Snowpiercer Review

Posted on June 9, 2024 by dreager1

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

Snowpiercer is a film that started out rather solid but got weaker as the film went on. It just wasn’t really able to handle the amount of pressure on its shoulders. The film started to go more into shock value and the whole ending starts to get annoyed. I’ll give the film props for the surprise ending since I didn’t expect it to go so dark with the bear but it works pretty well. Sometimes humanity just isn’t ready for the comeback.

The film introduces us to a world that has entered a new ice age. Humanity has been wiped out with the exception of all the people aboard one long train. This train never stops and continues to circle the planet constantly. The train cars divide the rich from the poor so the rich get an amazing life with everything that they could ever want while the poor struggle to just barely survive. They only get the scraps at best and so Curtis has been waiting a while to launch a full scale rebellion. It’s a risky plan because no rebellion has ever succeeded before. Still, he can’t just continue to live life the way he has been because there is no future to it. So he gathers everyone up and preparers to move forward. Time to see if they can pull this off.

The deck is stacked against the heroes in a lot of ways of course. They have the sheer numbers advantage by a great deal which is their only advantage. The enemies have better equipment and homefield advantage though. Curtis and the others have to learn as they go while the villains have cameras and already know the layout. So that makes things tricky and it turns out that the villains also have some of the best fighters on the ship. As the film goes on we also see just how different life on the rich side is.

The whole film really focuses on the parallels here as the poor don’t have enough food to even survive but the rich are rather wasteful. The poor are unlikely to see any fresh water while the rich have whole pools to have fun with. In general this is the poor vs the rich in a very literal way and it’s fun to watch the main characters try to get to the end of the train. So you may be thinking, what’s the problem?

Well so first up we have the backstory for Curtis that shows up later on. The film wants to show us to a really intense degree how much the main characters had to go through. This involves murder and cannibalism and it felt like a very unnecessary addition to the film. We didn’t need these extra details because their lives sucked enough as it is. Adding these details is just to make the whole movie very grim dark.

Then by the end of the film we find out what happens to the kids. Yeah here we go, the whole film you know it’s going to be something rather sinister and of course that is the case. It’s another messed up subplot and the whole thing is so traumatic that the kid gets brainwashed into this rather quickly. There wasn’t exactly anyone to help the kids out after all. Other characters get limbs chopped off, murdered, etc. The body count in the film is rather high and it’s not afraid to get rather violent at times. The movie is rather brutal and the message is basically that you can’t beat the system. At most you can try for mutually assured destruction which isn’t all that satisfying.

We see that what the main characters are forced to eat is rather gross but that’s the film’s style so you aren’t all that surprised. Basically what it boils down to is that the film overplays its hand tremendously. After a point you get it, it sucks to be poor in this setup. Every revelation after that is just to make the whole situation more and more messed up. The heroes also tend to lower their guard a whole lot during the battles which results in their getting shot. The stakes are a their absolute highest here so you really just have to keep on shooting and fighting back.

One of the most intense fights is definitely when the heroes broke into a gang car and had to start fighting each other. That was definitely real crazy and I have to say I don’t know how they survived for long once the room went dark. It felt like they should all have been immediately slaughtered at that point. It’s good that they weren’t of course but when you can’t even see the opponents that is hard to get around.

As for the villains, well they’re basically ultra evil so there isn’t much to say about them. The main villain is rather psychotic and the fact that Curtis listens to his whole speech for so long and freezes up by the end was crazy. This is the guy at the top, you have to take him down immediately. The whole climax was a bit surreal with the villain not reading the room and Curtis not really doing anything. It is easy to see how this setup worked for so long though since they have so much power. In a way the whole film shouldn’t have been as long as it was.

The only real excuse would be that the villains wanted to have some fun because they were super bored. That could work but otherwise they could have ended this at any point. I haven’t seen a situation so rigged in a while. The film definitely works best when everything was a mystery. I do think the train setting worked well and it’s a very interesting film. Ultimately it just got way too mean spirited by the end and you also start to wonder what the whole point of it all was. I don’t think that the second half really stuck the landing the way that it could have.

Overall, Snowpiercer is definitely a film that’s not for the faint of heart. You’re going to see just how intense an uprising can be and how a lot of casualties really start forming in order for the main characters to even stand a chance. A prequel could be interesting to see more about how the setup was first implemented and the original rebellions. We do know that things won’t end well which takes out some of the fun but I am curious how this started. Of course once the villains have been winning for hundreds of years it is easy to see how they have all of the power but how was this accumulated in the first place? That’s what I would really like to know.

Overall 3/10

Scream Blacula Scream Review

Posted on June 3, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the next Blahhhhhhcula film. The name just makes that joke too easy! But yeah this is not a good film and you likely knew that going into it. It’s another really cheap vampire film that’s doing its best to impress and scare you but instead it has the opposite effect. You will be rolling your eyes at this one and wondering when it’s over. There’s nothing to really like about this film as it squanders any decent ideas that might have been thrown into the mix.

The film starts with the queen of voodoo dying so she quickly forgets to name a successor. It has to come down to a vote now and everyone knows it will be Lisa which infuriates Willis. He decides to do something about this and messes with some bones until he resurrects Blacula. Blacula quickly turns Willis into a vampire and then decides to go on another murder spree. Will anyone be safe from all of these murders? Lisa will need to watch out since she is now the one with the strongest Voodoo energy. If she ends up siding with Blacula then all hope may be lost.

So lets get this out of the way, the film has a ton of the usual blood sucking right out of the gate. You’ll be grimacing the whole time because this is not what you signed up for. Not at all! I mean that sounds like I’m in denial but you can do a vampire film without all of that. These also have to be the longest blood drain scenes that I’ve come across. Seriously there’s just no end to them. They keep going on and on and on. If you ask me personally the best thing to do here would have been to do a quick cut. You get the initial bite and then skip.

Although it’s clear that the film was pretty proud of these scenes for how drawn out they were. Even the moments leading up to the bites, you got zoom ins on the teeth early on. At least some of the victims were asking for it like the random guys trying to bully Blacula in the streets. It was nice to bump them off but we can do better than the classic bite every time. So right off the bat the film was already doomed thanks to this.

Then the characters aren’t smart at all. Lisa already knows that Blacula is murdering people and yet by the end she wants to help him and everything? Noooo that’s not cool. She still seems shocked when he continues to hurt people but he’s been doing that since the very beginning so there’s no excuse there. He didn’t change, he was evil right from the jump. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain the whole time. Also considering her psychic voodoo powers, she still looks very weak the whole time.

She is easily suckered by her friend who turned vampire and then tries to drain her. Shouldn’t Lisa have some kind of supernatural defenses? So that’s a big strike against her character right from the jump. Then after that we’ve also got the fact that she doesn’t immediately end Blacula when she has the doll. Just stab it or put it in a choke hold. Instead she takes ages which nearly costs her.

All right, one slight positive for the film. I really liked the confrontation between Justin and Blacula where we have a really tense talk. Both of them are casually murdering the other one and it’s a very boss moment for Justin. Not a smart one mind you, since Blacula could have murdered him at any point. Still, it showed that he was ready to stand his ground. The film is really reusing this from other titles but it still hit right. It’s the best scene in the film by far.

