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The Next Karate Kid Review

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The Karate Kid trilogy was pretty intriguing. It was never as good as the Rocky films, but Daniel LaRusso eventually became a decent main character. It was always fun to see Mr. Miyagi take out some villains. This one was supposed to be a step down from the trilogy and I can definitely see why. At best, this film can possibly match up to the second Karate Kid film, but that’s about it. Why couldn’t this film take down the rest and become the best? Let’s find out!

The plot involves a girl named Julie Pierce and she’s not doing very well. She’s been skipping out on class and not finishing any of the homework. She also gives her grandmother a lot of attitude, BUT she has a soft spot for animals. (Hint, this is where the audience is supposed to sympathize with her) Her parents were also taken down a while back so she’s pretty sad about the whole thing. Luckily, her grandmother is friends with Mr. Miyagi and he offers to babysit her for a few weeks. The grandmother heads out of state for a while so that Miyagi can make Julie a better person.

Unfortunately, the school has been corrupted and the fighting instructor is out to get Julie along with many of the students who are on the disciplinary committee. The harassment won’t stop and while she has one friend…it’s not enough. Mr. Miyagi decides to teach her how to fight, but will Julie learn enough to take down these advanced fighters? It’s time to find out!

Well, before I get into the characters, I must warn you that the film’s ending is arguably tragic. Eric had a dream to become a pilot, but it may have been shattered by the villain. Eric may still be able to follow his dream someday, but it will now be a lot harder. His really expensive and extravagant car is also blown up and the bullies decide not to pay him back since nobody can prove it. Eric really gets the short end of the stick by the end of the film and you almost feel bad for him.

Julie is the main character of the film and she’s definitely a step down from LaRusso. She’s very rude to everyone from the very beginning and her scenes made me physically cringe for most of the film. Her sarcastic expressions just wouldn’t stop and her glaring at everyone got old pretty quickly. By the end of the film she has essentially changed her ways and become a much better person, but it’s hard to forget the first half. I can’t say that she was one of the better characters, but she went up from being a terrible character to a slightly below average one. She’s a little too distracted by her emotions and romance as well, but Eric is also to blame for this.

Eric is the main guy in this film and he’s a decent character at best. He’s constantly trying to be with Julie and eventually the two become friends. That subplot could have definitely been written out of the film. Eric spends most of his time getting beaten up by the villains, which is definitely unfortunate for him. The final fight wasn’t very fair, but considering that I believe that he only landed one punch. I’ll never understand why the good guy doesn’t throw a punch immediately. Even the legendary Rocky preferred to get jabbed a few dozen times before countering.

Mr. Miyagi is about as good as per usual. The film really wanted to show how well he could fight so Miyagi got more battles than usual. He takes on some guys in a random gas station, shows up some other guys in a bowling tournament, talks big against the evil fighting teacher, beats up the evil fighting teacher, etc. The film really tried to show us that Miyagi is the greatest fighter of all time and he’s too cool for the world. Miyagi is cool, but the hype can be a little much at times. It was definitely played up a little more than the other films. Wellll….Karate Kid 3 had a pretty intense scene where Miyagi beat three professionals teaming up soooooo….nuff said.

Ned is the main bully of the film and he’s about as bad as you can expect. He’s a pretty bully who wants the girl for himself and he openly threatens people without any consequences. This is because the teacher is on his side and the teacher can bend the Principal to his will. Ned gets to stay after school at night without being charged for breaking and entering. He also tricks the cops several times and he gets away with assaulting another student with a baseball bat. (I have to say that I wouldn’t go to that school without some body armor or at least a bullet proof hat) I’m sure that we can all imagine how Ned’s big fight against Julie plays out, but you may not expect that Ned shows off his cowardice in public. He tries to start the fight with a cheap shot…which shows that he fears Julie. So much for being the big villain eh?

Colonel Dugan is the evil fighting teacher who is the head honcho of this business. He beats up his students for fun and then he tells them to destroy other students. The school lets this fly for unknown reasons and none of the students are bright enough to tell their parents or the school administration. Dugan has his climatic fight at the end of the film, but aside from physical injuries….he can now head right back to the school. Some of the students quit, but I’ll feel bad for the others that are still in the group.

One of the many negatives in this film is the fact that the school allows this. You could sense the bullies coming before the main character even set foot in the school. The faculty are just not aware of the situation and they don’t even seem to care. The evil teacher angle has been played up a thousand times at this point. I know that this is because this is made to be very similar to the first film, but it can still be hard to watch. There’s also a very unnecessary fanservice scene for the main heroine. It’s brief at least, but still unnecessary and it certainly doesn’t add anything to the story.

One scene that felt completely fake was when Julie’s grandmother forgets what her real name was and called her Susan. This leads to the plot twist that Julie’s parents are dead and she runs off for the umpteenth time. I know that it was a stressful time, but there’s no way that the grandmother would actually mess up her name. It was just pretty lazy writing at that point.

Another complaint would be Julie’s personality turn around. After jumping over the car she became a different person. Suddenly, she bonded with Miyagi over the portraits. She would take a step forward and then two steps backward. The Monks were decent at least and she got to bond with them by the end. It’s what counts I suppose! There isn’t much of a soundtrack in this film so I won’t be mentioning it. It’s pretty common for a film to forget about having a good soundtrack, but it can still be pretty sad.

The ending is rather abrupt and it ends badly for a few of the characters. Julie is basically doomed as far as her homework is concerned and Eric is now missing a car. Both of them have a tough road ahead, but maybe it will be okay. Provided that the teacher is kicked out anyway, but that seems unlikely. At least the bullies will finally take a break.

That also brings us to the artificial scene where the bullies suddenly get a heart. “That’s too much” and other lines like that. They just blew up someone’s car and they were giving him a pretty big beating. They didn’t seem to have a problem with harassing the main character and chasing her around the school all day. The scene happens in most of the Karate Kid films so we all saw it coming, but it still felt fake. The humanity!

Finally, I have to mention the fight scenes. They’re all done pretty terribly and you can tell that the budget didn’t make it through this. To show how powerful Miyagi is, they used slow motion on the villains. This would mean that their punch comes in really slowly to make Miyagi look fast in comparison as he breaks their arms and twirls them around like nothing. Miyagi humiliates all of the fighters, but there really isn’t any choreography. He’ll just flip them and punch them until the villains are down for the count. A show with a TV budget could make more realistic fights, but that’s arguably the charm of Miyagi. At any rate, the fight scenes are amazing compared to the rest of the film.

Overall, this isn’t a film that I would really recommend to people looking for some action. Mr. Miyagi is really the only good character in the film and his fights are the best part. The Hawk is good and I’m glad that the animal violence never occurred because the film couldn’t lose too many more points. The film just isn’t very enjoyable to watch and the romance didn’t help matters. Bullies are everywhere, but I’d like to see a real student council for once. One that isn’t corrupted. Instead of watching this film, go check out Rocky with its true fight scenes!

Overall 3/10

Red Eye Review

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An airplane is a pretty good setting for a film. Flightplan definitely did pretty well in that regard although there will always be a lot of suspense for disbelief. Red Eye also takes place on a plane, but the circumstances are entirely different. Red Eye is definitely not as good as Flightplan, but it was an all right film. I definitely had some issues with it, but other parts were played out well.

Lisa has a pretty tough job over at one of the biggest hotels around, but it’s always good to take a little break. Now, she is ready to go back there and she’s going to take a late flight that gets even later after a plane delay. A guy by the name of Jackson starts to get friendly with her. After a lot of awkward moments, Lisa manages to get in the plane…only to find that Jackson is sitting next to her. He tells her that she must place a call that will destroy a prominent political figure (By switching his room to one with a window) who is staying at her hotel or he will have someone destroy her Dad. Those aren’t acceptable terms for Lisa and now she’s going to need to find a way out of this!

