Jungle Cruise is a fantasy adventure film based on the theme park ride of the same name. The movie is produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Davis Entertainment, Seven Bucks Productions, and Flynn Picture Company and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Jungle Cruise is written by Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
The story is Dr. Lily Houghton has asked for help from riverboat captain Frank Wolff. She tells him that there's a tree that has the power to heal, and because of that it'll not only change science, but help save lives. Frank agrees but warns her that going on this adventure is extremely dangerous. Not only are other people trying to find this tree, but the jungle itself is a deathtrap.
Initial Reaction
Really my only reason for wanting to see this movie was because it looked fun. It seemed like it's going to a good sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to see a movie like that every now and then.
Cons
My only real complaint is we've got two group of villains, and it doesn't seem balanced between the groups. For the most part we're stuck with this German guy named Prince Joachim, then a team-up with a group of soldiers, then we spend time with those soldiers, and then we're right back with Joachim. It really felt like the filmmakers wanted to just have Joachim be the main villain, but then they were like, "You know what, throw in those soldiers were mentioned in the beginning of the movie."
Middle Ground
Now this film has a lot of CGI. Some of I didn't mind, because it did look good in those areas. Other times I just didn't like it, especially when there were times when it didn't feel necessary.
Pros
One thing I did like about the film was the humor. It's not the greatest form of comedy ever, but I do think for the most part the audience will be entertained. Especially when Frank makes a glorious pun. Now last year I want and saw a movie that was also supposed to be this big grand adventure, that movie being Dolittle. You're probably asking why I'm being that movie up? Simply put, one of my biggest disappointments with that movie was I didn't get a sense of adventure from it, this is not the case with Jungle Cruise. With this film I actually got invested and a little bit excited. I did feel that sense of adventure throughout the movie. The last thing I'll give the movie is Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt's chemistry. Those two bantering back and forth, really carried the movie, and it's one of those things that made me want to continue watching the film.
Jungle Cruise had it's flaws, such an uneven balance between the two villains, and while the CGI was good in some cases, other times it didn't feel needed. But, what made the movie enjoyable was the humor, the sense of adventure, and Dwayne and Emily's chemistry.
My final rating is Okay.
So yeah, I kinda liked Jungle Cruise. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Aug 5th for my A Look Back at review of 2016's Suicide Squad. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two is a direct-to-video animated comic book movie and the second chapter of The Long Halloween saga. It's based on the 1996 story arc simply titled, Batman: The Long Halloween. The movie is produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two is written by Tim Sheridan and directed by Chris Palmer.
The story is Batman still doesn't know who the serial killer named "Holiday" is. Because of this tensions among Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent are rising, and just to make things worse, more and more of the mob is being replaced by supervillains. Batman must finally put an end to this Holiday, and go on to stop these new supervillains.
Initial Reaction
The reason for wanting to see this is simple, it's the second half of a story. Although If you read in my Part One review, you'd know that I'm a little concerned about the changes, because a major character who played a big role in the comics was killed off in Part One. So in actuality I was looking forward to this because it's the other half of the story AND curiosity.
Cons
I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
Middle Ground
The only mix bag with the movie was it can get slow in some scenes. In a way that makes sense given this isn't an action-oriented movie, but it did feel like some scenes were a lot slower than they needed to be.
Pros
One pro to this movie is the animation. It's still for the most part the same as The Long Halloween - Part One, but there were times when it looked far more gorgeous than some of the shots from the previous film. Another thing I'm gonna give credit where credit is due is the changes. Back in my review for Part One I mentioned how worried I was, because one character who played a big role in the comic storyline got killed. Thankfully, after watching this part of the story my worries were put to rest. Cause even though there were changes we still basically got the same story. What I also want to praise is the voice work. I still dug Jensen Ackles as Batman, still wish there was something to make his Bruce Wayne voice different from the Batman persona, but he still did a good job overall. But I still gotta give Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. He once again killed it as this character. The other aspect of The Long Halloween - Part Two I liked was the post-credit scene. Really made me curious about what's next, and I'm just gonna leave it at that. The last thing I'll praise and this is the movie's biggest strength is it's focus on character. Throughout the movie we get to learn so much about them, whether it's through backstory, dialogue, or with scenes with no dialogue whatsoever. In a way, this part of the movie was almost like a character study.
Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two is a perfect conclusion of this story. It has good animation, the changes still don't change the fact that we witness a great story, the voice acting is great, the post-credit scene will get fans curious, and I loved how there was a focus on character. The only mix bag was some bits could be a lot slower than they should've been.
My final rating is Great.
Okay, I'm finished here. Gotta say I'm really excited for what DC has in store for us, I know we're getting an animated Injustice movie, really excited about that. But I'm also curious about what goes after that. But until then, come back on Saturday, Jul 31st for my review of Disney's newest movie, Jungle Cruise. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Originally I wasn't gonna bother with this. Because I'm not a comic book reviewer, I'm more suited for movies. It's just when I saw this thing, I just couldn't let the opportunity slip by.
I mean just look at the cover alone. This just screams "I need to be riffed on", "Please, please! Rip me apart". And if the cover doesn't tell you that is gonna be unintentionally hilarious, just get a load of this trailer,
That's real folks. That's a 100% real trailer that DC put out for this comic.
And just to make things worse....or maybe they (DC) thought would be better, they have actively turned off comments to the video for the trailer and have even shut off comments you could make about it on their Twitter account. The downvotes are amazing, and you don't wanna know how badly it's getting ratioed on Twitter. Hell, videos mocking it are gettinga better reception than this.
All of these signs are by no means good, but hey, enough of my rambling, let's get too it.
My Thoughts
Now let's start off with the art. Sure it didn't seem bad, but this is DC Comics. If I was an editor there I would want the best artwork possible for this story, even if it just fades into the background and is never talked about again. And it also doesn't help you get weird facial expressions like this....
What is this expression? Does anybody know what emotion the artist was trying to show with this?
Then we have Mandy's design (and her personality but don't worry, I'll get into THAT later). With the way she looks, you would never guess that she's Starfire's kid. There's not one generic trait of her mother's that shows they're related. And then there's the fact she's so short. This character is sixteen and she's no taller than an eleven year old. In real life, I would tower over her, and I'm by no means a very tall guy.
Now let's get into some story stuff, one of those being Mandy doesn't want to go to college, but instead go to France. But here's the thing, she doesn't really know that much about the country. You know what scratch that, she knows as much about France as a six year old would. I mean it, in the story she says something like, French people drink tea, speak french, and read poetry. So basically Mandy doesn't exactly have a plan of what she's going to do with her life outside of high school.
Throughout the story there's a romantic relationship between Mandy and her fellow classmate Claire, and it's terrible. Mainly because we don't know why these two girls are attracted to each other. Mandy gives no explanation at all of why she's in love with Claire, and the only info Claire gives us of why she's in love with Mandy is she thinks she's 'cool'. Okay, well....what certain trait of Mandy makes her cool in Claire's eyes? Never explained, we're just suppose to by into this relationship because...well, that made eye contact with each other, and apparently to the writer, that was good enough.
Now we have I Am Not Starfire's biggest story issue ever! Mandy not wanting to college?! Seriously.....this is treated like the world's most shocking thing to ever happen. Why? Why is Mandy not wanting to go to college treated like it's blasphemy? I've known plenty of people who have never gone to college and turned out fine. This really isn't as big as a deal as the writer is trying to make it out to be.
And speaking of college, here's a scene from the comic,
There's three things to breakdown from this scene, that showcase everything wrong with this comics.
1) It's one of the many ways that's trying to make Starfire look like a bad parent. From beginning to leading up to this scene and afterwards, the writer is trying to make Starfire look bad, but failing miserably. One way was trying to make it look like Starfire she doesn't know that there's something wrong with her daughter, but we've seen panels showing the exact opposite. Starfire knows Mandy's going through something, she just doesn't know what because Mandy isn't telling her. It's hard for a parent to help their child, when said child won't tell them what's wrong.
And then we have this part where Starfire is wanting to help Mandy with her future. Why does this make Starfire look bad? Does Mariko not know how many kids would've loved it if their Mom, Dad, or both did something like this for them? Also, if you reread the previous panels, Starfire didn't just get a college brochure, she went and got brochures from every college! She has such faith in her daughter's abilities, she believes she can get accepted into any college. Yet again, this isn't making Starfire look bad.
