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Kirby’s Star Stacker Review

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It’s time for one of those Kirby games that is so obscure nobody has heard of it. I didn’t think this was even possible but sure enough, it was a whole new experience. I could finally see what the retro Kirby was like. The game is fun enough but a bit on the limited side. It adds a new dimension to the stacking type of games with how the gameplay works but once you’re past that gimmick there isn’t really anything else left. At that point you’ve really seen everything that the game has to offer. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but it does mean the gameplay really needs to impress you.

There are 4 difficulty levels here. The first two are super easy, the last one is super tough. So you could say the third one is the best level to get familiar with things. Basically you need to make matches with at least two items of the same type. When you match enough of them, you summon stars to defeat King Dedede. Additionally there are stars scattered throughout the level and matching two items across from a star will automatically use it as well. This is where the main gimmick comes in. It’s not enough to be making basic matches here, you need to get really creative and make matches from long distance. If you can pull this off then you will be able to beat the levels easily.

The first difficulty has 8 levels and each level takes around 25 seconds so this is fast. The next one has 16 levels and they take around a minute so that’s a bit longer. Then the final one presumably has 32 with the third being 24 but I don’t know for sure. With the final one I just had fun doing a few levels here and there but by the end it definitely got old. Not the kind of game where I felt like I absolutely had to complete everything.

There is no story here after all so you’re just playing for the love of the game at this point. You go through all of the levels to prove to yourself that you still have what it takes. While there is some repetition, it’s not like the game is super long or anything. I can see why this one wasn’t remembered very well though because ultimately it’s just not going to last very long. I imagine even if you bought the game for full price on day 1, you probably wouldn’t stick with it for more than a week. Even that is probably an overly cautious estimate. There’s also just not a whole lot to say about the game in general either because the gameplay is so simple. Not in a bad way but it means that everyone knows what you are talking about right away.

The graphics aren’t bad but of course there are no colors for the Game Boy titles when playing on the Switch. Kind of removes any charm the game might have had there. The soundtrack wasn’t bad though. Nothing particularly memorable I gotta say but it still gets the job done well enough. Ultimately this is a Kirby title after all and you’re just happy to see the little guy running around. The game has a very calm atmosphere about it.

At least with the highest difficulty there is a real challenge here if you want one. If they ever announced a sequel I would be interested but it would definitely be conditional on their adding more content to the game. Throw in a story and I’ll have fun no matter what the gameplay is like. Trust me, that’s really all I need there. At least if you want me to spend money on a game. Now the next Kirby game for me to play might be the elusive Planet Robo.

Overall, Kirby’s Star Stacker is a good game but it doesn’t really bring a whole lot to the table. Nowadays you would expect this to be the kind of game that you would find on the app store for free. Buying it as an actual paid title is just crazy. Even if you really enjoy the Tetris type gameplay, there is a real lack of content here. Ultimately I would not be able to defend it. Of course you tend to be a little softer on it when you end up playing the game for free. At least that’s the way I see it.

Overall 6/10

Killer Instinct Gold Review

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Killer Instinct is a pretty fun fighting game in some respects but it also does feel its age in others. The gameplay could stand to be a whole lot smoother than it currently is. Landing combos is also really difficult due to the way that the combo system is set up. You have to manually find the attacks that line up and go from there. This will vary from character to character of course so if you were thinking about any auto combos, well you can forget about those.

The game mainly revolves around the vs mode and arcade. The vs is about what you would expect as you fight someone and get to see who has really mastered the controls. It’s one of those modes that has endless replay value and it’s why multiplayer games are so good. You know that no matter what, this will still be around for whenever you need it. That said, it also comes down to how much you like the gameplay itself. A fun thing about Arcade mode is it does let you change characters every time you lose so you don’t have to get stuck with anyone. By the end of the Arcade playthrough I had played as every character. I knew that I just had to do it.

They all just feel a bit on the clunky side though. I can tell you that beating arcade mode was incredibly tough and took me many attempts. In fact, I can’t even really say that I completed the game because the final boss has a special gimmick where you can only beat him with a launcher combo. The problem is I couldn’t figure out how to do that so I would defeat him over and over again but he would just regenerate. Really a crazy boss and I can only imagine renting the game from Blockbuster and then trying to take him down.

It just wouldn’t fly. So that’s a bit of an annoying way to finish off the campaign but it’s not like there is a whole lot of story to the title either. At the end of the day it’s a retro fighting game where you can test your fundamentals and have a good time. There’s really not a whole lot more to it beyond that. So just get your game on and then you should be all set.

The graphics look pretty good for the game. That part has definitely aged really well. The colors are striking and I like the fact that the levels even seem a bit interactable. The soundtrack is good too so the technical elements are all in order. If the game could have just had a better gameplay style then this would have really been a very solid experience. I think the fix would be a mix of increasing hit stun on all of the attacks and just naturally letting certain blows connect to each other. At that point, once the hits are connected then it’s more fun since the whole game would become more fast paced. It encourages you to really go in and try to do something instead of all the random button mashing.

There’s not a whole lot more I can ask for from such an old game but this is one that I think would be pretty reasonable. Most games have basic combos as the standard after all and this one would have just needed to match that and it would have been all set. I can see why the series never hit it off to the same level as Street Fighter and Tekken. It definitely would have needed that extra gameplay boost.

I can say that the character designs are fun though. The roster will keep you entertained and it’s not even as small as you might have assumed for such an old game. The characters feel like interesting elseworld versions of popular characters like Predator and Sub Zero. Definitely one way to get around all that copyright I suppose.

Overall, Killer Instinct Gold is a good game but it could have been better. The fact that it is a fighting game is really the only thing keeping it afloat. Otherwise there’s just not a whole lot to say about it. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you may as well check it out while it’s there but otherwise I’d say you can definitely find way better titles within the genre. No reason to stick with this one for too long.

