Time for Another Break

 

Hey guys, so if you read my review for The Bad Guys 2, then you know about the special announcement.

And, well, this is it. I'm taking another break. The reason being is I just don't have enough energy and I just want to rest up. While it's good to enjoy your passions/hobbies, it's more important to also take care of yourself.

I'll be back on Saturday, Aug 16th, just in time for a review of Nobody 2. Also, I'm well aware this isn't a very long break, especially given the fact that sometimes I haven't posted in a week too. But during those silent weeks I was working on like three or four reviews and post. Here, totally cutting myself off. No writing for anything until August 16th.

So yeah, just wanted to keep you guys informed on what's going on here and with me. So until August 16th, enjoy the rest of your day, and don't forget to give yourself a break every once in awhile.

The Bad Guys 2 Review

 

After waiting for three years we finally got a sequel to a pretty good DreamWorks animated movie. But is it any good though?

The Bad Guys 2 is an animated heist comedy loosely based on Aaron Blabey's children's book series The Bad Guys and the sequel to the 2022 film. DreamWorks Animation produced while Universal Pictures distributed. Etan Cohen and Yoni Brenner wrote the story with Pierre Perifel directing.

The story is, after the events of the first movie the group known as The Bad Guys have gone straight, but their struggling to fit into society. After hearing about a criminal called The Phantom Bandit, the group decides that they'll capture the thief and with this good deed be declared heroes with society loving them. But they soon realize that not only is that gonna be easier said than done, but also find out they'll have to be The Bad Guys one more time.

Initial Reaction

Simply put I really liked the first. I thought it was a pretty good movie. So when the sequel was coming out I decided to see it and find out if it's just as good as the previous film.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The gray area is the story. Now does have a good part where the Bad Guys trying to integrate into after a long life of crime. But the story does hit very familiar beats from the first movie. Such a heist story and wanting to be good, only with that last one the only difference is instead of just Wolf wanting to change it's the whole gang. Then there's the new characters being the trio called The Bad Girls with the team consisting of Kitty Kat, Pigtail, and Doom. Now Kitty shines with her charisma and menace. The other two not so much. Doom has some good moments what with being in a relationship with Snake, but we don't dive into her character. But the worse is Pigtail. She's just the muscle of the Bad Girls and that's it. Then there's the humor. Now for 99.99% of the movie, it's actually very funny whether it'd be chase scenes, heist, or dialogue. But oh man, do they overdo it with Piranha's nervous farts during the third act. I can't tell you how much I rolled my eyes during those parts.

Pros

Alright let's move onto the good stuff. Starting with the animation. Much like the first, the animation is gorgeous. DreamWorks once again killed it with stunning blend of 2D and 3D. Then there's the action. While I previously mentioned the movie going into old territory I can't deny the heist were still fun. But whenever there wasn't a heist, there were some good fight scenes as well. One being a very colorful pro wrestling festival. The last thing I'll praise is the cast. The returning cast not only give strong performances on their own, especially Sam Rockwell once again doing a tremendous job as Wolf, but their chemistry is just as strong as it was from the last movie. But there's also newcomer Danielle Brooks playing Kitty Kat. Who voice work brought out her character's previously mentioned meance and charisma, along with a commanding energy. So thumbs up to the cast.

While not as good as the first movie, The Bad Guys 2 is provides an enjoyable experience. So I'm willing, for the most part, forgive the slight issues.

My final rating is, a very high Okay.

That all for me. Come back on Thursday, Aug 7th, for an important announcement. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Naked Gun (2025) Review

 

Alright, I've been waiting for this movie since the trailer dropped, then reviewed the first movie and its sequels. It's time to finally review the newest Naked Gun movie. Hopefully the long wait was worth it. 🤞

The Naked Gun (2025) is an action comedy movie. It's not only the fourth movie in the series but also serves as a legacy sequel. Production is done by Fuzzy Door Productions with Paramount Pictures distributing. Akiva Schaffer not only directed but wrote the screenplay alongside with Doug Mand and Dan Gregor.

The story is, Frank Drebin Jr. has just stopped a bank robbery and then gets a case of what appears to be a suicide. He soon realizes that the crimes are connected and suspects that tech giant millionaire Richard Cane is also involved. Now Frank Jr. must find out how all of the pieces fit together.