2) This just shows how Mandy is the worst daughter ever! Every since the story began, we see how unlikable Mandy is. Her attitude can be described as sour, she always has some sort of unnecessary rude comment to make, and she's constantly belittling her mother whether it be her trying to be a mother, or somehow people praising her mom's superhero activities as an inconvenience to her. And of course she's the clichéd angsty teenager. Which she really has no reason to be that way, considering she has a loving mother, a sweet place to live, and overall has it made.
3) I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but now I firmly believe it. I know believe this is Mariko Tamaki's self-insert story. This is her showing she has some unresolved issues going all the way back when she was a teenager. It would really explain the odd not going to college drama and all of the mommy issues.
With all of that in mind, I'm left wondering who is this targeted for? It can't be for little kids because words like fuck, asshole, douchebag, bullshit, pissed are used, and Mandy even gives the double middle finger. I don't know if teenagers are gonna find this enjoyable because nothing really exciting happens, and adults aren't the target audience for this and even if they were, the cover alone isn't gonna peak their interest. So who's the audience?!
So, after so much boring slice of life garbage, so much boring drama about college, and so many mommy issues, finally something interesting happens.....too bad we had to get through what I do believe was a 106 pages to get there. Sure, the previous pages were to set up character, story, and drama but, because those parts are so poorly written nobody cares, and we're just going to be happy that there's gonna be some sort of action-like conflict.
Now the big conflict is Starfire's evil sister, Blackfire has to challenge Mandy, because she holds a threat to being heir to the throne. Which no, Mandy doesn't. Only Blackfire knows of her existence, nobody else on Starfire and Blackfire's home planet knows about Mandy. So Blackfire's reign was by no means in danger. Also, how does Blackfire know Mandy? She hasn't seen nor heard from her sister in years, so she couldn't have possibly know about her niece.
But whether that made any sense, we cut back to, you guessed it...more stupid, boring teenage drama. Basically, after one of Mandy and Claire's studying sessions, Claire took a selfie with the Titans and posted it on social media. And this made Mandy upset because she doesn't like the whole superhero stuff. So now Claire is the bad guy, even though there's no reason for us to hate her now. Mandy never told Claire about hating the whole superhero stuff, and even if she did, why should that matter. Claire shouldn't have to drop liking superheroes just because it mildly annoys/inconveniences Mandy. Not only is this a non-conflict, but it's overly pointless, because it's fixed just as fast as it was brought up.
So after that bit of pointlessness, Blackfire challenges Mandy to a fight to the death.....at the school's football field. I get what Mariko is going for. Blackfire wants to humiliate Mandy in front of her classmates, but it's still such an odd choice to have a fight. It's like if Lex Luthor challenged Superman to a final battle at the nearest dog park.
Now, for real this time, Blackfire and Mandy are fighting, but it doesn't take long before Starfire steps in and fight her sister because not only does Mandy not know how to fight, doesn't have any powers, but she's also naturally scared out of her mind. But sadly Starfire is defeated, and then Mandy's powers finally manifest. That moment would've been cool, but you saw coming a mile away. Because the writer keep beating it into your head, she's powerless, she's powerless, she has no powers, she's just an ordinary girl with absolutely no powers what so ever. So with all of that, you're just rolling your eyes waiting for predictability to happen.
So it's Mandy vs. Blackfire, and Mandy easily beats her. The fight didn't even last two pages. It's Mandy's powers are finally here, she shoots a couple of starbolts at Blackfire, fights over. So basically an aged and experienced fighter like Blackfire stands no chance against a really anger teenager girl with mommy issues.
Then the ending arrives and it's so boring. It's just MORE TALK ABOUT COLLEGE! Cause we didn't get enough of that! Mandy now loves her Mom. Which doesn't feel us with any joy, because for a majority of the story she treated her pet bird better than her own mother. Mandy and Claire kiss, nobody cares because their relationship had no development to speak of, and now that she has powers Mandy because a superhero.
So that's I Am Not Starfire. And DC Comics has put out a lot of bad comics. Superman: At Earth's End, Batman: Fortunate Son, Amazons Attack, and many others, and this definitely belongs in the worst. It's biggest crime is it's beyond boring. It's just filled with boring slice of life stuff, too much talk about freaking college, bland art, the writer clearly projecting her mommy issues, and a very unlikable protagonist.
