is the fanservice. It’s unfortunate because it mainly stops after Arc 1. It’s something that would occur less and less frequently as the series went on. Depending on the scale of it the score wouldn’t have been totally crippled but as with violence, fanservice has tiers to it. Quick camera angles and unfortunate tripping is one thing, but Meliodas tends to get pretty physical with Elizabeth which is the real problem here. It’s played off as a comedy plot which I could never believe the series would even attempt to do. She never gives him any kind of consent and always gets embarrassed by his advances. He pays absolutely no mind to this. It would be a far darker plot if taken seriously and we learn some twists that are supposed to make this better. Basically they are destined to be together and Meliodas has been together with many different versions of her. So he’s skipping the formalities since he considers them to be a couple already.

That’s just not how it works though and those scenes are really tough to get past. Eventually they do get together but by then the damage to the series is done. Ban’s romance with Elaine is also pretty bad. The series tries to make it more wholesome by the end but it just doesn’t work. I’ll take that over the Meliodas stuff though. So regardless, that’s what holds the series back. The series is long and the plot doesn’t occur all that often but I still cannot overlook it. It’s something that the series chose to do and now it must live with the score.

The series does a good job of fleshing out the world and the characters within it though. We learn a lot about Britain and it’s fun how the series uses actual characters from the legends like King Arthur and such. It sets up a sequel series pretty well since we should be getting pretty close to the knights of the roundtable now. The series also had a pretty good job messing with the readers during the ending. It pretended to be ending and then threw in a few extra fights for good measure. Part of why it worked so well is because now there was no way to know when it would end. If anything I was expecting the Light god to show up but sadly she never did. Now there’s a character who has been getting a lot of hype but has yet to really do anything yet. I expect her to get a big role in the sequel to make up for this.

Seven Deadly Sins also keeps up the intensity with each volume. There’s never really a dull moment. I’d say it rivals Fairy Tail with how enjoyable each volume can be. It’s certainly at a higher level than Toriko for example although that series may still have the best climax. It’s tough because most SJ titles like to end with a huge climax. It makes sense because that’s a good way to ensure that the journey was worth it. You didn’t read all those volumes for nothing. A series should always have a very climactic finale and that’s exactly what this series did.

Ok, so lets look at the characters. First up is Meliodas who is the leader of the group. He’s one of those guys who is so powerful that he has a hard time taking anything seriously. At times this can end up being pretty risky for him because he can lose before he has a chance to go all out. As a hero he’s only okay. His whole plot with Elizabeth holds him back and he can be pretty meant to Hawks the whole time. I actually liked him best when he was in his dark mode. Not the part where he was being mind controlled, but dark of his own control. The scene of him walking into the base and taking down both Estarossa and Zeldris was masterful. Again, Seven Deadly Sins really knows how to pile on the hype and really take everything to the next level. You’re guaranteed to see some big stuff in each adventure.

Then you have Diane who is unfortunately known as the weakest member of the Sins. Technically Gowther would be far weaker physically but she has a number of hax at the ready. Diane is a pure physical fighter. She can manipulate the Earth which helps her evade attacks as well as amp up her abilities. She’s a bit of a tragic character as she likes Meliodas but doesn’t stand a chance from the start. She’s a fun fighter to have on the group though. I feel like she should have gotten another powerup though. I think it would have helped to balance things out quite a bit.

Next up is Ban who serves the role as the rival in this one. He isn’t nearly as solid as most rivals though. What holds him back is that he can be a little too crazy the whole time. He’s always trying to murder Meliodas and doesn’t even seem heroic the way the others are. His whole regeneration thing is pretty cool though and I’ll miss that one. If anything he feels a little weaker when he doesn’t use that ability towards the end of the series even though he is technically more powerful. Sometimes you really just need to try and stick with your classic abilities to really stay at your best.

King isn’t much better and now you can see why I consider the villains to be the main strength of the cast. King’s true form is pretty bad so he usually uses a made up one. I like his fighting style though as he zips around at super speed and his projectiles definitely mean business. It’s hard to get past his defenses at all. He gets a lot of development but for the most part I couldn’t take his character too seriously. His final form is pretty neat though and was definitely a solid upgrade for the character.

Then there is Gowther who has a complicated backstory. There are a lot of twists and turns related to her character. You can also throw some betrayal in there as well. She is okay but half the time she ends up making things a lot tougher for the heroes. She rarely seems to contribute quite as much in a battle sense and I ended up growing tired of her pretty quick. If you want a solid character who’s unpredictable, that’s Merlin’s job. Now she is a great member of the team. Her abilities are basically absolute and she has a plan for everything. Next to Meliodas she probably is the strongest member of the group. Her barriers are incredibly durable and she appears to have a spell for every possible contingency. As a result you just can’t catch her off guard. The ending to her arc feels a bit forced but overall she was a fun character. I dare say that she ended out as one of the best heroes.