In general I was glad that the cops got involved as well. They actually get to fight it out with the vampires which was pretty cool. We get some actual battle scenes although the cops have a bad habit of hesitating. Look, these are vampires, you have to just take them out. Use the stake or it will be used against you. I did wonder why they wouldn’t re-use a stake though. For example one guy uses his stake and then gets rushed by a second vampire so he cuts it in half to use a new one. Many cops just gave up once they used their 1 stake and got wrecked.

Just pull it out of the dead body and use it again. It’s still made of wood so I’m confident that it will work as many times as needed. These guys really need to learn basic combat skills. The whole film should have been the general confrontation because that would actually be an original take. The full might of the police force against the personal army of vampires that Blacula built up. That had a lot of potential over the usual stuff.

Instead what the film decided to focus on in terms of being unique is the voodoo witchcraft nonsense. Those scenes are some of the worst. They’re super dragged out as well with everyone hopping around and feeling the vibes. They don’t add anything to the film and instead subtract from it. So really you are always looking forward to the few police/Justin scenes but every time Blacula or the Voodoo stuff is on screen the film falls down quickly. We also get a random animal violence when a bird is destroyed. The film needs to do better!

Overall, If you really enjoy seeing the blood sucking scenes from a vampire film then this is your title. I still can’t think of any title that dragged them out nearly this much. However, there is no other reason to watch this film and waste your time. Blacula is not a series that will go down in history as being anything decent. It was really a full on gimmick from start to finish and one that didn’t find its footing. You could have had some interesting social themes here or given Blacula a real personality beyond just draining people. At times it felt like the film was going to perhaps go down that route and then he just starts murdering everyone again. So the film couldn’t resist going back to its roots of shock value. If we ever get a modern reboot, maybe it could change things.

Overall 1/10

Shakma Review

Posted on June 3, 2024 by dreager1

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

All right it’s time for a pretty spooooky film. I mean it is basically a horror and the enemy is like a creature so I’d say it fits the bill. The movie is definitely an intense one but suffers from all of the usual issues like animal violence and over the top violence in general. This film will have you wincing almost constantly which as you can imagine, can make it hard for the film itself to succeed.

The film starts off with a bunch of doctors/assistants gearing up for their next big game. They run a sort of dungeons and dragons type game in the hospital. After hours they set up all of the rooms and lock down each of the floors. The professor has a virtual system to keep track of everything and coordinates the efforts as the Gamemaster. The first person to get enough clues and free the princess wins. They’ve been doing this for a long time with no problems but one of the girls accidentally mentions the game in front of one of the new hires. Now he wants to play too but the guy’s not very serious and could hold them back. So the characters decide to give him the role of monster to scare people and afterwards he finds out that he’s missing out on a date by being here. So he intends to sabotage the game so that it goes very quickly but what none of them realize is that a dangerous monster is already on the loose, Shakma! Shakma is aiming to destroy all of them as soon as possible so he must not be underestimated.

So Shakma is a baboon and not the most intimidating one on sight. He is fierce and aggressive but you’re jus wondering what would make him scary. Do you really fear such an opponent as this guy? He tends to murder everyone with a quick bite as the first blow and then once the opponent is on the ground it’s over. It’s technically a pretty impressive combo starter because if he bites the right place then it’s all over. There’s really nothing for the opponent to do. So I sort of get that and acknowledge that he fights smart but I still wouldn’t call him very scary. The concept of the Shakma is scarier like when you see him from a distance or on the poster. You absolutely get it but in practice…eh I don’t think he is ready for the big leagues.

Unfortunately most of the characters are super annoying. These are the kinds of people who will just sit back and watch as someone is being torn apart in front of them. I get panicking and everything like when the chips are down but this is just too much. You need to have some characters to root for and this makes them very unlikable. Take the guy who was trying to sabotage the whole game over a date. It’s an awful look because he asked to be a part of the game early on. Yes, he started to have second thoughts about this but he didn’t voice them soooo…I can’t feel all that bad for him. He just needed to do his best and actually participate.

The professor was the most likable character by far. He had a lot of patience and was doing his best to make the game a success. I imagine that it takes a lot of work to set up the whole program each time. So he gets a whole lot of credit there. You were rooting for him to be the one to defeat Shakma. Meanwhile the rest of the students would just keep on splitting up over and over again. Even right up to the end the final 2 survivors decide to split up again. Are you serious?

I dare say that they make the average horror movie characters look smart in comparison. These guys are making so many mistakes that you start to have trouble keeping track of them all. They just keep on coming one after the other. A lot of times the excuse is that they want to look for one of the other teens who got bumped off since they don’t know that he was bumped off yet. The problem with this is after a point you at least need to let the cops know first. The worst part of the film’s logic here is the phones.

Each time they think about calling the cops, they decide to do something first. No, call the cops first and then keep looking around if you want. Every room should have a phone in the hospital or at least most of them. Where were all of the phones when they were needed?? It doesn’t make any sense at all. I felt like I was just watching madness here after a while. The setting of this film taking place in a hospital makes it so that none of this makes sense.

In fact, what about security in general? Sure this is after hours so the staff aren’t around but you mean to tell me that none of the guards were patrolling these floors during the game? Yeah I have more and more doubts as the film goes on. This just doesn’t mesh with logic. The film was doomed already with all the shock value though. I don’t really see the point of the surgery scene from the intro either. We know they work in a hospital so stuff like that happens, why do we gotta see it? Feels like it was just there as a cheap thrill which is no good.

Overall, Shakma is a classic creature feature film to an extent but all the violence is dialed up to 11. It definitely feels like one of the more violent titles that I’ve seen in a minute. In a way it’s probably because of how drawn out each of the murders are. They just keep on going and going. Then of course you have the live surgeries and everything. Nah this film was definitely not for me and loses out to most of the other creature films. This one did surprise me with how the story ends but that’s more of a thumbs up for me and not something I’d raise the score over. It just showed that the film wasn’t afraid to be rather bold and take things in a different direction.

Overall 1/10

The Lost Boys Review

Posted on May 27, 2024 by dreager1

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 some vampires. You already know that means the film is starting off at a disadvantage but maybe it can pull through and win anyway? Wellllll…unfortunately that is not the case so I still do have to give this one a thumbs down. The characters tend to be annoying and the film can drag on at some points. The main romance with the teens also doesn’t work so well.

The film starts with Michael, his younger brother Sam, and his mom Lucy moving from a nice place over to the murder capital of the world. They’re staying with Lucy’s father and at this point the goal is really to try and make the best of it. Sam is one of those guys who is very personable and he acclimates to the new place quickly even if it is odd how two kids keep telling him to watch out for vampires. Michael sees an attractive lady who is already taken but since when has that stopped him? He flirts with her which causes the leader of the vampire group, David to show up and mess with him. Michael succumbs to peer pressure immediately and gets turned into a vampire. Can he control his urges and stay on the path of justice?

There’s a lot to unpack here and unfortunately most of it is not good. As the lead character Michael makes too many mistakes. It’s not really good form to go after someone who is already in a relationship. Yeah it’s not the same as someone being married or engaged but at the same time it makes you look desperate. It was clear that Star was leading him on from the jump so the only right answer there is to just dodge the situation entirely. She manipulates him so easily that you’re just shaking your head. Their romance really was bad.

Meanwhile Michael was falling for the illusions each time and then not suspecting that something was wrong about the vampires was a real miss for him as well. He does control the urges well at least and I can tell you right now that I have no issues with taking out any of the villains. As far as I’m concerned that is full self defense and everyone was trying to murder the vampires in order to save the town so there’s no functional difference here. Something to keep in mind since the end of the film is trying to throw a message in and it doesn’t really work.

