Tag Archives: Adventure

The Lord of the Rings (1978) Review

Posted on by
1


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 4/10

The Imaginary Review

Posted on by
Reply


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Mission: Yozakura Family Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s always a cold day for the manga industry when one of the big Shonen Jump titles ends and that’s what happened here. It lasted for quite a while although for me it feels fairly recent since I didn’t jump onto the series until it was already in the climax. It starts out fun enough and then really started to get good as the plot picked up. By the end I can safely say that it had a really great run. I don’t think it ever returned to its peak after the big timeskip as that is the weaker part of the series but it’s not unheard of for a title to end up having a final arc that can’t beat the older ones. The series would have had a hard time recapturing its peak from right before the timeskip anyway. I’d definitely recommend checking out this series and it actually has a solid romance all the way through.

The series starts by introducing us to Taiyo. He’s a fairly quiet kid who does his schoolwork and keeps on moving without any issue. Unfortunately his parents died in a tragic “accident” and so he was taken in by the Yozakura family. Their head is his close friend Mutsumi and so now they get to hang out a lot. Thing is, they cannot remain as just friends. The family needs Taiyo to marry her and while he is hesitant to do so, he realizes that she will be in more danger if he doesn’t step up to the task. So he agrees to stand by her side and will have to quickly level up as a spy. Additionally, the death of his parents appears to be mixed up in a huge conspiracy that involves the family so he will need to learn more about this.

Right out of the gate you’ve got a pretty fun premise here. There is naturally the potential for lots of fun shenanigans with all of the different family members and all of their quirks. The series starts off as a comedy with different glimpses of action before going down the action path 100%. That’s always a pretty fun way to develop the story and this one’s no different. The romance angle to the plot also works well because since they were to be matched up fairly early, there is no chance for any rebounds or rivals. Both Mutsumi and Taiyo have eyes for nobody else for the duration of the series. There is never a single gag or moment of drama that even causes them to doubt the other one’s affection. The series even had fun with that with a few chapters that was hinting at it only for that to be squashed.

I can safely say that this is one of the better romances in Jump and is absolutely the way to handle it. The romance is slowly developed as the series goes on so nothing is too quick and you get to really understand the characters by then. All of the characters get a whole lot of development as the series goes and one of them in particular had a masterful character arc. Kyoichiro goes from being more of an annoying comedic character to the absolute best character in the series. It’s not even close to be honest. He really steals the show and absolutely elevates the series whenever he is on screen.

So Kyoichiro’s gimmick is that he is extremely protective of Mutsumi. He is obsessed with her to a rather creepy degree as he is constantly spying on her and running around to make sure she is never hurt even just emotionally. He constantly attacks Taiyo because he isn’t ready for Mutsumi to be married yet and so the whole family is constantly beating him up. He gets beaten in almost every chapter and while he picks most of the fights, you have to imagine that it hurts after a while. He is the eldest child of the family though and bears a lot of the responsibility.

So later on once the series enters its serious mode, we really get to see him in a different light. One chapter even did a call back to a bunch of the gags from earlier on and how they were secretly him preparing them for different situations. He plays the goofball as a teaching role a lot of the time and barks a lot louder than his bite. Now does that mean his whole personality is fake? I wouldn’t say so, he just plays up his normal personality to a comedic degree intentionally. He still does work on protecting Mutsumi as his primary task and it involves his childhood. It was effectively the first mission he was ever given.

Kyoichiro is consistently ready to put his life on the line in order to protect the rest of his family members and does this really well. When he is put into a rocky situation he immediately has plans and contingency plans on how to handle this on his own. He is really the perfect example of a character who helps others secretly from the shadows. It’s really quite impressive. Kyoichiro also put a lot of work into perfecting his own skills and is easily one of the most powerful characters in the series. I would even go as far as to say that he is absolutely number 1 among the entire cast. His abilities are just absolutely broken. So his antics may be a bit too much for some people to look past but he really worked out quite nicely for me.

As for the main character Taiyo, in a way you could say he is the one character with the least amount of development. In a way the series tries to keep him as the normal joe throughout the adventure. Everyone else has a lot of quirks and we then see their serious side while Taiyo was serious from the beginning. His whole journey is about protecting Mutsumi no matter what. I guess you could say he gets less shy about showing his affection for her the more the series goes on though which is pretty nice development. He also naturally gets a whole lot stronger as the series goes on and really becomes a top tier fighter.

Mutsumi is a character I expected a bit more from as I kept waiting for the twist where she was a complete fighter as well. It just makes sense that the head would be one of the most powerful people in the room right? It didn’t play out that way but she is still fun. She actually gets one of Kyoichiro’s big traits in terms of obsession. She is obsessed with Taiyo and collects all kinds of merchandise about him which is pretty awesome. I also like that he doesn’t find this weird at all and is just flattered which is how it should be. It’s why they make for a great pair.

