omar-alikaj Reviews

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

Good Looney Tunes Movie, Mediocre LeBron James Movie

[6/10 · 18 July 2021]

I'll keep it brief, but let's just say that LeBron James is definitely not actor of the year. When he finally meets the Looney Tunes after he and his son, Dom, get into trouble with the Warner Bros AI, the film's antagonist, then it gets interesting since the Looney Tunes characters were fun enough to carry the film.

With that though, they should've taken cue from the first movie and introduce us to the Looney Tunes characters earlier, and point out the stakes through the AI character.

The ending also could've been better, longer, and covering more than one real-life location. The closest we got are the photos in the credits.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Good Godzilla Story, but a Better Kong Story

[9/10 · 31 March 2021]

I was able to watch the movie on March 27, and I can say that this is a better Kong movie than the first. Godzilla though, its only focus throughout the film is attacking a lab facility in Hong Kong, a key focus of an investigative podcaster, Bernie, wanting to figure out what's being worked on at his former place of employment, Apex Cybernetics. With that, you can already guess that human characters play a role in the movie, both for Godzilla and Kong.

In fact, the movie begins with Kong, and it soon establishes that Kong has a connection with a deaf human girl, Jia, but is also trapped in a camouflaged facility against its will. The girl's mother, Ilene, soon clarifies that it was to protect Kong from being hunted down by Godzilla, a problem they'll soon face when trying to relocate Kong by sea (again against its will), as shown on the trailer. Throughout this part of the film, the focus is on Jia and Ilene, and how Jia seems to understand Kong better than anyone else by using sign language, giving Kong human characteristics such as happiness, belonging to a home, sadness, and even doubt. This, in my opinion, is the best monster and human interaction in the whole movie.

And Godzilla? We have returning human characters from the previous film, Mark and his daughter, Madison. Noticing that Godzilla was attacking the area around Apex Cybernetics in an out-of-character fashion, Madison knew that Godzilla wouldn't just turn against humans all of a sudden and, being a fan of Bernie... with her dad dismissing him as being nuts, she decided to investigate the matter with some assistance from a supporting character, Josh. What amounts is Josh bribing a shopkeeper to share Bernie's location, the trio breaking into the lab, and discovering the real reason for Godzilla's attacks: the main villain(?), Walter, was constructing Mecha Godzilla as Godzilla's replacement, and has his daughter, Maya, following the Kong crew to Hollow Earth... an area Kong seems to be familiar with, to steal Kong's axe. This is required to supercharge Mecha Godzilla, but this doesn't happen since Maya accidentally provokes Kong, which then kills her off with its palm. In a way, the whole Kong story till this point felt a bit like Disney's "Atlantis: The Lost Empire."

Speaking of cartoons, the event that leads to the climax can be described as "cartoonish." Prior, Mecha Godzilla was actually controlled by a human connection via biological supercomputer, or Ghidorah's wired skull basically. However, since this supercomputer was self-learning, Mecha Godzilla gets a mind of its own, fries the human controller, gradually makes its way towards Walter's office at a high elevation, and claws him to death. With that, Mecha Godzilla breaks its way into Hong Kong, picking a fight with Godzilla that just finished off Kong, resulting to more havocs and casualties.

I almost forgot to mention that, before Mecha Godzilla shows up in Hong Kong, Godzilla just got done finishing Kong, possibly putting it at risk of cardiac arrest. Another supporting character from the Kong crew, Nathan, actually helps by turning his flying vehicle into an oversized CPR. Earlier in the film, using sign language of course, Jia and Ilene made fun of how "cowardly" Nathan was towards Kong, but you barely notice strong proof of this. In fact, he actually turns out to be sympathetic towards, even to the point of risking his life with his oversized CPR, so that Kong may help Godzilla take down Mecha Godzilla. By the end, it feels satisfying to see Jia and Ilene badding Nathan on the back (not literally) for his bravery, after gaining consciousness.

In fact, the climax focuses on Kong and Godzilla taking down Mecha Godzilla, and the human characters helping to handicap Mecha Godzilla from the lab. As some people said online, the resulting monster fight is worthy of the big screen. Honestly, this is probably the best part of Godzilla's story, which otherwise focused mainly on sniffing out Mecha Godzilla since the beginning of the film, while occasionally clashing with Kong. By the end of the fight Mecha Godzilla, Godzilla and Kong roar at each other, probably implying mutual understanding between them, and Godzilla makes its way into the sea, parting ways.

The climax, honestly I was expecting something better, especially for Godzilla, but I felt like Kong being at home in Hollow Earth with his human friends and family was a good way to end the film.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

It's Just Okay

[6/10 · 9 February 2021]

The movie was alright, but not great... unless you don't mind a businessman/father ignoring common sense solutions in pursue of a "wishing stone." That doesn't make for a grand villain, thus making this film feel like a filler. It even got someone I was watching the film with almost walking out.

Also, the movie seems to like to show men to be douchy or misogynistic towards women, but the only purpose that served was to introduce us to Barbara Minerva becoming Cheetah... encounter of which didn't last long. I thought that Diana/Wonder Woman would've seen some good in men or something... not just her wished-up boyfriend, similar to the animated "Justice League" cartoon show of the 1990s and 2000s.

Overall, the film was ok, but nothing to write home about.

The Breadwinner (2017)

An Okay Film

[5/10 · 17 August 2020]

The movie was okay, but how a movie ends can either make or break it; the ending was unsatisfying, leaving the viewers to imagine the outcome with that story scene of the seeds germinating. (Also, since it's centered around the Taliban, and their alleged treatment of women, it felt mean-spirited, especially on the female characters. The movie was okay, but just not for me.)

Wacky Races (2017–2019)

Basically Mario Kart without Mario or Actual Racing

[7/10 · 15 December 2019]

Imagine you just bought a new Mario Kart game. Let's say it's "Mario Kart 9" for the Nintendo Switch. You play the game, and you quickly realize that the main character of the game, Mario, is nowhere to be seen on the character roster. He's not unlockable either. To complicate matters, not only more characters are missing, the whole game is about the everyday life and misadventures between the characters rather than the actual races, from start to finish. This is "Wacky Races" 2017 in a nutshell.

New characters like I.Q. Ickly are welcome, but I couldn't help realizing that favorite racers from the 1960s original are absent. Examples include the Slag Brothers (a YouTuber even theorized how they won the Wacky Races by stats overall), the Red Mac, the Serge, and, most importantly, the Anthill Mob. This is where the "Mario Kart" missing character scenario shines. The Anthill Mob, who are absent in the 2017 version, were important because they were affiliated with Penelope Pitstop in the 1960s original, but more especially in her own show, "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop". Crossing them out is like having a "Mario Kart" game with just Princess Peach and Wario returning, and maybe Bowser, but Mario, Luigi, and even Toad are missing.

So, with characters missing, and this version not concentrating on the races, what's it really about?

The original was all about racing, the narrator/sport commentator showing off the bells and whistles each racer's car has to overtake leading racers, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley, the show's main villains, sabotaging the race so that they may cheat their way into first place.

The 2017 version, on the other hand, focuses on non-racing misadventures. Examples include winter Olympics (this was literally the first episode), how to get out of the wilderness and back to the race, getting out of Dick Dastardly's body, historical events that don't necessarily relate to, or concentrate on, actual racing, Muttley being a secret spy to who looks like Secret Squirrel 90's buffalo boss, among others.

Admittedly, the episodes are entertaining, and I liked them as time-wasters whenever I tune into Boomerang Africa, but don't expect the whole show to pay tribute to the old show besides self-aware jokes on how awful the 2017 version is*. I mean, it's called "Wacky Races", not "Wacky Racers", but we got what we got.

