Tag Archives: Pixar

Soul Review

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It’s time to look at a Pixar film that came out a while back. It’s a fun title about body swapping while also just being a bit emptier than some of the previous films. You will have a good time here but it feels like they left a whole lot of meat on the bone with what you can do in this kind of plot. I suppose it’s going for a very different feel compared to something like Freaky Friday or Your Name so I couldn’t expect to see all of the usual shenanigans and yet I do think it would have been nice to have seen those.

The movie starts with Joe being stuck in a rather boring teaching position. It’s just not his passion, the guy wants to get out there and play some jazz music. He’s super interested in music but he doesn’t seem to have the talent. Joe’s just never been able to make it in the profession and he had started to lose hope when he gets one last shot. He does really well in the audition this time and is prepared for success when unfortunately he falls down a manhole and is brought to the brink of death. He’s so close to death that his soul heads to the waiting area for death. His only chance to avoid oblivion is to get back to Earth immediately but along the way he meets a spirit named 22. This is his loophole.

Joe needs to convince 22 that she does have a passion, something worth living for. She doesn’t actually want to go to the real world but agrees to get the badge so she can give it to him to have a second shot at life and then she can have fun in the waiting area for the rest of her life. Thing is, there is a bit of a time constraint here in case something happens to Joe’s body and additionally what if he succeeds and 22 decides to keep the body? It’s going to be tricky for him.

It’s always a bit hard to tell where the plot summary really stops in a case like this because the plot just keeps on rolling. I feel like this is a safe place to stop without getting you too many spoilers there but I’m not sure how much the trailers cover and I think some would say to take it a step further is valid. This feels about right to me though even if I will be getting more into the film below. This isn’t exactly a film with any big twists in it or anything like that anyway.

Interestingly there isn’t even a main villain here. At no point are the characters in any real danger or anything like that. The main dilemma is really in Joe trying to get back to Earth but it’s technically very low stakes for the guy. If he fails then he gets to move on into the next realm. There’s no life or death stuff going on here or even a mean landlord trying to steal money or something like that.

In this film it seems like reincarnation is the way the spirits work. Instead of natural biology occurring and kids growing up naturally, spirits are sent from another world to jump into the body of the baby once it is born. Basically souls don’t just appear naturally and so there is a whole order of people raising the spirits and getting them ready to succeed. Natural talent? No such thing, every spirit already has skills that are predetermined from when they were created.

It’s a bit of a wonky system and also one that doesn’t really change much about the film. It’s an interesting take on things but you could also cut it out and nothing would really change so deep down it’s not actually all that important. The spirit world is just a bit boring though so you are always waiting for Joe to get back to Earth. The world wasn’t built for humans so I suppose that makes sense but it means this film doesn’t have as strong a supporting cast as the average titlle.

The only character in spirit world that I liked was Terry and I felt bad for him the whole time. He’s just doing his job and literally helping out by reporting anomalies and everyone treats him like a pest. All the other cosmic beings here are super annoying and Terry really needs to take over at some point. He’s the only one with the skills to actually make that happen after all. The others would crumble immediately.

As a lead Joe is decent but there’s not a whole lot to him. He’s got a tough time actually talking about how he feels and so without 22 here to help him out, the guy hasn’t build himself the best social life. If not for nearly dying he actually would have been in a decent spot though so he was about to turn things around. His character arc feels like it’s still incomplete by the end which does hurt him a bit.

As for 22, she’s more on the annoying side. She may have apparently existed for many years but she still feels like a kid, and a rather selfish one at that. You can’t trust her to keep her word and she guilt trips Joe as needed. I wouldn’t say she had much time to improve either which is unfortunate. 22 ends up helping out a whole lot but this usually occurs through luck and coincidence. By all accounts she shouldn’t have done very well here otherwise.

Now this may sound like a lot of negatives all at once but the film is still good. The animation is solid enough. The graphics are good and you can tell that this is a newer film even if the style isn’t exciting. Pixar really needs to branch out and start to work on better character designs and streamlined colors but at this point you’re used to the style so you either like it or you don’t. It’s still good even if I don’t think it’s elite or anything like that.

Also the movie does move very quickly. The pacing is good and it never drags on. I wouldn’t say it ever makes any big mistakes either. Soul keeps me entertained well enough as well. So I’d say the best way to think of this film is as one that will keep you interested all the way through but doesn’t have a lot of replay value. It’s great background noise in a way that fills in the time but there’s just never a whole lot happening. I think it bit off a plot that was bigger than it could handle and so in the end it just doesn’t make great use of it. You either need the whole film about body swapping or you need the whole film about showing 22 why life is fun but splitting them apart doesn’t leave room for much.

Overall, Soul is a fun film. I think it would have succeeded more if it was funnier as most of the jokes don’t land but at the same time I would consider it to be a very safe film. It’s not particularly ambitious and it has a very small cast but it’s interesting and looks decent. It probably could have stood to have a little less world building so it could focus more on the situation at hand but if we ever get Soul 2 then we could jump right into the story which should end up helping it out. I’d recommend this one if you like Jazz music or are just interested in the story.