Futaba is another one of the older family members and she has developed a whole lot of power. If Kyoichiro’s abilities are about fighting with a lot of technique and poise the whole time, she fights with raw strength to dominate her opponents. For this reason it is hard for any character to go up against her head on. Typically they have to rely on sneaky tricks or poisons. She eventually even becomes a good mentor of sorts who works with the next generation. Because of her power level she is often kept away from the main battles but always lives up to the hype once it is her turn for some action.

Shinzo is definitely one of the more timid members which is a contrast to his raw power. He is great with guns and a consistently solid fighter. He does go through a rough patch for a while there in the series although there were some mind games at play. I don’t find him as interesting as most of the other family members but he’s not bad. I didn’t feel like he ever fully his his stride as one of the crew because his gimmick is much more subdued. In a lot of ways he’s just similar to Taiyo. A good kid who means well and always does his best. Nothing wrong with that of course but he won’t stand out.

Shion in comparison is a really entertaining character. She loves hacking and using her brilliance to mess with people around the world. There is nobody who can really take her on in this realm except for one rival. Shion isn’t the most mature character and definitely does whatever she wants but you need at least one wild card like that the whole time. She keeps the rest of the crew lose along with Kengo. Shion never becomes a close quarters combat specialist or anything like that but she is definitely able to hold her own.

As for Kengo he’s a fun jokester. He gets serious when he has to though and is a slippery character. He’s good for keeping the atmosphere light even if he isn’t the best in a fight. He’s the kind of character you want because he makes the whole dynamic more fun. Without him the team would just lose a whole lot of spark. Kengo also has a lot of good banter with Shion and I like when they team up. They are also the highlight characters once the kids showed up after the timeskip since they could keep the little rascals in check.

Now we have my least favorite member Nanao. It’s not that he’s bad or anything but he’s not as interesting as the others. He really tries to look out for the rest of the family just like the others but does so more from a chemical perspective. He is excellent on using poisons and natural ways to combat outsiders. He has had to deal with that all his life due to a rare blood condition but does a good job of never guilt tripping anyone for that. He just handles it and keeps on moving which I really appreciate. It would be easy to have a whole pity party around that but he doesn’t get down.

Then we have the next generation. First up is Hifumi and he’s not bad but I still do think that the series had a harder time once the kids were the focus. They just aren’t as interesting. She inherited Mutsumi’s obsessive nature and it’s towards her brother Alpha so she is always trying to protect him. She is good at being manipulative and she has one of the strongest powers in the series. For the most part there are not many fighters who can stand against her and this will reduce even more as she gets older. She can have some good banter and will get better as she gets older.

The same mainly applies to Alpha as well. He is a nice enough kid and is fairly skilled but there’s not a lot to him yet. I do like his “evil” mode that he gets into when Hifumi is in danger. He gets real confident and calculated there so I would like that to be his main persona at some point in the future. He does his best to help out and is key in the climax but at the end of the day he is still just a kid so he’s not going to get too far.

Surprisingly we don’t see much of Rei even though she is Mutsumi’s Mom and wife to Moma. Both of those characters had massive roles after all but in the end all we needed to know is that she was a kind person. Moma is someone who gets a whole lot of big moments but ultimately I never liked the guy. He went through some really cruel events and had a rough hand but he still could have done better. Whenever a character has an ultra convoluted plan it ends up being a toss up on if I will agree with it or not. To me, he was just not a great character either way. He did make for a good villain though who really kept everyone on edge.

One of the most terrifying characters as well with how often he would just fully crack. It was always hard to know just what was going on with the guy and since he was also really powerful it’s not like you could let your guard down around him. He may not have been the final villain in the series but he certainly left the greatest impact by far. Definitely someone you will remember once it’s all over.

Keiko and Ban are pretty fun characters since they represent the really old part of the Yozakura family. They went through their own struggles and are now fully retired. Their skills are still on point so none of the villains are ever able to get to them which can be a fun running gag. Maybe it can come off as a bit cheesy as well but I was glad they weren’t getting roped into this because it would just be sad to see them getting injured or anything like that. I’m good with them staying as fun supporting roles from safe positions which is what the manga did.

Tsubomi has to be the most tragic character in the series. She got put through a whole lot over and over again with no way out. I definitely thought the series went a bit too drastic with her because after a while the extra suffering isn’t helping the story at all. So for that reason I didn’t feel bad for certain characters at all because you really can’t talk your way out of that situation at all. It’s just too far gone by then.

While the family makes up the majority of the cast, there are still some supporting characters outside of them. Some of them get a lot of screentime while others do not. For example the most disappointing cast of characters has to be the S rank Spies. The problem is that they come in way too late in the series and so by then the power creep is too high. They get a quick moment and are then written out again. I like the concept but given that the ranking system was established earlier, they should have appeared way sooner too. Also, the final villain group relating to Asa were also rather weak. Most of them were one note and also vanished immediately.