Finally there is Escanor who is the final Deadly Sin. His character is a bit like Hulk and Bruce Banner. By night he is a very meek guy who can’t fight for beans. He’s as scrawny as they come and will run from a fight. During the day he becomes more of a Superman type persona with absolute confidence. The brighter the sun, the stronger he gets. At his best he was even able to give Meliodas a good fight. Escanor is definitely a very fun character. His character’s end was also pretty forced considering that the heroes were absolutely wrecking the villain before he decided to use a forbidden move. Still, he does like to show off so this was his chance to outshine everyone once more. He always brought the hype with him and his fight with Estarossa was definitely a blast.

Elizabeth is the main heroine of the series and definitely gets to appear quite a lot. She doesn’t really tend to fight for most of the series although towards the end she got a new title that was meant to evoke fear into everyone. For the most part nobody took it very seriously since even after all of that she didn’t do much but it was still a cool thought. I do like her angel mode as she does get a big power boost from that. It’s also good to see her being more assertive since prior to getting her memories back I always found her to be way too passive. She also shouldn’t have put up with Meliodas’ antics.

Hawks is the main comic relief character of the series and I’d say that he does pretty good in that role. He knows how to help run a tavern quite well and does help out on occasion. He never really gets any respect but deep down they’re all friends. That said, Hawks is only good in those short doses. As a main character he just can’t hold his own. Not the way that Arthur could. King Arthur is one of those characters who you would expect to look amazing here but surprisingly he doesn’t do a great deal. He finally starts to unlock more of his power at the very end of the series but it’s more of a tease than anything. That said, he quickly became one of my favorite characters in the series. He’s certainly my favorite hero. The guy tries really hard and is always earnest in his attempts to learn more. I fully expect he will continue to improve.

Dreyfus is one of the original villains and I remember him being pretty fun. It can be easy to mix him and Hendrickson up a bit though. Ultimately I preferred Dreyfus as he seemed to have more willpower to me and was also more powerful. Hendrickson tended to get in the way and was a virtual hostage at times. That really doesn’t help his case much at all. Gilthunder was another early villain and part of why I remember him so well is the famous lightning throw scene. Meliodas was able to catch a throw that went across whole towns. So even though Gilthunder was taken to school there it was a pretty hype scene for sure. Guila was also a fun villain. I feel like she ultimately didn’t really live up to her own hype, but it was nice that she got some closure to her story and even had a bit of a redemption arc going for her.

Chandler and Cusack were pretty powerful demons which makes sense since they were the mentors of Zelris and Meliodas. I remember being surprised when they showed up since it was pretty last second but right away they showed why they were to be feared. They aren’t really meant to be very well liked villains but I liked their designs and they were pretty loyal to their masters. Chandler could be a bit shady since he wanted to murder Elizabeth but at least he was rooting on Meliodas to take down Zeldris. It’s also a bit funny there since their power levels apparently even surpassed that of those two.

The Demon King is the big villain of the series as you would expect. He steals a whole lot of bodies and fights the heroes in a variety of different ways. Never have I seen a main villain get quite so mocked chapter after chapter. It is definitely a very different approach much like the series as a whole. Typically you would expect the big boss to be cleaning shop and the heroes just barely manage to defeat him after a lot of friendship speeches and stuff like that. Not so with this fight as the heroes were completely wrecking him from the very beginning. If anything they weren’t even taking him seriously as they chatted while beating him up. The Demon King begged for his life on multiple occasions and people just lost respect for the guy. I still like him though. He may not have been supremely powerful, but at least he talked tough and was pretty manipulative. You can’t get much better than that.

Derieri has a pretty cool power. Every hit increases the gravity against you and it stacks as well. That makes for a pretty dangerous combo. She reminded me a bit of Caulifla. She certainly enjoys a good battle. Derieri may not be the strongest member of the 7, but I found her to be one of the most enjoyable ones. Typically she would teem up with Monspeet who had some pretty good abilities involving changing places. Honestly he was doing very well in his fight. Derieri ended up holding him back to an extent there but it was a worthy effort. He also seemed to not be quite as evil as the rest and was willing to live a quiet life away from all the violence. He didn’t quite manage to get that wish though.

Drole is another villain who was in a partnership. He tended to work pretty well with Gloxina. They didn’t really get as much character development as the other members although they got to be in the flashback arc which helped. They weren’t bad. In general I wouldn’t say that any member of the 10 Commandments were bad, but these two were less memorable. Galand was one of the best members though. For starters, he had a great design. He was also the first member to attack the heroes so we really got to see what he could do. He reminded me a bit of Berserker from Fate Zero only this guy talked a lot more. Unfortunately this did mean he would end up being the weakest member of the group but you can’t forget his entrance.

Estarossa gets a massive role. It’s hard to forget him taking down Meliodas in one hit. That’s definitely an intense way to make a debut in a title like this. He’s easily one of the most powerful villains and he gets several super forms. He has some twists involving Mael of the Archangels as well which was pretty interesting. I liked Estarossa for a while but once he became obsessed with Elizabeth he did drop down quite a bit. Meanwhile Mael was reasonably fun although he definitely didn’t seem very heroic. Not very surprising considering the Arch Angels were so extreme though.

