Category: Movie Review

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker has been a pretty divisive movie among fans, tho it has been another successful financial movie. So, of course, I and @torstenvblog went to go check this one out for my birthday as always with these releases. Truthfully, I don’t understand the hate.

First, the movie obviously isn’t perfect. It has its issues and they are many. The pacing seemed off as they clearly were trying to make this movie not three hours long. However, I enjoyed the movie.

The story while not perfect was fun. I enjoyed seeing how they ended things with Princess Leia and watching Kylo Ren come to terms with who he is. The fight scenes looked great and watching Rey train and learn was fantastic.

I am keeping this short because I don’t want to touch on the story too much or risk spoiling things and most importantly, ignore reviews on this one, even mine. Go see it or catch it on Disney Plus when it comes out because some people seemed to have loved or hated this from day one, and I doubt anyone can truly be nonbiased about it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Locke and Key season 1 trailer 1

For a while now, I’ve wanted to look into Joe Hill’s body of work. With NOS4A2 on Hulu (which I sadly haven’t gotten down to read yet in my collection), we get a Netflix series based on the graphic novel series written by him. I really like the concepts show and there’s a lot that can be done with it. I definitely want to check it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

New Mutants trailer 2

I know this movie has had a hell of a lot of problems behind the scenes, but I must admit the second trailer looks pretty decent. I like the horror aspects of the movie so far but I have to admit, I think the superhero parts look kinda shotty and low budget. I appreciate this movie follows mutants most of us aren’t familiar with. I want to see it, mainly as an end of an era before Disney takes over X-men but there’s a chance it’ll blow. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars Episode 1:The Phantom Menace

menace

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there was a legendary movie called Star Wars that captivated audiences and inspired generations with one of cinemas greatest trilogies. Well almost two decades later, we got the first of a prequel trilogy, aiming to reignite  our love of Star Wars. Well, did it succeed?

The Trade Federation is leaning heavy on the newly elected Queen Amidala so Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi go to delegate. The viceroys try in vain to kill the Jedi who escape and sneak aboard an invasion ship of battle droids to warn the Queen war is likely coming. On the way they meet a goofy creature named Jar Jar who aids them get to her. The Jedi, the Queen with her security head as well as a few handmaidens and the goofball, manage to escape the Trade Federation getting stuck on the desert planet of Tatonine where Qui-Gon finds a helpful yet curious boy named Anakin Skywalker, who is seriously strong with the force. Qui-Gon is determined to have this boy trained as a Jedi despite the Jedi council’s hesitation while a new threat looms in the background. Enter Darth Maul.

Okay, there is a lot to say for this movie. There are some great things about it: I love Qui-Gon and Obi-wan; the final lightsaber duel against Maul is iconic, and Maul is a badass with the also iconic double bladed lightsaber. The score is amazing and the cinematography at times is breathtaking. On the opposite side of the spectrum are some hard negatives.: wooden characters, lame dialogue, overuse of CGI that hasn’t aged well in certain parts, Jar Jar is annoying as hell and Anakin has moments of surpassing Jar Jar and I hate the inserted “Chosen One” thing. Phantom Menace is overall a fair first entry to set the series up but damn their is a huge room for improvement. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Birds of Prey trailer 2

Lately DC has been on fire with there last few movies and it seems the new directions they’ve been taking are going in the right direction. So I say that to say I’m curious if this movie is either going to be a more cringe- worthy counterpart to Suicide Squad or this maybe decent. I see some potential in this new trailer but I can’t help but feel like it may be a mess. It’s going to be a interesting birthday trip. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Brahms: The Boy 2 trailer 1

Why, I wonder; of all the deserving horror movies out there why the hell would anyone want a sequel to The Boy ? While not the worst horror movie, it does have one of the dumbest twists in recent memory. Well the sequel looks like most generic ghost stories and besides why is this a thing, I also ask why the hell Katie Holmes decided to jump on board this thing. I’m hoping for a decent flick but I’m not openly optimistic. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars Episode 3: The Game

sith game

I’ve been holding off talking about the Star wars prequels, there is so much to say and so little time. I will say this though, of all the movie tie in games I’ve played over my life, I honestly think this game is actually superior to the movie it’s based off of. Revenge of the Sith is the story Star Wars fans had been craving for ages, the story of Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader. Without getting into the movie too much, this game does a lot with early Vader I wanted to see in the movie. As a new Sith lord, you fight hordes of Jedi and as an assassin you get to fight through some heavy resistance. Certain scenes were elongated and gave some nice character moments the movie was missing, like a final battle with Mace Windau, paused moments between Obi-Wan and Anakin, and Anakin fighting two legendary Jedi swordsmen.