If I was to rate this graphic novel like I do with movies, I would give it a rating of Destroy It.
That's going to do it for me. Come back tomorrow, Jul 29th for my review of Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 crime film and Quentin Tarantino's first feature-length movie. The film was produced by Dog Eat Dog Productions and Live America Inc. and distributed by Miramax. Reservoir Dogs was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.
The story is six criminals with the pseudonyms of Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Brown, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Pink, are planning to pull off a diamond heist, but when they actually do the heist, they're immediately shot at by the cops. They theorize that the whole thing was a set up, and someone in their group tipped them off. Now the six want to find out who did it.
My Thoughts
One thing to absolutely praise about the movie is the performances. Every actor in this brought some sort of intensity to their roles, and they delivered the dialogue perfectly. And what also made their performances so good was there were times when I actually believed they were in pain. I mean it, you hear the groaning, screaming, cussing, all sorts of stuff that really made you believe what you saw on the screen.
What also makes Reservoir Dogs so great was how the overall story is very grisly. Yes, it's got some profanity and violence in there but, what really made it grisly as I said before, was the themes of things like respect or betrayal. The latter of which playing a HUGE part in the ending.
Another aspect of the film that makes it great is Quentin's dialogue. When the movie first started the dialogue is pretty funny. I was having a good laugh during that opening diner scene before things took a dramatic turn. But not only is the dialogue funny and/or dramatic, but it really gave us insight of who this characters are. I'm not gonna quote any of the dialogue in this review, just watch the movie and listen to the dialogue and you'll most likely love it.
The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is the nonlinear storytelling. Now yes, this is basically what Quentin Tarantino does, but what made it so good here is for a majority of the movie we're stuck in only one location. So by using this style of storytelling we don't become quickly bored about the warehouse our characters are at. Cause that's exactly what would've happened if Tarantino used a more traditional style, we would've been stuck in that same sport and gotten bored of it real quick. And not to mention, this style helped with surprises, and kept us guessing.
Reservoir Dogs is small but effective movie. It has great performances, a grisly story, spectacular dialogue, and that nonlinear style really helped the movie.
My final rating is A Must Watch.
Okay, that's going to do it for me. Come back on WEDNESDAY, Jul 28th where I'll review a recently released DC comics that has everyone going "What the f*ck, DC?". Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Batman Forever is a 1995 comic book movie based on the DC Comics' character Batman, and the third movie in the first Batmanfilm series. The movie was produced by Warner Bros. and PolyGram Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Batman Forever was written by Akiva Goldsman, Janet Scott Batchler, and Lee Batchler and directed by Joel Schumacher.
The story is Bruce Wayne is going through the horrible memory of the day he lost his parents, and to add to that not one but two villains have arrived to Gotham City to cause havoc. Those two are Two-Face and the Riddler, and to make matters worse, they've decided to team-up in an effort to destroy Batman once and for all.
Negatives
My only true problem with the movie is the characterizations of our villains, Two-Face and Riddler. Motivates and plan wise it's them, but character wise no. Riddler is just Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey and Two-Face is acts more like the Joker from the old Adam West show, then the Two-Face I've read about in the comics or watched from Batman: The Animated Series.
Mix
One mix bag with Batman Forever is the performances. I really liked Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne in this, really played the billionaire playboy well, and he did a pretty good with the tormented soul Bruce Wayne. His Batman I think is alright. Nothing I found really insulting. Tommy Lee Jones was alright, I think he just needed better material to work with. And Jim Carrey, sure he could go over the top in some scenes, but I thought he was alright overall.
The other mix with the film is the special effects. For a good portion of the movie their good, really good. We got some great miniatures and the makeup on Two-Face was well done. The only time I didn't like them was when they used CGI. It's very outdated.
Then we have the more psychological aspect of the movie, and pretty much the reason why I kind of like Batman Forever. It's the one aspect of the film where we did a good amount of but I still wanted to see more of. There was a line in Batman Forever, where Bruce is talking about his parents' death but instead of saying someone else killed them, he said "I". Like I said I really wished they kept more of that stuff in there. If only there was verison of this film that had that *cough #ReleaseTheSchumacherCut cough*. If only.
Positives
One positive to give the film is the action. It has definitely a much needed improvement compared to Batman Returns. It was fun, energetic, and could kind of get a little bit intense sometimes.