The first character to talk about is Makoto. He’s one of the first villains to show up and is the series first unsuccessful attempt to have a sympathetic villain. He tries to explain why he’s doing what he’s doing and has a whole sob story but I didn’t buy into it. He still did too experimenting and was too evil. He made for a good antagonist but I can’t see him as anything but that. The guy is interesting but the series should have just kept him as full on evil. His group of fighters were also pretty solid. Akai was the most memorable and they definitely did well on the various fights. This also started to introduce the concept of blooming to the series.

Basically it is the power system here. The Yozakura family bloodline allows users to develop special abilities and that’s why everyone wants them. These abilities really range from a whole variety of different techniques but are so dangerous that most people who use the blood end up dying. So these villains are able to use a fraction but start to die if they use too much. It’s an interesting plot point and I do like the idea that not just anyone can use the blood. That would come off as more than a little cheap if you ask me.

Ai was one of the villains but quickly becomes an ally to the main heroes. She is basically like a little kid who was augmented with super villains so it’s nice that she could finally have a wholesome family now. I thought her character was fun enough. She’s not the strongest and I’m not the biggest fan of kid characters but she was still decent. In a way she was like a practice kid for Taiyo and Mutsumi.

Seiji is a detective who helps the heroes out from time to time. It’s pretty cool that they have an informant on the outside but the guy doesn’t end up doing much once the series reaches the serious phase. I expected him to have a much bigger role but I suppose in the end he’s not really a fighter and is more of a support character. Ayaka fits the role as someone who could have introduced a love triangle or been a rival in a less serious series but for Yozakura that wasn’t going to fly. So instead she end up being a fun supporting character but also one who is basically relegated to the comedic chapters. When the serious stuff happens she vanishes as fast as can be. Too bad since she is a spy and can fight.

Asuka is definitely more of an annoying character. He has a big crush on Mutsumi and isn’t shy about it even though he has absolutely no shot with Taiyo around. You’re always rooting on him to get crushed whenever he shows up. Sosuke is the same kind of character. He’s super in love with Mutsumi and wants to marry her but it’s game over for him. Taiyo doesn’t take the guy seriously as a threat and that’s the right approach although I wouldn’t mind him knocking the guy out. At least Asuka stays classy while Sosuke always acts like a creep. Definitely not a quality guy.

Then we have Sui and he’s the most surprising character to be written out. His power level seemed rather high and he helped train Taiyo on how to move fast. Still, he wasn’t around for very long so I ended up missing him. He had a cool personality and was fun to watch. Rin also has a fairly small role even though she is apparently strong enough to have a rivalry of sorts with the Yozakura family. It’s mainly in the comedic moments though so I suppose once the going gets tough, she wouldn’t be able to stack up. Another fun character who brings in some good banter though. Also even if she isn’t the strongest, she can still hold her own.

Kai is one of the characters who shows up later and starts to steal the show. He doesn’t have any real super powers but he is incredibly perceptive. So for that reason he is constantly able to tell when someone is lying. Now the guy does make some massive mistakes so I did lose some respect for him but ultimately through twists and turns he still ended up being fun. Not the best but he always kept things interesting and added a lot of development to Kyoichiro as well. We got several flashbacks but I wouldn’t mind a lengthier flashback story about them.

Shura is one of the S rank spies who shows up later on. Despite a criminally short amount of screen time, she was fun enough to leave an impact at least. Sadly Alexandryu gets a bigger role and he’s much more annoying. Now there’s a guy who could have been written out. His gimmick is one of the worst ones as he constantly tries to pull moves on people who don’t want him. He’s as obnoxious as possible. Finally we get to the final villain Asa. I won’t even go into his unimaginative group of fighters.

Asa is the most wishy washy character of the lot and constantly talks big. I was waiting for him to get blown away the whole time. Technically he’s powerful so I’ll give him that. The series did a really good job of building up to him as the big bad so it would be hard to live up to all of that hype either way. That being said, what they really should have done was make him a fully evil villain. Some villains don’t need all of the extra “Depth” and all of that. Just have him selfishly use the blood for his purposes and don’t try to offer any other explanations. This guy was a full on psych and deserves to be treated as such.

There are more characters but that about wraps up the big ones. In terms of the artwork the series is definitely very good. Towards the end it started to be a little rougher but I assume that’ll be cleaned up in the volume release. The fights had really great shading and you can definitely feel the intensity in the fights. I really had a blast marathoning through the peaks of the series because it’s really hard to put down. The artwork definitely makes it easy to read and supports the writing really well.

The series managed to stay really high quality the whole way through. The series didn’t have any real fanservice and avoided getting too violent or anything like that. Tsubomi’s the one exception where the series went a bit far but the sob stories aren’t too crazy otherwise. The series is also really good on both the comedic and action phases. Now you might need to cut the series some slack on the constant death fake outs. There are a lot of those so that’s why you need to keep in mind that this is still primarily a comedy. Even when things get serious, it’s not likely to have a big body count or anything like that. It’s just not that kind of title.

