The Forest Review

Posted on May 15, 2016 by dreager1

Looks like it is time for another horror film. They have a fairly bad track record and I’d say that it may actually be even worse than the romance film’s rep. That being said, I’ve seen many more horror movies than romance titles so it’s not really a fair fight. This one came out in in 2016 so it’s actually fairly modern. It’s not a good film regardless, but at the very least I can say that the first half of the film is actually better than around 90% of the horror films that I’ve seen. It goes downhill from there though. I don’t really bother with the spoilers moniker unless the film is new, but this one is 2016 so I’ll say it now…there are spoilers ahead!

Sara was trying to enjoy an ordinary day when her twin sense started tingling. She finds out that her twin sister has vanished inside of the Suicide Forest. Her husband tells her not to be dramatic, but she knows that her sister is currently still alive since her twin sense lets her know if she is alive or not. Sara must hurry since nobody can survive in the forest for long. After all, there are many demons lurking among the trees and they will pounce on anyone with a little sadness in their hearts. Sara knows the stakes so she heads to Japan and enters the forest…but not before getting a drink! She enjoys a good beer and meets a guy named Aiden. He claims to be a reporter and doesn’t mind having her tag along as he goes through the forest the next day. The catch is that he will be recording what she says as they go through. It’s a price that Sara is willing to pay. (For a little while) With the backup at the ready, Sara steps into the forest.

The film is short, but still takes its time getting to the ghosts and jump scares. The first 40 minutes or more is just Sara walking around Japan and learning about the forest from supporting characters. She goes to sketchy morgues and talks to suspicious teenagers along the way. It may not be the most engaging group of scenes, but there are none of the usual negatives from a horror movie like animal violence or violent sob stories involving the main character or a house. Unfortunately, things start to go seriously downhill once Sara finally gets into the forest. Sure enough, all of the usual horror tropes quickly start to appear.

For starters, the simple car crash quickly turns into a domestic accident. There’s no shock value here since this twist has been used to death and just reminds you that this film has no originality in the slightest. I wish that the car crash could have stuck. Then Sara also begins to let the demons overwhelm her towards the middle of the film and ends up murdering an innocent person and herself as well. When Sara was trying to cut someone’s hand off of her, she actually ended up cutting her arm instead. Either her eyes were not working properly or the spirits subtlely moved reality around with an illusion to make her arm look farther away than it actually was. It’s still a stretch of the imagination though and I’m not sure that I buy it. The spirits were also nice and overpowered since they could create illusions on the phone as well which made things tricky.

I don’t think Sara necessarily made the wrong choice all of the time, but she definitely did in the first place. If you meet someone in a bar who immediately tries to hit on you…you probably shouldn’t take this sketchy character to the middle of a dark forest to be alone for a full night. I definitely wouldn’t trust anyone like that and then she starts to doubt him a whole lot. That’s fine, but then try to run til you see a path and get out of the forest. Sara isn’t concentrating all that well and ends up falling in a ditch. Good thing that the villains in this film are so slow right?

As per horror film rules, there is a quick twist towards the end. It makes sense and you’ll feel bad for the nice supporting character, but he probably should have ran in the car with the police when he had the chance. I don’t think he’ll be able to win against a full fledged demon so it’s game over for him. Seriously, it wouldn’t be a horror film without an end twist and I’d say that it is practically a requirement at this point. There are a few other “jump” scares during the film like an old man laughing through a mirror and an old lady who tries to choke Sara. I don’t see anyone jumping during these moments unless you’re just sensitive to noise so the sound automatically makes you move a bit.

Still, many of the dicey situations could have been avoided in the film if Sara had any common sense. When she was camping in the middle of the night, she was supposed to not move from that spot. Instead she runs into the forest where the demons start to feed her their misinformation. Yes, keep on believing the sketchy characters who show up out of nowhere and are constantly grinning. They can’t possibly be lying to your face right? Even demons have standards of what they can and can’t do….no, that’s probably just a rumor. Also, it doesn’t help that Sara can’t really fight for beans so she can talk tough to Alain, but then what? Alain got a rough situation for this film, but that’s probably why you shouldn’t get too close to someone in a bar when both of you are super drunk. Sara letting herself get drunk on the very first day of investigating probably isn’t a very good idea either.

One plot angle that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense is the fact that Jess is actually still alive after a few days. Unless she has absolutely no sadness in her and just went into the forest for the lolz, then the demons should have grabbed her by now. Being absolutely alone…for days in a forest where everyone wants to eat you is a bit of a stretch. You can say that the demons kept her alive so Sara could show up, but then why didn’t they quickly finish her off at that point? They had plenty of time to take them all down so that no survivors would make it through. They are slow though since they couldn’t catch someone who had a broken arm and a badly injured leg so maybe they were still talking along the path.

Overall, The Forest isn’t a great horror movie and it’s not a good one either. I’d call it a sub par film in the end. From the score you can still see that it beats a whole lot of other horror films, but that’s what happens when you can successfully stay away from animal violence and for the most part the film wasn’t even all that grotesque. The demons purposefully look ugly of course, but they’re not over the top like usual. The domestic plot twist was horrid, but at least its screen time was fairly small. If you like horror films then you probably won’t like this film and if you don’t like horror films then you won’t like it either so it will be very hard for this title to appeal to any crowd. Maybe The Woods, or The Mountains can have a better time of it someday.

Overall 4/10

Captain America: Civil War Review

Posted on May 7, 2016 by dreager1

The Captain America trilogy ends on a high note as Civil War escalates the series to another level. I was certainly not expecting the film to take down either one of the two Avenger titles, but it manages to jump over Age of Ultron, making it the best Marvel film right behind The Avengers. While it does not manage to quite capture the level of intensity and depth that Batman V Superman showed, Civil War is easily one of the greatest live action films of all time and a title that I recommend to everyone. Whether you are a comic book fan or not, there is plenty to enjoy here. So much so that it will be difficult to capture all of my thoughts in this review, but I shall do my best so prepare for a long one. On that note, let’s get to work!

The film starts off with a fight against some terrorists led by Crossbones. Captain America and his team of Avengers manage to defeat this group, but in the process a building full of innocent civilians is destroyed by the last ditch effort of Crossbones. Scarlet Witch attempted to keep the blast contained, but couldn’t do so long enough which leads to the media wondering if the Avengers have been given too much power. They want the Avengers to become a public group that works under the United Nations. Captain America is opposed to this because the Avengers will lose their right to act without permission. Furthermore, when his old pal Bucky is framed for being the cause of another large explosion which takes the life of Wakanda’s king, Captain America is forced to go against the law to protect him.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark meets up with a lady who blames the death of her son on the Avengers. The events in Age of Ultron had a lot of fatalities during the final fight, but hearing a personal story about one hits Stark a lot more personally than any statistic would. This is what gets Tony to believe that working under the United Nations as a controlled entity is the best course of action. He doesn’t see eye to eye with Captain America and as Steve (Captain America’s alter ego for my non comic book readers) is forced to go against the government, Tony has to fight him. Neither one will back down as they are both confident that they are making the right choice here.

In the background, we have some other plots going on as well. Zemo is stirring up a lot of trouble in the background as he learns the hypnotic words to control Winter Soldier (AKA, Bucky) and keeps widening the rift between the Avengers. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch feels personally responsible for the lives lost at the beginning of the film and is having a hard time coping with what happened. Being placed under house arrest certainly doesn’t help with this either. Finally, we have the Black Panther, who is working to avenge his father. He blames his father’s death on the Winter Soldier due to evidence showing that he was responsible for the situation. The Panther won’t stop until he is dead so Captain America will have to try extra hard to save him.

All right…where to start with this review. Let’s go through the negatives first since there really aren’t many of them as you may expect considering the positive tone of the film. It’s a 9 star title so the positives easily outweigh the negatives. One weak point in the film is…you guessed it, the extremely unnecessary romance with Sharon Carter and Captain America. You can’t even call it a romance if we’re being honest folks. They just randomly kiss as they say goodbye to each other and that’s the end of that plot. As I’ve mentioned in the past, you simply can’t develop a proper romance in the span of 30 minutes and especially when these two characters are only on screen together for maybe 15-20 minutes tops. If you want a romance done right, it’s got to be gradual like Tsubasa. It’s a super minor thing that certainly doesn’t hurt the film, but this scene really comes out of left field.