Unfortunately, that will be tough because there don’t seem to be any reasonably smart people aboard the plane. This is where the suspense for disbelief comes in. The main villain headbuts Lisa out of nowhere and someone should have seen and heard the attack. I don’t see how Lisa was knocked out so quickly that she was not even able to gasp. Jackson manages to steal a book from an old lady without her noticing and then he attacks Lisa inside of the restroom. Again, I have to wonder how nobody put two and two together. The little girl could have done a better job of explaining what was happening to the Stewards as well.

Lisa is the main heroine of this tale. I can’t say that she’s one of the more likable protagonists as she made things way too easy for Jackson from the beginning. Bonding with him at the bar happened way too quickly. Then Jackson told her about the big plot twist and she really didn’t take it very well. She should have quickly caused chaos and made the plane land. The guy still needs to make the call to get the Dad and she’d have an opening at some point. Instead she starts crying. I have to admit that this is one of the times where a male protagonist may have been a little better. If this had been someone like Indiana Jones, the main character of the Bourne films…or even guys like Captain Kirk and James Bond; they likely would have just gone on the offensive or bide their time until an attack could be made. Now, is the crying realistic for her? Maybe, but I’m not actually so sure. At that point, it was just a threat and the situation wasn’t completely dire yet. There is a chance that things could get worse and then crying would be acceptable, but it happened a little too quickly. Her final scene is also supposed to be cool and hardcore, but it really just falls flat.

Jackson Rippner is the main villain and naturally he isn’t likable. He’s about as generic as they come and we get no reason to sympathize with him or root for him. He’s just an obstacle that is in the hero’s way. I didn’t even like him before Jackson became the main villain. He was way too pushy and definitely not the kind of guy that you could root for. After changing into a villain, it didn’t really help his case. In the end, he was just bland.

Joe looks pretty bad for most of the film, but it’s arguably not his fault. The average joe wouldn’t suspect much from a car just being outside for a while. Must be a coincidence after all. It was annoying to see him get taken down so quickly, but he essentially makes up for all of this by the end. He seems like a nice guy, but his role is ultimately pretty small. It’s good that he always has a gun at the ready though.

Cynthia is one of the helpers over at the hotel and she had a pretty stressful day. The hotel personnel weren’t very nice to her and then the villain situation popped up. She did the best that she could so I don’t have a problem with her. Keefe seems like a decent politician and he takes the whole thing in stride. His role is even smaller than Cynthia’s but he was one of the better characters. That being said, his security guards were even better. Now those guys were trained professionals! They quickly went and scanned the room for any possible dangers and they were skeptical of the room change. They should have moved the (suspicious) boat that was outside, but they’re only fishing right? After the climax, the guards definitely move fast so at least they are always prepared. I always get a kick out of seeing the government no matter which group it is.

Now, there are a few more times where I had to suspend my disbelief. At one point, the main character has a gun, but she lets the villain walk up to her and knock it away. That….that’s just not right. If you’ve got a gun, then you need to do everything humanly possible to keep it in such a dangerous situation. That was definitely a bit much. The other part is when the cops are alerted that Lisa is on the run. Then they also allow the villain to run right by them. At least arrest one of these guys. The police just didn’t seem to be very smart.

Ultimately, what held the film down was the fact that it just wasn’t very fun to watch. It didn’t suffer from ultra violence, fan service, (One unnecessary scene, but it could have been much worse) animal violence, etc. This is a negative that doesn’t pop up as often, but it’s always crucial. There were no moments in the film where you would feel like cheering except for MAYBE the final gunshot. The rest of the film may be a bit suspenseful for some or just irritating for others. I was more on the latter since I just wanted the hero to do something. Instead, she was basically Jackson’s pawn the entire time. There was also a completely unnecessary backstory for Lisa that we find out about in the climax. The pen scene can be a little disturbingly brutal, but the scene isn’t there for long and I was expecting something gritty like that to play out at some point. It’s typically something that comes along with characters who aren’t professional fighters. They usually have to resort to pens or another sharp object and aim for a weak point. It definitely could have been worse, but it was a lose-lose situation. Well, Lisa had to do something to escape, but I wouldn’t have minded a book slam instead.

Overall, I can’t say that this was my favorite plane movie. It just wasn’t that fun and there is really no replay value for this kind of film. The main character and the main villain were not so great, but the supporting cast was good, which helps to make up for that. There isn’t really a soundtrack in the film and many characters are introduced as if they will have a role, but they end up being inconsequential. I would recommend this film if you’ve wanted to see a film with blackmail to see how the hero gets out of it, but for a much better plane thriller I would go with Flightplan.

Overall 5/10

The Mothman Prophecies Review

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After the last few films that I’ve seen; the Mothman Prophecies is definitely a change of pace. It’s a horror film with some drama mixed in and who doesn’t want to see a film about the Mothman!? Unfortunately, this is one of those films that starts out decently interesting and then quickly stops being entertaining. Why? Let’s find out!

The plot involves a man named John Klein. He’s doing pretty well in his career as a reporter and he has just finished purchasing a house along with his wife. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and his wife dies after a big car crash. As she dies; Mary (The wife) draws some off pictures of a moth creature…could it be the Mothman? John doesn’t take this too seriously and he takes his mind off of the drawings for two years. After he is taken to Ohio and strange events begin to pop up…John realizes that he’s in it for the long haul. The Mothman’s not going to win without some resistance!

John Klein is the main character and he’s all right……at best. He really gets sucked into the Mothman rumors and he doesn’t take it too well. He breaks down into tears at one point and the Mothman really had him petrified after a late night call. After his wife’s death, John seems ready to move on after two years. That’s way too soon if you ask me and he should be more worried about retiring than thinking about getting into the romance game. No, John Klein is not a main character that will help a film get going. John also comes across as a little generic at times. There really weren’t any good parts about him…that’s disappointing.

Connie is the main heroine, but she’s still a supporting character in the end. She’s the Policewoman in the haunted area of Point Pleasant. For the most part, she seems to be the only cop around, but others appear out of nowhere towards the end of the film. I have to say that she’s a little too trusting since she walks around without her gun at the ready when it’s around 3 in the morning. What if the stranger had actually been evil? It would have been Game Over. At least she doesn’t put a whole lot of stock into the Mothman rumors. She was definitely a decent character.

Gordon is pretty unlikable from the start. The Mothman really does a number on him and Gordon never recovered. He also drags John back into the mix as he keeps Mr. Klein updated on the spooky situations that keep on happening to him. Gordon should have just ignored the weird phone calls and then decide to call it a night. It may be easier said than done, but he definitely could have kept some composure as he was enduring this situation. I’m just saying…

Indrid Cold..AKA, the Mothman is the big villain of the film. Unfortunately, he never actually appears in the film. Maybe the Mothman isn’t actually real? Naturally, the film hints that he is very real, but I guess they couldn’t afford the special effects needed for him to make an appearance. We have to settle with hearing him as the Mothman proves that he may have knowledge beyond comprehension as well as basic telekinesis or invisibility. The Mothman seems to be able to mess with their minds or he is just really good at impersonation and changing his voice. It can be a little sad for the heroes since they really don’t stand a chance. The Mothman is portrayed as being basically invincible so that eliminates any hope of the heroes walking out of this with a trophy or something like that.

Alexander is the expert on all things supernatural, but after the Mothman has a few choice words for him….Alexander leaves the business. We find out that he’s deeply afraid of the Mothman and he prefers to just forget about his supernatural knowledge and just sit around eating tea and burgers. (We don’t see his eating habits, but this is just an expression to show how badly he is taking this) This strategy did work so maybe he was on to something…maybe.