Overall 6/10

The Prince of Egypt

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The Prince of Egypt is a classic animated film from a while back. It’s always great to see a Bible adaption like this actually come out as a mainstream film for everyone to watch. They did a great job with this one as well. There are definitely quite a number of creative liberties but the film still gets the core messages across which is the important thing. So long as the adaption doesn’t lose the spirit of the original, I’m definitely fine with some changes in order to deliver the adventure. The animation budget and everything feels really high here as well. No expense was spared.

The movie starts off with establishing that Moses was placed in a cradle and sent out at sea so that he might live through the tragedy of every baby being hunted down by order of the king. He ends up being raised as royalty, one of the princes to the kingdom. Ramses will be the one to become king but in the meantime Moses still enjoys every benefit of being at the top. He is a bit of a rebel figure who is always having fun and getting Ramses into trouble but the two are very close and have a good dynamic. One day Moses finds out that he is actually Hebrew and can no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering they are going through. He escapes the country and then God appears to him and instructs Moses to free them. To do this he will have to endure a lot of emotional hardships as the Hebrews doubt him and he has to completely severe his bond with Ramses. Still Moses is willing to do what he must here.

One thing I did appreciate here is the extra time given to developing Moses and Ramses when the two were together at the kingdom. These two were brothers who really got along exceptionally well. There were a few moments where I was waiting for Ramses to suddenly turn super evil or something but the movie never went down that route. Ultimately he is a villain and the film doesn’t hide that but he’s very much the same guy we met in the first half of the film. Moses is just now seeing the side of him that he wouldn’t have noticed or card about back in the day.

Even once Moses returns, Ramses is initially ready to forget everything that happened between them and make him a prince again. The movie plays up the tragic angle of how they are on completely different sides now. It’s definitely not an easy spot to be in. Moses meanwhile does well to not falter or let these feelings get the best of him. He’s got a job to do and so he does it. The movie is fairly short so we have to fast blast through some of the different trials and plagues that Egypt is put through but the final one destroying all of the kids is definitely depicted in a really frightening way.

The silence of the scene outside of the heavy breeze is definitely intense. It’s a true moment of helplessness for those on the Egyptian side who can only watch as these things occur. The animation here is excellent and so you are really able to convey all of the wonders really well like the river parting and the cane turning into a serpent. Even the villains get a whole lot of fanfare as they make their copycat snakes and use shadow magic on their end. I can see some thinking the scene is a little too fantastical as it’s dragged out quite a bit to show all of the magic off but ultimately I would say that it worked pretty well. It was the most memorable song in the film to be sure and again the animation was really super. It’s rare to see an American animated film that looks so smooth even nowadays.

Naturally I would give the soundtrack a big thumbs up as well. It all looked really good and of course the writing was on point as well. This is a film that is balanced extremely well and the pacing is great as well. This is the kind of title that I feel can definitely help to spread the gospel well. People just have to look past the spectacle and then hopefully read the Bible to read on and really join the faith. If the movie could reach even just a few people then of course it would have all been worth it.

It’s definitely about time that I check this one out. I forgot about this one for a while there but it’s the kind of title where are soon as you hear the title then you remember that this was a really big film. It would be nice to see more adaptions in the future since the Bible is full of tons of moments that could be turned into really great films and each one can always be used as a learning opportunity in addition to just being great viewing.

Overall, this is a movie I would definitely recommend. It’s got enough action and thrilling moments to get casual fans interested and still touches on enough of the important themes for biblical scholars to appreciate as well. I do think the movie was careful about the changes and so the whole thing was a really good faith effort. For any adaption you want to make sure that it can stand on its own as well and this one certainly does. It just hits all of the right notes and has a good amount of replay value. The film is even able to get a little dark which is fairly necessary in this adventure due to the background of what was going on. The dramatic shading, the sound effects, yeah the movie held nothing back.

Toy Story 2 Review

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It’s time to look at the manga version for the sequel. Much like the first one, the manga for Toy Story 2 does a good job of adapting everything and tying the story together well. The art is still clear and the writing is good even if the editor needs to check the text more closely for a proofread. It’s always good to see some new characters here like how we got Jessie into the mix. That definitely helps widen the character roster and I always thought she was a fun character. So you’ve got another quality character into the mix.

Things are finally going well enough with the toys when the manga starts off. They’re all getting along now while Woody and Buzz have become best friends. Unfortunately Woody is getting older now and is more prone to breaking. One day a collector happens to see Woody outside and figures that he can make big bucks by completing his Wild West set. So he steals Woody and now Buzz and the others have to find the guy before it’s too late. Meanwhile Woody meets the Prospector and Jessie, the two toys that he goes along with in the set. They really want him to stay because then they can all live forever in the museum. It is a rather tempting offer for the main character. Should he go with them or stay with his old friends?

This story has a bit more of a sense of danger about it thanks to the involvement of the Prospector. He makes for a solid villain because the guy is absolutely crazy with how badly he wants to be in the museum. It’s also more of a personal threat than the human because this time it’s a toy trying to mess Woody up. Woody isn’t exactly much of a fighter either so you can’t see him fighting the guy off without the team. If only he had chosen the old toys a little sooner, then he may have ended up getting out easier.