There’s a little language in the film. It’s not super excessive or anything, but worth making a slight note. It was certainly out of character for Spider-Man of all people to say the s word. I remember the good ole days of him being a nice kid in the comics who wouldn’t even dream of swearing. His portrayal is great overall though, but he is the result of several power inconsistencies…I’ll get to that in his section though. Is that it for the negatives? If we’re being a little picky I’d say that the soundtrack was pretty forgettable and underwhelming, but I typically don’t expect live action films to really sound that good. Hannah and Man of Steel are really the exceptions to the rule along witih a handful of other titles. Now let’s get to the positives!

For starters, the fight scenes are great like you would expect. In a day and age where hand to hand fight scenes can be a little dicey at times (Instantly going for the eyes) the fights here are handled well. Crossbones vs Captain America was a great way to start off the film and any fight with the Black Panther was exceptional as well. Naturally, this only gets better when you add in the super powers from the meta human fights. The battle between both teams at the airport is definitely the highlight of the film and easily the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s best fight yet! Even before the fight starts, one of the best moments in the film was when Iron Man’s allies slowly started popping up and Captain America was outnumbered by around 5-1. You know that Cap isn’t on his own, but even then it’s just such an imposing scene. Cap would have had no shot against that group and Iron Man’s plan was quite sound. The thing is, great minds think alike and Cap has enough friends to ensure that he’s never alone against such an army.

After thinking on it a lot, I have to say that my favorite character was Black Panther. Yes, Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man lost out this time. The film really handled Black Panther perfectly. He comes across as very reasonable and it certainly makes sense that he would want to avenge his father. Whenever the Avengers would get in his way, Black Panther would be forced to fight them, but he never hesitated. He stood firm in his mission and never wavered while at the same time, he kept a cool head. He certainly didn’t lose his cool as much as Cap or Iron Man and in the end he was the first one to really get away from all of the violence and make the hero call. (Sparing a villain’s life) During the final fight, you can’t say the same for Iron Man. Physically, Black Panther was able to hold his own against Winter Soldier and Captain America. In fact, I’d say that he had the edge over Bucky, but I doubt he would have defeated Captain America. The design for his suit was also really good.

Next we have the other big guest star of the film Spider-Man! So….I was mixed on his portrayal. As Spider-Man he was great. He had a lot of witty banter during the fight which has always been his trademark and his webbing was also very strong as it was always meant to be. In today’s cartoons and comics everyone breaks through it with ease, but in the old comics even the Hulk couldn’t snap them right away. As for the part of his portrayal that I was iffy about….well, I don’t think the actor works very well as Peter Parker. He’s too young and I think that the director made him talk with a higher pitched voice than usual to make him sound even younger. When he first appeared, it almost felt like a parody. His intro was the kind of moment where I could picture everyone laughing out loud. It just felt off. It also helps that the new Aunt May looks nothing like Aunt May and is still one of the more mind boggling changes. At least she encouraged Peter to fight back against the bullies though so I like her up beat attitude here. I like to think that she already knows about him being Spider-Man by the way. I’m calling it right now, she’ll reveal that in the upcoming Spider-Man film.

Aside from Peter Parker seeming a bit off, I think Spider Man’s power level was very inconsistent. Let’s get real here folks, The Avengers are lightweights without Thor and Hulk around. Spider-Man’s worth more than the whole group put together. Maybe Vision could put up a decent fight, but Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Captain America would get speedblitzed. Iron Man and War Machine would be overwhelmed as their suits are ripped apart and Hawkeye wouldn’t land a single shot. Spider-Man’s gone toe to toe with Superman in the past and he’s had some very intense fights with Thor back in the day. To have him lose here is a cheaper cop-out than buying a slice at 7-11 instead of Europa because you didn’t feel like walking the extra block.

He’d look good in some moments and then he’d be treated like a joke the next. Here’s an example, at the airport fight, he is able to catch and repel Winter Soldier’s punch with no effort and even starts to twist it off until he is interrupted. Captain America was previously unable to stop Winter Soldier’s blow with both hands and he was flung through an elevator. So…Spider-Man’s stronger than Cap right? Well, you’d be wrong because Captain America completely humiliates him when they fight and overpowers him twice physically during the battle. That makes absolutely no sense and I was tempted to yell something from the audience like “Boooo” “Nerf alert!!” or something along those lines. I restrained myself though for the good of the movie experience.

Another iffy moment is the fact that he seemed to completely not have a spider sense here. I wouldn’t blame Marvel if they decided to get rid of it though because the ability is way too good. Still, without a mention of removing it, I will have to label it as a plot hole. There’s no way Ant Man can sneak up on Spider-Man because Spider Sense prevents such an event from ever happening. It is literally impossible to sneak up on Spider-Man without some kind of power to get past his ability or if you’re Venom and have compromised the ability by actually being Spider-Man for a bit. Every time Spider-Man got hit by a sneak attack I would wince a little on the inside. Still, aside from being treated as a bit of a joke during some parts of the fight, it was a satisfying portrayal overall. It’s great to finally see Spider-Man alongside the Avengers. This is something that fans have wanted to see for many years and now I’m eagerly awaiting the big dream team of Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Cyclops against Thanos. Make is happen Marvel!

Let’s talk about the Avengers now. I’ve never really cared for Vision in any form of media so we’ll start with him. He’s somehow managed to become even more annoying than he was in Age of Ultron. He pretends to be Scarlet Witch’s friend until we find out that he’s under orders to keep her confined. If he was a true friend he probably would have mentioned something like that. He also attempts a long-shot at blasting someone from a super far distance which backfires quickly. He’s one of the strongest Avengers, but seems to forget that most of the time and actually doesn’t contribute almost at all during the airport fight. Powerful or not, Vision is simply not likable.

His fellow Age of Ultron member was solid though. Scarlet Witch gets a lot of screen time in this film so she can finally develop more of a personality. Her abilities are certainly very potent and as she grows more confident, we can expect more out of her. One good scene in particular is when she materializes an energy shield behind her while she gets the poison gas out of a building. Being able to multi task like that is critical in a fight since she’ll need to have a shield up at all times as her defense is rather low. By the end of the film she has learned to be more independent and sure of herself. She has a promising future in this cinematic universe.

I’ve never been a big fan of Black Widow although her character can vary quite a bit throughout the Marvel franchise. The movies have been one of her worst portrayals in my opinion while she tends to look a lot better in the Avengers Assemble cartoon and the Punisher animated film. She was fairly reasonable here though and while she seems to have fallen to the very bottom of the hero totem pole (I’d say that this film confirms that Hawkeye can defeat her in a fight) she is still a good hand to hand fighter.

Falcon’s role in this film is small even though he appears quite a lot. He’s the guy that Captain America can always count on, but the main problem is that he’s still very weak in the end. He basically has part of an Iron Man suit, but it leaves him very vurlnable. His character’s fairly likable though. We’ve also got Ant-Man who pitches in during some key moments. I admit that I haven’t watched Ant Man enough times to really remember the actor’s face. I knew he was Ant Man based on the trailers and plot, but he felt so out of place in this film. I mean that in a good way by the way. It would be like seeing Sandler walk into the battlefield against Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet. Ant Man’s actor strikes me as a total comedy character and I suppose that it works quite well for Ant Man. There’s really a lot that you can do with size shifting abilities. It’s not the most glamorous power, but it is effective. As for turning huge…I think that’s overrated. If you get hit by an opponent who is that slow, then it’s time for an upgrade.