One area that didn’t help this film was the romance from the first few scenes. The main characters are already married so it is a bit much to see what they do upon getting the new house. Pretty unnecessary if you ask me, but it’s nothing compared to the “two teenagers in a car” scene. I’m sure that we must have seen a similar scene like this in just about every horror film. This one was one of the most pointless ones that I have come across and it comes out of nowhere. These two characters literally have no point in the storyline and the scene was just there to add some fanservice. Ugh….you wouldn’t find this in the classic films like the Peanuts Christmas special.

The soundtrack is basically nonexistent. I did like the opening credits since it helped to establish a spooky tone for the film without being overly cheesy and forced. I actually enjoyed the opening a lot and I wouldn’t mind seeing something similar in the next Godzilla or DBZ film. It’s horror themed, but it really builds up the suspense that every film could use.

So, in the end….why was this film so bad? The problem is that it drags on for a long time and there is no point by the end. The climax is terrible and it’s not exciting in the slightest. You never feel a real sense of danger because the Mothman never actually appears. We know that he loves to pick on John, but why? The viewer gets to make a lot of decisions on what has actually happened, which is all right…but sometimes you want the film to make a few decisions. Can the Mothman really take someone’s soul and bring them back to the world of the living or was it just some more shape shifting on his part? He also may be able to steal memories. At first, we’re interested in John’s plight because now he needs to avenge his wife and take this creature down. Then we see him listening to spooky tales for an hour and a half…before deciding to not really do anything about it. Sure, he can’t win, but let’s at least get some action in here. Nothing really happened and that’s why their was no point. We would just see scared people panic all of the time.

Overall, this was one of the weaker films that I’ve seen in a while. Ultimately, it’s just very boring and even the first half would now be pretty boring since I know that it doesn’t lead to anything. We really could have used a few explosions or fights to help make the film a little more exciting. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone. Watch the third Bleach film if you want something a lot scarier and a lot more epic at the same time. Next time the Mothman makes a phone call….just tell him that he has the wrong number.

Overall 3/10

The Forgotten Review

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The Forgotten is a film that I had not heard of before, but the poster is pretty cool. This was in 2004 so it was ever so slightly before the time where I got into films. Because of that, I tend to be unaware of films that came out before 2010 except for big classics. (Ghostbusters, Mario Film, Jaws, Alien, etc) This is a pretty solid film and while there are some twists where I would have chosen a different path as the director…it was better than I had expected.

The plot involves a woman named Telly. She is still in mourning over the passing of her son Sam, who died in a plane crash. Dr. Munce is trying to help her move on from Sam, but he goes too far when he tells her that she should forget about him. Telly won’t have any of that and she heads home. Unfortunately, she discovers that her husband (Jim) has erased her video tapes of Sam and also used photoshop to alter their pictures so that Sam is now Jim or he’s not in the picture at all. Telly questions others about Sam’s existence and none of them remember. It’s as if Sam has been wiped from existence. Telly must now find out what has happened to her son and who could have enough connections to bribe everyone into pretending that he doesn’t exist! (The alternative is that she’s crazy or this is all just a big dream so we can’t take that out of consideration)

Telly is a good lead for the most part and it’s nice to see some determination from her. We rarely get that in our movie protagonists as they conform to the higher ups or just do what they want. Telly is doing everything that she can to find Sam, but it’s a tough battle. The problems that I have with Telly involve an unnecessary scene that I’ll mention later and the fact that she practically starts flirting with Ash at one point even though she is a married woman. It’s not as if it has been years since she was just at home with Jim and there’s no reason for this. Aside from this, she is a decent character and while she never got to grab a gun or a sword to defend herself; she still talks tough until the end. (Letting her guard down as they was playing tag towards the climax was pretty bad though)

Ash is one of the main characters in the film and he showed some moments of brilliance, but many of his scenes were still pretty sad. He definitely doesn’t have as much willpower as Telly and he forgot that he even had a child. That’s pretty…disappointing to say the least. He has a tendency to drink a lot, which likely didn’t help. It’s good that he finally decided to stop drinking later on, but it took him a little too long to make that decision considering how high the stakes were. He had a good fight with two members of National Security and he put his hockey skills to good use. That was definitely his best scene in the film and he did a lot of the physical work for the heroes. Ash definitely got better as the film went on although he never became as cool as Ash Ketchum and I can’t say that I like him as a character.

Jim is Telly’s husband and he was decently likable for a while. He can’t really take a joke and telling the cops that Telly was crazy seemed a little sad. Perhaps she was or perhaps not, but he seemed pretty exasperated at the time. His role is pretty small and he still seems like a decently good guy, but it’s a good thing that Telly managed to escape. He would have impeded her investigation.

Dr. Munce is the psychiatrist who is helping Telly and at first I was surprised that he was actually serious. Typically psychiatrists are always evil or inept in films and Munce seemed to avoid this. Seemed is the key word here. Once the first twist occurs I quickly became suspicious of his motives and hopefully everyone else had that thought. Then he began to get a little pushy in his search to find Telly and I knew that things were about to get dicey. I don’t like him as a character because he lacks the will to stand up against injustice. Lacking bravery is never a great thing and you need to stand up to fight for what’s right when the chips are down.

There is one Detective who appears to be on the heroes’ side. She doesn’t like the National Security members and she believes that Telly may be on the right track. She has a gun, but that may not be not be enough to save the day. After all, is Sam a real person anyway? There is also a strange person that is following the main characters. There is something off putting about him….hopefully the heroes stay out of his way!

The big Unnecessary scene that I really disliked involved…you guessed it..Fanservice! I’m not sure if people use that term for live action, but we may as well since it’s the same thing. At one point, Telly and Ash are at a motel and she decides to strip down so that she could go to sleep. The stakes are already super high and Ash is basically still a stranger at this point. Is now the best time to be worried about how many layers you’re wearing while asleep? It’s not exactly hot out since everyone has jackets so she could have just gone to sleep with all of her clothes on. Ash has the generic moment where he stares at her for a second before tearing himself away, but that whole situation should not have happened. it was forced and I doubt that it attracted any new viewers since nobody would know about such a short scene. (Unless it’s in the trailer, but I skipped it this time) They also flirt a little in the next hotel as they sleep way too close to each other, which was also terrible. It’s what drags Ash and Telly down as characters. How could I like them as much after that?

Once the big twists come in; then the film loses a little bit of the suspense. I agree with the twist on who is behind Sam’s disappearence. The government, Telly’s mind, or something else! What I didn’t care for is the fact that the heroes really don’t stand a chance. It’s always good to keep the heroes in the mix because there’s no danger if they’re too powerful or too weak. (It’s why I cringed when Kid Buu went up against Krillin!) They should have closed the gap in power, but I can’t say much more without spoilers. That’s just my take on the matter.

Typically, this is around the time where I would mention the soundtrack, but there isn’t really one to speak of. I’m sure that it technically has one, but in a film like this you don’t remember any of them. It probably had some generic dramatic themes or a good one for the hero moments but I can’t recall any of them. That’s never a great sign, but it’s to be expected for a live action movie.

Overall, this was a pretty fun mystery film. It’ll definitely have you hooked as the film goes by and the stakes continue to be raised higher and higher. We actually get a gunfight, but I will admit that it was pretty unimpressive. The best part of the film was the fight with Ash and the two National Security members since it was a fight and it also brought the suspense that the film needed. This proved that something needed to be done and things got a lot more interesting. I definitely enjoy films like these and I’d recommend it to mystery/suspense fans. It’s very suspenseful and intense until the interrogation scene comes to an abrupt end. (Well, the actual interrogation scene wasn’t really good because the heroes have to become the villains and that sort of thing. They didn’t really go too far, but Ash may have crossed the line eventually. I just don’t like interrogation scenes unless it’s done in a peaceful way in a peaceful setting) That’s when things got a little out of hand, but you’ve still got a big chunk to look forward too. (Also, there were more scenes at the end that were cool, but that part took away a potential route that would have been more fun) Also, how can you pass up on the film with such a cool title!

