Category: Movie Review

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.

Gretel and Hansel trailer 2

I have to admit, despite the PG-13 rating and January release date, I’m actually pretty excited for this dark, horror retelling of the iconic fairy tale. I love the imagery I’ve seen so far and I like what of I’ve seen of the witch so far. I’m hoping it’ll be something different and memorable. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Doom: Annihilation

doom A

With a tagline like this, you would swear they tried making a movie based on a video game. Truth of the matter is, I don’t think the writers or brains behind this movie played a Doom game in there lives. There’s Mars, a random chainsaw for 30 seconds, a demon ( I guess anyway), the BFG and some keycards, and that’s pretty much it. Doom: Annihilation follows a group of space marines as they travel to a installation on Mars that was doing research on old ruins. What they find is base overrun with zombies and energy shooting demons.

Normally I would go more in depth into the plot but honestly this movie is simply generic from it’s characters to it’s setting and even it’s story. The effects are pretty cheesy, like Sci-fi channel cheesy. There are some unintentionally funny moments but nothing utterly hilarious. The end falls apart and the movie ends on a random cliffhanger. Honestly, nothing in this feels like Doom, but rather a cheap ass cash grab.  The movie is disposable to be blunt and it’s OK to skip. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

A Quiet Place, part 2 trailer 1

A Quiet Place was one of my favorite horror movies of recent memory if not the whole last decade; the trailer for 2 doesn’t look like it’ll disappoint. I like seeing how the invasion began and I love that now we get this lovable family vs a world of broken people as well as the monsters themselves. I have high hopes. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

silent hill rev

I just have to wonder what the hell has been my luck with crappy 3D movies lately. I forgot the Silent Hill sequel was part of the late 2000’s 3D wave. I admit here, I have no experience with the franchise but I appreciate it’s dark, twisted imagery. That being said, I feel bad for the fans after watching this movie…

Heather’s life has been filled with trauma; her mother died at a early age and she’s plagued with violent hallucinations that relate to the dreaded town of Silent Hill. After her birthday, her father is kidnapped by the insane cult who inhabit the town, and they want her back as a sacrifice to stop Alyssa, a malevolent demon girl they blame the evil on. Heather and a classmate, Vincent Cooper, head to the haunted town to face it’s demons and there own before the Order can bring about the end of the world.

Well, I give the movie this, the score is pretty good even if it is pretty misplaced at times. Other than that, this movie sucks pretty hard. The acting, despite some decent names, is pretty bad; the effects are shotty CGI for the most part; the story is either really nonsensical or really dependent on you seeing the first, but it’s a bit hard to hollow at times. The atmosphere at times is good but the overuse of jumpscares- in which they use a pop tart in the beginning- kills the mood. I laughed at too many scenes I knew I was supposed to be afraid at, and that was before the crappy 3D inches its way into it. In the end, if you need a cheap laugh I might recommend it but otherwise feel free to skip this pooper. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hostel

hostel

With our decade coming to a close, I want to take a minute to go back and look at the last decade in horror. Saw and Hostel ruled the scene, a scene made up of “torture porn”. Eli Roth, director of Cabin Fever, gave us this hit in 2006.

Two friends, Josh and Paxton are backpacking through Europe with a dude there hanging out with, looking for hot babes, booze, and drugs. During a party, they meet some hot chicks that tell them about a awesome party town with a cheap hostel they can stay at. Everything is fun until there friends start to disappear and the folks around town deny knowing anything about the disappearances. It isn’t long before the friends discover they’ve been tricked into a sadistic network of rich men who pay to come torture and kill people at there leisure. The question is, can they make it out when the whole town is in on the conspiracy?

I have to say, this movie is pretty damn overrated but solid for the most part. The acting and score are fine but the atmosphere and premise are the selling points. There are some pretty nasty gore scenes, but it’s nowhere near as extreme as the sequel will be. The dialogue, like many Roth films, is vulgar and awkward and the pacing is slow to start but it fairly thrilling from the second act and on. The revenge ending is pretty satisfying I admit and the world is pretty interesting and makes you want to know more. In the end, it’s a pretty fair movie but I wouldn’t call it a modern classic as some would so it’s worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Shark Night 3D

shark night

We love a good B movie here at Saviorgaming so when this stinker from early this decade washed up on Netflix, I couldn’t help myself. Whether it’s the classic Jaws (1975) , the underrated Deep Blue Sea , or the corny Shark Attack 2 I’ve got a soft spot for shark movies, so what does Shark Night bring to the table?

Like many horror movies, we begin with a group of college friends who go to the hot girl, Sara’s cabin on the lake. She hasn’t been to the cabin in a few years or dated a guy either. Well, during a water-skiing run, the friends discover there are sharks in the water. Alarmed by the WTF question of how a bunch of different breeds of sharks got in a southern river, they trust in the aid of Sara’s disgruntled ex boyfriend and redneck friend to help there dying friend, but do the rednecks know more than they let on?

Shark Night is pretty much what you thought it was going to be from the trailers, it’s a pretty funny B movie with some cheap 3D thrown in. The acting is one dimensional and the sharks are pretty poorly CGI but the effects are better than Sharknado. What kills the enjoyment is the over usage of crappy college rock and the Pg-13 rating which cut most of the gore and topless scenes but instead teases you with great set ups for them. Still, the corniness and absurdity makes it a decent  B movie but not a great one. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Kirk Cameron Saving Christmas

evil

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Savior and I this season. We’ve covered many of the usual holiday staples on the blog these past few years, but this year I wanted to try something different. First, I have to get this out of the way, I’m not going to shred this movie for the religious views but the insane way they are presented. I mean there are some pretty crazy ass rants here as Cameron discusses the nativity, Christmas trees, and Santa while trying to teach to a dude named Christian about the meaning of Christmas.

It doesn’t take long before you realize this is a propaganda film, hell, there is a good 10 minute prologue telling you about how Christmas is dying. Cameron and the cast beat you over the head with some really one sided religious messages so get ready for a preach fest and I warn you now, don’t watch this if you’re easily offended. I had fun watching the hilariously bad film-making on display but was creeped out but the utter insanity of some of these rants; the swaddling clothe is a good place to start for those who saw this thing. There is a hell of a lot of filler in this and this probably could’ve been an hour but it’s 80 minutes. If you like hilariously bad movies, I recommend this but if you want a decent Christmas special, look elsewhere. May the gaming gods bring you glory.