I’m not really a fan of War Machine here though. It’s not because of the fact that he’s super pro registration because I was on Team Iron Man myself, but it’s why he wants to join. It feels like he’s putting the army before the team (Again…see Iron Man 2 for reference) and that’s why it’s always a little tough to trust teammates who have connections to other groups. If only SHIELD and Agent Coulson were still alive to help sort things out eh? They probably could have helped the heroes go underground as another option. Hawkeye’s role is very small, but very good as well. It was cool to see him break into the Avengers base and he did a good job during the action scenes. He’s a likable member and definitely another guy that Cap can trust.

Time to talk about the real main characters of the film. I was on Team Iron Man coming into the film by the way and I left on that side as well. It’s not a black and white debate and I’ve always been opposed to registration. In the comics, Iron Man’s team was completely wrong. The Registration act was much worse than the equivalent that we see in the film so that’s one big change. Either way, I’m still against any agreement with the government, but I have to stay on Team Iron Man because I can’t stand Winter Soldier. More on that in a little while.

Back to Iron Man. I think that his decision to quickly go along with the documents because he was shown a picture of someone who died during one of the fights is a little forced/rushed and out of character. We needed the conflict somehow though and this is Iron Man, he would definitely start bending the rules and reshaping the agreement after it was signed. Captain America asks Tony what would happen if they saw a bad situation and weren’t given permission to act. I’m fairly confident that Tony would act anyway and the Avengers would be in agreement. Ultimately, this would lead to even more bad consequences for the team so in that sense Cap is right. They may as well just not sign. Especially due to the fact that the government always turns out to be evil in media and this film is no exception. You can also tell that Iron Man is getting a lot older though and you have to wonder how long he can keep this up. Perhaps age has dulled his reasoning, but his fighting skills are still top notch when necessary. Towards the end of the film, Iron Man goes into a fight without holding back. You can draw a lot of parallels to Batman V Superman in those moments.

Needless to say, Iron Man wasn’t taking any prisoners. Obviously, I’m always technically on the side of saving the murderer since we can’t take justice into our own hands. So, Iron Man should lose, but I’m still rooting for him in the moment. It’s like when you like a bad guy and root for him/her over the heroes. They’re evil, but at that point they are simply a lot more interesting than the heroes. I can appreciate a character who has the fortitude to make the right call because it’s incredibly difficult to make that call. So, as a viewer I’m okay with seeing the villain get destroyed depending on the reason and the method, but I’ll still be fine with another hero saving him/her because it’s the right thing to do. I just won’t be rooting for that character at the moment. An example is from the show Yugioh Zexal. The main villain murdered all of the main character’s friends, but at the end the hero tries to save him anyway and even says that they could be friends. That’s……..very forgiving and I know for a fact that I couldn’t make that call. It’s a good call (Well, saying that they’re friends is wayyyyy to disrespectful to his friend’s memories if you ask me) but if there was another character trying to destroy the main villain, then I’d be on his side. It’s like how I was on Black Panther’s side when he went to destroy the Winter Soldier. Thus, I was pretty pleased with Iron Man’s portrayal here. He even tried to be reasonable at the end until that became impossible.

Captain America makes for a great lead as you would expect. He’s a great hero and tries to always do the right thing. He’s in a bad spot since all of his friends are choosing a side. He also had to go during the initial meeting due to an emergency which was tricky since it meant that everyone chose sides while he was gone. The film did adapt his famous line from the comics about how even if everyone tells you that something wrong is something right, then you have a duty to resist. When told to move, you should plant your feet down and say “No, you move.” It was a great quote of Cap’s so it was good to see it used in the film. While I was always against Cap, he was constantly making hero calls and ultimately he is just trying to help a friend. Bucky was mind controlled into doing awful things so it wasn’t really him. Cap doesn’t want him to have to die for things that were not under his control.

He also doesn’t lose sight of the innocents in the crossfire either. He sticks up for Scarlet Witch the entire film and even goes easy on his opponents like Spider-Man. He’s careful to avoid hurting anyone too seriously and his move at the very, very end of the film was great as well. It’s really impossible not to like the guy and he’s one of the best characters in the film. I do think that his strength can be inconsistent as the expense of other characters, but I’m glad that he looks very powerful here.

As for the Winter Soldier, I really dislike the character. Sure, he was mind controlled, but he doesn’t seem very remorseful about what he has done either. He shows no regret and never resists the mind control all that much. I’d say that it’s because it is in his nature. “I won’t kill anyone” Winter Soldier says right before he drops someone to instant death, but Captain America quickly saves the guy before the murder can occur. Bucky was willing to destroy that guy and he goes all out against just about everyone. He’s constantly looking to deal a mortal blow or at least a very serious one if it will let him escape. There’s no way that I can consider this guy to be a hero or even a slightly likable character. That’s why I couldn’t be on Cap’s team. This is just impossible to like at all. Protecting him is the right move, but I don’t have to like it.

As far as the villains are concerned, there are really only two this time around and both of them are fairly minor. We have Crossbones who makes for a good intro villain for the heroes to fight. He puts up a pretty good fight against Cap and actually manages to bring in a draw by the end. Baron Zemo never gets to be in his costume which is a shame, but he does a good job of masterminding the whole film. It would have been awesome if he had actually committed a certain plan that was hinted at. It would have made for a great final fight, but his true ace was just about as good. General Ross also had his own plans in motion, but he was really not that smart. He kept overplaying his hand. Once he got half of the team to sign the document, he should have taken it slowly. Instead, he placed some individuals in a max prison with very inhumane conditions. It’s almost like he wants the heroes to turn against him. If he tried to arrest Iron Man, then a civil war would have really broken out.

Naturally, I won’t say what happened in the after-credit scenes, but needless to say they were not quite as good as I had hoped. The first one was decent since it gave the film a little closure and I definitely like the option here. The characters in the first scene are in a much better position now. As for the second scene, it is very anti climactic and sad when you think about it. The film could have made it a lot more epic and exciting with a quick shape-shift or an Infinity Gem locked inside of a chest or something. You should stick around to watch the first one, but there’s really no need to stick around for the second I’m afraid.

Part of why Civil War is so good is because it is able to balance the serious and light moments rather well. It’s a very upbeat film, but it still gets serious once in a while for something grim to happen, but not for it to be overly grim. I was worried when Zemo confronted a Hydra agent that we were going to get a super violent moment, but it was fairly tame and I’m glad that the Hydra guy stood firm. This event was a lot different from the comics of course, but it was cool to see the film adapt as much as possible and throw in references/moments when possible. The big Captain America vs Iron Man visual made it in of course and there were several more homages that I’ll let you find out through watching it.

Unfortunately, Civil War followed The Amazing Spider Man 2 in the sense that moments from the trailer were not present in the film. “YOU JUST STARTED A WAR!” remember that line? It’s not in the film. “I was wrong about you….we were all wrong about you.” That’s not in the film either. It’s a shame because those two moments were important in the trailers because they showed that things had reached a certain moment of no turning back. Instead, the lines were pure click bait. The film is still very satisfying on the civil war angle and the ending was a lot more decisive than I had imagined, but it’s still too bad that some trailer scenes weren’t present in the end. I feel like a trailer should always have all of its content be in the film.

All right, we’re near the end now. Aside from power level inconsistencies hurting the film’s logic, I’ve depicted how Civil War was just about perfect. Well, why did it lose to Batman V Superman? Here’s why Batman V Superman was the better film. The soundtrack was infinitely better than Captain America, the latter of which had no significant themes of note. Batman V Superman’s fights were significantly better. Cap’s were amazing though and Marvel’s best, but they simply can’t come close to DC’s. Third, as interesting and engaging as Captain America was, Batman V Superman just obliterated it there. The film has you at the edge of your seat for most of it. Granted, as a much bigger DC fan than Marvel, that will almost always be the case since Batman and Superman make for very engaging leads even when they aren’t written as well as they could be. (Batman lacking in intelligence and Superman being a pushover) So, Civil War was great, but I feel like it loses to Batman V Superman in just about every way. Civil War does beat it with having less unlikable characters and no random bathtub scene though.

