Anime review – Page 9 – Savior Gaming

Batman: Year One

batman year 1

There have been many upon many retelling of the origin of Batman and one of the most iconic is Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, which helped inspire Batman Begins. Year One as far as story is pretty self explanatory. Gotham is a crime infested hellhole full of crooked cops and mainly controlled by mob families. Young Detective Jim Gordon transferred willingly here with his budding family in search of money and a new start but quickly learns Gotham is no place for a good man. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne returns after nearly a decade abroad, prepared to seek vengance on the crime that took the life of his parents. At first, dressed in black he attacks the small time crooks to no avail. Using his fear of bats, his natural intellect, and the skills he learned across the globe, he chooses a new identity, something to scare the wicked. Gordon and the newly emerged Batman of Gotham are fighting for justice, but can they work together?

I admire the book for it’s intamcy in regards to Gordon and Wayne’s thoughts and stories. I enjoyed how Batman’s origin wasn’t tied to a specific super villian but fighting the crime families of Gotham. It was cool to see the thought processes behind Batman’s transform, as well the impact he makes on others. There’s an iconic scene where he engages the family heads directly that always stuck with me. I found it weird Catwoman started off as hooker in this and didn’t really think she needed to be there. I did see the animated film which was adapted really damn well and I recommend seeing in conjunction with the book or just on it’s own. If you want a cool origin and a good crime drama, this is well worth the read. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Justice League Dark

jla dark

As someone who isn’t too deep into magic, despite my love for Dr Strange, I had a lot of fun watching the R rated animated JLA Dark movie. After a grim series of murderous crimes the JLA can’t explain, Batman sets off to visit British occult expert, John Constantine and his old friend, Zatanna to try uncovering answers, coming across the Deadman, Etrigan, and Swamp Thing in a winding mystery of demons, dark magic, betrayal, and a epic finale.

I was deeply surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Right off the bat, I’m impressed how the R rating came out; there is no heavy language past shit but instead it’s for the themes going on mostly. There is some disturbing crap in the beginning- if the fact you almost see a woman try to kill her baby, who commits suicide after Batman saves the baby unnerves you, this may not be for you. The characters were done damn well and as for plot, it’s surprisingly strong but at times it feels slow and sometimes it can be a little hard to follow if you aren’t familiar with the source material. In the end this is one of the best animated DC movies in my opinion and well worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Justice League: Doom

jla doom

It’s no secret I was pretty disappointed with last year’s Justice League (2017) I took this opportunity on Hulu to get my fix of real JLA.

Mostly based on the story “Tower of Babel.”, we get the story of how Batman’s paranoia and over preparation almost destroyed the JLA. Brilliant immortal Vandal immortal brings the likes of Bane, Star Sapphire, Cheetah, Mirror Master, Metallo, and Ma’alefa’ek because they hate a member of the JLA. Savage forms the Legion of Doom and with files Mirror Master stole from the BatCave, he gives each villain a specifically designed plan to take down there foes, tailored to there specific weaknesses. One by one, Batman, Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter fall. With some help from Cyborg they manage to pull themselves up, barely, but can they beat the Legion and trust Batman?

I loved the hell out of this movie. The voice acting was great, especially Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly as Batman and Superman, but my favorite may have been Nathan Fillion as a great Green Lantern. Every character gets a fair amount of screen time, though I admit Flash and Cyborg lack a little. The bad guy choices were interesting, definitely not the usual picks. The movie movie drags once or twice but nothing major. It’s a really good JLA movie I suggest checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

May the 4th be with you!

empire strikes back return of the jedi

May the fourth be with you all as we celebrate Star Wars day. For every nerd, all it takes is that opening title of “a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.” and the thunderous John Williams score and all so legendary title to send our blood rushing and light up a smile on our faces. During our trip to Last Jedi, the crowd cheered and roared applause before the damn movie could even begin- that’s a rare thing, I can sure as hell say that. Star Wars inspired me so much as a kid; without Star Wars I don’t think I’d be the same kind of writer I am today. Dynamic characters you can’t get enough of, epic battles you can’t stop watching, and a special message: no matter how small and insignificant you seem, you can change the world. Before I leave you with links to our Star Wars collection so far, I beg every nerd to stop and remember the lessons the series has taught us, and go out to make the galaxy a better place. May the gaming gods bring you glory and may the force be with you.

Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi The Force Awakens Star Wars The Last Jedi Review (Savior) The Last Jedi (second opinion) Star wars: Rogue One

Star wars: The Clone Wars (game) Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter

Star Wars: the Clone Wars (05)

TMNT

tmnt 2007

I’m not going to lie folks, I never grew up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. No cartoons, video games, comics or anything. In fact my friend Autobot was the one to introduce me to them with the 2007 CGI film which caught me by total surprise. What happens when the turtles go there own separate ways? After the rift between Raph and Leo bursts, the team splits and must get back together to fight a new foe.

