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RoboCop (1987) 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

Robocop is a very famous character to be sure. Even if you haven’t seen the film you have likely heard of it in some way or another. It’s a movie that has aged rather well and I do agree with many that it beats the reboot. I enjoyed both the serious scenes of the movie as well as the moments that parody the media to an extent. Now those were some pretty fun commercials in there. All in all, it’s not a title you are likely to forget.

The movie starts off with corporate trying to find a way to cut costs. In this world they own the police force in Detroit but naturally they don’t want to pay them a whole lot. The police have even started organizing a strike. Their chief doesn’t like this but there isn’t a whole lot that he can do about it now that the union is on board. Unfortunately for Jones, his project doesn’t work so well and his robot murders someone. This allows Bob to get in and suggest his RoboCop project.

RoboCop is the process of basically turning the remains of a dead cop into this robotic police officer who will enforce the law. The timing couldn’t be better as officer Murphy was just gunned down by a group of gang members. While his memory should be wiped, RoboCop seems to remember his days as Murphy and his police partner Anne recognizes him as well. Will RoboCop be able to get past his sense of confusion to take down the gang and make the world a better place or is this game over for him? Additionally, with the OCP owning him and the cops, will he really be able to enact true justice?

I would really call this an action comedy because of how well the film executes on both genres. For starters you have the opening scene where the robot murders one of the board members. It’s a rough fate for the guy but I would say it’s still played for laughs and it works. These dark comedic moments are perfect in RoboCop and show how merciless the corporate world is. This scene doesn’t deter any of the workers there which is saying something.

I rather liked Bob quite a bit as an antagonist. He saw an opening and immediately jumped right in. He wasn’t afraid of Jones and talked tough right to his face. That’s the kind of resolve I want to see out of the up and coming villain. Things don’t turn out very well for him in the end but there wasn’t a lot he could have done. While I thought Jones would be a rather forgettable villain by the end, he impressed me with how he got his revenge later on. I’m telling you, this company does not play around and you don’t want to make an enemy out of anyone there. They all play for keeps.

The Chairman is also really good. He was extremely quick on the take during the climax which is ultimately how he kept his life. Otherwise that would have gone sideways for him very quickly and he would only be a memory. The actual main villain Clarence wasn’t as memorable though. He’s a rather unhinged guy who deeply enjoys his job but there still isn’t much more to him other than being a mobster. He’s like a C grade Joker. The guy does well in fights but he’s just not super interesting.

As for RoboCop, well he’s a fun character. I liked him quite a lot as Murphy so it was rather sad to see him go. The way Murphy dies in the intro was really effective. In large part because this is how you picture a lot of these encounters ending without any plot armor for the main character. You can’t just attack a whole gang on your own and expect to win. Murphy was just too hot headed in this case and it really ended up backfiring on him. It just felt very realistic, but definitely a painful way to go out.

In his transformed state, Murphy isn’t quite as hot headed as he used to be. He does keep some parts of his personality like twirling the gun but for the most part he is quite different now. He also has the disadvantage of being a robot owned by OCP so they can brainwash him at any point. Still, RoboCop does his best to dish out some peace to the villains and he does well. From the 3 films this is easily his best portrayal. He takes out a lot of thugs and is quite durable without being way too slow. He also thinks of good ways to get around his programming weaknesses. As for his partner Anne, she’s a good cop. Ultimately she wasn’t quite fast enough to help Murphy out but I would say she is solid. She just doesn’t get quite as big a role as you might be expecting. She provides moral support but that’s about it.

The effects are on point here and the movie has definitely aged well in that respect. If you’ve seen Judge Dredd, you’ll probably be thinking of that film a lot during this movie because of how similar they are. RoboCop is just a fun film all around. As mentioned earlier, the media parts are great too. If you focus on the news headlines behind the reporters you see a lot of interesting items and of course they report on quite a few stories. It shows how hopeless the world is with constant bad things happening. The movie really depicts a rather bleak world where corporate is running the Earth into the ground. Then you have the parody commercials as well which will give you some laughs.

Overall, RoboCop succeeds not just because it’s a fun action film but also because the writing is incredibly clever. It can give you a very powerful moment and then immediately hit you with a really funny moment. I like seeing corporate as the villains since they can be entertaining and this film adapts them well. We even get the full board meetings and the rushed version of RoboCop that isn’t quite so effective. I felt bad for the clunky robot by the end because he meant well but just wasn’t built for success. It even throws a bit of a tantrum on the stairs when trying to follow RoboCop. This just wasn’t his day. If you haven’t seen this film yet then you should definitely change that.

Overall 7/10

Dune (2021) Review

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I really did not like the first Dune film so I certainly went into this one with a lot of reservations. Fortunately it is an improvement in every area. When you watch this version you can see how people could have the franchise up to be the next Star Wars. While I don’t think anything will be the next Star Wars, this one has a solid story and builds up a good universe. Throw in the fact that we should be getting the sequel pretty soon and this title has a whole lot of momentum. Ultimately if you like Sci-Fi then you should like this film.

The movie starts by introducing us to the setup of the world. The Emperor rules just about all of the solar systems and there are houses that are under him. Each house has its own ruler, army, and population. The main character Paul is the prince of the Atreides house and they’ve done rather well for themselves. Unfortunately they are suddenly given a mission by the Emperor to go and take control of Arrakis as the Baron will be pulling his people out. The kingdom isn’t thrilled about this since Arrakis is a desert wasteland that is hard to survive in. Additionally their house has never gotten along with the Baron’s house so this seems to be a trap.

Meanwhile, Paul is not sure if he even wants to be king. Making this more complicated is the fact that he has been having a lot of dreams about Arrakis and a girl on that planet. The dreams range from her staring at him to seemingly stabbing him. He is also involved in some shady prophecy from his mother’s side of the family that he will be the chosen one. This will likely put him under an even greater spotlight which could make the emperor go against him. It’s going to be a difficult journey for Paul.

There’s a ton of world building here so that’s really just scratching the surface. I will say, the quicker you learn the names for each of the planets and houses, the quicker you will be able to not only understand the plot but really get into it. Memorizing the names is crucial here. The effects are pretty solid and definitely help for the fight scenes. It’s cool to see the barriers that the suit emits as they are quite unique. You can stop most projectiles but close range attacks get more dangerous.

