A Look Back at Invincible - Season 1

 

With season two on the way, it's time to look back at the season that started it all.

Invincible is an adult animated comic book series based on Robert Kirkman's comic series of the same name. It was produced by Skybound North, Wind Sun Sky Entertainment, Point Grey Pictures, and Amazon MGM Studios and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. Invincible was created by Robert Kirkman. This season consist of eight episodes.

The story is Mark Grayson is the son of the strongest superhero, Omni-Man, and he wants to be just like him. The problem at first is at first it looks like Mark's powers aren't arriving, this all changes when they finally do. Soon Mark calls himself Invincible and lives out his dream. But soon, he finds out that somethings just aren't what they seem.

• Negatives

I've got nothing, move to the next part.

• Mix

The only gray area with the show is the changes. Now, naturally whenever you're making an adaptation making changes might happen. Hell, the writers for another Amazon comic book show [The Boys] made a lot of changes. Some of the changes to Invincible are great, others are questionable, and others just suck, I think you know which terrible change I'm talking about, *cough Amber cough*.

• Positives

One spectacular thing about the show is the action. It's awesome. And yes, it is very violent. Tons of blood and quite a bit of guts, but it's not so over the top to the point of parody. The violence is primarily to show just how damaging a hit can be or is.

Then we got the animation. I'll admit, I do wish we got something more closer to Cory Walker or Ryan Ottley, but after watching the entire season, the animation/art style grew on me. I also like how the animators put in tiny details and keep those tiny details. For instance, one character sustains damage to their eyes, and they're all blood shot, and by the next episode and throughout that episode, the damage is still there. I know it's small, but it's just a nice detail.

Now for my thoughts on the performances. When the cast was first announced I was surprised by how stacked it was. I wasn't expecting J.K. Simmons to be Omni-Man, but I certainly liked the casting choice. But other than, star power, the cast is just amazing. They really bring these characters to life, giving them personalities and feelings that feel very real.

The last thing I'll praise is the story. While we do get our the typical tropes one would expect from a series based around superheroes, we do get something else, and I'm not just talking about the graphic violence. I'm referring to how we see the characters grow from their experiences, while at the same time we get an investigation, where the closer and closer the characters get, the more and more something's about to give.

I really enjoyed this season and I'm hoping the next will be just as good.

My final rating is, Great.

That's going to do it for now. Come back on Monday, Nov 6th, where I'll tell you things you probably didn't know about filmmaker, David Fincher. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Looking Back at the Films of 2022 Part 5 - Terrifier 2

 

Alright it's another edition of Looking Back, and sadly the end of Halloween reviews until next year. Oh well, no point in sulking, let's get to it.

Why Didn't I See Terrifier 2?

It's real simple, I had no idea this movie even existed. I only discovered it from word of mouth.

What is Terrifier 2?

Terrifier 2 is a horror movie and the sequel to 2016's Terrifier. It was produced by Dark Age Cinema and Fuzz on the Lens Productions and distributed by Bloody Disgusting. Terrifier 2 was written and directed by Damien Leone.

The story is sadistic murder Art the Clown has come back to life after the events of the last movie. While he continues to enjoy his murderous rampage, Art also has a goal of stopping a young woman who could possibly kill him for good.

My Thoughts

The Good: I've got nothing.

The Bad: Nothing here too.

The Okay: Overall, there's a lot of mix bags with Terrifier 2. One of those being the acting. While some people are pretty good, such as David Howard Thronton and Lauren LaVera, others are either okay, or just plain bad. Then there's the special effects. Yes, there was quite a lot of really good effects work, but then there were times when you plainly see that it's just a dummy or fake limb. Granted, I can't really be too harsh on that aspect. The movie was made with only $250,000. So it seems only natural that somethings will seem a bit off. Then there's the common complaint of the pacing. From my point of view, the pacing wasn't too bad. It felt really good...until the final moments of the big showdown. You can tell the writer/director was really milking it, and not in a good way. Then there's the last aspect, that being the story itself. The movie does have a fun slasher vibe to it. However, I believe there wasn't much of balance. The character work is better decent, but it almost felt like there were times when the movie was more focused on the next big kill then character development. I know this isn't a character driven drama, but sometimes what makes a great horror flick isn't the blood and guts. It also didn't help that the story had some unanswered questions. Like how did the kids' dad know about Art? I get Damien Leone wanted to leave somethings for the upcoming sequel, but it still felt like some questions could've been answered.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Not the best way I wanted to end this Halloween season of reviews, but that's going to do it. Come back on Thursday, Nov 2nd, for my review of season 1 of Invincible. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Five Nights at Freddy's Review

 

Five Nights at Freddy's is a supernatural horror movie based on the franchise of the same name. It's produced by Blumhouse Productions, Scott Cawthon Productions, and Striker Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Five Nights at Freddy's is written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi, and Seth Cuddeback and directed by Emma Tammi.