The final criticisms I have, although minor, are the bright colors implemented on the overall artstyle.

To conclude, "Wacky Races" 2017 is a good-enough show that questionably crosses out memorable characters, concentrates on characters rather than the actual races, and occasionally kicks itself for not being as good as the 1960s original.

* - Note to Warner Bros.: Reverse psychology isn't always achieved doing this. You may only be negatively advertising your flaws to new-comers and long-time viewers alike.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Great Conclusion to Avengers and Infinity War, but with Mistakes

[9/10 · 28 April 2019]

Yesterday, I watched "Avengers: Endgame", and it's a great conclusion to the "Infinity War", and the most dramatic of the Avengers films. It was also surprising that a previous film, "Ant-man and the Wasp", although underwhelming, potentially kickstarted the vital plot of "Endgame".

Due to failed attempts to reverse the damages Thanos had caused, we see the likes of Iron Man losing his confidence, to the point of even shutting down ideas that could actually work (time-traveling in this case), and Thor eating and drinking himself into depression in "New Asguard" while playing "Fortnite". On the other hand, others like Black Widow were going around looking for Hawkeye, who was still angry over losing his entire family to Thanos' snap five years ago.

Then, Ant-man, having been trapped in the Quantum Realm for 5 years, which felt like a few minutes there, after coming to reality of what had happened during said 5 years, realized that one could weaponize the Quantum Realm to reverse Thanos' deed. This ends up being the main plot of "Endgame", as the goal of the surviving Avengers is to time-travel to various events of past Avengers and related films, and steal all ten Infinity Stones before Thanos could get them. They have to return the stones though, or else, according to the Ancient One, they could cause undesirable branches within the timeline, with Bruce Bender/Hulk (Bruce and Hulk are somehow fused together at this time-line) promising not letting such branch to happen.

In short: I liked the time-traveling mission, and how Thanos of 9 years ago through his Nebula managed to see the future through present-day Nebula, to the point of spying on the present-day Avengers, and launching an attack on their base after their mission. This paves the way to the climax, where the Avengers have to fight Thanos once again.

Before the attack, Bruce manages to use the Infinity Stones to bring back the fallen, who, half-way through the fight, with the help from Doctor Strange, join the battle again Thanos and his army. Obviously real-life, with heavy mix of CGI scenes, I liked how epic and urgent the battle ultimately felt on screen.

As a bigger spoiler, a handful of Avengers and Marvel characters never come back.

For starter, it looked like Thanos destroyed Vision for good while obtaining an Infinity Stone from his forehead in "Infinity War".

As we already know, Camora was sacrificed in "Infinity War" in order for Thanos to obtain an Infinity Stone. We never saw her since seeing her younger self at the end of "Infinity War", despite being on the same planet as where the Avengers found Thanos on in "Endgame". Maybe "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3" might address this?

In "Endgame", the same thing happens to Black Widow while she and Hawkeye were fighting each other for the right to jump off the cliff... in order for the survivor to walk away with an Infinity Stone.

Since they're naturally radioactive, using the Infinity Stones nearly killed Thanos, as he explains at the beginning, with obvious injury on the side of his face. This causes Bruce to voluntarily use it on himself to bring the fallen back to life. But, in the climax, Tony (i.e Iron Man) urgently steals them back from Thanos, and uses them to end Thanos and his army. Tony is not as lucky as Bruce, and dies from his resulted injury.

From the resolution, the price being paid to bring the fallen back to life, and restore peace and order to the world, is realized, as the characters gather to mourn Tony at his residence. How the film ends, with Thor vacating his throne to fly to space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, really marks the end of an era for the current version of the Avengers. In short, I'd describe it as being "bitter sweet".

But, that's not to say that the film is without demerits.

The biggest issue is the time-traveling itself. The Avengers say to each other that changing the past won't necessarily change the future, as long as they don't do things that include meeting up with their past selves. That happens three times: Captain America, and Nebula interacting with, and even fatally shooting, her past self. Even Quill, in the process of finding that purple Infinity Stone, gets knocked out by War Machine, potentially causing the events of "Guardians of the Galaxy" not to happen. (Remember, in that film, Ronan's men were simultaneously looking for that Infinity Stone.)

In the resolution, Steve (i.e Captain America) time-travels to return the Infinity Stones back to their original spots, but is then revealed to have purposely returned to his original time to settle down with his old crush. This could potentially alter events and people till the present day. Many had even pointed out that Steve forgot all about Bulky. Let's say that he somehow found and reunited with Bulky in the past. In that case, the movie never addresses that. (He did hand his shield over to its new owner: Falcon.)

And finally, with help from Doctor Strange, the characters affected by Thanos return, but they apparently never aged, making them 5 years younger than they're supposed to be presently.

As a YouTuber, "Somecallmejohnny", said during his Sonic 06 review regarding Shadow: "Why time-travel? That's almost never a good plot device! If it's done incorrectly, which is very easy to do, s*** like this can happen!"

And also, the guys at Marvel Studio promised that Captain Marvel was going to be a huge part of the film. That honor goes to Iron Man as explained earlier, and even Ant-man weaponizing the Quantum Realm. Captain Marvel only ends up giving air support.

In short: It is a great, but bitter sweet, way to end the saga of "Infinity War", even the whole of "Avengers", as the credits show the name of the casts with their signatures, but no secret scenes. Just, don't expect this film to be 100% perfect all the way.

Little Witch Academia (2017)

A Great Anime with Minor Complaints

[8/10 · 4 October 2018]

"Little Witch Academia" is Netflix-exclusive Anime that's worth watching, and for a handful of reasons.

Mainly, the best parts of it are the characters. They're vary. Akko, i.e. the main character, is the optimist, Lotte is an average girl with glasses, Sucy, although a good person, is a goth-like character that can be malicious to Akko for the fun of it... and has a thing for mushrooms. And yet, these three are close friends and roommates. In season one's episode, "Sleepy Sucy", while in Sucy's consciousness, in an attempt to wake her up to prevent a catastrophe, Akko learned that Sucy, despite pulling that snake trick over the bridge, on the first day of school, appreciated meeting Akko that day. It's a subtle moment, and one of the show's many.

This doesn't include supporting characters like Amanda, Constance, Diana, Andrew (a son of a politician who doesn't like witches), or even some of the teachers, and how Akko interacts with them throughout the show's run. It was especially interesting seeing how Akko became friends with stick-in-the-mud characters like Andrew and Diana, to the point of knowing a lot more about them.

Another charm to LWA is Akko's journey as a fellow student of Luna Nova, with fans wondering how good she'd get in magic, and if she'd ever find her childhood idol, Shiny Chariot.

(Spoiler alert!) Akko's closest teach and mentor, Professor Ursula, is actually Shiny Chariot in disguise the whole time. On the other hand, viewers should have realized this since the first episode, since only Chariot could have possessed a unique wand called the "Shiny Rod", which Professor Ursula magically handed over to Akko, in an attempt to save her and her would-be roommates.

With that being said, apart from Akko, it was interesting to watch Ursula/Chariot, since she was throwing hints that she had self-doubts, despite what she told her audience, including Akko, 10 years ago at her shows. This is also made interesting when you realized that she planned to tell Akko everything, not to mention the events of season two.

This is probably why S2E10, "Yesterday", is my most favorite episode of the entire series. Following Akko and Chariot's journeys from the first episode, adding Akko's feeling of betrayal by Chariot, and Chariot's backstory on trying to get the Shiny Rod to work as intended, you'll feel the emotions, from when Akko's classmates worrying if she'd ever return to Luna Nova, to Diana yelling at Chariot for not stopping Akko from running away. The whole episode, and what Diana revealed about her childhood to Akko, to even Lotte breaking down in tears over Akko's disappearance, it felt sad, but ultimately heart-warming.

