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Insomnia Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film and all thoughts below should be addressed as such. A review of the unedited version would likely be more negative.
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It’s time for a dark thriller by Nolan. This film’s a pretty sharp contrast to the light hearted Christmas films that I’ve reviewed of late so it’ll serve as foreshadowing to the horror films coming your way. The film’s battle between Will and Walter is interesting enough and the writing is pretty deep as you would expect. It gets a little too dark by the end though and the film ends on a rather bad note, which ends up hurting the film in the end.

Will is a pretty good detective who is caught in the middle of a rather tricky controversy. His partner wants to sell Will out because otherwise he’ll be the one who is caught in prison. Will has a solid reputation so he wouldn’t be in jail for too long, but the real problem is that many of his cases were dependent on his word so if he becomes a convict, a lot of villains will go free. It’s a tough moral dilemma and Will ends up shooting his partner. It’s an accident, but as the film goes on, Will begins to question whether or not that is really the case. Making things even worse is the fact that he is now being blackmailed by Walter, a villain who murdered a teenage girl. If Walter takes him to justice, then he’ll be freeing many other murderers and if he lets him go, Walter may go on to hurt others. What will Will do?

You can already tell that this is the kind of film where nobody really wins. It doesn’t matter what Will does to an extent, people are gonna get hurt. Now, this is true in life as there are always more villains out there and every choice has its repercussion, but it’s just a little too much if you ask me. I won’t spoil the ending I suppose, but lets just say that it’s verrrry dark. It’s heavily implied that one character makes a certain decision which means that the courts could make another decision that’ll end up with a lot of victims. Now, it’s not a 100% guarantee that the convicts will get out, but as there is no epilogue to the contrary, it’s just a very sad ending. It could have been easily fixed with a single scene at the end where the felons are still behind bars or a judge just says that the old cases are completely shut. It does show why vigilantism won’t work too well in the long run though. The truth always catches up to you and Will learned that the hard way.

The main plot is also rather dark with Walter murdering the girl. Not only did she die, but first she also had an abusive boyfriend who immediately moved on to her friend right after that. The rebounds were strong here and it’s why you can’t always trust sketchy friends from school. I don’t think we needed all of these dark elements. The film was already somber, this just helped to make it grittier and grittier with every scene. Of course, I’d expect no less from a Nolan and Al Pacino team up. Mix dark with gritty…and you get a dark, gritty film.

Will’s a good main character for the most part though. I’m of the opinion that it really was an accident when he shot the partner although the film makes it very ambiguous. You wouldn’t be wrong if you chose either option since it’s up to the viewer to make the final call. It’s a shame that we couldn’t see Will in his prime since he is clearly a very good detective, but doesn’t get to shine since he is being black mailed and manipulated the whole time. Walter’s actually a step ahead of him for the majority of the film, which is rather annoying. It seems like the villains are always geniuses as well in these kind of films.

Walter wasn’t a likable villain, but of course, he’s not meant to be. He’s just there to fill in the antagonist role and give Will an obstacle to overcome. There’s nothing redeeming about him and he’s just another psychopath on who needs to be brought to justice. It’s why you have to remember that someone’s always watching and lies will be found out eventually. In this case, it’s the worst possible scenario as it’s best to be found out by law enforcement or some kind of positive force rather than being found out by a villain. Then they can manipulate you as they please.

Ellie was a good supporting character. You feel bad for her since she looks up to Will and wants to prove herself as a detective, but slowly realizes that he is actually the culprit this time. She really did do a good job and ended up proving herself, but not in the way that she would have liked. Letting her guard down against the villain was pretty sloppy though and Walter really did embarrass just about everyone in this film. Again, it’s why it would have been fun to have a film where she could have teamed up with Will first before this situation had to pop up. No matter, Ellie made all of the right calls and depending on how you look at the ending, maybe she made another one. The decisions were all very hard, but in the end she had to accept the truth, whether or not she liked it.

The other supporting characters were mostly all good as well. I liked the local chief of police as he didn’t want to engage in all of the spying and double talk and just got down to business. He didn’t care about the scandals, he just wanted to solve the case. The local detective was also good and while Will kept on trying to steer him down the wrong path, the detective wouldn’t listen. He did a good job and I can sympathize with him since nobody likes to get pushed out of their job. He didn’t let Will’s legacy intimidate him and he just kept on chugging.

So, the whole film is just rather tragic. You’ve got a lot of good guys and girls trying to solve a murder, but little do they know that one of their own has been compromised. Will does try to break free of the black mail a few times, but Walter’s just too smart. The film also adds another layer to this by having Will murder an animal to try and use a gun’s bullets as some kind of evidence. I forgot the exact purpose of this, but I definitely don’t like to see any dead animals. Upon second thought, the animal may have already been dead and he just put the bullets in it, but I forgot. It wasn’t a pretty sight either way.

Overall, This was a well written movie and a fairly engaging one at that. There’s just only so much that a tragedy film can do and this is an example of a dark film getting too dark. There’s just too much misery here and almost no “feel good” scenes at all. It’s a somber ride from start to finish and it’s definitely not a film that I can recommend because you won’t enjoy it. It’s the kind of film that you simply experience. Cut out a few of the subplots and parts of the main plot…and maybe you’ve got yourself a good film. If you want a thriller with a good battle of the minds, then check out the recent Sherlock Holmes films. Those were actually quite good and also have a lot of engaging mind battles.

Overall 4/10

Moms’ Night Out Review

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It’s time to take a look at another film. This one was pretty interesting in the sense that I couldn’t accurately figure out its true identity. I actually thought that it was a PG-13 film as it was playing. The trailer seemed like one and the movie just generally had that vibe the whole time. I also didn’t realize that it was a Christian aimed film like God Is Not Dead and the others. One of the main characters was a preacher’s wife and their were references to God during the movie, but I just thought the film made the cool move of adding these quick scenes in and not that it was supposed to play a large role. So, I’m still going to review this film formally since I think it definitely could have made more of an effort to throw in more Christian themes than the occasional reference.

Allyson is the main character and she needs a day to herself. Watching after her kids day in and day out is tough because they rebel quite a lot and are always making a mess of things. She has no time to herself anymore. Luckily, she has friends who are dealing with similar issues and invites them to have a Moms’ night out. The husbands will deal with the kids as best they can, but unfortunately the guys seem to have messed up yet again. Can the heroines have a fun day out, find a missing kid, and then save their husbands from imminent embarrassment? It’ll be tough, but they’ve got this!