The story is Mike Schmidt is a down on his luck security guard looking for work. His prayers have been answered when he's given a job to work at the once successful family entertainment center, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It seems like a normal job, but after midnight, Mike soon learns that the animatronic mascots not only move on their own, but terrorize anybody who's still in the building.

Initial Reaction

Now at first, I was gonna skip this movie and not even bother reviewing it. Mainly cause I've never been a Five Nights at Freddy's fan. But then I took a step back and realized something, I've reviewed not one, but two movies that were basically inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's. So I might at as well make this circle full, and review the actual Five Nights at Freddy's movie.

Cons

I've got nothing, just scroll down.

Middle Ground

One mix bag with the movie is the pacing. Sometimes it's pretty good, but there are some parts were things go much slower than they needed to be. Then there's the scare factor. Now, there are a few genuinely creepy moments, and there is a body count, but sometimes the movie's just more entertaining than scary. Unlike some people I wasn't too disappointed about the lack of blood and guts. Guess 1) the movie's rated PG-13, so there was only gonna be some much they could get away with. 2) the games themselves weren't rated M, but 12+. Also, from the footage I would go to see after watching this, and reading from people who are far more knowledgeable about the games then me, while there'll be blood, the games primarily focused on atmosphere and living things up to your imagination. Now, sometimes the latter does happen, as for the former...not so much. So I think if the movie had a better, creepier atmosphere, then maybe things would've been better received. Which now brings me to the story. The biggest praise I'll give is the movie does develop the characters, I actually did grow to care for these people. Really the only complaint I have is when we were nearing the end, it did kinda feel like they were rushing to wrap things up.

Pros

The truly great thing about the flick is the look. The design team, cinematographer, etc. clearly worked really hard to make it look like the game's locations and animatronics look they jumped out of the game and onto the big screen.

Five Nights at Freddy's isn't perfect, but it did turn out far better than what I thought would. I say if you're a fan of this franchise, then maybe you'll get a kick out of this.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Oct 30th, for part five of Looking Back at the Films of 2022. For that, I'll be reviewing Terrifier 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Underrated Films - The Midnight Meat Train

 

The Midnight Meat Train is a horror movie based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name. It was produced by Lakeshore Entertainment, Lionsgate, Midnight Picture Show, and GreeneStreet Films and distributed by Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment. The Midnight Meat Train was written by Jeff Buhler and directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.

The story is Leon is a photographer who wants to capture the darker shots of the city, and after not getting a break because a gallery owner feels as though he doesn't take enough risks, Leon heads to the subway system. He soon learns of a supposed butcher who's been killing passengers for quite sometime. Leon soon discovers more than what he bargained for.

Why It's Underrated

While the movie got quite a bit of attention, as the years when on it just faded away and would later go underneath people's radar, mine included. I didn't know the movie existed until I saw a commercial for it on SyFy, and I didn't bother watching it. Mistake on my part.

My Thoughts

The first thing I want to get out of the away are the special effects. When I read reviews for this, I was expecting to be taken out of the experience because so many people complained about the CGI. Now yes, there were scenes where it's clearly CGI, but there not as frequent as those reviews made them out to be. Most of the time the effects are well crafted and very much practical. Which makes me wonder what version of the movie did these people see?

One bit of praise goes to Ryuhei Kitamura's directing. I'll admit, I never heard of this guy until I saw this movie, and I gotta say, his style of directing is really good. Nice visuals, even if those visuals are disturbing. But when adapting a Clive Barker story, you need somebody who can make images truly scary, instead of something bland, and Kitamura did just that.

Since this is a horror movie, how does the violence hold up? Well...it's very gruesome. The kills hold nothing back, when someone's head is gonna get messed up, you can count on blood just going everywhere. But what makes it truly special is what a lot of the great horror flicks do, and that's not have an over reliance on it. Yeah despite what some of the marketing was saying, even though the gore is there and plays a part, it's not played as yet another typical slasher movie.

