Looking Back at the Films of 2025 Part 7 - Smurfs & War of the Worlds (2025)

 

Well everyone were back at it again. Another installment of the Films of 2025. And this time around the films of yesteryear are really making glad I skipped these two. Well, I'm glad I skipped out on one of them.

Why Didn't I See Smurfs?

Cause I've never been a Smurf fan. I mean sure I saw a couple of episodes on Boomerang, but as far as classic cartoon characters I never got into Smurfs. Tom & Jerry, yes. Looney Tunes, yes. Scooby-Doo, yes. Smurfs...not so much. It also didn't help the marketing for these movie was absolutely dreadful. I mean seriously, "Influencer Smurf"?! Really?!

What is Smurfs?

Smurfs is an animated "musical" (I'll explain later why this is in quotation marks later) comedy based on The Smurfs by Belgian comics artist Peyo and acts as a reboot to the Smurfs film series. Production was done by Paramount Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Pam Brady wrote the screenplay while Chris Miller directed.

The story is, years ago the Intergalactic Evil Wizards Alliance attempted to use four magical books to rule the world but were defeated by Papa Smurf and his brothers, where Papa hid one of the four books away. Now in the present one of the evil wizards and Gargamel's brother Razamel has kidnapped Papa and wants to know where that book is. Meanwhile the Smurfs go on a rescue mission to find and Papa and save the world.

My Thoughts

The Good: The animation was at least good.

The Bad: Where do I begin? Let's start with the voice acting. Firstly Rihanna is terrible as Smurfette. Even if she could emote more with her voice, her voice still wouldn't fit Smurfette's design. Everyone else from John Goodman to Nick Offerman aren't bad but this still isn't there strongest work. They still have some emotions to their voices but it sounded like they were going through the motions. Then we have the humor. I'll admit I laughed two times but those two moments didn't help this movie. Most of the jokes just fall flat or just aren't funny. Then there's the writing. One confusing thing is the Smurfs travel to different locations but for some reason it's live-action yet the Smurfs are still animated. Why? Never explained. There's also this whole thing where Smurfs are guardians against evil to the point they could possibly have to defend the multiverse. I'm not joking, that's actually in this movie. Cause apparently the Smurfs are now on par with DC and Marvel superheroes? Then we also have a generic message about finding who you are and it's not all that interesting. Now about that whole musical thing I think the songs weren't meant to be here, I think they were mandatory. Because not only are they forgettable, but I don't think there's that many? I think maybe there were at most four? So can you really be called a musical when you don't have that many songs? The last thing I'll touch on is how this is supposed to be the improved version. Yeah that whole thing about "Influencer Smurf" and the Poots are their fart gimmick, remember those from the marketing? Well those are all gone. Not that I'm complaining mind you, but what does it say about your movie when even the re-edited version is bad.

The Okay: I've got nothing.

Final Verdict: Bad.

Why Didn't I See War of the Worlds (2025)

Since COVID was over I started go back to theaters more and more I've since almost stopped reviewing streaming movies. Sure I'll do one every once in awhile but for the most part I just don't do them as much as I use to. And because of that decision I'm out of the loop of what's streaming on a lot of these services. So I didn't know about this movie until I saw reviewers like Fanboy Flicks ripping this movie apart on YouTube.

What is War of the Worlds (2025)

War of the Worlds (2025) is a sci-fi film based on H.G. Wells' classic 1898 novel The War of the Worlds. Bazelevs Company and Patrick Aiello Productions produced the move and even though Universal Pictures is the distributor it was released on Amazon Prime Video. Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hyman wrote the story with Rich Lee directing.

The story is, DHS officer Will Radford was doing his usual job of working for the government's surveillance program by monitoring every person in the United States. Then everything changed when large machines emerged out of meteors and started attacking the entire planet. Will must now help government put a stop to this invasion while at the same time keeping his family safe within the building of the DHS headquarters.

My Thoughts

The Good: This'll make for a great movie night with your friends when you don't want to enjoy, but you want to rip one apart like Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Bad: Let's start off with our main character Will Radford. I get he's going through somethings because his wife has been dead for four years, but that still doesn't change the fact he's stalking his kids. I'm not joking he's using government surveillance tech to spy on his pregnant daughter's eating habits even going as far as to use the fridge camera to see what's in there. Let me repeat myself, I'm not joking! Then there's the special effects. The Tripods' CGI isn't the worst CGI I've ever seen, but that still doesn't change the fact they're bad. The Tripods are PS3 levels of bad CGI. Then there's Ice Cube's acting. No matter how he talks even when he's supposed to be sincere he still sounds a little annoyed. It also doesn't help that some of his shock facial expressions can make for some good memes. I mean just look at this face.