I liked Sam a lot more than Michael. He’s a likable kid who has a positive outlook. Again, if not for the vampires he was going to get used to the new town real fast. He had a good sense of humor and is also responsible. This is the kind of kid you can count on to make your life easier. He gets a big role along with the two vampire hunters but technically it’s not like he can fight all that much so I wouldn’t expect him to do a lot of damage. The villains are just too powerful.

As for Lucy, she’s definitely a sympathetic character. She’s also been through a lot with the divorce and all. It may be a little fast to get back into the dating game but at least it’s treated like an actual dynamic among adults. It starts off with a basic dinner and nothing crazy. Usually I’d say the romance subplot had no point being in the film but this time I suppose it justified its own existence. It’s still a bit on the weak side but as a character Lucy was solid.

Then you have Max whose role is pretty fun. He is the character you will be thinking about a lot here and some scenes you can see in a different light. So he makes for a fairly solid character, certainly better than the vampire gang led by David who mostly just look like creeps the whole time. They’re not intimidating in a fun way and if anything they’re so overconfident and sloppy that this is what leads to them getting cooked all the time. As long as they remembered basic fighting techniques then they would have been okay here. The problem is they don’t have much of a goal except for spreading chaos.

I would have liked to have seen perspectives from more of the outside world. Not someone about to die but maybe a few locals talking about how people are always getting kidnapped and being murdered which seems weird. The film does establish this place as the biggest murder area in the world but doesn’t follow that up with anything. I’m sure the mayor and the cops would have something to say about that right? Adding them in with a big role would have been really fun.

Just something to give us more time away from the vampires. You already know that nobody can put up a fight against them so the nameless characters are doomed. The film doesn’t keep your attention the way that it should. It throws in quite a few jump scares involving the dogs. It’s a dangerous game since that could have easily tanked the whole movie but fortunately it avoids getting hit with the solid 0-1. The dogs end up looking fairly tough the whole time and Sam’s dog really saves the day more than once. So I appreciate that. Having a dog on screen always speeds up my heart rate a little bit but when you have a happy ending like this then that definitely helps out a whole lot.

Overall, The Lost Boys is a film that had some potential but it doesn’t live up to this in the execution. The comedic elements could have helped to raise everything up but at the end of the day it still focuses more on the vampire stuff than anything else. The characters created too many issues on their own and so in the end what you have here is a film that doesn’t give you much of an incentive to watch it. At least I did like the grandfather. His role was small but the confidence was nice. If the film had doubled down on more of the humor this could have really been a different ballgame.

Overall 3/10

Acts of Vengeance Review

Posted on May 19, 2024 by dreager1

This is a review 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

All right it’s time for one of those classic thriller stories. This one goes through the motions and is a good film but I wouldn’t say it stands out a lot compared to the competition. It doesn’t have the same level of iconic lines as Taken for example although at the same time…there is a plot reason for this. The ending may not have left me completely satisfied but you will get some good action scenes here.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Frank whose job is to talk a lot. He is the defense attorney for a lot of crazy criminals and he’s really good at his job so he tends to get them off the hook even when they’re guilty. Hey, you can’t blame him, blame the system right? Well that’s easier said than done. One day his wife and kid are murdered and the cops admit that there isn’t much that they can do. There aren’t enough leads and people are getting murdered all the time around there so what are you gonna do? Frank lets people beat him up for a while before finally deciding to take action. He will become a martial arts master and track down the killer. Until he pulls this off, he will never say another word.

The vow of silence is definitely a solid way to show your determination. It does mean that Frank will stop at nothing in order to finish his quest but it can also work as something that holds him back when you think about it. After all, this means that he can’t really question any of the villains or anything like that. He has to rely on their facial expressions and what they start saying. Frank’s physical senses do begin to improve a lot which does help him out here though. It’s also good that his fighting skills worked out well since there are a lot of villains to stop and Fran tends to let them all go.

He plays a very risky game and you could argue that he has to have a lot of plot armor to make it through the trials here. For example, he lets quite a few mafia members leave with their lives but none of them manage to track him down and get the jump on him in time. In real life it feels like crossing the mafia in such an open way would really be a death sentence. Even by the end Frank opts to let the justice system do its thing but there’s no reason to believe he will be alive after the next 48 hours. He’s made too many enemies and not finishing them off puts him in a dicey spot.

I get that the film wanted to go for a positive moral where you know that this guy hasn’t crossed the line but within the film’s context I don’t think that it works out so well. Sometimes when you spare someone like this, all you are doing is dooming other people. Not saying it has to be like that of course but it is definitely one of the big possible outcomes. Then we have the main heroine Alma who is nice enough. She’s perhaps a bit too trusting since she warms up to Frank right away even though the guy should appear to be incredibly suspicious. Their first meeting is him already being rather beat up and having a gun so my first guess wouldn’t necessarily be that he is an upstanding citizen.

There’s a dog in the movie that helps Frank out a lot so that was pretty fun. His skills are definitely really helpful in solving the case. As for the main villain, there’s not a whole lot to say about him. His attempt at sympathy doesn’t work at all. Yes the guy has a tragic backstory but it does nothing to support his actions in the present. If anything you’d think it makes the whole thing worse. This guy should definitely not be trying to go after a child the way that he did. So yeah the villain’s just one of those crazies and he doesn’t do anything to actively elevate the film to the next level. You could switch him out with just about anyone and it doesn’t matter.

Part of the film is effectively a mystery as to who got Frank’s family and it’s sort of a tricky one. On one hand, the cast is extremely small here. So if the killer is a named character then you basically only have 2 real options but if the killer is some random mobster then you may not be as invested. The good news of course is that you don’t know either way until it happens so in that sense it still works well as a mystery that keeps you guessing. The film’s definitely at its best when focusing on the action though. The fight scenes are really solid.

Overall, Acts of Vengeance is a good movie. I liked the way it would use chapters to break up the story and how the quotes would also describe the chapter. Having so much inner monologue may feel like a bit of a cheat to the fact that the main character doesn’t talk much but still I appreciated it since I tend to like dialogue. The more words that are spoken the better, that’s what I’d say here. If you enjoy a good revenge story then you should watch the movie. If it’s not your genre then there’s not much else for the movie to offer you. It’s very straight forward in that way so the ball is really in your court here.

Overall 6/10

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Review

Posted on May 18, 2024 by dreager1

You know it’s actually a bit weird to think that Mashle only had 18 volumes. For some reason I figured it had around 30 or so. I guess it was shorter than I thought but it’s fine because the series was jam packed with tons of high quality moments. It hit way above its pay grade the whole time and you could even say it embraces the parody angle even more than One Punch Man did. Mash isn’t quite as invincible as Saitama was by any means but for the most part he still scaled above his opponents. This is definitely an excellent series that I absolutely recommend checking out. It’s a series where I recommend checking out the anime a lot as well since it did a great job of elevating the material even further. Yeah you’re definitely in a great position here.

The series starts off by introducing us to Mash who was born without magic for some reason. In this world it is seen as a curse to not have magic. Like you are not loved by the universe and it’s practically a crime to even exist. Fortunately he is adopted by a nice man who vows to keep him safe but the authorities find out about this. Mash must now enter a magic school and become one of the Divine Visionaries. Only by doing this can he keep his father safe and perhaps end this crazy discrimination against the magic-less users. Is he strong enough to pull this off though? Mash will be fighting the absolute cream of the crop, the strongest magic users to ever exist.