Then we’ve got Zeldris who is one of my favorite characters in the series. his wind abilities are quite impressive as they were able to keep the whole cast at bay. While he isn’t as strong as Meliodas, he does keep their battles close and does keep improving on his own terms. He is on the side of the villains, but at least he has a good reason for doing so. He wants to bring Gelda back to life and since the heroes won’t help with this he was forced to turn back to the villains. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back even if it means stopping the heroes. I always like a character motivation like that and Zeldris was just a lot of fun.

Finally we have Ludociel who is the leader of the Angel unit. He’s a pretty powerful guy but also a very corrupt one who isn’t above sacrificing a bunch of humans to get his way. He’s really not the kind of guy that you want to have on your squad. He may get you the win but it’ll come at a tremendous cost. After a while, the cost for victory is too high and it’s simply not worth it. I did like having another faction though. I’m always a fan of having more than 2 groups because it makes for some pretty exciting battles.

Overall, Seven Deadly Sins definitely had a lot of adventures in it which is why this review was so long. It’s a series that you will definitely get quite invested in as you read through it. Without the whole Meliodas stuff this would be an easy 8. Unfortunately it is present. If you think you can get past that whole plot then I’d definitely recommend this series. It’s got a lot of action and hype scenes so there’s definitely no reason to skip out on it. Each arc really starts off with a bang and the art is just so high quality. It’ll also help you be prepared for the sequel which should come out at some point. Once it does I’m definitely expecting big things. If you aren’t able to get past the iffy stuff, then I’d recommend checking out Black Clover instead as a really solid action series with a lot of moving pieces.

Overall 4/10

Transformers: Cyberverse Review

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It’s time to look at a recent Transformers show that ended. I suppose it’s always possible that they’ll announce a season 4 in which case I’ll review that separately but I get the feeling that this show is done for good. It’s a reasonably fun show and one that was trending upwards. Each season was better than the last which is always incredibly difficult to do. The show made it easy as the first season was pretty underwhelming with a Bumblebee subplot that took too long to form. By the end of the show it can proudly hold itself along with the rest. There are few Transformer shows it would beat but I would still say it was pretty good.

The first plot is mainly about Bumblebee’s memory loss. Something happened to all of the Autobots but we don’t know what that is. Whatever it is, Bumblebee is completely mindless now and acts pretty crazy like Crash Bandicoot. Windblade has decided she will fix his memory but to do so they will have to take on a lot of Decepticons and relive memories that Bee may have wished he could forget. We need Bumblebee’s memories, but the heroes may end up wishing they didn’t remember what’s in store for them. That’s really the full plot of season 1. Bumblebee gets his memories near the very end of the season which then ties into season 2.

Ultimately what really holds season 1 back is that Bumblebee can’t hold his own story. In most of the various Transformers shows he just isn’t very entertaining. Robots in Disguise did the best job with his character, but that’s really the exception. Once Bumblebee gets his memories back he’s a lot better but during season 1 he’s pretty annoying. Ultimately Windblade has to hold these episodes on her own. Additionally there really isn’t much of a plot here. The episodes are all pretty much stand alone adventures which are decent, but on a 15 minute runtime limit there isn’t much they can do.

Season 2 is mainly about the big battles between the Autobots and Decepticons. Now that all the Autobots are awake they are ready to fend off the attack. What they don’t know is that the Decepticons have had a schism as well and now Starscream is in command of his own mini fleet. He aims to get the All Spark and obtain unlimited power. Both Optimus Prime and Megatron may have to team up if they want to have any hope of stopping him. The tough part is really what comes afterwards because Prime knows that he definitely cannot trust a Decepticon. Can the heroes manage to stop Starscream while also constantly watching their backs against Megatron and his forces? It’s definitely a pretty difficult balance that they have to worry about the whole time but fortunately we have some pretty hype characters here to help out like Hotrod.

This season was quite the improvement over the first. The cast got expanded quite a bit and I remember being surprised that Prime was back to being a main character. I shouldn’t be, but it feels like he rarely is anymore. Both of the Rescut Bot TV shows, Robots in Disguise, then Cyberverse. It had been years since he was a true main character. Well, this show brought him back into the running and that was neat. We got to finally have the classic Autobot vs Decepticon battles once again. Surprisingly I don’t think the writers liked Megatron all that much though. Typically their rivalry is very evenly matched but in this series it was quite lopsided. Optimus Prime would easily crush Megatron and is treated as being way stronger than the other bots. It’s a good thing for Prime but it makes Megatron look really bad. He never truly recovers from that and even in the final season he ends up feeling more like a sub boss.

Finally we have Season 3. While 2 ended with a big cliffhanger about the Autobots heading to a Cybertron that was already taken over by the Decepticons that actually gets resolved pretty quick. We then get a pretty big timeskip here. I miss not being able to see more of how that plot resolved, but I’d say it was worth it because the third season really starts with a mystery feel. Another alien race has taken over the planet and enslaved all of the bots. Only a few resistance fighters are left, comprised of both Autobots and Decepticons. They will have to learn how to work together to stop this threat. Along the way we slowly find out answers about how this all happened and there’s even a twist on who the big boss is. It’s an excellent arc and definitely the peak of the series. After this the series ends with an extra quick mini arc that’s super rushed but does deliver on a solid ending.