Initial Reaction

Years ago I discovered The Naked Gun films when Comedy Central played the movies  back when I was 7 or 8 years old. I thought they were very funny and even to this day still get a laugh out of them. So when I saw the trailer for this new one I was a little excited. I had my doubts, but still a little excited.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The mix bag comes from the humor. Now the movie does embrace the franchise's absurdity, so thankfully that was still intact. However not every joke worked. Sometimes some joke or gag just didn't do it for me. But I would say about 97% of the time I was laughing and having a great time. Then there's the characters. While Frank Jr. and his love interest Beth Davenport are funny characters, others like Capt. Ed Hocken Jr. are alright. Yes I know that's a supporting character so I shouldn't have expected much, but so was George Kennedy's Ed Hocken. And I remember his Hocken was far better than Paul Walter Hauser's Hocken Jr.

Pros

One praise I'll give goes to Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. With Neeson I was surprised by his comedic chops. We did see a bit of that with his cameo in Ted 2 and playing a fictional version of himself in the Family Guy episode Fighting Irish. But with those he was playing the more stoic badass akin to his role in the Taken trilogy, here he's deadpan but playing more to a bumbling goof much like Leslie Nielsen before him. So it's refreshing to see him take out a full comedic role. And to my biggest surprise was Pamela Anderson. Yeah other than Scary Movie 3 and Superhero Movie, I haven't seen her in a lot acting roles, haven't even seen The Last Showgirl yet despite hearing many positive reviews. But despite those things she was really good. She was great with the comedy and surprisingly enough had good chemistry with Neeson. My last praise goes to the fact that we have yet another good parody film (the last one being 2022's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). I was worried this would take the Disaster Movie direction and less of the original Naked Gun movie direction. Thankfully the filmmakers stayed faithful to the previous films that came before, and with that we got a pretty good movie out of it. And because of that I'm almost willing to forgive the more gray areas, almost.

While it does have problems, The Naked Gun (2025) is a great time to be had. It's got plenty of funny moments and is thankfully one of the better modern day parody films.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Aug 4th, for my review of The Bad Guys 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Bambi: The Reckoning Review

 

Alright, we got another horror movie based on another public domain character. Let's cut the bullshit and get right to it.

Bambi: The Reckoning is a horror movie and not only serves as a horror retelling of Bambi, but it also serves as the fourth installment of the Twisted Childhood Universe. Production was done by Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Distribution distributed. Dan Allen directed and Rhys Warrington wrote.

The story is, Bambi has suffered many tragedies. He's lost his mother, he lost his mate, and he's offspring disappeared. One day he drinks contaminated water thus turning into a mutant, this water also effected his mind and he now seeks revenge. Now a family and hunters must find a way to survive this blood thirsty animal.

Initial Reaction

As I've stated in my Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare, I've reviewing these kinds of a movies for a long time. It's pretty much a tradition for my blog. So I might as well keep it going with this movie.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

Firstly there's the characters. There's an attempt to give them some depth. Xana is going through some marriage problems with her husband and she's trying to be a good mother for her son despite these issues. It's very simple but you'll come to care for her and her boy. Having said that everyone else not so much. The grandmother (who's name is Mary by the way) has some sort of connection to Bambi, but other than knowing his name and making draws of him when her mind goes blank they really don't dive any deeper into this connection. The hunters are very standard bad guys who just want to kill Bambi. Meanwhile the rest of the characters are just there to fill the body count. Now let's move onto the acting. Roxanne McKee does a very solid job as Xana. She was very believable as her concerned mother character. With everybody else they're fine. They do an okay job.

Pros

Let's start with the pacing. Even if you don't like the movie you gotta appreciate the pacing. The filmmakers wasted no time with their 81 minutes runtime. The brisk action goes on and only slows down when needed. Then there's the kills. Now these aren't gonna be creative like something out of a Friday the 13th movie, but they are very entertaining. Lastly there's the Bambi special effects. First off I actually do like the design. The bulky frame and zombie-like eyes actually look pretty cool. But the most surprising thing was the CGI. There were a few times when it looked iffy, but overall it was actually good. Which is pretty surprising given the fact this was made with a report budget of $800,000. So nicely effects team.