Be warned though that Civil War’s ending is a little intense. It was so intense in fact that nobody clapped when the credits started rolling and I had to personally start it all off. I think everyone was in shock or something, but I can’t blame them. It takes a while to get used to these things. After all, Civil War was a thrill a minute and there was never a dull moment during the entire movie. The closest scene to being boring would be the very first one, but it still wasn’t that bad. The pacing is quite excellent for this film. I was the only one who clapped after the final extra credit scene as well, but it was pretty underwhelming so I don’t blame the audience for the silence this time.

Overall, Captain America is a great film though and no live action film will be able to defeat it for a very long time. In the near future, the only films that may have a shot are Infinity Gauntlet Part 1 (Which I think will actually lose unless Thanos gets his big fight) and Justice League. (Which I’m also a little skeptical of) If you haven’t seen this film yet then I highly recommend that you check it out ASAP. Even if you somehow don’t know who Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man are, you’ll be in for a treat. Considering how well the team fight went, I’m ready to see a full blown Avengers vs Justice League fight in 20 years. Hey, nobody thought that we’d ever get Spider-Man and the Avengers. Given time, I’m sure that a crossover film is bound to happen! Of course, we’d need Thor and Hulk this time around to keep the fight from being too one sided

Overall 9/10

The Narrow Margin Review

Posted on May 2, 2016 by dreager1

It’s time to take a look at an old train film. Just about the whole film takes place on the train with the detective matching wits against the mobsters. It’s a very short film though, only being a little over an hour so it certainly never drags and the pacing stays rather quick the whole time. It’s a fun little detective film. It may not have the same amount of depth as some other retro thrillers, but this is a good film to add to your collection.

Walter Brown is a good detective/police agent who has been tasked with the job of safely getting the wife of a gangster to a jury so she can release a list of names of other wanted associates. The gangsters don’t want this to happen so they’ve sent some men to eliminate her. The advantage that Walter has is that the villains do not know how the wife looks. Unfortunately, Walter’s partner was an amateur at the protecting business and when escorting the lady out of her apartment, he walked down the dark stairs with his eyes closed and enjoying his smoke. He did not notice anything until an innocent bystander happened to show up and the partner quickly died. With him out of the way, Walter must now keep the wife safe on his own. Can he handle this? At least 2 gangsters are already on board the train and there may be more of them afoot.

The situation grows more complicated as the gangsters start to suspect that another lady on board the train is actually the wife thanks to Walter stopping to talk to this lady quite a few times. Can Walter complete his mission and also ensure that no innocents are harmed either? Looks like it is time for a fight! As Walter says at the beginning of the movie, this mission wasn’t very well thought out on the cops side. Surely there is a more secure way of protecting this witness than putting her on board a crowded train with other gangsters right? Maybe a drive with a police escort or something like that. It would take longer, but it would also be safer.

As this is an old film with a good writing staff, the script is very good. The characters engage in quite a few mind games and throw out subtle insults whenever necessary. It doesn’t mean that all of the characters are likable though as that aspect is really 50/50, but the film is engaging all the way from start to finish. This is a solid thriller even if there are not a lot of twists and ruffles. It’s simple, but direct.

As hinted at earlier, I thought that Walter’s partner was pretty terrible at his job and supremely overconfident. The way that he went down was pretty embarrassing. Walter would be a good main character, but he ends up panicking and yelling a lot throughout the film. A detective’s always got to keep his cool under duress while this guy seems to take everything personally. Everything tends to work out all right for him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is great at his job. On the contrary, he leaves his post many times and actually gets his charge killed at one point. Maybe if he spent less time tailing everyone around the train and stopping to chat with the other passengers, he would have had better luck here. Tying up the convict that he did defeat would have surely been a good move as well.

The witness that Walter is protecting loves to talk so get ready for her to keep on insulting everyone. There is a plot twist about her that makes the whole situation a lot worse as well. She refused to play along with Walter’s plan to stay silent so she would turn the music on rather loudly which attracts a lot of attention since officially she can’t let anyone know that she’s on the train. There’s also the fact that she casually opens the door rather easily after hearing a muffled response. Given the plot twist, she should have had her gun at the ready and definitely should have not opened the door. She’s as bad as Walter in that respect.

The villains are fairly generic. They’re around and know how to fight, but in the end they’re simply foot soldiers working for some unseen gangsters. The one who offered Walter a deal surprisingly didn’t get much of a role in the end. One character who actually turned out to be pretty enjoyable was the “Fat Man” I forgot if he got a name by the end, but that’s the term that he kept on using so we may as well roll with it. He’s really invaluable to have on a Train and especially a train with such narrow hallways as this one. Unfortunately, he’s another all talk and no action character so don’t count on him in a fight, but he’s still fun to have and that’s what counts I suppose right?

We also have Ann, who shows up on the train along with her son and his nurse. They’re fine characters I suppose, but they’re really just here to flesh out the cast more than anything else. The secret that Walter tells the kid never even comes into play anyway. They provide a lot of distractions and issues for Walter from his job since the kid seems to think that he’s a robber and Ann keeps reminding Walter to watch out for his nerves. Walter can’t let himself get too attached though because then the person he is guarding could be in danger. Unfortunately, he does forget his priorities a lot although he is faced with a lot of tricky situations. He really needed some backup for this case and it is a little surprising that he wasn’t given any. At least someone right before the train departed right? I can say with confidence that having one more person would have been extremely helpful.

Back to how the case was handled though, the police could have come up with a better plan. Send in two more guys and just make it official that they’re transporting someone. Good luck trying to get past these guys when it’s public knowledge. Also, they should have had security cars following the train once it was confirmed that crooks were following the main guy. The problem is that there was no communication so he was never able to talk to any of the cops. I’d call that a pretty big oversight in whatever the plan was.

Overall, The Narrow Margin was a solid thriller, I definitely recommend checking it out. The plan may have not been the best, but Walter worked with what he got and showed the Police Force that he doesn’t take bribes. He also wins the big fist fight of the film so he proved that when the chips were down he did not need a gun. I have to question the intelligence of the whole cast though in light of the fact that just about everyone left their doors unlocked for the majority of the film. To break the locks, you need to use a gun and that calls attention so the main characters should have definitely kept the rooms locked. Sure, once Walter let the guy in as part of his plan, but how about catching the guy in the act or simply keeping him out. The villains would try breaking in at some point, but Walter would have the edge with his gun at the ready. I definitely would have handled things differently than Walter, but I suppose that’s part of the fun of these thrillers; thinking of the potential ways this could have ended differently.

Overall 7/10

The Fortune Cookie Review

Posted on May 2, 2016 by dreager1

It’s time for an old school comedy with this film. Fortune Cookie is certainly a winner and the film’s plot is helped out by a great script. I also give the film props for the fact that a Fortune Cookie actually does appear in the film so the title wasn’t too vague. Forget hidden meanings, I would have been a little upset if the actual fortune cookie had not made an appearance here. The film can be a bit sad, but for the most part it is just a great joyride in the end.

Harry was a photographer who was covering a Cleveland Browns game for the NFL. Unfortunately, he was a little close to the action and the punt returner ended up hitting him rather hard. Harry was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital in case he may have been injured rather seriously. This wasn’t the case and Harry was ready to go back home, but that’s when his brother Willie shows up. Willie lets Harry know that he can easily earn 1 million dollars out of this if he’ll just pretend to be injured. Harry doesn’t like this plan since he’s always been a law abiding citizen, but Willie lets him know that his divorced wife may come back to him if he goes ahead with the deal. She even calls and pretends to care about him so Harry decides to go through with the plan. Can he really keep up the charade long enough for the NFL to back down?

Willie is really the character who steals the show here. He really knows his stuff when it comes to conning people about fake injuries. Not only does he know a lot of cases from back in the day, but he knows how to merge fact and fiction in order to make a very believable narrative. Willie is an incredibly charismatic character and he fills the film with good one liners throughout. He can be a little mean, the film also makes a point of showing that he’s not really a good guy. The one thing that he does really like is money though and he is good at making it. He’s no hero, but he is the character that the film needed to boost it to the next level. The NFL keeps on trying to trick the heroes with underhanded tactics like bugging the apartment, but Willie sees through them every single time and is always ahead of the game. Without him, the film would have been over before it could have even begun.