Overall, add all the characters, their interactions, and journeys together, with a good mix of action, comedy, drama, and suspense, LWA is worth watching.

And before I forget, the English voice-acting, since I prefer English dub, was really good, along with the music, soundtrack, and the rather unique drawing style of Anime characters. The art style wasn't like any Anime I saw, which got me getting used to eventually, but especially liked the season one credits because of this, plus the coloring.

But, I also do have some minor complaints. Not of anything that ruins a show, but still worth mentioning.

Firstly, season two sets a different tone to LWA from what we got used to with season one. Season one, in most parts, is about Akko trying to learn magic at Luna Nova... and sucks at it, while salivating over the name "Shiny Chariot". We also got to see her interact with her classmates, even Diana and her associates who can be described as being "mean". Season two, on the other hand, puts more emphasis on the new teacher, Croix, doing something sinister within Luna Nova, and Akko going on misadventures outside Luna Nova with her classmates... from entering an all boys' school that'd gladly kill a witch in an instance, to finding out more on Croix's schemes. This is not to mention the rivalry between Chariot and Croix, with Chariot making the start of S2E11 feel like I was watching "Star Wars".

Overall, these things make season two feel like I was watching a very different show, probably due to its nature as rounding up the entire show's plot about Akko being a witch in-training, and meeting Shiny Chariot at last.

Another issue seldom mentioned, was that, other than witches being "obsolete" compared to today's tech, they didn't properly explain why witches were hated that much by politicians, or why their kids had that anti-witch club at their school.

Shiny Chariot, under pressure at one of her shows ten years ago, fired a projectile to the moon with the Shiny Rod, but it wasn't explained well what that was, what that tend on the moon was about, or why the younger Croix proceeded to erasing people's memories. If an explanation was given earlier, a reminder would have been appreciated.

Speaking of Chariot, how come, under her alias "Professor Ursula", she didn't just tell the other teachers and the headmistress about Croix's plot sooner?

Andrew was supposed to have returned Akko's hat, but a commotion in town distracted Akko from collecting it. I assumed that we'd see Andrew try again, or if he and Akko would get closer. Neither got addressed by season two's finale. (Update: Apparently, Andrew returned it in the final seconds of the last episode, but it happened so briefly that I didn't notice the first time.)

Speaking of which, if the show really ended with season two, it felt rushed. As soon as we understood Chariot and Croix's rivalry better, and saw Akko finally unlocking all "seven words", with Chariot, Croix, Akko and her classmates abruptly chosen as the "New Nine Witches", season two ends.

And speaking of finale, season two ends with a rescue mission out of nowhere. Because Croix wanted to find the "world-altering magic" through science, she accidentally created an artificial monster that turned against her. A bit of her tech, without warning, hijacked a government missile and fired it, presumably, towards Akko's home country. This was because of the negative energy, which were collected by Croix, from British football fans who thought that they were robbed of their victory against said country. I admit that it was epic seeing Akko and six of her classmates merging their brooms, the Shiny Rod, and the life-altering magic into a space vehicle, which they used to go after the missile. Each student, due to limited magic, breaks away, relying on the remaining students, till Akko and Diana were the only two left, to stop it. With people seeing live broadcast of the students chasing the missile, everyone, much to the displeasure to said politicians, gave the students their support, implicitly restoring magic all over the world as the younger Shiny Chariot originally intended. In fact, present-day Chariot, with help from Croix, hijacked the broadcasting frequently to rally people to show the students their support... in order to stop the missile successfully. Random strangers, and even characters that Akko and her classmates came across since season one, watch the broadcast.

The only problem, although LWA tries to keep quiet about it, is that: wouldn't people suspect that witchcraft was somehow responsible for firing said missile in the first place? In an alternate scenario, this should have made things harder for anyone studying witchcraft in the modern society that considers witchcraft "obsolete".

The flaws I pointed out, plot holes, and minor story bits left unaddressed are among the reasons why I think that LWA is a great anime, but not too outstanding. Despite the flaws, the comedy, action, drama, and the character developments, from seasons 1 to 2, will keep you engaged. If you aren't already doing so, consider LWA as your next favorite from Netflix.

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)

A Good MLP Movie with Some Weaknesses

[7/10 · 8 November 2017]

"My Little Pony: The Movie" is a good send-off to the TV series, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", but it also has some weaknesses as well.

Putting the more advanced-looking art style aside, and the great soundtracks, I'll be talking about the plot primarily, which is still good as a whole.

Being the conclusion of the current MLP chapter, we look at whole of Equestria, especially Twilight Sparkle, preparing for the " Festival of Friendship", which was disrupted by an invasion by the Storm King's minions and henchmen. Naturally, everyone is enslaved, and all the princesses but Twilight are turned to stone. The latter is needed so that the Storm King, an ape-looking main villain of the movie, may use the alicorns' powers for himself.

The main characters (Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack) manage to escape Canterlot via a waterfall and decided to find help. Twilight overhears Princess Celestia, her mentor, trying to summon the "Hippos", but this misunderstanding led to a series of events that came too quickly. The show took its time, usually two or more episodes, to look at each problem, villain, or new characters, so seeing characters like Capper, who tries to sell the ponies, allegedly taking them to the wrong hippos, on purpose to pay off his debts, all the way to meeting Griffin pirates working for the Storm King, against their will, felt a bit rushed.

By the time both Capper and the pirates decided to purposely stall for time, so Twilight and friends can escape from the pirate ship, since the Storm King's minions showed up, the ponies finally find the real "hippos"... or "Hippogriff", horse creatures with fingers, wings, and beaks like birds. I thought that this part of the plot was interesting, especially with Twilight trying to talk to Queen Novo into helping the ponies take down the Storm King with her orb, to fooling her friends to keep Queen Novo busy so to secretly steal the orb... only for the friends, feeling betrayed, going on a shouting match with Twilight on the gloomy-looking sea side.

With the ponies in bad mood, going their separate ways, Twilight is easily captured, with another weakness of the plot shown. Tempest Shadow, a bitter helper to the Storm King, is just another Starlight Glimmer, the TV series main villain from season 5. Both Tempest and Starlight had rough childhoods at the cost of their friends, grew up feeling bitter towards the idea of making any new friends... only for Twilight to put some senses into their heads, and welcome them to Equestria's growing circle of friendship. Otherwise, Tempest could have had the opportunity of being a memorable MLP villain.

But, the main villain is, of course, the Storm King. It turns out that he dislikes everything about the ponies or "friendship", but very interested in obtaining the princesses' powers for himself. Even though he can now control the day and night, the movie doesn't go into details as to why the Storm King is the Storm King, or why he wanted the powers so badly, even lying that he'd be able to fix Tempest's broken horn. The Storm King, not just based on how he looks, feels like another Lord Tirek, the TV series villain from season 4 finale; they both hate ponies, but love their powers.

And also, we have three Pegasus with Twilight and friends, that, from walking into the desert (half-dying) to falling from the pirate ship, you'd be screaming "But some of you guys can fly, or have magic!".

Honestly, we could have more serious villains than what we got, especially when looking back to those of the 1980s era of My Little Pony, but, otherwise, everything else about the story was good. From Twilight and the princesses planning the Festival of Friendship to successfully pulling it off, and even welcoming Tempest, were pleasant to watch, and a welcome addition to the overall FiM canon.

They were also moments I did laugh out loud over, from Twilight and friends being themselves to Queen Novo of the Hippogriffs telling her daughter that she's grounded.