This is really a fun title about family that just delves into everything. The romance is also really solid like I said before because there are no rebounds or anything either. It’s nice to show such a wholesome romance through and through here without any crazy drama or anything like that. Sometimes you want to see the optimistic take on this and of course seeing the whole family bonding is a great thing. Definitely the kind of uplifting title that works well even if I read most of it while listening to a remix of Infinite’s theme song.

There are a lot of story arcs here and they tend to link well into each other so it’s pretty seamless. That said, Kyoichiro’s disappearance is naturally the best arc in the series. Depending on when that officially starts, the ending of the previous arc has to be up there as well. Still, he does great in group fights and always surpasses the odds. The arc has a whole lot of tension and mystery that just works so well. I already had the series ranked fairly high on the charts for me but this is when it really went up even further and showed Kyoichiro as a fairly top tier character. Having a character like that will always take the series to the next level and that’s what happened here.

Overall, This is definitely a series that I can recommend. The action and characters are really good and the series was long enough to really dive into the main characters. It gets to cover a whole lot of ground and was a lot of fun to read all the way through. You’ll be super engaged in the plot of what’s going on here and will get invested on what’s going on. Even without the high stakes of everybody dying, it shows how a good story can overcome it all. This does a great job of representing the current era of Jump. Ultimately it will have to move on to being known as a past era before long but it was really around for quite a while. I’d be up for some kind of movie event epilogue at some point.

Overall 8/10

The Painted Hills Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another Lassie film and of course you know that means that the movie won’t be particularly good. Lassie movies tend to fall into the same holes time and time again. You want them to be good but deep down you just know that they won’t be. It’s unfortunate but that’s just how it goes. This one is another particularly weak installment and the whole time you’re waiting for Lassie to show up.

The film opens up with Jonathan and his dog Shep travelling through the mountains and finding a gold vein. They might be rich now! They head back to town to let Martha and her kid Tommy know but unfortunately a guy named Lin hears about it. Lin has always been a decent guy and he convinces Jonathan not to put a claim in just yet so they can make sure of what they’ve got first. Jonathan unfortunately listens to the guy and they head back up. Lin gets crazier and crazier about the gold until he finally murders Jonathan and decides to take it all for himself. He even poisons Shep and tries to bump him off. Will the guy face justice or is it all over for the heroes?

Obviously it’s sad for Jonathan but my main problem with the guy is that the whole thing is so obvious and predictable. How did he not suspect that Lin would do this? Lin was not hiding his greed at all. Not even for a microsecond was the guy staying sane after he saw the gold. He was quick to attack anybody and so Jonathan should have taken care of him sooner. Instead Jonathan talked about the rules of the mountain and how there was an honor code. A lot of good an honor code does you once you’re dead!

He had the foresight to give the kid Tommy the claim so that the government could get involved but still went up the mountain with Lin upon his request? That’s just not a smart move at all and it makes sense that he would be pushed. I’ll be less harsh with the dog Shep for eating the poison but to be honest even he should have known better. Lin is not someone who can be trusted and Shep knows pretty well that Lin is the one who bumped off his owner. This calls for drastic action, not simply going along with all of this. Shep does well in the end but it took a while to take care of Lin.

Tommy also didn’t look particularly good here. He knows for a fact that Lin bumped Jonathan off and tries to escape only to hit his head really hard and get gaslit into basically staying silent and not saying anything for a while. Tommy handled the situation as poorly as possible and it was all pretty disgraceful. I expected much better from the kid but he disappointed me in the end. I know he’s just a kid but we’re talking life or death here, you can’t be letting yourself go down so easily. At the very least he could have said that Lin was trying to murder him and beating him in a more convincing way.

Even punch yourself real quick if that’s what it takes and leave a bruise or something. The other adults were slow to believe him which is annoying but makes sense with Tommy shooting himself in the foot the whole time. As for Lin, well he definitely didn’t cover his tracks well so he shouldn’t have even lasted as long as he did. He’s just lucky that things kept on working out for him but the film can’t say it was so lucky. At the end of the day we had to go through more animal violence here as Lassie is poisoned and shot at.

The dogs always have a really rough time of it and while some of the other Lassie films have been more violent, this one’s still going too far. No reason Shep should have to go through all of this and the film as a whole isn’t super interesting. I’ve seen better films about people being corrupted due to the gold. In this case I wouldn’t even say it is corrupted though as the guy seemed shady from the start. The gold was just his excuse to get really crazy about the whole thing.

The first red flag should have been the whole reason not to put in a claim. He talks about how other people would go to the mountains to dig and ignore the law anyway. Sure that might happen but at least you’ve got the law on your side and by the time other people discover the spot you should have gotten most of the gold anyway. It didn’t feel like a real argument although Jonathan believed it so I suppose there had to be something to it.

