Tag Archives: Thriller

The Protector Review

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

It’s time for a Jackie Chan film that doesn’t really come close to hanging with most of his other films. It’s got the martial arts and parkour at times but everything about it feels basic at best. It goes through the motions like having Billy’s partner get bumped off almost immediately but the film tends to falter throughout.

The movie starts with something out of a futuristic sci-fi dystopia as people wearing weird costumes beat up a truck driver and get away with something. After that we cut to Billy and Michael who were having a normal drive and a beer when some punks showed up and try to steal Michael’s stuffed animal that he bought for his kid. They end up murdering the guy while Billy avenges him. This causes the Billy to get demoted. Things don’t get much better for him as Laura, the daughter of a big gangster is kidnapped while under his watch. Billy and his new partner Danny are sent to Hong Kong to find her and crack the case but it involves multiple gangs and big crime families. Looks like we have a conspiracy on our hands.

One of the big problems with Billy and Danny is that they mess around way too much. We have a big kidnapping case going on right here with someone who is missing and could be murdered at any moment. Yet immediately they’re going to massage parlors and messing around. Yeah you could say this has to do with their mission and they’re gathering info but lets be real, that’s not on their mind at all. They should have died there but the villains slipped up.

Now you might be thinking, James Bond would make that mistake as well right? Yeah and that’s why he has to rely on plot armor all the time. These two do more of the same the whole time and can’t keep up with the banter either. The writing is only okay here and doesn’t stack up with the average thriller either.

Now there are some positives I can say at least. The fight scenes that we get are actually pretty good. The martial arts are still on point and the choreography does not disappoint. If the film could have focused on this the whole time then there would really have been no problem. Of course that wasn’t the case and not much point worrying about what ifs.

The music is also fairly good. Some reasonably solid tracks in there. Fast paced tunes that fit with the scenes and so I don’t have any issues there. In terms of technicals, the film wasn’t bad. It was just let down by everything else. The film has to resort to fanservice because the story wasn’t strong enough which is always a massive red flag. It’s not the kind of thing that a really good film ever has to resort to. Yet this film does that more than once because it knows everyone was probably fast asleep otherwise.

The movie’s tone is also all over the place. Sometimes it is playing things seriously with a lot of danger and adventure going on and then other times it is trying to be a light hearted comedy. It tends to not handle the mix well with the characters being too goofy during a serious moment and vice versa. Again there’s no real urgency on the main duo’s part despite the fact that Laura is still out there somewhere.

Now you may be thinking, at least we’ve got a really big conspiracy here involving a lot of factions so that should keep you interested? Well, it goes in all of the most generic ways possible so that defeats the purpose. Are the Hong Kong cops corrupt as always?? Hmmmm.

Now I’m not going to say that you will see every plot point coming ahead of time or anything like that. That’s definitely not happening but you’re just not going to be all that engaged. It all starts from the top with the characters and then trickles down to every other aspect of the movie like the weak plot. It’s too bad that Michael was bumped off in the first scene because I think he would have made for a much better partner than Danny in the second half. Trust me on this, there’s just a world of difference there.

None of the villains ever get all that memorable either. For the most part it’s not like most of them can fight. We at least do have one big fighter on the villain side who gives Billy a run for his money. That ends up being a good battle and a solid way to end the film off. This is the kind of film that does have actual positives that I can point to which is good. It’s not an awful film or anything like that but it absolutely makes enough missteps where it won’t be mistaken for a good movie either. This really shouldn’t be that hard either, just avoid the fanservice and stick to a lot of fights. Have the heroes be cocky and overconfident but they still need to be focused on their mission at all times at least until they’ve rescued the heroine.

Overall, The Protector probably isn’t the best title for this film. Billy lets his partner get bumped off in the first scene and then the main heroine gets kidnapped, and then even his new partner gets kidnapped. The guy’s too busy messing around to really be protecting much of anything. Yeah Danny was usually the bad influence here but Billy wasn’t really doing anything to stop him now was he? I’ve just seen way better thrillers with this kind of kidnapping plot and pretty much all of Jackie Chan’s other films are better so in the end that doesn’t leave much for this one. I’d say to give it a skip.

Overall 4/10

Blame! Review

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It’s time for a really abstract/intense sci-fi title. Blame! is one of those series that really doesn’t spoon feed you too many details so you really have to figure everything out on your own. It’s an exciting way to read through the series and then see how different your takeaways were from someone else’s. There are a lot of things you should agree on as well of course and there are some things that the series will tell you. It’s definitely an unforgettable sci-fi title with a ton of action but in the interpretive sections it can also get a bit disturbing. It might say more about me than the manga depending if that’s what anyone else saw but some of the dark elements get super dark.

The story follows a guy named Killy. (Well that’s how he’s listed online but I could have sworn the spelling was more like K’il but Killy is easier to spell so I’ll just roll with it. Killy is a guy who tends to be super silent all of the time. He doesn’t really say much of anything and appears to be a real enigma. He wants to shut down the city and to do that he has to find someone with the net terminal gene code that is needed to save the world. A lot of crazy stuff happened hundreds of years ago and humanity messed with the A.I. a bit too much. So naturally robots took over the planet and drove the humans to the brink of extinction.

Some of these robots are “Builders” and their goal is to keep on building forever and ever. That is their mission after all so they just continue to do this until the end of time. Naturally this does lead to one big issue which is that the world never ends as a result. For example lets say you are 10 blocks away from the supermarket and then you go to sleep. When you wake up to might be 30 blocks away. Since the city is constantly expanding on all sides, it also means you can easily be separated from your group for a long time.

In some ways the series almost works as an anthology type as well since Killy will meet various people from all sorts of tribes where he will sometimes help them out for a prize. If they have info on what he needs then he will help and likewise if they’re about to die or something. Otherwise his priority is to keep moving. It’s not that he’s heartless or anything but in most cases there isn’t much that can be done for these people. I’m afraid the sad truth is that they’re basically down for the count. The humans are really lucky that the robots take their time and aren’t in full genocide mode or the humans would have been wiped out a very long time ago.

So when it comes to the dark stuff, what am I talking about? Well Killy stumbles into quite a few areas where it looks like the humans are basically being tortured to death for eternity. We see one human (Or more like an android at that point) who seemed to have been converted into some kind of eternal breeding machine. Others have been totally ripped apart, some whose minds have been completely cracked, etc. It’s really not good to be a human here and you have to hope that your mind has long since died. Then of course a lot of really strong stuff happens to the robots as well so you just hope that they don’t have pain receptors.

In a lot of ways you could say that the world of Blame! is like an allegory for hell. All you have to look forward to is an eternity of pain and suffering. There are no wins to be found here or anything like that. Everywhere you go is more and more despair and the closer the heroes get, the more the goalposts are literally shifted away. At this point all they can really do is survive and even that is not particularly fun when there’s not enough food or water to last you for very long.

