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Dragon Ball Raging Blast Review

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DBZ has had some terrific games in the past! Even the ones that did not hit it out of the park were generally very good so I had high hopes for this one. After all, Raging Blast is known as a (sort of) successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi series, but with PS3 graphics and a large chunk of the roster being thrown aside. I knew that I was going to be in for a treat! I had actually been meaning to get this game for years and years, but it always got beaten to the punch by other games. Well, now I finally got it and the wait was worth it!

This is usually where I would talk about the plot, but it’s DBZ. You already know the plot! It covers all three arcs of the manga along with the Bardock OVA and the Broly films. Beyond that, we also have some good ole What Ifs. Unfortunately, the game plays it very safe with the What Ifs so they aren’t very interesting. Having Vegito battle Gogeta is a good concept, but they make you play it twice so that both characters can win. Talk about a cop out….Nontheless, the game has over 100 levels, which makes for a very extensive Story Mode! At times you may wish that it was shorter, but that’s not my main complaint with it. I don’t like…The Red Star system!

In this game, Red Stars are used to unlock just about everything from costumes to music to levels in Story Mode. Earning Red Stars is the annoying part. Basically, you have to replay a level that you’ve beaten and there will be 3 missions. You get one Red Star for beating the level on Hard Mode and two others for doing certain actions during the fight. This could have been acceptable, but you can’t get the Red Stars from the get go. This means that you have to play each level at least twice and most of them will need a third play through since getting all three in one shot is extremely difficult. Considering that there are over 100 levels….you’ll be playing over 300 fights! (Not counting that some levels have up to 5 fights in them) That was more than a little tedious and I don’t think that the developers did a good job on that one. I’ve earned about 50 Red Stars so far, but playing through those levels so much can get old very fast.

Luckily, not everything is purchased through these Red Stars. You also have the classic D Points and you use them to buy items from the shop. This feature is in just about all of the DBZ games and it’s a good system. The items aren’t unreasonably priced and you should have a good chunk of them by the end. Going to Shenron and getting the D Points multiplier is a must if you’re in a hurry.

To collect the 7 Dragon Balls, you must compete in a Super Battle Trial. This will open up a Dragon Ball fight. After one battle, then it closes and you have to rinse and repeat. This is another tedious part of the game because you have to do at least 14 battles to get the 7 Dragon Balls each time. That’s a little long, but not extremely long. It’s just a bit of a bother. The Super Trials have several modes like Survival, Team Battle, Punch Machine, etc. They’re pretty good and extra modes means extra replay value!

I mentioned that the roster got a lot smaller, but it’s still decently large with at least 50 fighters. We have most of the big characters from the series, although the exclusion of Mystic Gohan is not cool. For that, I would have preferred that they kicked out Videl or Chiaotzu. Mystic Gohan is essential! The game mostly ignores the films, so Broly is the only extra character. Still, I’m glad that they chose him since he’s a Must in any DBZ game. Some of the hype for the game also revolved around the Super Saiyan 3 form that Vegeta and Broly got. It’s definitely fun to play as those guys and it’s a fun addition to the game. I’m hoping that they’ll be mainstays in future DBZ titles although that does not appear to be the case. Hopefully in the next big DBZ game for PS4.

Time to get into the most important aspect of the game…the gameplay! I must say that it is a solid step down from Budokai Tenkaichi 3, but I suppose that was bound to happen. The problem is that you don’t feel the blows as much as you did in that one. Also, it’s tough to link combos to each other because some characters simply cannot do it anymore. You’ll finish a few hits and the character will pause. By the time you can launch the next attack, the fighter is on the ground and your combo is lost. Most of the techniques and combos are similar to BT3.