Sure, the movie won't be nominated for the best animated movie of the year, and it admittedly reuse some concepts from the FiM series, but, if you don't have anything else to watch, or you have young kinds, this movie is still worth watch, most especially to fans of the series.

Logan (2017)

A Good Film with A Few Things Off

[7/10 · 11 March 2017]

Basically, "Logan" is about an older, washed-up Wolverine now working as a chauffeur... and the whole X-Men thing apparently disbanded. Logan, while confronting Charles in their Mexican hideout in one point, seemed to offer a clue as to what happened to the others. As we watch on, the film's soon revealed to be about Logan now dealing with the fact that he can no long self-heal as before, while trying to escort lab-raised mutant kids to Canada for safety.

But, with escorting the kids to safety, that also means Pierce, leader of the security wing of the said lab, "Transigen", chasing everyone, even kidnapping and killing Logan's affiliates, Charles including. The kids were meant to be raised as an "X-23" mutant army by Dr. Rice, son of the infamous scientist who enhanced Wolverine in the past. Learning more about Dr. Rice by the climax was a plot twist I didn't expect knowing.

So to clarify, the whole misadventures start off when Gabriela, a Transigen staff taking care of one of the escaped mutant kids, Laura, tries hiring Logan to escort the two to Canada before Pierce catches up to them. Logan returns way too late, but manages to get Laura to his hiding place in Mexico... only for Pierce, who spoke to Logan earlier, showing up expressing his disappointment over Logan not tipping him off on Gabriela sooner. This, since he's very aware that Laura is around, turns into a full-blown confrontation, and Laura revealed to have the same capability as Logan: retrievable knuckle claws!

Outnumbered, Logan, Charles, and Laura are on the run, even hiding in hotels, and even accepting a family's invitation to sleep over for the night... with us audience wondering if Charles is stupid not worried about Pierce catching up, as opposed to not making unnecessary stops. This leads to what seems to be a Wolverine look- alike killing off Charles, kidnapping Laura, and killing off the entire family that took the good guys in for the night! It's made worse for the good guys trying to hide when their colleague, Caliban, was kidnapped to reluctantly share information on their whereabouts.

As it is, there are a lot of things I liked about the film.

With the conflict between Logan and Transigen's sides, there are action scenes. As mentioned earlier, Transigen has a Wolverine look- alike, or maybe a clone, thus that means that he's hard to kill. The same is true with Laura, which is why Transigen is careful when trying to catch her. But, with the R rating, expect bloods, deep wounds, and decapitations.

X-Men comics can be seen in select scenes of the movie. Apart from dissing their premise, they played an important role in pointing out where Logan should be heading to... even though, up till the climax, he doubted the area's existence, even fighting with Laura and Charles over it. Although, that same area was also written down on the money envelop Gabriela handed Logan.

And ultimately, I like that this is Hugh Jackman's farewell letter to his long-time Wolverine fans. It's an open secret that "Logan" would be his final movie as Wolverine, after years of service, as it is also implied with Logan's failing health, then death, by the end of the movie, as the kids make it to safety, with Laura re- positioning his grave's crucifix to resemble an "X".

But....

...That's not to say that there were some things that didn't put me off, although not greatly to hate the film.

Firstly, ignoring Charles' desire to put everyone in danger by making unnecessary stops, some of us accepted that Charles was killed off in "X-Men 3", despite that film not feeling as memorable as "X-Men 2". Charles felt like an extra who's too stubborn to take his medications to keep his psyche under control. I honestly thought that the movie's stronger strength would have just been concentrating on Logan and his personal struggles as an old man, and his illegitimate daughter.

Speaking of which, Laura, Logan's illegitimate daughter. After she and her friends escaping from the mutant facility, and moving into Canada, what's next for them and Transigen? Like "Assassin's Creed", the movie ended with little to no clues on a sequel, or, at least, what happens next.

And also, I think the movie got too much praise for being "R-rated", which ultimately alienated this film from the past X-Men movies. I don't mind R-rated films, but I'd seen better ones since when I was a kid like "Terminator" and "Die Hard", since, as I'd pointed out above, they got nicer resolutions. (Not to forget, changing the rating sort of left teen viewers in the dust. It's a shame, because I wanted my younger cousins to check it out.)

And finally, the movie is surprisingly depressing, from poor Charles accusing Logan "waiting for him to die" by keeping him sealed up in their hideout, to watching Logan's failing health... and, ultimately, death.

But, overall, it's a movie I was glad to watch. Sure, Stan Lee is absent here, and there wasn't any tease after the credits but, instead, note on how many jobs the movie created, but it's an X-Men spin-off that is better than even some of the X-Men origin and prequel movies in recent years. If you're interested in seeing how the Wolverine copes with old age, R-rated fight scenes, with a story of hope for younger mutants... and ignoring the lackluster ending, I recommend you guys watch "Logan".

Assassin's Creed (2016)

Da Vinci Code Meets Action and Sci-Fi

[8/10 · 30 December 2016]

Basically, this movie is based on earliest Assassin's Creed games... with minor changes, and the movie adaptation is a action-adventure, less-deep version of the "Da Vinci Code" series, but involving two groups fighting each over for 500 years... the battle unexpectedly resumes in the present-day.

Apart from the stunning visuals (more on that below), the movie's plot, if you have the patience, actually leads somewhere, despite some complaints. It features a criminal named "Callum Lynch" who was sentenced to death for murdering someone, but his death penalty was a cover-up to be subjected to a secret experiment run by "Sofia"... and a "new life and identity" in exchange.

Sofia made it sound like her facility were testing out a machine that could help Callum look back to his ancestor's past in the Muslim Spain, "Al-Andalus" (AKA "Andalusia"), 500 years ago. Thus, a type of time machine that lets you travel back into one's ancient mind. She says that this is essential in knowing why mankind is so violent, and aims to cure it.

Thus, the plot is divided into two: 500 years ago, and the present day, as the movie goes back and forth between the two.

500 years ago, a group of "Assassins", those game characters wearing the iconic hoods and hidden assassination tools, were appointed to steal back an ancient artifact called the "Apple of Eden", an ancient artifact that is believed to be the source that caused mankind's disobedience and free will against God Almighty... or at least in theory. This mission, as the plot expands, was essential because the Christian group, the "Templars", were in the process of destroying Al-Andalus... basically anything Muslim or "heretic", and kidnapping Sultan Muhammad's son to force his father to give up the Apple of Eden. Thus, it was revealed that Sultan Muhammad hired the Assassins from the start, foreseeing this scenario.

The lead assassin, Aguilar, Callum's ancestor, and a female member were proactive in saving the prince, but failed and were about to be burned alive, then escaped to get to the Sultan by the time the Templars did. Aguilar barely escaped, but successfully assigned others to keep the Apple of Eden in a safe location.

There, we return back to the present day. Throughout the movie, Callum is made to believe that his goal is to look back at his ancestor's time to better understand why mankind is so open to being violent in nature, and how that can be cured. (Thus, understandably, this gets us to see Callum's father who is also transferred to the same facility, with Callum being tested to see if he'd kill his father for murdering his mother thirty years ago.) But, as time passes, and the other prisoners at the facility, having sort of introduced themselves as descendants of past "Assassins", are increasingly becoming hostile towards Callum, accusing him of potentially making a bad decision by the last minute. But, having overtaken security officials and the facility, with fighting techniques and stolen weapons, they are proved wrong when Callum actually begins to realize that Sofia and her father, a pastor and owner of the said facility, are themselves descendants of the Templars... using Callum all that time to know where the Apple of Eden is!

