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The Penguin (2024)
The Matt Reeve's Universe Expands further....
I usually don't write reviews on a show only two episodes in because any show can falloff towards the end of a season. However, this show is extremely good and makes me very excited for the future of the Matt Reeves DC universe.
After the success of The Batman, they decided to expand the Penguins character arch and story. I was excited for this show since the beginning, however I never thought how much I'd be invested in these characters. The Penguin himself is a deeply flawed man, that would do anything or cut anyone if it means he'll get to the top. I loved Cristin Milioti's acting in the first couple episodes has been phenomenal. I loved the realistic, cutthroat, and dark world-building from The Batman. That mixed with a Sopranos-esc feel makes this series almost addictive.
I am extremely excited for the end of this season. As of right now I'd give this show a 8.8 with room to grow or fall based on the following episodes.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Solid, Funny, and not a waste of time.
Deadpool & Wolverine was a good movie. A movie that was able to help me forget about Marvels latest shortcomings. I am extremely happy Disney didn't intervene in this project because they tend to destroy good things. This was probably my favorite of the three Deadpool movies even with the pretty big plot holes and inadequate writing. I like the character appearances, they gave the audience those big oooohhhh, ahhhhhh moments. Overall in comparison to older Marvel Greats like Ironman and Captain America, this doesn't compare on a story level. However, everyone knows these Deadpool movies aren't meant to be taken seriously. I gave the movie an 8 because it was actually watchable compared to movies like the previous Ant-man movie, and it gave me a good laugh.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
An Overall Downgrade and a Definite Disappointment
This by no means is a terrible show and is nowhere close to as horrible as the Shyamalan movie. In many if not all aspects this show is a complete downgrade to the original masterpiece.
Cons-
Characters:
Most characters are not even close in development to the original. Characters like Katara and Aang feel flat. The stripped Katara of all emotion and removed all the child-like aspects of Aang. They even removed Sokka's only serious character arc in season 1 by removing his slight sexist attitude. Making his character feel like he's just their to make the audience laugh. Zuko and Iroh feel fine.
Another problem is the team isn't given enough screen time together to make meaningful connections to each other like the original has.
Writing:
The worst part of this show, that is borderline inescapable, is definitely the writing. Netflix needs to fire all of their current writers or change something because this show was hard to watch at times. There are many instances of very beginner level mistakes in the writing. Someone needs to teach them the classic, but simple, "show not tell".
I think the actors did a very good job with what they were given but the writing was very unprofessional.
Another annoying problem I had was how much was condensed in this show. There were events that were condensed into one location that just didn't feel right. Like the love tunnel, the southern air temple, and the episodes in Omashu were all smashed into the city of Omashu. Nothing really felt fluid and pieces didn't add up. The same went for the spirit world, where nothing made sense.
Pros-
Visuals: Obviously the visuals were incredible given the Netflix budget and design team being insane. The bending didn't feel weak or subdued. All of the building and battleships and the overall set was very accurate and grand.
Overall:
I can definitely see why the original creators left the project so early on. Netflix's vision for Avatar feels to thin and bland. All character depth was stripped to fit a time crunch and all the good writing was replaced with cheap novice writing.
Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
The Solution to the Modern Hollywood Female Protagonist
Most modern Hollywood Female Protagonist lead movies end up failing, whether in the box office or the public perception. This can be for a multitude of reasons including the character being poorly written, simply created to meet social standards, or even shameful self inserts from the director/creator. Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai is the solution to Hollywood's female protagonist problem.
Unlike other Hollywood female protagonists that are simply created to fit a specific social standard, Mizu is a well written character. Mizu and her backstory support her commonly "masculine" characteristics. A great example of where this can go wrong can be found in Lord of the rings, Rings of Power's character Galadriel. Galadriel Is unlikable and at times seems as if inhuman, this is because of terrible writing. It's important you convey your character is human, meaning they show human emotion or have understandable/relatable backstories while continue to get back up even when pushed down. Another essential aspect in a character is to allowing them to lose. Losing is an almost human feeling that we have all experienced at one point or another and by allowing your character to undergo loss, we allow the audience to connect with the character. This can also be seen in the male protagonist department with Dwayne Johnsons character's often being portrayed as perfect, un-killable, or even inhuman. This makes for a character the audience cannot relate with. Blue Eye Samurai creates a story that allows for her badass moments to come through while also allowing for character growth and triumph. It's important to note that you can have a character that accomplishes herculean tasks, however they must have clear character flaws and/or a clear arc. This show has a beautifully constructed story with deep complex characters. Mizu has conflicts and flaws that build to an awesome season 1 character arc around the idea of being a samurai.
