Category: Movie Review

X- Men

xmen

Of all the things people said would come in the year 2000, something did change. Superhero movies stepped up there games ten fold. The first to begin the trend was X-Men.

In the debut film we are introduced to a world dealing with mutants, people with powers that normal people find dangerous. Mutants are often faced with hate and fear. Charles Xavier, a paraplegic telepath and founder of Xavier’s School for the Gifted believes man and mutant can peacefully co exist. Magneto, Charles’s old friend and holocaust survivor, believes they never will and mutants must assert there dominance over man. The two leader’s paths cross over a mysterious badass mutant named Wolverine and a young, dangerous women named Rogue and a plot by Magneto to kill the world’s leaders…

Almost two decades old, I’m glad the movie still holds up well. There are some damn great performances in it: Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan as Prof. X and Magneto, as well as Hugh Jackman’s iconic performance as Wolverine. There is a cool list of supporting characters and a good balance between action and drama. I do really recommend this film as a tried and true of the genre. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Vault (2017)

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Sometimes you just need to rob a bank. Sometimes you don’t want to work, so you need to rob a bank. Other times you piss off the wrong people and owe a shit ton of money and they make you rob a bank. That is sort of what this movie is about.

The movie starts off with a job interview and an angry customer, and we quickly discover a few of the people in the bank happen to be robbers. What they weren’t counting on is back in the early 1980’s someone else robbed this same back, lost their mind and killed everyone in the back. Now this bank is haunted as hell, and these bank robbers are about to have a world of problems.

The idea sounds good, and it has its moments but honestly the movie is a lot of standing around and talking. The movie drags on quite a bit at times and admittedly I found myself wishing it would just end. Towards the end it does get better tho the ending is pretty predictable. I would’t recommend this one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Godzilla: Monster planet

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Full Disclaimer: unlike many of my friends, I’m not a avid Godzilla fan nor a particular fan of Kaiju in general. Not to say I don’t mind the promise of giant monster crashing and thrashing through the civilization we busted our asses o build- if you had my job, you would find yourself wishing a radioactive iguana would tear through your workplace to break the monotony of the day.

Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction and is forced to live in space, isolated, losing oxygen, supplies, and hope. But Why? What caused our ultimate downfall? Godzilla. What’s left of the human race is desperate to find another habitable world to no avail. Suddenly Earth becomes the only option, despite the unkillable beast. 1000’s of years passed and the environment and it’s creatures have changed, but the king of the monsters still lives. In the end, it’s up to an enraged major and a vast quantity of Earth’s last military to make a final stand against the insurmountable…

I have to say I wasn’t really a fan of this episode, and at 90 minutes it is a episode. Minor spoiler, there is generously 15 minutes of Godzilla in the whole thing but a hell of a lot of people telling you how either OP he is or how much they hate him. The animation quality varies. Sometimes good, sometimes strange. Like something about the way Godzilla is animated feels wrong or out of place. The rest of the time feels like a somewhat generic space plot. The action is kinda neat but I couldn’t help but think of Attack on Titan at times. For the casual fan, I can’t really recommend it honestly. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon 3

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By 2001, I began falling out of the Pokemon craze and appropriately so we get a epic finale to the original trilogy of Pokemon movies.

Pokemon 3, also titled Spell of the Unknown,is a strange tale of imagination, loneliness, and coming to terms with reality. A girl named Molly is sad after her father disappears after going on a archaeological dig. All she has to remember him by is the pieces of a old puzzle, awakening the Unknown, warping reality to Molly’s whim. She generates Entei, fusing the legendary Pokemon with her father’s voice but all that is missing is a mother. Entei steals Ash’s, so now Ash and his friends are left to save her and defeat the Unknown.

Of the 3, I would say it is my favorite story. There is something dark and rather sad about this particular story. On a personal note, I lost my mother right around the time this came out so not being much older than Molly, it impacted me a lot as a kid. I enjoyed the fantastical elements. There are sweet battles and cool dreamy settings. The end I found sad but wasn’t grim. If you want something a bit deeper and a little bit darker than the first two movies but I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon 2000

pokemon 2000

Hey anyone, remember the hype over the year becoming 2000? Well, like Pepperidge Farms, we remember. And so did Pokemon.

Pokemon 2000, also titled The Power of One, is the story of the balance of the planet getting thrown violently out of whack because a collector of rare Pokemon decides to capture the 3 legendary birds. Moltres- the bird of fire, Zapdoes- the bird of lightning, and Articuno- the bird of ice; each a force of nature in itself that once unsettled begin fighting themselves. Because of a prophecy, the world will turn to Ash as a new force emerges, Lugia. It’s up to young Ash and his friends to set them all save the world…

Much deeper into the Pokemon universe, Pokemon 2000 is on par with the first in my opinion. There is more action, more epic locations, and a deep story. The legendary birds are freaking awesome to behold. Again the ending is happy but this time it fits better. In the end I highly recommend this animated film and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon: The First Movie

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Many, many years ago Pokemon was everywhere. Trading cards, video games, the cartoon and when the MewTwo Strikes Back hit theaters, everyone lost there shit in my first grade class.