Having realized that the 500-year-old fight for the Apple of Eden just resumed, Callum and the new generation of Assassins follow Sofia and her father to London where the modern Templars celebrated the potential fall of the Assassins, and the possession of the Apple of Eden... without anticipating Callum assassinating the pastor, and stealing back the Apple of Eden. Sofia obviously blames herself, since it was her experiments that made Callum realize what he was used for by the end, while mastering his ancestor's fighting techniques, even by fighting an hallucination form of him... much to security and the said pastor's concerns.

Probably, the only problem I had with the movie's story is the ending. After the assassination, we get to see the new assassins on a roof top at a long distance from the Templars' venue, then Callum deciding to fall off a roof. Then, the movie ends, with little to no hints of a new movie; not even a cliffhanger.

Another strong point of the movie is the visuals. From Callum's childhood days in Mexico to Al-Andalus, there is a heavy use of the yellow color filter, which I think adds to the charm of the overall presentation of the desert areas.

The CGI, especially the time-traveling mind machine, and its computer UIs, looked amazing, even the back-and-forth shots between Callum and his ancestor, Aguilar, simultaneously, demonstrating what Callum sees and experiences from Aguilar's missions and escapes. I also liked that Callum and Aguilar, not only are relatives, are played by the same actor, Michael Fassbender.

The music, although sounding almost like Kayne West's soundtrack, weren't terrible to listen to, and I think they unlikely, although out of place in games, gave the movie a unique identity. The only one I hated was at least the first song in the credits. Sounded like noise.

To conclude, it turns out that, like "WarCraft" before it, "Assassin's Creed" the movie has become another divisive video game movie. Some people like I enjoyed it, others didn't. From what I'd seen, and heard, the only solution is just watch the movie to see if it'd be something that you'd like. Personally, the plot develops slower, but less-rushed... thus better, than "WarCraft", that, despite liking the previous film, I actually liked this one better. Even for non-fans and non-gamers, the characters should be easier to be familiar with, along with the plot and conflicts. If you like something "Da Vinci Code", but with a bit of action-adventure, and Sci-Fi, I recommend you watch this movie.

Trolls (2016)

Not Too Special, But Not a Bad Colorful Film for the Family

[8/10 · 19 November 2016]

This review might contain some spoilers.

Today, having seen the ad, and Twitter videos, I was admittedly more than excited that the 1980's Trolls not only returned, but were given modern looks. I also liked how the main characters, Poppy and Branch, were the polar opposites to each other.

But, understandably, I didn't get too much hints as to what the story of the movie, TROLLS, would actually be about, so I had to watch it once I had the chance.

Overall, the plot revolves around a concept of predator and prey, some of the preys going on a rescue mission, two unlikely couples, and remastered musical classics, and some original ones.

The Trolls are a reluctant food that can make the otherwise depressed ogre-like creatures, the "Bergens", mysteriously happy, thus are the main course of the annual festival. Understandably, one day, Poppy's much younger father, and king, plots a grand escape with his subjects, with the "no one gets left behind" motto in mind, causing the Bergen chef to get banished by her king.

That was 20 years from the main setting, when the Trolls, much to the warning and scolding of the pessimistic Troll, Branch, decide to party out loud, marking their escape's 20th anniversary... only for some to be caught by the chef shortly after. While trying to hide underground for 10 years with the "I knew it!" mentality, and refusing to help Poppy, Poppy in return gets the rest of the Trolls who didn't get captured to deplete Branch's supplies, probably to force him to help her on her rescue mission in due time.

From there, things get interesting and colorful, with some interesting creatures and stuff along the way, as the rather determined Poppy, much to her dad's blessing, goes on the rescue mission by herself... and gets clobbered by the elements. Branch eventually shows up to rescue her from some spiders and, from there, we get to see the clash between optimism and pessimism from the two, en route to the Bergens' kingdom.

From there, you'll notice unexpected additions and twists to the plots. If you've been noticing from the beginning, King Gristle Jr. had been a crush to a Bergen maid of similar age, Bridget, who has actually been feeling dispirited that King Gristle won't notice her at all. That's where the captured Trolls, with help from Poppy and Branch, come in. Despite the Trolls using their flexible hairs as a wig collectively, although cool, what we notice is, in return of finding a Troll who got eaten, but somehow saved himself, we have the movie's take on Cinderella. Instead of a glass slipper, Bridget leaves behind her skate. And, yes, the chef, who earned her return to the kingdom with the kidnapped Trolls, is supposed to be the movie's take on the evil stepmother... and the kingdom's dictator in the making. Not too original, but I appreciate the movie's take on certain plots and ideas from other stories.

I did mention that there was a twist. The missing Troll sells the others out to save his own hide, and even the rest of the Troll kingdom as well! Thus, the chef is more than confident that she now has enough to resume the discontinued festival. At this point, after revealing to everyone that his singing, as a child, costed him his grandmother, thus transforming him into a pessimist, by the time Branch started to loosen up, the dispirited Poppy herself, and the others, lost their colors and became pessimistic as well, forcing Branch to sing, in attempt to keep everyone's chin, especially Poppy's, up. All the Trolls, even Branch, get their colors back. Somewhat predictable, and Bridget purposely freeing them, but they are cool overall, and how the Trolls returned to bail Bridget from the inevitable retribution.

As you might realize since the movie's take on Cinderella, it also prepares the idea to fellow Bergens that they can actually be happy by other means, thus befriending the Trolls, much to the chef's displeasure, who, along with the Troll traitor, gets kicked out of the kingdom, and eaten by a random creature in the wild.

So, yes. There are some predictable plots here and there, but you ought to appreciate the movie's Troll take on these.

Still on the plot, apart from the predictability, I do have some minor complaints. I wondered why the Troll king, who didn't look too old, thought that he wasn't the king that he used to be to help Poppy on her mission. And, maybe instead of being a douche, the backstabbing Troll was actually trying to buy time to rescue everyone... although not necessarily successfully. And, maybe, the ending could have been a bit longer, and I wish I could have heard a lot more of Gwen Stefani as DJ Suki. Regardless, they didn't ruin the movie a bit.

The sound effects and soundtracks were pretty cool, especially the movie's original soundtrack, and its take on classics. For example, when Poppy and Branch arrived at the Bergen kingdom, I was surprised to hear the movie's take on "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz, and what seemed to be a mass mocking of the band's main singer, 2D.

Overall, it's not too original (I mean, they feature the same Troll toys of the 1980's, but now redesigned), also considering from plot ideas, but, as a family film, it's quite good. There were some pretty good writings, and funny moments we laughed, and giggled, at, and it's occasionally musical, if not colorful. It was an animated movie I was glad to watch after an average one like "Storks", and I actually recommend it.

93 Days (2016)

One of Nollywood's Best Movies Thus Far

[10/10 · 20 September 2016]

As a half-Nigerian, I'd grown up with Nollywood movies, and majority of them, with an exception to one alien-themed budget film, were terrible. From the previous decade, Nollywood movies, at least those I saw on local channels and "Africa Magic", are of three varieties: Wrath and fall of backstabbers... with a bit of Missionary help by the climaxes, village-themed, and comedic movies featuring the same two dwarf actors... which includes Osita Iheme. As you might realize, due to the same Nollywood formulas over and over, I really got sick of watching Nigerian movies altogether.

But then, "October 1", and this movie, "93 Days", along with trailers for older movies, surprised me, and didn't. I was surprised that Nollywood movies started to feel world-class, to the point of competing with foreign films. On the other hand, I wasn't surprised because I knew we could do it. It even showed on our music industries years back.

This movie was well-directed and written to the point that I started sympathizing with the Ebola victims being portrayed. The transition from scene to scene felt world-class and, plot-wise, well-connected and well-referenced. The acting were excellent, even typically West African, from the Liberian patient to the cab driver. I also liked the quick information, in the Washington D.C setting, that Lagos being a major travel hub could put many countries at risk with Ebola.