Blue Eye Samurai's Mizu is not a female inserted character. What I mean by this is that her being a female is critically important for the story. In most modern Hollywood Stories featuring a female protagonist they creators make it known that there character being a female is important or matters. When in actuality I could replace them with a man and nothing in the story would change. This is a story constructed around Mizu being a woman with blue eyes during the Edo period in Japan creating a specific set of challenges and circumstances for her.
Overall, this show is the outlier to the modern female protagonists and is an excellent show and would highly recommend watching.
Castlevania: Nocturne (2023)
Somewhat of a Letdown...
This show was by no means a horrible show, however there were many glaring problems and the show in many instances felt off from the original series. The reason this show didn't hold up to the original in my opinion was because too much changed, the writing, the characters, and even the dialogue felt dry. The main characters aren't written particularly well/developed and aren't given that time to develop them. The pacing felt so much different from the original as well. The First show was a much more slow pace and was able to hook the audiences with the amazing and thoroughly developed characters. In this show the dialog felt stale and rushed so that the season had enough time for cool fight scenes (because for newer shows the fight scenes are the only things that matter apparently). The last issue I had with the show was the weak villains. The original had the iconic Dracula as the main villain for the first season and it hooks you right away with his tragic but kind of understandable story. This show had incredibly weak villains, poorly written to the point where the audience doesn't care. The fight scenes were the only well areas of this show and were animated and choreographed beautifully.
It really sad honestly because I feel like if this show was given more time to develop their characters and hired better script writers, this show would have been great. Sadly its just another Netflix Sequel not holding up to an original. If I could give it a 6.5 I would because it fails in so many crucial areas.
Ahsoka (2023)
Saving this franchise.
Whether you want to agree or not this is by far the best piece of star wars medium released by Disney since Mandalorian. Sure there were problems with the fight choreography and classic Dave Filoni stale dialog. Even with these problems the overall feeling of this show brought me back to the clones wars show and made me feel happy. Some characters in the show felt stale and clearly needed better actors and writing. However, with all of that in mind my only real problem with the show was the fight choreography. The fight scenes felt slow and basic, even at times feeling extremely underwhelming. With all of this in mind this show was better then Boba Fett and better than season 3 of Mando. Not great but not bad.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
The GOAT
This show (in my opinion) is the single greatest animated show of all time. I am extremely happy this show is a top ten of all time. Where do I begin...
Essentially this show is about a young child (12 years old) who is dumped with the task to be the Avatar, the single biggest responsibility in the world. This kid will have his child innocence that he starts with ripped from him. Aang's character arc is not wanting to accept responsibility and not wanting to "grow up." His journey finds him as a fully realized Avatar and a matured young-man who accepts his duty to defeat the Fire-lord and bring peace to the war-revenged world.
The world building is insane for a nickelodeon show. The four waring nations and the fantasy elements that are incorporated. This show sucks you in and doesn't let go. The landscapes and the beautiful cities like Ba Sing Se.
The characters are beautifully flawed and complex. Every single character has an incredible arc and journey. Even the animals in the gang have character development. Obviously the greatest example is Zuko. Someone who incredibly complex, frustrated and mostly confused with who they are and who they are trying to be.
I love the complexity of this show, The themes portrayed are simple enough for a kid but complex enough for an adult. I think the best way to portray this is with Jet and his final seconds. For a kid this scene is nothing more than Jet saying to go on without him, but for an older person, this scene is emotional because you know Jet is dying. Another great example is how this show portrays genocide. Genocide is one of the single most horrific and evil biproducts of human existence. And somehow this show does an incredible job of conveying this to a generation of children! The scene of monk Gyatso at the Southern Air temple says it all.
Every scene in this show is magic and beautiful. I will always cherish those memories of watching this show with my father and will always love this show. The jokes are so good my father always belly laughs when Saka opens his mouth. This show is also deeply complex and has many layers just waiting to be peeling back. I could be here for hours writing about how complex of a show this is, luckily someone else did it for me. If you wanna check them out go to YouTube and find "Hello Future Me." They make long and complex videos on Avatar braking the show down so I don't have to here.