So here’s my take on the whole situation. It’s based in part on some reveals and then how I interpreted them so in case my theory is right…and it probably is…you should skip the next 2 paragraphs including this one. All right so what seems to be happening here is that the human race was subjugated a long time ago and the whole world was turned into data. What is happening now is a man made version of hell that the robots have stuck humanity into in order to run tests. Killy is one of these robotic administrators and he is using the body of a human type in order to find a way to shut it down.

This is why Killy has a gun that only the machines should have and why his stats are so high. It’s also why it seems to be impossible to actually destroy hm. I think this ties in pretty well and makes sense with some of the dialogue that we get later on. Everything is real to the people who are inside of the City but it’s not the physical world at this point. It’s not the most air tight theory or anything like that but I thought it made sense. It’s a bit harder to explain the angel type robots that show up later on and the other factions but I can still attribute this to there just being a lot of contention on how the world should be developed.

In the end it’s not like the explanation matters all that much though. The whole point is that this is a mission in futility. No mater what Krill does, humanity is not going to win here. He could save people as often as he wants and keep on destroying robots but it is truly endless. There is no meaning to life within the city and he will have to keep going until he dies or runs out of energy. The series takes advantage of his immortality and how things keep going really well.

Some chapters seem to take place across dozens and dozens of years and that’s being conservative. At times Killy acts like he hasn’t seen another person in many years and other times it seems like he’s somewhere that he has been too in the past but before the time of the people still living there. I suppose after a while if you’re immortal you would probably lose track of time as well. Everything starts to become a legend or a mystery. Do you trust your own memories or what people tell you happened back in the day?

There’s just a whole lot to ponder here and the series really goes into a ton of really intense topics even without much dialogue for pretty much the whole series. That’s the most impressive thing about it. I dare say it’s also scarier than most horror films. The fact that you really don’t know how to escape is absolutely terrifying. Like put yourself in the position of any human who isn’t Killy here. At any moment you could be murdered by giant immortal robots. There is no escape since the city is the size of the entire planet and you are only getting older and slower while they do not. Eventually you will be taken down as well and there’s nothing that you can do to fight it.

That has to be extremely terrifying and unnerving. Not having a way to resist your impending doom is crazy. Meanwhile the art is also super good which also adds to how terrifying everything is. The character designs and action scenes are extremely detailed. The fights get rather large so you really feel just how powerful all of the characters arc. Killy and the robots are like terminators and then you keep on getting stronger and stronger versions. Killy can hold his own against almost all of them but even he runs into some difficulties which the top tier ones.

The robot designs are as cool as they are scary too. Some have large capes, cool swords, etc. There’s really a whole lot to love there. The main cast is rather small as most characters are one shots. There are a number of big villains around, some have names and some do not. The most memorable side character is easily Cibo though. She was definitely put through a lot as she was forced to stay alive for many years through a machine but you could say that she was functionally dead for a while there. Killy does end up helping her get a full android body and from there she gets involved in quite a lot of mech fights. I don’t envy her position though, having to pretty much be tuned into a robot in order to keep existing is rough.

Then there is Sanakan who joins up with Killy for a while. A lot happens and lets just say Sanakan doesn’t get to always stick around but it’s another crazy plot point to keep you engaged. When these side characters are around it does allow the series to finally have some dialogue since otherwise Killy would pretty much never talk to anybody. He just doesn’t see the point of doing so which is rather harsh to be sure.

In the end I might start to sound like a broken record about this but Blame! is definitely not a title for the faint of heart. When I say it’s probably the scariest manga out there I definitely mean it. It’s like Terminator on steroids. There isn’t a lot to talk about due to the nature of the series even with a reasonable amount of volumes but I can say that you will still be experiencing a lot here. It can just be tough to translate that into words. You just know that it’s a series you won’t forget. Even the high tier action scenes have a bit of a scary undercurrent to them. Because again, it’s not like you can win. At best you can continue to delay the inevitable by fighting but at some point you will be tired or make a mistake and then that’s it for you.

The whole mission about finding someone with the gene is already a huge long shot. It’s unlikely that anyone with it still exists and the longer Killy searches for this, the more likely it’ll be that all of the people who had the gene are dead. It’s fully possible that his search is already in vain. Then it’s possible that he’s already stuck in an endless time loop as well. I wish there were some big online debates about this series, I’d be eager to read that. I’ll probably have to start looking up some theory videos for the series now that I’ve finished the review on it. I bet there’s tons of great content out there just waiting to be looked at. This manga is really one of a kind.

Overall, Blame! is definitely one of the most interesting manga titles that I’ve read. It’s just so interpretive and yet there is a ton of great world building here. It’s the kind of series where you can probably argue about the meaning of a specific page with other fans for hours. There’s just so much to take away from it. So what you take away from the series will come down to your own opinions and analytics as well. Some scenes that I find super dark you might find standard or scenes that I find to be really hype you might think are disturbing. I will say there is definitely a lot of replay value to the series since you can just allow yourself to be lost in the artwork. This could definitely be turned into a fun anime although I know the studio would be tempted to task it down quite a lot. Throw in dialogue everywhere and simplify the whole thing of course. It’s a little too disturbing at times for me to actively recommend this to a manga reader but if you love horror and twisted stuff then you will definitely have a field day with this one. Just make sure you are prepared to be spooked if you watch this at night!

Overall 5/10

Sweet Smell of Success Review

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It’s time for a film about corruption and how far reporters will go to get their story. When you’re watching a noir film it can be hit or miss on if the main character is likable or one of the actual villains. In this case it’s definitely the latter as there is no place he won’t sink to in order to get further in his career. The rest of the film is solid enough but the main guy really sinks the whole thing. He just gets away with too much and the whole time you keep wishing the characters would be a little more alert on what’s going on.

The film starts off with Sidney being upset because he was given a bad tip about Susan and Steve breaking up. The fact is that they have not broken up and are even more serious about each other. This is a problem because Sidney works for Susan’s brother JJ who has ordered him to end the relationship. He does not want Susan with anybody and if Sidney does not succeed then he will be out of a job. How can Sidney pull this off without destroying his social relationship or making it too obvious though?

Obviously from the start Sidney already shouldn’t be taking this gig. He’s just too desperate to get in good with JJ since the guy is the most influential person in the newspaper business. The guy controls the media and that is where Sidney wants to work but what he has long since lost sight of is that it all won’t matter if he’s lost all his morals before then.

The guy’s a two timer and he’s also willing to sell off his friends to score. He pressures one girl into having a one night stand with one of JJ’s friends and while the guy had been doing pretty badly from the start, this was definitely the lowest moment for him. This is why you’re rooting for his downfall.

JJ makes for an interesting villain. He really talks a good game the whole time. He has taken years to build up his influence and do whatever he can in order to keep that power. So by this point he already has a lot of connections which makes it hard to take him down. By the same token he does have a ton of skeletons in the closet which can be dug up by anybody who has enough time to do so. That’s the thing he really has to keep in mind here. He continues to dig his own grave by trying to mess up Susan’s relationship. If he had just stayed away then he would not be in these problems right now.

