Tag Archives: Superman

Superman Vs. Meshi Review

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It’s time to look at a great manga. This is a title that has a rather insane plot and just embraces it 100%! That’s exactly what I was hoping for as well. Some manga have a cool premise but just don’t do a lot with it or lose confidence and just switch to full time action. A very respectable option if you have to duck your premise of course but when you announce a manga about Superman fighting against the top foods and you keep it going the whole time? I have to give you some mega props there.

The manga basically starts off by revealing that Superman has a big secret. He actually flies over to Japan every day for lunch because their food is way better than Metropolis’. It’s to the point where he’s actually rather hooked. Even when Ma Kent makes him some food or he’s at a Justice League event, he just wants to get back out there. At first he’s a little embarrassed for anyone to find out but as the series goes on, he gets bolder and bolder about this. He actually wants to share his hobby, but can he convince the rest of the team that Japan’s food is so much better?

Of course it is easier for Superman compared to most people since he can actually fly across the planet and go to Japan within minutes. So he can actually take his lunch there without issue. He gets to see how much fun a classic noodle bowl is, their version of a cheeseburger, etc. It’s to the point where he can barely bring himself to eat in Metropolis anymore because the food quality takes such a dip. If you’re the world’s greatest superhero then you want to eat the best foods right?

The meals he has in Japan are also very humble ones. Usually they’re family type restaurants and Superman explains how everything is done so efficiently. So what I’m getting at here is that the entire manga is about hyping up Japan and how it is the absolute pinnacle of food creation in the whole world. Nothing else is even close to it. Superman is constantly hyping the place up to the point where it gets to be really funny. That’s where the entertainment from the series comes on.

I feel like the only way you won’t enjoy the manga is if you take it really personal to your own area’s style of cooking or something like that which would really be missing the point. I like the idea of the author here being excited to hype up all of his favorite foods through the series. In the manga, Superman points out ways to make each meal better with little tips and tricks the whole time. A lot of them actually looked like good tricks too which is where I have to give the series even more credit.

Superman has a different dynamic with each character that works well. The best one might be with Lex Luthor. So Lex is actually one of those trend setters on social media, an influencer if you will. So whenever Superman orders something, Lex has to order something bigger and fancier than whatever Superman got. It’s purely to try and one up the Man of Steel, but Superman always finds a way to make a comeback. Usually he’s nervous at first but then realizes that even a smaller dish can have things that the bigger companies don’t.

It’s like the Little Engine that could. It’s an inspiring story all the way through but through food. By the end even Lex admits that Superman’s food tastes are really good. Then you have Batman who figures that the 5 star dinners he can get at Gotham are the best but he is absolutely floored by the little noodle spot that Superman brings him too. The Justice League get impressed at one point when frozen Japanese TV dinners turn out to be better than their complete dining experiences at any fancy restaurant.

You might find this the hardest to believe but hey, that’s just how it goes. Japan’s food is that delectable and it’s always inspiring to see Superman convert more of the characters to his cause. When he’s not constantly eating, we do see Superman fighting against foes like Doomsday and Darkseid. There is a little action here, but make no mistake, the food is the primary focus so don’t count on anything big like that happening. There’s also the subplot with Lois where he has to be careful that she doesn’t find out his true identity.

Lois had to be included in some way so this makes sense but you are usually looking forward to the food part a little more. Even Lois admits that it’s the best food of all time though so you know that we’ve got a winner here. Supergirl was also skeptical at first but quickly changed her tune. I think it just goes to show that some places really have tremendous dishes. I was half expecting Superman to move there by the end.

One of the final bosses in the series is a Japanese restaurant with a massive menu. The problem in a sense is that everything on the menu tastes amazing. So what do you do when you have 100+ items that are all absolutely incredible? That is his dilemma and we find out that he has already been “defeated” several times as he didn’t order the items in the right order or picked the wrong dipping sauce. So it still tasted incredible but wasn’t 100/100 the way that it should have been.

I love how seriously he takes all of this. He even gets a bit defensive when everyone tries just ordering whatever they want and eating at their own pace. During a big funeral he uses his super abilities to quiet the crowd and get them to order what he did. When he invites the Justice League members over, he usually insists that they order what he gets as well. A bit controlling perhaps but you can definitely appreciate how their faces light up when they taste the food so it always works out well.

The art is also really good here. It’s super expressive which is always a good thing and it’s got a very simple style which makes each page easy to read. I really didn’t have any issues here and so long as you find the manga funny as well then I think you’ll be in a good spot. Who knows, maybe the series will even inspire you to go and grab some of these dishes. You’ll really feel like you’re missing out if you don’t. There’s not much of an ongoing plot here so it makes for a quick review but there is a good amount of content packed in here with all of the food that Superman tries. It’s also got that silver age feel to it where he puts “Super” in front of just about every ability he uses because it sounds cooler.

Overall, Superman Vs. Meshi is definitely a great title. I had a blast with each volume. It’s really easy to read through the whole time and never loses any team. It helps that I tend to like a lot of the dishes in the series so it would just make me hungrier and hungrier. I’ve been to a few Japanese spots but not really ones like what is presented here. A small dine-in type experience that looks very friendly. I’ve got ideas eventually but yeah this manga really does a perfect job of presenting the food. I highly recommend reading it.

Overall 8/10

Injustice 2 Review

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As with My Hero, I had to buy the sequel to this one right away after completing the first. Injustice was a great title with a really interesting plot and the same is true of the sequel here. It really picks up right where the first one left off but with extra content and a really big character roster. I definitely blasted through this one because you will not want to put the game down.