Overall 6/10

Maid in Manhattan Review

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Okay it’s time for a pretty wholesome romance story about how true love prevails. It’s a pretty fun movie all around but the romance itself definitely doesn’t work out so well. The characters make a whole lot of mistakes throughout its run and the whole time you are rooting for a guy named Jerry who is just trying to do his best. It’s tough when you have good points but nobody will listen to you. Chris is lucky to have a trusty employee like Jerry at the ready.

The movie starts by introducing us to Marisa who works as a maid at a fairly fancy hotel. She has always done a good job over the years and does her best to keep on improving her craft. She would like to even join management someday but doesn’t really feel confident enough to pursue this. Her friend Stephanie decides to take the plunge for Marisa and mails in the application. The timing is rough though as Stephanie also convinced her to put on the rich clothes of Caroline, one of the people staying at the hotel.

As it so happens, a guy named Chris who is running for senate happens to bump into her and mistakes her for being the rich Caroline. They hit it off right away but this temporary fun cannot last. At any point she could be discovered by her boss or Chris might find out the truth. Should Marisa break things off before it gets too serious or keep up the deception for as long as she can? The stakes are definitely quite high here.

Naturally it’s a bit hard to root for Marisa here because she does break all of the basic rules of being a maid. Theft is a serious taboo and of course she should not be wearing the lady’s clothes either. You certainly wouldn’t feel good if you found out that somebody was messing around with your stuff right? It’s just basic etiquette at that point. No amount of peer pressure should have convinced Marisa to put that on.

Additionally, she had many chances to break things off with Chris or come clean about the whole situation but instead kept silent and this caused the situation to keep on getting worse. Marisa was just too half hearted about the whole thing and still manages to get upset at Chris and the others later on. I didn’t think her blow up was justified because all of the issues were her own. I would argue that by the end of the film she doesn’t seem super remorseful and doesn’t seem to have really learned the moral of the story.

Her kid Ty definitely gets her into a lot of trouble as well. This guy is always meddling like when he seeks out Chris for some closure. Marisa and him had already had a conversation on this and were supposed to have come to an understanding but in the end it turned out that this was not the case. Ty just does whatever he wants and figures it’ll be okay as long as things turn out well but generally he holds Marisa back. The kid needed to focus more on making his big speeches at school.

As for Chris, he comes across as a little too understanding at times. Even once all the cards are out on the table, he barely seems to care. Marisa storms off and he’s still willing to have her back right away. The whole thing just feels a bit rushed with how devoted he is to her instantly. A single walk through Central Park completely changed his life. He may be a nice guy but I don’t see how he will end up being a good senator. The guy is distracted too easily and doesn’t have his mind on policies.

His right hand man Jerry is likely the only reason he is even in the game. Jerry always knows what events to attend and who to talk to in order to make things work out just right. He is the guy who steps in to save the day when others don’t even know that the stakes are this high. No matter how many times he is ignored, Jerry still does his best. I respected his drive here and the guy had true determination. If Chris listened to him more often, he may be president by this point.

As for the side characters, Stephanie means well but she definitely does get Marisa into a lot of trouble. Mailing in an application to be manager for someone without telling them is extremely risky. Additionally the idea of trying on the coat was a pretty bad one. She adds to the film’s jokes at times but also tends to have a dirty mind so most of her gags will have you shaking your head.

Caroline makes for an intriguing antagonist. You can tell that she’s the kind of person who will always escalate a situation and she is quite good at it. Definitely not someone you can just wave off, she will keep on swinging. Thing is, she does have some valid points here when it comes to Marisa. She may not be the nicest person but it does make sense to stand your ground when things aren’t making sense. She was fun with how oblivious she was to how much Chris did not like her.

As with most rom-coms, the film is at its best when focused on the comedy. The script is pretty solid and there are a lot of quality jokes to be had the whole time. The pacing is good and there are quite a lot of characters here. You can enjoy the general tone and the film is over before you know it. The flip side to that of course is that none of the serious scenes work quite as well and of course the romance is as rushed as possible. It’s a very Hollywood styled romance with the two characters clicking immediately and basically skipping the dating phase to go to the one night stand mode immediately. You can tell that neither one of these characters are very serious and so you can’t imagine the relationship lasting for very long.

Overall, The two sides of the coin roughly cancel each other out so what you have is a movie right in the middle. If you enjoy romance movies then I can really recommend this one but if you’re just looking for a comedy then there are much better ones out there. This one does have the added bonus of having a lot of scenes in New York City though. That was definitely a lot of fun as they passed all of the big landmarks on the west side. It just adds a bit of extra punch to the film since that scenery is so iconic. The film itself may not be anything fancy but the execution is good enough. Honestly you could have cut out the romance part and just made it a wacky comedy about Marisa having to keep all of the crazy guests at bay long enough to get her promotion. I think that could have really worked.

Overall 5/10

Randy Rides Alone Review

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Next up we’ve got another one of those really quick John Wayne films. Sure enough, the guy is back into the mix trying to solve cases and save the day. It’s a pretty simple film that has an effective beginning, middle, and ending. I didn’t really have any issues with the film and of course it end pretty fast so it’s not like there is enough time for anything to drag out. It’s a very focused story from beginning to end and at the end of the day that’s all that we need.

The film starts off with Randy arriving at a halfway house where everybody has been murdered. Whoever the culprits were, they were ruthlessly efficient and there must have been more than one of them. The fact that they took everyone down so easily really speaks to their abilities. Unfortunately Randy took too long to inspect the safe so he is caught red handed when the cops arrive. He is now being framed for the robbery and must try to get out of jail and solve this before it’s too late. It won’t be easy though because it turns out that the leader of the villains is the right hand man to the sheriff.