It took me a while to get the hang of the game, but now I’m pretty confident in my skills. You’ll find yourself using the super attacks a whole lot since they’re so easy to use. Not to mention the fact that it’s a lot safer to just spam them against enemies once you’re playing on hard difficulties. At first I was definitely not crazy about the fighting style, but it grows on you. You just need to give the game a chance and playing through the tutorials may not be a bad idea. (Trophies…) I forgot how to transform, which is too bad, but it’s easy to find out with a quick Google search. Once you feel like you’ve brought your A game, then it’s time to try out your skills online against real players. That’s one of the great things about Wifi. It can definitely add to the experience of a game and the servers are still open, which is pretty amazing! It’s hard not to compare the fighting style to BT3, but once you get past that…then it’s pretty incredible!

Graphics are not ultra important, but they’re always worth noting. They look really good in this game and the character models hold up well. I find Goku’s Super Saiyan character to look the best from the whole cast and his Super Saiyan hair is great. It captures the golden look while also appearing yellow. It’s hard to describe, but it’s how I want a Super Saiyan’s hair to look. The rest of the animation is basically what you may expect from the Budokai Tenkaichi games. The models have less black lines across them and they seem more streamlined. I definitely have to give the graphics a big thumbs up!

The soundtrack isn’t the greatest as far as DBZ games go, but it’s good enough. The tunes can come across as a little generic, but there is a decently large selection so you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one song that you like. The opening is pretty catchy when the game first boots up and the dying Namek stage theme is pretty good. The game won’t be losing any points in this area!

This game has trophies and they’re pretty reasonable for the most part. I don’t care for the online trophies and I never will. Online trophies aren’t practical since the servers will eventually close and you’re doomed if people aren’t playing the game anymore. Beyond that, I’ve gotten a decent amount of the trophies, but I don’t intend on getting the Platinum. Not really worth the time and effort, but the trophies are still reasonable for the most part.

Overall, this was an excellent DBZ game and easily one of my favorites of all time! It’s my third favorite in the franchise behind Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3. We have a solid cast of characters and a really large story mode. With all of the collectibles and modes to try out; Raging Blast has a huge amount of replay value. You’ll be playing this game for countless hours and I recommend it to all 3D fighting game fans. Also, what’s cooler than the thought of playing as a Super Saiyan 3 Broly!?

Overall 9/10

Godzilla (2014) Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 8/10

47 Ronin Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 2/10

Frozen Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Volume 1 Review

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My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is one of those franchises within the master My Little Pony franchise that has always seemed very intriguing. It got a huge fan base in a really short amount of time and it seemed to be even more well received than the last show. I’ve always told myself that I would check out the show at some point since it seemed to be a pretty good one, but in the end I decided to check out the first collection of comics. It took a while due to library issues, but now I finally got to read it. I can see why it’s a hit, but is it something that I would recommend? Time to find out!

This collection deals with the Mane ,6 (Pun intended!) as they are having a good time when they realize that something isn’t right. It would appear that the Changelings are back and they’re ready to take over. They’re led by Queen Chrysalis who wants revenge on the ponies for what they did to her in the TV series and she’s going to take it out on Twilight Sparkle. This way, Celestia will be devastated and then nobody can stop her! It’s a very ambitious plan, but can it succeed? The Mane 6 don’t think so and they head off to fight her in what could be the ultimate showdown!

That’s the plot in a nutshell. I’m going to talk about the Mane 6 and discuss who was the best and who was the worst. Let’s start with the best, AKA….Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie is pretty awesome and I have to say that she blew the other 5 ponies out of the water. She made them look like novices compared to her and she had a trick up her sleeve for all scenarios. The costumes idea was brilliant and the fact that she was able to carry them around with her was even better. She definitely knows what she’s doing as she even prepared super sticky gum to trap the enemies. Unlike the others, she doesn’t take the insults too seriously and just keeps on bouncing back. Power wise, she doesn’t’ seem as skilled as the others, but then again…it’s not like she’s trying. To her, the whole thing is a game and that’s partially why she’s so cool.

The 2nd best pony would be Rainbow Dash. To be honest, I figured that she would have been the best, but she’s still high up. The fact that she can fly is a big advantage and I like how she always makes things difficult on the other ponies. At one point, one of the ponies complains that nobody is listening to her so then Rainbow Dash says something along the lines of, “What did you say?”. It was a classic troll moment and Rainbow Dash pulled it off wonderfully. Not to mention that Rainbow Dash didn’t really forgive the others when they had their group apologies and she talked the toughest against the villains although she couldn’t really back it up.