It starts off after the first game with Superman behind bars and most of his allies running off to bide their time. Batman has the tough mission of protecting the planet while also preventing Superman from being broken out. Meanwhile Wonder Woman and Black Adam are raising Supergirl so that she can help them rescue Superman and bring the world to its knees. A third party is around though in the form of Brainiac. He doesn’t care about the sides that the heroes have split into, he just wants to destroy the world. Will the superheroes be able to stop him or is it all over?

Yeah there’s a lot going on here the whole time and I like the fact that Brainiac was thrown in because it does make sense that villains aren’t going to wait until this civil war is over. They’re just going to jump in and take names. If anything it’s the perfect time to be a villain with how divided the heroes are. It means that there is less opposition to stop them…much less!

It’s fun to be jumping between the two teams in the chapters. Batman’s team is still the heroic one of course but at least most of the folks on Superman’s team have started to be less crazy. The big exceptions to this are Black Adam and Wonder Woman. Adam’s usually evil anyway so that fits but yeah Wonder Woman really went off the deep end in this universe. She is really a far cry from her usual self. Superman is also permanently traumatized at this point. Even when he is playing ball for a little while, he feels a lot edgier than he usually is. Definitely not someone I’d want to trust.

The gameplay is top notch. The 2D movement is very quick so something is constantly happening. At times it feels like watching a fight scene in a movie with how many attacks are being thrown out. It helps that I don’t block much and the same goes for the computer so we’re really trading blows. For the most part the game’s not too hard but I would lose a life on occasion. Sometimes they would just have me beat with the attacks. It happens from time to time. Just keep calm and you’ll take them out. They usually can’t block the final smash so keep that in the back pocket. Also if you absolutely have to, just block a bit. It really throws them off and then you can counter.

I found the easiest thing to do is hit them with a jumping attack and then a 3 hit combo. Almost every character has the ability to do this so just learn what the easy link combos are and get to work. Once you learn those it makes the whole game a lot easier. The story mode’s length is reasonable with around 13-14 chapters and each one has around 3 fights. There are a ton of cutscenes also so it’s not like you’re just fighting and then leaving the game. It goes without saying that there is really unlimited replay value here with the trophies that you can obtain as well as the high quality multiplayer mode that you can play.

This is a fighting game that really plays to its strengths. A ton of time was clearly put into the combat itself and it paid off. This is definitely one of the stronger fighting games that I’ve played in terms of gameplay. In a way it reminds me a lot of Tekken in that it has great gameplay while also keeping up a very compelling story. Definitely impressive all the way around.

The graphics are really solid here of course. As with the last game, I will say that the art style does make all of the characters look a bit on the ugly side. Like they’re all brutes and I suppose that’s just unavoidable with this look. The game could easily look way better with a more vibrant approach but it definitely would clash with the tone of the game a bit. The soundtrack is solid enough although I can’t really think of any stand out tunes here. It was all a bit more on the forgettable side.

I got the Legendary edition so a bunch of bonus characters are playable here. It’s cool to have Hellboy and one of the Ninja Turtles at the ready. Definitely pretty cool I have to say. My mains will tend to be the DC characters but I do like experimenting. In terms of pure gameplay I found Batman and Harley Quinn to be two of the best characters. Their combos are very fast which makes it easy to land a ton of hits. I tend to prefer characters like that than the slow ones. Sure the damage is intense but it can be hard to land hits.

Overall, Injustice 2 is definitely a great game. The gameplay is top notch as always and of course they did not hold anything back on the story either. The whole game is very smooth to play with all of the menus being straight forward and there are no long loading times. I’d definitely be hyped to see them make an Injustice 3 at some point. There’s definitely a whole lot more you can really do with this verse before calling it a day.

Overall 8/10

Injustice: Gods Among Us Review

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This game was definitely a pretty big deal when it came out. Part of that was due to the great story in there and then you also had the people who were thrilled to finally have a big DC fighting game. Marvel has always had the Vs Capcom series but DC didn’t really have anything on that level. This was finally a game that could hold its own and the competitive scene for it was really solid. I can definitely say that it holds up really well after finally getting to check it out.

The story starts with Superman murdering Joker after the villain destroyed Metropolis and caused the death of Lois and her baby. Superman finally decided that this was the tipping point and rules over planet Earth. All who opposed him have been destroyed so the remaining heroes serve him out of fear or misguided loyalty. This is revealed to be a parallel Earth and then members of the main Justice League are pulled into a portal to enter this world. Can they convince the corrupt Superman to change his ways or will they quickly be defeated?

An evil Superman is always a very scary prospect. Nowadays we’ve had a ton of different evil Superman versions so the concept isn’t quite as novel but it wasn’t nearly as oversaturated when this game came out. It’s still considered one of the better stories with this premise. I would say the Justice Lords is still the best story to show an evil Superman as it made the most sense as to how he would realistically become a villain. Still, this one at least has more nuance than some other versions…although I say that lightly. He’s so far gone here that it can be hard to actually think of him as Superman at all. Certain other characters like Wonder Woman and Cyborg are also incredibly brainwashed at this point.

You have to just accept that these are alternate universe characters though so even if it all seems out of character for them…well they really are different characters all the way through. It definitely feels great once we finally get to see the main Superman step into the picture. He’s just as heroic as always and his power means that he is a one man army. He can change the entire tide of the war with his presence alone. There are no other characters who can say that. None at all.

The gameplay is your classic 2D fighter. One of the trickier things about it though is that the game goes old school. There are no “Auto combos” like in most modern fighters. (Marvel vs Capcom, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Naruto Ninja Storm, etc.) You can’t just click on the square button and unleash a devastating combo. You have to figure out which attacks link into other ones the old fashioned way and it is different for each character. The story has you cycle through a bunch of them so you really get to experiment with the different fighting styles. For the characters where I couldn’t really discover any combos, it made winning a lot more difficult.