Harry is not quite as good. In the end he makes the right choice about not keeping up the lie, but the process of getting there was quite painful. He is extremely naive whenever the ex wife appears. It’s extremely obvious that she does not care for him one bit and just wants the money, but he doesn’t seem to suspect anything until he finally breaks down at the end and takes it out on everyone. He is also very wishy washy at times as he keeps on acting as if he doesn’t want to go through with the plan before letting Willie convince him. It’s almost as if it is just an act he is putting on so he looks reluctant before going through with it. It’s just really hard to like Harry even if he is portrayed as the “nice” character. He simply lets himself get pulled along for the ride for too long before double thinking it.

No worries, we have an array of supporting characters at the ready who are solid enough to cover for Harry. The Doctor from one of the first scenes is great as he talks back to Willie the whole time and certainly isn’t afraid to dish out the insults. He may have been played like a fiddle, but he kept them honest. There was also the shady doctor who suspected that the whole thing was fake from the start, but ultimately he could not prove it. The 3 NFL lawyers were also fairly great as they tried their best to take Willie down a peg or two. They may have lost every fight, but I liked the way that they sat down and discussed the situation before making a move. It didn’t work out, but some plans just don’t in the end. They still gave it their all and helped make the film so fun.

Meanwhile, we have a character who is played seriously. Boom Boom Jackson is the character who injured Harry in the first place and he wants to rectify his mistake by helping Willie as much as possible. The thing is, he is a character that you don’t want to see at times. That’s because you can kind of feel bad for him since this is obviously upsetting. How would you feel if you may have just crippled a person for life right? So, Jackson is a very sympathetic character and the fact that you know how he is being used just makes it all the worse. However, as Willie was my favorite character, I was rooting for him the entire time. It was a conflict of interest. I’d say that the film did drop the ball with Jackson towards the end though as he probably took things way too hard. He did his part to help Harry out, but that’s no real reason to start missing meetings, tanking at the games, and getting into bar room fights. It felt a little forced to be honest so that Harry would be pressured into making the right call.

This film certainly did have a lot of fun with itself. You can tell from all of the super over dramatic characters. Take the mom for instance, she spent the entire film being really hysterical and crying nonstop. She felt like a parody character. This colorful cast of characters ended up being a really strong pack. As mentioned before, the writing is also strong and in the end this film is really complete.

I also have to give some credit to the ending because it was handled really well. By “the ending” I’m talking about Willie’s scene by the way. He’s very good at thinking on his feet and immediately knows how to turn a bad situation into a good one. Harry may have bailed out on him, but he realized that now he can sue the NFL for breaking the constitution by bugging and spying on his house the entire time. He has no proof so it’ll be tough, but he can definitely pull this off. I wouldn’t mind a sequel to this film!

Overall, The Fortune Cookie is one of the best films that I’ve seen in a long time. It has a perfect blend of humor and more humor as Willie steals the show here. The mental battle between him and the NFL is really why you’ll be at the edge of your seat for this film, but all of the characters really do a good job here. The unlikable ex-wife is made to be a bad character of course, but at least she is also super exaggerated. Think of it as Harry’s ultimate moral crisis. Can he make the right move while being surrounded by bad influences everywhere? I do wish that he had a stronger resolve and hesitated less, but you can’t be perfect and I suppose this gave Willie more room to shine since he was always the smartest guy in the room.

Overall 8/10

The Invisible Boy Review

Posted on April 28, 2016 by dreager1

Time to take a look at Robbie The Robot’s next big appearance. I wasn’t a big fan of the Forbidden Planet, but this film fixes just about all of my complaints. At most, you can say that this film is a little dull for most of the film, but slice of life stories can be good as long as the writing is strong. This film manages to get past the fact that the main character is a little kid since that’s usually worrisome for me.

Timmie is a pretty smart kid and he manages to pull off a feat that the world’s greatest scientists could not accomplish. He reawakens a robot that was found through time travel many years ago. (Well…he had some help from the evil A.I.) The scientists are so furious with this that they pretend that Timmie’s accomplishment is not a big deal. They essentially ignore him so Timmie asks his robot to make him invisible. The parents take this in stride and have fun talking to him about particles and super science equations. Timmie’s a little puzzled by all of this. Unfortunately for National Security, there is a central intelligence machine that wants to take down the planet. Can they really regroup in time?

The tone and atmosphere from this film are very different from the Forbidden Planet. This one plays out like an I Love Lucy episode or an Andy Griffith rerun. There is nothing supernatural of action packed about this installment and Timmie just wants to have a good time. You can definitely call this one part comedy as every character intentionally acts unrealistic as they take everything in stride without batting an eye. In this world, there is nothing weird about a kid turning invisible or a robot time travelling. You would think that this film took place in the old days, but even with alien parts, it’s hard to imagine that people could build such a sophisticated A.I. so easily.

The villainous A.I. is pretty good. It’s nowhere near the All Time greats like Skynet or Hal 9000, the ones who paved the way for evil A.I. programs, but it tries its best. I suppose that it is just a little less menacing and I do wish that it had a better physical body although most A.I. start out as mere generators anyway. As per usual, Robbie steals the show here even if he’s not quite as sarcastic and full of one liners as he was last time. After all, he’s not in his right mind for part of this film as he is quickly taken over by the A.I. Even futuristic robots are not safe from its presence.

As for the characters, Timmie’s a decent main character. He can be a little unreasonable and gullible though as he rides a kite in a very dangerous way and opts to be invisible for the lolz. It’s a great power, but I’d ask Robbie for an on and off switch to make it more practical. Robbie can do just about anything so I think it would probably be a pretty easy feat for the guy. The parents are all right I suppose although there is one scene that is a little dicey for them.

Keep in mind that Timmie is a little kid and up to now he’s basically been a model student. When he turns invisible, he decides to spy on his parents while they are trying to hurt the film’s score with unnecessary scenes. The parents realize this and try to catch him so we get a Scooby Doo chase scene. It’s a total Scooby Doo moment, which also means that they start to fear him a little as he retaliates by throwing pillows and other soft objects. You’ll have to suspend a lot of disbelief here. Would you ever be scared of your 7 year old son just because he turned invisible? It’s a little hard to fathom, but they took the win in the end and Timmie got spanked so alls well that ends well I guess.

As per usual, Robbie was the best character here and the A.I. was solid as well. The government looks decently good as they try to pressure the Dad into giving up the secret to his robots, but he doesn’t have any of that. They look discouraged, but not defeated after that scene. I liked the co-workers as well since none of them got along so we got a lot of passive-aggressive insults traded amongst themselves as Timmie used his invisibility powers to mess with the lot of them. It brings up the question, what would you do with invisibility? Would you use your powers to make the world a better place by going on top secret missions for the government or would you pull pranks on everyone so you could brag about your powers? Think carefully on this…

There’s no soundtrack of course and there’s really not much else to say about the film. It’s a pleasant experience. It tries to get a little serious by the end, but even then it stays very light toned with comedy undertones. If you were waiting for the hype moment in the poster above to occur..you’ll be waiting a while. This isn’t really that kind of movie, or at least it’s not played out quite so seriously. The slice of life feel works for this film though and it never really drags on.

Overall, The Invisible Boy is a good film. There are really no negatives to be found here. There’s not much action and while it is a good film, I wouldn’t call it a great one. It would need to have some more exciting moments or better characters to get a higher score. Compared to the average movie though, a 6 is quite high. I recommend this film if you want a nice little film to watch and remember the good ole days with. It’ll certainly be nostalgic for older viewers. If you want more action, then you should probably check out Terminator Genisys for a more serious take on this concept. Of course, you’ll miss out on Robbie The Robot that way so think about this move carefully.

Overall 6/10

Forbidden Planet Review

Posted on April 28, 2016 by dreager1

It’s time to look at a second rate Star Trek film with a crew that certainly won’t impress you. This film was so much worse than I had expected it to be due to the terribly written romance that was included. So, to those that say this is Star Wars IV level, I have to shake my head this time. I don’t think I want any big remakes of this film and I’d rather they adapt The Invisible Boy again. That review’s coming soon so prepare yourself for it. On that note, here we go!