Matt the Mute definitely has a big role here since he is basically doing double duty as a hero and villain here. As one of the heroes he can’t talk so he is always using his notepad to chat with the others. Definitely an interesting gimmick and I wonder how long he has kept up the pretense of not being able to talk. That must have been a hard role to keep up with but I guess money is a good incentive right there. He actually makes for a pretty good villain. You see superheroes with the double lives a whole lot, but less so for villains.

The rest of the group don’t get as much to do but the fact that there were so many villains is impressive. We actually have a fairly large scale battle of the cops and robbers going at it with Wayne trying to get through that to secure the treasure. He did a good job of setting up the fight and manipulating both sides to a good outcome. Definitely a good look for Randy and at the end of the day he made sure everything turned out right.

The heroine Sally goes through a lot here as she is threatened and put into harm’s way but eventually she did manage to come out on top thanks to Randy. She did help him escape and so that means she ended up directly contributing in the film. I give her full credit there since a lot of characters would have just panicked or something. The romance at the end was super rushed and made no sense though.

Meanwhile the sheriff didn’t look great here. He was a little too quick to nab Randy as the guilty party. The optics were against the hero so I don’t blame him for locking the guy up or anything but he could have at least heard the guy out. Why keep cutting Randy off over and over again? It’s almost like the sheriff was afraid to hear anything and that’s a bad look for him. He needed to just listen and try to evaluate the situation.

Meanwhile the soundtrack is basically the same as in the other short films. There isn’t a whole lot of variety here but at least I do like the tracks so that definitely helps. If the tracks were bad then we would really be in some trouble here. The writing is on point which is also very important for a film like this. Poor writing could make the experience boring at best but that’s never a problem here.

Overall, There’s not a whole lot to talk about here since the film is so short. You definitely have some pretty interesting moments and fun retro fights but it’ll probably blend in with the other westerns eventually. It is a very easy plug and play though because of how short it is though. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good adventure film. You get to see Randy not just taking down foes with his skills but with his wits as well. It makes him a very complete character and a hero who is quite compelling. I would definitely be up for watching more adventures with him in this continuity because you can imagine that there are always more villains around the corner.

Overall 7/10

Dragon Ball Daima Review

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While we all continue to wait for the return of Dragon Ball Super, we at least got another DB title in the meantime. Daima was marketed as a very different title from the start, it would focus less on the action and be more of a down to Earth story. A return to the tone of classic Dragon Ball with the characters being involved in some crazy situations. It was a pretty interesting idea to be sure but I do miss the action. You can think of it as the third branching path after DBZ with the first being GT and the second being Super. This is another way that things played out after the Buu saga and lets just say that Goku and friends get put through the ringer.

It starts with Goku and Vegeta training as always when someone uses the Dragon Balls to turn all of the Z fighters back into children. They are weaker now and might not be prepared for future enemies. Additionally, Dende has been kidnapped. A helpful soul named Glorio shows up and informs the heroes that they will need to infiltrate the demon realm. This place is split up into 3 worlds and each one has a demon world dragon ball. Upon collecting all 3, the heroes can become adults again and save Dende. It sounds like a simple enough plan but the demon world is not for the faint of heart. Is Goku ready for this?

Well fortunately for him the demon realm isn’t one of the more powerful places. Generally it’s home to a ton of bullies and there are a few strong fighters but nobody that’s really at his level except for the guardians of the Dragon Balls who aren’t malicious. This allows Goku to finally take it easy and have fun a little more since the very universe doesn’t hang in the balance just yet. Although several demon world flunkies do have plans of their own.

The main villain of the series is Gomah and for better or worse he is definitely played for laughs for 90% of the series. He’s constantly crying and throwing tantrums because of how scared he is of Goku and friends. It shows just how far the demon world has fallen from the days of Demon King Dabura. Now there was a guy who really commanded respect. Gomah is just a sad character and your only hope is to find him funny. Because if you don’t then he will just be supremely annoying the whole time.

His partner is Degesu who completes the Team Rocket dynamic. This guy panics a whole lot but at least he has a bit more of an edge to him. He’s not above threatening babies in order to get what he wants. The guy just never backs down, he is always ready for action and that’s the best way to keep things. I just wish he could have gotten a little more to do because his conversations with Arinsu were interesting. Alas, he ends up squandering his potential by sticking with Gomah.

We do get two new Majins in Kuu and Duu but they aren’t particularly good. They’re both characters who don’t really take anything seriously and aren’t all that powerful. Duu actually does get some hype but at the end of the day he’s still not really on the level of the Z fighters. I guess for Demon World standards he is still pretty good though. The guy really likes his chocolate and is always demanding it. Kuu is a bit more responsible and mature at least even if it comes at the expense of his power.

At least Arinsu is fun. She has classic mastermind vibes and while it seems like the show won’t be going in that direction, at least it did add some tension in the show. I would have liked for her to have gotten at least one or two fight scenes but maybe next time. Her plan was a pretty solid one in terms of gathering the Dragon Balls although I would say her wish wasn’t the most inspired.

There were 3 main heroes added to the main cast. First up is Glorio who acts really shady the whole time. The kind of guy you don’t want to let out of your field of vision because you know he will end up back stabbing you at any moment. The guy would not hesitate for one moment. He will just go in there and finish you. As the show goes on he begins to learn the power of friendship though. He’s a decent fighter too, although the show has very messy power levels the whole time so I wouldn’t take that too seriously.

Most importantly, he’s a fun character who actually adds to the dynamic. Likewise Panzy is a fun character. She’s the resident genius of the series who knows how to keep the ships running. She has a good bond with Bulma and saves the group on more than one occasion. Of course it would be nice if she could fight but she still works well as an addition to the supporting cast. With most of the usual main characters stuck at home, you needed someone like that.