The training fights Paul has to go through really show this effectively. Now I wouldn’t say the film is super action packed as I would call it more of an adventure but you do have the occasional battle. Duncan easily gets the best battle near the end of the film. He really shows off his skills and proves himself to be the best fighter in the army without a doubt. I wouldn’t say any of the musical themes stuck with me but as you go through the scenes there aren’t any distracting moments either.

As a main character Paul is decent. He can definitely panic a bit with the burden that he is given but for the most part he takes things well. He’s not as tough as he acts at times but his skills should keep on improving so that by the sequel he will be ready to engage anyone in combat. As it stands he is already powerful enough to beat many fighters in a 1 on 1 situation.

As for his mother Jessica, she was quite impressive here. She has mastered “the voice” which is an ability that lets you mind control someone just by talking. It’s very handy to have and she can also fight hand to hand as well. The scene where she and Paul take on some fighters near the end was a really good showing there. Her pact involving the prophecy could certainly end up being troublesome so we’ll see what choices she makes going forward.

Paul’s father Leto is also solid here. I thought he did well at leading his kingdom and it’s hard to blame him for how things turned out. I don’t feel like he had a realistic option of turning down the Emperor’s order. It was going to happen whether he made it easy or not. Then for the invasion, well every factor was against him and it’s hard to win like that. Leto seemed like a good man and at the end of the day that’s all you can really ask for.

Duncan’s the best character in the film by far though. He is a true adventurer through and through. He keeps up a fun attitude throughout the story and takes a lot of the risks. Duncan doesn’t back down from a fight and serves as a great role model for Paul. Gurney is another good character here. He’s tough like Duncan and is always willing to speak his mind. I’d have liked to have seen some more action from him since I bet this guy can fight at a high level as well.

If the film has a main weak point it’s that none of the villains are particularly interesting. We don’t really see the Emperor yet and the guy Arrakis really exists to get wrecked by Paul. The Baron is someone who will have a big role but he just isn’t my kind of character. The guy doesn’t participate in the action unless his opponent can’t move. Baron needs to have the absolute advantage in every encounter which doesn’t speak well to his confidence. His son Glossu could be a fun enforcer but he hasn’t gotten to do a whole lot yet.

As for the main heroine Chani, she doesn’t even get to appear outside of dreams until the end so there isn’t much to say about her yet. Based on the dreams Paul has been having, he should definitely be careful around her. I could do without the constant dreams though. That’s one area where I feel the film could have shown the dreams once and we’d be good. It’s not like you will forget the dreams over the course of the movie so there’s no reason to show it again.

Some aspects of surviving on this desert planet can also be a bit gross like the whole recycled water bit. It reminds me why I prefer to be in more city type environments. That said, even in the film none of the characters want to be here so that tracks. Since the emperor seemingly set them up to fail, you wish that the heroes would have fought back instead of simply complying. They were likely doomed either way but better to turn and fight while you can then to slowly die out right? Ultimately the villains had really good execution on their plan though so it was definitely going to be tough to thwart them.

Overall, Dune sets the stage pretty well. In a lot of ways it does feel like the whole movie was the opening act so all of the events were set up well. The characters are interesting and the plot moves at a good pace. Both things that you would have a hard time saying about the first film. I can safely say this was a lot better than I had been expecting and of course you will get to see the sand worms with the updated graphics here so they look quite impressive. Once Paul masters all of his abilities we should be in for some more fun fights coming up.

Overall 7/10

Clash of the Titans (1981) Review

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It’s time for the original Clash of the Titans film. I quite enjoyed the newer remake when I saw it but granted, that was many years ago. It’s been an extremely long time since I saw that film so I don’t know how well it’s aged but I would say it beats this adaption. I had some issues with this one. The old time era and feeling of it makes the movie a little more dated than needed and naturally all of the gods are unlikable. There are some cool action scenes here though and on the whole I would say the writing is good. So while I wouldn’t be giving this movie a ton of points or anything like that, it’s not a very bad old school epic, it could have been better though.

The movie starts out with a king deciding to banish the queen away to sea after Zeus has a kid with her. Zeus is furious to see this and strikes the whole country down with the Kraken. Fortunately for him, they end up living as they arrive on an isolated island. The child is given the name of Perseus. Not all of the gods are thrilled about Zeus playing favorites like this. The guy certainly messes around quite a lot and is as irresponsible as possible. Seems pretty accurate to the legends I must say as this seems to be a reoccurring theme in most of those. Well, Thetis has a child as well in Calibos but the guy disrespects Zeus which is a no go in this world so the guy is turned into a goat chimera monster of sorts.

Naturally Andromeda no longer wishes to marry the guy since he’s not very attractive anymore. Still, what can she do to stop him? Her astral self is kidnapped every night and it’s not like anyone can stop it. Well, Thetis decides to take revenge on Zeus by warping Perseus into this land. Perseus takes this in stride though and this is a mistake on Thetis’ part since he now wants to rule the whole land. Calibos is in the way of his marrying Andromeda and getting a lot of power so now things are going to get dangerous here.

That’s a bit of a smashed up version of the plot since the movie is quite long and the story shifts multiple times. Still, I think it’s a fair assessment of how things are going. It’s fun to see the names and locations here after watching so much Saint Seiya since it operates in the same kind of time frame with the gods and legends all around. What Clash of the Titans does well is establish the universe. It’s easy to see how the world works even with the gods running around every corner and all these monsters everywhere.

While the film is rather long, I would not say that it is boring. There’s always something happening although it is fair to say that the pacing can be a bit slow. It is trying to slowly build up the tension like an old school epic after all. The characters are rather on the weak side though so I think we can now transition into the weaker aspects of the film. For starters, I didn’t like anyone here.

Perseus is a decent main character at best. He does tend to take things in stride after all but almost to the point of effectively being emotionless. There’s not a whole lot you could even say about his general character. I guess he’s a nice guy but that’s about it. The robotic owl given to him in the second half really deserves a lot of points for making sure Perseus was in the right spot at the right time. As for Andromeda, well she got off to a bad start when she was being kidnapped in her dreams and trying to talk Calibos out of his plans. She never seemed to have a chance there.