While the characters start coming around later on, most of them are unreasonable at first. It’s crazy how many people are basically jealous of Mash the whole time. They are rooting for his downfall and are no shy about it. They want to take him down for the count no matter what it takes. There are a lot of petty people here but I suppose that is almost to be expected at this point because most settings end up being filled with crazy people while the main character has to prove them wrong. Such is the fate of being the main character.

The artwork here is really good, in fact I would go as far as to say that it’s spectacular. The author absolutely nails both the comedic and action parts of the story. That’s what happens when you have a top tier artist like this at the ready. It holds its own with the upper echelon of Jump titles here. The fights are incredibly satisfying. It’s channeling the energy of the older Jump titles like Kenshin where you had everyone fighting the final boss one by one. They would all go down and then the next fighter would make a move. The fights are easy to follow while the abilities remain very creative and colorful the whole time.

I’d also say the pacing is good. Every chapter has something going for it. Again that could vary between a really hype action scene occurring or maybe it’s a really good gag. Either way the story never just pauses in the middle to leave you hanging. You can be reassured about that. Also while a lot of stories tend to have endings that aren’t all that great, I thought the ending here was pretty fun. It worked well with the themes of the series as being sort of serious if you zoom into the themes but comedic on its face. It’s definitely a fun way to do this.

There’s definitely quite a few arcs in this. The first main part of the story involves getting the stars needed to enter the big tournament coming up to set the stage for the visionaries. This pits Mash up against some steep competition like Dot and Lance at least they were tough back in the day as well as a whole cult group. He has to make sure not to lose himself during these battles either. If he lets his guard down too soon then it’ll all be over for him. Fortunately he’s not the kind of guy to stress about anything. He just eats some cream puffs and gets to work. Definitely one of the bravest fighters out there without a doubt and it helps to have the level of ability that he has. One punch is enough to usually win the day. Quite a few of the characters become main characters by this point and join the good side so a lot happens in the intro.

You may expect that the series gets more and more intense with stronger villains that it would get a lot more serious but that isn’t really the case. Right up through the end the series is still managing a really good balance between comedy and action which is definitely impressive. Most titles would not stand a chance at that or it would feel very weird with the tone but that’s never a problem here. That just shows how good Mash is. The Divine Visionary exams take up a very large part of the series so hopefully you like them but I don’t have many doubts about that.

Mashle does a great job of keeping every challenge fresh and it’s always a lot of fun. Then we jump into the big climax against Innocent Zero and his forces. Like I said before the climax is really great. We’re talking nonstop fights here with a lot of great appearances from everyone involved. Everyone has a part to play and they complete their roles flawlessly. Whether it’s a supporting character who has been around since chapter 1 or a very recent villain, everyone does something here. The whole montage of fighters is really impressive to be sure. One of the best climaxes I’ve read in a while. It makes full use of how many characters have been introduced and fleshed out over the years as well as the increasing power levels here.

At most you could say that it does highlight some power level issues in general though. For example, it feels like there should be no way that half of these characters can survive a single hit from Innocent Zero. At this point the amount of power we’re talking about it crazy after all. You’d expect that Mash himself would murder say Dot or Lance with a single hit if he’s serious and this guy is leagues stronger than Mash. So there may be a little plot armor occurring at different points here that you will have to try and ignore. This is something that happens to any series once the power levels are high enough though so it’s not like it’s a shock. It’s just the way that the ball bounces.

Now lets talk about the characters a bit. First up is Mash who is a very solid main character. He may not take things seriously all the time but he can fight well and ultimately wants to do his pops proud. He has his deep moments when avenging a friend where we see that he notices more than he lets on. So all in all he is definitely the guy you want to have on your side. I would say he balances out the serious and comedic parts of his personality really well. He ends up being funny without being annoying so there really aren’t any big downsides to his character.

Then you have Finn who is one of those really scared characters. For the most part he is not ready to deal with the big threats but eventually gets his man up moment. So naturally you know that I don’t really care for the character too much. I always appreciate it when he steps up as needed but that’s too little and too late to really bump him up the ranks for me. I would need to see that done on a consistent basis.

A better example of a flawed character who is still rather solid is Dot. Dot falls for all the traps and his weakness to girls is a really big one. At the same time he can still fight rather well and always talks tough. So he can actually back himself up and continues to get stronger as the series goes on. He may not be one of the strongest fighters out there but he is a consistent ally who always does his best and he is entertaining. So I give him a thumbs up there.

Lance is an even better fighter. This guy is the genius of the main characters and so he was able to master his craft at an early age. There are very few other fighters who could have managed that. His fighting style is also very direct. He plunges you into the ground with his gravity which is an ability that is really hard to block or dodge. You just have to be even stronger so that the gravity doesn’t affect you. The guy’s main quirk is a bit much so that can hold him back but otherwise he’s solid.

Lemon is the main heroine in a way but she gets a really small role next to her competitors. You can go through just about the whole series and only find a rare handful of moments where she really got something to do. She’s a super minor character all the way around and wasn’t that interesting. Wahlberg may not do much for a large chunk of the series but he is at least rather cool. I don’t think that he’s a great headmaster since he tends to take his time making the right choices. He will ask the other students for their input a little too much and tends to be rather passive. However, I can forgive just about all of this for one big reason, he is strong. At the end of the day, that helps a character overcome many obstacles. So by the end I would say that he was rather solid.

Rayne is one of the first divine visionaries to appear and get to fight. The one catch with that is he doesn’t get as much time to be mysterious and get a lot of hype. Still, his abilities are the real deal and I like him. He’s not quite as much of a stickler about the rules as some of the other characters which I can appreciate. He doesn’t lose sight of the forest for the trees while other characters lose sight of that immediately! My favorite visionary is easily Ryoh though. He’s the light visionary who is really cool and confident in his own abilities. He may brag a lot but that is rather deserved when you consider how strong he is. Why wouldn’t he brag right?

He gets some really good fights in the series as well an left a big impact. His screen time relative to some of the other characters may have been small but he was still a lot of fun. Tom is another fun character who doesn’t appear much. He wants Mash to join in the sports events and it’s easy to see why since Mash is a super athletic star. At the same time, this guy can’t fight so he is written out real quick. Definitely don’t expect much out of him.

Margarette is one of the big antagonists early on and is definitely powerful. I actually forget how close the fight with Mash was. The ability to use sound waves and then shape them into various objects is really impressive. Margarette leaves quite the impression even if I am not a big fan of the character. Carpaccio is someone who has even less of an impression. Cool character and definitely a lot of fun abilities but a very small role. One of those characters who really existed for Mash to beat up but otherwise didn’t have much to do.

Innocent Zero is easily one of the biggest villains in the series. It’s not surprising as he is introduced as the big bad fairly early into the series. His abilities are the real deal and they get more impressive as the climax hits. He’s a really solid villain. Although I feel like I tend to remember him more for his super powerful abilities than as a character. That’s the kind of figure that he is. You’re not thinking about a grand origin story and super ambitious goals but more of a classic final boss kind of figure. It works well enough with him though and he leaves more of an impact than most of the others.

An exception to this is Doom though. He’s the best villain in the series by far. The guy’s another crazy strong fighter but he has a good honor code and is also just a lot more interesting. His fight with Mash felt more personal and his impact on the story was bigger. He was the true benchmark for Mash to compare himself with and serves as the last main opponent before the final boss. Doom got to fight quite a few opponents during the series and always dominated in his matches. Yeah that guy was awesome.