As for Susan, she also lets herself get pushed around a little too much. She needed to directly fight back against JJ and Sidney instead of even entertaining what they were saying. Likewise with Steve he needed to grab her and either get out of there or have some long talks first so nothing could break them apart. Ultimately things go well but they very nearly didn’t. If Sidney had ended up jumping then there would have been no way to come back from that. In these films people seem to lose so much power when anyone brings in the blackmail which is a shame. You’ve got to be able to take it or if not, just don’t give enemies any ammo anyway.

JJ has Sidney mess with a lot of people in the film. Some fight against the blackmail by exposing their own crimes like the guy who was cheating while others fall in line. This guy is just a big newspaper editor though. At the end of the day it’s not like he’s a big gangster. JJ may have one of the cop under his payroll but you still feel like people should be able to fight against him a lot easier.

At the end of the day JJ is really just manipulating everyone like pieces on the chess board. Even when in most cases the other person knows JJ is no good, they just aren’t able to make a move. They stand there puzzled and unsure of what to do. By the time they act, it’s simply too late and that kind of thing happens a whole lot. The film does have a fight scene of sorts at the very end, it tends to be more of a beat down but yeah we got the action there. It’s all just a bit too late like I said before. I needed the tables to turn before it was all too late. Instead we’re already past the point of no return so at that point there’s just not much to say.

I can still give the film some props because it is very engaging. You are wondering how things are going to end as the film goes on. Right up to the point where Sidney forced his friend to be with that one old guy, the film was really hitting its stride. The script was very clever and the writing was really intense. It’s a film that leaves an impact on you. One quick turn here or there and we’d really be looking at a completely different title.

Overall, Sweet Smell of Success is an interesting film about how the demands keep going up as you throw away your morals. There is no real end point and by the end you are too far gone to really make a comeback. It’s just all over at that point. It’s too bad that Rita didn’t defy Sidney in the end and refuse to have the stand. That would have definitely helped make the whole film more enjoyable. Unfortunately the pressure was just too much in this instance. The script is really solid between the characters but you do have to get past this part in order to enjoy the film which is pretty much impossible there.

Overall 3/10

Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga Review

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It’s time for the return of Blue Exorcist. This series has always been a bit of a mystery to me. On one hand, it’s a big Shonen title where the main character has to fight off his demonic urges and slay demons. It’s very much a classic king of plot but the execution is just so different. Sometimes in a good way but sometimes in a bad way. I’ve never really connected with the series as well as most other big Shonen titles and that doesn’t really change here either. It’s a good season but not great by any means. It’s not quite as interesting as it should be and the action always gets cut off way too quickly. Well, lets dive into this.

Yukio is still jealous of Rin’s abilities and now that he is getting a glimpse of his own demonic potential, he wants power. He continues to try and repress his desires but the facade is starting to crack and he doesn’t want to talk to anyone about it. There’s not much time to think about this though as the Illuminati attacks and kidnaps Kamiki. She is taken by Shima, a double agent working for this group. Naturally the Illuminati is led by Lucifer himself. Note that Lucifer is another son of Satan and brother to Mephisto. This group will be difficult to defeat especially Mephisto sandbagging as always and the Exorcist Order being generally useless. Rin and Yukio will have to take point in rescuing her but can they move on from this big betrayal?

Naturally this is a really huge deal if you have been following the series for a long time although the anime took so long to get up to this point that I wouldn’t be surprised if most people have already heard about this whole thing. It’s not exactly the biggest secret in the series, you know what I mean? The reactions to it are very odd though. The characters get over the betrayal way too easily which is a personal pet peeve of mine. This guy literally broke all of their trust and kidnapped Kamiki so she could be tortured over and over again like in the past by a group that is clearly evil.

I think this is more than a “Do better next time” kind of speech. He should be absolutely demolished, I’d expect him to be destroyed on sight the next time that he is seen. Is that harsh? Yeah maybe but I would also argue that it is absolutely deserved. The characters are constantly using kid gloves on Shima and it doesn’t really make sense. The show goes into the specifics here and throws some more twists into the mix but none of it overrides the fact that Kamiki was very close to being dead. She had her summons get destroyed and while they managed to come back later, she was consistently put in a rough spot.

It’s why undercover operations are often not a good idea. Even if it’s part of a mission, you can’t be putting your allies in danger or sitting back while others are attacked. If you let one person get murdered to save 100, then you are starting to make dangerous decisions that are in villain territory. So I never ended up liking Shima and still blame him for everything. I’m also a little upset at the other characters allowing him back in because that makes no sense to me. Definitely a massive L right there.

Rin also doesn’t look his best here. He’s going through the classic hero issue of not wanting to murder anyone so he holds back a lot but you can always knock someone out without murdering them. It also gets to be a little much when he is also nervous even when fighting mindless monsters. Just take the super slow zombies down, there’s nothing you can really do to save them at this point. It’s also an annoying part of Blue Exorcist because every time we’re primed for a big right with Rin, it either doesn’t happen or he holds back so hard that it’s not a real fight.

Realistically he should be mopping the floor with most of the characters but it just doesn’t happen. He’s also scared of his powers enough where he doesn’t train the way that he’s supposed to. How is he supposed to protect his friends when he’s holding back like this? The whole power system of the series isn’t great either. The prayer chants never seem to work and are incredibly impractical. Unless you have someone like Rin or Kamiki backing you up to buy you time, the villains are going to slam you. It just makes over half of the cast feel rather useless most of the time. Everyone should have some close quarter combat skills or at least a big summon you know?

Okay back to the characters, Yukio is super annoying here as well. Part of this isn’t his fault because the guy’s had to go through the same character arc multiple times since the anime only arc was retconned and of course I remember this from the manga. So it just gets old quick where he is messing up his priorities and becoming a liability. If he would just talk to Rin about what’s going on things would work out better. So I put all of the blame on Yukio since he’s taking himself down the wrong path. It’s not even like the villains are encouraging this, Yukio is really leading himself downhill all on his own.

As for the main heroine Shiemi, right now there’s a lot of drama going on with her. She seems to like Yukio but is starting to like Rin. Possible triangle forming there, we’ll have to see how it goes. For now Shiemi is still way too timid and I would like her to acknowledge her own strength more. Her grass summon is really not that bad and can at least buy her some time. She has no real offensive spells but at least she can play a support role.

In that way she is more balanced than Kamiki. Kamiki has her dual spirits but they don’t even listen to her half the time because they’re tremendously awful characters who refuse to honor any kind of loyalty to her despite having high respect for Kamiki’s mom and put her in big danger. Kamiki has basic spells beyond that but as I pointed out before, this never works anyway so it may as well be a pointless addition. I like Kamiki’s fiery spirit but hopefully she will work with the other heroes more next time and not try to be a loner. Being a loner only works when you have the power to back it up.