Tell me that is not a good meme reaction when you want to be shocked in a sarcastic way 😆. Then we have the fact that the writers had no idea what they were talking about. Cause when it comes to data they were clearly clueless. Cause these aliens feed on our data yet the movie treats data like it's limited, when it actuality the aliens could feed on this for a lifetime. All they have to do is make copies of the same thing. Also according to this movie once GPS data is deleted (or as the movie weirdly puts it emptied) planes and jets will instantly stop flying and crash to the ground, and once DOD data is "emptied" the army will be powerless. Cause I guess in this movie's world even the guns need Wi-Fi 🤷🏻‍♂️😆? There's also some basic common knowledge aspects the writers should know. Like if a satellite is completely destroyed you're not gonna be able to get footage from it. Hell, the writers don't even know how to use a Trojan horse metaphor correctly and you don't have to be a tech geek understand that one you just have to get a basic understanding of the myth. And lastly this movie is a shameless whore for Amazon. One of the characters is an Amazon delivery employee, Amazon gift cards are mentioned three times, and at one point a drone from Amazon Prime Air is used as a plot device. I'm dead serious folks 😆.

The Okay: I've got nothing.

Final Verdict: So Bad, It's Good.

Well this edition wasn't a total waste. At least I got a good laugh out of War of the Worlds. But that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 30th, where I'll have something special planned to celebrate the upcoming MCU movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Pinocchio Unstrung Review

 

Well I once again dive into the world of the Twisted Childhood Universe. Let's say what was cooked up this time.

Pinocchio Unstrung is a independent slasher film and the fifth installment of the Twisted Childhood Universe, that acts a horror retelling of 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Jagged Edge Productions once again produced while Altitude Film Distribution was the distributor. Rhys Frake-Waterfield both wrote and directed.

The story is, after one James' friends died Geppetto creates Pinocchio so James can have a new friend in his life. It all seems fun, until Pinocchio starts killing people in order to protect James.

Initial Reaction

So I think you all know why I'm reviewing these movies. It's a form of morbid curiosity.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The biggest mix is the writing. The writing for characters and overall plot will had into some familiar territory, so there's not exactly any new ground being broken here. There's also some humor that sometimes doesn't work. There was a good darkly funny moment involving gym equipment and a pretty funny video chat. But then sometimes a joke doesn't land. But I think the two things that saved the story was 1) I can't say it was boring or any other form of awful experience. And there's a couple of themes such as identity and grief going on. That's thematically ambition for this genre of horror flicks.

Pros

Now to get into the good stuff and there's plenty of it. For starters and this is the movie's biggest strength, the puppetry and other practical effects. This movie commits fully to its practical work and animatronics. It was really awesome and creepy to this horror version of Pinocchio move around because he's tangible and not some cheap CGI creation. I also gotta give credit to the kills. There very creative. There's the previously mentioned gym equipment and Pinocchio even uses his own puppet features to kill people with. The last thing I'll give credit to is shockingly enough the performances. Despite not being in the movie that long Robert Englund plays a delightful evil Cricket perfectly balancing menace and humor. Then there's Richard Brake who plays a really messed up version of Geppetto and anchors the movie with both grief and detachment. I also gotta praise Jude-Evan Lloyd as the voice of Pinocchio. He's a very young child actor but he did a really good at playing a very naive monster.

Pinocchio Unstrung isn't gonna end up on the top best films of 2026, but it's still a very entertaining watch. So if you're curious, give it a shot.

My final rating is, Good.

That's gonna wrap it up. Come back on Monday, Jul 27th, for part seven of Looking Back at the Films of 2025. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Avengers: Doomsday - Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment Review

We're back once again to the Road to Avengers: Doomsday. Also once again we see Doctor Doom teaming up with a Marvel hero.

Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment is a 1989 graphic novel that was published by Marvel Comics and can be found in issue forty-nine of Marvel Graphic Novel. The writer was Roger Stern and the artist was Mike Mignola (aka the creator of Hellboy).