The last thing I'll give Batman Forever credit for is Joel Schumacher's directing. Not only did he direct some good actions and had some pretty cool shots in here, but this is one of the movies that showed he how quickly he could adapt to any genre thrown his way. Prior to this movie, he directed The Client, Falling Down, Flatliners, The Lost Boys, and St. Elmo's Fire. Those movies had nothing to do with superheroes or comics, they were either dramas or horror flicks.
I think Batman Forever gets too much of a bad reputation because it's lumped into Batman & Robin. Is it a perfect Batman movie? No. Is it at least a decent one? Yes. From performances to special effects to the more psychological, those were all decent. The really good was the action and Schumacher's directing. The only thing I didn't like was the characterization of our villains.
My final rating is Okay.
I really hope we do get that Schumacher Cut, cause the one common word I've heard be tossed around with that cut is "darker". Hopefully someday (🤞🙏). Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Jul 26th for my Classic Film Night review of Reservoir Dogs. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is a supernatural horror movie and the third and finalinstallment in the Fear Street Trilogy. The film is produced by Chernin Entertainment and distributed by Netflix. Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is written by Leigh Janiak, Kate Trefry, and Phil Graziadei and directed by Leigh Janiak.
The story is it's 1666, and a paranoid witch-hunt has grasped a small village. They punish a girl named Sarah Fier. What the villagers don't know is this will have a deadly consequence for centuries to come. Meanwhile, the kids of 1994 and the kid who survived the massacre back in 1978, team-up to put a stop to this curse once and for all, before it's too late.
Initial Reaction
Since I enjoyed the first two movies (the second one more so than the first) naturally I would be excited for the final chapter in this series. Although for this one I was a tad bit worried. Mainly because trilogies can be really hard thing to pull off. Sure we've had quite a few good third acts in a trilogy, but then you those ones that were either decent or really bad. But, I went into this with high hopes.
Cons
The movie's biggest problem is there isn't an even balance between the 1666 storyline and the 1994 storyline. For the 1666 segment we spent (and I tried to time this as best as I could) 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 57 seconds, but for the 1994 segment we only spent 39 minutes and 9 seconds. So because of this odd runtime for the later half of the story, the second part of 1994 is rushed. If anything two things should've happened, 1) 1666 should've been shorter or 2) the filmmakers really should've tried to find a way to even out both segments.
Middle Ground
The grey area for Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is the acting. Now it's still good, but I was always kind of smirking during some portions of the 1666 segment, because I had no idea what kind of accents the actors/actress were using. I think maybe...Irish? I wasn't too sure to be honest.
Pros
Now let's move on too more positives aspects of the movie, that being there's actually a pretty good twist involved. Can't give it away because spoilers, but what I will say is when rewatching 1978, one character's dialogue about how a lot of people have died because of him, now has a whole new meaning to it. Another good thing about the film was it's actually a pretty good finale. We know the full story of the curse, and we got a pretty epic final showdown with the one who brought the curse to Shadyside and it finally ending. The last thing I'll give 1666 credit for is the mysterious mid-credit scene. Kind of makes me wonder what's gonna happen next. I'm hoping it'll be a new film series, and not revolving around these characters, because I feel as though their story has concluded.
Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is a flawed yet decent conclusion to the trilogy. It had a good twist, the final was epic despite a short runtime, and that mid-credit scene is very interesting. While the performances are still good, I just couldn't help but giggle a couple of times whenever the actors/actress were using some sort of accent for the 1666 part of the story. The only real downside for the film was there wasn't an even balance between 1666 and the 1994 part.
My final rating is Okay.
Well, that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, Jul 22nd, because on that day we return to the Road to The Batman, with my review of Batman Forever. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (aka Space Jam 2) is a live-action/animated sports comedy film and the stand-alone sequel to 1996's Space Jam. The film is produced by Warner Animation Group, Proximity Media, and The SpringHill Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Space Jam: A New Legacy is written by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, Terence Nance, Jesse Gordon, and Celeste Ballard and directed by Malcolm D. Lee.
The story is Lebron and his son Dom don't exactly have much in common. Lebron is a basketball champion, while Dom would much rather follow his dream of being a video game developer. Soon both of them are transported into the Warner 3000 Server, and Dom is kidnapped by the tyrannical ruler Al-G Rhythm. Now, Lebron along with the Looney Tunes must team-up and but a stop to Al-G Rhythm, but first they must beat his team the Goon Squad in a basketball match.