As for dumping Calibos once he transformed, while it’s hard to blame her, I would have preferred she had just broken it off because she never liked him. It seems like one of those arrangements where it was for the kingdom anyway. Calibos is the kind of villain who just wants the girl and power is a side trip to that objective so he’s not one of my favorite villains at all. The guy is reasonably tough but at the same time you don’t feel a lot of fear towards him the way that you would for the Kraken.

Now the Kraken is a bright spot in the film. He’s got a great design, looks sort of like the Gill Man. I was pleasantly surprised since I’m used to him looking more like a monster. Like this you could see him going toe to toe with anybody. It’s just his bad luck that he had to go up against Perseus once the guy had the Medusa head. No way to win in that position but for the most part the Kraken did well and won whenever he could. That’s what you want to see out of your main villain.

As mentioned, the rest of the gods are mostly just there to bicker as they act all high and mighty. At least Thetis was actually going around and personally ruining people’s lives as opposed to staying on the sidelines. That makes her a more active participant who can actually be feared as opposed to the ones who would just talk. The lady not giving up her owl was a smart move though, he wasn’t Zeus’s to give away after all.

The journey itself takes Perseus to quite a few areas like his mini mission to steal the head of Medusa. I thought he was a little mean to the three blind sisters but they did seem rather suspect. I’m guessing that’s why he threw their eye away and was just making things harder on them. I did enjoy the journey aspect though. In part it felt like an RPG in that aspect. He had to go to an island to grab the head to then go back to the main island and stop the Kraken. Even the opening scene where he is given the three items from the gods is like something out of a game.

Overall, Clash of the Titans is an old school film that has some fun moments but for the most part it’s just dated in a bad way. The characters aren’t great and the old school warrior battles don’t stand up as well as your old gun fights or hand to hand battles would. There’s definitely a really random fanservice moment here as well which is not really intended to be one I suppose as the film is just trying to stay true to the legends but still isn’t needed. To sum it up, the film either needed to be more exciting or to have had better writing to get higher. As it stands, I would check out the newer version first, it just had a lot more energy to it.

Overall 4/10

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Review

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This 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 no secret that I thought the first Mad Max was dreadfully awful. Well, unfortunately this one isn’t much of a step up. It’s still a film that is pointlessly bleak at all times with no corner of hope for any of the characters. You can survive in this future as best you can but you certainly can’t thrive here. The instant a dog showed up as one of the main characters I knew the film was doomed. It’s all downhill right from when the film starts so at least this isn’t a surprise. I will say that the poster is really good though, feels like a completely different movie!

The movie starts with a big flashback/narration explaining what happened in the first film. Considering that not a lot happened I think they could have sped this up but the film is really big on being as dramatic as possible. The opening and ending narrations are both very long and do well to lower your expectations. From there we see Max who is minding his own business with his beat up car when he’s attacked. He fends these guys off but then finds himself in the middle of a skirmish between two gangs.

One is a violent group that goes around terrorizing everyone. They’re all intent on causing as much terror and destruction as possible with no real goal beyond that. Their objective right now is to steal the fuel from the other group though so they can go back to committing mindless destruction against everyone else. The group on the defense seem nice enough but their group is split on fighting back or running off. Both options will lead to their ultimate destruction so they aren’t keen on either plan. Ma will end up being the deciding factor here. They manage to get his car and also have all of the fuel so if Max wants to go anywhere he will have to barter with them. Nobody can trust anybody around here so we’ll see how that goes.

It’s easy to see how so many people became crooks here though because there is absolutely nothing to do in this world. The entire planet is covered in sand and dust. It’s got to be one of the most depressing futures imaginable. Not only is there no sense of government or humanity so you’re surrounded by thugs everywhere you go, but there don’t even seem to be human essentials like stores and such. You’re stuck scavenging for your own things for the rest of your life which is as bleak as it gets. Seriously, it’s hard to have any fun in this place.

Max isn’t intending on having any fun though as he is still depressed from the events of the first film. I can’t say I blame him because the world has only gone south since then. At least in the first film it felt like there was still a civilization. Maybe it’s just the area that the second film takes place in but any civilization appears to be long gone at this point. There isn’t much to say about Max because he doesn’t say much and barely has any real character. He’s certainly not awful but he’s not that good either. The kind of character you forget even exists really.

None of the villains are any good. You’ve got Humungus as the leader of the group and the best thing I can say about the guy is that he is very strong. Nobody’s going to mess with him, that’s for sure and he chokes out the one villain who started to get out of line. Other than that, he’s just another thug trying to make a name for himself. Wez is much worse as the guy is one of those crazy types who only barely manages to get through his missions without going overboard.

The villains were just bad here because they had no real personality. The leader is the strong guy and Wez is the crazy guy. That’s the extent of their character here and I never got very interested in what was going to happen to them. This just isn’t that kind of film and that’s a shame. To make a good villain you’ve got to give them a solid goal or just make them generally charismatic. Some fun dialogue and a few good lines would have gone a really long way here.

As for the other group, well you have two main members. There’s Papagallo who could have been an action hero in a different movie. In this one the guy is still in the leadership role and makes the tough calls but he’s not all that likable. I’ll give him some points for being one of the most developed characters in the movie though, maybe even the most. You can at least see that he has some rationale behind his decisions and he certainly earned the unofficial title as leader. When the group needs a decision, then he comes through.

Then there’s the kid who can’t talk yet and acts like a wild animal. Well, he’s certainly savage enough and lands a lot of good blows so that’s impressive. His skills with a boomerang can’t be denied. Not really my kind of character but he proves helpful which is important. Then you have the gyro captain (I don’t think he ever got a name and this is what Wikipedia refers to him as so I’ll take their lead here) who goes from being Max’s fugitive for a while to actually helping out in the end. He definitely came in handy since aerial mobility is huge in a fight like this. In a car battle one wrong bump can take you out but in the air it’s hard to counter.
So those are the characters but I was less than impressed with them. As mentioned earlier, there is some animal violence here which really doomed the flick. You should not have a dog die in your film…ever. It’s just never going to end up being a good move and ends up backfiring horribly! Definitely a regrettable move. I mean, the film was going to get a low score regardless because I didn’t really like anything about it, but this ensured that it fell almost all the way down.