The story is, Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange has entered a realm ruled by the sinister Mephisto, all in an effort to save a soul that means everything to Doom. But the questions are what price will be paid and is Doom willing to make the sacrifice?

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Let's keep it moving.

• Positives

One positive is the pacing. These may not be the quickest read but it's also not something that drags on and on. Pretty good for a graphic novel that's eighty pages long.

My other bit of praise goes to Mike Mignola's art. Now this was pre-Hellboy Mignola so maybe his style around this time wasn't noticeable during this point of his career. But regardless he does an incredible job. You get a gothic otherworldly visuals. Great use of heavy shadows, demonic realms, and a mystical atmosphere. And the colors provided by Mike Badger beautifully add to the moody feel.

The last aspect I'll praise is Roger Stern's writing. For Doctor Strange we see how he is kind of an opposite of Doom when it comes to his use of the mystical arts. But he's biggest story element is how he gets a different view of Doom even though he still feels the need to keep his guard up. But the best writing is for Doctor Doom. This story gives us more layers to his character by giving us more details to his backstory and motivations. We see him more humanized through his love and determination to save this trapped soul, however by the end he still isn't softened and redeemed. One of my favorite moment is Doom does save the soul, but it doesn't go the way I expected. I'd go into my details but they're spoils and I really don't want to give that moment away. It's just such a brilliant moment.

I loved this story! So far when it comes to Doctor Doom stories as of right now this is my number one.

My final rating is, A Must Read!

So first let me apologize for uploading this so late. But what was supposed to be a quick nap turned into something longer. Always make sure the alarm on your phone is actually turned on folks.

With that being said, come back on Saturday, Jul 25th, for the newest horror movie, Pinocchio Unstrung. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Batman: Caped Crusader - Season 1

 

Season two will drop next week. So what better time then to review the first season.

Batman: Caped Crusader is an animated TV series based on DC Comics most popular character. Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Bad Robot Productions, 6th & Idaho Motion Picture Company and Amazon MGM Studios produced with Amazon Prime Video distributing. The show is developed by Bruce Timm and this season consists of ten episodes.

The story is, the corrupt outnumber the good. Evil runs rampant and the innocent live in a constant state of fear. One of these innocents affected by these evils was Bruce Wayne. No longer wanting to just be the heir of the Wayne fortune, Bruce became not just someone else, but something else. He became the Batman and vowed a one man crusade for justice. But some of Batman's intentions will have unforseen consequences.

• Negatives

I've got nothing here.

• Mixed

The biggest mix element is the writing. Now plots aren't too bad. There really wasn't a moment where I found myself bored. I especially loved the fourth episode "The Night of the Hunters". That was a very exciting episode what with Flass and Bullock trying to lure Batman out, a building being on fire, and Batman trying to save lives while avoiding the police. That was a fun episode. I also loved episode two "...And Be a Villain". I wish I could go into more details for that one, but what I will say is I did like the villain's origin and motivate. It was a good spin on a classic Batman villain. But then you get into things that are more modern when this show is clearly in the 1940s. There's also a slight issue with character development. Batman does start off cold a bit but he does get a little bit of development throughout. But I think the one who got it the worse is Harvey Dent. We're meant to feel said when he becomes Two-Face, but he was already kind acting slimy before his face gets disfigured so he's turn to Two-Face doesn't have that small emotional pull it did in previous Batman media like Batman: The Animated Series or The Dark Knight.

My other slight problem is the animation. Now let me stress something out, the animation is pretty good. It works well. But there are moments when characters aren't as fluid as they should be and there were times when CGI was used, and when there's CG it can kinda clash with the show's art style.

• Positives

One pro is the voice acting. Initially I wasn't all that excited about Hamish Linklater as Bruce Wayne/Batman. But he did grow on me. He's performance is very strong and he does sound intimidating.

The last thing I'll praise is the tone. The show delivers on a strong and dark atmosphere. Gotham feels dangerous even when nothing is happening, and the show is very mature without going over the top.

Without a doubt the show has flaws. But there's still something to enjoy from it.

My final rating is, Good.

I'm hoping my slight criticisms won't pop up again in season two so fingers crossed. Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 23rd, for another edition of the Road to Avengers: Doomsday. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Odyssey Review

 

Alright, after hearing so much controversy and drama surrounding this film, it's finally time for me to give my own thoughts on it.