I don't predict this being on anybody's "Best of" lists by any stretch. But if you're looking for some good turn off your brain entertainment, here you go.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Due come back on Saturday, Aug 2nd, for my review of The Naked Gun (2025). Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Happy Gilmore 2 Review

 

So we got a new Adam Sandler comedy movie. Let's hope this is his better ones.

Happy Gilmore 2 is a sports comedy film and the sequel to 1996's Happy Gilmore. Happy Madison Productions did production with Netflix distributing. Adam Sandler not only stars but also wrote the story with Tim Herlihy, and Kyle Newacheck directs.

The story is, ever since winning his first golf tournament twenty-nine years ago, Happy Gilmore retired and now has a family. His daughter Vienna is going to ballet school but with that comes a big bill to pay. Seeing no other choice, Happy comes out of retirement and returns to golf in the hopes of helping his daughter with her dreams.

Initial Reaction

To keep it brief, the reason for wanting to review this is because I'm a fan of the original and I was curious if a sequel was gonna be any good.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The biggest mix bag was the nostalgia. Now being a fan of the first all of these callbacks and cameos wasn't lost on me. I knew what everything was and who some of these people are. But if you're jumping into this and haven't watched the original, you're gonna be confused by a lot of things. But even if you're a fan a lot of the nostalgia is just gonna feel like a repetitive. Speaking of which, let's dive into the humor. Honestly I wouldn't say Happy Gilmore 2 has any bad jokes, at least in my opinion. But the slight issue stems from recycled gags. Remember that one moment where Happy strangles his caddy? Well an exact moment happens here too. And there's quite a few moments like that as well, but there was also a lot of new stuff too. There was a scene where golf carts crashed into each other and someone getting eaten by alligators that just made me laugh my ass off. Those were great.

Pros

First the pacing. Now there were some slow moments but I didn't find them too damaging to the runtime. So this is one of those few moments where I'm willing to forgive such a thing. Then we have Adam Sandler's performance. Sandler slips back into the role of Happy really well. He recaptured the character's crude charm but also gave him a more grizzled state as well. So it was a nice treat to see Sandler bring a balance of comedy as well as drama to one of his more classic characters. But there was also a surprisingly good performance from Bad Bunny as Happy's new caddie, Oscar. Now I do remember seeing him in Bullet Train but that was a much smaller role. So when I found out he was gonna play a bigger role in this I admit to being highly skeptical at first. So I was surprised he was really good in this, Hell some of the funnier moments came from his character. The last thing I'll give credit to is the tone. Now I understand some people not liking the more serious stuff, but for me I really liked it. I actually liked how the sequel wasn't afraid to be just a tad bit more serious. Mainly with Happy dealing with grief, alcoholism, helping his daughter with her dreams, and just trying to be a good father. It was surprisingly touching stuff, sure it won't be award winning but it's still good stuff.

Happy Gilmore 2 without a doubt has its fair share of problems. But thankfully it's not an outright terrible movie like I was dreading it to be.

My final rating is, Good.

Well that's all I got for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 31st, for yet horror flick about a character who's in the public domain. I'm referring to my upcoming review of Bambi: The Reckoning. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

Alright, a brand new Fantastic Four movie. Let's see if this one will be any good despite the MCU being decent at best these days.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a comic book movie based on the Marvel Comics' team the Fantastic Four. This is the fifth movie based on the team, the second reboot, and serves as the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As per usual with these movies Marvel Studios did production with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures handling distribution. The story is written by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer with Matt Shakman directing.

The story is, on Earth-828 is been four years since Reed Richards, his wife Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm got their powers and became a superhero team. While they've faced challenges before, a bigger and much more dangerous known as Galactus is coming to their world to devour it. The Four must pull themselves together and put a stop to this seemingly unstoppable monster.

Initial Reaction

Despite this movie not being on my Most Anticipated list and not being the biggest Fantastic Four fan or not even a fan in general, I was curious how Marvel Studios would handle these characters. Cause let's be honest they haven't been doing a good job post-Avengers: Endgame. But I figured they couldn't do any worse than the studio butchered 2015 flick (I refuse to call it Josh Trank's film). So I rewatched the old movies for a Road to and even reviewed some comics along the way, and hoped for the best.

Cons

Nothing here folks.