At the end of the day, the deck was really stacked against the film. I don’t care for the desert environment as it is. Then you’ve got a futuristic world with absolutely no high tech concepts which is missing the point of a future based film in the first place. I would also make the case that the film barely has a plot. Yes, we have to protect the fuel and Max just wants to get out of there but that’s a 20 minute plot, not a whole film’s worth.

Overall, I would give this film a hard thumbs down. Max Max is really not a film I would recommend. Even the newer films tend to not look very interesting but maybe it will eventually break out. The issue is that I feel the series would need a complete revamp in order to be good and that’s not likely happening anytime soon. If anything I’m sure that would be extremely controversial.

Overall 1/10

Free Guy Review

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Free Guy definitely got a ton of promotion and hype when it was coming out. The movie really looked to be throwing in tons of references and fun gaming moments into its adventure and Free Guy did deliver on that. It’s also always a cool concept to find yourself inside of a game. It may not be life and death stakes for most of the characters like in Sword Art Online but it still gives you that fun feeling of actually being inside a game. So while Free Guy could have been better in some areas, I would definitely say it’s a good film.

The movie starts with a day in the life of Guy. He lives as an NPC in the Free City game. His duty is to be a bank clerk who helps people get their money before being held up by a random crook every day. He doesn’t realize that this is strange though as that’s just how life works. He doesn’t even know that this is all a game since it feels real to him. Well, one day he wants to talk to one of the people wearing glasses (a user) and figures he just needs a pair of his own. He grabs them and this changes his life forever. He can now see the world as a player does.

Meanwhile, Millie is trying to track down some code which will prove that Antwan and team corporate actually stole the game that she and Keys created in order to get mega rich. The issue is that the code could be anywhere and she has had no luck finding it so far. If she doesn’t find it before the sequel comes out then she will really be out of luck. Perhaps Guy is her last chance. After all, as a player from inside the game, perhaps he will be able to see a new perspective. She better hope this is the case as there won’t be any second chances.

I have to say that the actual world of Free City looks like a blast to play in. It’s got a very Grand Theft Auto feel to it but with even more to do. I’d say there’s even a bit of Fortnite inspiration in this as you create walls to run and jump on. Of course, that seems to be a power limited to admins, I can see how that might be overpowered in a GTA setting otherwise. You can choose whether you want to live peacefully in the game or attack people. I imagine most would do the latter, but it could make playing the hero role fun since you will always be outnumbered.

As for Guy, he’s very much a Lego movie kind of lead. He has a perfect life right now and doesn’t even think about anything grander until it arrives at his doorstep. From there Guy does a good job of adapting and becoming a true lead in his own right. He is fairly skilled and has a whole lifetime of experience which explains why he is so good at navigating through the town. He may be a bit slow on the uptake of this all being a game but like with Truman, I can cut him some slack there because it is really hard to jump to the conclusion that your whole world is fake. Realistically that would be hard to buy at first but he does start to catch on when he sees how everyone always acts in the same way.

Free Guy is at its best when it’s about Guy just living his life and having a good time. The Mega Buster cameo was a blast as well as the Avengers reference. When the film is just going all crazy like this you’re really going to be engaged with what’s going on. The film has a lot of funny moments and the pacing is on point as well. Since Guy’s such a likable main character, the film is off on the right foot there. The soundtrack also has some fun songs. It may not be a huge soundtrack but it gets the job done.

The film’s at its weakest when it’s focusing on the humans plots. I’m always up for a good story about evil corporate but it’s hard to go from the video game world with its fun physics back to a normal workplace subplot. It just doesn’t really do many new or different things here. You have Millie as one of the main characters and her goal to find the piece of code is a good one. You may have some questions on how exactly she intends to find this on her own though. Without Guy it seems like this would have been truly impossible without some kind of extra hacking ability.

She gets points for being more proactive than Keys though. Keys literally joins with the villains and gives up on his dreams. He let the villains steal them all away and that’s not what you want to see from the main character. You want Keys to get out there and fight with the best of them. Instead he even discourages Millie from fighting back. Even in the romance plot he’s very laid back as he leaves a lot of clues for Millie but when she doesn’t notice them he basically gave up. If not for other characters acting on his behalf, he would not have ever made any progress.

Antwan’s a fun villain though. He’s your classic evil CEO who dials himself up to 11 with how crazy he gets. Perhaps this isn’t very original but he was entertaining enough so I’d give him a pass. The guy just wants to become mega rich and do whatever he wants. It’s a classic villain motivation but one that doesn’t want to get old since so many people want to be rich. He probably could have handled the situation a whole lot better though. Shutting down the first game sooner would have helped him a whole lot.

One of the worst humans in the film had to be Mouser though. He’s Keys’ friend but not a very loyal one. Mouser is always quick to follow orders and does whatever he can to stay in the company’s good graces. Sure, he steps up at the very end of the film but it’s way too late by then. The guy read none of the writing on the wall and didn’t even try to approach Keys and ask him about what was going on. That would have really been a good idea here since they were friends and all. Mouser was just disappointing here.

Guy’s friend Buddy isn’t much better though. At the end of the day he wasn’t brave enough to follow Guy’s example. It shows the difference between being a main character and being a sidekick. In the end Buddy was just not ready to enter the main stage. Also, he just doesn’t tend to be as funny as the other characters. He has his moments to be sure but sometimes his jokes just tend to drag on instead and that’s never a good thing for this kind of character.

As a comedy film, Free Guy will naturally be throwing an onslaught of jokes at you. I would say it’s nearly impossible for any comedy film to land with all of their jokes, the idea is that if you land on most of them then you should be good. Well, I would say Free Guy does land more often than not which is the sign of being a good film. For every iffy joke like the goldfish, the top pro player, or Buddy being too obsessive, you’ll have a solid array of good jokes to balance it out.

The only real weakness for the film naturally goes back to the human side as I mentioned. The romance is rather weak in this film. Both with the Guy plot and then with Keys. None of those romance plots really do anything but slow down the movie’s pacing. I’d also say the movie just isn’t good at getting really serious. When you have the cameos from real life pro players and such, it might make you cringe just a tad. They’re just a little too over the top which does match their persona in most streams but it’s hard to take seriously. Especially since the rest of the film is more comical. Free Guy has its serious moments of course but usually it’s still chuckling a bit in the background while these scenes are 100% serious.