Woody is conflicted for parts of the manga and that makes sense to a degree. That said, I can’t imagine anyone being happy being trapped in glass at the museum for all eternity. If the case is secure he won’t even be able to move around. So he can talk but imagine not being able to move for the rest of your life? Now that would have to be really hard to deal with after a while. Don’t underestimate just how long a period of time the rest of his life would be. So if I’m Woody I still would have been going back with the main characters right away.

Meanwhile Buzz is the one who really has all of the answers in his sub plot but unfortunately for him he is taken out pretty early. The scene where he is stuffed in the toy box is pretty emotional because there was definitely a chance that he might not have gotten out. It was a nice excuse to see more of the classic Buzz though who still thinks that he is a toy. The fight with Zurg may be a bit on the anti climactic side but since they’re both toys that does make sense. It’s not like they could suddenly develop powers or anything.

Jessie also gets her character arc here as she was nervous the whole time about not being played with or being abandoned again. She’s already had a rough ride as it was but fortunately things work out for her. She adds to the character dynamics within the roster and will stay on as a good character for future movies. The Prospector is out of options but that’s what he gets for turning evil right?

Toy Story 2 does a good job of keeping in what made the first film good and then upping the ante with the stakes and villains. Seeing all of the toys getting along is also good since it shows how far we’ve come from the days where Woody and Buzz would fight all the time. It’s definitely been a long time since then and the toys need to stick together after all. Considering all the dangers out there, teamwork is really what keeps them together. Buzz deserves most of the credit for the gang being able to find Woody in the first place.

The art is also good like in the first one. Not amazing or anything but it’s all clear and the character designs are on point so you can’t ask for much more than that. For these adaptions I find that the art is usually clear and not too detailed or it tries too hard with the details and gets very messy. If I had to choose between the two options then I would certainly go with the former. You’ll end up blasting through this adventure really quickly that’s for sure.

While he’s not the main villain, I did like the toy collector though. He’s the kind of villain you can have fun with because at the end of the day he’s trying to get rich. It’s a classic motivation and from his perspective he’s stealing a broken toy and turning it into thousands. That’s quite crazy when you think about it. Even if this is what you would call a “petty” crime of course you are still hoping the heroes stop him. It’s so petty that it goes across the bend into being humorous though which is what really makes this villain work in the story.

Overall, Toy Story 2 is a good story. Like with the first manga adaption you still feel like it can’t quite match up to the film but all in all it does a good job of translating this over to the manga format. If you haven’t seen the film yet or are torn on if you should see it, then you’ll want to check this manga out. It’ll give you a good idea of the story and adapts all of the big moments but then you can always watch the movie afterwards if you liked this one. It could be a little while before I’m back into the Toy Story world so this is a good send off in the meantime.

Overall 6/10

Toy Story of Terror! Review

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Time for a spooky story with the Toy Story special. It’s pretty impressive that the franchise got a special which effectively works as a true mini movie. It looks just like the actual movies and with the voices back, you could stick this in as a subplot during one of the movies and it would work quite well. It’s a solid self contained story and at less than 30 minutes long, it really goes by in a flash.

The special starts with the owner’s car getting a flat tire so they are forced to stop at a motel. The toys are dropped off and this should all be fine except one by one the toy start vanishing. Jessie warns everyone to stay together but they just can’t help but dash off. Soon Jessie is the only one left. She bumps into a toy named Combat Carl who warns her to stay put. Still, her friends might need her. Can Jessie overcome her claustrophobia and fear of being alone or will this be game over?

Most of the special takes place at night which is cool since it helps establish the atmosphere right away. Same with the Motel itself as it appears to be quite ominous. In a way I feel bad for Motels because in every movie/show I’ve ever seen they always appear to be really shady. I imagine motel owners would like to clean up that image at some point but maybe it’s just too late at this point in time so they’ve all given up.

Jessie works well as the main character since she’s one of the more interesting Toy Story characters. Additionally her fear of being boxed in and of being alone works well in a setting where everyone is being taken out. It works as a solid character arc here and she had to be brave to get past the mysterious monster. At the end of the day the toys would have been toast without her.

The mysterious monster turned out to be a pet named Mr. Jones who worked for the villainous Ron. I was glad to have some antagonists here, it made for a fun little climax since it gave the heroes a real obstacle that they had to overcome as opposed to this being all fun and games. For example, Jones is rather fast so it makes sense that avoiding him wouldn’t be easy. All it takes is one charge/lunge and that’s game over as well. Jones also means well since he knows that he will get his snacks for finding the toys.

Then you have Ron who is really looking to make a quick buck. I’d like to see the story behind this guy because he has to be truly desperate to be stealing toys from little children. I mean, if you’re going to be a criminal you figure there should be more efficient ways to earn money. Why has this guy taken such a path? By the end of the movie you know that he is completely doomed and in a way he just makes it worse for himself by running. It did end up being a fun way to end the special but Ron really didn’t handle the situation well. He’s a fun villain and good at making money but he really took the wrong path in life.