Surprisingly, (Or maybe not since a side character usually beats the lead) the best character is not one of the Moms, but is actually the main husband. Sean steals the show right from the get go as he gets a lot of good one liners and metaphors. He takes everything in stride while the other characters are busy panicking about everything. Nothing phases Sean and he’s the only guy who has a lot of confidence. “We got this” is basically his catchphrase and even though he breaks his arm, loses a bird, and goes through many more tricky situations, he never loses his wits.

Allyson isn’t bad, but she can panic quite a lot. Pretty much every setback results in a panic attack from her. She ultimately learns not to set such high expectations on herself though and that she is doing a good job as a Mom. She just has the unfortunate luck of having kids who continually sabotage the house and make the whole situation a lot more difficult than it needs to be. She is definitely the toughest of the heroines though. To contrast her personality, Sondra is the nicest heroine and that makes sense since she is the pastor’s wife. Her difficulty is that her daughter wants to live like the average teenager, but Sondra knows that this will lead to a life of ruin. There’s a plot twist about this since Sondra has some experience and ultimately she helps her daughter realize that having a nice life without being one of the “cool” kids works out quite well.

There’s a third heroine, but she’s really bland and doesn’t actually do anything so we can skip her. Bones is the hardcore biker gang dude who helps the heroes find the missing kid. It turns out that he used to be a Christian, but defected to the gang life. Surprisingly, he doesn’t change his mind at the end, but he gives Allyson words of encouragement and helps the team out a lot. Naturally he had to get out of there when the cops showed up though since the police weren’t playing around. The police also panicked a lot, but that’s a running theme in the film. All of the characters panic a whole lot aside from Sean. There was a cool cab driver who stepped in to help as well. His accent may have been fake, but at least he admitted to this. He talked a really good game and even though he couldn’t back it up, the guy had spirit. If he hadn’t been knocked out so easily, he would have been even cooler.

There was one big aspect that stopped the film from getting a positive score. (Well, among others) Stop me if I’m wrong folks, but I’m about 90% sure that the parakeet died. We see him fly off then they sent two of the guys after him and I believe one of the gags is that they stepped on him. I’m pretty sure we never saw him again so if so…..that’s definitely not cool. There was also a quick scene of one of the characters burning an insect alive which was unnecessary. So, even if the bird scene didn’t happen, the film would break even at most, but I’m pretty sure that he died and this is a fatal mistake for the film.

The film mostly stays classy with the humor. There is only one crude humor joke that I can think of and while it was pretty gross, at least it was the only moment where this happened. Since the film is PG, we don’t get any iffy Pixels level of humor so that’s definitely another good thing. The film goes by pretty quick since the pacing is good and it’s just not all that long. The characters are good enough to pass the time by and the story isn’t bad. At the very least, you shouldn’t be bored.

Since this film is supposed to be a Christian based film, I should mention how their attempt just didn’t work too well. We had the motivational speech, which was nice, but it was given by a gang member who used to be a Christian and doesn’t intend to go back. The pastor’s wife apparently doesn’t know how to have fun so she is unable to dance when the spotlight is on her, but after the film’s adventure she is able to dance with the best of em. She also doesn’t know how to use a cell phone since she’s really old school, but bu the end Sondra ends up being the tough character who gets the characters into the back alley. It’s a little cheesy, but most of the film is like that. It’s not bad per say, but I stick to my stance that this is really just a normal comedy film that just so happens to have a Christian character in it and that speech at the end. Perhaps if I watched it again while knowing beforehand its intentions, then it would be more obvious, but that kind of defeat the purpose.

Overall, Moms’ Night Out is a decent film for the most part, but a scene or two doom it into being a film of missed opportunities. It’s just a little too silly and extreme with the character portrayals at times. Now, this can work is handled well like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or a whole host of other films that I’ve seen. I’m not actually against super comic relief characters and just random hi jinx, but it really needs great writing to work well. Groundhog Day is another good example of a comedy like that. It’s probably a combo of things that would have helped this film to have been better. The subplot with the husbands could have definitely been less predictable. Just about any scene with the kids was a little tough to watch so I was always glad when they didn’t show up. The film is good for a few laughs and at the very least, it’s lighthearted. You won’t feel down or tired after watching it, but the parakeet scene will have you shaking your head. I’d recommend checking out Groundhog Day instead.

Overall 4/10

Jack Frost Review

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After watching the animated Jack Frost movie a while back, I had to check out the live action one. Don’t let this intimidate you…but Michael Keaton is Jack Frost this time around. He may not look like the Jack from the animated film, but it doesn’t really follow that plot anyway. It’s a fun film that breezes by, but the ending holds it back a little in the replay value department.

Jack is the lead player in a band. The problem is that it means he doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with his son Charlie. One day, Jack is called away on Christmas, which is the last straw for Charlie. Charlie gives up on being a musician in his downtime from being a hockey all star in training. As Jack drives away, he decides that the gig just isn’t worth missing Christmas for. Unfortunately, he had already set things into motion and is murdered taken out of commission on the way home. Charlie doesn’t take the news of his dad’s death very well and keeps to himself for the next year. When a snow man barges into his front yard the next Christmas while claiming to be Jack, Charlie is understandably skeptical. Could Jack have really been given a second chance to watch Charlie score a goal?

The film takes a while to get to the actual Snowman part and it isn’t a very long movie to begin with. Luckily, the first half is still pretty interesting. Jack wasn’t written as an extremely bad Dad or anything so it made the role more realistic. He did have a bad habit of cancelling his promises and it was definitely an issue on his side since he completely forgot about it in the movie as opposed to being called out for work. He should have turned down the Christmas gig on the spot since that was something that could be avoided, but nobody’s perfect and he made the right call in the end. Jack was a likable main character and if anything, you may want to see more of him than the Snowman. Speak for yourself if that’s the case though since I liked the snow form.

It felt like something out of Frosty and the movie even references this. The film runs into a major snag here though. Jack doesn’t want Charlie to let anyone know that he has come back from the dead…this includes Gabby, Jack’s wife. So, why does he not want her to know this? Well, that’s tough to say because it doesn’t make any sense, especially with Jack’s personality. There’s no way that he’s just ashamed to see her as a snow man. For one thing, the snowman was well made aside from its head being too big, also Jack just has too much confidence for that. My guess is that they didn’t want her to know because it adds an extra level of drama to the film as you have to question whether Charlie is actually making this up or not. The whole cast should see the snow man talking, but only 2 of them actually react to it. So, either everyone has bad eyesight or maybe this is actually fake. Luckily, the film doesn’t go down that terrible path, but I feel like that’s what the film was going for. It wasn’t worth it though.