Overall 6/10

X Men Days of Future Past Review

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This was definitely the Xmen film that everyone had been waiting for. It had been a while since First Class so it’s only natural that everyone was excited about this one. It would link up the original trilogy with First Class and finally tie everything together. It was a great move on Fox’s part and I’ve always loved time travel stories. I believe that the very concept makes plot holes jump in all at once, but they’re worth it for the sheer fact that it’s time travel! I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this was the greatest comic book film ever as I’ve heard around the web, but it was a good film.

The film starts out with the heroes in the future as they do battle against the Sentinels. It’s basically a wasteland at this point and there aren’t many mutants that are still alive and ready to continue the fight. The Xmen decide that their only hope is to go back in time and stop this from ever occurring. Professor X wants to go, but Wolverine is the only one that can handle the strain on his mind. They send his consciousness back into his body from the 70’s and Wolverine must assemble what’s left of the Xmen to correct the timeline. The question is…does it need correcting? We’ll talk about the ethics of time travelling later on in the review.

Mystique has decided that she’s going to destroy Trask for the suffering that he has brought to the mutant cause and she’s also freeing other mutants along the way. Professor X doesn’t want anything to do with this and Magneto has plans of his own. It’s going to be tough for Wolverine to bring everything together, but at least he has the Beast with him. He just needs to stop the Government from making the Sentinels…how hard can that be?

Wolverine is a pretty commanding figure as you may have expected from previous films. He still talks big and we get a classic scene where some guys try to shoot Wolverine and he quickly takes them down. The problem is that we are mostly seeing Logan and not Wolverine. Wolverine gets an extremely brief fight against a robot, but that is basically it. The rest of his action scenes are against humans who cant really fight back. He looked pretty intense in his future outfit, but the fight scenes were not meant to be. Unfortunately, his few action scenes were not very kind. Wolverine looks terrible against the robot and I cant say that his final fight was great either. His role was smaller than you may have guessed from the trailers and he’s basically there to be the “old pro.” That’s the vibe that I got from him. He’ll finish the job if the others are unable to do so, but he’s mostly there to watch. Unfortunately…he isn’t much of a last defense.

Mystique is one of the main characters in the film. As she continues in her investigation to take Trask down: Mystique needs to evade the heroes. She does pretty well and manages to make the heroes look bad at several points. She does a really good job of following Trask to his base, but she is outmatched by the heroes. Aside from outsmarting them, she doesn’t stand a great chance in a fight. She plays the part of the hardcore Anti Hero and she does it pretty well. You start to root for her when she saves the first mutants and it helps that her subplot is infinitely more interesting than Wolverine’s. She’s surprisingly good at following Trask’s trail and she’s basically a secret agent. She can definitely hold her own in a hand to hand fight and she ended up looking much more impressive than Wolverine. This is easily her best film appearance.

Magneto gets a bigger role in the past than in the present, but he looks pretty good in both. As an old man; Magneto is definitely still pretty good in a fight and he does inflict some damage. His powers have their limitations, but I thought that his portrayal was accurate considering his age. The past Magneto was pretty nostalgic because it felt like his role in First Class. He got to have his own plot on the side and nobody could really stop him. He’d go wherever he wanted to go and just cause mayhem. He had a clever plan involving metal and a group of Sentinels, which was pretty good. He should definitely be considered as a villain in the film due to his extreme sides, but one could make the case that he’s an Anti Hero. (Anti Hero is typically still a villain, but someone who is committing evil acts for a good cause. Magneto’s actions stretch this a little bit, which is why I just thought of him as the villain) Whether Magneto was a hero or a villain; he’s always been a pretty likable character. His scenes on the Airplane were good and I always enjoy a good veiled threat from one “hero” to another.

Professor X is one of the worst characters in the film. (Past version) I understand that he wants to get away from the whole mutant problem and seeing them go off to fight a losing war in Vietnam was probably sad…but it completely destroyed his personality. (Also, if America has Xmen in the Vietnam War…I’m confident that we would have won. Also, couldn’t Charles have just altered some memories so that the Xmen wouldn’t have to be drafted? It seems simple enough) Charles is now a drunk person who uses injections to keep his powers away. Any scene with him in it was pretty bad. Magneto even has to point out how awful Charles’ actions were as he let their students be destroyed through the years. Xavier definitely should have done a better job of trying to protect them.
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It also makes you wonder how he goes back to normal. Without Wolverine entering the timestream…how could Professor Xavier become the man that we saw in the first film? As it stands, it’s really hard to picture him going bald and then deciding to help mutants again. I’ll assume that his shots ran out and it helped him go back to the way that he was, but I can’t say that it seems likely. A bit of a fault with this subplot in the film, but every time travel story has its issues. It’s just one of the unspoken rules about time travel. The current Xavier was pretty good and he’s about what you would expect. Unfortunately, telepathy has never been good against Sentinels.

I definitely was not a fan of the Beast in this film. I don’t like how they basically made him into a Hulk and I don’t like him in either form. The effects for his Beast Mode are surprisingly unrealistic and they over hype him. (I don’t see him doing so well against Wolverine) I definitely would have been glad if he wasn’t in the film and it’s a scary thought to see that he’s the only Xman left at one point. These were definitely dark times for the heroes.

Quicksilver was pretty good in this film and I have to say that it will be tough for Avengers 2 to top his portrayal here. Speedsters should basically be invincible when they appear due to how slow everything is in comparison. In Quicksilver’s scene, we see just how slow everything is compared to him. Bullets are in slow motion and those are already moving at supersonic speeds. I don’t see how he can endure it when characters talk to him because it must take whole minutes for the sound to get to him. It’s one of the phenomenons of super speedsters so I don’t generally think about it that much. Just accepting it is a lot simpler, but I can’t accept a random person landing a hit on a speedster. Luckily, Quicksilver’s speed is accurate and he looks very good during his speed scenes. I definitely can’t wait to see him in the sequel.

The Sentinels in the present are very cool. They’re powerful and the designs give them a very horrifying appearance that is perfect for them. Sentinels should definitely be intimidating and the film captured this. I’m a little skeptical about the humans creating something this hi tech, but I’ll just assume that they got some other worldy help on the project. Naturally, the Sentinels in the past are very unimpressive and downright weak, but they’re more than a match for Wolverine. It would be nice to see the present Sentinels get some more screen time, but their few scenes were very good. They can definitely hold their own against the mutants.

Aside from the main mutants in the past; we also have the team from the future. Storm, Sunspot, Warpath, Shadow Cat, Iceman, Blink, and Bishop. They have a pretty limited amount of screen time, but the cameos are still fun for fans. Storm is able to make a pretty impressive storm that takes care of some of the ships. I would have liked to see some more lightning as well, but we can’t have it all. Shadow Cat doesn’t get to fight since she’s busy with her time travel abilities, but she’s a decent character. Warpath is pretty silent for most of the film and the average moviegoer may wonder how a guy with two daggers is still alive in these tough times. Warpath is outmatched from start to finish, but at least he tries. Iceman and Sunspot use their elemental blasts, but none of them are really that effective against the Sentinels. Good for temporary measures, but that’s about it. Iceman’s idea to wake up Shadow Cat was decent since a tactical retreat could have been in order. With his ice slides, I like to think that he would have made it pretty far. Bishop had a cool design and his powers were epic, but he was pretty inconsequential. He didn’t do a whole lot of damage and he should have focused on releasing his energy quicker as they started to blast him. It was a waste of his abilities in that scene.
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Blink did the best against the Sentinels and her powers are formidable. Creating portals wherever she wants too is an excellent ability and it’s one that should be more than enough to buy time against the Sentinels. Unfortunately, she lets her guard down and moves a little too slowly at one point. Something like that was bound to happen at some point, but I wouldn’t have minded if she had escaped. With her abilities, she can basically launch a one person offensive against the Sentinels for a long time.