John and his friends command a spaceship and have been sent to an alien planet to look for a researcher who vanished here many years ago. They find him all right, but the rest of the crew has been mysteriously murdered. Hmmm, is it possible that there was some foul play afoot here? The researcher refuses to answer any questions, but the team of space cadets is attacked by an invisible monster at night. After a few space cadets are murdered, John decides to not focus on the issue all that much and focus on romance instead. Does this crew really stand a chance at accomplishing their mission?

The rest of the film would have gotten a decent 6/10 ranking if not for the romance so let’s start with that. The main heroine is Altaira and the problem is that she doesn’t really understand human culture. She doesn’t know what a “kiss” is, etc. The group naturally takes advantage of this and several (perhaps all. Given that the film hints at this by having her say “Why don’t you kiss me like everyone else” to the main character) of them kiss her. The film uses this as an excuse to have her bathing without a bathing suit because she doesn’t know what one is along with fairly dicey forms of attire. You’d think that John would be above all this since he’s the commander, but he decides to get in on the fun as well.

It’s a terrible romance because Altaira doesn’t really understand what she’s doing. The men are just tricking her for their own pleasure. John even admits that they haven’t seen a woman in a very long time so the crew will all dash at her. John says it as a warning, and yet…he’s no better. Altaira essentially has the maturity of a child and so, this romance was never going to work and it obliterated any chance that the film had of being good.

None of the human characters were likable either so that didn’t exactly help the film either. John is a terrible captain and none of his men seem to have any moral values. Altaira is way too naive and her father is cryptic and shady for no real reason. He doesn’t warn the space cadets about the monster until it destroys a few of the members and he didn’t even realize that messing with futuristic tech could destroy his mind. He’s supposed to be some kind of genius right?

Forbidden Planet also goes to great depths to show off its equipment at the expense of destroying the film’s pacing. The pacing completely dies for nearly an hour as the characters slowly walk from room to room looking at just about every single piece of equipment. They even take a quick ride around the complex, which takes around 15 minutes of real time just for fun. Maybe if the effects actually looked good it wouldn’t drag quite as much, but compared to films like Tron Legacy…this one can’t hold up.

The effects aren’t bad though and apparently they were terrific for its day. I don’t think it justifies the incredibly long wait time though. There’s not really a soundtrack, but you wouldn’t expect one for a very old film like this one. There is one highlight to the film that I haven’t really touched on yet. That’s the famous Robbie the Robot. Rob definitely deserves all of the praise that he gets because the character is very enjoyable and a bright spot amidst my other complaints. He has a nice blend of condescending smacktalk with subtle sarcasm to make him a rather deep character. He’s certainly not two dimensional and he’s very loyal as well. He is powerful and I would have liked to have seen him fight the monster, but that’s all right. The insults all make up for it. It’s easy to see why he would later return for other movies.

The monster was also decently cool. The invisibility trick was likely to save the budget, but we got some glimpses here and there and even a quick shot towards the end. I wish the monster could have appeared for an extended amount of time though. Regardless, it broke the barriers made of pure energy which theoretically should not be possible. Who knows, we may have found a rival for Godzilla after all. It’s a shame that this action part of the film could not have been a bit longer because it was easily the highlight of the film. I’m always up for more action after all and the laser fights reminded me of Star Trek. It was certainly made in that kind of style and had the film gone this route, it likely would have been a lot better.

Overall, A terrible romance is what ultimately doomed this film. It could be drawn out and a little boring at times, but it would have still doubled the score that it ultimately got here. The laser action scenes and the giant monster would make sure of it. Maybe throw in a twist about aliens arriving as well for extra tension. If you’re looking for a retro sci-fi film, you should just go and watch Star Wars Episode IV. If you do plan to see the film, at least you’ll have Robbie The Robot to enjoy. His presence in the film does help to elevate it to a certain degree. This isn’t the last that you’ll see of good ole Robbie though as my next review will feature another big appearance of his.

Overall 3/10

Hannah Review

Posted on April 27, 2016 by dreager1

Time to look at an interesting assassin film. I was actually super confident that this film had to be R due to the atmosphere and the fact that it could get pretty intense at times so I was surprised that it netted the PG-13 rating. That’s definitely a good thing although it ultimately can’t save this film. Hannah is a film that always wanted to have a sequel based on the unexplored plot lines, but settled for being one incomplete film. Think of it as a mystery thriller.

Hannah was trained as a hunter/killer ever since she was a baby. She was raised by an experienced secret agent who taught her how to live in a harsh environment (Snowy mountains) for years. The only thing Hannah knows is that she is supposed to push a big red button when she feels ready for a new challenge. Upon pressing this button, she’ll be hunted by another assassin and only one of them may walk away from their fight. Her mentor urges her not to do this, but Hannah does anyway. So begins a deadly game of cat and mouse as the mentor leaves to fight his battles while Hannah meets up with a nice (heh) family who help her realize how much fun life can be. The only tricky part is that the assassins (Multiple ones now? Doesn’t seem fair anymore….) don’t care about collateral damage.

First off, I’d like to say that a born assassin is always a great concept. This character naturally learned a very skewed version of morality and won’t really comprehend the difference between good and evil. Not for quite a while at least and possibly never if the assassin never talks with the targets. Street Fighter’s Cammy had an origin like this although it was never delved into and we’ve seen it with many other characters. The problem is, it’s incredibly difficult to utilize this plot without falling into the trap of super violence or the “Starfire issue” which has the character act way too ignorant of non combat related things. I’m sure that a well trained assassin will know a lot about daily happenings since it is necessary for the job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this concept played out exactly as I would like it too, but it’s very hard to perfectly adapt something from my head canon as opposed to what is happening on screen.

This film takes a nice shot at the concept, but they do make Hannah very naive. She is a kid though and a lot younger than most assassins would be so it’s a little more excusable. That doesn’t make the scenes any more enjoyable though and I probably could have done without most of the scenes with the family. The parents got a lot of good one liners and burns in, but they really just held Hannah back most of the time. Hannah’s friend was very annoying as well since she could have handled Hannah’s secret a lot better rather than simply running off to get captured or put Hannah in a bad spot. The friend was supposed to be tough right?

This is also one of those films where you’ll probably feel bad for most of the background characters. Essentially, just meeting Hannah is a death sentence since her opponents will quickly find and neutralize you. After all, the characters know too much. It’s a shame to be in their shoes and it is why you should always know how to fight if you’re dealing in that kind of business.

The best character is easily Hannah’s mentor, Erik. He’s a very well trained fighter and it’s easy to see that he is more skilled than the other people who are after him. He successfully evaded them for years after all and it is only due to Hannah that they found out at all. He consistently gets the better of them the whole time and seems to be on the ball. He was involved with the super soldier experiments, but seems to definitely have more heart than the other members. The main villain is certainly not in the same boat. She cannot decide if she wants to destroy Hannah or simply capture her for more experimentation and she can’t fight at all. She talks tough from behind a glass screen, but once the action dials up she is quickly overwhelmed.

As for Hannah herself, she is a decent character I suppose, but not too likable. Again, if she knew more about Earth customs and such, I think she would have been much better. As it is, at least she can fight even if it can be a bit of a stretch to see her taking on adult agents. Just think of it like Robin beating crooks back in the day even though he was a little kid. A little stretch of the imagination isn’t all that bad.

Unfortunately, the film does fall into the classic animal violence trap for no reason. Even worse, this occurs at the very beginning as a Deer is shot with an arrow and then shot with a gun just to hurt the film’s chances of being good even more. It’s debatable as to whether it’s worse to start or finish with animal violence. If you start with it, I’m going to be in a sour mood for the rest of the film as it’s not easy to forget. If it’s at the end, then at least I could have maybe enjoyed it for a while until it happened to which the film would crash. Same effect in the end, but I had more time to enjoy it. Either way, this started the film off on a verrrry bad note that it most certainly could not recover from.