Also, as mentioned before, the ending is pretty underwhelming. It’s not a terrible ending like Bridge to Terebithia, but it’s not a brilliantly out of left field ending like Madoka Magica Rebellion. It just ends on a flat note while you wonder why Charlie isn’t a little smarter. Considering that a few sounds from his magical instrument were enough to set the events in motion…couldn’t he have just played a little more with a different wish? Not only does Charlie not try this idea out, he doesn’t even consider it. I mean, you’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me. Now I know why Charlie couldn’t hit the J shot, he never thinks outside the box.

Charlie…wasn’t a good main character. I couldn’t sympathize with him much at all. He definitely has good reason to be a little upset at Jack choosing his job over the family for Christmas, but at least Jack was hoping to earn some money for all of them since the family was on the poor side. For the rest of it, Charlie could have taken it all better. At least he helped stick up for the little girl during the snowball fights with the bullies. It was great…until he left her to fend for herself when there were two bullies towards the end. He flat out just left her and the character never really recovered from that.

Gabby was a good heroine. She was pretty reasonable the whole time and didn’t jump to a lot of hasty conclusions like some other characters have done in the past. She took the snowman plot in stride. We also had the Hockey coach. I just have to mention him because he had one of the most motivating speeches I’ve ever heard in Hockey and really helped the team get their competitive spirit back. Never winning is definitely tough so I’m glad that his team pulled it out in the very end. Another character was one of Jack’s band buddies, but he didn’t do much. He mostly just slept on the job and attempted to have some witty dialogue, but he forgot the wit part of it. The side characters didn’t have much to do, but again…it was a fairly short film. There wasn’t a whole lot that they could do so the film just developed them all a bit and kept it moving. Hey, it still had time to fit in the “cheesy bully turns good” moment.

The best moments in the film were probably the snowball fights. These action moments were a good contrast to the rest of the film. There were a few solid rounds and they all had very serious themes playing. Yes, the film actually had a soundtrack and it was actually very good. I was pleasantly surprised to see this. Watching the kids all get defeated by a Snowman was also pretty rich. Hey, Jack’s a natural at this. The animation for the Snowman wasn’t bad I suppose as they got the permanent glare that Frosty always had, but the actual design could have been a little better. I would have liked fists instead of twigs for the hands since it would have let Jack fight a little more. I suppose that was good news for his opponents though.

Overall, Jack Frost was a fun film. It’s not the kind of film that will end up being particularly memorable, but it hit enough of the right notes. I wouldn’t say that the film did anything wrong and while the ending was underwhelming, it wasn’t terrible of anything like that. A bad ending can go a long way, but this ending is good enough to not hurt the film. I’d recommend this to someone that just wants to see a nice film for Christmas. It’s mostly pretty uplifting and while it tries to have a somber plot, I’d say that it is less successful in that department. Maybe it’s about time I check out those Santa Clause films again. It’ll help pass the time by until they make a Jack Frost vs Mummy 2018 film or something. That’d be a fun match up although they’d need to power up Frost a bit. This version was not too strong to say the least.

Overall 7/10

Pete’s Dragon Review

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It’s time for a film that really fell under the radar. It’s the kind of film that you knew was coming out soon, but would still end up missing it. I always forget that this film existed because nothing about it really stands out. It’s an okay film, but there are definitely some issues with it. They mainly all come back to the main character, which is expected. We have another kid lead and I just don’t think that he can hold his own film very well. The cast isn’t very good as a whole anyway though so I suppose that Pete doesn’t stand out in that regard.

Pete was raised in the forest after his parents were taken out during a car crash. He was raised by a dragon, but luckily still remembered enough of his humanity to still be able to speak in English. This setup worked for a while, but one day a park ranger noticed the kid and quickly brought him to the hospital. She sort of adopted him and naturally didn’t believe in the dragon. Pete wants to head back to the forest, but he’ll need to hurry since Elliot is really weak and the villagers want to nab him for bragging rights. It’s a race against time and Pete isn’t the fastest kid on the block.

Pete is actually worse than the kid from Jungle Book. Pete’s very annoying and takes way too long to make a move. He helps out Elliot, but after waiting for many hours and letting the dragon get stressed out. It’s also annoying that he is so young because it means that every conversation with him is a little grating. If he was older, then the dialogue would have been a lot more engaging. I think I’m just about done with jungle kid character types. They’ve been done to death already.

Elliot is a decent dragon, but he’s really weak as I mentioned before. He has some mild fire breath, which is used in one scene. Unfortunately, he doesn’t use it quite enough and Pete is always there to yell at Elliot to stop. Pete was a little unreasonable, but at least he helped to save the hunters. If Elliot had not been captured, that would have helped his case a great deal. Grace was one of the main supporting characters and I guess she was okay. At least she believed in the grand father’s tales in the end. I guess her character was just a little on the empty side though. She was supportive and around to help Pete, but you never got much of a read on her. The film just didn’t have much time to develop her personality. Likewise, Jack is played off as a villain for a little while before the roles completely switch and we find out that he is the hero. It’s just hard to see that though since he doesn’t seem to be a great boss and even when he helps out at the end, it’s rather half hearted.

Gavin is the main villain of the film. At first he was easily the best character in the film, but he went downhill fast. He got a little too obsessive with capturing the dragon and also became very unreasonable at the same time. Even once he was put in his place and saved during the bridge showdown, he still wanted to hunt the dragon. This is my main issue with the ending. Elliot is essentially forced to move away and fly with the dragons instead of living with Pete and the others. The reasoning for this is that the humans are just too tough and cannot be reasoned with. It’s essentially a defeat and that’s not a great ending. It could have been a lot worse though. At first, the film hints that Elliot will have to move far away and they’ll never see him again. Instead, he just moved up to the top mountain so they can still visit him from time to time. It’s an improvement, but certainly not the optimal ending if you ask me.

Natalie was a nice enough character. She helped Pete realize that humans aren’t all bad. It was tough for them to become friends though since the humans kept doing mean things to Elliot and then not caring enough to offer up a pretense. Natalie would have to try and defend them, but it wouldn’t work too well. She helped Pete save him in the end though so that was a good move. It’s just too bad that the rest of the village was so unrelenting, it made the whole place seem pretty mean spirited.