Trask and Stryker are both extremely unlikable. It’s natural to dislike them since we’re supposed to be rooting for the heroes to win. Still, it is possible to make villains that are likable and these two don’t fit the bill. Since they are basically the only villains for the heroes to face in the past…it doesn’t really help matters. Both of them can’t fight at all so they have to hide behind other people with guns and just hope for the best. Stryker has a gun, but I don’t believe that it will really help him.

Back to the time travel part of the film. The Xmen send Wolverine back in time so that he can change things and help them all out. Naturally, it’s understandable that they would want to change things because of how everything turned out, but…why not use time travel for other cases. They could have used it to go back in time and stop the Phoenix from destroying Cyclops. They could have gone back in time to stop the bullet from taking out Professor X’s legs and so on. Ultimately, if you time travel once…there is no turning back. There will always be other things that they could have done with it. Why not save Abraham Lincoln or Kennedy while they’re at it? Ultimately, the Xmen are doing it to help their position and I’m sure that many others would do the same, but it’s still not the best move considering that the repercussions will be worse for others. Some will be better off and others will lose out thanks to this deal.

Another part of time travel stories that I never buy is the fact that things got so bad so quickly. I don’t believe that the humans could take down the mutant race with a bunch of Sentinels. There are far too many mutants and the government can’t hide something so big. The mutants would quickly find out about the Sentinels and it would be game over. Some of the mutants must have an EMP related ability and naturally we have control over time. Taking over minds or just nuking the planet…either way this wouldn’t work. There’s no way that the human race would band together for the Sentinel program and at least one country would fire the first nuke. World War III would begin and there wouldn’t be any survivors. The few that may live through such an event wouldn’t have time to form a government and launch thousands of sentinels. The whole situation is about as unbelievable as the Age of Ultron…and that was unbelievable! I just don’t tend to believe any scenario where all of the heroes are defeated so easily. (Not to mention the villains. Naturally this means that I will never buy into Spiderman 2099’s continuity. It just doesn’t make sense)

This time I can’t really say that there was much of a soundtrack. There are some light background themes playing, but none of them are really memorable and you may figure that they were free domain music. It’s not the next Winter Soldier or Amazing Spider Man 2 in that regard, but an unmemorable soundtrack is better than a bad one.

While Days of Future Past was good; I ranked Amazing Spiderman 2 and Captain America higher than it. This is mainly due to the following reasons that I will get into. First, the film lacks fight scenes. We get two fight scenes in the future with the Sentinels and that’s about it. In the past, the only opponents are random humans and unfinished robots. Beast has a small scuffle with Magneto, but it’s barely even worth calling it a fight. The past scenes are decently interesting at times, but also a little boring for others. I felt that the film could have used a little cut in the runtime or just focused on the present more. At least give Trask a mutant body guard to that we could have some fights. I was really surprised by how little fighting there was and that was the first big strike.

Next, I didn’t like how weak the mutants look. Wolverine yells in pain when some guys shoot him and then he yells again when someone throws in another bullet. By this point…isn’t he used to getting shot? I get that the regeneration factor doesn’t take away the pain, but his reaction felt very dramatized. The present scenes don’t help the mutants either. While it does make the Sentinels look tough in comparison; I would expect a much better fight from the Xmen. How about using teamwork and letting Warpath get a clean shot at the Sentinel’s head through a portal? Long range fighters like Iceman and Bishop should have fired from afar instead of running right into the Sentinel’s range. The Xmen were humiliated in the fight and we got to see them get completely crushed twice. Storm also let her guard down in a critical moment, which was likely sad for fans. Weakness in the heroes is something that I criticize Transformers 3 for (And likely 4 based off of the trailers) and it can definitely bring a film down if you’re a fan of the character. The Sentinels could have still looked impressive if they had some more resistance from the Xmen. It’s a delicate line to tread for the film, but it is crucial.

Those were my two big complaints with the film. Despite the new Spider Man film not being regarded as a masterpiece, it didn’t make these mistakes. There was constant action throughout and Spider Man looked very impressive during his fights. He never went in unprepared for action. The film never dragged on for me because it was a blast. Winter Soldier may have had a bit of a slow middle, but it made up for this with higher stakes than these two films and really great hand to hand scenes.

Naturally, the film has an after credits scene, which should lead to an epic sequel. I’ll admit that I was underwhelmed by the scene, but that’s because I had high expectations. I basically knew that this character would appear in the scene, but I expected him to look a little more grand. Like the Thanos scene in the MCU franchise. The scenery also wasn’t my favorite and I wanted a little more action, but it’s only a single scene so we can’t expect too much out of it. While this film may not have felt like an Xmen/Superhero film; the sequel could definitely get that vibe. If they adapt this villain correctly; then it’s safe to say that big things should be expected!
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Overall, this was a good Xmen film. It lacked action and dragged on for a while, but it was good to finally have another film in the series. (Wolverine films can’t make up for the other Xmen not getting to appear) The stakes were technically very high since the future was dire, but it didn’t feel that way in the present. From the moment that Wolverine went into the past everything seemed safe. Even if he had to go, Professor X and Magneto are now aware of the danger so the Sentinel program would never be allowed to advance into such dangerous territories. The ending was really good and it’s a fun way to end the franchise. (Ignoring the sequel coming up) I’m pretty happy for Wolerine since he usually gets the short end of the stick, but he can finally enjoy himself now. I still recommend this film to superhero fans, but don’t walk in expecting a lot of action and explosions. Think of it as an Ocean’s Eleven tale as Wolverine must gather up some friends to take down the villain’s plans. As a side note, the final scene of the film is probably one of the best ones in the franchise. Wolverine finally gets taken down a peg as someone puts him in his place. The line was epic and it’s the type of moment that will make an audience blow up with rage and excitement. It’s a scene that you don’t want to miss!

Overall 6/10

Godzilla (2014) Review

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2014 has been a pretty big year for films so far. We got The Amazing Spider Man 2 and Captain America, which were both pretty great films in their own right. Nontheless, Godzilla was the film that I was excited for. Over the last year or two, I quickly went and watched all of the previous Godzilla films in the franchise so that I could be ready for this one when it hit theaters. Well, I made it and the film was excellent!

I have to say that the atmosphere was perfect for the film. It was cloudy and dark outside and you got the feeling that something terrifying was about to happen. Once you entered the theater, it was easy to see how excited everyone was. For once, the place was packed and the room was completely sold out. Surrounded by many Godzilla fans, I quickly braced myself for the inevitable awesomeness. Be warned that this review may contain spoilers!

I barely even need to describe the plot, but I may as well. After the Government “destroyed” Godzilla in 1954, they decided to hide this from the civilians. Joe is forced to move out of his home amidst devastating circumstances, but he suspects that this was no natural occurrence. After a 15 year time skip, forces are on the move on again and the Muto has awoken. Joe’s son, Ford, steps into the main role as he carries on the fight against the monsters. Hope seems to be lost and humanity may need to rely on the power of Godzilla to save them all!