Suguro is the only one who actually gives Shima a hard time so I give him massive credit for that. He sticks up for the traitor so that he’s not executed or anything like that but still doesn’t trust him. That’s how it should be, I still don’t get how you could possibly trust him in any context after what happened. That just makes no sense to me. Suguro is really held back by the fact that he can’t fight at all without the talismans so I hope he gets something soon.

Miwa tends to be a bit of an annoying character. Kind of wishy washy and never too sure of himself. Unlike Shiemi he has no great powers to help him out so right now he’s on the lower side from the cast members. Shura doesn’t do much beyond her obligatory teasing of Yukio. She is mainly injured for most of the season and when she is conscious she is being threatened by Mephisto. Honestly she is in such a terrible spot half the time. She needs to find a way to get stronger so she can actually have some freedom.

As the big villain in the Illuminati you’d figure that Lucifer would get a lot of hype but he’s very underwhelming for now. He’s super sickly and constantly coughing up blood and running out of energy. I feel like Mephisto could wipe him out of existence with ease and is just messing around because he can. It looks like the heroes are going to wait until Lucifer finds a cure and can fight at full power before they make their move so the Exorcists are as inept as always. I’ll need to see more of Lucifer to take him seriously.

His main general was one of those fat psycho doctors which doesn’t do his group any justice. That guy was super annoying so I was glad when he was taken out. Definitely one of the worst villains in the series. The backstory for Kamiki’s family was definitely a sad one. This season sure had more of an emotional feel than the last one. No offense to Suguro but his family drama wasn’t nearly as impactful. This one hits a bit harder because of how so much of it felt inevitable with no real escape.

Finally with Mephisto, he is still a solid villain but the kind of figure who could go way down depending on how his plan goes. Right now we don’t really know what he even wants to do. He clearly has enough power to bring the world to its knees so why doesn’t he? He has deals with the shady council of Exorcists but why would he even need such weaklings? We’ll find out in time but if he ends up getting one shotted or the plan doesn’t go well then retroactively it will make him such a terrible villain. Usually the more convoluted and far out your plan is, the more things that can go wrong. So he will really have to convince me here.

In general a lot of the story is still shrouded in secrecy. In part I would say that’s because we’re seeing things from the point of view of the main characters who are out of the loop on everything. We don’t really have any characters who are on the inside to give us full coverage into what’s going on. You like to think that the Exorcists have a bunch of trump cards at their disposal but I have my doubts on this. Right now it just feels like the demons have all of the advantages and the heroes’ only chance is to trust one which is rough. Rin is their only chance.

In terms of animation, the show can look good but it can also be rough at times. It’s clear that this didn’t exactly get a massive budget. It’s a shame because none of the fights look all that amazing. The best battle in the series is probably Rin vs Shima and part of that is probably more for narrative reasons than animation. I’m glad we at least get some action but it again feels like the show could be doing so much more. In the last season the big boss was a giant monster and of course we get more of that here too.

I want the show to just embrace its Shonen roots and give us some massive action scenes. Lets get some really cool feats in here and some awesome stuff you know? At least the soundtrack is really good as always. This is one area where the show has always excelled. I thought the theme song was really catchy and I also like a lot of the individual tracks. My favorite theme from season 1 only shows up like once but the new themes are good too. There’s a solid amount of variety and I felt like this got the biggest budget in the show.

While the show may not always deliver on the action front, I do think it does pretty well on the slice of life and comedy aspects. It’s a show where we actually get to see the heroes in school quite a lot. We see them learning and everything as there tends to be a lot of downtime. The gag of Rin dressing up like Shima was absolutely top tier as well. That gag actually works really well and made for a lot of fun moments. The obligatory beach type episode was also not as fanservicey as it could have been.

In general the show doesn’t go too far into that but some of the outfits are definitely geared in that direction. The romance is on the weaker side though as it all tends to feel a bit melodramatic. I feel like it’s going in a similar direction to Seraph of the End with the characters trying to hold in their emotions and everything but Seraph of the End pulls it off so much better because of how direct it is. This one’s trying to sort of be half in and half out so the romance is more annoying than anything.

Overall, Blue Exorcist had some good fights and plot twists but it’s just hard to get into the series the way the author wants you to. It feels like its just taking too much time to move forward in the plot. The fact that all of the heroes have to work with the villains because they are too weak to oppose him is also annoying. I mean it’s interesting in a sense but there doesn’t seem to be a way for them to surpass Mephisto. The power system of this world just makes that impossible for all of them except Rin who needs to get his head straight. It’s almost like a horror film where the heroes don’t stand a chance. The only other title I can think of like this is Seraph of the End where the heroes are always super doomed but at least the power system is much more supernatural so you could easily write in massive power boosts. We’ll see where the series goes from here though, hopefully Rin can finally start fighting more. There is already an exhausting amount of world building so lets move on to the big plot developments now. Either way the show does go fast though and the characters are entertaining so that will have to do for now.

Overall 6/10

Cleaner Review

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

Cleaner is one of those films that definitely has a unique premise. You’re not usually watching a film about the clean-up crew after murders. Usually you follow the hero or have to stop the murderer but the cleaner himself? Not really so that made for an interesting change of pace.

The story follows a cleaner named Tom. He’s known as the best in the business. He has his own unique set of cleaning materials and formulas which can make the crime scene perfect right away. He employs others who really need a job like his employee Miguel who is doing his best but sometimes the stress gets to him. Well, one day Tom cleans up a place after a murder as normal and heads home, but the next day when he’s dropping off a key, the lady of the house, Ann does not recognize him or know that a cleaning took place. It would appear that the murder isn’t even public knowledge yet. Tom has possibly been set up here and he needs to find the truth right away!

The main mystery plot is pretty solid but the subplots and drama around that are not so good. First up, you have his daughter Rose who wants to learn more about her mother. Tom’s wife was murdered many years back and he’s still holding a lot of trauma over it so he refuses to tell her anything. It just feels like very forced drama here. They get it right by the end but it just takes too long. I don’t think this plot really needed to be in the film.

Since this is a mystery you do have to have suspects of course. That said, there aren’t a lot of options here and I think in a way that’s because the film is fairly short. The first suspect will be Ann. Mainly the reason she would be a suspect is for the plot twist and shock value of it because otherwise it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. Still, you have to consider everyone and she is pressing Tom really hard about what happened. Is she worried about her husband’s disappearance or is she trying to get Tom to admit he was at the scene of the crime and get him taken down?

Suspect number 2 is good ole Eddie. He’s Tom’s friend from a long time ago. The guy has made detective now and is still involved in cases occasionally although he doesn’t get along with the main police homicide unit. This guy’s super helpful all the time and always there to support Tom so of course that is something that puts him on the suspect list. When someone’s too nice you just can’t trust them like that.