It’s a good incentive to actually learn the game. I can definitely see how this game would have a pretty steep learning curve. I also liked that they brought back the interactive maps which you don’t see as much nowadays. You can punch someone through a wall and end up in a completely different stage. That’s definitely really cool. You can also throw a lot of objects in the background, leap off of others to reset your position, etc. Of course you have your final smash attack for each character and a lot of the animations there are pretty fun. Superman’s and Flash’s in particular stand out. There are a few like Green Arrow that are a bit underwhelming but I guess it was probably hard to think of something real flashy for him.

The graphics are really solid here. I’m not super crazy about the artstyle though, which can make the game look a bit older than it is. It seems to be a similar engine to the Mortal Kombat titles so everyone looks rather gruff. It helps to achieve that somber tone for the game but at the same time, everyone just looks sort of ugly. It reflects the jaded world but give me an artstyle more like Marvel vs Capcom 2 any time. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though. It certainly doesn’t have any rocking tunes like Tekken in it.

So this game is really standing on the excellent gameplay and great story. Fortunately for it, at the end of the day those are the two most important elements anyway. The story isn’t too long, you should have it beat in a few hours but of course there are missions, tutorials, and a ton of trophies to try and unlock. Additionally this is a fighting game so there is endless replay value in just battling other fighters and having a good time. The only thing holding this one back is that there is a sequel so most likely you will want to be playing that one more. So after the story you would probably upgrade which makes sense. Still a lot of content to enjoy here though.

Overall, Injustice: Gods Among Us is a great game. It’s really a lot of fun to play as all of the DC characters and they really went to a lot of good effort on the story mode. I love how cinematic it is with the constant cutscenes and the story is well crafted. It feels like you are playing an interactive movie to an extent. The sequel will have to try hard to keep up with the pace here but I’m definitely eager to see how that plays out. There are certainly many different directions you can take the story in.

Overall 8/10

Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! Review

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I always forget just how short these films can be but man do you feel it with this one. It just ends so fast and I think that does take away from what they could have done here. Ultimately it’s a fun enough movie even if I wouldn’t consider it to be one of the strongest ones. Just having the DC heroes/villains here is pretty fun. At the end of the day I also tend to enjoy crossovers quite a bit so that adds a bit of an extra punch to the experience right out of the gate.

The film starts with the Justice League vanishing and the culprit appears to be some kind of fire ghost. Clearly he is a threat to be able to take out someone like the mighty Superman. Lois tries to investigate but the monster is too tricky so for once she gives up on the biggest story of her life and instead brings in the Mystery Gang to solve this. They look scared right out of the jump with their credibility diminishing the longer they are in the room but they vow to solve this case and help save the world. Can this terrified group of youngsters surpass their limits to save the day?

Now you may be thinking, what about Krypto? No worries he randomly shows up in the Hall of Justice and helps out. Aside from Shaggy and Scooby the rest of the gang aren’t impressed since they think that Krypto is just some normal dog. I think this is supposed to be funny because they’re used to Scooby Doo doing all kinds of crazy things but now they’re skeptical. Perhaps they are right to be though because Krypto looks very underwhelming for most of the film. When the heroes are attacked by a group of villains Krypto is the first to run for the door and spends a while trying to open it instead of helping out.

He then gets absolutely crushed in his only one on one fight against another dog. This may be a Krypto crossover film but he looks so bad that you may wonder why he was in the title. His role just isn’t as critical as you would expect it to be for a 50/50 crossover like this. I would say Courage got a lot more to do in his adventure. It’s still nice to see Krypto of course and they show off his powers but when he scratches on a door instead of busting it open you wonder how much of his super strength he actually kept. Not enough if you ask me.

From the DC side the main characters here as Lex Luthor, Mercy, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy looks pretty bad the whole time too as he’s so desperate to be with Daphne that he made up this whole rationale in his head. He looks desperate the whole time but no worries he does vanish for most of the film. Lois looks tough as you’d expect and isn’t afraid to take shots at the cast. That said I do find it a bit out of character that she wouldn’t pursue the story herself. Yeah we get a half hearted excuse about covering other stories since the city is being overrun but that’s not quite good enough.

Mercy looks solid here as she tries to balance everything out for Lex. Her role is really satisfying all the way through and the film is able to handle the dynamic with her and Lex better than a lot of other titles to be honest. Lex is hamming up the villain angle quite a bit in this film but you would expect that with the Scooby gang in tow. This is where the film shined a bit more than I expected because I was ready for him to just be the comic relief for a while there but his role is actually rather solid. Yeah he has some anti feats in terms of intelligence but based on the ending you could make the case that it was all an act and I would take that case.

The Scooby gang are mainly as you would expect. Scooby and Shaggy are still running from every threat and generally getting taken down with minimal effort. I still think by now they should have improved a little more so I tend to be a little critical of them. Velma does good in getting hints and cracking the case so I have no issues with her. In some ways you could say it’s one of her better appearances because she’s really not getting distracted and just works to solve the case. You can’t say that most of the other characters in this one.

Fred looks pretty bad here as he keeps grilling Daphne about her and Jimmy despite being in the room when she explained that they were never together. He looks really insecure the whole time and then he gets cared easily and everything. His confidence issues are definitely not fitting for his character since he should always be the calm and collected leader who gets the job done. At his core that’s who Fred Jones is after all. A man on a mission but at least he gets some stuff to do during the climax.