As for the toys, Combat Carl gets a big role here as he gives Jessie the inspirational speech to keep on going on matter what. Without him she may not have ultimately been able to gather her strength in time. In some ways he reminds me of Buzz since they’re both so confident. Buzz and Woody don’t get much to do here but I suppose they have the films for that. Pricklepants gets a big role here but I wasn’t crazy about it. Basically Prickle keeps reminding us about horror movie tropes and how the heroes are nearly doomed. I think this joke got worn a bit thin by the end of the special since that was the entire subplot. You can also blame a lot of this adventure on Mr. Potato Head since he was the first one to run off.

As mentioned, the animation is quite impressive considering that this wouldn’t have gotten the same kind of budget as one of the films. It maintains the art style well. It may not be something that looks as streamlined as a traditional hand drawn title but it does the job. The toys are on point and scenes where the toys have to try and execute complex maneuvers is fun to see since they are constrained by how the toy works. As a result they have a whole lot of difficulty with a paper clip in one scene.

Overall, This is a short special so there isn’t much more to say about it. It’s a fun story and should keep you entertained from start to finish. It’s an adventure with a full beginning, middle, and end that has a good amount of replay value. The writing is on point and the characters are likable so there really isn’t anything to dislike here. It’ll really be over before you know it and you aren’t likely to forget the antagonists any time soon.

Overall 7/10

Toy Story 2 Review

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The sequel has arrived. Toy Story 2 is one of those films where I remembered the villain quite well but not some of the other elements as much. It’s definitely a solid title and for the big question of whether or not it defeats the original, I’d say that it does. It’s a pretty solid follow up to the classic and we get to actually have Buzz confront his ultimate villain. What’s not to love right?

Picking up where the first film left off, Andy is now growing older. He has to make certain decisions on which toys he wants to play with. Unfortunately for Woody, he has been ditched again after injuring his arm. We get the iconic scene where Andy drops Woody and runs off. Woody makes a daring rescue to save another toy but in his weakened condition he is unable to escape the powers of the chicken man employee who steals Woody and decides to make some huge profits.

Buzz and friends are naturally on the job to save Woody but it’ll be difficult. Buzz is used to these grand adventures but the rest of the toys are just normal house toys and don’t really know what to do in these situations. Buzz will really have to carry them here. Meanwhile for Woody, he starts having some doubts on if he really wants to go back home to Andy. If he stays with the kidnapper, Woody will be on display at a museum for many years to come and will effectively be immortalized. Additionally, if he leaves then the rest of the Woody collection set (Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete) will be thrown back into a dark box never to come out again. The stakes are a lot higher than they’ve ever been before.

In a sense there’s two main plots here so lets talk about Woody’s first. Once he is trapped by the collector it’s more of a low key plot where he has to decide what the right thing to do here is. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea to stay with the other toys if that’s what he really wants to do but he should at least let the others know that he will be gone. It’s a long journey but he would need to make it first. Additionally, I feel like he would end up regretting it eventually. The toys apparently don’t die of old age so he would be trapped inside glass at the museum for centuries with absolutely nothing to do. I don’t see a whole lot of fates being worse than that so it just doesn’t seem like it would be a good idea.

His new friends can also be a bit temperamental. Particularly Jessie who starts off dancing and singing about how glad she is to see him, to wishing he would go away and insulting him, to going back to dancing. She takes every bit of news really hard and the old man doesn’t seem to have a great opinion of Woody with his subtle digs. Considering these may be the only people he can talk to for the rest of his life…that’s going to be tricky.

So I think Woody could have thought about this a little more. His plan to ultimately offer to take them with him was always the best one. The climax would have played out a whole lot differently if he had led off with that, that’s for sure. It was an intense climax though with some solid action so that was a good way to end things.

Meanwhile you had the Buzz plot with the rest of the classic toys. They were good as expected. The pig is still nice and tough with the rest of the toys being there for backup. Buzz really gets a lot to do here as you would expect. He has to fight another version of himself and Zurg even shows up. It was a pretty intense confrontation to say the least.

I remembered Zurg’s role being a lot bigger personally but it’s been a while since I saw the movie so I suppose I just added extra scenes in my head. That kind of thing may happen once in a while after all. Still, he makes the most of every scene he’s in. While his battle with Buzz is ultimately played for laughs, it’s fun since it finally completes his character arc even if it was a different version. I’m just a little sad that we didn’t get to see the main Buzz fight him.

Both of them have the same core personality though so I guess that works out. Their fight was cool and it was nice for Buzz to finally have a worthy opponent. If you want a serious fight between them, then you have the opening scene of the movie which is played 100% seriously. It’s not quite real but you do get a cool what if of how things would go if both characters did have their respective abilities. As always Buzz is a blast in this film throughout.

The new characters were good too. Jessie can be a bit rough on Woody but she did have to endure a long time in pitch darkness so that sounds pretty rough. I think she probably should have just tried to escape now that Woody is here instead of banking on the museum idea. She can fight which is always good. The dog is hype and then you’ve got the leader of the Woody team who plays quite a big role by the end of it. He makes for a very intimidating presence and added a lot to the story so you definitely won’t forget him. In the end he had an even bigger role than Zurg.

As with the first film the writing is very solid. The characters are good and the story will keep you engaged throughout. The animation has improved from the first one so you can tell that it is quite a bit newer. It’s cool how the actual universe ages along with the films so Andy is quite a bit older than he was in the first film. He’s still more of a non character as he doesn’t do much but he is important to the story itself as a plot element.