The guy was just too trusting. Even with how casual he was about another guy walking over and helping himself to things within the house. Apparently on the mountains it is a tradition where this one guy will show up to cook a good meal and then leave. While Lin’s response was off the rails crazy, I would be a bit weirded out as well if someone was just randomly in my house. Back in the days of everybody carrying guns, I could see this being fatal real quickly as well. You don’t know what’s going on and only have half a second to react after all.

Overall, The Painted Hills is a film I would definitely avoid. None of the characters are smart at all and fall for the easiest traps. Once you are on a horse there’s no way a villain should catch you and yet Tommy manages to find a way. Lin should have been taken out way sooner and needs all the plot armor in the world to stay on top. Not a very good look for him at all. There’s also the whole irony of Lassie not even being in the film since Shep is a descendent. A very odd choice without a doubt. I don’t think the film would have been good either way but it doesn’t help matters.

Overall 3/10

A Visit to Santa Review

Posted on by
Reply


So blurry!!! That’s what you’ll be thinking right away but even 4K visuals would not have been able to save this short film. All films should have some kind of point. Even if we’re talking 10 minutes, there should be some reason that you want to watch the product right? I mean if there isn’t, why would you be watching this at all right? Unfortunately it didn’t seem like this movie actually knew what it wanted to do at all and that’s absolutely disgraceful.

The film starts with two kids whining about Santa. The parents quickly get them off to bed so they can get out of there but Santa learns that the kids want to see him thanks to their message. So he has his elf bring them in and the kids get to see all about how Santa’s workshop works. It’s an intense experience but someone forgot to tell the kids that as they are visibly bored the whole time and want to go home. Here we have Santa being a nice guy and showing them things that almost nobody has seen before and they are bored??? It was such a mean thing for these kids to do.

I’m not saying they had to be yelling up and down but these are rather fantastic events. They are moving at high speeds and seeing such big secrets. At least a bunch of “thank you” responses and general excitement would be good. Unfortunately while I say this would be big for the kids, it’s not so entertaining for the adults though. The effects haven’t aged extremely well at the end of the day and even the costumes are really weak. They could learn something or two from how we have the Macy’s Santa costumes lined up.

Like I said earlier, it’s also hard to find any point to this. What lesson is the film teaching us? How do they want the audience to react and feel? It’s all just aimed so low that anyone over the age of 2 will be bored and anyone under that age will just fall asleep. This film isn’t effectively targeting anyone and so in the end it will just blend in with the background. That is definitely not a good thing at all. It’s only around 10 minutes or so, so at least it doesn’t drag on for as long as it would have otherwise.

Still, there isn’t really much to defend about the film at all. In fact I would say there is a lot to attack instead. Giving us a quick antagonist would have been good even if it was the parents. Like maybe they tracked the kids down and are looking for them so Santa says they will have to move quickly or something like that. At least then you will have a sense of urgency that could push the whole thing forward. Perhaps I am asking for too much but that would have been a nice way to make it all more exciting if you ask me.

Overall, A Visit to Santa is definitely a film to stay away from. It doesn’t do anything particularly bad or offensive but the problem is that it doesn’t really do anything period. I wanted something to excite me but this film just didn’t pull that off. At the end of the day it’s one of those film that has lost its way. I can see why it has been lost to time since nobody would have cared enough about it to preserve this piece of history. It’s best left in your memories so for that reason I would say to give it the boot. Watch Jingle All The Way instead.

Overall 3/10

The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Berenstain Bears is a series that I grew up with but you don’t really see it much anymore. It didn’t really survive the test of time as well as some other titles. That said, it still has a good amount of quality to it and I was eager to see what their Christmas special looks like. It’s definitely really crazy and I would also say that it plays out more like a Dr. Seuss story with all of the rhyming throughout the dialogue. It’s very different from the usual adventure.

The basic plot is that Christmas is nearly here and the bears don’t have a Christmas tree yet! Mama Bear says they should buy one from Gus but Papa Bear scoffs at the idea. He will get a tree the old fashioned way and quickly gets Brother and Sister Bear to go along with him. The problem is that every tree is already spoken for with different animals living in them. Time is ticking and the heroes are no closer to their goal. What can they do?

It should be noted that most of the problems here are directly a result of Papa Bear’s actions. The guy really cannot be reasoned with and in this special he also doesn’t seem to be very smart. At one point he forgets what his name is and he basically ignores the rest of the characters when they are talking. It’s his way or the highway at all times which is not really what you want to hear from the guy since he has no plan. I appreciate wanting to cut down the tree yourself but then you should probably have done that well in advance. It is nice that he stops once the animals are in trouble but it’s definitely more of a hollow victory at times.