So as you can see, the show was steadily improving as it went on. That’s a good thing because it does show that the series was starting to find its stride. It’s a shame that it didn’t keep going on but 3 seasons is a solid amount of time. Certainly enough time to give it some solid replay value for the future. I’m still not a fan of the 15 minute episodes style though. I really think that all of the titles should aim for the classic 22-25 minutes. Keep in mind that it’s 15 minutes with commercials, I’m thinking it’s probably closer to 12-13 if you time them. It’s a style that I’ve never agreed with. You work with what you get and the show did a good job with them, but I can’t help but feel like it would have been better otherwise. This series couldn’t quite keep up with the G1 shows, Beast Wars, Robots in Disguise, or Prime. It beats the Rescue Bot shows but that’s not too hard. I think I would ultimately take this one over Animated though although it’s a pretty close one. The boost this show got from season 3 definitely helps a lot.

The animation is good. I like the fight scenes and the show actually does give us some choreography with the sword battles. We have good long range battles as well and I’m just glad to have fights. The battle of the Titans from season 3 was another highlight. We got to see what these guys could really do next to the average robots. They were treated as being super powerful even if one was being manipulated the whole time. I do think the heroes shouldn’t have had a shot once the villain leader busted out the one hit laser. The show definitely does have its share of plot hax but what show doesn’t right? The soundtrack is more on the generic side though. There are no memorable tunes to point too. This isn’t surprising.

As for the writing/tone, the show is basically your average Saturday Morning cartoon material. It’s pretty light hearted and filled with fun adventures. That’s why I applaud season 3 for actually taking itself seriously. This show won’t be remembered as great but I do think the episodes did a good job of being entertaining. They also certainly don’t drag out within the 15 minutes. Mix this all together and you’ve got the makings of a pretty good show. I don’t really have any serious negatives that would hold it back. It does enough where I can recommend it to anyone who wants to have a fun little adventure. It’s not great, but it’ll do the job.

The characters are largely portrayed in the same way as usual. Prime is shown to be a great leader and fighter. This is one of his best portrayals and he really feels accurate to his G1 counterpart. Bumblebee is pretty annoying in season 1 as I mentioned and tends to get in trouble a lot. I already spoke about how Windblade is pretty solid and she definitely gets a critical role in saving the day. Grimlock doesn’t look very good here and I feel like the shows do not know how to handle his character. Basically he’s very smart in bot form and when he transforms into a Dinobot he loses his intelligence.

Hot Rod gets a big role here and even performs the heroic sacrifice at one point. His dark form is also pretty neat. He’s still one of my favorite Transformers out there so I’m always happy to see him getting his due respect. Cheetor was a surprising addition to the cast from Beast Wars, but he servers his role as mediator pretty well. He comes across as a little weak and pretty slow to react to what’s going on though. He definitely could have done better. I’ve already spoken about how Megatron is surprisingly weak in this series. His personality is still solid but it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s always getting completely dominated by Optimus Prime.

Shadow Striker is one of the highest ranking Decepticons in this show and she looks pretty good. She gets quite a bit of character development as the series goes on and is willing to bend the rules a bit. Soundwave and Shockwave have an ongoing rivalry throughout the series. It’s a pretty fun subplot and they take turns getting wins over the other. I’d say Soundwave gets the better of that rivalry since he lasts a whole lot longer. His glitching out gimmick in the final season was an odd choice but he definitely looks really good overall. The guy gets some props for basically being the second in command.

Starscream gets a big and satisfying role here as well. The guy is as power hungry as ever and doesn’t give up until he’s on top of the food chain. I’ve always liked him for that reason. He never quits and while he may not always get the last laugh, he gets a lot of victories in the meantime. I was very pleased with hos he looked here. Then you have Dead End who was a pretty interesting Decepticon. I liked the guy. He may not be particularly skilled but he always talks a good game and doesn’t let anyone walk all over him. I think he helped the dynamic a lot in the final season. Clobber also gets a big role in the final season. She’s the really strong but not too smart kind of character. Clobber was certainly helpful although she’s not really my kind of character. I liked her better than Macadams though who preferred to just sit back and do nothing. He may as well be a villain if you ask me since he would always refuse to help the heroes. Not much of an ally to have if you ask me.

Overall, Transformers: Cyberverse is a title that had a good run. It’s got solid animation and a few good story arcs. Since the show continued to get better and better you were bound to have a good time as long as you make it through season 1. Season 1 does definitely start off slow but it’s all up hill from there. It was good to see all of the classic Cybertronians again. Windblade has definitely been getting a big role in a lot of Transformers titles now and she holds up well as a main character. I’d say that she is even better than Arcee. Meanwhile Hot Rod and Optimus Prime get great roles as well. I’d like to see them phase Bumblebee out as the main character but as long as it’s an ensemble cast like this show I think it’ll ultimately be okay.