The Odyssey is a fantasy action adventure film and it adapts Homer's epic poem of the same name. Syncopy produced along with Universal Pictures who were also the distributors. Christopher Nolan both wrote and directed.

The story is after fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men set sail on their way home. But this journey won't be easy as Odysseus comes across dangerous mythical beings all in an effort to get and reunite with his wife and the son who barely knows him.

Initial Reaction

Now originally I was excited for this film, so much so I put it on my list of most anticipated movies. But the closer and closer we got to this movie and more info was being released the less and less I was excited. But I still had hope that maybe, just maybe, Nolan would give us another win.

Cons

The only real problem I had was with the dialogue. Sometimes characters will talk like you'd expect people talk during ancient Greek times, but then next thing you know they talk in a very modern way. Why? I don't know. It's just a weird decision Nolan made.

Middle Ground

Let's get the biggest controversial thing out of the way. I am of course referring to the casting. I do admit some people are truly missed cast. The biggest example is Elliot Page. These are suppose to mighty Greek warriors, then you have Page who's what, 5 feet maybe 5'1? And might be 100 pounds when soaking wet? It's just when you see the cast try to play these characters sometimes you are taking out of the experience. But if even you can ignore casting decisions, how are the performances? Some like Matt Damon and Robert Pattinson are quite good. Pattinson does a great job at playing a guy who's very slimy, and Damon provides some really good layers with Odysseus being haunted by his hubris. Others are just fine. Nothing really to get upset about. The other slight issue was the pacing. Sometimes things move at a good rate. But there are moments where I was sitting and thinking "I'm starting to feel that nearly three hour runtime".

Pros

There are two good things about the movie. Firstly, Nolan's directing. While some shots didn't wow me, for at least 95% of the film there are some truly great shots. So while Nolan's writing for the movie wasn't all that exciting, I can't say the same for his directing. The last thing I'll praise is there are some truly great moments. One of the two was a sequence where Circe turns Odysseus' men into pigs and it looks like something out of a horror movie. Then there was also the third act. I would go into more details but it'll be too much of a spoiler. What I will say is that third act really did tie everything together.

Overall while I didn't truly hate this movie as much as I feared, I do gotta admit one thing. As far as Christopher Nolan films goes, this is by far his weakest. Which sucks to say as a Nolan fan because he's been killing since Memento, and I would've thought after Oppenheimer he would've delivered another truly great film. But sadly this is just decent at best.

My final rating is, Okay.

Yeah this something I don't feel like you have to rush to see. Just take your time. Well, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jul 20th, for my review of season one of Batman: Caped Crusader. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Raiders of The Lost Media - ECW: Anarchy Rulz - The N64 Port

 

Not an actual cover for the N64 port.

Welcome to a brand new edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. This time around I look at another lost (or supposedly lost) video game. So let's dive in.

Part One - Extreme Championship Wrestling

To understand this supposed video game we first need to under the company it's based on. I'll try to keep this history lesson as brief as possible.

ECW was founded on Feb 25th, 1992, but at that time it was called Eastern Championship Wrestling and was a governing body for another company that being National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Fast forward to somewhere in Sept of 1993, original booker Eddie Gilbert would depart from the company and businessman/wrestling manager Paul Heyman would take over as the book and assumed full creative control. Then on Aug 27th, 1994, the company's name would be changed from Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme Championship Wrestling. At the same time, ECW would no longer be affiliated NWA.

Under this new extreme direction, the company would feature more hardcore matches featuring things like matches with weapons, more usages of tables, ladders, and chairs among other hardcore elements. This new direction also featured wrestling styles from different countries most notably from Japan and Mexico. Another element was storylines would not only feature more violence but vulgarity and sexual content as well.

Sadly in during the early 2000's the company was having financial troubles, because of this ECW would have no choice but to shut down. Their popular show ECW: Hardcore TV would air it's final episode on Dec 31st, 2000 and on Jan 7, 2001, the company would air it's last pay-per-view that being Guilty as Charged, two months later ECW filed for bankruptcy with the company finally closing down on Apr 4, 2001.