There is also a super old Namekian who trolls everyone the whole series but he’s more annoying than anything. I get the joke of this guy actually being super capable but he comes across as irresponsible. He helps out when he feels like it but otherwise doesn’t take a huge role in what’s going on. Then you have the comic relief character who is always dead pan. He can be pretty decent although it’s a bit much to see him constantly talking smack to Vegeta and then nothing happens with him. Vegeta should have clocked him a few times during the series.

From the main cast, I’d say that Piccolo probably gets the shaft here. He is constantly around but doesn’t get his own fights and chokes in his one big moment. It feels like he was added for the Namekian connection but it’s not like that is used a whole lot anyway. I think he could have been cut out and not much would change. I’m tempted to say the same for the Supreme Kai. He has personal lore connections here and knows one of the big villains so that’s all key but the Kai himself doesn’t do much. He mildly helps out in the occasional fight I guess. He just doesn’t feel very supreme.

Naturally it’s fun to see Bulma show up and help out. I do think she was a bit hard on Vegeta at some points though. Goku tends to steal fights to himself and everything so of course Vegeta tries to keep things fair. The show is actually not even that rough for the guy. Don’t count on him taking down the main villain or anything like that but he does still get in a lot of good shots and moments. Vegeta did good even if he is treated as the second fiddle next to Goku. At this point, I suppose that’s just how it has to be though.

As for Goku, he definitely acts a lot more like his kid self here. He really enjoys the situation and is mainly having a blast the whole time. He adapts to the wild life rather quickly and the whole thing is probably nostalgic to a degree since he’s been on many journeys like this before. It’s always fun to see him cut loose a bit but at times he holds back so long that it borderlines on him being a saboteur. The longer you drag a battle out, the more likely it is that someone else will get caught up in it after all.

So what I would say here is that the first 13-15 episodes are basically full on comedy and then we get to a big DBZ type climax. That’s why your enjoyment comes down to the comedy. I’d say Dragon Ball is fairly good on this. There can be some more juvenile moments but on the whole you already know most of the characters and that adds some of the journey to it. You don’t often get to see them all just having fun nowadays so that is a change of pace.

I would just say the show could have done something to make it a tad more energetic. It feels like most of the episodes would revolve around the heroes beating up some random thugs as they planet hop. It would probably have been better to have just gone straight to adventure mode and have them checking out some mountains or something instead. It’s not like the thugs post any kind of threat and it’s less cool to see Goku beating them up and almost boring instead. A lot of the fights really start to blend together.

The battles with the Dragon Ball guardians are a lot of fun but none of the minion fights can say that. The series was also a bit in a corner with how strong Goku and friends are. how can some randoms really take them on? Well, the series tries to convince you that the energy blasters are enough to get the job done and I have a hard time believing that. One episode in particular gets really dramatic as the characters try to survive a whole onslaught and you can’t help but think how easy this whole thing is. A single punch would take them out and yet this takes up a good chunk of an episode.

The first half of the show mainly relied on fake threats like this to keep you busy. At that point you should just lean on the comedy instead. My biggest complaint with the series comes down to the fact that some episodes can almost be a bit boring. The characters carry the episodes as much as possible but you really feel like it should have been way better. This is Dragon Ball after all!

Fortunately the climax does show up with the huge fight scene that spirals through several episodes. It does still have some issues like most of the battle feeling a bit repetitive though. The villain has complete regeneration but is selectively weak from scene to scene. So one moment he can handle Goku at his peak and then he’s getting rocked by fighters in their base form. So the fight has the hero land a ton of punches and energy blasts. Then the villain regenerates. Hero repeats the combo over and over as the villain regenerates over and over. It just makes you not take the fight as seriously after a while.

It’s an interesting way to show off just how powerful a certain artifact in the series is but it doesn’t always make for the best fight. The animation is really good for the battles though. It looks very flashy and the characters are constantly moving at a very high speed. The show does look like a very modern production which is always good. You can easily picture a lot of Youtube videos showing off the fights since you can then sub in your own music and streamline it. The final episodes do feel a whole lot like DBZ even if the enemy isn’t really able to fight back for most of it. It’s a great way to end thing off and it does allow you to end on a high note. At least on my end I can say that the discussions and everything relating to the series jumped up almost 10 times for the final episodes. You could say all of the viewers locked in at that point and I’d include myself with that.

One thing against the series is that the soundtrack is pretty weak though. It’s got very little variety and the tracks that are there aren’t very good. They should have gotten the Bruce Falconer music instead to be honest. There aren’t any Daima tunes that I would end up searching on my own because they just didn’t fit the action or suspense scenes all that well. It feels like a soundtrack aimed for a comedy that forgot to transition to action later on.

We do get a ton of lore within this show so maybe future products will utilize that in some way. Even if the show doesn’t get referenced later on, there’s never anything wrong with having a stand alone title in there. If anything I would say that it should happen a lot more often. Not everything has to be a big canon continuation or something like that. Sometimes it’s fine to just make a side story and have fun with it. I do think Daima could have been a little more high budget and frantic though. The animation was certainly high budget when it came to the big fights but maybe adding more action scenes here and there that didn’t revolve around the heroes knocking everyone out with an easy punch.

Also, I tend to look at it a bit harsher because I’m one of those DBZ fans who really loves all the high octane action and everything like that. I don’t have any real nostalgia for the kid Dragon Ball days in part because I never read it. So that part of Daima would end up being lost on me as a result. My counter would be that it still could have been more interesting and then it would work for all audiences. Since the power levels are the main issue here, I would have just made the wish a little different. Have it time travel the Z fighters’ minds to back when they were kids so they don’t even know each other, much less how to use their powers. Then it would explain why they are having trouble with grunts until the ending. You’d probably have to switch some other things to make it work but that might be a better approach.