Overall, Free Guy is a solid movie and definitely one that I would consider as a feel good film. It’s rather upbeat the whole time with a quick tempo so the movie never gets boring. I do think it’s best when the film is just having fun and exploring the video game world. When it gets serious and focuses on the human characters it doesn’t have the same amount of pop. I would definitely be game for a sequel though, there’s a whole lot you can do with this. Just keep up the solid references and cameos and you will have a great formula for a sequel. If you haven’t seen this film yet then I would definitely recommend changing that.

Overall 6/10

Monster Hunter Review

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Monster Hunter is a franchise that always seemed pretty fun. I haven’t played any of the games yet but I did watch one of the anime and it was solid. The monster designs are on point and so a movie for this could have a lot of potential. In some ways the movie is really stellar like with the effects and soundtrack, but unfortunately that doesn’t translate to the actual movie which suffers greatly from a lack of quality characters and no real good dynamics. The sequel would likely take things to the next level but we’ll see if that ever manages to come out.

The movie starts with Artemis and her team looking for some missing soldiers. They find an abandoned truck with signs of a struggle around it but no bodies. Then a giant storm appears and throws the gang through a portal into a different world. This world is dangerous with lots of giant monsters and crazy creatures running around. There is seemingly no escape from them and one by one they pick off all of Artemis’ team. She is now alone and must try to find her way back to Earth. She will have to reluctantly team up with a mysterious hunter who isn’t the nicest guy around. Can they put aside their differences and stay alive?

So lets quickly talk about what went right for this film and why I thought it had potential rather deep into the film until I realized it wasn’t going to happen. First off, the soundtrack really is excellent. It’s one of the best that I’ve heard in a long time with a good amount of electronic tunes. This sounds like something straight out of the Tron film series. It also has some solid action tunes and as a result this is a soundtrack that you could throw right into a video game without any issues. That’s how solid it is.

Then you have the special effects which are on point. We meet several monsters but of course the Diablos is the main one from all of the trailers. They all look good and rather faithful to the games where they came from. It’s clear that there was a good amount of effort put into the research part of the movie. I would have liked to have seen some more monsters of course but the ones that we did get were solid. Then you have the flame sword and some more intense weapons at the end of the film. The cliffhanger makes you feel like the next film would have really gotten involved with the lore of the series and even thrown in some villains. It could have been a Final Fantasy type experience.

Also, the first chunk of the film about Artemis and her team running around the island is like something out of Alien only much better. The gang are all experienced soldiers in an unfamiliar territory fighting off monsters that are basically Xenomorphs. One by one they are picked off but the scene shave a lot of tension and suspense. You could even call the film part horror for this whole part until the final members die and Hunter appears. This was the best part of the film. Now I still have some issues like with the neck bursters taking the place of the chest bursters. Do we need any kind of bursters in every alien film? I’d rather get torn apart by a Xenomorph than have that happen to be honest.

The film can’t really resist having this happen to one member at least but the film mostly has restraint otherwise. The scenes can be intense but it’s more about the atmosphere than what is actually happening on screen and I do think that is the right approach here. Finally, the last positive I can give for the movie is that Artemis is a very solid main character. She’s a no nonsense fighter who knows how to keep her team focused and not get sidetracked by every little thing. It’s easy to see how she earned the captain role and never falters throughout the movie.

In general the film’s pacing is solid as well so things never drag on. Still, the second half is a big downgrades and a big part of that is Hunter’s fault. So, Hunter can only talk in the language of the new world so he and Artemis don’t understand each other. I think that already puts the film in a tough position since it’s very hard to write good banter in such a situation. I absolutely think it’s possible with top tier writers but do you think Monster Hunter has that level of talent at the ready? Most of the conversations are basically just the two characters making fun of each other. It takes them a while to actually get along and by that point the film is nearly over.

They even have a very serious fight early on where they nearly murder each other. It was certainly quite the way to get introduced to each other. Hunter’s mostly the one at fault here though as he kept on taunting Artemis. She had to put him in his place to establish the chain of command around here. Hunter just never gets all that interesting though and I would have almost preferred Artemis was on her own the whole time.

There’s also one scene that will take you out of the immersion for a bit because of how ludicrous it is. So, after hours of being in the desert and fighting monsters, Artemis reaches in her pocket and takes out a Hershey’s Chocolate Bar. It is perfectly solid and not melted at all. She uses it as a peace offering with Hunter who loves it since this is the best brand of chocolate of all time. Here’s the problem, while I don’t mind shameless product placement since I always find that entertaining, there’s no way it wouldn’t have melted. Try carrying a chocolate bar in your pocket while you’re walking around and handling day to day tasks. I’ve done this a few times in my day and let me tell you, your pocket’s going to be a mess after this.

There is no way that would even resemble a bar by the time she was done with the first act of the film. It may be a minor thing but I couldn’t stop thinking about that because of how obvious it was. As usual for these kinds of films the heroes are rather desperate for whatever they can eat which usually ends up looking rather gross. The characters have to skin the monsters to get weapons and bait which can also be rather messy and gross. That part of Monster Hunter I would be cool with skipping so we can just get to the action already.

That’s not even counting the rest of Hunter’s crew who was completely forgettable. It’s easy to forget they even had an intro scene in the film. I think what this boils down to is that the film was a lot more interesting when it was Artemis and her team. I would have changed it so the whole film was about them trying to survive rather than switching to Hunter and his crew. That would have just ended up being a lot more fun in the end.

One thing you want to have for a sci-fi film like this..or any film really is some fun banter and dialogue while blasting your way through the enemy planet. This film doesn’t have any of that since nobody who can speak English even appear until we’re near the end of the film. You also won’t get answers to the interesting parts of the film yet like who put up the towers to cause the portals between worlds.

At the very end of the film we see a glimpse of the likely culprit but there’s no clue on who this is. There’s so much you can do with this, particularly since there seems to be a castle of some kind at the end. A villain group all fighting with magical swords/weapons would make for an amazing sequel. Sure, the monsters may get less screen time but I would be fine with that. It was fun seeing the government step in again near the end but even then this was a very brief moment.