Overall 7/10

Seven Samurai Review

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It’s time to look at a classic film that came out all the way back in 1954. People will remember that year as the Godzilla debut but this film also made some waves as well. It would later inspire other big films like The Magnificent Seven which grabbed this formula and improved upon it. Seven Samurai is a film with a decent premise but one that drags on quite a lot with padding being thrown in for most scenes. This film would have benefited from cutting out around 90-120 minutes and would have resulted in a movie with tighter pacing and a more engaging story. As it stands, it’s a reasonable movie if you really like the old samurai setting but otherwise I would highly advise checking out The Magnificent Seven instead.

The movie starts off with the villagers wondering what they should do. A group of bandits show up every year and steal all of their food and crops. If they strike again these guys probably won’t be able to survive. Some of them think they should just roll over and die while others think they should fight. They reach out to the village elder and he tells them to recruit some Samurai. It’ll be tough because they have no money and almost no food but it’s their best option. They manage to reach out to one samurai named Kambei for help. He tells them that they will need 7 Samurai in able to pull this off. Gradually they locate the rest of the samurai and head to the village to get ready to fight the Bandits. Will this group of fighters really be enough to take down the villains or are they all marching towards their graves?

So the main problem with this film is really the length. It’s well over 3 hours and you need to have a pretty good excuse to make your film that long. Very few films have gone for such a length because it’s so difficult. A lot of big blockbusters nowadays could easily stretch themselves out to 3 hours and you could see it working well like Mission Impossible, Avengers, Batman V Superman, etc but even those usually end up cutting content to stay under the 3. 3 hours is just a very long time and you have to have dynamite characters and a great story or it will inevitably drag out. So I always say that having a long runtime is not necessarily a good or a bad thing. All theatrical films should aim to at least be 2 hours but if they really know that they don’t have enough story for it than cutting it down to a shorter length is fine. That’s really what Seven Samurai should have done because the plot isn’t built for 3 hours.

What I described above is really the main plot. It’s very direct and you don’t need a lot of time for it. As a result we get a ton of what I’d call filler scenes. Characters just walking around, making faces, laughing with the locals, etc. There are so many scenes here that could have been cut entirely and other scenes that could have been trimmed down. You could definitely make this roughly a 90 minute film while keeping in all of the key scenes. It’s what the movie should have done because it’s not as if it does many things wrong. My negatives with the film are rather brief other than the length. It just made the film rather boring at times and you would often be waiting for the film to get to the next moment.

Another issue here is really that there wasn’t much of a villain. None of the bandits are given any real character development. They have absolutely no presence in the story and you would be hard pressed to remember any of their names if they even got any. This is a problem because that makes this a samurai film with no real fight scenes. There are general action scenes where the two forces collide, but there is no true battle scene where the heroes use their blades in battle. Every “fight” is just a one and done slice that ends the match in an instant. I would have liked to have seen some actual fights here as that would have made the film a whole lot more exciting.

Seven Samurai also goes out of its way to make the villagers really unlikable. You have one subplot where the father forces the daughter to cut off her hair and physically attacks her when she gets together with one of the samurai. Nobody does anything about this and it makes the samurai look pretty bad for just watching the whole time. I’d have liked at least one character to have stepped in and totally put a stop to it. At the end of the day they yell at the guy a bit but don’t do much more than that. That ties in a bit to the characters angle.

From the main characters the only real solid one was the quiet samurai who is really good at fighting. He murdered his first opponent after being forced into a fight and from there he took down a bunch of other enemies. He is definitely treated as the most powerful samurai in the film and that is pretty clear after his initial scenes. The others are strong enough I suppose as they all contribute. Kambei is also a reasonably solid lead and is good at making the plans. We don’t really get to see him fight much but you know that he is skilled.

How much you enjoy the film will probably also depend on how you enjoy the setting. This is taking place in very old times of course so don’t expect to see any sleek buildings or a modern Tokyo/NYC type environment. The characters are struggling to survive in a poor setting so everything can be pretty muddy and desolate. You definitely feel the desperation in all of the characters here since they’re about to fight in a life or death battle and the people they’re protecting don’t even trust them. It really puts the Samurai in a tough spot.

I’d say the best part of the film is the soundtrack. It can be a little overly dramatic for the scenes that are playing but I think a good soundtrack works even if it is misplaced. For example, a cool rock song will sound just as awesome whether it’s played during an emotional scene or a battle moment. So either way I liked the classic opera theme that would play when the characters were thinking. It was like a subtle darkness approaching kind of message. This theme shows up quite a lot and I was always happy to see it appear.

Overall, Seven Samurai is a decent film but one that is incredibly dragged out and is best to watch in short batches. The writing is okay and the film would have been greatly improved with some more action scenes and more interesting characters. With all the time we had I think you could have developed all of them with more personality. I’d like to see some in-fighting and that would have been a good way to accomplish both goals at once. Ultimately I don’t think you’ll remember most of the characters much after finishing this one but at long as you have one standout character that’ll help. So check this one out if you want to see a classic team up film but otherwise you can just jump ahead in time and check out a different title.

Overall 5/10

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon Review

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It’s time to take a look at the final Mystery Dungeon game. It’s been a pretty fun ride getting to experience all of these games. It had to come to an end at some point though. This one definitely ends things on a high note. Not only is it the longest game in the series (or at least it took me the longest amount of time to complete) but it adds a bunch of new features that are pretty cool. This is definitely a game with a ton of replay value as well so it’s really a win-win when you think about it.