Overall, Dragon Ball Daima is a good show but it can feel underwhelming just because of the huge bar that’s been set by the other titles like Super, DBZ, and even GT. The climax does some pretty heavy lifting here to show us Daima’s potential though so I appreciate that. The characters and their banter have to be enough to tide you over for the rest of the show. At the end of the day it is a fairly small title with 20 episodes and in a sense if it doesn’t get a sequel you could basically just call it an AU filler. That said, you have to savor any appearances by Goku and friends because it’s not like they are on TV all that often. So Daima did what it set out to do in keeping Goku at the front of everyone’s minds.

Overall 7/10

Mysterious Island Review

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The title of this film may be extremely vague but in a way it’s also quite fitting. The movie is mainly about the island after all and it is quite mysterious so you certainly can’t say that it was a misleading title or anything like that. It’s not a bad film but it can be uneventful for a little while. I would say things really picked up once a certain legendary character showed up and even then you will only really feel the impact if you know the character. If you don’t, then you may end up shrugging a bit.

The film starts with a bunch of people escaping from a prison cell and getting onto a balloon. The civil war is ongoing right now and tensions are incredibly high. Unfortunately their balloon crash lands on a mysterious island. Not just any island mind you….but Monster Island! Now they need to find a way off this island and fast or they will be destroyed. The guys don’t all get along but they decide to put away their differences in order to survive this experience. Two ladies also end up washing ashore so now they can really use their numbers to cook, make weapons, and prepare a way off the island. Will that really be enough or a plan though?

First off I have to give the film enormous credit for not going the cringe route and making the guys all fight over the two ladies. That would have been pretty unbearable and also annoying because it just seems to me that most people would not fall for this obvious trap and would very quickly begin thinking of ways to utilize them in the survival operation. Well, that’s what happens here as they quickly begin to contribute and it was well written. We do get the obligatory romance but for once it wasn’t ultra annoying. It’s a bit rushed but this is a life or death situation and you can see how people would rush such a thing in this situation.

The giant monsters are a little less impressive though. You have a giant chicken, a giant bee, and more. The problem is that all of the “Monsters” tend to just be giant animals for the most part. Yeah it still does work in terms of adding some danger to the film but I would have liked them to have gone all out with the designs. Give us something really scary to make you think twice about everything. I was still glad to see them overall I suppose but at the same time it would also lead to animal violence when they are defeated. It’s the ultimate double edged sword and that was not something the film could really afford.

Additionally it’s not like the island is the best backdrop here. With the characters all stranded there isn’t a whole lot of variety in the backgrounds. It beats a desert or being underwater but I would still take other venues in general. Once the guest star shows up, at least we have his lab and we learn more about the story. I would say his plot is the most interesting part of the film. He clearly seems a little mad with his experiments and he’s not the nicest guy around but at least he does have a full plan. He hasn’t just been wasting time out here or anything like that. No, he’s actually been on his feet and doing things the likes of which nobody has ever seen.

The way he goes out is a bit underwhelming though. Also the film spoils the guest star by putting his name in the opening credits which is an absolutely bizarre decision. I’m guessing at the time it was probably a legal thing where they had to mention him but it’s still a bit annoying. You could probably piece it together anyway when characters talk about his boat but it still would have been more of a surprise. It was also nice to see the in-fighting there with one character really admiring this guy while the other couldn’t stand him. The difference in opinion seems to stem from their jobs which makes sense.

All in all, the film would have been much better if the giant animals were not in it. That’s sad to say but with how the humans were crushing and eating them, they just didn’t work as big antagonists. Would have been better to have either had the island be eerily empty instead or you just used full on monsters. If you needed villains, have the pirate ship show up a bit earlier instead and lead to a lot of big fights. There are a lot of ways around bringing in the giant animals if you really needed to go down that route.

I can at least say that all of the technicals are on point. The writing is good and the pacing is solid. I can’t say there is much of a real soundtrack here but it’s an older film so you don’t really expect that anyway. It is a very quick watch and the tone is nice. It’s got that old time feel to it that always results in quality movies. Without the animal violence it would jump up several points as it is but ultimately that wasn’t to be. It feels a bit like an empty movie. So it’s not particularly offensive but it’s also not a film that I’d be clamoring to watch again. For better or worse…it’s just there. I don’t expect you will remember this film for very long after watching it. Perhaps just the giant monsters since the effects for them were interesting. And of course the guest star since having him appear was pretty fun.

Overall, Mysterious Island has a better concept than the execution. It moves a bit slowly for me and so by the time we get to the big climax, it’s a bit late in the game. It’s not as if the film is super long or anything either but I do think they could have planned out the timing a little bit better. That’s just how I see it at least. If you really like the concept then it’s still worth checking out. The writing is good and the characters all act professional. Even when there are disagreements and in-fighting, they don’t suddenly start acting like children or anything like that.

Overall 5/10

Maximum Risk Review

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This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

Maximum Risk is one of those films with a lot of action and the hero is outnumbered from start to finish. Not an easy situation to be in but at the same time it’s not something that will phase the main character either. He’s been through a whole lot worse than this after all. Or at least he thinks that he has. It’s a reasonably good film, I was satisfied with it by the end. It does make some mistakes here and there but the positives outweigh the negatives.

The film starts with someone making a break for it but he ends up being murdered. We then cut to a police detective named Alain who looks just like the victim. He’s concerned to say the least and finds out that the guy was his secret brother. Alain now needs to live out his brother’s life to find out exactly what happened here. This will involve a lot of deception and it quickly becomes apparent that his brother made a whole lot of enemies among different gangs. Can Alain crack the case or are the villains going to bump him off?