Overall, Monster Hunter could have been a lot better. It just made a lot of questionable choices in the second half. Hunter could have been much more interesting than how he ended up being. I could do with less of the crude humor like the cat getting his fur in the drink that they end up having to drink. Those scenes don’t need to be there and the writing just doesn’t feel nearly as good as it could have been. Artemis can’t hold the entire film on her own and it’s an issue that the film is trying to give her the full load. At least the excellent soundtrack ensures that you will have a good audio experience, but the solid first act is not enough to keep this movie afloat so it’s time to give this one a skip.

Overall 4/10

Redemption 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

Redemption is one of those films that could have worked really well as a stylistic action blockbuster where things are happening around every corner. Instead the film goes for grit and more often than not this ends up hurting the film. By the end everyone’s in rather poor shape and the film does not go for a happy ending. You just know that they’re all doomed.

The movie starts by introducing us to Joe. He’s currently homeless and just trying to survive in the back alleys. Unfortunately there are a group of thugs who go around beating up the homeless every night. Joe ends up escaping but not before getting roughed up quite a bit. He ends up falling into an empty apartment and takes refuge there. The owner won’t be back for a while so this may be his chance to finally start over. Joe stops taking drugs and even gets a job in a restaurant washing dishes. Things are looking up but then he starts getting into some dangerous territory when he accepts a job as an enforcer. On one hand the pay is excellent, but on the other hand he’s basically become a thug now. Can he find true romance like this?

A big part of the film is that he likes a lady named Cristina who works as a nun and as a result can’t actually date him. Joe doesn’t seem to care about that and pressures her into an affair all the time. She half heartedly tries rejecting him a few times but the issue is that she does enjoy the presents. At one point he gives her a ton of cash which she uses to buy some opera tickets. As the film goes on she definitely starts to lower her defenses but Joe tends to make things harder on himself by getting mixed into more dangerous situations so he isn’t always ready at the right time.

The romance is just pretty bad here. If Christina is interested then she should have just retired right away. The life of a nun isn’t for everyone and if that is the case for her then there’s no shame in walking away from that. It would have definitely been a much better option than trying to have it both ways. That’s what gets her into trouble quite a bit. She is a nice person who does a lot for the community so I won’t knock Christina entirely, but this plot just really dragged on throughout.

Never one to miss up a chance for adding some dark elements to the story, we also find out that Christina has a very dark backstory. It’s got to point being in the film except to add some shock value. Likewise we eventually learn about how Joe got into his present situation and lets just say it was not a pleasant experience. The film goes into it but effectively he was a soldier who ended up going on a bit of a revenge mission that rewarded him with a lot of guilt for the rest of his life. While it does explain how he became so broken in the film, it doesn’t make the rest of it any more enjoyable.

We’ve got a lead character here who is an excellent fighter, is intelligent, and resourceful. When Joe puts his mind to it he is able to quickly get a job and turn his life around. He gets off the drugs and even gets in shape again. It was a really solid turnaround but then the ending just throws that on its head for no real reason. There’s no good explanation for why he would just throw his life back out of whack like that. He can try to atone for his previous crimes or ignore it and push on. Intentionally putting himself back in a position where he’s going to be getting beat up and hunted again just isn’t a good way to end things.

There is a mild subplot where people are hunting him down with some security drones. By the end of the film we know who these guys are and this had potential but the film really doesn’t go into it very much. This ends up being more of an after thought that occurs so randomly you may forget it is even happening at some points. If this plot was played up more as Joe is on the run from this group then that would be interesting. I could have definitely gotten behind that.

Instead the film is mainly about showing us just how corrupt the place is. Joe never ends up being a likable character because he does a really bad job of coping with what’s going on. For example, becoming a shady enforcer was a bad move right from the jump. The instant he took that position he lost a lot of credit with me. There were so many other things he could have done instead. Had Joe kept on focusing on feeding the homeless and bettering himself then I think the movie would have been better off for it.

Maybe throw in some more fight scenes to show that he still has skills. We get a few fights but not really the stylized ones you would expect. They’re street fights through and through but at least they give us a break from how depressing the rest of the film can be. Even the main villain of the film naturally can’t be some random evil gangster but instead he’s really depraved. The film gives a whole lot of detail on how he takes down his victims and it’s just more grit.

Overall, Redemption is a film you will definitely want to avoid. If the film is supposed to be about Joe trying to redeem himself then it definitely failed at that approach. Joe starts off on a decent path for that and then just falls off the cliff. There are a whole lot of ways he could have helped people out with his skillset. A film about him taking the city back over from the gangs or something like that could have potentially been inspiring. Whether you’re looking for a dramatic film or a romance thriller, you’ll want to stay far away from this one.

Overall 2/10

Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster Review

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It’s a really good thing they didn’t call this Frankenstein vs the Space Monster because the fight doesn’t happen until the final 2 minutes of the film. So if you’re looking at the poster and getting hyped…don’t be. At least not for the fight. Also, Frankenstein doesn’t even appear in this film so…heh this film is taking a lot of liberties right off the gate. Now, I would say this is still a good film but it definitely could have been so much better. The writing and characters are fun so throw in a bit more action, better villain motivations and you’d really have a hit here.

The movie starts with a group of aliens from Mars deciding to head to Earth and kidnap all of the women so they can repopulate. Right off the gate I can say this isn’t a great plot. When that is the villain’s entire goal then there is no way to really like the villains or find them very interesting. That is a considerable issue because you need good villains in order to get the film to the next level. There are really three villains of note here. You’ve got the Princess Marcuzan who really just sits on her throne the whole time. She can’t fight and doesn’t do a lot of leading either so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot from her.

Then there’s her right hand man Nadir who does a lot of the actual planning. For some reason he will always stare right at the camera and grin after delivering his lines. I have a feeling that wasn’t exactly what he was supposed to be doing. Then you have the monster himself but he doesn’t do anything until the final 4-5 minutes of the film and is just caged up instead. Not a great way to make me impressed with the villain right out of the gate.

As for the human plot, well the government is getting ready to send a spaceship from Earth. To make sure there are no human risks this time, they are sending up an android named Frank. Unfortunately, he isn’t quite perfected yet as he will randomly go into a kind of stasis where he is frozen. It did make for an entertaining scene where he freezes and the camera just stays still for a while. Now you may think this could pose a problem when he is in space with no back-up but the scientists don’t see it that way. They send him up but he gets blasted down by the aliens. Now he is injured with some memory loss and has turned into a monster who will destroy anyone in his way.