By the end of the series we even get to see the god of the world show up which was certainly interesting. It was another chance for Mashle to showcase its unique form of humor and it felt like something out of One Punch Man. I wouldn’t be shocked if that series pulls off something similar at some point but in the meantime this is really a Mashle exclusive. The god here is fairly powerful to be sure, probably one of the strongest but he’s no Mash. Okay now lets circle back and look at some more of the characters.

Abel is one of the first big villains and he was a whole lot of fun. The guy’s role has aged well and he just makes for a very imposing figure. The series goes into the redemption arcs without too much thought into them which is fitting for a light hearted title. So you may be a bit dubious on everyone being cool with Abel but it is what it is. He’s a solid villain through and through. I also liked his right hand man Abyss a whole lot. That guy is super loyal and he was also a terrific fighter. He really gave Mash a tough run for his money during their initial encounter. I always value loyalty in a character.

They had a number of other fighters on their squad who showed up but for the most part they were all written out after they were dispatched. Back to the visionaries, Orter is another strong member but definitely the most fixated on the rules to becoming a borderline villain. The fact that he is always so eager to execute Mash reflects real poorly on him. Here’s the problem, Mash at the end of the day is someone who is actively working to fight the villains. So taking him down doesn’t help at all except to restore the status quo. It’s my big problem with a character like this who completely loses perspective. So he’s okay as a villain but I wouldn’t acknowledge him as a hero.

Kaldo is a lot more interesting. He doesn’t necessarily approve of Mash in any way but he gives him some advice. Kaldo recognizes the benefit in having another strong fighter on board which immediately makes him a whole lot more interesting. I also like the sword that he uses. I wish he could have appeared a little earlier on so that he could get more fights but he still made the most of his screen time.

Brad is one of those bullies who quickly turned over a new leaf and it’s a good thing that he did or Mash would have really gave him some trouble. He ends up being a reasonably entertaining character in the background but he definitely never gets much of a serious role. Same goes for Regro who did a good job of raising Mash but after that he is really written out. There just isn’t anything for him to really do at that point.

Not all of the visionaries get a ton to do though so I’ll go through a few of these quickly. Renatus is one of those guys who is rather tough with a psychotic streak. He’s definitely interesting but I would have liked to have seen more of him. I can’t say that I liked Agito at all. The guy definitely doesn’t stack up with the others and his being quirky doesn’t end up really being a positive.

I can’t say I remember Sophina or Tsuara much at all to be honest even after refreshing myself on the wiki. So I’m going to list that as a demerit. If I don’t remember you very well then that means there is clearly a big problem here. It’s a shame but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Meliadoul is an interesting character. She shows up really late to the whole thing but gets a solid role near the end. She’s actually rather tough and I admire her fiery resolve. She is the opposite of Ochoa who is one of the worst characters in the series. Right up through the end he proves himself to not be trustworthy at all and someone who will seek his own safety first. There’s definitely no room for a character like that in these ranks and I wish he could have been more likable. He was good for some of the gags but gets a thumbs down.

Cell War is a fairly cool villain and I definitely like the name. His spikes are hard to dodge and so he is a very powerful fighter all the way through. He’s rather twisted and evil but without overplaying that card. Everything about him is really memorable so you aren’t likely to forget about him anytime soon. Domina was another one of the more impressive villains. His water skills were really good and even by the end of the series he is one of the most powerful members. He is one of those guys where you might not buy into the redemption arc all that much though. You have to suspend a little disbelief there but it was definitely satisfying seeing him show up in the climax so that was cool.

Charles doesn’t quite have the same energy behind him. He’s also rather strong but not as impressive as the last few. I did like Levis a lot though. He’s another villain who is more on the crazy side and fights hard. His ending may not make him look super impressive but for the most part you can count on a tough fight from this guy. Famin is super strong and one of the more twisted villains. It seems like the clown/jester villains always have a bit of an edge to them right? Don’t let this guy’s quirkiness fool you, he’s as deadly as they come and really leaves an impact.

Epidem has one of the most memorable scenes later on because how much of a sucker he proves the heroes to be. The main thing to remember is that if a villain offers you food, you probably shouldn’t take it. That’s like the first lesson everyone learns right? Well, you would think that was the case at least. So his entire fight was really fun. Delisaster is another villain I’m drawing more of a blank on but the design is really solid. It’ll be fun to see all of these villains animated at some point. There are just so many great fights to be had.

Mashle is a series that has tremendous amounts of replay value though. There are so many great fights to be found throughout all of the arcs and like I said the humor is also really good. It takes you back to a nostalgic time in Shonen Jump and it really always keeps a good balance between action and humor. I’d have been cool for the series to have kept on going for a long time. This could have been the next Naruto in terms of impact.

Overall, Mashle is an absolutely elite title. One of the all time greats and definitely a story that you need to read. It’s not every day that we get another big action Shonen like this so you need to check it out right away. The character cast is fun and there are so many fun little references and easter eggs here. The world is really well fleshed out and so you are absolutely engaged in everything that is going on from start to finish. Also if you like cream puffs, this series will likely help you take that to the next level!

Overall 9/10

Heartbreak Ridge Review

Posted on May 16, 2024 by dreager1

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 classic war film that’s pretty fun. You always like to see the gruff commander show up to get the younger men into shape. He really turns the Z squad into the A squad in a fairly short time. We still get the serious war scenes to be sure but a lot of the film is really spent on the build up to the war so we see how the training goes.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Tom who has served a lot of time in the army and now life is rather boring for him. He gets himself placed into prison a lot for rather mundane reasons. Well, now he has been transferred to what is easily considered the worst division as a punishment. Well, nobody is going to mess with Tom. His toughness does get the team to respect him fairly quick though. Do they finally have a chance at greatness?

You see a lot of war films where the army platoon leaders are super cruel or just corrupt which can be annoying so it’s nice to see a leader who is tough but knows how to balance things out. He’s always in charge and can take care of himself without actually being mean about it. For example he gets his revenge on Stitch who stole his money early on but then from there on it’s all even. He’s not going to be vindictive about it or anything like that. Then when the squad calls in their big hitter Swede, Tom just shows him what’s up and keeps on moving. There’s no time for grudges in the army, he’s just trying to have a winning squad.

He set the tone immediately in the first scene when he beat someone up in prison and never goes back from there. Tom is easily the standout character in the film and all of his scenes are great. I also liked the main villain Malcolm. He could perhaps be a bit over the top but he works well as the foil. He’s corrupt and everything that Tom is not. This is the guy that you absolutely do not want to be your squad leader because he’s going to lead you into every kind of disaster possible. The guy absolutely puts his petty rivalries above the actual mission and he will do that every time. It’s certainly not very becoming for an officer, especially such a high ranking one. He had a bone to pick with Tom right from the start.

It gets worse when you find out that he actively sabotages the main squad so they can always lose to his squad. He sees his group as being the best and so the others don’t matter which is not effective in the slightest. The character who really steps up when it counts is Lt. Ring. At first he is way too inexperienced and reads everything out of textbooks. The guy doesn’t know what to do in a real fight at all. So this is his chance to really step out of his shell. I’d say that he makes the most out of the opportunity. He was annoying at first but was a good character by the end.