Meanwhile Daphne’s not bad. She gets to fight quite a bit as the films have established her as the best fighter for a while now. She’s able to use Batman’s skills with ease and dishes out a lot of damage the whole time. Honestly it might be time for her to leave the mystery gang and become a crimefighter full time to make the best use of her talents. She could be making a real difference in the city by now.

Despite the film’s short overall length it does still manage to deliver a fairly long climax which I found to be impressive. There is a whole lot of action as we get to see all of the heroes and villains mixing it up in the city. We even get a brief battle between Mercy and Daphne which I would have liked to have seen more of since it would have had a lot of good choreography. So the action at the end was really appreciated particularly since it helped to give the DC side of this crossover a little more shine.

The humor can be a little more on the hit or miss side. I think one issue with the series is that sometimes they do tend to do the same gag over and over until it’s run into the ground. Fred trying to find out about Jimmy from Daphne, Scooby and Shaggy never being able to eat their meal in peace, etc. Still at the end of the day it’s nothing so bad that it would hurt the score big time or anything like that. The writing just isn’t nearly as clever as it’s trying to be.

Overall, Scooby Doo delivers with another fun film here. At the end of the day it may not be one of the more intense Scooby Doo titles but the novelty of having the DC characters in here makes up the difference. If you like Krypto then you’ll probably be disappointed but otherwise just enjoy the DC universe and you’ll have a good time here. I look forward to seeing Scooby Doo churn out more titles and hopefully another big crossover soon.

Overall 7/10

Superman vs Ben 10

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Suggested by Sonic Hard to believe it’s already been 10 years since Lois Lane took Ben 10 down right? Well he’s not going to have much better luck against Superman. Superman’s strength, speed, and other attributes are way too intense for Ben 10 to hold his own against. The difference in their respective power levels is just way too intense. Ben 10 wouldn’t really be able to keep up here and even if he did, I don’t think any of his powers are impressive enough to injure Superman. Perhaps his chemical form could turn into Kryptonite assuming Ben 10 would even know the composition of it but Superman speedblitzes and ends the match in an instant. Superman wins.

Judgeman vs Superman

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Suggested by Destroyer Judgeman may be a strong fighter but he won’t be able to keep up with Superman here. His abilities just won’t factor in as much as they should because Judgeman isn’t fast enough to hit Superman. Superman’s also got enough power where he will be dealing significant damage with each blow. Ultimately Judgeman’s defenses will fall in short order and then it’s over for him. Superman wins.

Legion of Super-Heroes Review

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It’s always good to see the Legion of Superheroes getting some screen time. The 2 season cartoon was short lived but it was a blast and since then you only see these guys occasionally in movies and shows. Well with a full movie to themselves this is another winner even if you will probably end up missing most of the big legionnaires. For plot reasons we’re mainly stuck with the B team.

The story starts with showing us Supergirl’s origin story of Krypton blowing up and after that she was taken to Earth where she has had a really difficult time fitting in. Unlike Superman who arrived here as a baby, she was fully grown which meant that it was a much steeper adjustment period. Batman wants her gone and so Superman comes up with a strategy to train her. He’ll drop her off in the future with the legion and she agrees although the tricky thing is that we don’t see a way for her to get back until Superman decides to check in. Although based on the final scene we can assume she has a communicator. The future is fun enough but Supergirl is still having a hard time fitting in and a mysterious cult is around to make things more complicated.

First up on the positives, Supergirl makes for a good main character as always. I like how aggressive she is and how she’s always ready to fight at a moment’s notice. That’s what you always want to see from the main character. Additionally she trusts her own judgement and doesn’t just follow the crowd. She may not be as good at fighting yet as you would expect but that should come in time. So far I tend to enjoy each portrayal of Supergirl and this one’s no exception.

The animation is also pretty smooth here. Only thing I’m not a big fan of is the style almost uses a bit of a blush effect on the characters which you don’t really see much of outside of some anime. For the most part this style has been good though. Not as good as the New 52 style but it works well enough for the fight scenes and everything. On the whole it’s still good here as well.

The film’s pacing is quick and so the movie goes by very fast. It’s a fairly basic kind of adventure even with some twists thrown in but the writing is strong enough where this will have a lot of replay value. I can definitely watch it at any time. The battles are also good and the film even has a very hype ending to lead off into the next adventure. I’m always game for a film ending on a complete to be continued note since those endings definitely build up the most suspense. I was definitely not expecting the movie to end the way that it did.

Now the film does have some power level issues. For starters one of the villains in this film has abilities comparable to Supergirl’s. I would say they are still decisively weaker so it’s not like you’re wondering who would win but they are still on that level to the extent to which most other characters would lose instantly. Yet there is a scene near the end of the film where the villain is confronted by a group of the weakest Legionnaires in existence and instead of turning them all to paste with a quick speed blitz, he orders a retreat. If you’re being charitable then you can say that he was doing it to protect his foot soldiers but I kind of doubt that.

Part of the problem with having a villain this powerful is that you then have to be careful for scenes like this. The villain won’t have any trouble with the side characters so you can’t have a teamwork message delivered in that way. There are ways to pull it off but they will need a good plan and some prep time. It’s the only way to handle a character like this. You could also just buff the side characters a bit with cooler powers and that would have done the trick too.

This villain looks laughably bad in the intelligence department after all like when he is so busy monologuing that he doesn’t notice someone being freed right in front of him. Trust me that’s a really bad look. He also gets really whiny as the film ends to the point where you can’t take him seriously. Ultimately I don’t think this character was handled well and I would have done something different for the villain because it’s definitely more shock value than anything. I find it hard to believe that things would play out this way but I guess that’s why they call it a twist.