Finally you have Vargas. That guy doesn’t really trust anybody and is a rather aggressive person so he tends to put people on edge. He seems to be ready to snap at any moment so naturally this guy appears to be a suspect, but is it all too obvious? That’s always the question you have to ask yourself about this. I will say he is one of the more enjoyable characters to have around though. I always like when a character just rushes in to cause damage and do his job. He’s not trying to make friends, he’s just here to complete his mission.

There is also a big criminal conspiracy going on led by a guy named Vaughn. This ties into Tom’s backstory. The guy has paid off tons of people and seems to own the city from the shadows. It’s certainly possible that they are doing something to mess with Tom here. Or perhaps nothing here concerns Tom at all and the husband really was the target. There’s no guarantee that Tom is even a target in this at all. He may have just been a useful pawn.

Now as the film deals with cleaning up a crime scene there are definitely lots of shots of blood and remains throughout the film. I wouldn’t say it’s too brutal or anything but there are quite a lot of scenes of this so definitely something to keep in mind. It’s not all that violent in terms of active moments but the crime scenes are intense and of course you have to have the obligatory origin story for Tom.

The ending does make you feel bad for the daughter though because you know there’s going to be some extra trauma for her now. And she was already dealing with quite a bit of that. The final fight in general is definitely not super impressive though so I should say if you’re watching this for the fights…it’s not the best idea. The film does have some good music and makes things sound epic but there are no fights here. You get a slow motion shove which I thought was funny but for the most part this is mystery and drama first.

Overall, Cleaner is a reasonably solid mystery thriller. I was engaged with gathering the clues and seeing how it would all pan out. There are definitely a lot of twists and turns as the film goes on. Not a whole lot of innocent characters by the end of this since everyone gets bogged down by past crimes, corruption, or what’s going on currently. I have a feeling most people haven’t even heard of this film so definitely a fun little title if you’re looking for something new. It’s just not going to stick out in your memory by the end because there are many better thrillers out there.

Overall 6/10

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Review

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It’s time for another great anime. The Kenshin manga was always top tier so it makes sense that the anime would follow suit. I thought everything about it was real solid. The fight scenes looked good, the sound track is on point, and of course the core story is really good. At the end of the day when you have all of that in your favor then you’re really in for a good time. There’s just nothing to hold it back.

The show starts by introducing us to Kenshin who used to be a powerful warrior that terrorized the land. There was a huge war back in the day with both sides fighting for their own justice. Kenshin’s side won and now they are the government but Kenshin has distanced himself from the group. He chooses to be a Rurouni instead now and no longer fights unless it is to protect someone. He wanders into a nice town where he meets Kaoru. She has a dojo and he decides to relax there and help her out for a while. Unfortunately, his days of being a pacifist are about to run into some turbulence. A bunch of villains are running around who all want to test their might against the legendary fighter. If Kenshin doesn’t fight back, they will end up hurting his new friends. What can he do?

At its core the series is really about Kenshin trying to hold onto his ideals through thick and thin. It’s a good message and the show handles it well. At times Kenshin may hold back a little too much and some villains make a good point that his morals are all well and good but if he lets his friends get hurt because of them then that’s not a worthy tradeoff. Kenshin does have to work on balancing these things which will likely continue to be a theme in the next season.

Right now Kenshin is still a top tier main character though. He’s easy to root for and he has a lot of serious skills. So he’s definitely one of those guys who is able to back up his own tough words far better than most of the others would be able to. When the going gets tough, Kenshin does revert into his violent mode which definitely tends to do the trick in situations like this. I like his overall confidence and good natured spirit. He’s always been one of the higher tier Jump protagonists.

Kaoru is a fairly good heroine although she doesn’t always get a lot to do. Relative to other heroines I would even say that her role is super small. She will usually be around to try and help get Kenshin back into his senses but that’s about it. She is otherwise not really able to fight with any of the big characters so she stays to watch but all in all she’s a nice person. Then there is Yahiko who actually does get some fights to himself. He’s only a kid so it’s not like he can fight all that well but I’ll give him some points for effort. He really does try hard. At times he can be on the annoying side though, especially when he tries to do something without telling Kenshin and then puts himself in a dangerous position for no reason.

As the first rival Sanosuke is a fun character. He very quickly gets power creeped by other characters who show up later but definitely works well as the opening boss. His punches can really land a lot of damage and he has some good battle instincts as well. I generally like him as a character. I feel like he does need a weapon though and not that super heavy one he used in the introduction arc. That thing’s just way too slow to be usable in real life situations. At least to me that seems to be the case. He helps to provide some balance to the team though because he’s much more aggressive and in your face compared to Kenshin.

I want to give a shoutout to Kenshin’s first real opponent. No, not the fake Battosai but Jin-E, a legendary assassin. What I like about this guy is that he was legitimately very skilled. He actually gave Kenshin a good fight and his ability to choke his opponents was really intense. That’s a super good ability to have in combat since your opponent could lose focus for a second and then you win. If not, you at least disrupt his movements which is also a really big deal This guy is mainly forgotten nowadays but to me he will always be the point where the series found its stride and became great.

Then we have Aoshi’s group which was a lot of fun. They all had a lot of loyalty and fairly good backgrounds. What makes them sympathetic is you can easily see how someone would turn out like that. When you’re trained to murder in combat and never learned any other skills then it makes sense that integrating back into society would not be so easy. In particular from the minions I would say Han’nya stood out the most. He really gave Kenshin a tough fight for a while there and even won in their first clash. Yes, it was a quick clash and he had a gimmick but I still remember thinking that was super impressive. Definitely a really solid way to kick off the arc as well.

Of course Aoshi was the main star here and he’s still one of my favorite characters in the series. His sword skills are second to none and he has a solid honor code. He has his objectives and completes them but always does things his way. He’s always willing to talk back to any other villain who is trying to boss him around. Nobody is going to try and exert influence over him. That’s just not how Aoshi operates and I definitely find that to be really admirable. He’s the kind of guy that you really want to be on your team.

Megumi joins the group after this arc as a main supporting character and she fits in really well. I dare say that she adds more to the dynamic than the main heroine at this point. She is always ready for banter and being a healer is really helpful since nobody else has those skills at the moment. It means that she is really irreplaceable within the team. She definitely has a rough background and wasn’t always a hero but considering the circumstances, it’s easy to trust her as a reliable hero now.

Finally as the show began to close we were introduced to Saito who is another all star character. This guy’s abilities are really solid to the point where he really had Kenshin backpedaling. He’s another villain with a good honor code who is willing to do whatever he needs to in order to keep his honor on good ground. I like this kind of character without a doubt. His fight is one of the best ones in the series as well so you aren’t likely to forget him. I’m definitely looking forward to him getting more fights in the upcoming seasons.

There are several other villains and supporting characters at the ready but these were the main ones. The show really covers a lot of ground in these 24 episodes. It always feels good to crack 20 right off the gate so even if you didn’t get a formal season 2, it feels like you had both. That being said, the next season is already confirmed so there are no worries there. In the manga the next segment was the best part of the series so most likely that will be the case here as well but we’ll see.

