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.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Review

 

So we've got a new I Know What You Did Last Summer movie. Fingers crossed it's a lot better than the last one, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. And if any of you didn't know that one existed, do yourself a favor and avoid it at all cost. Trust me.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is a slasher movie and the fourth movie in the franchise. It's produced by both Columbia Pictures and Original Films with distribution by Sony Pictures Releasing. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directed and wrote the story along with Sam Lansky.

The story is, five friends unintentionally killed an innocent pedestrian with their car and during their panic they covered up their mistake. One year later, as they try to move on they each get a message by a stalker saying he knows what they did. They soon realize the stalker is copying a legendary serial killer, and the group's only hope is the survivors from the original 1997 massacre.

Initial Reaction

I remember when I first watched the first Last Summer film. I believe it was 2002 and it was on TNT, and I actually enjoyed it and today I still enjoy it. Then there was the sequel which was alright, and the less said about the third movie the better. So when I heard about this newest one I was interested and I'd figured I give it a chance. I mean there's no way it can be worse than I'll Always Know.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

Let's start off with the story. Mainly the whodunit element. Firstly, I still liked the overall story. I thought it was very entertaining. Having said that the mystery is something you'll figure pretty quickly. There really only a select few who could possibly be the killer and some red herrings were more obvious than others. Then there's characters. Now Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddy Prinze Jr. do play some big roles in the story and aren't just cameos. So thankfully their characters do feel properly used. But then we have the new characters those being Ava, Danica, Milo, Teddy, and Stevie. Honestly I thought they were okay. Some are giving some depth like Danica who's grieving over her fiancé's death but it's kinda surface level, while others you're just expecting them die pretty soon. Speaking of depth, I do appreciate the movie trying to tackle themes, the biggest one being trauma. It did add layer to the story, but I don't think they dived as deep into has much as they could've.

Pros

The first thing I'll credit is the pacing. Some parts could be a little bit slow, but for the majority of the runtime this is a breeze to get through. The last thing I'll credit is the slasher element. While it's great to have horror films that aren't just typical blood and guts and instead focus on deeper story elements. But sometimes you do just want a horror movie where a psycho goes around killing people in very creative ways. You just want that fun element, and I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is that fun slasher movie.

Well by no means flawless, this still had some entertainment to be had. And it's a hell of a lot better than I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. Sorry I keep bringing that one up but man was it mind-numbingly stupid.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jul 21st, for another edition of my brand new segment, Fan Film Mondays. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Looking Back at the Films of 2024 Part Two - The Bikeriders & Longlegs

 

Alright, time for another edition of Looking Back at the Films of 2024. Let's get to it.

Why Didn't I See The Bikeriders?

Now I did want to see The Bikeriders. Cause as much as I love my superheroes, explosive action flicks, and sci-fi epics, I do prefer to step away from that stuff and enjoy something at a much more smaller scale. And The Bikeriders seem like the perfect choice to enjoy something smaller. But I decided to skip out because not only was I working on other reviews, but I was also tried from helping family members with their stuff. So I decided to skip the movie and save it for later.

What is The Bikeriders?

The Bikeriders is a crime drama with it's plot inspired by the Danny Lyon's photo book of the same name with production being handled by Regency Enterprises, New Regency, and Tri-State Pictures and distribution done by Focus Features. Jeff Nichols both wrote and directed.

The story is, in the late 60's to early 70's a biker gang and their colors were everything. They started off as a simple gang, but as their members grew they transformed into something else, something darker. Because of this transformation and questionable loyalty, one of their members named Benny must chose between the club and the woman he loves.

My Thoughts

The Good: First off, the movie provides a great insight into not just the Vandals, but motorcycle clubs as a whole. The movie doesn't glamorize them and their lifestyle. It shows how it starts as a social club into a criminal organization. Now while the movie shows this isn't a lifestyle you should set out for, it does have an appropriate vibe to it. What I mean is the film captures the rebellious spirit of the 60's and then heading into the 70's. Where the filmmakers also managed to capture that decades more intense vibe what with the looming shadow of the Vietnam War. But my biggest praise goes to the performances. Jodie Comer brings emotional depth into the role with capturing Kathy's much more innocent spirit. Oh and her Midwestern accent is spot on. Then we have Austin Butler as Benny. While his role is quieter, he does bring some intensity to the role. But I think the more quieter side is fzr more interesting because I think it draws you in more because you do kinda want to know more about his character. Lastly there's Tom Hardy as Johnny. What I love about Hardy's performance was while his character has menace to him, Hardy also brought out Johnny's more vulnerable side as he realizes his club is growing darker and his control over it is slowly fading away.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: Now overall the story is pretty good. We get to quite a bit of the Vandals were just a couple of guys hanging and riding motorcycles to slowly becoming a criminal group. But we don't get to see too much of the gangs' inner workings. That's because they narrative is told through Kathy (Benny's wife) and her interview with Danny Lyon. So because of this narrative structure our view is gonna be limited.

Final Verdict: Good.

Why Didn't I See Longlegs?