Brainiac 5 gets a pretty big role here as he’s trying to prove himself since the other Brainiacs have always been so evil. I definitely has to be rough growing up with your entire family being famously evil so nobody trusts you. It’s no wonder that he is so standoffish in the present since he doesn’t want to give anyone a chance to knock him down. He has some really good tech but while he looks super impressive in the first fight, I feel like he never quite matches up to that again. If he could have delivered with offensive weapons on the level of his barrier then he really would have been totally unstoppable. Instead he doesn’t always seem ready for the fights.

The film does have some romance but that’s definitely one of the weaker parts of the film here. Supergirl and Brainiac 5 barely even know each other after all. It may be a tribute to the TV show which may have been a tribute to the comics if that was ever a thing but this just doesn’t work out. Personally I could have kept them as rivals because their banter in those moments were so good. They made for really good rivals all the way through and you could have built upon that for several more films with a lot of great burns on both sides. Perhaps in a slightly more friendly way as per character development but don’t just get rid of it.

The Circle is actually an interesting group. They basically go through time and terrorize multiple place at once. The idea of a terrorist group that can chase you across time is absolutely terrifying because how do you even stop a group like that? They also mean business as they murder someone early on in the film to set the tone. Characters definitely do die in this movie so there is a real body count. I’d be up for the Circle returning at some point.

If we do get another Legion film at some point hopefully we do get to finally see the main legion members get some action this time. Particularly Lightning Lad has always been a lot of fun. He may be a founding member but he’s still a bit of a hotshot so you can count on him to have some hype moments. Nothing against Bouncing Boy and Arm-Fall off Boy (Name was something like that) since they’re okay…but they’re not starters for a reason. The film shows off what they can do and how every ability can be useful but I can also totally understand why they would not be on the front lines since their powers aren’t super strong. Go up against the wrong opponent and that would totally be game over. Since a lot of these characters still seem like teenagers or young adults at best, it’s a lot of risk.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. It really breezes by and the future makes for a good backdrop. The fights are on point and while the power levels may not all work, you won’t be taken out of the movie. The mystery is also good with a whole lot of suspense at all times. I will admit that at times I was more engaged with the current day plot with Batman and Superman but it’s hard to turn those plots down. Honestly if the whole film focused on Batman doing his detective work I’d be all for it but of course it would defeat the purpose of the future plot. I’m sure we’ll see more Batman moments before long so in the meantime definitely check this one out.

Overall 7/10

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One Review

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The RWBY reviews continue with the new movie! I had to buy this one immediately on day 1 because the hype was too real. After all these years RWBY was finally getting the movie it deserves. After completing the movie I can definitely confirm that it is a great title and hopefully this gets more people into the fandom. Automatically there are a lot of DC fans who will watch this one even though they haven’t seen RWBY and so it’s a good introduction there. I will say that it doesn’t quite feel like the movie budget but just seeing the characters is cool.

The movie starts off with Superman waking up in a different world and for some reason he’s a teenager. He remembers fighting someone but can’t remember anything beyond that. He’s quickly saved from danger by a pair of superheroines known as Ruby and Yang who defeat the Grim monsters in the area. There is something off about their world too though as the Grimm are now able to absorb all dust related abilities which means that Weiss and Blake are going to have a tough time but it won’t affect Yang and Ruby quite as much once they adapt. Superman knows that he needs to find the rest of the League and quickly but why are everyone’s memories off?

Now amnesia is not exactly my favorite trope. I’d always choose to have the crossover with both verses at their peak in terms of strength and ability but hey at least it is the real characters as opposed to the comics which went in a very different direction. Mainly part 1 is about solving the mystery of why everyone’s memories are spotty and why things just don’t line up. For example why are all of the RWBY characters in their volume 1 outfits yet they have things that they shouldn’t yet. (Ex: Yang’s metallic arm) I remember people pointing that out immediately in the trailer which helped to build up the suspense of what was going on here. The mystery is very engaging and of course you’ll have a lot of theories right off the bat. They’re trapped in a dream, a simulation, time travel’s at work, visual illusion, just an AU, etc. The reveal definitely works pretty well with this in mind.

Now this is still a part 1 so don’t expect the full answers to be revealed. I won’t say where this takes place in the RWBY series yet but from the ending you can narrow it down to the volume and come pretty close to the exact episode that makes the most sense. If the ending just went on for an extra minute or two that would have been great to confirm exactly where the cast is. I’m also really intrigued on who the big villain for part 2 will be. I’ve got really high hopes for that one and so I hope part 2 comes out soon. My understanding is that both parts were animated back to back in the middle of Volume 9’s production so it should already be all done. Summer release would be nice as opposed to waiting for the Fall.

So lets jump onto the good stuff first. It’s super nostalgic to see Ruby and the gang in their original forms dealing with classic Grimm. It’s a very nostalgic return to form for their classic days and the environments look very clear. We get to see a lot of interactions between the cast in a fun setting that wouldn’t really be possible currently with how high the stakes are. It’s always nice to see the characters have some downtime to just talk and this movie has a lot of that with the various interactions.

I also liked the emphasis on using dust again since it’s been a while. In the main series the heroes always use dust like Weiss with her rapier, Raven’s attacks, etc. but it’s all just used silently and it’s nice to discuss the specifics of dust some more. Beyond it being an energy source we’ve never gone too far into it and you always wonder what the upper limits are. In theory you figure more fighters should be able to make super powered weapons powered by dust to fight the Grimm. Perhaps they wouldn’t be as advanced as a huntress but it would still be very useful in war efforts.