Overall, Toy Story 2 is a very solid all around title. It improves on everything that made the first film good and never looks back. The humor is always good when it arrives and the film really feels like it ends in a flash. It’s a title I would definitely recommend to anyone that just wants to enjoy a pretty fun film. You can watch this one at any time and have a good experience.

Overall 7/10

Toy Story Review

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Toy Story is certainly a classic movie that is extremely well known. It’s rare for Pixar to turn one movie into 4 like this but Toy Story has proven time and time again to be a big draw. It’s been ages since I saw the original and I never reviewed it so now was the time. It holds up quite well to this day with a strong story and quality characters. You can see how it ended up being a winner.

The movie begins with introducing us to Woody and his friends. On this planet, all toys are sentient creatures who simply live by a code not to let humans know that they are real. They’re quite good at playing dead to the point where it seems like an innate ability. One day, their owner Andy gets a new toy and that throws everything into a different perspective. His name is Buzz Lightyear and he doesn’t believe that he is a toy. The guy thinks he is legitimately a galactic agent and despite this, all of Woody’s friends are hanging out with him now. Woody makes a desperate attempt to take Buzz out once and for all, but this leads to both of them getting stranded away from home. Can they possibly return or will they die against the bully next door?

Since they are all toys here, even crossing a small distance can be difficult. After all for a decent part of the film they’re only a few blocks away but it’s still quite the journey. The toughest part of their journey was when they were only 1 block away so it gives you a good sense of scale here. Doing just about anything can be tricky for them.

The animation’s pretty solid. It’s fun how they make the toys move while keeping them looking fairly realistic. The Buzz figure for example is something I could definitely see myself having fun with many years ago. It’s quite high quality and had a lot of gadgets. Back in my day the action figures didn’t have voice acting like this. Aside from Andy the only humans we see are usually antagonists and are drawn to look rather ugly like the characters in Finding Nemo. Get ready for the main bully who even blows up toys.

Now if you think about it, the fact that toys are all alive can get rather dark for them. Still, when they enter their toy state they are able to block out pain and such fairly well so hopefully that helps when being blown to smithereens. It should help…right? It might also help with memory like Buzz thinking he’s real even while being played with the whole time. You can probably assume that he’s just in deep cover since he knows he couldn’t fight the humans or he’s a bit slow on the uptake. That’s one of the main comedic plots here so I suppose you just don’t want to look into it too much.

Buzz was the best character either way though. I liked his confidence and he’s definitely a lot more pro active than the rest of the characters. If he wants to do something then he’s just going to go ahead and do it. He doesn’t need any complicated plans or anything like that. Buzz is also quick to assume the best and help the others out which is why he fell for Woody’s trap. Woody may have thrown a lot of insults his way but Buzz didn’t take any of them too seriously. He was also beating Woody when they had their fight.

I think it’s fair to say that Woody was still the main character here though. His character arc here is really coming to terms with the fact that Andy wants to spend more time with Buzz. Woody had been so used to being in first place all the time that anything lower just didn’t sit right with him. In a way he probably can’t understand how the other toys feel as a result since they were never number 1. Gradually he realizes that he’s being better and starts being a nicer toy.

It’s a solid character arc from start to finish. Naturally there are a bunch of other main supporting toys but Woody and Buzz got the biggest roles. The pig was good for a lot of his one liners. He seems a lot more jaded than the rest and loves throwing out insults whenever he can. You’ve got the Potato Head who is reasonably tough. He’s a little less vocal than the others but is always around. Then you have the dog who can really stretch.

I’m not really sure what the point of that toy would be though. Do you play with it just by pulling it around? Dunno, it doesn’t have a whole lot of appeal but as a character he’s cool. The dog is useful in a lot of situations. Bo Peep was a nice enough character who gives Woody encouragement from time to time. She doesn’t appear as much as the main crew though and just comes in to save the day at times. Finally there’s Rex the dinosaur who may not be the toughest dino around but Buzz gives him some nice pointers.

A film like Toy Story will really live or die by the writing. You could say that for any film I suppose but particularly it’s true for films that aren’t big action thrillers or films with big emotional highs like a sport title. This is really a slice of life title about toys realizing what it means to be a toy. If the writing was lackluster or boring then the film would reflect that real quick.

Instead the film stays interesting throughout because the characters are all fun and the dialogue is good. The film also feels incredibly short though. It’s really over before you know it. Animated movies do tend to be on the shorter side but maybe it felt extra short because it was so good. It tells a complete story from the character introductions to the big climax at the end. The toys finally have a sense of unity to them so now they’re ready for the second film.

I wouldn’t say I have any complaints here. There wasn’t any part of the film I found weak. It’s a very unique concept and the movie had a lot of fun showing how crazy the whole thing was. The characters have to constantly run and hide not to mention how they live in fear of every Birthday party. It’s a stressful life being a toy but someone’s got to live it. I would say they should probably just hide somewhere so they’re never found and can just wander around all day but it seems like being played with is a toy’s greatest desire so that wouldn’t appeal to them. It’s interesting since the movie effectively built a bunch of rules around being a toy so that’s pretty neat.