One thing that's a negative for this movie is LeBron James performance. Sure, Michael Jordan's acting was alright (in my opinion) but with LeBron there's no charm to it. It almost felt there was nothing. And then there were times when he was just bad. There was this one scene when he was falling into Tune World, and he was moving his limbs in the most robotic way I've ever seen some move their arms and legs. Let's continue to talk about LeBron, well more like a topic on him. This movie spends I want to say like 15 minutes, overly praising him. There's quite literally a line from Al-G Rhythm were he says and I quote "He is more than an athlete...he is a king". I thought to myself, Jesus, did LeBron himself write this portion of the film? I gotta give the first movie credit, at least when Michael Jordan was being overly praised it was either in the opening credits or the writers making a joke about everyone kissing his ass. The other problem with Space Jam: A New Legacy is the very predictable subplot with LeBron and his son Dom. The moment Dom's like "My Dad doesn't understand me", you know exactly where the story is going to go. What also didn't work for this film were the jokes. I laughed a couple of times, but those moments were very far apart from one another. Then came the moments when they started using outdated memes, and thought it couldn't get any worse.......then Porky Pig had a rap scene, and I completely ignored every other attempt at humor. That was my breaking point folks. Then we have the movies biggest problem, and that's it was one big commercial for Warner Bros. Almost every other scene felt like a plug for something or was a quick nostalgia trip for something WB related. It got even worse, because when they have the live-action properties in the background, the actors barely look like the real actors who played those characters. For instance, we see the Burt Ward version of Robin, and even though they have the same costume, they by no means have the same built. And it got even more awful, because having Pepe Le Pew and curvy Lola Bunny is bad, but you know what is okay for the kids? Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, The Droogs from A Clockwork Orange, and Pennywise from the Itmovies! Those were okay, but not Pepe Le Pew and curvy Lola, those are very naughty.
Middle Ground
The mix bag for Space Jam: A New Legacy is the animation. I absolutely LOVED the 2D animation, it was very well done and actually would've loved if they had kept that style. The 3D animation is good, the problem came from the designs. This more realistic look for the 3D Looney Tunes wasn't a good idea. It just didn't work for those characters. Especially since 3D Lola's eyes felt like they were looking into my soul.
Pros
The only good thing about the movie was the special effects. They were very top notch. A matter of fact, this is really the only reason to see the movie.
My expectations for Space Jam: A New Legacy were low and yet, I was still massively disappointed. LeBron's performance was bad, the praise he was given was just ridiculous, the subplot between him and Dom was painfully predictable, the jokes suck, and the whole movie is just product placement for Warner Bros. The animation 2D wise is great, the 3D animation is bit of a mix bag. Really the only true good aspect of the entire film is the special effects.
My final rating is Bad.
Well that was a letdown. But this was sadly the way the cookie crumbled. Anyhow, come back on Monday, Jul 19th for review of Fear Street Part 3: 1666. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, and just stick with the first movie.
With Space Jam: A New Legacy arriving in theaters soon, it's time we look back at the movie that started it all.
Space Jam is a 1996 live-action/animated sports comedy movie. The film was produced by Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Feature Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Space Jam was written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel Weingrod and directed by Joe Pytka.
The story is unexpected visitors from the amusement park Moron Mountain have come to Earth to abduct the Looney Tunes and force them to be their newest attractions. The Tunes soon come with a plan to challenge them to a game of basketball but that didn't exactly work out, the Tunes manage to get another challenge out of them, only this time they'll have help from the one and only Michael Jordan.
Negatives
I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
Mix
One thing that's alright with Space Jam is the special effects. Some of them are pretty good, others not so much. Like, when Bugs & Daffy meet with Charles (Michael Jordan's dog), the close up shots of the dog are so bizarre. It was very off-putting.
Another alright aspect of the movie is Michael Jordan's performance. Personally, I don't really have that much of an issue with it. No, this isn't the best acting of all time, but I've seen much worse. Much, much, much, MUCH worse.
The other mix bag was how the Looney Tunes are slightly out of character. They still do things that you'd expect from them, but yes, you do get those moments where they do something that they've never would've done in the old cartoons. I didn't mind it too much, sometimes I didn't like it, other times I just felt like people should just let it slide for the time being.