I do think the animals were pretty mean to the guy though. He actively stopped in his efforts to cut down the tree so the animals should probably be grateful. Instead they go after Papa and try to murder him but if he fought back they would be the ones to lose. They were not really thinking with their heads on that one. I was glad that generally speaking the kids weren’t too upset with Papa though. They were sad about the circumstances but didn’t try to put all of the blame on his feet or anything like that. It would have still been valid but I was glad they didn’t kick him while he was down.

In a way Papa Bear is the main character and the only one to constantly be doing something so having him in the center of the action the whole time did help keep things entertaining. They did a good job with the animation of showing just how psycho his eyes would get the whole time. Even right to the end with the fish, Sister Bear brings up a good point and then he immediately goes into psycho mode. That was definitely pretty crazy and a super intense way to end the special. He may be crazy but that’s exactly why you want him on your side.

It’s also a good thing that the special was short because if it was too long then I think it would have ended up having a serious pacing issue. As it stands, I would say it was balanced well. Papa Bear keeps it just interesting enough where you aren’t waiting for it to end or anything. It’s not really my kind of style of special generally with the dialogue being a bit too slow but the novelty factor really helps it out. If you like the Berenstain Bears then you’ll probably appreciate this take on them.

Once again I’d give a shoutout to the animation here because it really matches the chaotic energy of the special well. In fact you could argue that without the animation, the rest of the story wouldn’t work so well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the story was based around the animation as opposed to the other way around. It can be a little rarer to see animation this chaotic outside of anime nowadays so you definitely need to savor it while you can.

Overall, The Christmas Tree made for a pretty fun adventure as you watched the heroes do their best and everything got really chaotic. It’s certainly really out there and by the end you don’t really know if this was a super cheerful adventure or not. What you do know is that it was generally entertaining. I think it’s a tricky recommendation though, I would only suggest it if you are really familiar with the franchise. Otherwise as a general viewing I would definitely say to check some other titles out first. This definitely feels like a very hit or miss kind of special.

Overall 6/10

Bug Ego

Posted on by
Reply


This is definitely a very weird manga so far. For now I can’t really say if that’s in a good or a bad way though. Each chapter is certainly a trick but I can already see the series leaning too hard on the same jokes so we’ll have to see if ONE can step it up. I’ll have a review when the series is over.

Overall 5/10

The Black Cauldron Review

Posted on by
4


It’s time for a film that very much feels like how I would picture a Legend of Zelda movie to play out. There are some differences to be sure but you can definitely see the inspiration the whole time. It’s a very serviceable film. There have been way better ones out there to be sure but there’s also nothing really bad about this one. It’s a film that goes by quickly and should keep your attention.

The film starts off by introducing us to Taran who is super bored the whole time. He wants to be a cool warrior who gets stuff done and instead he basically just looks after the livestock. Well, things change one day when his pig uses future-sight to see that the Black Cauldron threat is very real and the Horned King will be making a move. Fortunately the King doesn’t know where it is so Taran heads out with the pig to keep him safe. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long at all for the pig to be captured. The King is ever closer to his goal. Can Taran become the hero he has always known that he could be or is it game over for him?

Taran means well and he makes for a pretty decent main character. The guy may be quick to get frustrated but at the end of the day he is trying to do his best. It would be good if he had some more real skill though. Sure he may not have had an opportunity to fight against any powerful super villains but he could have been training his body so that he would be ready when the trials arrived. The guy is incredibly weak and has to rely on a super sword to do anything. The sword is really cool but Taran needed to put in more work.

Then we have the Princess who is a go getter. She proactively goes after her goals and makes for a solid ally. Even when Taran blows up at her early on, she doesn’t let it stop her for long. She tends to look on the bright side of things. Whenever a princess is out there on the front lines I definitely respect that. She looks way better than Gurgi who takes too long to have his big courageous moment. It’s a classic character arc of going from being the coward to being a talented ally but you still have to go through it quickly because otherwise you’re just dreading his scenes. Giving up and deciding not to help out when the time comes is hard to really come back from.

I’m sure the old man who owned the pig was scared to send Taran out the way that he did but the guy just steadied himself and made the tough choices. It’s what you have to do. Then we have another ally in Fflam who is also not the bravest sort but he gets with the program right away. This guy was a lot more fun and had way more of a complete personality. In a way you could argue that his presence alone ended up hurting Gurgi quite a bit because it showed the gap between them even more than you would have naturally noticed otherwise.

Generally speaking the supporting cast are a bit on the weaker side though. I didn’t care for the small old fairies, the three fairy godmother of sorts who would be bartering, etc. One of them was constantly flirting which was definitely a choice but yeah these characters were just not going to keep the film interesting. It’s why we are very fortunate that Tara and the Princess were solid since thing could have been tricky otherwise.

I did like the main villain but he suffers from an incredible lack of screentime. He talks tough here and there but then he vanishes for large portions of the film. He’s just completely gone and then when he does show up in the climax he isn’t strong enough to resist gravity. Ultimately this makes him lose all of his hype because the tough talk means nothing by that point. It’s a shame because he has the design and the voice down 100%! Just another minutes could have really done wonders to make the film more memorable as well.