Next up, we have Twilight Sparkle. She’s a pretty fun character and I wouldn’t really say that there are any negatives with her except for the fact that her magical abilities seem to be useless against even the weakest of opponents. She is regarded as the leader and I suppose that she fits the bill, but she’s not quite as likable as Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie. She definitely has potential with her spells, but she needs to learn how to properly wield them in a fight. Twilight Sparkle is also the most gullible from the 6 ponies so she definitely needs to work on that.

In 4th place, we’ve got Applejack. I’m definitely not a big fan of her and it’s really because I’m mentally picturing a very thick accent. I’m not sure how she actually sounds in the show, but I can definitely imagine it. Technically, she’s not a bad character, but I can’t think of much pros for her either. She’s around and I’m glad that she talks tough, but I always have trouble remembering that she’s one of the Mane 6. She seems like she’s more of a supporting character than the other ponies.

In 5th place, we’ve got Rarity. Rarity is definitely not my type of character since she worries about looking good during a fight and doesn’t seem to take things in stride. In a fight, Rarity doesn’t seem like the ally that you’ll want and she needs to have her “Pony Up” scene already. Things got personal for her in this comic, but you may forget that as you’re reading.

Finally…we’ve got Fluttershy. I really wanted to like her a lot, but she represents some of the things that I really don’t like in my blog fighters characters. She’s very shy and timid but when the going gets tough, Fluttershy has the meanest face of them all and she scares the others. To go into this, I don’t like when any character is typically comic relief/shy and can quickly switch into “serious” mode and then frightens all of the characters. A good example of this is Isshin Kurosaki and the 1st Hokage. If you’re going to be serious, then be serious and likewise for comic relief. The two can mix, but not usually. It’s why I really don’t like when Goku shouts at his friends during a “tense” moment and they all quickly obey or fear him. Unfortunately, that’s what happens with Fluttershy and it seems like it happens in the show as well. (Fluttershy rage moment. Fans of the show will automatically know what scene I’m talking about) That being said, she’s not a bad character…she’s just not my type of character. I can’t really root for her, but I’m glad that she likes animals.

I don’t have much of an opinion on Spike. He was around…that’s about it. I did like Princess Celestia in this comic since she was so rude and condescending to the Mane 6. When Spike went to tell her what was happening, she was very stern with him and rudely pointed out that she was busy as she blasted some poor villains into oblivion. Once she did show up, (Conveniently after the battle was over) she seemed completely sarcastic the whole time and I don’t think that the Mane 6 even realized it. Definitely a solid way for her to make an entrance. The Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t great either as they joked around a little too much considering what their inevitable fate was.

I did not like Queen Chrysalis and she actually brought the overall rating for the comic down. If any comic could avoid the animal violence cliche, I would have thought that My Little Pony could, but apparently I was wrong. Queen Chrysalis violently destroys an animal in the comic to show how “evil” she is. She is definitely evil, but you can’t take her seriously since she’s used for comic relief throughout the whole comic and she doesn’t act like a villain. The fact that she was draining the happiness from the animals all around with the Changelings was actually pretty dark for the series and unnecessarily so. You feel bad for the animals since the ponies evidently do not care enough to liberate them and they’re basically doomed without even knowing it since they don’t seem to have a brain in this series.

The climax was intense, but it was hard to know who to root for. The ponies were tricked very easily and I have to say that their bonds are pretty fragile. The Changelings had a field day with them and fooled them so easily that I was shocked. I didn’t think that the Mane 6 would fall for something like that and it was definitely an eye opener. Queen Chrysalis was definitely superior to the ponies in terms of power and Twilight Sparkle’s super power at the end was basically plot hax. Most comics fall into that hole, but I hope that she will not use the powers of friendship as a crutch.