As for Stitch and the other soldiers, I wouldn’t say that I ever ended up liking any of them much. Yes, they assembled under Tom’s leadership but it feels like they are all easily swayed. If someone other than Tom had shown up then they would all still be delinquents. Of course their character redemption arc is the whole point of the movie but I just wasn’t as convinced as I could have been. Their scenes still tend to bring a lot of humor though so it’s not like that’s something that would bring the film down. I particularly liked it when Tom would troll them with the different shirts the whole time.

The only plot that wasn’t particularly good involved Tom’s ex wife Aggie. This is the romance subplot where they are trying to get back together but there’s just way too much baggage here. It feels completely unrealistic and at no point do you really believe that they even like each other. It comes across more like they’re both just lonely and desperate which isn’t a great reason to get back together. The romance isn’t a big focus in the movie but it’s still big enough to be mentioned. It’s easily the weakest part of the film.

Of course when you just have one general weak point then you are in a good position. The movie as a whole has really good pacing the whole time. There’s a good amount of action in the climax as well. I would say that the film is at its best in the first half with Tom showing everyone up with a lot of clever dialogue. He’s not exactly a big talker but always knows how to pick the perfect moments to deliver some killer lines. He really keeps the characters on notice there. The writing is really solid here and granted this is the edited version so the script might be a little more intense otherwise but in this version it was good.

Overall, Heartbreak Ridge is a pretty good movie. It is a war movie but most of the film is about the training so it almost feels like as slightly different genre. Maybe army training if that’s a real sub genre. Either way it’s a satisfying watch that feels like there was a lot of effort put into creating this one. It’s a well crafted experience. If you like a solid army film that has a good sense of humor then you should check this one out for sure. Whether you view it as an inspirational title or just a funny one, there are lot of lessons and morals to take away from this. Always bring your best and it’s never too late to improve yourself.

Overall 7/10

The 6th Day Review

Posted on May 16, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a sci-fi film about everyone’s worst fear. Imagine you go home one day and a clone has taken over your life? Definitely not a fun feeling. The movie balances out the sci-fi and action really well and makes for a solid watch from start to finish. A quality film that I would recommend checking out without a doubt.

The movie starts by introducing us to the 6th Day laws which prohibit anyone from making clones of humans. It’s just not the right thing to do and the tech isn’t ready for it. This will prevent anyone from trying to perfect the technology and causing accidents in the meantime. Our main character here is Adam who flies helicopters and one day his partner has to go on a mission without him since Adam needs to buy a doll for his daughter’s birthday. The crew is destroyed but Adam doesn’t know this. He heads back to the house back in time for the party only to find that “Adam” is already there. Now there are a bunch of people trying to murder the lead so he has to get to the bottom of this conspiracy and reclaim his family before it’s too late.

This may be a 2000 film but it’s got a classic 90s vibe to me. There’s a lot of fast paced action here while also still making time for a good amount of quips and humor. It’s balanced well so the film’s what I would call a light hearted thriller. Adam is a great fighter who knows how to use a gun and take care of himself. No matter how many enemies you throw at him, you know he’s basically got this.

There’s time for a good amount of lore into how the future works with cloning at the ready and the character cast is good. I actually thought the main villains were rather fun. One of them dies quite a few times before he has to be cloned each time which sounds rather painful to have to keep going through that but at least you never die right? Dr. Weir is the only villain I wasn’t big on though. He’s one of those guys who started off with rather reasonable goals and everything but then he went too far.

So in the end he turns back on this and tries to see the light but he waited too long. He really just ensured that the rich Mr. Drucker would have to take him down. It’s always rough when you see the scientist making a dumb mistake like this. If you’re going to betray the villains then you should really cover your bases before doing it. Have some kind of a plan right?

Drucker is a much more interesting villain because of how he just goes all in on the plan. His opening speech is basically him admitting that he’s evil and doing human cloning despite the rules being against it. He’s rich and nobody can stop him so why not right? He’s a very smug kind of villain which works really well here. He can’t fight but he has a lot of goons on his side.

I also appreciated that the film handled the topic of clones very well. After all once a clone does exist, he is sentient so now you can’t exactly end him right? So lets say with Adam and his clone, you need Adam to get his life back but the clone also thinks that he is real and has the same love for his family. In a way there is no real way to win in this situation. Someone is going to have a sad ending here and that’s the case in practically every film of this kind.

The Sonic 90s show and God of Highschool easily have the saddest endings when it comes to clones but this film’s ending can be rather sad as well. Yes, it’s not played off as a sad ending and I appreciate that but it is still sad when you think about it. One of them can’t be with the family unless they alternate days or something which would be weird as well.

So the film handles it as best as possible. It’s a satisfactory ending and the rare sad ending that I can be fine with. You definitely hope that cloning never becomes a thing in the real world because it would really just be scary. The whole film has a bit of a scary undertone despite how it’s fairly light hearted the whole time. I’d say it’s because you could easily picture a future like this.

It’s all handled rather realistically I would say. Definitely a lot to think about when it comes to the story and I do dig themes like this. It’s why Sci-Fi’s so good. Like I said earlier, the fight scenes are really good and the effects are solid. The soundtrack is even pretty good. The violence isn’t over the top either, a few intense moments but mainly your classic action type of content. Fairly minimal fanservice although one character has a weird VR maid that shows up. That’s one of those spooky elements that’s already shown up in the real world but it does seem like you’d have to be really desperate to go that route. The main romance is actually rather decent since the main character is already married at the start so they don’t have to run into the usual drama.

I also wouldn’t expect her to realize that Adam’s clone is around since the clones in this film are effectively perfect. They have all of the memories and think that they are real so I wouldn’t expect any key differences there. The film’s pacing is good so really as you can see the positives really outweigh the negatives.

Overall, The 6th Day is a pretty good movie. It takes the subject of clones a lot farther than I would have expected since you’re just thinking about a classic action thriller here. The comedy is also handled well and helps to kick this to the next level. This movie isn’t brought up very often so if you happen to see it online then I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Slam Dunk Review

Posted on May 12, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the best all time Basketball stories out there and it’s one of the best sport titles in general as well. This one was absolutely huge in Japan and rightfully so. There are a ton of really great stories contained within this title and all of the characters get a lot to do. While I may have some issues with the ending, it is tough to have a perfect ending. Nothing will work for everyone after all but it is what it is as far as that’s concerned. The only sport titles I would have above this one are Kuroko’s Basketball, Prince of Tennis, and Blue Lock. I have Slam Dunk as the 4th best all time sports title.

The series follows a guy named Sakuragi who is basically a juvenile delinquent. He gets into a lot of fights in school and everyone absolutely fears him except for his posse and a girl at school named Haruko who treats him normally. He falls in love with her and turns away from his delinquent days. In fact, her brother is a big basketball player and she thinks Sakuragi could do well there. She is also in love with the new rookie Rukawa. All of these reasons cause Sakuragi to join the Basketball team so he can impress her and show the others up. That’s not so easy though and he quickly finds out that the sport is not so easily tamed. He’s a very stubborn kind of guy though and vows not to quit until he’s the best. What started initially as something to impress the girl he likes quickly becomes much more than that as he makes some rivals on the team and starts to really get invested. He really does want to be the best now and eventually score the famous Slam Dunk. Can he pull it off?

One thing that is impressive right out of the gate is how long the series is. There are over 30 volumes here and it’s almost hard to believe because the series goes by so quickly. Some games take a very long time to end after all which is also why the characters all have time to shine. In every big game the author tries to have all 5 starting players have a big role and often times even a few players off the bench will do big things. After all there are more than 5 big players on the team and that number grows as the series goes on.