The animation certainly holds up really well too. It’s very active with a lot going on as the characters move around very rapidly. There is some intriguing CG type visuals near the end but those are still fun to see. The bolder CG can at least leave more of an impression than some of the modern ones that aren’t really trying anything serious. The best looking shot of the film is probably when the burning sword activates. It really makes an impact and just looks really impressive. It works well as a Master Sword substitute.

So at the end of the day the characters are the weak point here and what could easily fix the film is to make them a bit bolder next time around. Give Taran more of a hook or an edge to him beyond just wanting to be a hero. Give the princess more witty banter and for the coward sidekick, maybe just make him evil from the jump and eventually he starts to turn good. Just some ideas on how you could make them resonate more with the audience, I think that would be effective in keeping this from just blending in.

Overall, The Black Cauldron is a good movie. It starts out fast with the hero getting into the evil castle right away and from there the plot continues to adapt and change. It may not stand out next to other fantasy adventures but it still makes for an easy watch when you have the time. I would have liked a longer climax with more action against the main villain though. The actual ending was more on the anticlimactic side. They could probably do better in a remake but instead I’d say this film should just get a sequel. With the intros out of the way we can jump right into the action.

Overall 7/10

The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold Review

Posted on by
Reply


This may just be the film that I have to use going forward as an example of a very standard adventure film. The Lone Ranger is typically a fairly basic hero I suppose but even considering that, this is such a short movie that there isn’t a whole lot of time for a more advanced plot. You have a gang and the Ranger stops them but it’s all very by the numbers. It’s a fun movie to be sure but it’s one that doesn’t have a “hook” which means that it might be tougher to explain to people why they should watch it.

The movie starts with the Lone Ranger’s intro as the theme song plays and then we get to today’s adventure. Some Indians have been getting murdered and their amulets are being taken. The fact that they are being murdered isn’t surprising as the townsfolk can’t stand them but what is this odd connection? Well, the Lone Ranger and his pal Tonto are going to find out. They get the town doctor to help them out in treating some of the injured and along the way it looks like the town may be at the heart of the trouble.

This isn’t really meant to be a complete mystery kind of film so it’s pretty clear at least who some of the villains are. The movie doesn’t make the Ranger or Tonto look very smart at times though. First off in an early scene the Ranger sends Tonto for the doctor. So he walks into the local bar and is greeted with a whole lot of antagonistic characters who all but say that they want to beat him up. So Tonto…turns his back to them and is promptly beaten up. They probably would have murdered him if the doctor hadn’t gone downstairs. It’s a really bad look though because it’s as if Tonto had no survival sense.

It should be obvious not to give your back to the opponents right? I don’t blame him for losing the fight because he was outnumbered but the fact that it basically wasn’t even a fight is what looks bad here. Also I would have liked for the Ranger to do something about this. Yeah I know he’s not an eye for an eye kind of guy but it’s always annoying when the heroes just have to take the high road here. In most ways it is good of course but this is pushing it. It’s one area where Zorro has the edge since that vigilante doesn’t mind mixing things up a bit. The Lone Ranger at least tries to stay the hero through and through the whole time.

There is a fairly big subplot that at times threatens to replace the main one though. So the doctor is a well respected member of the community. He’s the only one who treats the natives well but generally the towngoers look the other way since they need a doctor. Well, the twist is that the doctor is also an Indian and he has hid his upbringing all these years so that he can continue his work. The logic is sound, he knows that if the town finds out his true lineage then he will likely be murdered in quick order. The Indians would then be left on their own with nobody to help them and would likely all be crushed.

The one losing out here is his girlfriend as a result and it’s a big loss. So she keeps trying to get him to reveal the truth and even says that she will leave afterwards. It’s all very dramatic but I do wish she could have been a bit more understanding here. The doctor also could have probably worked out a better deal or at least agreed to talk things out with her more. It’s not a perfect situation for either end but the “solution” of just exposing himself seemed really flawed to me. The film takes a fairly optimistic view at the end but you could also picture the Ranger and Tonto leaving…then the villains taking the doctor out. I mean hopefully they’ve all learned a valuable lesson with the most radicals gone but it’s still really risky.

In a way that plot was more interesting than the main one anyway. Yeah the amulets are relating to some gold and silver but it’s all pretty standard western stuff. The Ranger is also not the most powerful guy so generally when he’s up against the group, he’ll take one guy down and then call it a day. A lot of the film is really hit and run tactics as they slowly defeat more and more of the gang. I can’t call the film a slow burn at all because it’s not but sometimes you do hope that he can just take the whole gang down already.

The fight scenes we get are pretty fun though. There is quite a bit of hand to hand going on and the villains can typically fight on a pretty close level to the Ranger. So you’re never quite sure if the hero will win or not. He also has to try and keep them alive instead of accidentally letting them fall off a cliff which is surprisingly a lot harder than it sounds. Even just thinking about that stuff in the back of his head will naturally slow the Ranger’s thought processes down a bit.