Positives
Now for the more positives aspects of Space Jam and one of those being the humor. Not every joked work, but the ones that did really did get a good laugh out of me. And think one of my favorite lines were, when Bugs & Daffy were talking about how they haven't gotten a single cent from the merchandise that has their faces on it. It's a simple, yet pretty funny line.
Another good thing about Space Jam was the animation. It's still holds up to this day. And honestly while re-watching it, it really makes me wish we'd go back to 2D animation for theatrical releases. Sure, I got no problem with 3D, but since everyone's been doing for over a decade now, having a 2D animated movie would be a big surprise.
The last thing I'll give the movie credit for, and it's really the sole reason why I could never hate it like some people do, the reason there is kind of charm to it. Despite just being a cash grab to all of those shoe commercials with Bugs & Michael Jordan the film still has some sort of entertainment factor to it. And because of that, I just can't hate this movie.
Space Jam is by no means a spectacular film, but when I rewatched I really can't understand how sometimes people treat this movie like it's the worst thing to happen to the Looney Tunes. It has some good jokes in there, great animation, and it can be charming. The really grey areas are some of the special effects are outdated, Jordan's acting is just okay, and the Looney Tunes can get out of character sometimes.
My final rating is Okay.
So yeah, I kind of like Space Jam in an unironic way, sue me. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Jul 17th for my review of the sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
Fear Street Part 2: 1978 is a slasher film and the second installment of the Fear Street Trilogy. The movie is produced by Chernin Entertainment and distributed by Netflix. Fear Street Part 2: 1978 is written by Leigh Janiak, Phil Graziadei, and Zak Olkewicz and directed by Leigh Janiak.
The story is it's 1978 in Camp Nightwing, and everyone is enjoying being at the bright and sunny camp. Soon things start to take a turn for the worse, when horrible things start to happen around the camp. The campers soon discover it has something to do with a shared history between Sunnyvale and Shadyside, now the campers from both towns must band together before it's too late.
Initial Reaction
Now I always had an intention of reviewing this movie because it's part of a trilogy. But what made me really want to watch it was part one was actually pretty good. Like I said in that review, there's a mythology going on and I wanted to see more of that.
Cons
I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
Middle Ground
The only slight issue the movie has is a rehash of mythology, what I mean by that is during 1994 we learn a lot about why things are the way they are in Shadyside. Here, they really do tell us things we already knew, but thankfully we are told more about the mythology regrading what's wrong with Shadyside. So I think even though it was just a tiny problem, the writers made up for it by telling us things we didn't know later on in the film.
Pros
One thing that I absolutely loved about this movie was the huge Friday the 13th vibes this movie was giving me. They took all of the familiar things from that franchise and put it into here. The camp setting, the camp counselors doing quite a lot of naughty stuff when they think nobody is around, and of course we got mask killer. So being a fan of that franchise I loved how 1978 was basically a tribute. What also made the movie quite is much like Fear Street Part 1 nobody was save in this. Doesn't matter who you are or what age group you belong in, if the psycho with the axe has you in his line of sight, you're most likely gonna die. Another thing I enjoyed from this film were the performances. Especially from Sadie Sink and Emily Rudd who play the sisters Christine (aka Ziggy) and Cindy Berman. Those two had such great chemistry and really nailed it with this broken family relationship. I also want to give credit to McCabe Slye, I won't tell you who he plays because it's kind of a spoiler, but let me just say the role was he in, nailed perfectly. Whenever the camera focuses on his face, the look in his eyes are very terrifying. And my biggest praise I can give this movie and this was very much a welcomed surprise, is the character development. They were a lot more fleshed out than I thought they would be. We get to know so much about them, from backstory to why they turned into the people they are now.
The Fear Street Trilogy has yet another banger with part two. It had a great Friday the 13th vibe going for it, yet again counting the theme of nobody being safe in this series, good performances, and really good character development. The only slight issue was there was a little bit of repeating what we already know about the mythology, but in time we do get something new.
My final rating is Great.
Fingers cross that Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is just as good if not better. So, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Jul 15th for my A Look Back at review of 1996's Space Jam. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, and if you liked the first movie, definitely check out this one.