Like the actual Frankenstein monster it’s hard to find this guy all that heroic or likable because he does go around murdering people in the meantime. Now at this point he can only read emotions so he just kind of goes berserk but you’d hope that he could fight the system programming a little better. The film continues to show you why sending this guy into space would be an absolutely awful decision all around. There are two human characters of importance in Adam and Karen but they are pretty much non factors here. Adam sees Frank as a pure robot with no feelings or emotions so he doesn’t feel bad when he sees how beat up the guy is. I suppose to an extent this is probably true since I don’t see this android being sophisticated enough to have a soul but at the same time it still makes him come across as rather heartless.

Then you have Karen who feels bad for Frank the whole time but doesn’t really do much to help him. She may act concerned but if you’re not going to do anything about it then it doesn’t make much of a difference. So both of these humans are rather forgettable and you’re just here for the sci-fi action anyway. I will say the writing is solid and the pacing is on point which you would expect for a retro film like this. It’s the kind of movie that just flows into each scene really smoothly.

The soundtrack is surprisingly fast paced and upbeat. It’s got some classic beach tunes and never really lets up. The fact that the film has a real soundtrack automatically means it beats most of its competitors for this kind of title. The tracks aren’t great or anything but they are memorable and give the movie a little more personality. The film may have had a bit of a hard time deciding what kind of film it wanted to be but if you take it as a really cheesy sci-fi flick then you’ll be fine.

I would have just liked to have seen a bit more action. That would have really helped the film since the whole point of a creature feature is to have some real fight scenes. What’s the point of coming up with a monster design and everything if he isn’t going to do anything until the film is ending? That just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. I would also get rid of the repopulation plot entirely and just switch the villain’s goals to a classic take over the world kind of plan. It may have been done before but it’s still a better plan than what the film came up with.

That’s the biggest weakness of the film. It sometimes tries too hard to be a beach type film where you have characters modeling for no real reason or having to be shown off like exhibits by the aliens. The film has more fanservice than you would expect and the scenes all feel like complete filler. All of the beach scenes should have been cut out along with this sub plot and the film would have been all the better for it. It still comes off as a storyline that’s really random. Maybe the writers couldn’t figure out how to stretch the plot of aliens attacking without this but if that’s the case, that’s not a good look. There’s so much you can do with alien invasions. For starters I would have liked seeing more of the government’s overall response to this.

Overall, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is the kind of film that you feel you have seen many times before. It isn’t trying anything new but at the same time the execution is good enough where you won’t be bored. As the movie goes through the motions you will be engaged. It’s always fun to see how the alien films were made back in the day. There aren’t a lot of explosions or action, it’s really a very down to Earth title..aside from the aliens of course. There is still a body count but even that feels low key. The aliens just go around blasting everyone with their fancy ray guns and the humans don’t take it all that personally. Some of them barely react. It’s the kind of movie that certainly wouldn’t come out nowadays so this is really a relic of an older time. If you like science fiction then I expect you’ll definitely like this one. One advantage to being such a simple film is that you can jump right in at any point and understand what is going on.

Overall 6/10

House of Frankenstein Review

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The House of Frankenstein is a big crossover with Dracula, The Werewolf, and Frankenstein’s monster. Once again I found myself impressed at the continuity here with the same settings reappearing and the movie actively acknowledging previous ones. It’s definitely a fun film and really my only issue here is that none of the 3 monsters get to interact at all which is a shame. Dracula shows up in the first act, the Wolfman makes his move in the second, then Frankenstein acts in the climax. Seeing them all duke it out would have really been a blast but the story is strong enough where you don’t need the monster action to have a good time. With good writing and solid characters, the movie was in a good spot from the start.

The movie starts off with Niemann finally getting out of prison along with his loyal sidekick Daniel. (The guard looked awful in the first scene when he got close enough to the door to be choked though. Doesn’t even seem like this was the first time that happened and the scientist is surprisingly strong to do that considering he doesn’t look like he has lifted weights for a day) The villains want to find Frankenstein’s journal for different reasons. Doctor Niemann so that he can finish the research and do some body swapping and Daniel so he can shed his hunchback form and look like a normal person. They murder the guy who got Dracula’s body and head off to the caste where the monster and wolfman were last seen.

Now you have to give the scientist Niemann a lot of credit here. He is extremely well informed to the point where he knows the wolfman’s whole life story. This guy knows the plot of the last film and what the wolfman was doing at the castle. Furthermore, he is able to threaten/blackmail Dracula himself. Now Dracula fans won’t be thrilled at his appearance here because he looks utterly disgraceful. I would go as far as to say at the worst a Dracula has ever looked in a movie, even worse than his slipping and falling off a cliff in an earlier film.

This Dracula is terrified of Niemann and doesn’t have enough strength to overpower him either. What happens is Niemann awakens Dracula by taking the stake out and then threatens to put it back in of Dracula doesn’t obey his every move. It seems like Dracula considers trying to overpower Niemann but then realizes this would not work. Niemann sweetens the deal by saying he will guard the coffin and Dracula is very quick to swear his undying allegiance. You’ll probably be dying laughing instead at how this guy has fallen. It’s even worse when you see how quickly he is dispatched.

One of the strengths of the film though is how each villain brings his own cast in. For the Dracula part of the film we get to meet a group of characters who even seem like they would be the leads. You have the main heroine who is ready for a good adventure, the skeptic who doesn’t believe in vampires and such, the police chief who thinks something fishy is going on, and the heroine’s husband who is cracking lots of jokes. Once Dracula is gone these guys are quickly written out to the point where we never know exactly how their situation ended up. You will have to imagine how all of the reactions were.

Once we get to the Wolfman, Larry Talbot then we are at the emotional part of the story. Larry is still cursed with being a werewolf so he’s hoping to die at this point which is a really dark plot for such an old film. The problem is this is very difficult since it’s like the Hulk where the werewolf has some regen and can’t die easily. The only way is with a silver bullet from someone who loves him. Larry agrees to work with Niemann since the guy promises to give him a new body. Of course that guy is more interested in running other experiments so he takes his time with him. I really question Niemann’s decision making though since each full moon runs the risk of Larry murdering him. I feel like Niemann never even considered that possibility though which is odd.