Clearly Alain is in danger from the jump since his brother was already murdered…which makes his opening actions pretty questionable. He walks into seedy neighborhoods asking dangerous questions and then goes straight into a bar. He is just rushing way too much the whole time which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since in this case he has a police (And military) background. If he was an ordinary joe, then sure he could make the rookie mistakes. So he ends up getting lucky a lot and has a ton of plot armor but even so you kind of just have to shake your head a bit at that.

Also the most troublesome part of the film is definitely when he runs into his brother’s girlfriend Alex. Now it would be taboo to hook up with her for a bunch of reasons. Respect for his brother’s memory, not going after people who were with family, etc. Unfortunately he doesn’t bother with any of that and they get together real fast. The reasoning just makes it even worse as she says at least he looks a lot like his brother. So it goes without saying that the romance is particularly bad here. I would definitely not be able to give this one a pass.

The villains aren’t the most interesting but the film does something here that I appreciated. In all of the mafia films you have the leader being some really old guy who can’t fight but everyone is nervous of him anyway. It basically comes down to the power that he represents and so that makes a lot of sense but even so you’re wondering how nobody has decided to just take a shot yet. Well, in this film the leader gets a little too ahead of himself and so somebody does make a move. It just makes so much sense that somebody would do this eventually. When you get too old, there naturally comes a time where you aren’t able to command the same respect even if you were a really well liked leader. It’s just inevitable.

The film explains early on that Alain has sniper skills from when he was in the army so you keep wondering when he will use these skills. They finally come in handy near the end so that was pretty nice. In general the climax was pretty good as we even brought back Alain’s police friend from the intro. That guy was gone for a while but the movie didn’t forget about him. He also has a pretty good scene near the end even if he caused a whole lot of trouble first. He’s just not initially meant to be a fighter and you can see that. He’s definitely more the detective type while Alain turns out to be a great fighter.

While you have a lot of serious plot twists and gang moments, the film does still have time for levity. One side character who was a lot of fun was the cab driver. Yeah the guy was perhaps a little crazy with how invested he was getting in this but he also did save Alain directly on several occasions. Without him the villains would have absolutely won this one. It was a tough journey for the cabby but he won’t be forgotten.

The very ending of the film is a little cheesy with how the characters are nervous about going to talk to somebody but I guess the movie wanted to have a bit of a funny ending. Not every joke lands of course and this one didn’t work for me but it’s the thought that counts. The film certainly had a lot of range and in a way that all helps the film out overall. It definitely feels like a 90s action film with how chaotic it is the whole time.

I also do have to give credit to one of Alain’s opponents. He was a powerful gang member who just kept getting back up and returning after many near death experiences. He was really strong and really durable so Alain had to defeat him multiple times. It was nice to have a rival like this who forced the hero to stay alert at all times. He knew that this guy could appear at any moment. He really left an impression, more than you would have expected from any villain in this film. Especially someone who wasn’t one of the bosses of the underworld.

Oh yeah I can’t forget about the FBI. (Or might have been the CIA) They have two corrupt agents running around trying to apply pressure as well but it’s crazy how inept they are. All they had to do was pretend to be heroic for a few minutes and they could have gotten Alain on their side. Instead they immediately try to throw threats around and pay the price. No their smartest moment but also not their worst as they let Alain and Alex have a private meeting in the background to discuss how to betray the agents. Rule 1 would be to not let them be together out of earshot. Yeah Alain really got lucky that so many of these characters had no idea what they were doing, that’s another form of plot armor you could say.

Overall, Maximum Risk is constantly moving at a high speed and that works in the film’s favor. At its core this is a fun film. If anything the actual story probably plays second fiddle to the general action. Yeah there are twists and such but at the same time I would consider it to be a basic thriller title. The details may change but at its core this is about the main character taking on the underworld and winning. The fight scenes are where the series can have more fun with Alain’s signature kicks. He really knows how to take down his opponents in close quarters combat. The writing is good and the pacing is solid so I really didn’t have any big problems here. The only thing hurting it from going further up has to be the very weak romance because this is absolutely the definition of a rebound. How do you go from finding out your boyfriend is dead to immediately going for his brother within the span of hours/days? Just not a good look since it makes the whole relationship look suspect. Perhaps the brother realized this too and that’s why he didn’t mention her in his final message where he accurately predicted a lot of what was going to happen.

Overall 6/10

Kate & Leopold Review

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It’s time for one of those romance films where you’re really hoping that the romance will be good but have serious doubts the whole time. Unfortunately your gut would be correct on this one because the romance is very weak. At least we have some time travel shenanigans to help with that. It keeps the film interesting but otherwise I don’t think this is an all timer or anything like that. Instead it all goes a bit too quickly and the ending doesn’t seem particularly happy.

The movie starts out by introducing us to Leopold who has a rather restrictive life. He is being pressured into marrying somebody for money since his royal line isn’t doing very well at the moment. He’s been resisting but can no longer fight against the social pressures. Before this can happen, he sees his future ancestor taking photos so he chases the guy and falls into a portal which leads to the modern day. The other guy (Stuart) gets injured and had to stay at the hospital so Leopold has to try and survive a few days in the modern world before he goes back. He bumps into Stuart’s ex girlfriend Kate though and quickly begins to like her. He will have to compete with an inappropriate boss of hers though as well as the big cultural divide that comes with the passing of time. Can he really get used to the present?

So why is the romance weak? To start with, it’s all a bit too fast. Initially Kate finds Leopold annoying and then she quickly begins to see his charm and all that. He saves her from a petty thief and also calls out her boss. The whole thing made Kate look rather naive though as she was warned not to eat dinner with the boss since he would obviously try something and of course that was the case. Now of course he is the worst character here and by a large margin but you would expect Kate to have more street smarts. Instead she fumbles her way through life, gets drunk, and doesn’t really seem to react to situations very quickly.