Initially you really have 3 big players in Sakuragi, Rukawa, and Akagi. Sakuragi can barely play at all so you’ve really just got 2 big players. Then after that we have an ex delinquent show up and before you know it, other big players are jumping on. Then a few of the final years or behind the scenes players get to do their thing. So the team ends up being really well balanced which is nice to see and you get really invested here. You had to see them lose a lot of rounds before they made it to this stage in the game so this is like the big payoff. I will say that the school names tend to blend together though. Sakuragi’s team is Shohoku but other big teams also start with an S. So the best thing to do is memorize the main team’s name so you always know that any other team is their opponent.

The art style is fairly retro but definitely high tier all the way. It’s one of the cleaner art styles that I’ve seen and it has aged incredibly well. You really feel the intensity behind each of the battles. Slam Dunk is the kind of series that has some actual hand to hand battles in addition to what’s on the field so those moments are always fun as well. Sakuragi obviously has experience with his fists and one consistent thing throughout the series is that he is the absolute strongest. In a fight nobody can bring him down and I was glad that this proved to be true the whole way. The odds that there was another basketball player who was just as strong would have been a bit much. A lot of the others can fight and do their best to put up a fight but they’re no Sakuragi.

To make up for this, it takes a long while for Sakuragi to actually get good. If you’re worried about him getting good immediately, don’t be. He doesn’t actually turn the corner until the very end of the series. For a little bit there you’re even worried about just how much he will be able to contribute in the end. He still makes a lot of basic mistakes even by the end but you can absolutely see the progress. He starts by working on rebounds, then free throws, and then finally the ability to go for the slam dunk. You’re even invested enough where you get annoyed when he messes up a play or misses a shot because you are really rooting for his success. That’s the hallmark of a great character.

Now you might be wondering, why don’t I like the ending? Well, it’s virtually impossible to get into that without spoilers but it pulls the kind of ending that I’ve seen several other sport series pull and it never works. The kind of ending I want is a really satisfying one where the team leaves everything on the table. They still have a bright future and no real setbacks outside of a possible loss. I don’t mind the characters losing the big game or anything like that but you shouldn’t stockpile anything on top of that. Still, I can’t deny that it is a very tense climax all the way and one of the best Basketball games in the series.

You may be wondering, with 31 volumes, there has to be more to the plot right? Well, in a small scale yes, there is of course a lot of context and mini subplots going on here that I haven’t mentioned but in a large sense yeah this is the plot. Generally it is about all of the characters uniting to win the big tournament. Along the way there are a lot of different games and it’s not just one tournament. They get to play in all seasons so if they lose one tournament then they have a chance in the next one. Generally the only time limit is that they need to win something before the third years retire because otherwise they won’t get to see the big trophy at the end. Perhaps it is already too late for those guys but Sakuragi is going to do his best to win.

You don’t need much more than that for this kind of series. It’s the same for titles like Kuroko’s Basketball and Prince of Tennis. Playing the game and getting farther and farther is the whole point of the adventure so you don’t need anything more than that. It’s also why the volumes blend together because of the games continuing across them and a lot of them being in the same tournament. The games keep on getting longer and longer too in order to show off how intense the opponents are. In a few chapters you only really get one pass as the teams size each other up.

Okay lets talk about the characters now. There are certainly a good amount of them running around here. First up is Sakuragi and there’s not much more that I need to say about him. He’s a really fun character who always gives the team hope when they are down. He doesn’t scare easy and is the kind of person you want to have your back. He will absolutely defend you all the way. His basic understanding of the game means that he will mistakes and will fall for traps but he is always improving at a very fast rate. So give him time and he will be the best on the field at some point.

His romance plot is a little basic as he falls for Haruko right away and it almost feels like more of a gag than anything else. You can cut him some slack because clearly this isn’t a situation that he is used to and it is a big part of the series to be sure. I just wasn’t really behind the romance on this one. He needed to just focus on the game and the series barely has time for this plot for most of the duration. It’s the vehicle that got him to start Basketball but that’s pretty much the end of its use.

Haruko’s a good character though and she always does her best to be supportive. She does have Sakuragi’s back as a good friend and while she likes Rukawa, she doesn’t act really desperate about it. In fact, it’s easy to forget that she likes him at some points because it is never a really big deal here. It’s just a part of her character plot. Rukawa certainly has no time for any of that since he is busy trying to be the very best Basketball player in the world. Rukawa is a really good rival who can dish it out against anyone. Sakuragi is a very physical kind of guy after all and Rukawa responds in kind. I like his confidence and overwhelming skill.

That said, I do think that he tends to disappear a little here and there when the going gets tough. Towards the end we do have a subplot into that as he is reminded that if he wants to be the best then he should be able to defeat anyone who gets in his way. This does end up lighting a fire underneath Rukawa and he puts up one of his best performances. So while he was generally one of the most impressive players all the way, he really reached his potential by the end. He was definitely a great rival to keep Sakuragi honest the whole time.

Then you have Akagi who is basically the strong man of the group. He is always ready to land a good rebound and he is one of the only people that Sakuragi will always listen to. The lead has a lot of respect for the guy and it’s not just because he’s related to the main heroine. Akagi is a natural leader and while he may get down in the dumps once in a while, he usually keeps his head high and has good advice. He’s the cornerstone of the team and as long as he believes there is a chance, everyone fights really hard.

Of course you also have the coach but my hot take is that he’s not very good. Sure, he will show up every now and again with a good play but for the most part he leaves everyone to their devices. Not a bad idea by any means when you’ve got a lot of talent on your squad but it does mean that I don’t give him much credit when they win. After all he didn’t actually do much about that right? That’s the only way to see this. The assistant Ayako does a better job of making sure that each player has what they need. She does all of her duties smoothly and it shows. There’s also a romance plot with her going on but it’s even less of a focus than Sakuragi’s plot so you can safely ignore it.

Kogure is one of the quieter players on the team but he can still play as needed. The guy doesn’t stand out but what he does have on his side is a lot of experience. He keeps his cool under pressure and can get a few baskets in. He’s a solid example of a supporting character who would help out during crunch time even if he wasn’t an elite. The same is true for Yasuda as well. He always keeps his cool and doesn’t fall for the enemy’s mind games. So if the teams are getting fouled a lot then you can count on him to step in and save the day. Or at least buy some time, you’ll still need someone who can really score.

Mitsui is another fun member of the team who can actually fight pretty hard in real life as well as on the court. He was gone for a while at the start so the team has good reason to be annoyed with him but his skills are definitely the real deal. His three point shots get the team out of a lot of holes. It’s such a huge deal to be able to get those extra points as needed. He may not be the calmest guy and it’s pretty easy to egg him on but when you’re on a team with the wild card Sakuragi, it’s fine to have some attitude issues on the court. They will end up sorting themselves out after all.

Then you have Miyagi who is another solid player. He seems to think of himself as Sakuragi’s rival at times but I wouldn’t quite put him in the same weight class there. He is absolutely a good player and all but I never found him to be outstanding. Hey, you need a full team of 5 to go up against the opponents so he still filled in his spot really well. He was a solid guy to have on board. These are all of the big players on the main team. There are others who ride the bench and get a quick moment here and there but for the most part they won’t be making an impact in the actual game. Now it’s time to look at some of the other players on the rival teams.