I was a lot more drawn to the turtles than I thought I’d be, Raphael is my favorite. Visually the movie’s CGI is really freaking cool to watch and has some really sweet looking moments through out. The bad guy isn’t great but Patrick Stewart is always a great voice actor and it was refreshing not to have Shredder again. It was a fun movie with some deep parts that I recommend for newcomers as well as the long time fans. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pink Floyd’s The Wall

pink floyd the wall

Once upon a time I knew a guy named Nick who had something of a break down and three musicians helped got him through it: Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd. Namely this movie, based on the legendary album of the same name; it can said the movie can be called a really long music video for the whole album and that’s not totally wrong. It is. But I found it beautiful, scary, and uplifting all at once. It follows the life of a guy called Pink: how his dad died in war, how he almost died as a kid, had mom issues, loved a girl and got his heartbroken, had a drug induced meltdown where he imagined himself as a fantastical Nazi and would get shit on by a techni-color literal ass judge…Ok, let’s be honest, there was likely some drug use behind the making of this but it doesn’t subtract the power the fusion of music and imagery, both animated and live action has. Again, like Fantasia, this won’t be for everyone; it can be said The Wall is a R- rated Fantasia in many ways. If you love Floyd or need something strange or just want to watch a weird ass movie, absolutely deserves a watch. Speaking of Strange, here’s a video of Doctor Strange himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, singing the famous Comfortably Numb with David Gilmour of Floyd and it is epic as hell. May the gaming gods bring you glory and may you never be just bricks in the wall.

https://youtu.be/FaaoTvEdKtA

Fantasia

fantasia

I’ve always been inspired by imagery connected with music, especially if it has a darker tone. When writing, I can listen to a piece of score and create something completely different than what it was intended for, or reinterpret it. As a kid I was utterly fascinated by this very odd Disney film that remains to be my favorite decades later. Fantasia is a blend of live classical orchestra composure with Disney’s animations to create stories whether concrete or abstract. Duke had some fun stories about seeing this in theaters during the late sixties- use your imagination why that may be. The most famous of the selections is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, where Mickey enchants a broom to do his chores but it gets out of control and he’s being swamped by evil brooms. While there are bright, vibrant colors there are also some dark and scary ass images- I’ve never been more scared of the devil than I was in this movie. While not for everyone, I think everyone should experience this film at least once and I urge people to give it a shot. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell is one of the most influential animes of all time, spinning off other movies and anime series and the live action film adaptation in 2017. Weirdly enough, I never watched the anime, instead starting directly with the live action film. As I watched both, I began to see the reach of the influence it’s had on science fiction over the few past few decades.

What’s the same? In the future, technology has evolved to such a degree where people have used cybernetics to enhance themselves, whether on a small level or extreme level. We follow Major Motoko Kusanagi, an officer of Section 9 that deals with cyber crimes. Her and her partner Bato are on the hunt for a dangerous hacker that is screwing with peoples memories and rewriting people. Major is a ghost, a living brain in a full mechanical body. Many of the breathtaking and gorgeous images have been recreated in the 2017 version, as well as the context to both.

What’s different? The anime film was a more contained story where the live action film went into some heavy Blade Runner territory, trying to make it a deeper story and give more answers. In the anime, the adversary is the Puppet Master, while the live film has a more elaborate villain. Major is more coldly portrayed in the film and surprisingly more human in the anime.

Ok, so which do I like better? Though not quite my favorite anime and/or film, I respect both of them a lot. I love the concept and art style of both. I found both fascinating and beautiful but somehow neither grabbed me as much I thought they would. I recommend watching the anime first but I think you’re solid either way. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The movie

athf the movie

It finally happened: the Aqua Teens finally face Dr. Weird as we finally discover there origin in this epic feature film. Seriously, this movie sneaked up on me. It opens on a cameo of Abe Lincoln, a trip to the moon, and a sweet nu- metal remix of the theme song. So the plot mainly focuses on the gang getting a new piece of exercise equipment that turns out to be an apocalyptic death machine. If you love the show, you will love the crazy scale of the movie and will appreciate the other cameos throughout (Space Ghost man). I found myself liking it a lot more than I thought I would; may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Boondocks

the boondocks

I just got into middle school when the Boondocks hit the scene on Adult Swim and wow it hit hard. A decade and a half later I’m still impressed with the show’s mix of racial comedy, deep messages, and influences from Hip hop and anime all in one. It’s rare a show can make me laugh hysterically, look at the world a little differently, and even stare in awe at a couple of epic fights along the way. The show centers on two brothers, Huey and Riley Freedmen, who go to live with there Grandfather, a former Civil Rights activist who struck it rich and now lives in a all white gated community. With a list of colorfully strange characters and a cool art style, this show is definitely worth checking out, though I do suggest trying to track the show down unedited because you will hear a lot of bleeps. May the gaming gods bring you glory.