Thank you Brian Konietzko, Michael DiMartino, and Nickelodeon for creating this masterpiece. We will forever be grateful.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Fun for the whole family
Of course I was hyped for this movie from the minute it got announced, however when I heard Chris Pratt's voice in the trailer I was scared. I gotta say I actually like how they did the story of this movie. Incorporating how Mario and Luigi come from New York and are plumbers, It was a nice touch. Mario and its games have been a stable of the video game industry for decades. That means there were so many fun little Easter eggs and fun ahha moments. I think that a 7 is a pretty justified score because most of the movie is just Easter eggs, the story itself is a little thin and the writing and pace is a little sloppy. But this is not a serious movie and is just here to have a good time. I think it was pretty good, nowhere as good a puss n boots which in my opinion is the best kids movie this year. I still had a fun time, which for a movie like this is all that matters.
The Last of Us (2023)
HBO max can't keep getting away with this...
This first season was admittedly a ten, I just cant give the show a ten without seeing more than one season. I went into the show with very little hopes because of my past experiences with movie/show adaptations of video games. However, this was an incredible first season that has me on a hook. The only weak character was Ellie tbh. I think there could've been a better casting choice but I have a feeling that Bella Ramsey will begin to grow on me given time. Pedro Pascal was phenomenal as always. HBO max has some absolute bangers in their arsenal of shows, this is just another one of those. I have a feeling this show will be one of the absolute giants of the next five or so years.
This is not just another walking dead, thank god.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Not my marvel
Marvel holds a uniquely special place in my heart. Going to the theatre with my dad growing up was special. The movies had Iconic characters that were build up and built apon every movie making an incredible cast of characters. Every single character was written beautifully and have conflict and character building that we no longer see much of anymore. I am also very sad of the tone of the newer marvel movies. The tone of the old movies were more serious and creative. The Avengers a group of incredible super hero's that are not perfect. Each of the avengers have a conflict or problem that makes them characters and helps the audience relate to them. Writers for the newer Marvel movies have a very primitive writing style. The tone of this movie is very whimsical, "funny", and oh look we are in the quantum realm with people that look weird and there's a big bad guy with an empire. This movie feels like the director watched star wars and said I want that universe to be the quantum realm. Speaking of the quantum realm, this movie makes the concept look childish. In the previous ant-man movies I thought, "Damn, Janet was stranded in a desolate realm with nothing and nobody." I thought the quantum realm was cool and mysterious. Now with the newer movie, the quantum realm is nothing but a weird place full of cringe people and creatures. The writer's for the script should also be fired, I felt genuinely bad for the incredible actors in this film because this movie was a complete waste of their talent.
Marvel is killing this franchise slowly with every new show and movie they make. Bring back the old Marvel and hire some new writers. My little sister could write A better plot and script for this movie.
Blue Lock (2022)
IDC if you don't like soccer
This is amazing and not just because I'm a fan of soccer. My friend put me onto this show and he hates soccer, even going so far as to call them "foot fairies". Blue lock adds a refreshing spin onto a relatively bland anime sports genre. Nobody is perfect and we all have our strengths and weaknesses, this show truly grasps that concept and runs with it. The animation is a little rough sometimes but makes up for it with it's badass moments. This show is the definition of epic scenes full of triumph and character building. Each character has a moment of self-reflection and I can appreciate the course Isagi's character goes on. This show has parts which real soccer fans can appreciate while also being appealing for those who may not enjoy soccer. Every character is different an in a uniquely great way.
Now please do me a favor and watch the show, you wont regret it...
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
A must Watch...
I find it incredible when a movie or show that was made for kids is able to grab an adults attention. Sometimes the best movies or shows are ones that can grab the attention of anyone. Puss in Boots accomplishes this and more. It still has those lighthearted scenes a kids movie needs, however it is also funny and has themes that are not common in a kids movie. Themes such as the fear of death and panic attacks. They incorporated it in a way that actually works very well and is impressive. They were also able to create a main antagonist that is actually scary. With subtle things such as puss's hair raising, the whistling, and even the voice actor all builds on his character. Puss undergoes real character development and you can clearly see this change in the way he perceives himself and the world around him. A great watch whether its with your family or just by yourself give it a try.
One Punch Man: Wanpanman (2015)
Honestly Amazing
When I thought of One Punch Man I thought that it was just a spoof show making fun of other anime. However, after giving it a chance I came around to find out I was very wrong. This show is amazing, definitely a top 5 anime for me. It's funny, action-packed, and you will always be on the edge of your seat. Saitama is one of the most badass characters I have ever seen, the fight scenes make this show perfect. Some may find this show un-interesting because of how powerful he is, and this may be true. I think the underlying goal of Saitama's character is that he is ultimately trying to find someone strong enough to give him a challenge. I think this show is an example of "you'll either love it or hate it." Give it a try I promise you, you'll be hooked in an instant.