She makes snap decisions and those are usually not a good idea. Like her decision in the ending which seems like a terrible one because there may be no take backs. You have to assume that the future home crew will pay her a visit a some point because that’s the only way to make this feasible. Otherwise I think she will realize a little too late just how unsophisticated

Also, we have to consider the fact that Leopold was going to marry someone in the past. Yes, he was pressured to do so but that is a very small comfort to me. It means that this can happen again with people pressuring him not to marry an ordinary person. He needed to have a whole lot more agency here. I would also say it’s probably not a good idea to date your ancestor’s ex girlfriend in general but since the relatives don’t really know each other I suppose I can cut a little slack there. It still doesn’t make the romance any better with none of them seeming like serious characters.

Also, while Kate should leave the company because she can never trust that boss again, leaving right as she got the promotion is pretty crazy. I definitely can’t say that I agreed with that option at all. Especially not for a past life where she’s now going to be super broke. Hopefully Stuart finds another way to go back to the past and reads when the next portal will be around. He was surprisingly chill about helping his ex meet a new guy but I guess he put that whole relationship behind him. In a way that’s pretty healthy.

Then we have the side character Charlie who wants to be a good comedian. He seems to have decent skills and perhaps just tries a little too hard. He can be a bit annoying at times but at least he had Leopold’s back from the start. So I’ll give him points for being a solid character even if he was mainly around to slow the plot a bit. Additionally he bombed so hard at the club I don’t know how he managed to salvage things the second time around and get a girlfriend with Leopold’s help. I suppose alls well that ends well.

The way the time travel works here is pretty fun as the past seems to basically be happening at the same time. So it’s more like one of those things where everything is moving forward to you’re quickly sotted into the moment that you want to go as opposed to it making a whole new universe. The film isn’t focusing on the time travel too hard but still something that’s good to notice. To me that’s where the hook is that separates this from a random film.

Leopold could be a little slow at picking up on things here but it’s not played up too much like other films would. So he can come off as a bit dense but for the most part is just trying to do his best. He has some morals too like how he wouldn’t continue to advertise a product that was no good. The other characters including Kate seemed to think that this was a good gig either way but Leopold wanted to only do things that would leave the world proud of him. In a way it shows how society had already started to fall from his time to the present. Then again, he’s the one getting married because he can’t defy social expectations back in his day so he can’t talk much. Yeah I keep bringing that one up because it is a massive blow to the film the entire time.

Overall, This is a reasonable film. I think the boss got off way too easily but on the whole this is more of an uplifting movie. It’s a very light toned comedy film with some romance and every character running around. The cast isn’t particularly big so that lets the individual dynamics play out. I tend to always choose a good rom-com over a rom-dram and this is why. Even when it’s not the best film, it still ends up being a fun watch. The pacing is good and there is a reasonable amount of replay value. You really just have to overlook the poor romance.

Overall 5/10

Up in the Air Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

This film definitely brings up some interesting points and ideas. I had a good time with the philosophical angles of the film even if I thought it came away with the wrong answers each time. Sometimes you want a film that makes you think like this one though and so that part worked out. Ultimately I wouldn’t say it was a good film though as it made too many mistakes and I had too many issues with it. I can say that it is certainly memorable though and not one of those titles you will soon forget.

The movie starts by introducing us to Ryan who has the very unenviable job of having to fire people. Basically his company are professional firers, so if a company doesn’t have the heart to fire somebody, then this place does it. Ryan rather enjoys the job because it allows him to be in the air almost every day of the year and his life’s goal is to reach 10 million miles. Sure the job itself isn’t fun, but that’s all it is…a job. So Ryan aims to make the most of it but one day he is called back to home base because the big brass had an idea. Why not use computers so that they can fire people remotely?

Ryan is completely against the idea on principle but also because it would mean no more travel. He’s now expected to fly Natalie, the girl who suggested this idea, around the world with him so she gets a feel for the business. He needs to show her just how difficult this line of work is but along the way she starts trying to put ideas into his head about needing a life away from work. Is she about to confuse this guy who had his life in order?

The main conflict of course is the whole idea of being forced to work from the office but beneath that is the real struggle here. Ryan has always lived a life of isolation. He has affairs and one night stands but keeps himself untethered to anybody. That’s the way he likes it, all the fun without any of the responsibility. He scoffs at the idea of a true romance and basically has his life all mapped out. He even meets up with a girl named Alex who agrees to a friends with benefits sort of relationship. It’s certainly not a wholesome life but Ryan thinks that he has really found something here. Well, that is until Natalie starts talking to him.

She accuses him of intentionally limiting his options, not taking Alex seriously, and of basically being really lonely. Ryan only thinks that he’s happy but he isn’t actually happy. That’s her frame of mind at least. Then Ryan has to meet up with his family for a wedding and despite seeing how disastrous it all is for everybody, he starts to believe that maybe having a family would be a good thing. Hmm..probably not the best idea here, at least not with the current people that he knows.

One thing you have to understand is that from the start, Alex is portrayed as being exactly like Ryan. They’re both extremely easy and are always up for some “fun” because they don’t have any real morals. It’s not a true relationship, it’s all just surface level. Ryan lets himself get tricked out of this to the extent that he basically makes a fool of himself but ultimately he only has himself to blame here. He should have seen all of this coming. So in the end of the film you don’t really feel bad for him, it was a big mistake and he’ll learn from it.

I would even say that despite the framing, it’s not a sad ending. The only tragic thing is that he wasn’t able to really enjoy the big airplane moment that he had been looking forward to. Everything else he will get over very shortly. It’s just a small stumbling block on the rest of his journey. He will be back to being levelheaded and everything else will march into place. It’s not as if Ryan is a good person. He’s clearly into bad habits and a toxic way of living but I don’t think he was secretly unhappy or anything like that. This is just what he enjoys and the life that he wants to lead. I would say what Natalie was telling him was just projecting how she wants to live her life.