Pretty vague summary, but most of the plot is in the trailer. It’s hard to know where to start in a film like this one where there is so much to say. I suppose that I should begin with the two negatives that I had with the film since it’s all uphill from there. The first negative was the very unnecessary scene that involved a dog attempting to run away from a large flood that was approaching. That scene came out of nowhere and it was added for no discernible reason. That definitely didn’t help the film and I was hoping that Godzilla would manage to avoid this particular error.

The other part that I didn’t care for was the romance between the main character and Elle. They only get two major scenes that are hard to watch, but that’s enough. It may have been a while since they’ve seen each other, but we don’t really need to see that. The scenes were far too long and this wasn’t a huge negative, but a negative all the same. I wouldn’t have minded if they just shook hands or something. That would have definitely been passable.

Now, let’s get into the good parts! Godzilla’s portrayal was spot on! He’s a hero, but he’s a fighter first and foremost. It was awesome to see him completely crushing the Muto monsters. During the first fight, Godzilla was winning effortlessly and there was nothing that they could do to stop him. I’ll admit that I got a little worried when they started double teaming him, but Godzilla still held his own. Godzilla’s Atomic Breath was an epic moment as well. I’m sure that everyone had been waiting for that moment and he definitely made the most out of it. It may not have ended the fight on his first blast, but the next one did the trick. Noticeably, Godzilla made an effort to avoid hurting any of the humans. He did get upset and put them in danger several times, but they were never his main concern.

Muto was a pretty fun villain. We had both a guy and a girl Muto. The guy version was a lot smaller, but he had wings to make up for this. He is definitely not the strongest monster out there, but he is still very large. His size is nothing compared to Godzilla, but his speed serves him well. The design is really fun and it reminds me of Clover, Kamakuras, and maybe even a little Orga in there. His EMP ability is also pretty fun and very useful against the government. It basically means that the humans are helpless against him.

The girl version of Muto is much larger, but she does not possess wings. Her physical strength is admirable and while she was not as physically strong as Godzilla, she was very powerful. Her limbs were sharp enough to stab into Godzilla when she struck and many hits connected against Godzilla. Her striking power is fierce and she proves that she can stand up to any other American Kaiju. Overall, the film did a great job of making this new Kaiju design. It can definitely hold up to any of the older ones and they look amazing.

Ford Brody is the main character and I can’t say that he was my favorite hero of late. He reminds me of Alex Hopper, but Hopper may have been a little better. It’s definitely debatable, but Ford just wasn’t cool to watch. He didn’t give Joe the benefit of the doubt for a while, which was sad. His army training was a nice twist since it gave him some experience, but it actually wasn’t played up all that much. Still, it helped for the Halo jump. Ford isn’t a bad character, but he can’t hold his own film so I’m definitely glad that it’s called Godzilla!

Joe Brody looked like he would be one of the main characters from the trailer and he does get a decent role, but it’s not as large as you may have expected. That’s not a really bad thing, but I would have preferred it if he had gotten a larger role in place of Ford. Joe was a lot more sympathetic and he knew what he was doing at all times. Getting that data was critical…hopefully.

Dr. Serizawa is around and he seems to be the son of the original Serizawa. Unfortunately, he’s a tough character to root for. He locks up the heroes and he then proceeds to make the exact same mistakes that the originals made. Was it really a good idea to let the Kaiju get near some more radiation? I don’t think so! Serizawa keeps on trying to tell the government to let nature run its course and allow Godzilla to win, which is good in theory…but he doesn’t make a strong case. He could have presented his argument in better ways. That being said, this is the army so I doubt that they would have listened to him. Serizawa was a decent character, but he definitely wasn’t as good as he could have been.

Elle Brody doesn’t get a whole lot of scenes, but she seems to be a reasonable person. I still say that Ford and Elle should have taken things a lot slower when he got back home. Elle makes the tough calls at the end, but it’s still good that she sent the kid away. (Maybe, she was safe the whole time so things may have been easier if they had been together) She was all right and maybe Elle will get more of a role in the sequel.

Godzilla’s design is a crucial part of any Godzilla film and this one did a nice job. The only part that I’m still not a fan of is Godzilla’s face. It looks way too much like a Bear and he just doesn’t have that Godzilla grin. Godzilla’s roar is as powerful as ever and the rest of his design is nice and monstrous. It’s definitely one of his better looks and I wouldn’t mind if they kept that design for the next film, but an alteration to the face would be good.

Godzilla gives us a lot of action as well as a few emotional scenes. Sandy Brody’s scene is pretty tragic and you’ll likely remember it from the trailer. Emotional moments can definitely be good as long as they’re handled the “right” way. Naturally that’s subjective, but I would say that the film handled the scene pretty well. It was sad, but it didn’t drag on for a while to keep on reminding us how sad it was.

Godzilla really shines in the action scenes. We didn’t get any until we were at the very end of the film, but it was the perfect setting. Nighttime in the middle of a big city is where I want just about all fights to take place. It’s the perfect arena and I loved seeing Godzilla throw Muto through a few buildings. His atomic breath scene was pretty epic and while the blast was not as big as you may have expected; it was played off as a compacted blast for maximum damage. That worked just as well for me. The fight was styalized after the showa films so we had a lot of hand to hand combat with minimal long range attacks. Godzilla’s final blow against the creature is pretty intense. Perhaps it was a little over the top, but it’s something that many fans had probably been waiting for and it definitely beats what I thought he was about to do. (I don’t want another Anguirus vs Mecha Godzilla right now…) Godzilla basically reminded everyone that you should not try to fight him.

The Mutos managed to land a lot of hits on Godzilla and they did deal a lot of damage, but the victor was never in doubt. I’ll admit that it got a little close for comfort since it was hard to imagine that they could put up such a fight. I did cut the film a little slack there because they parodied the roar part. Godzilla decided to take time off from the fight to let out a roar of challenge and the two monsters promptly took him down. Stopping to roar is not recommended in a fight, but Godzilla used to do that all the time. It was a nice homage.

One area of the film that never made sense was the cutaways. Several times Godzilla would be getting ready to fight Muto and then it would cut away. Once, we even jumped ahead to the next day and we’ll find out that Muto escaped with Godzilla in pursuit. I don’t get how their fights would keep ending so abruptly and it can be a little irritating. It feels like classic plot hax and that’s why they made sure that the scenes weren’t on screen. Perhaps it was the only way to make things believable. Still, I didn’t appreciate missing out on all of those fights so that was definitely a bit of a negative.

On the other hand, I did like the 3D roller coaster effect. Several times, it felt as if you were in a ride where you had to escape from the monsters. The camera would feel as if we were now in first person view as the monsters approached. It meant that we couldn’t really see the action, but it was very epic. One of the scenes that definitely stood out was when the burning train headed towards the two main characters. It felt like a horror scene and it was very well done.

We’ve also got to give the Bus Driver an honorable mention. He went above and beyond the call of duty as he put the peddle to the meddle. I have to give him credit for going full speed twice in the span of a few minutes as he had to get past the Kaiju. The kids were lucky that they were with this trained professional!

The soundtrack was pretty good for the film. We had some very serious themes and even a hero theme or two when Godzilla was fighting against Muto. Live Action films aren’t known for their great soundtracks so it’s always a pleasant surprise to see a film that actually does have some good tunes.

This was definitely a big improvement from the 98 film and I also prefer it to the new Pacific Rim adventure. Compared to other Godzilla films this one definitely won’t be very high in the ranks, but it did manage to defeat a few of them. The original Godzilla, Return of Godzilla, Raids Again, Vs Biollante, etc. This one definitely beat those films, but it naturally pales in comparison to Final Wars, GMK, Vs Mecha Godzilla, and the original Ghidorah The 3 Headed Monster. Hopefully this film does very well at the box office so that they can afford to have some more great fights for the sequel in 2016.