Well, that’s the cast in a nutshell. Certainly not the strongest bunch that I’ve ever seen. Aside from the lackluster cast, the film itself just wasn’t very good. Some of the scenes don’t even make that much sense as the kid lived in the forest for many years, but none of the rangers ever saw him. The dragon makes a lot of noise, but they evidently never noticed him either or the cave where the characters would hide. Grace even said multiple times that she knows the forest like the back of her hand and has been everywhere. Pete calmly takes them to the base and while it is a quick walk, Grace somehow never noticed it. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Beyond that, the writing is only okay. The film tries too hard to be cute and happy, but doesn’t offer up any real depth. The film doesn’t really drag on, but it’s just not all that fun either. Between the somber ending and the scenes of the humans picking on Elliot, it’s just not much of a feel good film. You’re better off checking out just about any of the other big animated movies like Finding Dory or Zootopia. It’s not a bad film, but Pete’s Dragon also doesn’t do many positive things either.

Overall, Pete’s Dragon is fairly bland. It follows a very obvious plot and ends without any sudden twists or turns. You can correctly guess everything that is about to happen. This may not bother you and it can still be an enjoyable experience, but it could have just been so much better. This trend of having main characters who are still kids is something that has definitely got to go. If there aren’t any other options available, check this film out. Otherwise, just go re watch Frozen. That film has emotional characters and a solid soundtrack so you will certainly not get bored. Now, if we get a sequel that takes place 10 years later and involves evil dragons showing up to claim revenge, I can get behind that. A little action would have gone a long way for this film.

Overall 5/10

Finding Dory Review

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Are you ready? It’s time to take a look at the Finding Nemo sequel. I saw the original quite a few times over the years and even purchased the game recently. It’s definitely a fun series. Finding Dory takes itself a little more seriously at times and makes Dory’s past a little sadder than is used to be. It’s a pretty solid film that actually has a great ending so don’t listen to the doubters. Everyone told me what a bad ending the film had so I was expecting something really sad or tragic, but it was actually solid. Ah well, maybe people weren’t ready for a happy ending this time.

Dory wakes up one morning and realizes that she has parents. She sort of knew this deep down, but now she realizes that she has to go find them. They’re over by the aquarium/sea world park that Dory used to be at. It’ll be quite the journey, but it’s worth it to find her folks. She gets Nemo and Marlin to help her out with this. Getting across the planet would be tough for most fish…but Marlin knows a guy. The three of them set out and prepare for a big adventure, but little do they know that the team will be splitting right away.

Marlin was surprisingly a great character here. Maybe he always was and I just forgot about it. His “I know a guy” line was easily the best one in the film thanks to the great delivery (Pause and slow build up) and the way that he looked to the side while saying it. Marlin’s a little more confident than he used to be and since he did rescue Nemo from crazy circumstances, he has a right to be. He also comes through in the clutch when it matters and shows that he is a team player. I can’t say the same for Nemo though. Nemo’s very annoying in this film as he constantly takes shots at Marlin and acts like a know it all. Any scene with Nemo is one where I had to wince a little inside. It feels like Nemo hasn’t improved at all since the fist film and if anything…he’s gotten worse.

Dory is a nice character as always. Her origin was especially tragic this time as he memory got a lot worse. It was mostly just used as comedy in the first film while it’s very serious and dramatic this time. I would have preferred if it wasn’t so serious, but Dory gets through her trials with determination and persistence. She comes up with a plan in the end and has her big moment. Dory may not be as likable as Marlin, but she’s a good character. Dory’s just not my kind of protagonist and I don’t think she can hold her own film, but the subplots had enough screen time where it wasn’t too much of an issue. I still think that this film should have been about finding Nemo’s Mom, but maybe that’ll be for the third film in the trilogy.

Hank is one of the new characters for the film and he is definitely great. Hank is one of the standouts here as he plays the tough James Bond esque role. He has a lot of experience and has seen things over the years. He just wants to give up and head to the land of peace, but Dory is in his way. He agrees to help her in exchange for a pass that will get him there, but it’s a tougher ordeal than he would have thought since Dory keeps forgetting the plan. He had a lot of the witty banter and great lines in the film. It’s safe to say that he made the film a lot better.

Dory also had other friends who appeared like Destiny and other aquatic animals who wanted to pitch in. They were a little too quirky, but weren’t bad characters in the end. They’re nice pals to have around and it was good for Dory that they showed up. Still, they could have been a little more interesting. The main cast from the first film are the ones who really had to hold the film on their own with the exception of Hank since he was a really good new character.

One thing that subtlety holds Finding Dory back is the character roster. Even the best characters are only pretty good. There are no downright great characters. The closest two are Marlin and Hank. The problem is that Hank’s character was already used in Zootopia, but handled better. Marlin’s character type hasn’t been done all that often, but while he is fun, he isn’t a show stealer. Aside from those two characters, the rest of the cast struggle to be passable. Some of the characters are just really annoying like the two seals and the bird. The bird should have been cool, but did the film have to give him the worst design possible? I actually had a problem with quite a few of the designs. Even baby Dory looked a little off as the eyes were so big that it looked physically painful.

The animation was good overall though so I don’t want to take shots at it. It’s the character designs that are to blame here. I can’t say that the animation is much better than Finding Nemo’s though and considering how old that film is…it’s certainly worth noting. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a soundtrack to be found here. You won’t remember any of the tunes afterwards, which is a little regrettable. On a technical level, the film is all right. It gets the job done, but nothing more to that.

Finally, another problem is that you’re just never invested in the film. It goes through the motions and you follow along, but that’s about it. The story isn’t boring or anything….but it’s just not that exciting either. This last bit of the review may sound rather negative, but it’s just because the film could have been so much more. As it is, it’s a good film that is good for a quick watch, but you probably won’t want to be re watching it anytime soon.

To end this review on a high note, lets go back to the ending. After everyone told me how bad it was, I expected the parents to either be A. really mean or patronizing once they were found or B. Dead. If either of those scenarios had happened, this could have dropped to a 5. Luckily, the ending was really good. I’m guessing people thought that it was too happy and perfect or something like that, but I could definitely get into it. I also ended up liking Dory’s parents. Their roles were naturally very small, but they were likable and I’m sure that a third film could find a good role for them.