Team Rocket’s leader, Giovanni, commissions his most evil deed yet: an experiment to create the world’s strongest Pokemon. Created from legendary Pokemon, Mew, MewTwo is born but is furious with the prospect of existing solely as a human’s slave. After mastering his devastating powers, MewTwo sets off to cleanse the world of man and reign in a whole new era of Pokemon dominance. Standing in his way are Ash Ketchum and his friends, as well as Mew in a epic showdown for the fate of the planet…

I’m a huge fan of the movie. If you were a fan of the show, you’ll like this darker next step; if you are a new comer, I think you’ll enjoy the epic tale and awesome fights. MewTwo sells the movie. He is a great, complex villain. The animation is beautiful and there a nice balance between light and dark elements.  My only personal peeve with it is the last five minutes or so, it’s a hardcore happy ending. In the end, I do highly recommend as a cool animated film. May the gaming gods bring you glory so you catch them all.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay trailer

suicide squad h2p

A few days ago the trailer for the newest R rated DC animated movie dropped and I felt a huge buzz of excitement. R rated Suicide Squad- just the way it ought to have been. This time we are joined by Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Bronze Tiger, Copperhead, and Killer Frost (a better squad selection may I add) as they take on a enemy that’s not a ridiculously over-powered demigod they shouldn’t be able to kill in any way, shape or form but do because…reasons. These 3 main factors make me cautiously optimistic- no one is forgetting Killing Joke anytime soon. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes.

World War Z

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There are some ideas that are brilliant, some that are maddeningly dumb, and some that can only be done once. This is one of my favorite books and least favorite movies.

World War Z, as the rest of the title suggests, is a oral history of the zombie war. Basically the book is written interview style with multiple survivors of different cultures, creeds, ages, and social standings We get traumatic accounts of epic battles, tearful goodbyes, and get a cool view of how others outside ourselves would deal with such a catastrophic event. The book never feels repetitive in tone or character arcs and that is what makes it so damn enthralling: genuine feeling characters around the world dealing with classic, simple zombies- a threat most wouldn’t take at face value but Max Brooks demonstrates how endearing and dangerous they are.

The movie ditches almost everything but the zombie apocalypse. We get an obscene amount of fast, kinda green looking, Pg-13 28 knockoff zombies overruning the globe as Brad Pitt goes through action set piece after action set piece trying to find a cure and get back to his family. Watching this hurt. Bad. The stories and characters I loved in the book were striped and replaced with a Emmerich wannabe action movie. I admit, I may be hard on the movie; many folks I know that really enjoyed it never read it at all.

I’m going to say pick one, and whatever you pick, don’t go to the other because chances are you will get royally bent out of shape. I favor the book’s variety and emphasis on strong characters, setting, and simple zombies. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sharknado 5 (2017)

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Oh Sharknado. I am pretty sure people mostly watch these movies to see how far off the deep end of what the fuck did I just watch they can go, and Sharknado 5 goes even further off that deep end than ever before. I am talking hit a rock star with a bus so he plays some metal while driving down the road then kills a shark with his guitar style off the deep end. The movie is goofy and silly as hell, just like the last 4. The dialogue is corny, the visuals are pretty much as B movie as they can possibly get. And if you enjoyed the last 4 you will like this one, if you didn’t, this will not change that at all. In fact this one may actually make some fans shy away from continuing the series, and I do mean continuing since the ending pretty much promised a part 6.

However I did enjoy the movie for what it was, and I will watch the next one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Before I Wake (2016)

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Before I wake is one of those movies people will either love or hate, like most Netflix movies really. It tells the story of a husband and wife that choose to foster a child after the death of their son.They soon discover their new foster son has a weird power where his dreams become reality when he sleeps.

As he sleeps they see visions of beautiful butterflys and even their child that died in an accident happy. more than visions tho they can touch these things. Mom becomes slowly more obsessed with staying up to see them, not in a dangerous way but in an unhealthy way to be sure, which dad calls her out on.

The problem with all this, is his nightmares are also very real, and very dangerous. The first to fall victim to this is the school bully that learns sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a dick, and it pays even less to attempt an attack on a sleeping classmate. The movie is a lot of fun and has some great twist and turns to it, and while I al sure it isn’t for everyone I enjoyed it from beginning to end, tho it may be the saddest horror movie every created. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.