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Eoraptor02
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Captain America (1990)
An under-rated action romp
The 1990 Euro-American Captain America really gets a lot of bad press that it doesn't deserve. While it definitely has some flaws, playing fast and loose with some plot points (honestly no more so than the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe), it does stay true to the spirits of its main characters, and includes the same sorts of sly call-backs that those of us raised with RDJ's Ironman and the more modern Cap have since come to expect.
Where the movie really struggles in its budgeting choices, lavish location shots and action sequences definitely thrill the eyes, but the money probably would have been better spent on costumes and lighting/camera quality, where interior shots often come off dark and grainy. (you'll see many reviewers complain about cap's spandex, which compares poorly to Keaton's 1989 Batman, and even Christopher Reeve's final turn as Superman) Another point where the movie probably failed to compete is in tone... it's not quite as dark or as cartoonish as the contemporary 1989 batman, but likewise it's not as comedic or uplifting as the 80's superman movies, making it an awkward fit for audiences of the day expecting one or the other. And its largely European villains and themes would have probably have failed with an American audience had it gotten a US theater release.
But make no mistake, the movie is chock full of good points. By the standards of a 1990 movie, the physical stunts are impressive, relying more on physical talent than on wire-work or camera tricks; and the exotic localities serve to impress the spy-thriller tone of the story very well, giving feel of the dying days of the cold war and European espionage. The cast fit their rolls very well, even when those roles seem a bit ill defined by a script that cuts to different settings quickly with a spy-novel's sensibilities. It has all the flair and bombast you'd expect of a movie written in the late 80s/early 90s action piece with a slight kung-fu twist.
While this flick certainly shows some of its age and budgetary constraints to a sophisticated 21st century audience, it's worth a watch for any fan of capes movies or action film buffs.
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts (2015)
So much Nope
This is just a rotten cartoon. I honestly don't think it would entertain anyone over the age of six.
If you don't know what Batman Unlimited is, it's essentially a line Batman universe toys which, until now, didn't have any cartoon or comicbook to back them up. This movie attempts to do that for kids... but yeah, it's not even worth the $3.99 digital view price.
The first thing you'll notice on viewing it is that, unlike previous Direct-to-DVD DC Comics cartoons, this one doesn't fly under the "Warner Premier" banner. Meaning it has none the writing pedigree or production values of movies like "Under the Red Hood" or "Batman: Gotham Knight." And that shows in how full of plot holes and contrivances this toon is; such as the bat-dog-robot-motorcycle and the clumsy attempt to tie in the Batman Beyond suit, which is instantly forgotten to move on to the next in a line of "neon street luge batman" bat costumes you get throughout the viewing. Villains are given no more reason to work together and no more plot than the fact that they share an animal theme, and one of the heroes just happens to be hanging around Gotham City despite not even having a connection to Batman ever mentioned.
In other words, the movie is a 90 minute toy commercial, and it makes the original Thundercats and Silverhawks seem like Shakespeare by comparison.
The Awesomes (2013)
aggressively uninteresting
Tried to watch "The Awesomes"... I really did but... meh. It's clearly a labour of love from Seth Myers, but that's about all I can say for it. It suffers one of the fatal flaws that Alphas did for me; for a show about Superheroes, there is surprisingly little superheroing or action about it.
It's a lot of introspective self-indulgent whining by a c list superhero squad thrust into the spotlight, and it really doesn't even do that well. It lacks the pop-culture cache of Futurama, the edge of Watchmen, the genre-awareness of Incredibles, or the whit of Kim Possible, even though it is clearly trying for all of those marks. The plotting takes a lot of predictable tropes, and sadly it can't execute them well enough to make them interesting, or poorly enough to make them camp.
The animation is stilted and low quality. In an era when even an amateur can turn in Caanes and Sundance quality work from a moderately powerful PC; it's flat, jerky, and the designs and color choices are uninspired. In the first 22 minute installment, the only things visually that caught my eye were a hairnet and a biplane. Not a character, a costume, a setting, or even a gadget, but a plot gag and one-note throw-away joke. It feels like a three minute SNL animated bit stretched to 22 minutes, which makes it painful on some level.
...in the end, this show falls into that deadly zone of mediocrity; it's not aggressively bad enough to be talked down, but it's not good enough to be talked up either. In short, its not surprising no one is talking about this show at all. Hulu's limited budget could have been far better spent elsewhere.
Sorry Seth, but stick to observational humor, because clearly superheroes is not your forte.