Overall, Finding Dory was a good sequel. It’s not quite as good as the original Finding Nemo if you ask me, but the film goes along at a brisk pace and doesn’t get boring. The writing is certainly on point and I actually really liked the ending. It was a highlight. While this film won’t move you the same way that Inside Out, Zootopia, Frozen, and other big animated films as of late have, it is still a good movie. I’d recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. You don’t really need to watch Finding Nemo to enjoy this film since they recap it through dialogue anyway, but you should check out the first film as well. It’s a classic at this point.

Overall 6/10

Home Alone 3 Review

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It’s been a while since I got to see a Home Alone film so it’s nice to revisit this film. It’s definitely an enjoyable film although it goes for enough poorly written cliches to keep it down a star. This film gets a lot of other things right though, like having a serious tone in the beginning that slowly transitions the villains into comic relief to the point where you’ll barely remember the times when they were tough.

The film starts off with a very somber beginning. The villains infiltrate an installation and grab a computer chip. They are to bring it to a buyer for a lot of money since the chip makes missiles undetectable by radar. The government who possesses this technology would have a great advantage in war. The problem is that one of the villains swaps bags with an elderly lady by mistake and she happens to be the next door neighbor to Alex, the local genius. Alex quickly figures out that he cannot let the chip get into the wrong hands so he will have to make some traps to keep the crooks out. Can he do this or is this a task that is too much for a little kid?

I do like the fact that Alex figures out who the villains are almost instantly and also figures out what they’re after. It feels like most main characters take forever to put the pieces together. Since he is supposed to be a genius, it makes sense that he would be so smart. Unfortunately, I can’t say that he is a very likable character. He gets his laughs through iffy activities and his “genius” seems to be wasted on contraptions that actually take longer than doing everything by hand. He can be pretty brutal and fearless even when at gunpoint so at least Alex is braver than most people. Calling the cops on the robbers was a smart move even if it didn’t pan out. Alex made a lot of the right calls and there was never any doubt that he would defeat the robbers here since they are not all that smart when compared to a normal person.

There are four villains. They get the best theme in the entire film during their entrance. It’s a very hardcore theme that shows how lethal they are. That’s where the buck stops for them though as they are quickly foiled by a kid multiple times and get hit by so many objects that they should be dead several times over. I guess they’ve got luck on their side, but that’s about it. They manage to insult each other quite a lot despite getting humiliated earlier. The cycle continues to the point where none of the members can move without pain and difficulty. From the 4 crooks, the best one is probably the guy who is always grinning. We had the “emotionless” villain, the “tough” villainess, the “I’m not that smart” guy, and the “I’m bored” villain. They all blend together after a while though and it’s not as if any of them do all that well. Their boss surprisingly doesn’t get any closure, but I suppose we can assume that the FBI put him in his place.

One issue that the film deals with is the writing. It is definitely not good and causes the film to go a little too overboard with how extreme the characters are. For example, the Dad forgets his shorts before heading to a very important business meeting. So…he wouldn’t notice that he left the house without his pants? The police, while they rush out with their guns to check on the kid’s call, act rather oddly for a bit. One officer’s conversation with the Mom to tell Alex not to call again was strange as he would just stare blankly and go on long winded speeches about how important the police are. Then the Mom started talking about a police toy she got Alex when trying to show how serious he is… The siblings are naturally very annoying as well. The brother has a lot of dicey stuff in his room and likes picking on Alex. Ditto for the sister on the teasing.

Of course, they come to Alex’s defense in the end. It’s supposed to be heart warming, but it’s just cheesy and not in a good way. Also, I don’t think the chief of the FBI should be intimidated by little kids when he’s got other officers with him. It was another “hype” scene that just makes you shake your head. Also, Alex mentioned that the neighbor’s dog was kidnapped, but the police didn’t care. Furthermore, shouldn’t the owner have been looking for him? Lets put this into perspective. The villains moved into Alex’s neighborhood, they live across the block. They kidnapped the dog who lived next to the main character’s house and then walk around with him during the day as their cover. Did the owner of the dog move to Hawaii or something? It’s sad to think that he is looking for his dog, but doesn’t notice him passing by every day. I guess the owner didn’t put up any wanted posters either.

The film also hints that Alex’s mean next door neighbor will play a big role in the end or at least have some kind of role. Instead, she’s just kidnapped and learns to like Alex since he saved her from getting frostbite. I didn’t even disagree with her entirely in the opening since Alex was late and he should have shoveled her lawn on time. There was also a parrot who helped out quite a bit. Unfortunately, most of the words that the parrot knew were pretty iffy. The film went for a lot of that kind of humor and it just wasn’t needed. Give us some well written humor instead!

Writing wasn’t the film’s strong suit so it’s lucky that it was following a tried and true formula. Seeing the traps take out the villains was neat. Naturally, most of the traps aren’t all that believable and aren’t played seriously. It’d be a little more grim than funny if the villains actually reacted to all of the pain believably since they take some real mean hits. Lets just say that the kid was not taking any prisoners. I probably would be using the big guns myself if international terrorists were going to arrive at my doorstep though.

Overall, Home Alone 3 is fun, but it’s definitely another film that is really holding itself back. The tone helps to make the film enjoyable and some of the silly moments were handled well. It just could have been a lot better if they dialed down some of the iffy parts like the parrot and the bad writing that was all around. Most of the characters weren’t all that likable. I liked the parents and the Chief of the FBI, but the other characters needed some work. The villains were good enough for their role though. It would have been fun if they could have kept some of the serious music for a little longer though. They do get a lot of not very subtle musical notes though. Whenever a villain shows up, the music either stops for a second or we just get a very loud sound effect for a second. Don’t look at this film through a logical lens, but then again…why would you? It’s a comedy through and through. Most comedies tend to be fun on the surface while not being good movies like Pixels. Luckily, this one was not nearly as extreme so the score is still positive, but another iffy moment or two and it very easily could have dropped to a 5. It’ll be interesting to see how the 4th film fares. Hopefully it’ll be the best one yet!

Overall 6/10

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Review

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Christmas films sure are catchy and you can’t really get a film that’s any cheerier than a Disney themed title. Mickey Mouse and the gang are definitely well suited to the task and while this film is in the dreaded anthology format, it still manages to be a solid film that can stand up in its own right. The final special is naturally the best one in the batch, but I would go as far as to say that they’re all still fairly good. Given the short length, none of them drag on and they’re all written well. As it should be, considering how old this film is.