I have to admit that a post credits scene would have been perfect for the film. We got a chinese dragon symbol which may allude to Manda or Ghidorah, but I wanted something a little more bold. A Kaiju in space that is flying towards Earth, a tablet with the words, “Mothra Awakens” or even a final scene with the government and “Project Mecha Godzilla” Adding in any of those scenes would have been very epic and added another boost to the film.

Finally, there was one part in the ending that I did not care for. That part was Godzilla crumpling to the ground after defeating the other two Kaiju. Was it really that much of a fight? The two Muto monsters definitely did some significant damage to him during the double team, but I figured that Godzilla would be able to bounce back from it. I’m glad that he waited for the Mutos to be out of the picture before fainting, but I didn’t expect that from Godzilla. I just thought that he’d head back to the ocean and call it a day. I expect him to end his next fight with a little less damage to show off Godzilla’s unlimited stamina and determination!

Overall, Godzilla is everything that I could have hoped for! Godzilla looked incredible and the monster fights were a lot of fun. The Dog scene may have helped to knock down the score along with the romance, but the film definitely succeeded in the long run. I highly recommend checking this film out as soon as possible and you won’t be disappointed. It’s not every day that you get to watch the King of the Monsters in theaters after all!

Overall 8/10

47 Ronin Review

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I remember seeing the trailer for this film in the theaters a while ago. The trailer had a lot of action, but on the other hand..it was mythical action set in the olden times of the Hobbit. If you’ve read my reviews of that film series, you know that this isn’t a positive thing. The film confirmed my fears as I watched it and it’s time to see why the 47 Ronin could not even score a 4.

The film’s plot is pretty basic. Kai is a “half breed” and nobody likes him. Unearthly creatures raised him, but Kai fled because he didn’t want to be a villain. He decided to work for a Samurai group in Japan, but they treated him as a slave. Undeterred, he warns one of the samurai that a witch has infiltrated their ranks. The samurai fumbles for a quick excuse so that he won’t have to face her and he says that Kai just has a crush. Their master is put under a spell and tricked into incriminating himself so that he destroys himself with honor! The main villain is the leader of another tribe, Kira. Kira decides to take the main heroine for himself and the feudal lord of Japan forbids the samurai from doing anything about it. The samurai are quickly beaten and thrown around. Time skip! The samurai decide to come together to save the heroine. Hopefully she’s still okay….it’s only been a year right? They head out and get ready to win it big or go home in pieces.

If the plot feels like it was just thrown together…then it’s time to read it again. I’ll admit that it’s not my greatest plot summary, but it’s hard to make it sound interesting. None of the characters were likable and the villains were terrible, but not in a “Look how epicly evil he is” but in a “this guy’s extremely weak and evil, he wouldn’t last a second against Barney with prep time) Let’s get into the various reasons as to why this film did not become enjoyable.

Slow pacing. The film is around 2 hours and the plot doesn’t even start until over an hour has passed. (By plot, I’m referring to the Samurai becoming Ronin and 47 of them going to attack the villains) The first hour is about the heroes getting beaten up and a lot of sad things happening to them. One thing that I’ve never liked is when a film dwells on the sad parts for too long. We get that the character’ life is pretty awful right now…let’s move on. Kai gets beaten up in almost every scene and it gets pretty tiring after a (very short) while. Nothing really happens in the first half and nothing good really happens in the second half.

Classic animal violence is another problem with the film. It’s to be expected which is why I don’t like when films take place in the olden days. We have horses that are injured and slain during the battle with the Chimera. I’m not talking about one or two horses, but a whole lot of them! The Chimera is also animal like in appearance, which definitely does not help matters. Even the final boss is an animal! (Once again, the trailer shows off some of the final scenes of the film…)

Boring fight scenes is a big problem for this film. The Hobbit, Prince Caspian, Lord of the Rings, and Pirates of the Carrabean suffer greatly from this issue. You know that a fight scene is bad when a comedy like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has one that is many times better. The problem with sword fight scenes in the olden days is that they are typically boring. You need good choreography and preferably a cool sword as opposed to a generic one. These fight scenes just have people stabbing each other and all of the “grittyness” will make you snicker or cringe. If you want a good sword fight, check out Bleach!

Unnecessary grittiness is pretty self explanatory, but it’s still a negative. To trick the head of the Samurai into getting himself into trouble, the witch puts a spell on him and he sees that Mika is in danger. He quickly attacks Kira, but then the illusion wears off and his life is basically over. There were so many other ways that they could have handled this, but they made sure to choose one of the worst ones possible. This kind of scene will never help a film and it will only make it lose more points in my book. That was just awful.

There can’t be any other negatives right? Well, we’ve got a minor one at the ready and that would be the soundtrack. It’s one of the most forgettable soundtracks that I’ve seen in a while and I can’t remember a single theme. That’s pretty sad and while it’s minor compared to the others…it’s definitely not a good thing. How can you enjoy a film without a good music playing in the background?

The cast is also terrible. I don’t like a single living character in the film. They’re all mean or unlikable. Kai is the main character and we’re supposed to feel bad for him since he’s always getting beaten up. His “friends” also beat him up because they don’t want to stand up to the villains. Kai is then forced into slavery and fights death matches for a year. He’s a changed man by the end, but he still refuses to use his super powers…even though they could end the war and help a lot of people. He still doesn’t want too use them for no discernible reason. Using these abilities is not going to turn him evil and a lot of people died because he wouldn’t make the tough call. (The Kai from Cardfight Vanguard would be ashamed!)

Oishi is one of the big “heroes” by the end, but it’s really hard to root for him. He was mean to Kai for the entire beginning and he only acts nice to him once he needs Kai’s help. Oishi also spent a year in solitary confinement, but he’s actually doing pretty well considering. (Unless it was less than a year, but I believe that it said one year) Oishi has his big fight at the end, but…that’s not going to change anyone’s mind. Oishi should have stuck up for himself!

The only character that could be considered cool is the samurai made out of steel. He’s not actually alive as he seems to have been created by the witch. His power is incredible and he feels no pain. He caused an entire squadron to retreat in fear of the very sight of him.

Kira is the main villain and he’s completely unlikable. He’s smug, but he’s not even a great fighter. He can fight, but he is usually hiding behind the witch and his henchmen. He kidnaps people and he doesn’t have any goals that I can get behind. In short…he’s a terrible villain. He’s a generic character that is evil for the purpose of being evil.

Mika is the main heroine and she gets a pretty sore deal in this film. She can’t really fight so the villains take her pretty easily. She is then left to fend for herself for a very long period of time. Her situation is pretty depressing and the ending isn’t great either. She has to hope that the rest of the citizens aren’t corrupted and I would quickly try to move to America if I were her.

Mizuki is one of the big villains and she does most of the work for Kira. She frames the old leader of the samurai and she also beats up a lot of the samurai while she’s in her serpent form. She’s not very powerful in that form, but she’s still a match for the humans. She’s not likable either as she’s just there to help Kira. There’s no reason to root for her and you just want her screen time to end.

Asano was the old boss of the samurai and he wasn’t very likable. He was too old to fight, but he did try his best. He didn’t go down like a man and his untimely demise was not very epic. That’s partially why Asano just didn’t rank in the end. He should have tried harder and he could have been cooler, although he definitely made the right move during the illusion. No one can fault him for that.

Finally, the ending is terrible. It cemented the fact that I wouldn’t like any of these heroes. They took the easy way out by taking a quick exit instead of living for the consequences. A true hero would have fought the odds and tried to stay alive. Better to die on your feet than die on your knees right? The ending is pretty sad and you’ll leave the theater on a sad note. That tells you that the film is doing something majorly wrong. No matter what the genre is, you should leave a film humming or feeling pretty epic about yourself. This film doesn’t accomplish that since I don’t see myself discussing it that much in the future.