Overall, Toy Story is a solid film. It’s definitely one of the stronger Pixar titles and has a lot of replay value. The gags all work well and the characters are likable which is all you really need to have a good hit. We’ll see if the sequels are able to match or even surpass the original or if it’s all downhill from here. Sequels always have a lot of pressure on them after all.

Overall 7/10

Wall -E Review

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Wall E is a very well known film that I hadn’t gotten around to seeing yet. It always looked like a lot of fun and after seeing it I can certainly say that this is a quality film. Wall E has a good amount of drama and heartfelt moments. I also liked the little moments of danger we got near the end. Despite the apocalyptic backgrounds this isn’t an action film so don’t expect any big confrontations. This is more of a story about why you can’t get too dependent on technology or you are going to be in pretty big trouble.

The movie starts out by introducing us to a desolate Earth. Humans have already fled the planet so Wall E is really the only bot left. He goes around cleaning up the litter but it does get boring after a while. Fortunately another bot named Eve shows up one day which makes things more fun for Wall E. He finally has a friend even if she is deadly serious about her business. They stick together during the tough times when she has technical difficulties but their calm life can’t last forever. Eventually she has to go back to where the humans are to report that it’s safe to return to Earth again. The issue is….what if someone doesn’t want them to go back to Earth?

Now it’s hard to really tell where to end the plot summary as even what I have put there feels like it goes pretty deep into the film. Still, I feel like that’s a fair dropping off point since that’s where the first real conflict begins. It’s from that point where we can really get the characters in some danger. The first half of the film manages to get by without a lot of dialogue which is impressive since the backgrounds and aesthetic have to really speak for themselves here.

The animation is definitely solid though and it holds up well to this day. The opening backgrounds with the destroyed cities reminded me of Advent Children to an extent. Wall E’s design is also fun and looks a whole lot like ROB the Robot. The laser blasts from Eve are also on point. Then you have the soundtrack which is good. It may not be too extensive or anything like that but the tunes are memorable and work well. The film has a lot of energy throughout.

The pacing is also on point and the writing is good so you have all the fundamentals for a solid film. As a main character Wall E is also fun to follow on his journey for friendship. He may not be able to talk a lot but he’s a nice guy and always means well. Whenever he thinks Eve is in trouble, Wall E jumps in to help and save the day. Meanwhile Eve is a solid heroine. She is definitely packing heat with her energy blaster which really comes in handy. She has to be one of the strongest characters in the film although unfortunately her reaction times aren’t always on point so enemies get close enough to turn her off more than once. That’s definitely something she would have to work on for a sequel.

Then you have the antagonist who is pretty solid. I won’t say his name but when he steps in you know that things are about to get dangerous for the heroes. He’s a pretty fun villain who always seems to be able to get the upper hand. I liked the design and you can tell that he’s based off of a popular villain from another sci-fi film. Finally you have the Captain who does well in the end. He may not have made all of the right decisions for a while but ultimately he stepped up when he had too and that’s what counts. You know that the Earth will be safe under his command.

The movie definitely paints a dangerous picture of how the humans won’t be doing so well if they slack off. It’s pretty crazy to see that the humans have given up to the point where they can barely even move or survive on their own. Definitely not their best appearance. I like to think that at least somebody would have stayed strong and resisted the temptations everywhere but I suppose there were no heroes in this era. If anything it’s impressive that they’re still alive at all since most of them barely appear to be functioning anymore. The robots definitely had all of the power here.

Something tells me this film probably won’t get a sequel at this point but there’s definitely a lot you could do with a future storyline. Have an evil robot show up to conquer the planet or maybe half of the humans decide to revolt and try to go back to where they were. It’s fun to think about at least. There isn’t a whole lot more to talk about for this title due to the nature of the film. A lot of the film is really just about enjoying the landscapes and Wall E’s heartfelt journey. It’s all very effective and it’s a unique approach. It’s definitely a style that has to be handled carefully as with weaker writing it could just end up being rather dull and boring like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fortunately Wall E was up to the task.

Overall, Wall E is a fun film. I wouldn’t say it ultimately rises up to be one of Pixar’s best movies, but it certainly does the job of being a quality watch. There’s a lot to enjoy here from the characters to the solid animation. Once the humans do get involved it’s nice to see them. They may not have stayed very alert but at least they’re all pretty nice people who are ready to help. It shows that this community managed to stay pretty well connected. If you haven’t see Wall E yet then I’d recommend it. It’s a pleasant film that really goes by in a flash.

Overall 7/10

Brave Review

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Video games based on movies always have a certain reputation that comes along with them. People just expect these games to not be very good and this is warranted by the multitude of games that came out in the early 2000s…..or did they? See, a lot of games based on movies did come out in that era, but I’d argue that a lot of them were really good. The Matrix, Spider-Man 1-3, X-Men 3, etc. These games were actually a lot of fun and then you’ve got titles like The Incredibles or Superman Shadow of Apokolips (Based on a show at least) which were also solid. Now there have been some terrible ones like Finding Nemo, but I’d argue it balances out well. Brave is a solid game in its own right and I’d recommend checking it out.