The first segment is about Donald Duck and his three nephews. They enjoy Christmas so much that they wish it could never end. The season agrees with them and quickly gets the Earth trapped in an infinite time loop. No matter what the ducks do to their presents and the environment, they are stuck in Christmas. They have to relive the same day over and over again for weeks and possibly even months. Can they learn to enjoy Christmas forever? Honestly, I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with the concept. If every day was Christmas, I’d love it. Granted, I wouldn’t want the day to repeat in the sense that all of my progress would be reset each time. I’d like for time to go on for everything I interact with even if the rest of the day is stuck in place. Otherwise, jobs would eventually reopen despite it being Christmas and that would defeat the purpose of it all. Several films like Groundhog Day have done this plot and it’s always pretty amusing. It is hard to believe that the ducks would fall for all of the same tricks three times in a row though. I think most of us could easily plan out how to dodge the unfortunate parts of a day if we had to relive it.

That segment started us off on a good note. The ducks learned to be nice to their neighbors and respect Christmas. Next up was Goofy’s adventure with Max. Max believes in Santa Claus and he wants to deliver a letter to him. Goofy manages to get the job done, but Pete rains on the parade by letting Max know that Santa doesn’t exist. The truth hurts and Max gets pretty sullen. By the time he snaps out of it, Goody ends up being the one who is down in the dumps. Can they get over the fact that there is no Santa? Naturally, it’s got to have a feels good ending so Santa does exist, but the heroes had already made peace with the fact that he might not show up. It’s fitting that Pete was the one to try and wreck Christmas for Max because he is always pulling stunts like that. He never gets tired or trying to put everyone down. Goofy and Max can’t really hold their own segment as well as Donald and the kids though. Goofy’s antics can be a bit much as he almost trips about 20 times in one scene and then Max wrecks the Christmas surprise that Goofy had planned for the kids. It was partially one of the little kids’ fault was, but I’m sure that Goody would have had a clever comeback ready.

The final segment is easily the best one and that is to be expected since it is about Mickey Mouse. He wants to get Minnie something really special for Christmas, but he doesn’t have any money. He expected to have enough from his job, but his boss stole it all for himself. His business burned away though so it didn’t last long. You have to admit that Pete makes for a perfect villain in these Disney shorts. There weren’t too many villains to use back in the day so Pete appeared quite a lot, but he never gets old. Minnie was also hoping for a Christmas bonus from her job, but there were some budget cuts so they gave her an old cake instead. The ending is quite tragic as both characters have to make the tough calls, but it also shows how selfless and heroic they are. It’s a pretty nice way to end the movie even if it’s somber at the same time. Hopefully both of them can find good jobs at some point so they can pay off the bills. After all, Minnie hid the letter, but she is close to being evicted from all of the bills. The two heroes need a serious long term solution at the ready before it’s too late.

Also as expected, the animation looks pretty good in the film. All of the character designs are on point and a lot of extra details are always in place. You’ll see Mickey quickly glare a few times as he dashed over to the store to get his present. The characters are all very expressive and that’s something that you miss in today’s animation. CGI just can’t get those effects down quite as tightly. You need crisp traditional animation to get these kinds of quick looks and the movie nails it.

Overall, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas is a fun film. It’s not something that’ll knock your socks off or get you dizzy with hype, but it’s a fundamentally sound film from the bottom up. The three specials are enjoyable to watch and all have uplifting endings. The final one is a little somber, but still happy enough. The segments never drag on and the writing is on point. There are really no negatives to speak of here and the nostalgia alone is enough to warrant a watch. I definitely recommend checking this film out before Christmas. It’s really uncanny that we’re so close. It still doesn’t feel real yet, but I’m sure that it’ll start to sink in over the next few days. Christmas is a coming after all!

Overall 7/10

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Review

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This was a movie that I definitely had high hopes for. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Adam West depiction of Batman and seeing it come back in movie format was quite the treat. Recently I got to read most of the trade paperbacks for the current Batman’66 comics (I’m behind by a volume now, but that’ll change at some point) and it just reminded me how cool he was. The film does a great job of bringing the characters back with minimal changes although it is also a huge missed opportunity because it breaks away from what made the series great towards the middle. More on that in a bit, but this is still a very good film that I recommend checking out.

The film starts off with business as usual for the daring crime fighters. They foil another plot by Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, and the Joker. It’s a close fight though since the villains don’t play by the rules and have a lot of henchmen as well. Still, things are going smoothly until Robin notices that Batman is acting a little differently than usual. He’s quoting Frank Miller and using more extreme methods of taking down the villains. It would seem that Batman has now defected to the side of evil so Robin must team up with Catwoman to stop him. Can this unlikely pair defeat Batman or are they doomed before they have even begun?

So, that’s the missed opportunity that I talked about. Batman turning evil takes away from some of the fun because the whole point of what makes Adam West so cool is seeing Batman reprimand everyone and show why he is the perfect citizen. Nothing gets to Batman and he even obeys the smallest laws possible like not walking through a busy intersection. Batman’s antics and great quotes are the best part of the film, but we lose them by the halfway point since he is now evil. It was a risky move and I’m afraid that it did not pay off. As such, the first half of the film is far better than the second. The second half isn’t bad of course, but it is certainly a lot weaker.

I don’t really need to talk about Batman much because you get the memo by now. He’s an awesome hero. As a villain he is fairly interesting as well. The voice actor always does a good job with him and why not? West has a lot of experience voicing the character even though it’s been so many years. Batman may be a little naive and gullible when it comes to Catwoman, but every hero has a weakness of some sort. As far as that goes, this isn’t all that bad.

Robin’s a great sidekick and nice foil to Batman’s character. He’s the guy who always makes the small mistakes so then Batman has to reprimand him. Robin means well though so you can’t really hold it against him. His heart’s in the right place and he also sticks up for Alfred when Batman starts to go over the top. It’s easy to see why Robin’s always been such a fan favorite, this is one of his best depictions. Commissioner Gordon and the Mayor were also fun to have around. They are pretty open about how much they depend on Batman and they do tend to be lost without him. You need a Dark Knight to save the day from even the smallest of crimes when the cops are used to hanging in the background. It backfires a little when Batman turns evil, but at least they took it in stride.

Joker and the gang are also fun. This is the classic Joker that I’ve missed. He isn’t afraid to throw a few punches, but never forgets the one liners. The Riddler may love his riddles, but he does resist the urge to give one to Batman when the plan is fully in motion. Penguin has slightly less character than the others, but he’s a fighter and doesn’t go down easy. As for Catwoman, she mostly uses Batman’s emotions against him to take the upper hand. It’s a viable strategy though and if it works…it works. The 4 villains make for a very potent team and I don’t believe that Two Face will be able to top them in the sequel.