The game starts off with the main character getting transported into the Pokemon world. He used to be a human but he has lost all of his memories which is pretty unfortunate. He is attacked by some Beeheeyem and fortunately gets saved by Nuzleaf. Nuzleaf takes Terry (main character) home to his village where he meets up with Snaz (main partner) and they become quick friends. There are some bullies in the village but for the most part it’s a pretty nice place. Snaz hopes to one day become an Expedition member but kids aren’t allowed so he will keep training in the meantime. Terry does his best to fit in and has lots of adventures. Meanwhile in the main plot, someone or something has been turning Pokemon to stone. It is targeting all of the legendary and mythical Pokemon. Whoever this villain is, it’s definitely someone powerful. If the Pokemon don’t watch out they will all be conquered before they have a chance to fight back.

I definitely like the idea of someone trying to get all of the legendaries. We haven’t really seen a plot like that and it’s also a good chance for all of these Pokemon to appear. It’s definitely a cool premise and while I would have liked to have seen some of these fights on screen, I suppose that would have been difficult. Still, in terms of plot this is definitely pretty high tier and probably the game with the highest stakes. Explorers of Darkness has the best plot to me though with all of the time travel but this threat is more high tier. We even get to see the heavyweights like Mewtwo and Rayquaza. Who’d have thought that all of these guys would have had to team up? A movie based on this would be pretty cool.

The story is definitely a lot of fun. It gives you time to get introduced to all of the characters and make connections. Once the climax hits then you also get to have a lot of big battles and plot twists galore. The series also has fun flipping the script near the end as all of the games tend to have the same beginning and ending. This one throws a little wrinkle into that which I thought was pretty cool. It felt like the game was being pretty self aware there.

The gameplay is your classic dungeon exploration like the others. The goal is to reach the exit of each floor and this goes on until you end the dungeon. Each Pokemon has 4 attacks and you should use them carefully because it’s easy to run out of PP. As you go through the dungeon you’ll pick up items. A new addition here is a ring that lets you attach little items onto it in order to boost your stats or inflict status changes on the opponents. These are incredibly handy and it’ll be nearly impossible to beat some levels without it unless you do some hard grinding. There are a ton of mechanics in this game like the Alliance moves which allow you to use more than one attack at a time. I’d advise you to learn them all and fortunately the game does bring them up so you can’t really miss em.

Another new addition is if you die during a dungeon, you can rescue yourself by sending another team in. This may not be so handy at first but later on in the game you will have tons of Pokemon ready to help you out. As soon as I got my Level 50 Dragonite I was ready for business. You can only rescue yourself 5 times per dungeon though so don’t use it as an excuse to die all the time. Also, you can’t rescue yourself during a boss battle of course so play those very carefully. Leveling up in this game takes a super long time so the emphasis is really on using items. I beat this game in the 20s which is pretty unheard of for an RPG so don’t underestimate the power of items. They are extremely handy.

Another good tactic in this game is to hide behind your partner Pokemon. Let them take all of the risks while you take the rewards. Trust me, this is a tactic that will really take you far. You can use various commands to try and manipulate them but the easiest way is to walk close to an enemy and then hide behind your teammate which forces them into battle. As you battle your attacks will also gain level ups which makes them more powerful and more accurate. This is really handy if you tend to always use the same attack over and over.

Super Mystery Dungeon does a fine job of mixing elements from previous games together. I feel like they knew this was the last one because of how much this feels like the final entry. You take a quiz to determine your Pokemon like in the first games, but if you don’t like the selected one you can override the choice by just picking like in the recent 3DS title. I stayed with the results of the Exam for mine because it felt more fun that way. I ended up being Fennekin. You’ve also got your classic quest system although it has been greatly improved. It’s no longer endless so each mission feels a lot more real now. You also have all 720 Pokemon in the game so you’ve got a ton of quests since many of them want your help. There are also a lot of playable Pokemon, I unlocked around 50 of them and so I’m sure if you were to play it to 100% completion you would unlock a lot more. It’s really cool to play as everybody.

This game really takes all of the mechanics to their absolute best. While we do lose some items from previous games like the farming and building aspects, I can’t really say that they are missed. As long as we have the quests I feel pretty good about it personally. This game can be very difficult because of how low leveled your Pokemon are though. As I mentioned, obtaining EXP takes forever so you’re going to just want to plunge ahead. Use the items carefully and as the game goes on you’ll get a good feel for when to use each one. It’ll come to you. The game also does something fun with the final boss so don’t worry about losing there. Even if it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere, just keep fighting and you’ll be okay. Don’t make the mistake of quitting to try again later.

The graphics here are definitely real solid. It’s still going for that nice 3D approach and we get some fun cutscenes. A really cool visual is when we see two Pokemon firing off a giant energy blast together. It’s a fun team up and the attack is like a Kamehameha. The soundtrack is also fun. It brings back some classic tunes while adding in new ones. There aren’t really any standout themes but what we get is pretty fitting and flows pretty well together with the scenes. At this point some of the tunes will be pretty nostalgic if you’ve been following the series. The story is pretty long at around 17 hours and the post game is enormous since you have to try and find all of the Pokemon/Complete all of the quests. You won’t be completing this game very quickly that’s for sure.