And, unlike the typical Nollywood classics I dreaded so much, which ended in the climax, and offering no resolutions, "93 Days" has a really good resolution. I won't spoil it for anyone, since it's a new movie, but I can say that you must not miss this film. Even get it on Blu-ray or DVD if you must. (Also don't miss the extra scenes, and the photos of the real people the movie portray, in the credits.)

Suicide Squad (2016)

A Welcomed Addition to the DC Universe

[8/10 · 8 August 2016]

I managed to find the time to watch "Suicide Squad" last Saturday, and it turns out to be a really good addition to the DC Universe that both DC Comics and Warner Bros. want to show to movie goers.

"Suicide Squad" is actually a sequel to "Man of Steel" and "Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice". With the apparent death of Superman, Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis) plots to make use of the services of Gotham City's worst villains, and random criminals, in captivity, in order to fight off potential threats. It did make some of us wonder how dumb she could be not to talk to Batman, as she did in having Will Smith's character, Deadshot, arrested, but it became clearer when the guys were warned that the bombs embedded in their necks would blow their heads off, i.e. if they try and do anything funny.

That's fine that villains were made to fight villains here, except that a mortal lady, June Moone (played by Cara Delevingne), had a misfortune of coming in contact with an evil spirit in a cave. Thus, like Steven Spielberg's "Freakazoid", saying a phrase causes her to transform into someone else, the "Enchantress"... not to be confused with Marvel's Enchantress. The Enchantress' an ancient witch turned outcast by ex-worshippers of the past. Still bitter at humanity, even centuries later, this two-face ("two-face" because she was originally helping Waller) and her brother, whose spirit possessed another unfortunate soul, secretly plotted till they were able to create an army to decimate Gotham. The brother even disturbed some movie goers by killing off random people, while fusing with a train he destroyed, in order to transform into a demonic overlord. With all that being said, little did Suicide Squad know was that they were assigned to fight "super villains".

At the climax, I liked that the transformed Enchantress gave the members of Suicide Squad visions of those brighter futures that she claimed she could grant, if they help her take over the world, and one of the members, "Diablo", who had a dark past of killing off his wife and kids with arson, dismissed the visions as "aren't real". A bit predictable, but liked how they were used here, the action scenes, or that she tried to stop Deadshot with a vision of his daughter begging him to put his guns away. I recommend you sit through the climax to see how things unfold.

I also like that the film was re-shot to be less moody, and funny, giving it its own flavor. With the "Batman Vs. Superman" backlashes, DC and Warner Bros. thought of taking a break from the dark tone. Even on Facebook, we all were worried that the studio didn't know what sort of DC Universe films they wanted to produce to their fans anymore. At the end, at least with the audience I sat with, we laughed every two to ten minutes in certain parts of the movie.

When there were serious scenes, like Deadshot losing his daughter, or figuring out why Waller was using them, or even Katana... and WarCraft fans can relate to her and her sword, it did leave a lot of us thinking, since we've grown to liking the characters.

Of course, the movie isn't too perfect. The worst part of it has to be Jared Leto's Joker. He's a side character that goes around... with men in costumes... shooting people, hangs around with Harley Quinn, disappears (or apparently dies), then shows up tens of minutes later to repeat the process. This happened two to three times, and he barely stayed long when compared to the movie's length. Thus, while the movie concentrates on the actual members of Suicide Squad, and the villains, it seems that DC Comics and Warner Bros. were warming up the Joker for a future movie, since this movie ended with him breaking Harley out of prison. Overall, it made the flashbacks of the Joker and Harley needless in "Suicide Squad"... well maybe except in explaining Harley's origin.

Overall, after months of wondering what sort of movie we'd be getting in August, "Suicide Squad" is a welcomed addition to the DC Universe. After giving credits to the main actors, and actresses, the movie shows an extra scene of Waller talking to Bruce Wayne, apparently knowing that he and Batman are the same person. They were apparently talking about the Joker's prison break, with Wayne advising her to shut down the Suicide Squad, while he prepares his own team to fight crimes. It was the assurance of a Justice League movie we were glad to sit through before the credits rolled, ending the movie perfectly. This is the other DC Universe movie of 2016 I actually recommend watching.

Finding Dory (2016)

A Pleasant Sequel to Finding Nemo

[7/10 · 7 July 2016]

"Finding Dory" is the sequel that I didn't realize that "Finding Nemo" needed. The movie, as the name implies, focuses on Dory's origin, long before the now-grown-up character collided with Marlin... as we remembered in the previous film. Thus, this movie answers much about Dory that some of us had wondered about for years.

After going through her origin, the audience get to see the events a year after the first movie's plot. Switching between Dory's past and present is a pleasant, artistic direction for story-telling, a bit better than that of "Man of Steel", that you'd notice from beginning till end, as Nemo's field trip in understanding migration leads to key terms that cause Dory to have flashbacks to her childhood days. Thus, remembering her parents for the first time since growing up. The plot of the movie finally begins, as she talks Marlin into escorting her to California.

Much of the plot reveals that Dory came from an aquarium, where Dory, tangled with a plastic can holder, gets separated from Marlin and Nemo, and sent to the facility's quarantine. It is there that she meets an octopus (or a "septopus", as Dory rightfully pointed) named "Hank" who attempts to escape to Cleveland in a truck. Thus, half the movie, these two unlikely duo have a reluctant deal in finding Dory's parents in exchange for her orange tag that'd guarantee Hank being transported to Cleveland... as opposed to be sent back to the ocean that he dreads so much.

This aspect of the plot goes on till almost the climax, long after Dory meets her childhood friend in person, a female, short-sighted whale shark named "Destiny", and acquainted with a not-really- handicapped white whale named "Bailey". Hank gets busted during the transfer (while wearing Dory's tag), while a mishap leads Dory going down a drain, and back into the sea.

At this point, like when Marlin thought Nemo died in the previous movie, Dory reaches her low point, thinking that both her parents passed on, losing her memory as to why she is in where she is in the first place. A quick pep talk on "What would Dory do?" gets her to look around a bit, thus noticing lines of shells laid as roads leading back to a fish house. This style of story-telling, and the flashbacks regarding shells, having seen the movie twice, is impressive and engaging, you'd feel it when Dory and her parents have their tearful reunion on the spot.

As for Marlin and Nemo, we get to see Marlin being Marlin again, being skeptical and worried. As for Nemo, feeling bad that Marlin may have hurt Dory's feelings over her memory loss, after a rather dangerous squid incident, is judgmental to his dad on a handful of occasions. Having gotten separated from Dory, they get help from two healing sea lions. Of course, this leads to an odd-looking bird, resembling Psycrow in "Earthworm Jim", helping the guys fly around in a bucket at least a couple of times throughout the film. Eventually, having being so close to Dory, yet so far, they and Dory reunite. But, they get separated again during the Cleveland transportation, that Marlin and Nemo result to seeking help from Dory's friends and parents.

Of course, since the movie heavily focuses on the aquatic facility, it's not as deep and adventurous as "Finding Nemo", as some viewers pointed out. In fact, just like "Night at the Museum 2" is to "Night at the Museum", "Finding Dory" now only takes place in the same day, at the same place. But, as for the story, it's really good still; the misadventures, the character developments, the reunions, the rescues, everything.

The movie wouldn't be complete without funny moments, like the sea lions yelling at the third to get off their rock, even after they allowed him, for using his bucket, for about ten seconds... or that sole clam mourning over his ex leaving him. But, the movie focuses more on drama than comedy by its nature, as you'd realize.