The crossover aspect itself is great as well of course. Seeing the heroes interact was fun and Team Jaune taking on the Justice League’s B team was fun. The fact that they basically won that fight was also excellent. While Team RWBY may typically overshadow them, it’s important to remember that this team is still very skilled and has a lot of powerhouses on their side. They aren’t the type of fighters to just roll over and take a loss. By this point in the series they are full fledged hunters and huntresses after all.

There is a ton of action here as well so if you missed that in volume 9, there is no shortage here. Now granted I would have liked more human type fights like the earlier battle I mentioned. Most of it is against the Grimm and since the monsters can barely fight back it’s not like you can have as much fun with the choreography. Of course you see all of the super attacks being used but when things are too one sided it just won’t have the same impact as a true fight. In a power levels sense I also have some doubts on how well they do against the larger Grimm but I think given the situation and context I can overlook those power level moments because it’s not quite as if it happened in a normal setting. Otherwise I thought the power levels were good and the RWBY verse looks real impressive here. They have homefield advantage of course but it still counts. (I hope Part 2 takes place in DC’s world because that would make a lot of sense as a parallel although given that we’re probably sticking to the RWBY animation style, maybe they’ll just keep home court. It would also be interesting if the League just doesn’t appear and part 2 is purely RWBY but that would be an odd choice given the title)

Now for the animation, it’s classic RWBY style so it looks great. I would just say there is a bit of a noticeable downgrade compared to the RWBY show which is a bit ironic. Typically you expect the movie to blow the show away after all but that’s not what happened this time. It’s very clear and the attacks look good but the animation itself is a bit choppy. Now from what I heard, this happened fairly last second as between episodes 7 and 8 in production the animators were all pulled off of the show to work on Justice League and that’s why the volume was pushed back. Not sure how much of this was confirmed but if they did have to rush through the two movies to get back to the show then it does make sense that this one’s a bit choppier.

Still, even a weaker RWBY style is still great and I enjoyed the visuals. The DC character designs were more of a miss for me but that’s not strictly speaking animation. It feels like they were trying too hard to make the League look like RWBY characters and they come across more like NPCs or fanfic characters. Batman’s design is easily the weakest although Flash would be in second there. They just don’t look much like the characters and I think they really could have done a better job there. Reminds me of when I would create a character in Soul Caliber and you could see the resemblance but it just wasn’t right.

The film is fairly short but makes the most of every moment so you do feel like this was a complete adventure at all times. The heroes are always rushing from place to place and with how often you switch from plot to plot, it never reaches a slow point. That’s probably one of the most impressive parts of the movie really. The amount of content it covers is impressive and whenever we’d get a flash into the RWBY memories that was a lot of fun. We even see a new angle to the big Adam scene from Volume 5 which was intense. No matter what that guy always find a way to return.

The RWBY characters are mainly all in character as you’d expect so I’ll keep their sections brief. There really isn’t much to talk about in terms of Yang and Blake. They go in and do their job as needed. Yang’s maybe a bit overprotective of Blake the whole time which I feel is retroactively setting things up for volume 9 unless the writers are trying to acknowledge Blake as the weakest but otherwise the film does her a lot of justice. This is easily the most powerful Blake has looked in years and I was glad to see it.

Ruby is struggling to be an effective leader here as everyone shouts her down and holds her back but ultimately she proves that she has the right stuff. She was good when it counts. Meanwhile Weiss showed off her expertise in using computers which was cool and in general she was in command of the situation. I would actually say she looks the best from all the RWBY characters. Jaune is in competition for that title though as he helps out Green Lantern quite a lot in this one. He gives her multiple pep talks and shows her what it means to be brave even when you don’t have powers. He was just really patient the whole time and very genuine. You can see why he is a good leader.

Ren looks pretty bad the whole time though. He gets jealous about Nora way too quickly to the point where he is always bickering with Cyborg. They could have toned that down somewhat as he is usually supposed to be the emotionless one so why he is blowing a fuse in every other scene? It just didn’t feel like the usual him at all. Meanwhile Nora was definitely more on the aggressive side here and taking things personal. Definitely not the really chill and goofy Nora you may expect but at least she does a ton of damage in every fight so you can cut her some slack.

On the DC side of things, Superman looks solid. He’s a natural leader as always and is someone you can count on. He gets a lot of great scenes and consistently thinks things through before making a move. Then you have Batman who in comparison is one of the worst members here. (Not the worst though, that’s coming up) Now in part I would say the voice is to blame a bit as he just doesn’t sound like any version of Batman and lacks the power or charisma behind him. But most of it is just how he’s written here. He’s a bit sloppier, has no prep time, and tends to get humiliated a lot. He’s lacking in confidence and apparently has always wished he could have powers. He gets outbrained by Weiss in the computer room and just wasn’t the decisive, capable vigilante that we’ve always known. This guy is truly Batman in name only. They really should have just kept him as being super in control the whole time around and that would have went over perfectly.

He may have stolen the show a bit but that’s what Batman does so it would have been worth it. Not much to say about Vixen, I’d say she seemed in character and was about what I expected. She has a good amount of confidence and is always ready to fight which is good. Then you have the Flash who is definitely on the goofier side but his character is ultimately handled well and the movie even has a great reason for why with his speed he isn’t just ending the movie in one second. Leave it to RWBY to come up with a solid way and not let this turn into the usual power level hax that happens with the Flash.

Cyborg definitely looks rather disgraceful here though and even worse than Batman. Yes this guy is the worst. He yells at Ruby for basically no reason and I was really hoping Yang or someone would slug him at some point. Sure he apologizes and says he was stressed out but really? Eh I didn’t think that was a great excuse. Then he also does seem to be overtly flirting with Nora at times which seems very much like a wrong place kind of moment. They’re trying to save the world right now so there’s no time for that. Yeah this was definitely not his best moment.