Honestly, I didn't know this movie was a thing. I don't recall ever seeing a TV spot on my TV or an ad on YouTube. I didn't know about it until I saw people I follow on X post about, but by that time it was too late for me to give a review. So much like The Bikeriders I decided to save it for this section.

What is Longlegs?

Longlegs is a horror thriller that was produced by Traffic., Range Media Partners, Oddfellows Productions, and Saturn Films with Neon being the distributor. Osgood Perkins wrote and directed.

The story is, it's the 90's and someone is murdering families throughout Oregon. FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to the case, but the more she investigates she not only realizes the killings might be linked to the occult, but she also shares a personal connection to these killings as well. With these shocking turn of events in mind, she's even more determined to stop the killer before he strikes again.

My Thoughts

The Good: The first aspect I want to touch upon is the cinematography. Andrés Arochi did a spectacular job. His coloring is brilliant. His use of white is blinding and gives a sense of isolation instead of purity like it's typically used. But I think it's his use of red that's the biggest standout. He is using as a sense of danger but he uses effectively. Red is greatly used for danger, unease, and links perfectly with the movie's satanic themes. Then there's the performances, mainly from Maika Monroe as Lee Harker and Nicolas Cage as Longlegs. Now yes, Cage can be over the top sometimes in the role. But he provides a great shift from creepy whispers to more maniac outbursts is actually really chilling. His biggest standout moment is during an interrogation scene where his behavior is truly unsettling. Then we have Maika. Now she's able to say so much with very little dialogue. She's primarily using facial and body language to tell us what inner turmoil she's going through. From beginning to end Monroe perfectly captures how Detective Harker is on edge, as this case is making her unravel from both a professional and personal perspective. The last thing I'll praise is tone. I do admit there was some overhype but, I don't think that undermines that the movie can get you to feel uneven. The opening alone makes you tense up because you can feel that there's something not right. Osgood crafted a good movie that relies way more on psychological tension instead of the pitfalls of jump scares that a lot of modern day horror flicks go for.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: It's the pacing. Longlegs is only an hour and forty-one minutes, but it felt longer than that. That's because of the slow burn approach. Which isn't particularly a bad thing cause the mystery is intriguing so a slow build up should be put in, a matter of fact there's a lot of great crime films that have a slow burn approach. However there were moments that I felt were good and others just a bit too long, a feeling I especially felt during the middle act.

Final Verdict: Good.

So that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 19th, for my review of I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Happy Gilmore (1996)

 

With the sequel arriving very soon on Netflix, it's yet again that time where I continue the tradition of reviewing what came before.

Happy Gilmore is a sports comedy movie that was produced by Brillstein-Grey Entertainment and Robert Simonds Productions with Universal Pictures distributing. Adam Sandler not only starred but also wrote the story alongside Tim Herlihy, with Dennis Dugan directing.

The story is, Happy Gilmore is a failed short-tempered aspiring hockey player. When Happy learns that his grandmother's house is gonna be foreclosed and he seeks to gather enough money to pay the IRS. During this adventure, Happy learns his powerful slapshots can be used in golf and soon joins in to paid tournaments. Despite some not approving of Happy's attitude his skills and boorish behavior gathers him a following.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Now let's get to the story. Yes, we've got the whole sports underdog tropes. Happy's the underestimated hero, Shooter is the rival, we've got a love interest whose skeptical about him but falls in love, and we got to the big climatic event. It's all here. But while I was aware of those things, I still to this day have a blast watching this. Which I've said many times before. If your story is predictable make getting from point A to point B entertaining, and Happy Gilmore is one of many best examples.

• Positives

First there's the pacing. The movie is 92 minutes long and doesn't waste anytime. Through a mix of sports and comedy, you'll be kept engaged throughout the brisk runtime.

Then the performance. Because this was during a better time during Adam Sandler's career, Happy is a very entertaining character with his over the top energy. Meanwhile we have Christopher McDonald playing Shooter and he nails it as Happy's smug foil. And maybe it's just me, but he looked like he was having some fun in the role too. Lastly there's the late Carl Weathers as Chubbs Peterson. Despite his character having a more over the top disability, he does add a more grounded warmth to Happy's manic characteristics.

The last thing I'll praise is the humor. I would like to go into more details, but when it comes to comedy movies, or at least the good ones, I don't want to give them away because giving too much will in my mind ruin the experience provided you haven't seen this already. But what I will say is yes, the movie's very funny. Everybody mentions the Bob Barker brawl, and rightfully so it's a great moment. But there's also some great bits of dialogue. My personal favorite is during one of Happy's games and he of course gets angry when things aren't going his way where he proceeds to say this, "You little son of a bitch ball! Why don't you want to go *home*? That's your *home*! Are you too good for your *home*? Answer me! Suck my white ass, ball!" 🤣. Oh how I love that line. See if golf had more outburst like that, I'd watch it more.

I am without a doubt a fan of this movie. I love it from beginning to middle to end.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now, I'm hoping the sequel is decent but for now come back on Thursday, Jul 17th, for part two of Looking Back at the Films of 2024. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.