I always liked the Wolfman so it’s cool to see him appear here. He is certainly the most heroic of the monster group although I suppose that really isn’t saying a whole lot. He is just cursed to transform against his will which is really a rough fate. As for Frankenstein, there isn’t much to say about him because he’s pretty much a mindless monster. He does true to protect Niemann so perhaps he sees the guy as his creator. Either way he still has his weakness to fire though which is always tricky. It was satisfying to see him take down Daniel really quick though since that guy was the new super strong monster and I was rooting for the original to take that round.

Daniel is a character with an emotional backstory too of course. He can’t find anyone who loves him with the hunchback appearance so he follows Niemann in the hope that the guy will cure him at some point. At the end of the day he is still a villain who will murder anyone in his way though. There is a brief romance plot with Ilonka who goes around leading on Daniel and then crushing on Larry. It’s safe to say that this plot was never going to have a happy ending in this monster film. Particularly as she only helped to put Daniel on the darker path a lot sooner than he would have otherwise.

The ending of the film is actually pretty funny. While the film is taken seriously the whole time and I can only assume this is for the ending as well, it’s just the way that it all happens will make you chuckle. Niemann certainly had quite the ending, that’s for sure. In fact, you could say that each of the villains really paved the way to their own demise without the heroes having to do a whole lot.

Overall, this was a really fun film. I still think it loses some energy by not having any of the 3 monsters interact though to the point where the Dracula part feels like a completely different movie with different supporting characters. The pacing is solid though and the film goes by in a flash. Also, I do like the fact that Niemann is quite strong both verbally and physically despite being an old scientist. Choking out the guard was still incredibly impressive and then of course threatening/blackmailing Dracula has to put you up there as well. I would go as far as to say this might be the best evil scientist in these creature features. If you like seeing these supernatural monsters then this is a film that you can’t miss!

Overall 7/10

The Snake Pit Review

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With The Snake Pit I was on the fence about whether I should make this a full film review or since it’s based on a semi-autobiographical novel make this one of those non scored film look throughs. The names are switched of course but based on the book quite a lot of this seems to be based on her adventures if the book is to be believed. Semi-Autobiographical seems like an odd term since I guess some parts are true and some aren’t….Well mix that in with how the film apparently changes some things as well I’ll just go with the review approach on this one.

The movie starts by introducing us to a lady named Virginia Cunningham. She’s currently staying at a hospital because she has grown insane over the years. She is married to Robert but no longer recognizes him and has a lot of voices in her head that cause her to doubt things further. She has no real memory now and tends to go off on tangents. Right now, she is in one of the deeper wings of the hospital with other people currently having mental issues and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope. Fortunately, Dr. Kik takes an interest in her case and decides to cure her. Will he be able to pull this off and what caused her breakdown in the first place?

The film isn’t a mystery title but it does follow that kind of formula where we slowly begin to learn more about her backstory as the movie goes on. At first we have no context for what happened to her but Kik begins to bring this out slowly but surely during their sessions. Of course that in itself is a big part of the mystery so I won’t be saying what the results were. Needless to say, a big thing here is moving on from the past and trying to reclaim your life again.

Virginia is a good main character and the voices in her head are always entertaining especially when they’re arguing with each other. One might say “Smile” but the other one quickly responds with “Careful” so Virginia isn’t sure what to do. These debates are usually very quick but always fun. Naturally the voices start to vanish as the film goes on but they help make everything feel like a conspiracy. At one point she even thinks that Roger may be fake and the whole thing is a trap. Now that would have been crazy if that ended up being the case.

Virginia does her best to recover even though she is sometimes put in tricky situations like with Nurse Davis. Davis didn’t like her from the start and that definitely slows Virginia down near the end. For the most part Virginia gets along with everyone else though and she is a nice character so that makes it easy to gain allies here. She even helps some of the other patients start to recover with how supportive she is.

While the film’s pacing is pretty good there was one act that I think could have really been cut out. Throughout the film we see Virginia’s journey upwards. In this hospital you start at a low numbered ward to show that you are still quite ill and you move up as you start to recover. If you make it to Ward 1 then you’re about ready to leave. So it was a clear cut journey and then right when it seems like you’re at the end of the film….they send Virginia all the way back to the end in Ward 33 or something like that. It’s like completing a video game at level 100 and suddenly being forced back to 1 for New Game+.

I thought this really only served to drag the film out a bit and definitely could have been cut out. The film had been moving really well before that with no issues or anything like that. This was the only part of the film that felt a little boring at some points because it just seemed like we had been through this already. This ward was even worse than the one Virginia was in at first so I guess that adds to the tension but it just wasn’t needed.

The supporting characters were solid. First you have Robert who really wants Virginia to be well at soon as possible. He ends up rushing the process at one point which doesn’t work out so well but you can see why he did this. In a lot of these films the wards end up having some kind of sinister twist to them and she seemed well enough from his perspective. He was consistent about visiting her every day and not giving up so you have to give him a lot of credit there. He was definitely someone she could count on and really lived up to his part of the vow.

Then there is Kik who ends up being quite solid. At first I had my reservations about him, particularly when he was recommending shock treatment since 9 times out of 10 that’s a really bad idea. He did know what he was doing though and it all worked out pretty well. In the end he was the most reasonable doctor there and definitely a master of his craft. For once there was no dark secret here or nefarious intentions. He just wanted to make her better.

As for Virginia’s backstory, well it was definitely an intense one. It’s interesting seeing the events from her point of view as well since you can’t trust anything 100% since she is framing it in the way that she wants to see things. You may be a little skeptical at how this causes the complete breakdown later on but I suppose you can never know what will be the trigger. I didn’t think it really explained her more violent tendencies so well but either way aside from the bite she never attacked anyone so that may have been a more mild effect.

Overall, while the film deals with a lot of darker themes here, I would say it’s an uplifting movie overall. It’s got a very clear journey of recovery as Virginia is able to regain her senses and be normal again. The character cast is good and the writing is solid as well. The only part of the film where it hits a snag is with going back to the final ward. It just felt like a big way to lose momentum and give us events we had just gotten past. You could easily have cut out moments like the dance and all related plot lines as well. Ultimately if we had to go in this direction I would have had her start out in Ward 33. At least it does explain the Snake Pit title for the film by the end.

Overall 6/10