One thing I really like about the show is how most of the characters actually sound like they’re from the olden days. It reminds me of the old Hollywood kind of dialogue but the Japanese version. There are a lot of terms thrown around and everything relating back to the Bakumatsu period and then you also have all of the characters generally being polite to each other. Even if they naturally don’t mean it, it’s pretty nice to hear. It adds a very refined flavor to the show and it makes the whole experience feel that much more authentic.

Meanwhile the animation is really solid like I said. The fights are really flashy with a good amount of choreography in them. The fighters move fast and each battle feels very epic. I definitely have no complaints here so far and that’s a good thing since it’s a pretty action packed show. If the fights were not up to snuff then that would be a problem. I also give major thumbs up to the soundtrack. There are a number of really good battle themes spread throughout the anime. I had quite a few that I liked and again they fit the very dramatic style of the duels.

In Kenshin, there is a lot of explaining what each attack does in between the techniques which I like as it adds to the analytical part of the show. Both fighters are working on countering each attack as soon as they see it. The cat and mouse mind games are a ton of fun all around. Naturally the season ends with a big cliffhanger as well so you have a lot to look forward to for the next season. There are definitely going to be plenty of battles there and Kenshin will really have to steel his resolve.

Way I see it, since the show takes place in the days of a lot of rampant corruption, you do need to finish off your opponents sometimes. Kenshin has a tendency to spare his foes and hope they go over a new leaf but what’s more likely is they will wait until he is not around and then go take out his friends. That is the big issue for me. For example if Saito didn’t axe off his partners afterwards, they definitely might have tried getting some retaliation and since Kenshin would be out of town, things would have gotten very bad very quickly. In a nutshell, that tends to be my main problem here. Kenshin’s mentality only works when he’s alone but once he chose to make friends and hang out, that starts to put them all in lethal danger.

One last thing I’d add is I do appreciate the quick mini arcs about weak villains because these are chances for Kenshin to show just how crazy strong he is. Like the arc with Sanosuke’s friend who wanted to bomb the capital. We get to see Kenshin from the point of view of the average fighter and naturally he’s a monster. Kenshin doesn’t need to do much in order to stop that guy. I think it’s important to have these minibosses because since Kenshin tends to only fight the strongest warriors around, you can possibly forget just how far above most fighters he is. So seeing him dominate these guys is a good idea. When he takes too long or sandbags, then it also helps make the point of guys like Saito who say that Kenshin is being too soft. One of these mini arcs had a character effectively lose the use of his wrist, possibly for good because Kenshin didn’t go all out. I thought that was a very good callback that the show made use of later on. So you end up feeling like each episode is really important.

Overall, Rurouni Kenshin is a great story that has withstood the test of time. Each episode is a lot of fun and the quality of the episodes is always at a high level. I had a lot of fun going through the show and I’m definitely hyped for the next season. There are already a ton of great villains running around and that number is about to rise even further as we are introduced to the new group. So I’m definitely ready for all that. If you enjoy a good action title then I definitely recommend watching this one. It’s really got all of the fights and quality writing you could ask for.

Overall 8/10

Bendy: Fade to Black Review

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It’s time for a spooky adventure in the Bendy verse. I don’t read very many books nowadays so it’s always fun once I get to jump in again. This is a solid one that is rather low key for a while but then the climax feels like the Bendy games. While parts of the writing may have felt a bit off to me, I was definitely engaged with what was going on. The ending is really worth going through the whole book as it takes the adventure in a bold direction that I was certainly not expecting.

The story starts by introducing us to Rose who is excited to finally be working. She has a job at a local media company where she will be helping out on the Bendy show. Her job is more of a background one as she gets papers ready, delivers coffee, etc. Still, it’s a pretty good way to start an eventual climb into stardom so she is definitely ready for all of this. Unfortunately what she doesn’t realize is that Joey Drew is a rather suspicious fellow. He can seem nice one moment and then completely deranged the next. This may be quirky at first but the problem is that he is legitimately dangerous. If she doesn’t watch her step then it will be all over for her.

Of course if you’ve played the games before then you already know that Bendy has become an evil monster. Well, that may not be exactly accurate but you should play the game to really see the lore as there are a lot of good twists and turns. For simplicity’s sake though I’m going to be calling the main monster Bendy. Bendy destroys all who oppose him and in the game we see how Joey rambles a lot and really went down the wild side. He would do anything to protect his creations and make his show the best in the world. So this is like a prequel where we still see him in the early stages of this. He has his ink machine and is creating monsters.

One thing I liked about Joey here is that he’s unapologetically evil. He’s not saddened by how his creations are doing more harm than good. He’s not talking about regrets or anything like that. Joey just spends the whole book laughing about how great he is and what a success the whole thing is. He has no sense of loyalty and this was always part of the plan. He would destroy everyone in his way because that’s what he does. It’s just refreshing to have a complete villain like this and he has some of the best dialogue in the book.

Unfortunately Rose is unable to be his perfect contrast here. As the lead I don’t think she was able to hold her own or be nearly as interesting. For starters her dialogue makes her sound like a little kid the whole time. I do think this mainly falls on the writer but it’s easy to forget that she’s close to being an adult. Part of her character is about being really optimistic but there are many ways to do that without making her sound like a kid you know? That’s where my problem with her is. She has her big moments where she tries to talk tough to Joey and the others but for the most part she freezes under pressure and just ends up taking the L.

I give her props for doing her best in a rather tough environment but I would have liked a tougher main character. She is considerably better than her little brother though. That kid fell for every trap from Bendy and it didn’t make any sense. He was super annoying the whole time and the whole book would have been way better if he could have at least seen through one trick or two. He was consistently holding everyone back the whole time. I know that he’s a kid but even so, Rose actually warned him in advance about Bendy and the kid still let himself be bossed around.

Her parents didn’t look great here either. Her father has a lot of PTSD from the war so he’s really out of commission the whole time. Her mother tries her best to keep everything secure but seems to have very little sympathy for what Rose was going through. The heroine has done her best for years but one slip up where she lets out a yell and everyone’s upset? They should be upset at her brother for scaring her when they’re all in a tense situation. There are a few supporting characters around as well like the boss of the big media company. He’s a lot of fun. You can bet that Joey won’t be talking to him any kind of way because that guy’s just too good. The secretary also seemed nice enough.

Her friend at the job was nice enough even if he did panic though. Trying to dismantle the ink machine to keep it around was a super bad idea. There’s a random rich kid who shows up at the watch party and it was a bad moment for Rose as she was basically getting mind controlled with ease in there. She had to be rescued which was not a good look at all. You need to be able to get out of a situation like that on your own or you’re really not ready for the big times. I felt bad for one guy who was turned into an ink creature and has to keep on dying. The Bendy-verse definitely gets real dark at times. It was still naive of them to think that Joey would care though.