Overall, this is a film that I would strongly advise skipping. You won’t be finding a fun samurai experience here and you’ll be better off watching the Rurouni Kenshin series. The film makes about as many errors as it could make and there really aren’t any redeemable features about this movie. The undead samurai was decently cool, but his very limited screen time isn’t worth checking the film out. Not to worry, the new Godzilla film is almost upon us and I recommend preordering your tickets for the big event instead of renting this film from Netflix.

Overall 2/10

Frozen Review

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Frozen is one of the highest grossing films of all time and it appears to be highly likely that it will join the top 5. That’s pretty impressive and the film is still out in theaters in case you want to go and check it out. I’ve finally had the pleasure of viewing the film on DVD and it is definitely one of Disney’s better projects. It has a Barbie feeling to it, but with a little more danger and intrigue. Why did Frozen succeed? Well, in the words of a respectable business man turned villain…”Isn’t that the question of the day?”

Looking at the posters and promotions for Frozen; the film always looked interesting but I had no idea on what the plot would be about. Even after I read a review for the film on another site…I still didn’t remember the plot by the end. Plot is a crucial part of a film, but it can be overshadowed by visuals and character development, which is what happens in this film. It does help that the plot does involve some…plot hax. (Or plot holes if you wish. Not in continuity, but more of a suspense for disbelief issue)

The story begins with two sisters, Elsa and Anna. They were great friends until Elsa managed to knock Anna out with a single ice blast. Their parents quickly save Anna, but at the cost of her memories. Anna remembers Elsa, but she believes that her sister is a mere mortal. (Which is a fair assumption) Elsa’s parents tell her to stay in her room for the next 10+ years until she masters her abilities and no one can ever know that she has powers! Unfortunately, Elsa cannot control her powers so she never gets to see another human being until her coronation ceremony. Anna has always wanted to rekindle their friendship and she attempts to do so, but things do not work out. Anna must now track down Elsa and get her to reverse the curse that she has placed on the town. It will be a dangerous trek!

Elsa is arguably the main character although one could make a very strong case for Anna being the true main character. Elsa is a lot more charismatic than Anna and one can sympathize with her plight. I had some issues with it, but I shall address those in due time. Her ice abilities are a lot more powerful than I had imagined and she can definitely hold her own against fellow Disney protagonists. (She could possibly hold her own against the Avengers depending on how thick she can make the ice that she creates.) She also has more common sense than Anna as she realizes that any man who would claim to be in love with someone after an hour or two and then propose cannot be trusted. He’s either greedy, evil, confused or all of the above!

Anna plays a large role in this film. She is a lot more outgoing than Elsa, but she’s also a little more naive. She takes her dangerous situations in stride because she doesn’t really seem to know how much danger she is in. She was involved in the scene that made me cringe a little inside and it definitely hurt the film a bit. I will go into that scene in a short while, but it wasn’t a great moment for the film. Anna’s a good character for the most part, but it’s too bad that she succumbed to the romance part of the film. The romance itself wasn’t a huge issue, but one day is way too quick to make any decisions.

At one point in the film, Elsa creates an Ice Creature to protect her Kingdom. This Ice Monster is pretty skilled in the art of fighting as he quickly takes down a few fighters. His durability is also shown to be at a high level and he’s pretty merciless. At one point, he attempts to destroy one of the main characters and you may find yourself at the edge of your seat as you wonder if the heroes will survive. (So long as you haven’t seen a film in a while) This creature never gets a name, but fans of the film aren’t likely to forget him anytime soon!

Hans is one of the first characters to appear, but he may come across as a little cheesy. As one point, Anna bursts into song and he quickly interrupts her to say that he was thinking the same thing…and then he continues the song. I can’t buy that! Anna should have immediately dashed out of there because coincidences like that don’t work. Hans just seemed really fake and he definitely is not someone that you would want to hang out with. He is one of the fighters who goes up against the ice creature and only one of them gets to walk away. Hans isn’t a likable character and he’s definitely one of the worst ones. Why? You’ll need to watch the film to find out!

Olaf is not someone that you want to cross. Once he realized that Kristoff had gone crazy, he quickly decided to hold him off so that Anna could escape. That’s what I call bravery and he should definitely be considered as a hero. He’s easily one of the best characters in the film and he is always ready for a hug. His body is a little frail, which gets in the way of his heroics, but Olaf never gives up. He’s always ready to risk life and limb to help his friends and hopefully he gets a nice role when he returns for the inevitable sequel.

Kristoff is another one of the main characters and I can’t say that I was a big fan of him. His friends are known as the “love experts” and I really didn’t like them either. Kristoff has his “hero” moment at the end, but it was a little hard to watch. Kristoff was really mean to one of the shop owners, going as far as to call him a thief. (I believe that is the term that he used…or maybe he called the owner a crook) Kristoff has a reindeer by his side named Sven. Sven is decently cool and he’s never afraid to speak his mind. He makes sure to keep Kristoff in line and he also knows when it’s time for Kristoff to take a swim. Once again, I do have to say that Kristoff’s friends weren’t that cool. They didn’t do a great job of helping out in the opening and they had the worst song in the entire film. Their scenes tended to drag on and I believe that they could have been written out.

The one scene that hurt the film more than anything else was the Wolf scene. In it, Anna and Kristoff are forced to throw away their heroic nature as they injure a group of wolves. That was pretty terrible and I lost a lot of respect for both of them. Anna’s still a decently good character overall, but that really threw away her character development. Kristoff never recovered from the incident as well and the film’s score took a bit of a hit. The film also had a lot of romance, but that’s to be expected. I think the film should have cut it out though since it wasn’t needed in this film. If Kristoff and Anna decided to just be pen pals and if Anna and Hans had decided to stay as rivals…then that would have worked out perfectly.

Finally, Elsa’s predicament is pretty hard to believe. How she hid from her sister for about a decade by staying in her room all day is beyond me. The parents made a pretty bad decision in that regard as they left the sisters in that state as they headed off for a cruise or something. Elsa shouldn’t have gone along with this plan and she could have stayed friends with Anna through mail. (Or phone calls if those were around back then) Their first meeting at the ball room could have gone better as well if Elsa had just explained things. She can definitely trust Anna with her secret so that shouldn’t be a concern. Ah well…the plot had to get rolling somehow right?

The animation for the film is decent. The ice abilities that Elsa possessed were pretty impressive visually. Character wise, this isn’t my favorite art style. It’s the way that most American animated films look, but give me the Super Friends or the original Gundam show’s animation any day. There’s something about these visuals that just don’t strike me in the same way.

The soundtrack for the film was pretty forgettable. That is not counting the lyrical songs of course. Elsa’s main song was pretty good when she first goes to the castle in her new hairdo. Beyond that, I can’t say that I really cared for the other songs. I’m not into lyrical songs (for the most part) so that was to be expected. At least it’s not a bad soundtrack!

Overall, this was a pretty solid Disney film. I really got a Barbie feeling from it, which was nostalgic since I used to watch a lot of those films. Elsa is a solid protagonist and her ice abilities are fun to watch. The film had more action than your typical animated film and we really only had one scene that would make you cringe a little inside. I can definitely see why everyone loves the film so much and I won’t mind seeing it in the top 5. It’s a fun film and you’ll walk away remembering how much fun the songs were and hoping that Elsa will be in Kingdom Hearts III. I definitely recommend this film to all audiences. I just don’t see how you can dislike this film unless the Wolf scene is the first scene of the film that you witness.

Overall 6/10