Aunt Harriet is one of those characters that I sort of miss from the old days. She can be super annoying so on one hand it is cool to not have her around anymore. On the other hand, it was interesting to have someone on the inside who was always trying to figure out Batman’s true identity. She really came close many times so I think it’s safe to say that she is a great security risk. One of the best scenes was when Batman arrived in the nick of time to prevent her from picking up the red phone. It did cost Alfred quite dearly, but he really shouldn’t have allowed her to get anywhere near that room. Surely Batman should have had some better defenses in place as well. The characters should all share the blame on that one. Aunt Harriet is certainly persistent with how she constantly goes after Batman and Robin.

There are a lot of stand out moments in this film. Again, the voice acting is excellent and so is the writing. This makes for a lot of really good scenes and Batman is excellent at sarcasm. The brief period where he is still a hero, but a slightly meaner one is also handled well. He’s grumpy, but still reasonable. I would have been more satisfied with the plot if he had stayed at that level instead of becoming totally corrupt. His “Frank Miller” fight scene against the villains was also pretty fun. You can’t help, but feel bad for them by the end of it though. They’re just not used to this level of violence from the normally polite and mild mannered Batman.

The animation is pretty sharp, yet familiar. The designs transition into animation very smoothly. The movie doesn’t get to show off its animation all that much, but it’s crisp enough where you can tell that it is good anyway. This movie’s audio is also quite good with the classic Adam West theme popping up and a lot of other retro tunes that you will associate with this era of comics. It helps to complete the package as a great retro event.

Overall, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is a return to greatness. While the second half weakens it a bit, the film just barely manages to cling to its high score. I have been less than thrilled with a lot of the recent DC films so this was a really nice change of pace. I do think that it was an improvement over the first Batman Unlimited film as well. I’m definitely glad to hear that there is already a sequel in development. This could potentially be a nice long movie series if DC plays their cards right. If you’ve never seen the Adam West show before then I super highly recommend this. You’ll be in for quite the surprise when you see this depiction of Batman. It’s very unique and like nothing that you will have ever seen before. Even if you don’t really follow comics, I recommend checking this film out for the strong dialogue and good technical qualities throughout. If the sequel plays it straight through and through, prepare for an even greater film next time. I have really high hopes for that one so I’m hoping that it can deliver!

Overall 8/10

Poltergeist III Review

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I’ve been on a roll with positive reviews lately and this is another one to add to the total. I’ve never been a Poltergeist fan and didn’t even care for the original one. The second Poltergeist film was completely terrible and one of the worst horror films out there. It’s safe to say that I had very low expectations walking into this one, but shockingly enough…it was actually good. It wasn’t even just okay or anything like that, but it was actually really good. I was shocked as I kept on watching and the film kept on being fun. It’s not perfect by any means and the teenagers are annoying, but the film still went above and beyond my expectations. Who knows, maybe a fourth Poltergeist would actually be worth it.

Carol Anne is now living with her aunt and uncle. Her parents needed a break from the supernatural threats for a little while or maybe Kane forced them to part ways for a while. They didn’t tell Pat and Bruce about the demons because they probably figured that nobody would believe the story. Bruce is the manager of a super tall building and the family lives in a nice neighborhood. Unfortunately, it it not enough to deter Kane. The spirit returns and begins to haunt everyone in the building. He won’t stop until he has Carol Anne, but she intends to put up a fight. Can she stop him once and for all?

First off, this film doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as the first two. It’s still serious, but we don’t have the characters looking solemn and asking sketchy people for help. The new guardians don’t really believe in ghosts and that’s that. I don’t want to call the film campy either. It does its best to be scary as there are a lot of jump scares and Kane is a real threat, but I don’t think you’ll find yourself scared. That being said, the film is nice and atmospheric. If you were to watch this at night, then I think you’d get an extra kick out of it.

This film tries out quite a few different plots. One of Kane’s plans involves replacing everyone around Carol Anne with spirit duplicates. Her cousin is taken over along with her boyfriend and slowly but surely they increase their ranks. It ultimately didn’t really go anywhere, but it was still an interesting plot. Unfortunately, this meant that it was curtains for Dr. Seaton. He was only going to last so long anyway, but I was sad to see him go. He was hands down the best character in the film. His complete denial of spirits and the supernatural was pretty incredible given everything that was happening.

Carol Anne was a fun heroine to have around. She’s a little too young to be fighting these spooks, but at least she is a nice kid. Carol Anne helps Donna sneak out to the party and tries to keep everything to herself. She doesn’t want to involve the others in this fight so she often goes to battle on her own. Naturally, this is a little dicey since she is outmatched and the ghosts have an easier time when it is 1 on 1, but I can respect her decision to keep everyone out of it. Pat was the mean character of the group. She didn’t want to have to look out for Carol and she made this clear. She had her big moment at the end where she finally became friends with Carol Anne, but it was rather late and hard to believe. At least Bruce was a nice uncle. He did his best to help Carol Anne out and was pretty patient with all of the crazyness that was happening. Towards the end of the film he also did his best to get Carol Anne back from the darkness even when Pat said that they should just leave her. He was a lot more heroic than I would have expected and was certainly the best character behind Seaton.

Donna was another mean character. She even states that she doesn’t like Carol Anne while on the phone with her “friends” and naturally the main character hears her. Since Carol Anne is nice like that, she isn’t bothered by it. She just hopes that they can still be pals even if Donna won’t think of her as family. Donna never really gets much better and breaking into the pool and stealing snacks from her Dad’s company just makes the matter worse. Seriously, she is one of the most irresponsible baby sitters that I’ve seen in a while. Her friends were all pretty terrible so no need to talk about them.

Dr. Seaton was the unsung hero here. Even when cups would shatter into nothing, Even when Seaton was attacked, Even when reality was warping right in front of him, Seaton was never shaken. He strongly believed that Carol Anne just had strong hypnotic abilities that could affect anyone in an instant. He never dropped this hypothesis even after seeing two kids come back from the mirror world, hands running around, and all kinds of other stuff. Seaton always had a very exhausted look about him since he was tired of the nonsense. He went as far as to head back to the skyscraper when he thinks that Carol Anne is prank calling him. It may have been a fatal move, but you have to like how energetic this guy is. He never runs out of energy and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Maybe he would have fared better if it hadn’t been a 2 vs 1 fight in the end. He adds a lot of levity to the film and does it very well. The humor isn’t silly or over the top, but just very direct and to the point.