Which now brings me to the performances. Our main stars, those being Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones, both do a tremendous job. What really made their acting great was what they could say just with facial expressions alone, especially in Vinnie's case considering his character (The Butcher) doesn't say anything until the final act.

The last thing I'll write about is the story. While you do get focus on The Butcher, there's actually more to the story than that. If anything, the story mainly focuses on morbid curiosity and how that leads down a dangerous road. If our main character didn't wind up having a dark obsession and need to want to find out more about The Butcher, things might not have turned out so horribly by the end. It honestly was the best part of the movie for me. However, there is a minor flaw. There's a big twist in the story that got a mixed reactions at best, and I can understand why. While the movie does state there's more to The Butcher than meets the eye, the movie didn't dive too deep about that. I think if more breadcrumbs were spread, just enough not to make people feel like the movie was treating them like morons, but enough to make people want to rewatch and search for more clues, then maybe the twist would've been better received.

While The Midnight Meat Train isn't flawless, it was still an enjoyable movie to watch. I think if you get the chance, you should give this one a watch. Especially since this is the Halloween season.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Oct 28th, for my review of, Five Nights at Freddy's. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) vs. Night of the Living Dead (1990)

 

That's right, I'm back with another one of these. This time, it's all about zombies, more specifically the ones from both versions of Night of the Living Dead. Let's get to it.

Contender #1 - Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Director - George A. Romero

Writer(s) - George A. Romero & John Russo

Release Date - Oct 4th, 1968

Production - Image Ten

Distribution - Continental Distributing

Budget - $114,000 - $125,000

Gross - $30,000,000 (estimated)

Contender #2 - Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Director - Tom Savini

Writer(s) - George A. Romero

Release Date - Oct 19th, 1990

Production - 21st Century Film Corporation & Menahem Golan Productions

Distribution - Columbia Pictures

Budget - $4,200,000

Gross - $5,800,000

Story

The story for both involves siblings Johnny and Barbara going to a graveyard to pay respects to long dead family member. What was suppose to be a simple trip turns into an escalating nightmare when the dead themselves rise up and start eating the living.

Round #1 - Visuals

Honestly, I couldn't really decided on who did the directing better. Mainly because George and Tom had two very different ways of going about their movies, but both ways didn't feel wrong.

With George A. Romero there's a very subtle approach. No over the top gore and such. Whether this is because this was his vision or because of budget restrictions, really doesn't matter, because the movie still looks good despite a limited budget and the technology at the time. A YouTuber by the name of Doctor Wolfula put it best by saying, because of the gritty low budget nature, the movie almost looks like a documentary.

With Savini, other than an obviously bigger budget, there's also the fact that his remake is much more graphic (although not that much) and there was definitely a different atmosphere when compared to George's movie. Overall, Savini was more stylized and grittier.

So which movie wins this round? Well, I guess it really comes down to a matter of taste. If you want something that feels realistic, there's Romero. If you want something darker, there's Savini. If you like black and white movies, Romero. If you prefer color, Savini. And so on and so forth.

Round #2 - Monster

Honestly, there's really no point in debating on this. Both movies essentially have the same exact zombies. Romero's aren't smarter, Savini's aren't stronger, they're both the same. The only thing different about the zombies is the way they look. So, no winner here.

Round #3 - Scares

Now this was another tricky one. Because both movies are pretty scary. Both the original and the remake featuring great scenes of zombies breaking through windows, devouring people, and all the other typical zombie stuff.

And both movies showcase the other terrifying thing, where it's not just the walking dead people should fear, but our human characters falling apart. Being untrustworthy of each other, betraying each other, or generally not making the right decisions.

Round #4 - Story

Okay, the last round, and once again we have something tricky. Especially since both movies were written by the same guy.

With Romero, he not only told a survival story where everything went wrong, while the story also has bits of reflections of where the 60's was during a social and cultural change...or at least that's what a bunch of analysts and/or scholars say. Whether that's true or not really depends on what Romero said before his death.

Then there's Savini's film, now there really isn't anything (or at least when I did research) to analyze. The movie does come off as more of a survival horror flick, BUT, that shouldn't be frowned upon. Because while there isn't some big message underneath, that still doesn't change the fact that this is a good movie. Especially since the survival horror aspect were done very well, and there's also the fact that some of the changes are done in a way where the movie's quality is brought up, instead of brought down.

Winner - Tie.

Sorry if this whole thing felt like one big cop out, especially with the end result. That wasn't my intention. The truth is, both movies are just really good. The '68 film is a bona-fide classic, while the '90 film is how you properly do a remake.