Ousama Ranking (2021)
The unexpected
Me and my friends were sitting around the tv one night and decided to give a random anime a chance. I went into this one blind and wasn't expecting much, I definitely wasn't expecting to watch one of my favorite anime's! This show was stunning and had an amazing story. The visual art style reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki's work. The characters were 3 dimensional and nobody felt flat or one dimensional. The style felt almost like Game of Thrones with the power struggles but mixed with the complexities of an anime. This show was an unexpected banger and this show for some of my friends quickly became their favorite show of all time. The main character is loveable and in some ways very relatable. Obviously this wouldn't be an anime without an overpowered main character as well!
The only qualm I had with this show was that there was too much crying at times. In some instances this would pull us out of the scene, there were times we wished that Bojji would gain a sense of maturity. Of course crying or showing expressive emotion is critical and a necesity but in this case it is over used or over played.
Please if you have time check out this spectacular show and give it a chance. You will fall in love with the world and the characters immediately, I can promise you that.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (2022)
Dave Filoni did it again!
Once again Dave Filoni proves he understands Star Wars... This series of miniature episodes brought me back to the clones wars series. With the same art style and the same writing style. This show gives us a glimpse into some characters past that we never really were shown before. The first episode gives us a back story into Ahsoka's childhood and the planet she was born on. The following couple episodes touches upon the past of Count Dooku and the events that untimely leads to him falling to the dark side. I think this show is amazing because it provides the fans with some much needed context and background. I love these styles of shows and I think Disney needs to keep making animated Star Wars productions. I think animated Star Wars still has a massive amount of untouched potential. My only qualm was the length of the episodes, I needed more.
Overall, this series of short episodes was incredible and further proves that Dave Filoni is the man when it comes to understanding what Star Wars is and should be.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Disappointing...
The amount of excitement I had when I heard this show was being produced was enormous. I haven't had any LOTR content since 2014. I was less excited to find out Amazon was the company producing the show, I had a feeling this major corporation would ruin the show. Boy was I right, this show was visually stunning, however this was one of the only positive things going for it. The acting was very mediocre and the writing was very bad for how large of a production this was. I don't know how you screw up a main character more than they did. Galadriel is not at all like the Galadriel we know and love from the main trilogy. She may as well be a different character. I found her annoying and always angry. They tried to make her a stronger character by making her be able to wave a sword. Just because a character can wave a sword around, doesn't make them a good character. Overall, I found myself not liking a lot of the characters in this show. The show had a lot of problems in the writing in general. I found myself being lost in what's happening on screen, and confused why people were doing certain things. For example, the episode where the orcs are attacking the Southlands village. The people left the heavily fortified tower with one chokepoint bridge entrance, and decided to bring down the tower on the enemies, then retreat to the village and hold up there. That's not very logical. Also, how did Galadriel and her Numenorean forces know to go to that exact village? This show felt vastly different from Tolkien's universe he created. I have a belief that if you're creating a show or movie based on something, stick to the source material. Marvel used to in phases 1-3, Star Wars used to in movies 1-6, and now Amazon went completely off the rails in this production. This show performed poorly for no other reason than not sticking with what works, the writings of the original creator. A waste of my time and Amazon's money.
Overall, I feel this is show is vastly disconnected from Tolkien's LOTR, written terribly, and missing a main character the audience can actually like.
Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019)
Immaculate...
This show is incredible and from the very first episode you will be hooked. The first season and the characters you meet along the way. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Nezuko, and Inosuke are all amazing characters each with there own unique character traits. Only 2 seasons and a movie and I already think this will be my favorite anime. Both seasons were beautifully animated and designed. The story is thick and full of surprises. I love when the audience is able to connect with a villain on a personal level, this show does an incredible job at just that. Season two had an incredible ending and I am terribly excited for the third season. This show is a must watch for anyone who loves anime.
Jujutsu Kaisen (2020)
Not what I expected
I am very new to Anime and only started recently because of my roommates. My friend recommended I watch this and at first glance it looked generic. After the first episode I knew I was hooked, we ended up watching five or so episodes that night. After I watched the whole first season I would strongly recommended. Every character is different in their own way, it doesn't feel like every character is the same. I like the main villains and the plot felt strong throughout. I never was confused on where the episode was going. Beautifully animated and very cool fight scenes. Very strong start hence why I rated it an 8. Can't wait for season 2. Give this show a try!