Overall, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is pretty great. It really ends the series off on a high note. Ultimately I would rank the series as follows: 1. Pokemon Explorers of Darkness 2. Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon 3. Pokemon Gates to Infinity 4. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon the original. This one really ranks up there and it’s just hard not to get sucked into it. There’s so much to do here and every part of the game really feels like a lot of time and money was put into it. You will definitely not be disappointed in the slightest. If you don’t have this game yet then I recommend changing that. It’s a really solid Pokemon RPG.

Overall 8/10

Pikmin Review

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Pikmin is a game that I’ve owned for a long time and didn’t actually play through. The reason for this is despite being a big Nintendo game the gameplay never looked all that fun. I had briefly played the game in the past and it just didn’t work out for me. I tried it again now and am still not a fan. The exploration gets old pretty quickly and the mechanics are really hard to use. I’m hoping the sequels tighten things up a bit as that would help quite a bit.

The game starts with Olimar crash landing on a planet. The citizens of this planet are little creatures known as Pikmin and they have various elemental abilities. Olimar must use them to try and locate the broken parts of his rocket so he can get back home. He’s only got 30 days to do this so time is not on his side. There are 30 parts to collect and 30 days to do this which is a pretty perfect blend. If you average 1 part a day then you’re pretty well set. Olimar will have to be careful not to mess with the other aliens wandering this planet though. Those guys mean business.

One thing I will say in Pikmin’s favor is the overall story is pretty good. Every day Olimar updates the journal with his discoveries as things start to piece themselves together. We learn that the Pikmin are actually quite violent so it’s good that he’s on friendly terms with them. The game also gets pretty dark as Pikmin that are left by themselves seemingly get eaten by the monsters. Olimar also can’t breathe in oxygen which makes you wonder where he is actually from. It’s an interesting dynamic for sure.

I also do like the graphics. Those hold up very well to be sure and the levels/world design in Pikmin is very impressive. I only got to play through 2 levels because my Pikmin were not helping me in the slightest but what I saw was quite good. The controls are smooth for moving Olimar around and it makes you think that the gameplay for this could have been quite amazing from the start. If the game had played it straight without the Pikmin angle then I do think this game would have been quite great. The soundtrack is also pretty good. It’s quite peaceful without being dull because you still feel a good amount of energy in it. The soundtrack holds up quite well to this day.

Now lets go into what didn’t work for the game. I have to go right to the Pikmin. How it works is that you lead the Pikmin where you want them to go with slight commands or by running in the direction. The range is quite small so in most cases you’re better off just running over anyway. So you run somewhere and have the Pikmin pick up things or attack enemies and objects. When they find a piece of your rocket you escort them home and hope they don’t get eaten by a monster. It’s not ideal but I can work with this. The problem is that some obstacles require different Pikmin to tackle and they rarely co-operate. For example, you need yellow Pikmin to pick up bombs.

The problem is that getting Yellow Pikmin can be really difficult. Even when you lift up a yellow piece so they can come out the Pikmin will keep bringing it to the red spaceship. I couldn’t figure out how to stop them so what would happen is that I had a ton of Red Pikmin by the end of the game and almost no yellows. That was pretty rough since the Reds can’t really do anything except fight a bit. I do appreciate their tenacity and all but I wanted the Yellows. Then you’ve got the fact that if the Pikmin jumps a little too far even once they will get stuck behind the wall and that’s game over for them. You’ll have to wait til the next day if you’re out of the Yellows.

Pikmin also uses a day system which is not ideal. I haven’t liked that system in any game. Essentially the game has 30 days that pass by and when they’re all over you get to see a happy cutscene or a sad one depending on if you got the parts or not. As I only obtained 3 it was pretty sad to see him launch up and then fall down. It doesn’t actually delete all of your data though as it just re-starts the final day over and over again. I’m not really sure what you can do in one day to be honest, but maybe it still saves so you can eventually win. The problem is the unskippable cutscene you’ll have to sit through each time.

A day system like this just encourages you to rush through the game and that’s why I’ve never liked it. I prefer to play the game at my own pace and some days I may just want to run around. In Pikmin this is especially true because of how long it takes to find where you have to go and all. The game is fun at first when you’re exploring but when you actually try to progress and see that nothing is working then it gets old real fast.

Overall, Pikmin is a Nintendo game that has not aged well. The mechanics just aren’t very fun and I don’t believe that they are explained very well either. You’re left to your own devices which isn’t a bad thing if you have all the time in the world but with the days flying by that just isn’t the case. You’ll quickly be hit with the feeling that the end is near and you’ll even start jumping through days when you realize that no progress has been made. I already own Pikmin 3 so I’ll need to buy 2 at some point but I can definitely tell you that it is not very high on my list. Pikmin is probably the only Nintendo franchise I can think of that I actually dislike. I suppose even Nintendo had to have at least one series that didn’t work out for me.