The plot seems to cover what the movie did in abridged form although I have not watched the movie yet so I can’t say that with 100% confidence. Basically the main character’s Mom is turned into a bear so now she must find a way to turn her back. Meanwhile there is an evil bear who is spreading evil throughout the world and corrupting everybody. If he isn’t stopped soon then there will be no going back. The lead has to learn that bravery is something that comes from within and the way to save her Mother may have something to do with this. The only thing left to do now is fight!

The gameplay is fairly standard. You start out at the Ring of Stones which is effectively the hub world although I hesitate to say that because there is nothing to do here. It’s a blank field you can run around in and it leads you to the 9 levels. Each time you clear one level then the gateway to the next one opens up which allows you to challenge it. There’s not really much more than that to do here so maybe lets just call it the hub. Once inside of the level the goal is to get to the end. This is done by running and jumping through the obstacles. You’ll have to beat a lot of the levels as it is part beat em up. When you beat all of the enemies the force field will leave and you can proceed forward. The levels are fairly quick and you can knock out the full game in a few hours. I don’t know exactly how long it took me, but it was between 4-6 hours I’d say.

In combat you have two weapons. The first is the sword which the game seems to think is your main weapon but don’t let that fool you. It’s nice and you can slice enemies up pretty quickly but there’s no reason to use it. The reason for that is you have a bow which fires unlimited arrows machine gun style. While the damage is slightly lower it compensates well with how many arrows you’re shooting. You can also run at full speed while shooting which is rare for any game. As a result there is no downside to constantly shooting as you are running. Not a bad idea right? I went with the arrows for the whole game and it was worth it. I didn’t die at all throughout my whole playthrough (until the final boss) which yeah that isn’t too impressive considering what game it is, but it still felt pretty good.

As you play through the game you will find upgrades for your sword and arrows as well as other costumes and tapestries which increase your base stats. You can also buy other upgrades at each save point which are pretty handy. They aren’t hidden all that far away from the main path so I was actually able to get almost all of them despite focusing on just clearing the game the whole time. It’s really not much of a time sink to quickly turn around and grab them so I’d recommend doing so. Additionally if you aim to get the Platinum trophy you’ll need to do this at some point anyway so what better time than the present right?

The graphics are fairly decent. It does look more like a PS2 game than PS3, but it’s not like the character models are blocky or anything. You’re always still sure of what’s happening next and there are a good amount of cinematics here to give you that movie feel. There isn’t really a soundtrack unfortunately so that does keep this from feeling like a higher budget title. I’d say that the main giveaways to this not being a big AAA game is how there are some re-used cutscenes and how simple the controls are. I don’t think simple controls is inherently a bad thing though. With good level design and a solid gameplay option you can really make this work out. Just look at the old Sonic or Mega Man games. There weren’t a bunch of controls but they were still a lot of fun.

If anything holds this game back it’s the length, but you can buy this game for cheap nowadays so I don’t think you’ll feel too badly about it. There is also the replay value thanks to the trophies which keeps this from being too short as well. Brave is just a fun game and it feels like a nice relic of the past. You don’t really see quick cash-in games like this anymore and it’s a shame. It’s not the kind of game you’d buy for 60, but it’s one that is always fun to stumble upon in Gamestop. It’s easily worth the price nowadays.

Overall, Brave is a very good game. I’m not saying it’s great and it’s not going for game of the year awards, but there’s really nothing bad to say about it. The ability to shoot endless arrows is admittedly very cheesy, but it does help this feel more like an arcade game. You can just dive into the game and take down as many enemies as you can. You can even turn it into a minigame with yourself to see how long you can go without getting hit. Some of the last levels will give you a nice challenge there and as I mentioned I did die a few times during the final boss. That one throws enemy after enemy at you so taking them all down isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It’s good reaction time practice since if you jump at the right time you should be able to dodge any attack.

Overall 7/10

Monsters, Inc. Review

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Time to look at a title where the main characters’ mission is to scare people. As you can imagine this is a pretty tricky business since people will eventually not feel fear quite the same way. In this world, the monsters go through doors to little kids’ rooms and quickly scare them. The fear energy is captured in a tube which is then used like electricity. So the kids were actually right all along about monsters being under their beds and such.

The main characters are Sully and Mike. These two have been the reigning fear champs for a long time. It’s a team effort and things would have continued as normal except one day a little kids manages to escape the human world and bumps into Sully. Sully decides to get Boo back into her door before anyone figures this out, but the door is gone so he will have to do a lot of searching to find it. In the meanwhile they will have to watch out for Randall. It’s Randall’s fault that she escaped in the first place and if he finds her then there is going to be a lot of trouble. He’s not quite as heroic as the other monsters.

It’s definitely a very interesting setup. You may wonder why it’s such a big deal for the others to find out that a human is around, but effectively it would be like if a monster showed up in your house. People in this world are afraid of the other and vice versa. The government in the monster world is also prone to using lethal force to stop outsiders. One monster was completely shaved just for letting a sock make contact with him. The monster takes germs very seriously and so you can see why Sully wants to avoid all of that. It would definitely be pretty traumatic for Boo. Meanwhile Mike is definitely less about the heroics of this and just doesn’t want to get into trouble. Still, he does help out at the end of the day even if it is very reluctantly.