Tangina was one of the big characters in the first two films so it makes sense that she would return here. She actually doesn’t look that great here. Lets just say that she finally meets her match this time and Kane is through playing around. She’s the very definition of a character who is all talk and no action. She gets her hype moment by the end of course, but I definitely can’t say that I’m a fan of her. She does yell a lot though so you’ll certainly have to acknowledge her most of the time. As for Kane, I still don’t really get why he is doing all of this. It seems like he wants her body at some points so he can be alive in the real world again and at other points it seems like he just wants to destroy her for revenge. Regardless of the motive, Kane just seems confused most of the time. He’s persistent though since he is constantly showing up. I guess he’s not bad as a villain, he’s certainly much better than how he was in the second film.

While scary may not be the right word to use for this film, I suppose you could call it creepy. There are a lot of scenes involving the mirror dimension where you can see the spirits while the characters can’t. It is a little unnerving to see them hiding in the halls and ready to pounce on the heroes when they get close. The visuals were actually a little ahead of their time here. I’d say that the special effects crew really did their best considering that this film had a very limited budget. The very ending of the film is also pretty hype although not totally unexpected. It’s a horror film so there has to be some kind of twist at the end right? It’s one of those very interpret-able endings so you get to decide what it means. Whatever you go with, it may not end too well for the heroes. Kane doesn’t give up…even when the film is over.

Overall, Poltergeist 3 was a surprise hit. The new locale really helped to make the scenery better than the first two films. There haven’t been many horror films that take place inside of a large building like this one and I’d like to see more do it. It gives the film a claustrophobic feel since there is nowhere for the heroes to run. Even if Carol Anne wanted to leave the building, she’d have to go 100 flights and the elevators never work when the spirits are around. It really ups the danger factor because while the uncle and aunt may be in the same building, they are still very far away. (The party is on the ground floor of course) The film never drags on and it’s just a blast. The only subplot that is pretty iffy is Donna’s and it doesn’t get too much screen time. That’s seriously the only thing that I can remember not liking about the film. The rest of it is just super solid. You may think that the building would get old after a while, but with so many floors and different backdrops, it stays unique. The heroes even head to a parking lot at one point with a mystical pool and it made for another very chilling scene. The best way to describe how the film can be kind of scary and yet not really is that it’s very strange. The film has a lot of strange visuals and circumstances which are amped up by the music and it’ll keep you unsettled the whole time. The film also strays away from disturbing insect type scenes like the first film tried to pull and it’s also surprisingly very tame. There is really no objectionable violence to be found here this time. It’s easily one of the safest horror films that it still pretty thrilling and that’s a winning combination. I highly recommend checking out this film. Odds are that you never watched it because you figured that it had to be poorly made since it’s the third film in a series, but that is just not the case this time. Check it out and prepare for an epic experience!

Overall 7/10

Charlie Brown’s All Stars! Review

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It’s time for another Charlie Brown film! This is one of the better ones as expected since it is about Charlie Brown’s baseball team. They’ve been mentioned several times throughout the series, but have always been a subplot. This time, they’re able to be the main focus and that’s something that I’ve been waiting for. Whether you can really call his team “All Stars” or not is up for debate though. I can’t even say that they have the heart of a winning team.

Charlie Brown is a little disappointed because his team can’t seem to win a game. It’s been many years and none of the players are any good, but they all still blame Charlie. He is the pitcher I suppose so every point that the other team gets is directly on him, but then he should just let someone else take a stab at it. Eventually, the team breaks apart and the other members form their own clique as they go swimming and skating. Charlie wonders how he can get them back and that’s when a sponsor shows up. He claims that he will get the team new costumes so Charlie quickly tells the others. They agree to keep on playing then, but Charlie gets another phone call. Dogs and girls aren’t allowed on the team if the sponsor jumps in so he has to decline the call. The other members don’t know this yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Will they ever be a close knit team again?

So there’s definitely a lot of drama here. Charlie has to make some hard calls and he finally gets to see who his real friends are and which ones are the phonies. Although, I suppose they aren’t too phony since they don’t mind insulting him face to face. At least they’re up front about it…I can kind of respect that I suppose. As always, Linus is Charlie’s only real friend. He does have one iffy moment where he tells Charlie to pack his bags and get out of town, but I’m sure that he meant it in a nice way. He does help to clear Charlie’s name during the climax when the others get the wrong idea because Charlie phrased everything the wrong way.

I also liked Charlie Brown as the lead. That was expected though since he’s always a cool character. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed and he may not be particularly good at just about anything, but he does have passion and determination. He even declares that a little rain never hurt anybody at the end as he walks to the baseball field even though it is raining really hard. He didn’t even bother to bring an umbrella. Nobody else showed up except for Linus of course and Charlie should have suspected that since nobody else even liked to play by that point, but 2 people is enough to declare the game a win by default I suppose. Charlie and Linus always tend to be the best characters when Snoopy isn’t around.

Snoopy was around though so he does steal the show to an extent. This is one of his smaller roles, but he does get to smack Charlie with his food dish and make a crucial out during one of the games. Since Snoopy is always so good at everything, I’m inclined to believe that he was just holding back the whole time. Sometimes he probably just wants to teach the others some humility. That…or he just likes seeing them lose from time to time. The other friends are really all just there to mock Charlie and be generally mean to everyone. It’s not really nice of them, but hey….what are friends for.

The graphics are all right as always. It may not be the greatest animation, but they have aged fairly well over the years. If nothing else, it is really iconic to look at by this point and the special is just a calming experience. There isn’t much of a soundtrack, but the themes are all very familiar as well. This is a series that should feel very nostalgic as you watch it unless you really have managed to avoid it your whole life. That seems like it’s be a tough feat, but anything’s possible in the end. This also means that I am now one step closer to watching all of the Charlie Brown specials.

Overall, This is another good Charlie Brown special. What makes it a little better than some of the others really comes down to the main plot. Baseball is simply more interesting than a lot of the other stories. I like sports in basically every shape and form. There aren’t even any subplots for once so the total focus is on Baseball. The special is also fairly short so it goes by very quickly. If you’ve seen other Charlie Brown movies then you really know what to expect. You’ll like this one if you’ve liked the others. If you haven’t seen any yet, then this is a good way to start off and I’d recommend checking it out. It’s the kind of special that just feels good to watch.

Overall 7/10