The gameplay is pretty fun, switching between Anakin and Obi-Wan’s point of view, but the best part are the boss fights which were the challenging as hell but feel like a real lightsaber duel. The combos are easy enough to execute and the powers are well done. Upgrading throughout the game noticeably increases your power and feels earned. There is a multiplayer vs mode which is a blast with friends and a few bonus stages including an alternate ending, a stage dedicated to replaying Obi-wan and Vader’s rematch, and some horde maps. The music is a nice touch and the cut-scenes are mainly from the movie which I liked a lot. The graphics are fine but the voice acting is mostly flat. The game isn’t too long but there’s fun to be had after but overall it’s rather short.  I recommend it for Star Wars fans and it’s a pretty solid game. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie

classic power rangers movie

I’m 28 years old, almost 29, and I still love the old school Power Rangers, I’m not ashamed to admit it; I even enjoyed Power Rangers while Savior sure as hell didn’t ( Power Rangers 2017 (2nd opinion) ). I love the kick ass music, the cheesy acting, and strangely awesome fights. So let’s jump into there very own movie.

We join the Power Rangers as they live there normal lives and the lives of there superhero alter-egos keeping Angel Grove safe from the diabolical clutches of Lord Zed and Rita Repulsa . Tommy, Kimberly, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy are about to face there greatest threat yet when Zed and Rita revive the ancient Ivan Ooze who Zordon imprisoned centuries before. Ivan destroys the ranger’s command center and leaves them powerless and Zordon dying. The Powers are sent off planet to search for a great power to Combat Ooze but he is mind controlling the adults of Angel Grove to uncover his Zords. Can the rangers stop this ancient monster in time?

Is this movie good in the traditional sense? Hell no. The effects are pretty cheap looking and there is a lot of fake looking wire work, the acting is cheesy and over the top, and there’s a of things to date it. But, all that being said, it’s awesome because for most of it, it’s what we love Power Rangers for. The ranger scenes in full costume are pretty awesome and I do like the costumes aren’t spandex this time and while all the fights are corny, they do hype you up. The second act slows the pacing down quite a bit and admittedly, I wish we had more rangers in costume. In the end, it’s a fun piece of nostalgia for the 90’s kids and I still have fun with it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

classic power rangers movie 2

A Bug’s Life

a bug's life

The older I get, the more I think about the ants and the grasshoppers and weirdly enough the movie wasn’t far enough from the truth if you are a normal worker at your job…oh well, enough of the philosophical crap and let’s talk about a Disney/ Pixar movie.

It’s a time of harvest for the ants, who are overseen by the large, menacing grasshopper gang. Flick is a plucky ant who likes to invent things, but the problem is Flick is kind of a screw up. One of his inventions goes awry and causes the whole summer’s harvest to get destroyed minutes before the grasshoppers show up. The leader of the grasshoppers, Hopper, tells the soon to be queen, Princess Ata that they want twice the food by time the last leaf falls or else. Flick, is allowed to go find heroes to fight the grasshoppers with the intention of getting rid of him; Flick does find a group of disgraced circus bugs he mistakes for heroes and who are willing to pretend to keep morale up for the ants. Can Flick’s plans work or are the ants doomed?

A Bug’s Life is one of those kid’s movies that is all around enjoyable. The animation holds up pretty well and Pixar tells a pretty heartwarming story as they usually do. Kevin Spacey has some menacing moments as Hopper. The movie has a solid story and good, likable characters with a pretty satisfying ending. It’s a movie I enjoyed as much as an adult as I did as a kid and it’s well worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Murder Party

murder party

There are very few times I’m genuinely surprised when looking through movies for this blog. Most of the time, I can tell what will be be decent and what’s going to be crap, especially when horror movies are concerned. This time I find myself pleasantly surprised…

Chris is a boring dork who lives a boring life and is so dull his cat won’t even listen to him. While walking home Halloween night, Chris comes across a mysterious invitation floating through the breeze for something called a Murder Party. Thinking nothing of it, Chris goes home, bakes some pumpkin bread and whips up a knight costume out of cardboard and duct tape. What he finds is a get together of psychotic art-house nerds that plan on killing Chris in the name of artistic expression. Bound, gagged, and outnumbered, what are the chances he’ll survive the night?

I have to admit I had a surprising amount of fun with this movie. After the first five or ten minutes, there is a good amount of slapstick and goofball humor that spans the rest of the run-time as well as some funny and WTF kills. The movie is really short at 80 minutes and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. By the end, I was satisfied by this low budget horror comedy and thought there were some good twists to carry me through. The only issue I have is the opening minutes crawl but once the party starts, the pacing evens out. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants something a bit different. May the gaming gods bring you glory.