Overall 3/10

The Mask of Zorro Review

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It’s time to look at a modern interpretation of a pretty old hero. I’m pretty sure just about everyone knows who Zorro is even if they haven’t actually watched a film with him. I don’t know the character too well aside from the general premise myself but he’s definitely got quite a history under his belt. The movie does a pretty good job of adapting the character. While not perfect you’ll stay entertained throughout the adventure.

The movie starts off with the best scene in the film as Zorro rescues a few people from being executed and takes on a whole army. It’s vintage Zorro as he mocks his opponents and displays his amazing fencing skills. After injuring the leader Rafael, Zorro heads home and decides to retire. His retirement is short lived as Rafael shows up and murders Zorro’s wife before imprisoning Zorro for 20 years. 20 years later Zorro is ready to get revenge but his daughter Elena has been tricked into thinking she is now Rafael’s daughter. Zorro will need to think carefully about how he get his revenge.

Meanwhile we cut to Alejandro who was one of the kids who saved Zorro’s life back in the day. He has spent the last 20 years roaming with his brother and another guy as they rob people and have a jolly old time. One day Alejandro’s two traveling companions are murdered by Harrison, a general working for Rafael. Alejandro wants revenge but he doesn’t have the skills to do so. Zorro decides to train Alejandro so that guy can become the new Zorro and deal with Harrison while Zorro gets his revenge. The two heroes prepare to attack the villains but they are heavily outnumbered. They are going to need to have a proper plan in order to win.

The film is a full 2 hours which is good because it gives us time to get introduced to the various characters. Alejandro gets a pretty good training arc as he goes from not being able to fight to being the best fighter in town. While it may seem a little fast we do get a few minor time skips so I think it took place over the course of a few months or something like that. His first outing as Zorro actually goes really well all things considered. It’s clear that he is not on the same level as the original but he can still hold his own really well.

The fight scenes are all about proper fencing and footwork which is nice to see. You don’t really see a lot of these kinds of fights anymore. It’s certainly not quite as dynamic or striking as a classic sword fight but the footwork is what makes these battles fun to watch. Fencing certainly seems pretty tricky and you have to be quite athletic to pull the fighting style off. Otherwise you are liable to get stabbed or hit with a sucker punch while fighting. A lot of the time Zorro has to fend off numerous opponents at once which is definitely not easy.

The whole chivalrous aspect of fencing can be a bit much though. There are a bunch of times when the heroes could take the win but they choose to give the villain his weapon back so they can have a proper fight. I understand not murdering the guys since they aim to be heroes, but at least disarm him and break the weapon or throw it away. By leaving the villains with their weapons it always comes back to bite the heroes. This happens quite often and so you feel like Zorro will definitely push his luck too far eventually.

Zorro makes for a good main character during the intro. I’d actually say that he’s a far better lead than Alejandro so it was too bad that we didn’t get to see him in his prime for a longer period of time. He’s a decent mentor type character as well but not quite as exciting. I still hold that the opening fight scene was the best moment in the film. Meanwhile Rafael is a solid main villain. He can actually fight really well which is definitely important and his plan is pretty solid. The guy is cunning and very good at manipulating others. He made for a very solid rival to Zorro.

Elena is a solid heroine as well. She is trying to do her best to shun her royal upbringing and defend the common people. This plot isn’t looked at all too closely so we don’t really get to see her do this but at least she is not corrupt unlike the others. Meanwhile she also knows how to fight quite well. While perhaps not on the level as Zorro she is shown to be very good. I’d like to see her fight a little more in the sequel since she has been training ever since she was a kid. The other villain in the film is Harrison. His skills are mainly with a gun although at the end he is also quite good with a rapier. Alejandro is lucky that this guy didn’t want to actually use his gun in the fight because then that would have certainly been game over for the new Zorro. Harrison was a fun villain to have around. I liked his confidence and he did seem to figure out Zorro’s identity pretty quickly.

Finally we have Alejandro who is really the main character of the film. He wants to avenge his brother but is also calm enough to accept training first. He is a good lead who is eager to learn so I can’t really fault him there. The guy means well and by the end he is instrumental in saving the day while the old Zorro was content to be on the sidelines. Alejandro just seems more heroic by the end which is a little surprising. I doubt fans of the original Zorro will be happy about that part.

The weak part of the film is unsurprisingly the romance. It’s all a bit quick and considering how many times Alejandro is forced to put Elena on the spot you can’t see why she would still want to be with him for at least a while. It’s all an act of course but it’s hard to forget being put on the spot in front of such a huge gathering. The scene of Elena fighting Zorro was also suspect. While the actual fight scene was real good Zorro definitely got a little too familiar all things considered. While she didn’t end up having a problem with it that’s another scene that is really stretching things. The film could probably have jumped up another star if we had just left the romance alone.

Overall, I enjoyed the Mask of Zorro. It’s a pretty good revenge story that doesn’t go out of its way to be too gritty. It has a lot of the classic charm you’d expect from the series while still maintaining a good amount of stakes. It’s a good blend of humor and action with the fight scenes holding up quite nicely. If you want a nice old school action film then this is a good one to check out. It hits the right notes and does a nice job of continuing the legacy of Zorro.

Overall 7/10