Randall is a petty sinister villain and works well as the antagonist here. He’s definitely a credible threat and with his invisibility it is hard to deal with him. He’s not nearly as tough as Sully and can’t win in a straight fight, but does use his abilities creatively. He comes awful close to stopping Sully once and for all. That’s really it for the main cast, but a few others show up along the way. I can’t say that Boo was as interesting as any of the other main characters though. I think she’s just too young to have a compelling character arc.

This manga isn’t afraid to show you how brutal the world can be though. Even ignoring the monster getting skinned or Sully being choked, there’s one scene where the humans decide to fight back. This involves Randall’s epilogue and things definitely don’t go so well for him. Keep in mind that the monsters are scary for the adults, but they definitely aren’t going to be doing much against adults. They aren’t super powerful like that and Randall isn’t much of a fighter as it is. I’m afraid that the scene was likely game over for him.

The art style is very basic for this one. It uses big panels and there isn’t a lot of detail on any of the characters to make for easy reading. I think this manga is aiming a lot younger than the others that I’ve read which is why I’m surprised that it has more danger than A Nightmare Before Christmas. The main aspect this hurts is the scare factor as it’s hard to see anyone being scared of Sully when he looks like a teddy bear. Kids do scare easy I suppose so it’s not like it’s a huge stretch either way. The art does serve its purpose of making the volume easy to read as well.

Overall, Monsters Inc is a reasonable volume. If you aren’t able to watch the movie then it’s a pretty good substitute. It’s certainly like watching an abridged version, but it keeps in as many of the big scenes as it can. The concept still holds up well today and it would be interesting to have more titles in this continuity. I still haven’t watched the movie sequel, but maybe that one also got a manga. So if you’re looking for a decent fantasy manga then this is one to check out. If you’re looking to buy one though, I’d probably sooner recommend something like Dragon Drive or Legend of Zelda though.

Overall 6/10

The Nightmare before Christmas Review

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It’s time to look at a manga adaption of the popular film that came out a long time ago. It’s always interesting to see a manga adaption of a film. They tend to play it pretty straight, but it’s a chance to see how the artist draws the characters and if any liberties are taken. Due to time constraints you can expect some scenes to be cut here and there. It’s a fun enough adaption and makes for a good read although it’s admittedly not terribly interesting. It’s still a good read.

The plot follows Jack who is the king of horror. Every Halloween he gives everyone a good scare but now he is ready for something more. In this world every season has their own country so he sneaks into Christmasland and decides to take a page from their book. Their land will have a Christmas this time and he gets the whole town in on it. Sally doesn’t think that this is a good idea due to a vision that she had, but she can’t really prove it so her case doesn’t end up being very strong. Can she find a way to stop Jack?

The manga isn’t really able to show why this is a bad idea quite as much as in the film. We do have a few pages showing that Jack is a bit sad and the Christmas spirit isn’t really working, but there’s no time to really go into it. Mostly we see the down side of this is just because Jack is ruining Christmas for all the kids in the outside world by giving them terrible presents. Santa is fortunately around to fix this by the end. Jack’s plan doesn’t seem bad otherwise as doing the same thing year after year must be boring. The town was already planning the next Halloween the day after it ended which shows how little the town does.

This town also seems pretty shady. Sally’s creator for example seems to be incredibly possessive to the point where she has to poison him several times to escape. How he falls for the same poisoned soup trick over and over is another story. It’s a rather odd subplot that fits the creepy tone of the manga, but ultimately feels pretty unnecessary. I suppose with only Jack’s plot the story would have been over a little too quickly though.

You’ve also got the villain Oogie Boogie who shows up to strike fear into the characters. Jack seems to know that he’s a bad guy as he warns the kids to stay away, but I guess maybe there’s not much that the town can do about him? They seem awfully resigned to their fate so I guess that’s just how it is sometimes. The whole town is suspect so I suppose that’s just the least of their problems. The final fight is fairly short but at least we do get a bit of an action scene.

The art is pretty solid. It does a good job of recreating the movie’s vibe and everything’s pretty clear. It’s got a good amount of detail which is always important. You’ll be blasting through the manga. The pacing is definitely very fast so there is never a feeling of the story slowing down. As I mentioned earlier, the only issue is that you just won’t get very invested in the characters. You won’t really care what happens to them in the end and there isn’t a real sense of danger until the very end of the volume. This isn’t really that kind of series of course, but either you have a really engaging plot or you have big action scenes. If you have neither then you’re sort of stuck.

The manga makes no mistakes though. For obvious reasons there is no fanservice here or any excessive violence. It’s a manga you could recommend to anyone at least based on content. The title plays it very safe but I still think it could have tried to be more interesting. I think there can be an interesting debate on how far you should diverge on something if the base material isn’t interesting enough. After all, the author/artist probably had little creative input on changing things. Still, I feel you gotta still review the thing in front of you the same way you would if it wasn’t an adaption.

Overall, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a decent story. It’s about as good as a manga as it is in film. The film may have the slight edge but it really is the same story so it’s not like they are very different. If you liked the movie then you’ll like the manga. If you haven’t seen the film but are in the mood for a fun little story about Halloween characters trying to understand Christmas then you’ll enjoy this one as well. It’s only one volume so it’s not like it’s a big time investment either. What do you have to lose right?

Overall 6/10