During the later years elements of ECW would makes its way to WWE. One of those was from May 28, 2001 to Nov 18, 2001, ECW stars along with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) stars would be part of an invasion storyline in WWE, but from what I've heard it wasn't a very good story arc. In Jan 28th, 2003 WWE would buy assets of ECW that they weren't able to own because HHG Corporation held those rights. Then starting in 2005, WWE would an ECW event titled One Night Stand before that series of pay-per-views would be canceled in 2008. Then during the year WWE would turn ECW into their third brand along side the existing brands of Raw & Smackdown. This brand got a show called ECW on Sci-Fi. This third brand would last until Feb 16th, 2010 and would be replaced by NXT.

Part Two - From Revolution to Anarchy

Before Anarchy Rulz was a thing, ECW's first video game was Hardcore Revolution and it was released on Feb 17th, 2000 for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Game Boy Color with a Dreamcast port released on Feb 29th, 2000. It was the first pro wresting game to receive a Mature rating expect for the Game Boy Color version which was rated Everyone. Hardcore Revolution got mixed reviews at best but sold over 600,000 units, because of how much the units sold this would inspire Acclaim to quickly develop a sequel, that sequel being you guessed it, Anarchy Rulz. The game taking its title from the short lived pay-per-view of the same name.

Anarchy Rulz was released on the PlayStation on Aug 15th, 2000 with the Dreamcast version released on Nov 28th, 2000. Reviews for the game were much worse than they were for Hardcore Revolution, with the general reception being universally negative. A matter of fact, the Dreamcast version had way more negative reviews than the PlayStation one. Anarchy Rulz would be the second and last video game based on ECW before the company closed down.

Part Three - The Nintendo 64 Port

I could provide a story of the N64 port but the truth is the existence of this thing is a mystery.

The Apr 2000 issue of Nintendo Power reported that Anarchy Rulz would receive an N64 port in September. GameSpot would later try report on Nintendo Power's claim, but when GameSpot tried to get in contact with an Acclaim representative for confirmation but the company refused to give details surrounding the game or confirm of an N64 version was being developed. People assumed details would be given during E3. But the E3 event would be very odd, because only the PlayStation verison was shown. There was no info on an N64 version. Hell the Dreamcast verison didn't get a formal unveiling and Anarchy Rulz was actually released on that console.

Part Four - Status

As of writing this there has been no new information both from Acclaim or other sources. Even if development happened we still to this day have no footage or screenshots of this verison of the game. The only thing we got is the Nintendo Power issue briefly mentioning it. Other than that, the existence of this is unconfirmed.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 18th, for my review of Christopher Nolan's newest film, The Odyssey. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Evil Dead Burn Review

 

Hell yeah! We got a brand new Evil Dead movie! Does it continue the franchise's winning streak or will this be the first dud?

Evil Dead Burn is a supernatural horror movie and the sixth installment of the franchise. New Line Cinema, Screen Gems, and Ghost House Pictures produced while Warner Bros. Pictures were the distributor. Sébastien Vaniček directed and wrote the story along with Florent Bernard.

The story is after the death of Will, Will's wife Alice along with Will's family of Joseph, Joseph's girlfriend Thya, his parents and grandmother go to an old family house to seek solace and support. But this getaway will turn into a nightmare when the Deadites arrive.

Initial Reaction

This is one that's been on my most anticipated list and I just couldn't wait for it. I got even more excited with trailers and ads.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

It's definitely the story. It doesn't add anything to the Evil Dead lore that we don't already know. We know about the Book of the Dead, the Kandarian Dagger, and so forth. But I do think what saves the story quite a bit was how the movie touches upon things like abuse, toxic family dynamics, and grief.

Pros

I've read some complaints about the tone and how this is meaner and more dour compared to the previous films. And all I gotta ask is, where have you people been since 2013? Since the 2013 soft reboot to Evil Dead Rise to now, these movies have taken on a more serious tone. Which I don't mind because there's still so fun to be had. I also want to praise the pacing. Evil Dead Burn didn't waste one minute of its one hour and fifty-one minutes runtime. Everything moved at that perfect brisk pace. Finally, as per usual with this franchise we get great kill scenes. Plenty of brutal and creative kills. I think this might be the first movie I've seen where someone is killed with a car headrest.

While the story didn't break any new ground, Evil Dead Burn still thankfully continues the franchise's winning streak.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay that'll wrap things up. Due come back on Monday, Jul 16th, for a brand new edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.