So in some ways I do think the writing could have been a little better to really maximize the effectiveness of the crossover. With the characters not being fully in character, it makes the meetup not work quite as well as it could have. I’d also have liked more in-fighting but that’s a fairly small thing. Either way this is still a great film and one I would definitely recommend checking out. It also holds up well as a stand alone film so you don’t have to worry about watching the sequel per say. Watching it as soon as possible is good to help with the sales and views then maybe we can keep getting more films in the future. Crossovers with the Teen Titans, Avengers, TMNT, and more would all work really well. The possibilities are endless to be honest.

Overall, It’s really nice seeing RWBY in a movie. They deserve a theatrical movie one of these days to really show off the budget but right now this will definitely work. It has been fun going on this little RWBY review marathon but all things must come to an end and unfortunately there probably aren’t going to be many other RWBY reviews for a while because there aren’t many other products out right now. Hopefully that will change sooner than later but in the meantime you need to enjoy this adventure while you can. It has a lot of replay value because of all the fights so you can enjoy watching it a lot.

Overall 8/10

DC League of Super-Pets Review

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This movie seemed to get a whole lot of promotion when it was coming out. There were posters, tv spots, and trailers everywhere. I finally got to see it and it is a fun title. In some ways I thought it could have been even better and I remember feeling that way after watching it but that doesn’t take away from it still being solid. I’d definitely be up for a sequel.

The film starts off by introducing us to Krypto who takes great pride in being Superman’s best friend. He is always ready to smash up the villains and by day he tries to be a normal dog. He gets concerned when Superman and Lois start getting closer though as it means that he will lose out on some quality time. Additionally there is some kind of menace taking down the Justice League. Krypto may need to step in to stop these villains now but will he be able to pull this off or is it game over for him? Sometimes when one person is not enough to stop a threat then you need to bring in a team so get ready for some other pets to join the fray.

This film may be comedic first and foremost but we actually get some real fight scenes here. The movie does a good job with the Justice League fighting back to stop from being captured as well as the Super Pet fights. The battles themselves aren’t treated as gags and that was a good idea on the film’s part because that way you do have your serious moments as well to balance out the comedic bits. It makes for a movie that has a little of everything in it.

As for the animation itself, the film is CG so don’t expect it to hold its own with the hand drawn stuff but it still looks reasonable. The main issue I’d say is with some of the character designs, particularly the Justice League where it felt like not a whole lot of time was spent to make them really look good. As a result they just don’t seem all that impressive, certainly much less so than you would expect. The pets all have good designs though and the fights are good as I mentioned earlier. I don’t think this movie would change anyone’s feelings on CG animation but at the end of the day it’s not bad and will get the job done.

Where the film isn’t as strong as it could be is with the humor. It never gets quite as funny as titles like Teen Titans Go or Batman The Brave and the Bold. It might be that the jokes are just a bit too obvious and telegraphed as opposed to something unexpected happening that would really make you chuckle. Maybe it’s a character thing but either way it’s not cringey or anything which is good. Even if you aren’t laughing you’ll understand the joke and see how it was meant to be funny.

The film has good pacing and covers a lot of ground. I mentioned how the film balances out the comedic elements with the serious ones and so one of its strengths is the more emotional content. We get a solid character arc for Krypto and Ace. Those moments are actually really solid and even the villain Lulu gets some heartfelt moments. The writing can be strong when the film wants it to be and that’s something you will definitely notice as you go through the movie.

As for Krypto as the lead character, he does a good job. He’s a fun guy to root for and uses his powers wisely. Sure Krypto may not be a team player at first but it’s easy to see why that would be the case since he has incredible abilities while the others don’t seem like they’d be able to keep up. Teamwork is great and all but if you are many times stronger than the next member then it’s easy to see why you would have a very tough time accepting that message. It just wouldn’t make sense but the other animals ultimately prove themselves and Krypto’s not a bad sport about it.

Krypto has a nice sense of humor and he’s super loyal. I really didn’t have any issues with his character. Ace gets the next biggest role from the animals and he has his serious moments which are good. He’s not quite as amusing for the comedic bits though and I never ended up liking him quite as much as Krypto. Not saying he as bad at any point but he wasn’t quite my kind of character. PB tends to be more annoying than anything throughout the movie and would be the weakest animal.

Merton wasn’t bad. Less of a role than some of the other characters but you really can’t go wrong with super speed. It’s particularly ironic since Merton is a turtle which is kind of the point. Then you have Chip with thunder abilities. From all of the pets I felt like he got the least to do here but he still helps out in the fights and such. He was a fun one to have around.

The evil pets tend to be the highlights here though. First up is Whiskers who has an incredible amount of ammo on her. She can fire rockets, guns, energy blasts, etc. She is able to get all of the heroes on the back foot there for a while and did really well considering how outnumbered she was. Whiskers’ has a fairly small role but it was a very memorable one and she really stole the show there.

Of course you also have the main villain Lulu who initially just wanted to help Lex out but after he kept on giving her the cold shoulder it was time to become a mastermind. She does well and I was glad that she decided to strike out on her own. After a while if the boss is just going to ignore you and do his own thing anyway then you don’t really owe him anything at that point. Deciding to be your own leader is really the best play and Lulu does have a genius intellect. It makes her very formidable here.

As for the humans, while they aren’t the focus they mostly still look decent. I was glad that the Justice League put up a fight even if they got wrecked. Superman is a very nice guy here and still gets the job done. It may not be his story but he still keeps his personality and looks good. Batman also gets his quick moments of looking good and fighting opponents above his level. I’d like to see a movie featuring the league more in this continuity since they seem fun as always even if that might defeat the purpose of this spinoff.