I do have to say that the art was pretty bad. Exaggerated facial expressions are one thing, but this one had at least a dozen per page. The art just felt sloppy overall and did not feel like it was intense enough for this series. The facial expressions are part of the reason why I could not take some of the ponies seriously in this version. There’s also the fact that they were losing to a human level opponent and that Twilight Sparkle’s attacks proved to be ineffective. The art is the main turnoff from the comic as the dialogue is pretty strong for the most part.

One character who deserves his own paragraph is Derpy. The comic gave her some major props and I can already see why she’s one of the greatest characters in the franchise. Derpy was the last pony to fall against the Changelings and I like to believe that he was already fatigued from defeating dozens of other opponents. You can’t help but feel bad for her since the Mane 6 ignored her plight and didn’t even try to help her. With “friends” like those…… Anyway, I’m definitely ready for some more Derpy action. Derpy definitely means business and isn’t the type of opponent to go down without a fight.

Overall, the animal violence is what destroyed the comic in the end. It was the tipping point that led to an overall negative score, but it should be noted that the comic was still decent. It may not have been quite as good as I was expecting, but considering that this is only volume 1, it can only go up from here. The main things that should be changed are the artwork and the animal violence. With those things out of the way, this comic could have easily gotten a 6 and beyond! The actual characters are fun and I look forward to seeing more of Derpy in the future. After reading this comic collection and being introduced to the MLP FIM franchise, I can finally say that I am a fan. It’s fun and suitable for all ages. (Not the comic. I’m talking about the show. The comic is a little too graphic for little kids due to animal violence and I would wait until the kids were teens for them to read it) The comic actually reminded me a lot of Strawberry Shortcake and fans of that show will like this one. I recommend this comic to fans of the MLP series as well, but if you want to see happy animals portrayed in a way that’s at least 20% cooler, check out Pokemon!

Overall 4/10

Megaman X Command Mission Review

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Megaman X Command Mission was a step in a brand new direction for the Megaman series. Instead of the traditional 2D gameplay, this installment used a turn based combat system. This game also marked one of the few times where Sigma was not seen at all. (Even Vile couldn’t make it) Without those heavy hitters the story could have gone south, but did it?

Before I talk about the story, let’s go into the gameplay. As I mentioned earlier, the gameplay is turn based, (Like Pokemon) but there are times when you need to input commands to maximize damage on your super attacks. You can also switch in and out with your characters during the battle depending on what strategy you are planing to use. It is easy to get the hang of the controls, but there is still a lot of strategy involved. One method of getting through the game is to just keep on leveling up over and over again until you can simply overpower the opponents. Another way is to just maximize the items that you possess and determine what the best team strategy could be. Either way the gameplay never gets repetitive and you’ll be content all the way through the game.

Animation wise, Command Mission still holds out pretty well. The character designs were well thought out and everything looks to be in place. The battles that take place during the cutscenes were greatly animated and there’s never any big animation errors or scenes where the animation drastically drops. Command Mission also features a pretty good soundtrack and it’s one of the more memorable ones in the Mega Man franchise.

Now it’s time to talk about the story. Command Mission had an incredible story and it was the highlight of the game. Megaman and co are sent to infiltrate Giga City and stop the maverick leader Epsilon. The heroes realize that this won’t be an easy task when they are ambushed by a group of very powerful mavericks. After the explosive beginning, the game starts to lose a little steam during the Massimo and Cinnamon chapters. Beyond that, the villains keep popping out of nowhere and their are many plot twists that occur. Epsilon definitely stood out as the coolest of the new characters, but Wild Jango and Scarface were also pretty excellent characters. The one flaw that I would have with the story, is that Megaman X and Zero seem to be very under powered. At this point in their career, they’ve already dealt with dozens of mavericks and they should be able to take on most of the newcomers with ease. Zero was actually losing to Mach Jentra, which is something that I find a little hard to believe. The rest of the plot makes up for this flaw and will definitely keep you eager to see what will happen next.

Mega Man X Command Mission is definitely one of the best Mega Man games to date. The gameplay was fun and the story was very exciting. I’d say that Command Mission was a great way to end the Megaman X saga and I would definitely recommend checking this game out.

Overall 8/10 Replay Value 6/10

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