I would even say that Natalie’s life was considerably sadder the whole time. She has a pretty rough breakup, she watches her big work project go up in flames, and finally she is the one who is forced to turn her back on a pretty big career trajectory. The ending for her looks promising and that’s a good thing but she probably needs to check her route as well. Meanwhile Alex is basically like Ryan. Certainly not a good person and living life on the rough side but it’s basically what she does. I don’t see her changing anytime soon and eventually it’ll all catch up to her.

It goes without saying that the romance is particularly weak here. It’s not like you’re ever able to root for Ryan and Alex. You see them as a temporary convenience and only Natalie is initially unable to see that. Their scenes tend to be rather painful which I’d say is probably the point. While the film may have been trying to say that Ryan lost out by focusing so much at work, I’d say the wedding subplot hurts that. There are a whole lot of issues going on there and of course the groom getting cold feet at the end was pretty terrible.

This film pretty much makes the argument of why you would want to stay out of relationships. Yes they can be a lot of fun but they can also completely derail your life and need tremendous amounts of upkeep. When Ryan and Alex have their sort of debates with Natalie, they come out the victor in each event. I would even say they got the ultimate victory by enabling Natalie to have a one night stand with a random stranger. Not quite the decision that someone who aims to have a stable family would do right? You’ll have to be careful not to let this film make you too jaded about actual relationships.

There are counter arguments to Ryan’s methodologies about romance and love of course but Natalie isn’t able to properly articulate any of them. So by the end of the film the solo life looks a lot more promising than it could have been. Regardless it does go back to my main point where I’d say Ryan is reasonably happy. He has a job that keeps him busy, a goal that gives his life purpose, etc. At the end of the day those two things can carry you through a whole lot.

Overall, Up in the Air is a jaded film but one that brings up interesting topics. I had a good time with it and the only things that bring it down tend to be the romance and at times the writing can be a little sketchy. The film is absolutely at its best when showing Ryan at the job. Now I don’t think anybody in the rooms would have bought his speeches at all. I think that part was all way too smooth to be realistic but the film is trying to keep a fairly light tone throughout all of this. There are a good amount of jokes to undercut the tension every now and then. The film did have a good sense of humor, enough so where it’s almost hard to get yourself adjusted when the film goes super serious later on. If you want to watch a film with debates on romance then this is a decent one to check out but technically I would sooner recommend an actual romance film and you can use that as a bar to see if it’s the life you want.

Overall 4/10

Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime Review

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It’s time for a quick anime OVA that adapts the beginning of the Gunvolt game. That game was really a blast when I got to play through the trilogy and I can say that it was fun to see some of the events again here. It reminds me why Gunvolt is such a great character as he defies orders to get the job done. He does what he has to here and not many characters could have followed suit. It’s also nice to be following a prodigy who is known for the best as opposed to some rookie. It’s not like this is the only story like that but they are still rarer than the alternative so I enjoy each instance.

The story starts pretty fast as you’re thrown into some battles and we see Gunvolt get captured by the enemies The Sumeragi company basically owns the world and they are as corrupt as possible. Gunvolt is part of a resistance group that saved him a while back and he uses his powers to help out. There are people who have special abilities like Gunvolt and they are all basically hunted down or end up joining the villains. This should have been a routine mission of sabotage but it all goes sideways when it turns out that the thing powering up the villains is actually a little girl. Gunvolt is ordered to murder her but naturally he refuses such an order. What all these characters forget is that Gunvolt is a hero!

Naturally that should be an easy decision for any main character because murdering a child would make them no better than the villains. It also immediately ensures that you don’t like any of the members of the resistance since Gunvolt was the only one to stand against them there. Sure, it’s easier for him since he is the strongest one but the others still could have done something instead of just watching the whole time. So that’s why Gunvolt is the only true hero here.

We also get a glimpse of his fighting style when he takes out a bunch of minions and we even cover one of the boss fights. The cameo from the rival is a bit random as he fires some shots at Gunvolt and the villain before vanishing. I suppose it just took him a while to get there. He is a fun character to have around though. You just don’t really know what his deal is from this episode.

The animation is not the best but I wouldn’t call it bad or anything like that. It gets the job done in terms of the action and showing us the electricity effects. The voice acting definitely could use more energy as well. It feels a bit too low and the characters don’t sound as if they are in the middle of a deadly conflict. You can’t be quite so calm in such a circumstance. So that’s definitely something they really could have improved upon. It’s clear that the technical elements weren’t a top concern for this special but at least we did get a song.

This is almost like a pilot chapter for a series. It just gives you the intro and you’re on your own from there. So I would say that this one succeeds because it would have definitely made me want to check out the games. If I hadn’t played them already I would definitely be racing to order them off Ebay. While the video games feel like Mega Man, I would say the anime and concept are sufficiently different so this does feel like a new experience. Definitely full credit and bravo to Gunvolt here. The special is really over in the blink of an eye.

It’s why you don’t really want to buy any excuses for series that take until episode 10 or more to get good. You need to be good right out of the gate. If you aren’t able to be good by the end of episode 1 then you did something wrong. Even with the technical limitations, we had good writing and a solid story here. Right away you could buy into the bond between Gunvolt and the kid he saved. Gunvolt will definitely be a good mentor and protector. You can feel the hero vibes off of him immediately.

Overall, This was a good special. It certainly didn’t get top production values or anything like that but it told a good story. The concept is enough to hold the product up on its own after all. The game will just have to show you the rest of the content. Hopefully one day we will get a proper adaption of Gunvolt because this could really be an awesome story. It’s also a completed one at this point so that should also help in terms of helping the creators pace it. In the meantime this special will have to do though so enjoy it while you can.

Overall 7/10