The film’s fairly violent even without that though. It’s not quite as extreme as some other thrillers/horror films that I”ve seen, but it can still be a bit much. Films can certainly have menacing villains and cool action scenes without resorting to this. Just look at Final Fantasy VII Advent Children or Man of Steel if you want a live action film example. Again, this usually comes hand in hand with the born assassin concept though.

Luckily, the soundtrack is incredibly good so you’ll really have a pleasing experience audially at the very least. Most of the themes are all really cool futuristic techno esque pieces, which is something that fits very well for this concept as well. In particular, you’ll think of the tunnel scene near the beginning of the film, which actually worked as a great environment. It would have been great if Hannah could have stayed in the base for the whole film. The locale would have been a big improvement and it definitely would have had a Resident Evil vibe to it. Hey, if the film wasn’t going to get a high score by that point, it may as well go for being more engaging. Resident Evil films are nothing if not engaging.

A lot of storylines are not wrapped up by the end so there is plenty of room for a sequel. Just about all of the backstory and reasoning behind the fights in the film are shrouded in mystery so you can choose to come up with your own answers. I don’t think a sequel will be coming out after all and it’s possibly for the best. That being said, a good 10 year time skip with a new assassin as a rival could make for a riveting film provided that it was handled perfectly. There’s a better chance of Transformers 5 actually getting a 6/10 though.

Overall, Hannah wasn’t exactly a winner, but it certainly could have been worse. I was definitely shocked to see the soundtrack. I still love the basic premise as well and you can easily just zone out of the film and imagine how the film should have gone. I don’t really have that luxury while reviewing of course, but in my head canon I’ll sneak in a quick “Sorry writers, but x should have happened to y in place of a, etc, etc) Nobody can write a better film for me than me after all. If you like the concept and are prepared for an intense film then this should be right up your ally. The subplot with Eric even plays out like a James Bond/Bourne type adventure as well so action is never lacking. If you want a better action film though, just check out Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol.

Overall 3/10

The Peanuts Movie Review

Posted on April 27, 2016 by dreager1

It’s time to take a look at the latest Charlie Brown film that came out. This one decided to go with the comic title “Peanuts” which was an interesting move. I suppose it works as the film isn’t as centralized around Charlie as usual. He is still the main character by a long shot of course, but I’d say that this is more of a trip down memory lane than anything else. The film adapts parts from many of the older films and does its best to bring back all of the running gags as well. It’s really a trip down memory lane for Charlie Brown fans.

The main plot of this one revolves around Charlie Brown trying to work up the courage to talk to the little red haired girl. (She never gets a real name) He gets his big opportunity to do this when they are paired together to write an essay for class. She has to go back home for a bit though so it’s up to Charlie to impress her with his essay skills. Meanwhile, Snoopy continues to be attacked on the Astral Plane by the Red Baron. He’ll have to really hone his skills if he wants to make it out of this fight alive. That being said, this is Snoopy…he can handle anything that comes his way!

The Peanuts Movie really went all out to try and be like the older films. This is commendable since fans were really hoping that this wouldn’t go the Bayformers route or that it simply wouldn’t change everything for no real reason. Unfortunately, it only manages to be an imitation of the older films and doesn’t quite deliver its performance with the same amount of heart. The characters all go through the motions and act like their old selves, but it doesn’t quite work as well as the originals. A copy can never surpass the original right? Think of this situation like that.

Obviously, the animation has changed quite a lot since the old days. Rather than get better, it has unfortunately gotten a little worse. I did like the tributes to the old days as the classic animation would pop up from time to time though. That was always fun to see, but the CGI is fairly lifeless otherwise. All of the character designs are rather hollow. The CGI could have used some more sparks or something, but it is just CGI in general that always looks lifeless next to hand drawn animation. It’s not downright bad animation, just a little sub-par. There’s a decent amount of music here and the tunes are decently good. I can’t really recall any of them at the moment, but having any sort of soundtrack is always a good start for a Western animated film. It’s not much, but it’ll do to help give the film an extra kick.

Meanwhile, the film puts a great deal of emphasis on romance plots rather than focusing on the storylines that made Peanuts great in the first place. A female Snoopy character even appeared in this film to help him out against the Red Baron and it instantly turns into something romance related. That’s a shame since we certainly didn’t need more of that. It’s a Peanuts film so the romance won’t really go anywhere, but it doesn’t help the film at all either. These are scenes that could have been used for something more engaging. For example, more scenes of Snoopy actually fighting the Red Baron. Naturally, the same goes for Charlie’s plot.

Regardless, Snoopy still steals the show as per usual. His dancing skills have certainly not declined over the years and he is still an expert at everything that he attempts to do. It’s tough to surpass a natural genius who also trains at everything. Snoopy is a nice dog though and he teaches Charlie how to be cool whenever he has the time. Charlie’s a solid character for the most part as well. He always tries hard to accomplish whatever goal he has set his mind too even if he lacks confidence and can be a pessimist at times. Letting the essay get ripped was a little dicey though and I think you’ve gotta just keep that in your pocket once it is already written. Never take any chances! Charlie also acts selflessly quite a few times such as when he refused to take any credit for someone else’s test score. He’s always an honest individual who tries to help others. He may have his faults, but he is certainly a good person through and through.

As for the other characters, they’re true to form. Charlie Brown’s sister is pretty unlikable though as Charlie helps her out in a pinch during her stage performance, but she refuses to return the favor and help him learn how to dance. Charlie really could have used some assistance, but luckily Snoopy stepped in. Linus is always ready with words of encouragement and is probably Charlie Brown’s only real friend. His other “friends” still mess with him for a quarter and hold a soccer ball only to make him trick. (Well, that’s Lucy in particular) The Little Red Haired Girl seems like a reasonable character as well. She doesn’t talk all that much, but she certainly isn’t mean spirited. She’s just not around all that much unlike the other kids who seem to have unlimited free time.

Overall, The Peanuts Movie is an enjoyable experience. Technical merits are certainly not everything and the things to focus on here are the writing and the likable characters. Perhaps it tries a little too hard for nostalgia at times like Star Wars VII or even Goku and Friends Return to an extent, but a sequel would likely try to develop its own plot. I don’t think we’ll be seeing one for a while, but you never know. The romance could have definitely been played down a little, but I believe you’ll still enjoy this film. Can it beat the Christmas special? Definitely not, but maybe you’ll prefer it to the original Charlie Brown film.

Overall 6/10

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom Review

Posted on April 26, 2016 by dreager1

That title’s a mouthful eh? I thought about shortening it, but this is how I formatted the previous films so I may as well keep it in. Also, I’ve published other posts with long names in the past so it’s not all that new. This may be surprising to hear, but Attack of the Legion of Doom is easily the best Lego film out there. It beats The Lego film and even all of the other DC titles. I don’t see this one being surpassed to be honest since it really hits all of the right notes. This is Lego as it was always meant to be.

The Justice League have effectively ended all crime. The villains have not been able to get anything going since they are always outgunned. Lex Luthor decides to fix this problem by making his own group…the Legion of Doom! He holds tryouts to see who will join his legendary group. In the end, the roster includes Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Lex Luthor, Black Manta, Cheetah, and a few others. The League will have to fight extra hard if they want to beat this well knit team, but they have some problems of their own. Batman was voted as the leader of the Justice League, dethroning Superman and raising tensions among the rest of the team. Cyborg is also dealing with some drama so this is the perfect time for the Legion of Doom to strike!

There is one major reason above all others as to why this is the best Lego special. Lego specials don’t really do much in terms of fight scenes because they are comedies above all else. There may be the occasional fight, but typically they are short and not really played seriously. That’s not the case in this special as we actually get some extended fight scenes and they are played completely (90% anyway) seriously. These are fight scenes that you could picture actually looking really good with another animation style. DC wasn’t pulling its punches this time. One scene in particular that looked good was when Batman used his secret punch on Black Manta. These kinds of action scenes you would not usually see in Lego.