First up we have one of the strongest teams in the series so you can bet that they have a stacked lineup. Their lead player is Maki who is basically the best all around player in the series. He can dunk, he can play defense, he has speed, he can do anything. I like his overall confidence and even by the end I don’t think that the rival actually surpassed him. There’s no shame in that though, this guy is seriously the real deal so that is to be expected. He’s not just some obstacle though, he gets a good amount of character beyond that. He’s actually a rather fun guy, he’s just naturally competitive on the court.

His coach Takato is also much better than the main coach although that’s true for all of them so I may as well say that now. This guy actually uses a lot of strategy and puts his team in the best position to win. Kiyota is another tough fighter who has confidence on the level of Sakuragi the whole time and this guy’s actually really good. Of course you can expect that Sakuragi will eventually be better than him but this guy is the more complete player at the moment.

Jin and Takato may not be all star players in the way that the others are but they are always put in to win at the right times. They have specific talents like the 3 point shot for example and the coach has them make a move when Sakuragi’s crew least expects it. Just another example of how important it is to have a great coach. A great coach can single handily change the way a match is going to play out. There’s no doubt of that.

Next up we have the team with Uozumi and Sendoh leading the charge. This was another great tag team. Uozumi really made for a rival to Akagi and had a lot of overall power. In a one on one he would tend to lose to our guy but one benefit of always losing is that you have more to work on down the road. So he kept up his game and now he is fully a match for Akagi, even taking the lead at some points. He’s not a dirty player or anything though and keeps everything above board which I respect. It’s easy to acknowledge him as a solid rival.

Meanwhile Sendoh was a rival for Rukawa and did well there. He does light a fire under Sakuragi as well at times but I would say that Rukawa is his main focus. This is another guy who has a case for being the best overall Basketball player. He puts a lot of effort into every part of his game and once he gets serious it is hard to beat him. His one weakness is that it takes time for him to get serious at some points but it does always happen eventually so that’s important. He’s so good it’s not like there is usually a reason for him to get serious early on.

The next team has Kawata and Fukatsu as the big two. Kawata is a really strong player who relies on his strength all the way. That’s not to say that he can’t make shots but this is his big strength to the point where it takes everything Sakuragi has to stop him. It makes for a great rivalry all the way and he’s definitely a player that you really have to account for. Fukatsu is more of the solid all around type. He calmly manages the ball and gets his whole team involved. Another player that really makes it difficult for the opponents to do much against him. This team is a bit weaker than the others in terms of the big two but it’s fairly relative at this point.

There are naturally a bunch of other players across the rest of the teams. This series has no shortage of them but these are the biggest characters that have a role in the series. They are guys that all left an impact and in general they were all good. There are no characters that I found to be super annoying or anything like that. They all had good roles and kept things interesting.

At no point in the series will you be even remotely bored either. Each of the matches are important and will have you on the edge of your sear. Sport series like this also remind you that victory is never guaranteed either so you really don’t know if they will win or not. It’s different from an action series where the characters have to win to an extent or the series is over. In this case that’s not what is happening. Sure, you can still pick up on trends and everything but it is all executed really well.

Overall, Slam Dunk is an excellent series and definitely one of those titles that you aren’t likely to forget. The games are all really great and the cast is very likable. With 30+ volumes you have plenty of time to get used to all of the characters and see what makes them tick. I would even say it probably has a stronger cast than Kuroko’s Basketball to be honest. So that’s one area where I have to give this one the edge. Whether you like Basketball or not I dare say that you can really appreciate the story. It’s just a great story about competitive nature and also what it means to really be a team.

Overall 9/10

Rambo III Review

Posted on May 12, 2024 by dreager1

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

All right, we’ve made it to the end of the Rambo trilogy. The wheels are starting to fall off on this one. It’s actually still considerably better than the 4th film but that’s fairly easy. The sad part is that it easily has the best introduction out of any of the Rambo films. Rambo himself has finally found happiness. He’s an underground brawler who uses his skills in a non murderous way and has a humble living for himself. He uses the money to help out the locals and is a part of something bigger than himself. Naturally the government has to come and ruin that.

So basically Sam and the government show up to ask Rambo for his help once more. He wisely says no so they go without him and are quickly defeated. So Sam is captured and surprise….the enemies start torturing him. We all saw this coming already because this is Rambo and that’s how they set the stakes up really high. So the rest of the government shows up to ask Rambo to help and now it’s personal since Sam is his friend and Rambo takes up the call. Does he still have the skills to save the day?

The answer to that one is an easy yes. Rambo has always been a top notch fighter and that’s not stopping now. It is always good to see Rambo fighting and doing well of course but it’s just a shame that he can’t be allowed to ever have a good time for long. Sure you wouldn’t have a movie at that point with the same plot at least but throw in a multi year time skip like he was having fun for 5-10 years before they called him back.

One thing you will notice early on is that the pacing is incredibly slow though. While Sam is being tortured for the entire film in the B plot, Rambo spends the first 40 minutes actually getting to the conflict. First he has to trek through the desert, then he has to find the rebels, then they all get blown up, then he actually begins to fight. o the movie that you are here to watch about Rambo taking everyone out doesn’t happen until we’re roughly halfway through the film. That is an absolutely massive investment to make into the film.

It doesn’t help that the setting isn’t really my style either. In the desert it’s pretty much nonstop sand the whole time. It makes sense narratively as most of the war torn areas will naturally start to look the same but as a viewer I’d rather we’re in the big cities already. But yes back to the film, Rambo has to also play some local games before he can head out. It helps him bond with everyone but you also can’t help but feel like this was wasting a ton of time that allowed the villains to come in and take them down.

It’s not like you can live in fear or anything but you are in the middle of a war with enemies actively approaching so maybe now isn’t the best time for a game. The worst part is that apparently the game is really dangerous and it’s easy to get injured. Yeah this sounds worse and worse the more I talk about it. It makes no sense except as an excuse to have a big action set piece.

As always we do have Sam being the hype guy for Rambo which is nice but since he is captured the whole time it doesn’t help a whole lot. So if you’re hear for the hype then the first film does better. If you’re here for the action then the second film is more unrelenting. So this is just a weaker version. There’s also this kid who wants to help Rambo the whole time and it’s wholesome and all but he should be far away from the front lines here. Rambo does try to get rid of him as soon as possible though so props to him for that.

What I can say for the film as a positive is that the drop off isn’t dramatic. While it sounds bad compared to the first two films, it’s not like this is suddenly a 2 star film. It can be a little more boring but at least those scenes are moments where you don’t have to worry about a lot of violence or people being tortured so that’s a positive. Being boring isn’t great and that sounds like an insult in its own way but sometimes it can beat the alternative.

The action scenes do hold up well and the same is true of the special effects. The opening fight is the best part of the film like I mentioned before. It was a good way to re-introduce Rambo and show us how skilled he is. Considering how well trained he is and his athletics it would be nice to see him doing more activities like that outside of always being in a war zone. Maybe make him an instructor as a main plot at some point. Just anything but throwing him into another war torn battlefield. Styling on the enemy soldiers every time is great and all but surely you need some variety.

Overall, Rambo III is the start of the real decline for the series but we’re not at the bottom yet. I do think the series goes too far in establishing the stakes, relying on the same tools all the time but at least we do still have a great main character. The fights and action scenes are solid and when the film is going full blast it’s on point. It just tends to get sidelined the whole time. So if you like Rambo a lot then you should check it out but otherwise if you just liked the intro fight then you should watch Rocky to get the full film like that.

Overall 4/10

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