In the video games it is all about running from the creatures and hiding where you can. This finally becomes a big thing by the end of the book which is my favorite part. There’s a lot of tension here and an actual body count as well. The book really goes hard here and that climax could really be adapted as a full game at some point. Then of course we have the big ending as I mentioned which is really intense. It also makes sense I would say since someone really didn’t have a chance of returning. No power of friendship is going to work here, logically Bendy already had the situation covered.

Overall, The book has a very slow pace for a little while there. You do need to enjoy the mystery and the slow build up because the action doesn’t kick in until the final chapters. That said, I thought the payoff was worth the build up. It did a good job of bringing everything together so I was definitely satisfied here and am ready for more Bendy books. If you’re in the mood for a book with some spooky events scattered within then this is the title for you.

Overall 7/10

The Evil Eye Review

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The Evil Eye is one of those films that is going for the title for style points as opposed to it being really tied to the narrative. It’s a pretty interesting noir title and one that isn’t afraid to get rather absurd at some points as well. The strangeness of the whole film is part of the appeal and it works pretty well. I wouldn’t call it one of the strongest titles in the genre but I had a good time.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Nora who has arrived in Italy to take care of her aunt. Unfortunately her aunt dies almost immediately but not before Nora gets to meet Doctor Marcello and flirt with him a bit. Nora heads outside to let the doctor know about her aunt but ends up getting robbed and knocked out during the fight. When Nora wakes up she sees someone getting murdered and quickly faints again. By the time she wakes up the cops think that she fainted due to having too much to drink. For some reason she smells strongly of alcohol. Marcello frees Nora but doesn’t seem to totally believe her. There is only one possible explanation…Nora is a psychic who can see murders from 10 years in the past! Will she be able to stay alive in the present?

There’s a whole conspiracy going on with the alphabet killer who hasn’t murdered anyone in 10 years and yet Nora might be the next target. While Nora is in a packed area, people tend to vanish when she needs them the most and she is also a bit of a mystery. She flirts with Marcello a whole lot but at the same time doesn’t seem to want to progress their relationship and usually just leaves him frustrated at the door while she goes off to take a nap. The whole romance ends up being rather weak as a result. It leads to Marcello deciding to make his bold move and press the point which could have easily led him straight to jail if Nora wasn’t so accommodating.

I always think that’s going rather far. If Nora doesn’t want to do anything then they have to talk about it, you don’t just make the big move and hope for the best. That’s not how these thing go. Marcello also just seems a bit annoying in general. How are you going to go after the niece of the lady you were watching over on her death bed just like that? You’d figure there would at least be a long mourning period first or something like that. There’s also no real time for this when a murderer is on the loose.

I do tend to enjoy all of the random fake outs and jump scares here though. It feels like people are always sneaking up on Nora. Then you have random flirts running after her and you always know if this person is a fake or not based on how Nora reacts. If she is super scared and backing up then it’s the real deal but if she charges forward and knocks him out then it’s a fake. It almost feels rigged because every time she musters up the courage to do something, it ends up being for nothing.

Nora can also be a bit oblivious at times like with the one guy who is really handsy with her at the diner. Marcello’s also too timid and just plays passive aggressive the whole time instead of telling the guy to knock it off. You have to have the dignity to tell these people off and I also have to give Nora a hard time about this. The whole scene just makes you roll your eyes there.

As for the climax, it’s a bit more low key than I would have thought. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but I suppose more of a big fight or some kind of fakeout with how odd the rest of the film could be. Instead it’s played rather straight with a twist thrown in there. I do think it would be reasonably difficult to guess who the culprit is though so the film did good there. The cast is small but at the same time the movie still covers its tracks pretty well.

I think the best out of the random segments is when the main heroine wakes up in the hospital and everyone is talking over her as if she is some kind of medical experiment. It’s playing out in such a way where you figure she is dreaming but then the main doctor walks in so she calls for him. Suddenly they’re out on a date in the very next instant so we know that this actually happened. There are a few moments like this where you figure it has to be a dream and instead what happens is this actually played out exactly how it looked. It certainly takes you for a loop but in a fun way.

The film’s music even gets randomly happy at times. Nora will be spooked and someone will have just died and suddenly we have happy music playing in the background. Or she’s getting close to a clue and suddenly she’s at the beach having fun. This film actively avoids using transitions which is why the changes are so sudden. It works well though and shows that the film has a whole lot of range at its disposal and isn’t afraid to switch things up.

Overall, The Evil Eye’s random moments help to give it a bit of an edge in terms of how well you will remember it. At the same time, it feels like this is also done in part because the movie knows that the mystery itself won’t be enough to have this film make it into the big leagues. I’d recommend checking it out but it’s probably not a movie that you will need to check out a second time. One adventure here will be enough.

Overall 6/10

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions Review

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Escape Room 2 immediately makes me think of the second Maze Runner film. Sure the heroes may have survived the room the first time but can they do it a second time? The film does a pretty good job of bringing back the fun elements from the first film and I dare say that it even surpasses the original. There are a lot of great fakeouts here and the stakes definitely go even higher. My only complaint is that some of the characters don’t actually feel like champions.

The basic plot is that Zoey wants to crush the evil organization in charge of the escape rooms once and for all. Ben doesn’t think that this is a good idea but there’s no way he can say no to her so they head on over to NYC. Unfortunately they are mugged almost immediately which leads them to a train. Now if anyone knows the MTA, they know this was a lethal mistake. It’s not sick passengers or train delays that will get the best of them though, the whole car is instead being overloaded with electricity. The other passengers seem upset but not as panicked as they should be. Why? This isn’t their first rodeo! Each character here has won the Escape Room challenge in the past so this time the battle is between champions. Who will win the right to their continued existence this time?

I love the concept of this of course. This time you’re fighting with the cream of the crop and no scrubs allowed. Most of the puzzles are team based challenges so it’s not so much about being left behind but making any mistakes will cost you everything. So everyone should be very strategic since it’s unlikely that someone who was carried the whole time would win. The problem is…in this movie at least two of the characters don’t seem all that smart. So lets talk about the cast real quick.

Of course we know Zoey and Ben from the first film so there’s not much to say about them. They have both proven themselves a lot in the first movie and continue to look good here. I would say Zoey is absolutely smarter than Ben but he can still hold his own and they make for a good team. I wouldn’t say I love their characters or anything but they hold the film rather well. The pressure is more on the newcomers.

First up is Theo who panics a lot right from the jump. He doesn’t want to die here and talks about how unfair the whole thing is but he dies real fast. Now the way he died was a bit unavoidable so I don’t blame him there but he was just way too reckless the whole time. It’s hard to see how he survived the first time when he’s this emotional. You have to keep a cool head at least for a while. Like Zoey has a moment where she panics and grabs a door which activates a trap. That was a huge L but she has the rest of the film as evidence for how she is usually rather smart. (Although the scene did have me convinced that Zoey was a traitor for the rest of the film.)