Another feather in this film’s hat is the soundtrack. The music themes are a little hard to describe. I’d say that they have a bit of a party theme to them. It’s easy to jam to the beat as you watch the heroes and villains duke it out. The themes are very fast paced and definitely a lot of fun to listen too. It is easily the best soundtrack in all of Lego and that’s considering the fact that The Lego Movie had a fairly decent soundtrack as well. When you consider how good the music was and the fact that the action scenes were so solid, it is easy to see why this is the best Lego film.

Meanwhile, the Lego graphics are about what you’d expect from now. I still consider this to be one of the weakest animation styles out there, but it is what it is. It looks like your average Lego film so at least there is a lot of consistency there. It’s not better than usual or worse than usual. It simply fills the bill and moves on.

One of the main plots is that nobody really thinks Cyborg is League material. He begins to doubt it as well when he constantly puts the team in danger so that’s a cause for some tension. It’s a great plot because that’s what we all thought when the New 52 tried to force Cyborg on us as a Justice League member. I’m sorry folks, but he’ll always be a Teen Titan to me. Dick Grayson, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy are in the same boat. You can throw them on other teams like the Outlaws or the Doom Patrol, but they’ll always be Teen Titans when it counts. Cyborg really tries, but he simply can’t keep up with the rest of the team.

As per usual, Batman steals the show here although Superman is a decently close second. Batman taking charge of the League was great and he even reminds us that he is the brains of the operation on many occasions. He is the only one who saw through just about all of the plot twists in the film and he held his own when it came time to fight. He was also smart enough to realize that leaving the planet while there were still a lot of villains there was not a wise move, even if Superman overruled him there. Batman’s the ultimate solo act and without him the League would be finished. The films have done a good job of taking a comical spin on his personality traits, but not taking the bad ones and making them worse. (Teen Titans Go) Rather, they’ve taken his better qualities and made them even better.

Likewise, it is good to see Superman’s ultra heroism at work here. He is so fair and just that he naturally assumed that he could not vote for himself in the election. He knows that the system works after all and he always manages to get in some one liners as he fights crime. Naturally, there is no fear of the other villains within him since Superman is all but invincible so he grins for just about the whole film. There is some kryptonite towards the end, but Superman definitely doesn’t go down without a fight.

Flash and Green Lantern spend the whole film fighting over Wonder Woman so I can’t say that they handled things all that well. This is an example of a quality that I was hoping would not be dramatized. Wonder Woman’s role is fairly minimal as she tries to ignore Flash and and GL whenever possible although it’s not always easy. As for the villains, they’re all fairly accurate here. It’s easy to sympathize with the Trickster a little since the heroes intentionally mess with him quite a bit. Sinestro is easily shown to be one of the smarter villains from the get go which was good. He certainly deserves the title more than the others. Lex Luthor called the shots as expected and he insulted Gorilla Grodd quite a bit, which could be a subtle reference. Deathstroke also gets a quick cameo, which was handled very well. His fans are sure to be pleased.

Make sure you stick around for the end of the film by the way since it hints at big things to come. I’m certainly ready to see this plot actually happen since it has been set up for quite a while now. Seeing the big villain at the end arrive to fight the Justice League will be a blast. If the writers are able to handle it well like they did here, we’ll be in for quite the show. I still doubt it will be able to beat this film, but I’m ready to see what they do with it here.

Overall, Even if Lego films are not your thing, this is a film that I would recommend. The writing is very good as is the soundtrack. The Justice League members look solid for the most part and the fact that we actually get some fight scenes here is just an added bonus. The film is also fairly short as well so it is not like you would lose a lot of your time by giving this one a shot. You can say that you’ve seen Lego at its peak and if this doesn’t help you become a Superman fan, nothing will! (It’s a great answer to Batman V Superman as well folks since they both get to trade witty banter and try to out think each other with their very different views on how to handle a situation)

Overall 8/10

A Boy Named Charlie Brown Review

Posted on April 10, 2016 by dreager1

It’s time for another Charlie Brown film! This is the big one since it’s what really got the ball rolling for the Peanuts, but it’s actually not quite as good as the legendary specials like Christmas or Thanksgiving. The main reason is that the film tries to artificially extend the run time so that it can be a feature length film. This involves some rather odd musical scenes that aren’t bad, but they aren’t all that good either. In the end, it’s still a fun film though.

Charlie Brown is pretty sad because the Baseball team always loses on account of his bad play. It’s not just him as none of the other characters know how to play either, but the instant he isn’t around the team finally manages to get a win. That’s okay, Charlie has bigger things to worry about now. He is going to enter the big spelling bee to prove that he is the best in the entire planet. It’s a tough job, but someone has got to do it so it may as well be good ole Charlie.

It’s a pretty peaceful adventure as you would expect. As mentioned earlier, the one iffy part here is the fact that the film evidently couldn’t last as long as the writers wanted it too without a little help. This results in the odd dance numbers where the characters just run around if they’re on screen or you’ll just see some crazy visuals. It felt like something out of Serial Experiments Lain, but without the depth and interpretative visions. It’s a lot more entertaining than 2001 A Space Odyssey, but nothing happens so it is really just a time for you to walk away, grab a snack, and then come back. The fact that this happens more than once is another problem altogether.

Again, it doesn’t really hurt the film all that much, but it is enough to push it under the classic specials. On the bright side, this could be Charlie’s best appearance yet. Sure, he may not have won the spelling bee, but he actually gets pretty far and proves that he is one of the best memorization experts in the whole country. Charlie wasn’t super smart from the get go, but he tried and tried until he made it. He’s still as gullible as ever when it comes to letting his friends trick him, but you can’t be perfect.

He’s also got allies who help him get that far. Linus gives him a blanket to help Charlie focus and Snoopy saved Charlie’s bacon when it was crunch time at the first regional. qualification test. Imagine getting knocked out of the tourney before it even begins. Yeah, Snoopy’s definitely a pal and someone that you want to have in your corner. As per usual, Snoopy steals the show here. He is a pro at everything that he tries and he helps Linus navigate through the city at night even if the kid isn’t all that grateful for the dog’s efforts.

The rest of the characters aren’t all that supportive of Charlie during this endeavor. Nobody even comes out to greet him after he gets back home, which shows where their priorities are. Well, all you really need are Linus and Snoopy as pals anyway. Charlie can also get some advice for 5 cents as well so he’s pretty well off. It is tough to imagine being the reason why your team loses every single game for years though. That’s got to be eating away at Charlie’s confidence since he practices so much, but still lets the other team win. I’m waiting for the film where he actually excels at everything and has a perfect day only to find out that it was all a dream. That’d be pretty hype.

As per usual, the animation is pretty fluid and consistent. The series has always had a very distinctive style that works well for it. I wouldn’t mind seeing a black and white Charlie Brown adventure. I think it would work pretty well in this style and could even look visually more interesting although the dream sequences certainly wouldn’t be as good. It’s definitely a bit of a pros and cons kind of angle. There are a bunch of songs and themes as well. They aren’t quite as memorable, but I remember them being fairly good/decent. They certainly don’t hurt in case you were a little worried about that happening.

On another note, these kids sure do get a lot of freedom. Charlie Brown gets his own hotel room and Linus is able to travel through the city in the dead of night. Back in the day things were definitely safer so people could wander around, but it also fuels my theory that Charlie Brown is actually about a group of college students and the animation just makes them look small. The blurry voices? They still belong to the adults and teenagers just can’t understand anyone who has exceeded a certain age. There are a number of fairly decent theories you could make about the series, which is always fun to do. Of course, I would not want a live action film to go that route.

Overall, A Boy Named Charlie Brown is a good film. It serves as a decent introduction to Charlie Brown’s character in case you haven’t seen the other specials. As far as Charlie’s plots go, the Spelling Bee was definitely one of his better ones. My favorite is probably still Charlie trying to read Love and Peace. He typically has the best plots in each of the specials/films, but that makes sense when you think about it. The main character should always be the highlight right? Otherwise, why would the films be called…Charlie Brown? Peanuts would have been a nice title, but I actually prefer it this way. If you want a fairly uplifting story with an emotional climax, this is the film for you!

Overall 6/10

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