Overall, I would have liked the film to have taken a few more risks here. Lets actually have the City of Gold running around and maybe even delve into the supernatural. It’s not like that is a foreign concept considering the Ranger’s origin right? Instead we have what I would call one of the more generic westerns. Nothing really wrong with it as it’s too short to ever get boring but I just don’t know how I would present this film to folks. I guess the best way is just to go to the basic route of recommending it so the people can see the Lone Ranger. It’s not as if he has a ton of films after all so fans will want to check them all out.

Overall 7/10

Challenge to Lassie Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another Lassie film and this one is definitely ready to give you that emotional punch. Fortunately it focuses on the humans taking their Ls again instead of Lassie which is definitely the right way to approach it. It certainly works for me at least although Lassie still does get injured a bit here and there with all of the big jumps. I would say that it doesn’t end up beating the last film but still beats the average Lassie experience.

The movie starts by showing us how a guy named Jack raised Lassie for a long while. She was a small pup at first and then gradually grew into full size. She had a really good upbringing and it all turned out well but Jack was an old man. He was already breaking down and it only got worse when he was beat up by a bunch of thugs. That really accelerated things and he ends up dying. This forces his friend John to look after Lassie but it won’t be easy. She wants to always be with his grave but the grave is located among church grounds where dogs are not allowed. Now the cops have been alerted and since John has no formal license to Lassie, she is in a lot of trouble and may get the death penalty. Can’t anything be done?

I would say the weakest part of the film is how a lot of the characters are super unreasonable. This is a dog after all and a rather harmless one at that. The whole putting him to sleep business makes no real sense. They try to explain how it is necessary because that’s just how the law is, but it feels rather forced the whole time. There is no real reason to be this stringent about it. When the kids ask the judge about why he has to pass the law, the guy can barely even answer. Deep down he also knows that this is all a bunch of nonsense.

The basis of the law is that because John doesn’t have the license, he isn’t able to get one after the fact. Instead of waiting the usual 3 days for someone to pick up the dog, they can skip right to the execution. It’s a case of the process being put ahead of the logic which is where the whole thing breaks down. If a rule doesn’t make sense then you have to find a way to agree with it or just ignore it entirely. Now you do have to put some real effort into understanding the law first as you shouldn’t just break laws that you disagree with but this was a very clear example.

So I can’t say that I really liked any of the policemen or judges here. Then you have the church personnel who aren’t the best here. At least the big preacher at the end seemed reasonable and wouldn’t rat him out but the main guy wasn’t the nicest. You can understand why Lassie wouldn’t be allowed on the church grounds since there could be a lot of cleanliness issues but in this case you should just move the body then. Put it somewhere where Lassie could visit it and you would solve all of the problems at once.

I’ll give John credit for fighting pretty hard to save Lassie the whole time. He went to court and risked his reputation the whole time as well. It’s definitely not something that just anyone can do. His son the young lawyer was also pretty solid here. There were a lot of limitations on what he could really do before he was fully certified but he was always ready to help as well. Even the kids weren’t bad here as they were all on Lassie’s side. It was nice to see the whole community supporting him like that.

As I noted earlier, an issue is that Lassie still goes through a certain amount of grief. It’s nothing as crazy as in the earlier films but she is pushed to her physical limit the whole time as she has to scale mountains and constantly be on the run. You can’t forget the emotional burdens as she wants to be with the old owner the whole time and keeps on being prevented from doing so. Her dedication was definitely second to none but of course those scenes aren’t very fun.

That is a common theme with a lot of the Lassie films which is that they generally aren’t very fun to watch. This one has some fun dialogue and reasonable characters but it is mainly lacking a big hook. One framing device that could have really helped it would have been to have the film start in the court-room and have that continue as the present throughout the movie. We then see the scenes spread across as several flashbacks. Have more and more of the characters enter the court room as witnesses and then we see the scenes from their perspective. It would have turned this into more of a courtroom thriller film which always tends to work pretty well. It would have given the movie a bit of a boost.

Overall, Challenge to Lassie is a decent film for the most part but I wouldn’t say there is much reason to watch it. In some ways the last one is still a more satisfying overall picture with Lassie mainly getting the sweet end of things. In this one, Lassie may avoid a lot of the physical trauma of the original films but still has to deal with the emotional trauma of the fallout that occurs from the owner dying. It’s not like he returns at the end or anything like that so in the end it’s still a net loss for her. The fact that she still goes to the grave every evening to mourn also shows that she isn’t really over the loss and perhaps never will be. I like to think that eventually she would change and not have to visit the grave but it’s hard to say. Either way if you’ve seen all of the Lassie films then you may as well check this one out. Otherwise you can give it a skip.

Overall 5/10