Theo just didn’t add much. Then we have Brianna who also doesn’t seem ready for this. She doesn’t come up with almost any ideas during the adventure and seems to not have a real plan. She mainly follows the others and does her best there. Brianna’s not bad but again she doesn’t really feel like a champion which is the problem there. She’s not going to be saving anyone.

Nathan is someone who actually does feel like a champion though. He’s confident in his own plans and makes moves as needed. He has his big main character moment where he plunges ahead to solve the puzzle instead of listening to anyone. I actually appreciated that move a lot because it is definitely something that the main character would do if this was his film. He may have been wrong on the conclusion but most of his plan was really solid. He was also ready to jump in and save Rachel when she was in trouble and did so without hesitation. He’s probably the best character in the film I have to say.

Finally there’s Rachel who also has a commanding presence and did well. She has the ability to not feel pain which is pretty cool although in a lot of ways it’s very scary. Not being able to feel what’s happening to you can be a real nightmare depending on the circumstance and she seems to have had a dark past with the first set of Escape Room challenges. She does well in all of the challenges and proves herself as a strong competitor.

So out of the full cast only half of the new fighters live up to the hype. I put that on the film since they just needed to make the challenges a bit harder to show off everyone’s intellect before bumping them off. Kudos for not making anyone too unlikable though. In these films I think it’s important to have the main characters be teaming up instead of fighting with themselves. The puzzles are hard enough without having everyone be duking it out.

Now where the film really shines is the ending. It’s really brilliant all the way with how it ties into the beginning. I didn’t really pick up on any of the clues the first time around which is where I was really impressed. I didn’t read in between the lines and this is probably one of the first times where I didn’t suspect something right away. As the ending starts to play out you do connect the dots but even then, I didn’t to that extent. It’s all really cool and perfectly executed. Sort of like an ending out of Halloween or something but 100X cooler. I’d almost recommend watching the film just for the ending.

In general the whole movie is pretty well balanced though. There are a lot of fun challenges and different backdrops for each of the activities. This makes for a lot of variety and really keeps you on your toes the whole time. Some of the puzzles I do think are a bit much in terms of finding the solution. Like even while the characters are figuring it out you are super skeptical because it doesn’t really make sense. Some of it makes sense to be sure but most of it? Ehhhhhhhh I dunno. It’s Batman’66 levels of logic where he comes to the right answer and in a way it makes sense but it’s such a leap in logic that you’re not really sure how to feel about that.

I still liked all of the concepts and of course there was a NYC level in the game with some acid rain that was really intense. That had to be one of the more painful levels to be sure. Even if you played it perfectly you could expect to be hit by some acid drops. The film mainly avoids things getting too violent though. Some characters get burns and such but it’s actually rather tame. Nothing like the cube movie from a while back where everyone was really getting destroyed. This one lets you just enjoy all of the battles even with the life and death stakes.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one. I would recommend checking it out for any fans of thrillers out there. It did a great job of following up on the first one and I liked how strong the continuity was. We got actual flashbacks to the first film and everything. Every scene ends up being important by the end so it really wraps everything up well. I definitely recommend watching this film when you have a chance. It’s definitely a unique title that you won’t be forgetting!

Overall 7/10

The Gunfighter Review

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It’s time for a film with a pretty direct name. When you hear the words: “The Gunfighter” you know what’s going to happen right off the bat. This guy’s about to take names and the villains better start hiding. It’s a pretty fun film although I didn’t really care for the ending. I definitely would have fixed that part up a little.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Ringo who is the world’s greatest gunman. He can shoot just about anyone at any range and his speed is so great that nobody can ever beat him to the punch. This is what we call true talent over in the west! Well, he ends up destroying someone in self defense and then heads back to his old town. He wants to meet up with his wife Peggy but Sheriff Mark says she doesn’t want to see him. Ringo doesn’t like this and intends to stay until he can talk with her but he doesn’t have a lot of time. The last guy be bumped off had 3 brothers and they are heading his way. Will Ringo really be able to take these guys down while settling down to be a family man once more?

Ringo has been travelling the world fighting for a very long time so it’s definitely hard to just stop and try to be with the family again. It’s easy to see why Peggy is a bit nervous about meeting him because it would be hard to know if he has really changed or not. It’s certainly been many years and he hasn’t even seen their kid before. It just seems a bit late to try to go through it all again and so she is not really planning to meet him although she is getting pressured by her friends in the town. After all if she doesn’t see him then he won’t be leaving too quickly and the villains will be coming around town.

Ringo is a fun main character though. He doesn’t want to fight but he can certainly end the battles as needed. When someone points a gun at him, Ringo is quickly able o take the guy down. There’s not much you can do about a bullet to the back but in any other kind of scenario, Ringo has this. I do like the running gag of sorts that everybody thinks they can take him though. The guy clearly never gets any peace, there is always some young guy trying to take the title. That’s probably something that would be true for any dangerous profession since everybody would want to get in on the action. All it takes is a lucky shot and you could be famous. Of course then the pressure will be on your head next but none of these characters are really thinking that far along.

It’s the curse of being the strongest after all, you are really on your own. We don’t get a lot of fights here but the film does show us Ringo’s abilities early on. He’s definitely the real deal in a fight. None of the villains are nearly as skilled as he is but this isn’t really that kind of film. All of the villains rely on cheap shots and surprise hits to really hope to stand a chance. They gave up on the battle of skill before it even started.

Meanwhile Mark was a solid supporting character. He was a good friend to Ringo and I would say he was good at his job. It’s easy to see why there was never any trouble in town. He was always running a pretty tight ship. I see a lot of films where the authorities don’t do much of anything in the western so it was a nice change of pace. Like I said, the ending is a bit disappointing though. It doesn’t really feel deserved and while the film was going for a message there, I could have done without it. It’s not a satisfying conclusion after the rest of the adventure, not at all.

Also quick shoutout to the bar owner for being one of the more entertaining characters in the film as well. It’s a dangerous job since everyone is trying to pick fights in your bar and you have to try and be a mediator at times. This guy doesn’t scare easily though and was always pretty involved in the plot. Just a fun character and the world building here was real solid. We got to meet quite a few of the people in town even if their roles were on the smaller side.

Overall, The Gunfighter is a pretty good film all in all. It may have stumbled at the finish but the overall story was very interesting and the cast of characters was solid. In a way it’s not even like a whole lot happened so the film could have easily been boring with the wrong staff. Fortunately they were up to the challenge and the movie went by very quickly. I could definitely recommend it to any wild west fan or anyone just looking for a fun time. The writing and script are both very good here and I would rank it very high up in the genre. It may be low key in terms of action but it still makes the most out of each scene. In the end Ringo’s best plan might have been to show up in town while in a disguise. If nobody suspected that he was some kind of legendary gunfighter then he wouldn’t be getting so many challenges all the time. Before the days of internet and photos I bet it would be really easy to become a different person. Not like you really even had ID in the wild west. Voice would be the toughest part but still not that bad to be honest.

Overall 7/10