Middle Ground

Let's start off with characters. Firstly there's both Reed and Susan. Since becoming parents they both feel the weight of parenthood, only for this story is a lot more intense because Galactus wants their newly born son Franklin. But with that out of the way they do have more human problems. With Reed he's struggling with balancing his duties as a father and being a brilliant scientist, and for Sue while she's far more emotionally intelligent she does have her own struggles. She still wants to be caring mother and keep Franklin safe, but with Galactus coming closer and closer to devour Earth she knows she'll have to make some tough decisions. Then there's Johnny. Now the marketing didn't do his character any favors. It gave you the impression he was gonna be more annoying than funny. Thankfully that wasn't the case. Sure he still has his comedic scenes, but in the movie his story is trying to get to the Silver Surfer's aka Shalla-Bal's humanity. Now for the weakest story arcs. First up is The Thing/Ben Grimm. Now he does have somewhat of a romantic subplot with a school teacher named Rachel Rozman, but because of limited screentime we don't see much of them together. Oftentimes The Thing is just being a loyal friend. Then we have Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer. The writers do try to flesh her out with her backstory, but she's still a very surface level character. Lastly there's Galactus. They really didn't give him much. At one point he tells the Fantastic Four he wants Franklin to replace him and in doing so it'll end his hunger because it just causes him suffering. But the movie never dives deeper into that agony other than that line. So for most of the film Galactus is just a reality really big giant and nothing more. So yeah, some writing for the characters were better than the others.

Pros

I'll start with what worried me the most and that was the humor. Well good news everyone, the humor is toned down. Sure we get some moments with the "MCU humor", but that was I think like two or three moments. Most of the time the movie's played straight. Then there's the world. While we have traveled to different places in the MCU, 99.99% of the time were taken to places that look like stuff you'd see in the real world. With Fantastic Four: First Steps we're taken to a world that looks like a futuristic 1960's, and I loved every bit of it. The setting looked great and has mentioned before it's very different compared to previous cities in the MCU. The last thing I'll praise is the cast and their chemistry. These four surprised me. They play off each other perfectly and they come off as a dysfunctional yet loving family. But even when separated they're great. Vanessa Kirby brings quite a lot of heart as Sue Storm, both as the emotional anchor for the team and as a new mother. And well I do agree that over the years Pedro Pascal has become a very overexposed actor, I can't deny he did a good job as Reed Richards. He was a pretty good balance of genius and a man struggling to be a good father. These two were the biggest standouts and they delivered.

Now this movie isn't a masterpiece and I highly doubt it'll bring the MCU back to its former glory, but hopefully this'll be a good sign that the quality from here forward will be more consistent than the good to mix to utter garbage stuff we have now.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay that'll wrap things up. Come back on Monday, Jul 28th, for my review of Happy Gilmore 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Fan Film Mondays - Superman: Awakens Review

 

It's been weeks since the release of James Gunn's Superman, but I still have that movie on my mind. So I think it's a good idea to see what the fan film side of things have done, again.

Superman: Awakens is a 2023 CGI animated short fan film that takes inspiration from the character of Kingdom Come Superman along with other works by Alex Ross. Antonis Fylladitis directed and wrote the story along with Stavros Fylladitis and John Finnegan.

The story is, after suffering through great tragedies Superman doesn't feel as though he's the beacon of hope he once was. Can the Man of Steel come back and be that hero people need, or will he give up?

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

I do have just one mix feeling regarding this and that's Daniel Zbel as Superman. Now he didn't do a bad job with acting. I thought he did good. But his Superman voice is a mix bag. Now I get what they were going for. This is not just an older Superman but also one who's been beating down because of all of the tragedies in his life. So naturally Superman isn't gonna sound as confident and triumphant. But I think his voice sounded a bit too gruff and brooding.

• Positives

One thing to praise is the story. Taken a bit from Kingdom Come, Superman is broken and doesn't know if he's the symbol people believe him to be. The voice over by Zbel a provides very well done narration of how Superman is trying to find his way back. The closing dialogue by the end actually got me excited. It was incredible.

The last thing I'll praise is the animation. The team used an Unreal Engine. For any of you who don't know, is 3D computer graphic software typically used for video games. And the animators used it to perfection. On one hand it looks like Alex Ross' draws were brought to life and on another hand there were some shots that almost looked like they were close to looking like it was live-action. That's how great these guys did.

I strongly recommend you watch Superman: Awakens. It's only four minutes long but it's worth the time.

My final rating is, Great.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 26th, for my review of the newest MCU movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.