Lex Luthor doesn’t look very good though. He’s not very smart here and if he had played things even a little reasonably then he would have easily ended up on top. Lulu would have still been on his side but instead he squanders everything for no real reason. The film probably could have handled his character a lot more reasonably and the movie would have been better off for it.

Overall, The League of Super Pets is a good movie. I do feel like there are a decent amount of missed opportunities here which keep it from being great but it’s a fun ride. You’ll still enjoy the battles here and there is a lot of room for a sequel if they want to do that. There are even two scene after the credits which are solid. One is more on the important side while the other one is a fun gag relating to another movie. They work well and help to end the film on a high note. If we do get a sequel you can bet that I will be there ready to enjoy the adventure.

Overall 7/10

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons Review

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Now you might be thinking…wait is this film CG? Well the answer is yes so DC decided to try a little something here. As I always say, CG isn’t even bad, but it is a step down from traditional animation. It beats the more experimental types like flash, stop motion, claymation, etc. but traditional animation is the GOAT of getting hype content across the board. So that starts this one off at a bit of a disadvantage next to its peers but ultimately it’s still a pretty good movie. It doesn’t quite top the last one but if you’re looking for some fun action then this movie has you covered.

We start off with Krypton blowing up again as Superman’s dad can’t catch a break and we then fast forward to the future where Superman and Lois are married with a kid named Jonathan. For years he hasn’t displayed any super powers so they figured maybe it wasn’t going to happen but all of a sudden he starts to develop them. Superman is at last able to reveal his secret identity but is promptly taken out along with the rest of the Justice League. Jonathan will have to finally become the new Superboy as he teams up with Robin to save the world. Are these two kids ready for such a big challenge or are they about to get absolutely destroyed as they try to fight off the big fighters?

Now you may have some questions about how the League is handled and we can quickly just write this off as a little plot hax/power level issues. You’re not sidelining Superman this easily but hey we can’t have him stealing the show right? The film wisely kept the Flash out of this as well since he’d be tough to take down. The villain of the film isn’t revealed immediately but I will say that he’s fairly cool. Not powerful enough to take out the Justice League levels of cool but he gets a good amount of hype dialogue and talks a big game. I always appreciate when a villain talks really big so I did like that about him. The film doesn’t really have any bad characters so even if he’s weaker than the heroes, I rather enjoyed the villain. I just wish he could have fought some more.

Jonathan works as an okay main character once he gets his head in the game but it does take a while. At first he’s really just your average kid who is getting picked on at school and gets upset since Superman keeps missing his big games/moments. Once he gets his powers and starts fighting then he quickly improves as a character. He is a solid contrast to Robin as they both fight off the villains. I think Jonathan should only continue to improve as a character the more he becomes accustomed to his powers. In theory once he learns them at 100% power then there are very few characters here who will be able to defeat him.

Meanwhile Robin looks great here. This is Damian specifically as from all of the Robins he always has the most attitude which leads to a lot of great one liners and character moments. You just have to appreciate this guy’s confidence. He may overrate himself just a little bit but considering how strong he is at such a young age you can absolutely see how it would happen. He does get a lot of good moments to shine though like diffusing a situation with a bully twice and holding his own against fighters with actual super powers. It’s always fun to watch him fight even if you don’t believe things would really turn out this way.

I already talked about the animation so you’re still going to have good fights here. The soundtrack is a surprising hit though with a lot of themes that sound like they’re straight out of the DCAU. You get some hype themes for the battle moments and also some nice eery ones for when the villains are around. It makes for a well balanced collection of tracks and that’s definitely what you want to see here.

Where the film has to do a bit of a balancing act is having some emotional scenes for Jonathan while also trying to throw us into the action quickly since it’s not like the film is super long or anything like that. I probably would have sped up some of the intro scenes with Jonathan so he can get his powers and take names quicker. It’s always tough since you do want to introduce the character completely but that would be my take. Once the story really gets going then it’s pretty much nonstop from there. The villain’s plan was a little too good so realistically he should not have been stopped but we’ll see if they can top that for next time.

This movie also seemed to take some elements from the new movies with some of the character designs/general roster, Justice League with one character’s role and even Young Justice. As a stand alone it worked really well there in just grabbing a bunch of elements from all sorts of places. I was surprised that Alfred didn’t make a cameo but otherwise just about everyone is here. I think the general premise of the story really lends itself well to a big cast like this. In fact, you could do a whole movie series or a full saga with this plot. There are so many different directions you can go with it so I’d be cool with this villain returning for another stab at it but this time focus on the adult heroes. Even for them this wouldn’t be a walk in the park depending on how far it goes.

You could switch out the villain if you want to keep it fresh though. It’s the general concept/premise of what’s going on that really kicks things up a few notches. Keeping things rather vague since I forget if they even showed the villain in the trailers but if not then this way you can still go in fresh. Meanwhile Superman and Lois get good roles as well at least during the intro. Lois also gets some more to do near the end so I enjoyed her character here. She got to show off why she is still the top reporter around town, willing to take on extra risks to save the day. If she had super powers I dare say she would become a vigilante really quick but that’s a complement in this case.

Overall, Battle of the Super Sons didn’t get us a battle between the Super Sons but their teaming up to stop a common enemy is always a classic way to go. The film has a good amount of action and story here so you should have a good time watching this one. You may wish you could see the League more but I suppose the kids have to get their fun sometimes. Whether you’re a DC fan or not you should enjoy this one. It’s just a fun experience and you should walk away satisfied as the ending is good and there’s a lot of room for a sequel. I’d be cool with the kids showing up again in the future for more action but wouldn’t mind a little time skip.

Overall 7/10