jeremycrimsonfox

The Mystery of the Cliffs is another odd entry in the TMNT franchise. This was an educational video commissioned by the U. S. Bureau of Land Management that aims to teach kids about the concept and caretaking of the country's natural resources and heritage sites.

In this, the four turtles (voiced by their VAs from the cartoon series, but are portrayed as suit actors who are wearing the costumes from the Coming Out of Our Shells Tour) are at the Arizona desert on the insistance of Master Splinter, as the rat hopes the event will help them to become better ninjas as well as better Americans. However, it soons become an adventure as Raphael goes missing, causing Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello to explore a dwelling inside a cliff, even discovering a plot by two Foot Ninjas to steal priceless artifacts.

This is an okay short film, even if it is a bit cheesy. Cam Clarke, Rob Paulson, Barry Gordon, Townsend Coleman, and Peter Renaday are in this, reprising their cartoon roles as the TMNT and Splinter. Also, the film tells a good story, and afterwards, Donatello teaches the viewers about heritage sites and the importance of caring for them.

Sonic the Hedgehog has gone on to become an example of how movies are done. The first two movies showed that movies based on video games can be done, as despite the changes made, they were made with care and packed with action, humor, and many references to the games that served as the source material. Sonic 3, the newest movie, continues that tradition, as it goes above and beyond to ensure it does not falter to the curse of the third movie being inferior.

In this movie, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are up against their greatest challenge, as G. U. N. Asks for their assistance, as Shadow the Hedgehog has escaped from containment and is out for revenge. However, this will be the least of Team Sonic's problems, as Dr. Robotnik is alive, and he has teamed up with his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, who is just as evil as he is.

Man, let me tell you, this movie is awesome. Ben Swartz, Colleen O'Shaughnessy, and Idris Elba return to voice Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, with the addition of Hollywood legend Keanu Reeves, who is best known for playing Neo in The Matrix, Bill in the Bill and Ted trilogy, and John Wick, providing the voice of Shadow. For the live action actors, Jim Carrey is back as Dr. Robotnik, but here, he is doing double duty as he also plays the role of Gerald. Tom Marsden and Tika Sumpter return to play Tom and Maddie Wachowski, and Alyla Brown does a good job playing Maria in Shadow's flashbacks.

The acting is good, as Jim nails doing two characters at once, and Keanu fits Shadow perfectly. Also, the plot is a mix of action, drama, and comedy. The only reason I give it nine stars is that some of the humor contains puns that would be hit-or-miss for some people, but Sonic 3 is a movie that has set the bar high, and is worth checking out if you are a fan of Sonic or video games in general.

Sing: Thriller is a short based on the movie Sing and its sequel, Sing 2, and is themed for the Halloween season. And while it is okay, this is something I would expect to see as an extra for a DVD release or Halloween Short compilation with other Illumination movie shorts than a Netflix exclusive.

In this short, themed around Michael Jackson song Thriller, Buster Moon has their Halloween musical. However, afterwards, when the crew go to Clay's Halloween party, Buster Moon sees a news report of a mysterious goo covering the ground after a laboratory explosion. And this goo turns the citizens into zombies who has the urge to dance.

Yeah, this is an okay short, but not one I feel is worthy of being a Netflix film. The one plus to this is that they got some of the actors from the movies to reprise their roles (Matthew McConaughy as Buster Moon, Scarlett Johannson as Ash, Taron Egerton as Johnny, and Tori Kelly as Meena, among examples), while the other characters appear in non-speaking roles. However, the short suffers for being what it is. At 11 minutes, this feels more like it belongs as part of a DVD collection of Illumination's other Halloween shorts based on their animated films rather than as an exclusive to a streaming service like Netflix, as the special feels more like a music video since it is to the tune of the Michael Jackson song. It's okay, and worth watching if you are a fan of the Sing movies or Michael Jackson, but other may want to seek out other movies that are longer and have an actual story.