By the end, we get to see everyone living around Nemo's anemone, with Hank, being talked into liking the ocean, working as Mr. Ray's assistant. Worried that Dory swimming off could get her to lose her memory about her friends and family, Marlin swims off to find Dory. The two hang out at the edge of the riff, with Marlin complimenting Dory's effort in finding her parents. Personally, that's a good way to end the movie, although don't expect any extra scenes like "Finding Nemo".

So, how is this movie a sequel that "Finding Nemo" needed? Basically, it reveals that Dory telling folks that she suffers from short-term memory loss was rehearsed from childhood, answers how she got separated from her family, how she learned how to speak "Whale", and the song "Just Keep Swimming". In fact, it feels like it was long planned since the first movie premiered.

As a family film, I recommend people go see it, or even plan buying the BluRay or DVD for home viewing. Just, don't expect it to top "Finding Nemo".

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

An O.K. Film with Notable Changes to Source Material

[6/10 · 19 May 2016]

I have been a fan of Angry Birds since I got to play the demo on Windows Phone five years ago and, switching to Android, and Facebook gaming, I'd played many of their games... and got upset with "Angry Birds Stella" feeling abandoned, and "Angry Birds 2" feeling like a stretched-out King game. Regardless, I still like the birds, the pigs, and the whole premise of the birds saving three eggs... while giving pigs some black eyes.

Yes, three eggs. The original concept is that Red (the main character) is a father, and he and his friends don't take kindly the idea of King Pig and his subjects egg-napping the would-be hatchlings. This exact premise is also closely followed in the cartoon show, "Angry Birds Toons". Watching the movie, however, they changed a lot of details from the source material, even giving the characters limbs.

When I heard of the announcements for both the cartoon show and movie, I thought that the game's plot would work well as a cartoon show, or, in this case, a web show, but I had always doubt if it'd translate well as a movie, since the birds barely talked. No wonder they changed a lot of things.

I'll talk about the movie in both fields: the nature of it as a standalone film, and its relationship with the source material.

As its own movie, I can honestly say that its intended targets are kids. The animation style, the movie's version of the story, the jokes, the body languages, they can actually make someone smile, or even laugh out loud. This works more so with kids.

The plot's simple to follow, with things getting crazy in Sony's typical fashion in the climax. The story's that Red got himself into trouble with his anger issues, and got sent to anger management. There, he meets the other birds in the game: Matilda (the teacher), and Chuck, Bomb, and Terrance (fellow students). (If you weren't distracted, you'd notice Stella, Bubble, and Hal in the background as well.) While Red was sort of socializing, and beating up Chuck's sign, as opposed to learning to not be angry, King Pig launches a Trojan Horse-like campaign by making friends with the other birds, while having his subjects steal all the town's eggs by the last minute. Since Red never trusted the pigs, and even tried to consult Mighty Eagle... and failed, the town tasked him, and volunteering "angry birds", to get the eggs back. And that's where you'd see a not-so-familiar version of the Angry Birds gameplay unfolding in the climax.

Honestly, the story wasn't too special, but the ending seems cool for Red and his friends. The jokes and gags also help add some life to it, even supporting characters like the mime, the hugger, and even the Blues and their parents that get Red and the audiences' attentions. I only wished the Blues were in the film, fighting the pigs, instead of giving us a tease of a movie sequel. Terrance even broke the slingshot before we could see the game-like damages he can do. Chef Pig, Foreman Pig, and Corporal Pig (who seemed to be absent) weren't given enough spotlights to shine, while the whole fighting the pigs came, and ended, suddenly. And why couldn't they use the same intro to Red's character like they did in the advert? The film's actual intro was confusing, since they switched back and forth in Red's life.

Another complaint I have's that, if you blink, you could end up missing the main characters of "Angry Birds Stella" who aren't Stella. It doesn't help giving them limbs to the point that I couldn't tell who was who at first.

But, how does the movie stand by its source material? Well, only by half. Again, the victims of the egg-napping are Red and his friends, not everyone else, and they were only three eggs. To make the concept movie-worthy, they changed a lot of things till the premise felt unfamiliar (Matilda even now "shoots fireworks out of her butt", as opposed to eggs), even by adding new supporting characters not seen in the games. But, slingshoting birds at the pigs and objects stayed true, even though they weren't Foreman Pig's obstacles, but a whole city, and random birds were shot too. Even Mighty Eagle shows up as the birds' much-needed help, like in the games to some gamers, but they did leave out the iconic sardine cans.

You just have to watch the movie to tell if you'd like it, or not, or maybe just find it O.K. But, ideally, Sony and Rovio seemed to have made this film for younger audience who don't necessarily ask for anything complicated. Just stick to watching "Captain America: Civil War" if you're in the older demographic.

As for Nintendo, it's probably best they don't talk to Sony in making a Mario movie. Looking at Disney XD, and "Wreck-it Ralph", they should hire Disney instead.

The Powerpuff Girls (2016–2023)

Powerpuff Girls Sequel that Needed Improving

[5/10 · 15 May 2016]

UPDATE: Dropping the rating from 6 to 5 based on watching newer episodes as well. Disappointing. (Will keep the following, which applies to the first few episodes, but some of the points still stand.)

Rating this show was a hard decision. I heard a lot of negatives about it on YouTube, long after it premiered in the U.S, and, having gotten to watch the show myself, I can say that it's not bad, but just O.K.

To understand how this supposed sequel to the classic of the same name stands, I'll talk about the pros and cons. I'll talk about what I liked about the show, although a few, then we'll talk about the cons that ruined the show ultimately.

Firstly, I liked that the show got a sequel, and new characters, story ideas, and enemies are introduced. I actually would like to see the skater girls, whom Buttercup joined in the fourth episode, return as supporting characters in future episodes.

I also liked that Cartoon Network went for a new art style but, as I'll explain below, its cons outweigh the pros.

Now for the cons, and I have a lot of them.

The first thing you might notice is the art style. It feels like it's following the footsteps of other Cartoon Network shows like "Clarence", "We Bare Bears", and "Steven Universe", instead of being its own thing. This is especially true for the background characters. (I mean, can you imagine a "Megas XLR" sequel looking like "Samurai Jack"?) Admittedly, I still like the intro, although the show could use some more innovations in art beyond the intro.

Also, the narrator, although a big part of the old show, is barely doing his job as much, and only a few times we ever get to see the iconic (otherwise odd-looking) heart-themed outro at the end. The "The End" sign is being left out as well. They made me wonder if the voice actor, Tom Kenney, even raised concerns with the studio.

I mentioned "We Bare Bears" earlier, but did I mention the party panda? I couldn't take him seriously for a new villain because he looked like the panda in "We Bare Bears" on drugs... with Felix/Mickey Mouse impersonation. He should have just been a man who overdresses up for a party, like the typical Cartoon Network 90's fashion. Apart from the alleged villainy, the panda's just one example of some new concepts Cartoon Network tried out that didn't work too well.

Speaking of new concepts not working too well, while the old show feels like it was appealing to both boys and girls, Cartoon Network made this show to feel more like towards girls, and pre-teen especially, even by changing the Powerpuff Girls' interests and personalities a bit. I mean, Kindergartners liking boy bands, and even winning tickets to see them perform? Really?

Why get rid of Ms. Bellum? She wasn't that offensive as Cartoon Network claimed, even when compared to Sedusa pretending to be her in the old show... or the hypnotized Blossom and Bubbles twerking in this one. (Buttercup thankfully found it gross.) One of Ms. Bellum's roles was to implicitly troll on how dumb the Mayor is, like how Talon was introduced in "Inspector Gadget (2.0)" to troll on his uncle, Dr. Claw, and his shortsightedness. Now, the Mayor doesn't feel the same.