Alright guys, That's all for today. Come back on Thursday, Oct 26th, for my Underrated Films review of, The Midnight Meat Train. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match Review

 

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is a direct-to-video adult animated marital arts film, which is based on the Mortal Kombat franchise. While being a prequel, it also serves as the fourth installment of the Legends series. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and NetherRealm Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is written by Ed Boon and directed by Ethan Spaulding.

The story is action movie superstar Johnny Cage is living the life he's wanted and is enjoying it all. Then one day he finds out about a secret sinister society and their evil plot. Now, Johnny Cage must become just like the action heroes he portrays and put a stop to them.

Initial Reaction

While the Legends series hasn't been flawless, I can't say I haven't been entertained. So naturally I was excited for the next installment, I was even more pumped when I found out it would be all about Johnny Cage. Yes, Johnny is one of my top favorite characters from Mortal Kombat.

Cons

I've got nothing, just move on.

Middle Ground

I only had one mix feeling with this and that was the 80's setting. Now don't get me wrong, it is actually a really good setting. The movie is pretty much a tribute to that decade from the music, the fashion, the colors, and so on. I didn't even grow up in the 80's and I absolutely loved what the movie was doing, where the slight issue comes in is with the continuity. If the movie takes place in the 80's, then does that mean that the first Legends film [Scorpion's Revenge] also takes place in the same decade, or is this some sort of new timeline? I don't know, cause it's never explained. Maybe if you don't care about things like continuity and just want an entertaining story, then you're more than likely to really enjoy this one.

Pros

Let's get this one out of the way quickly, the action continues to be bloody fun. We continue to see violent and creative ways characters get brutalized. Now for the other good thing about Cage Match is Joel McHale's performance. The guy just nails the character of Johnny Cage perfectly, and I'd like to think he's having a fun time playing this character. Then there's the humor, while it sometimes it doesn't work, a good portion made me laugh. I especially liked a lot of Johnny's narrations. Some people had a problem with that, but come on, this is Johnny Cage we're talking about. If the guy gets the chance to run his mouth, he's gonna take it. Especially if he's still a story, about himself. The last thing I'll write about to wrap up this review is the art style. While I did like the style from the previous movies, it's always a good idea to change from a certain art style. It keeps things fresh.

While you might have some issues with the movie, overall, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is a fun watch.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay that just about wraps things up. Come back on Monday, Oct 23rd, for when I debate which Night of the Living Dead movie is better. The 1968 classic or the 1990 remake? Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Classic Film Night - Poltergeist

 

Poltergeist is a supernatural horror movie that was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, SLM Production Group, Mist Entertainment, and Amblin Entertainment and distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Poltergeist was written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor and directed by Tobe Hooper.

The story is, The Freelings are your average California family just living their lives. Then out of nowhere, strange things start happening around the house. Glass shatters, silverware is bended, and objects are moved around. The Freelings soon learn, they have ghosts in their house, and they're only getting more and more aggressive.

My Thoughts

Now, even though this is a very good movie, we do gotta admit that some, not all, but some special effects haven't aged very well. Which depending on the type of person you are, may or may not take you out of the experience.

With that out of the way, let's get into the great things about Poltergeist, with one of those being the scares themselves. The movie has two different kind of horror moments. Those being more subtle and more in your face, and both are done perfectly. The subtle moments are things like the theories regarding the ghosts. Such as where they go, what's their dimension like compared to ours, and what kind of powers they have. But of course we got the scenes that made top list, like the skeletons in the pool or the face peeling off scene.

Then we have the performances. The cast was very good in this, Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams had chemistry in this. They truly did seem like a couple who have a long history and never got tried of loving each other. And of course we have the late Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne. Despite how young she was during this, she nailed her role. She was perfect at being the cute daughter, and then be just a little unnerving the next.

The last thing I'll praise is how the film had a perfect balance between Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg. Despite these two having very different filmmaking styles, thankfully Poltergeist didn't wind up being a Frankenstein-style movie, where it's clear as day two people were making one movie. On Spielberg's side, we have that stellar production, and on Hooper's side, while the movie isn't as violent as he's iconic Texas Chainsaw Massacre, his finger prints are still over this, such as that previously mentioned face peeling scene.

Folks, if you want to watch a classic horror movie for this Halloween season or really any Halloween season, definitely watch Poltergeist.

My final rating is, Great.

Okay, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Oct 19th, for my review of, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.