Changing the voice actresses didn't bother me at all, especially with Blossom and Buttercup. Blossom almost sounds the same, while I prefer the current Buttercup. It's just Bubbles I have beef with, since no one would ever replace Tara Strong. And why doesn't Princess Morbucks sound like she'd been voiced by Jennifer Hale anymore, the same voice actress who still voices Ms. Keane?

And finally, I know it's still the first season, or first part of it, but the girls don't seem to fight crime at times. We want to see more, so it'd be like the old show. But, even with that, the fights don't feel the same as they were in the original.

Overall, I like this show, but, due to all its shortcomings, it can never really be a true sequel to the original. It's entertaining, it's well-animated and directed... with some drawing mistakes here and there, but it doesn't feel too nostalgic as we'd like, as it relies on newer enemies and concepts. If I were to rate the old show, for being itself, and well-liked for its stories, characters, and merchandises, I would have rated it a 9. If you can't tolerate this show sincerely, just stick to the old one.

The Jungle Book (2016)

Not as Good as the Animated Film, but Good

[7/10 · 23 April 2016]

I was concerned that Disney is trying to reboot their animated films into live-action ones. I was already burnt by "Alice in Wonderland". So, I was skeptical with "The Jungle Book". But, having heard that people liked it, even Angry Joe, I decided to watch it.

What I can say is that the film's actually good.

It's more or less of a re-telling of the animated film from 1967, with some minor changes. Thus, Bagheera found Mowgli as an infant and had the wolves adopted him. Eventually, the wolves have to give him up because of Shere Khan and his hatred towards humans. Along the way to the "Man Village", Mowgli gets to meet the elephants, Kaa, Baloo, and Louie and his monkey minions.

As you might realize, the art (especially the realistic CGI) and storytelling seem impressive, especially when the film shows that the dry season exposing a monumental rock in the lake causes both predators and preys to drink from the same water in "truce". I find it impressive, and how Shere Khan shows up, putting the other animals in line, to give a dire warning about Mowgli.

There are two things to note, and one of the two annoys me.

What annoyed me was that the movie tried to out-stage the animated film. It even took two lines of Baloo from the original: "Man Village? They'll ruin him! They'll make a man out of him!", and "If anything happens to that boy, I'll never forgive myself." The movie re-introduced Baloo and Louie's songs, with lyrics and lengths being altered. I prefer the originals. In Baloo's case, remember how he and Mowgli interacted with stuff all around the forest, scratched their backs, and swam, to illustrate the points in the lyrics? Well, here, Mowgli and Baloo swam the whole time the song was sung. As for Louie, not only they made him King Kong size, they altered the lyrics to complement that too. The original was enjoyable because the other moneys sang along, played instruments, and one of them annoyed Louie. Here though, only Louie sang the whole time. Even the new lines in the lyrics were odd to me. (Don't expect Baloo showing up in a disguise to save Mowgli this time, but he was almost thrown off the cliff.)

Both Louie and Baloo, from what I remembered, delayed reading some lines in their lyrics a bit, that the singing felt odd.

Still on the topic of annoyances, Shere Khan being a creep to the surviving wolves sounded something straight out of James Bond's "Spectre". They both spoke of the demerits of a cuckoo bird.

The other note's that the movie does have differences to the animated film.

Apart from the absence of Mowgli's new friends, the vultures, Mowgli actually returned to the wolves. Despite warning, after learning that he killed his wolf foster father, he found a torch from the nearest man village to fight Shere Khan... and burning the forest, and scaring his animal friends, in the process... leaving Shere Khan with an "I told you so" finger-pointing. The battle was more complex this time, similar to that of Disney's "Tarzan", but with fire, making use of the same dead tree that ruined Mowgli's practice at the beginning of the film.

Also, Mowgli ended up staying in the forest at the end, in what seems to be a decent ending. So, yeah. He has no girlfriend this time.

Overall, it was a good movie, with a few funny moments like "Bears do not hibernate in the forest", but it could do without trying to be too much like the animated film by borrowing this or that. I'd recommend this film for family viewing. But, if you want something serious, consider Disney's 1990's live-action Jungle Book film. For a much funnier version, I'd recommend the animated film instead. It even has a bit more of Kaa, and those missing vultures.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Good Movie with Some Things Off

[7/10 · 26 March 2016]

WARNING: This review contains SPOILERS. If you don't want to know the stuff occurring in the movie in advance, or the movie ruined for you, skip this review now.

"Batman Vs. Superman" is a good action movie. With respect to the story, the story's one of two things where the movie shined on the most... the second being the action scenes, of course.

It's a revamp of Batman's story, since they retold his origin that differs from that of "Batman Begins". After that, they then showed that Bruce Wayne was in Metropolis during the events of "Man of Steel", and deaths and destruction under Superman's watch that made Bruce's blood boiled for up to eighteen months, leading up to the confrontation between Batman and Superman.

As for Superman, "Batman Vs. Superman" is a sort of "Man of Steel 2", since it continues from where Superman/Clark Kent left off. Being a super-powered superhero, and some events here and there in the world, people question if Superman should continue being a vigilante, and some recent deaths by bullets in Africa were his fault. It's made worse when Lex Luther showed interest in portraying him as a "devil" to the public, and a fellow senator. He'd even gone as far as discovering Kryptonite, intending to use it on Superman.

The movie is also a sort of prequel to "Justice League", as the title "Dawn of Justice" implies. It introduces us to the other members of the group, starting with Wonder Woman who had the most, and most important, presence throughout the film. Bruce Wayne managed to steal, and decrypt, files from Lex Corp, revealing details of the other heroes like Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. Bruce's/Batman's goal is to reach out to these other members, and create new means of delivering "justice", especially with the scrutiny both he and Superman faced by the public.

And, of course, the action scenes, and the dark moments like Lex framing Superman by blowing up his Capitol Hill hearing, were other examples of what kept viewers glued to their seats.

But, that doesn't mean that the movie's perfect.

Firstly, Lex Luther, or "Alexander", doesn't sound like what you expect Lex, both comics and TV, to sound like. He sounded like a troubled teenager taking over a company at age nineteen, and he has hair... till he was thrown to jail. How he twists things around in his favor, and plants the bomb in Capitol Hill, the actor should have been reserved as the Joker for a new Batman movie... since he was a lot like Heath Ledger's Joker in "The Dark Knight".

Another thing they did wrong was introducing Doomsday way too early, and a lot of us who'd seen the newer trailers had that same sentiment. In the comics, and the animated movie after them, Doomsday showed up when the Justice League was already in existence. In this film, that hadn't happened yet. This kills off potential, and epic, Superman trilogy, or the chance of seeing Superman's black-and-white uniform. It's good to have "Justice League", but I'd also like Batman and Superman to have their separate movies showing more of the said characters at the same time. With Marvel, we have "The Avengers", but we also have "Iron Man" and "Captain America", both of which show more of the said characters and their respective worlds and enemies. (Did I mention that Batman got revamped from the originals?)

And finally, the movie's more like "Lex Luther Vs. Superman" more than "Batman Vs. Superman". The movie focuses more on Lex defaming Superman to engineering Doomsday to kill him off. For some reason, probably to buy time to finish engineering Doomsday, or as a payback for Batman stealing his Kryptonite, he talked Superman into killing off Batman, in exchange for his mother's freedom. Batman fighting Superman, although cool that Batman armed himself with the Kryptonite he stole, and the armor suit, only occurred this one night... excluding the prophetic dream Bruce Wayne had while decrypting Lex Corp's files.

To conclude, the movie's story, although with some details off, from Lex to Doomsdays, was great as a Justice League origin film, along with the action and dark scenes here and there. The acting and soundtracks were great too. Hence, if you want a superhero movie, this is one of my personal recommendations.