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.

Road to Street Fighter (2026) - Street Fighter Alpha Review

 

We're back to the Road to Street Fighter (2026), and this time we're going back to the animated Street Fighter movies.

Street Fighter Alpha, or as it's titled on-screen Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation and released in Japan as Street Fighter Zero, is a OVA (Original Video Animation) based on the video game of Street Fighter Alpha 2. It's not a prequel or sequel to the 1994 animated movie serving as only an independent entry. Production was done by Group TAC with distribution by Manga Entertainment. Reiko Yoshida wrote the story while Shigeyasu Yamauchi directed.

The story is, Ryu is struggling to control a dark power called the "Dark Hadou" and fearing he'll turn into his deceased master's brother Akuma who succumbed to it. Meanwhile a sinister force knows about Ryu's Dark Hadou and wants that power all to himself.

• Negatives

I gotta give to the villain, Dr. Sadler. He's just not a memorable villain as M. Bison, Akuma, or Vega are.

• Mix

It's the story. Much like the animated '94 film, the plot can be very simple. We do get some sort of depth what with Ryu struggling against the Dark Hadou to the point where he fears he'll lose control and will want his friend Ken to kill him. There's also a pretty good story with Sakura being inspired by Ryu and wanting to be a great fighter like him, but also getting a glimpse at the darker side of martial arts. However a lot of the story doesn't break any new ground. We once again get another story of someone going after Ryu for his powers.

• Positives

One praise I'll give is the animation. Once again the animation shines especially during fight scenes. Group TAC did a spectacular job with muscular physiques, expressive character designs, and dynamic movements. There's just so much kinetic delivery and impactful choreography to enjoy.

The last thing I'll touch on is the English dubbing. Now I don't think for one moment this one of the greatest dubbing jobs, but it is an improvement for the 1994 animated flick. Mainly because the actors are not only putting more effort in, and it also helps a lot of the voices fit and didn't feel a tad forced.

Overall while it has its issues, Street Fighter Alpha is another worthy entry to look into regardless if you're watching a sub or a dub like I did.

My final rating is, Good.

That's gonna do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Jul 11th, for my review of Evil Dead Burn. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Is It True? - Palpatine Killed Padme

 

Since I haven't done a theory post since January of this year, it's time to change that with a really dark Star Wars fan theory.

Who Are Palpatine & Padmé?

Since these are two very popular Star Wars characters I imagine people are well aware who Palpatine and Padmé are. So I'll just give a brief description.

Palpatine is not just a powerful Sith Lord, but he's the Sith Lord. He's the major villain throughout the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, and plays a part in the Sequel Trilogy. Palpatine is a master of manipulation. So much so he's able to play both sides without anybody knowing unless he wants them. His biggest accomplishment was secretly orchestrating the fall of both the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, during this same time he turned Anakin Skywalker who was the Chosen One, the one who meant to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, and turned him into the feared villain, Darth Vader.

Padmé, full name being Padmé Amidala, is the former Queen and later Sentor of Naboo. She was of the many brave souls fighting for democracy against the evil alliance known as The Separatist. Padmé was also the wife of Anakin Skywalker and sadly witnessed her husband's fall to the dark side. Even more tragic than that she would later die after giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. The cause of her death was that of a "broken heart".

The Theory

The theory goes Padmé didn't actually die from a broken heart.

What truly killed was Palpatine used his dark force powers to drain Padmé of her life force and transferred it to Anakin, or as he was now called Darth Vader, as way to save his life so he didn't die from the severe burns he got after his duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar.

This act wasn't just a way for Palpatine to ensure just the survival of Darth Vader, but was a way to break and isolate Anakin one more time that way he'll be absolutely loyal to him. By killing Padmé Palpatine eliminated the last anchor to Anakin's old life.

Is Theory Believable?

Well no. George Lucas made it clear that Padmé died of a "broken heart", meaning she lost the will to live. If George Lucas' whole plan was it was actually Palpatine who killed her then he would've came out and said it years ago. However I do think it's a pretty fun (albeit in a dark way) thing to think about. I mean Palpatine is the biggest rat bastard in the entire Star Wars galaxy, so it's not too crazy to think he would do something like this. This is after all the same guy who had chips put into every Clone Troopers' head that way he when he says "execute Order 66" the Clones would kill their Jedi friends and commanders without so much as a second thought. So him killing Padmé by taking her life force away and giving it to Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker wouldn't be beneath him.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 9th, for the return of the Road to Street Fighter (2026). Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Looking Back at the Films of 2025 Part Six - The Life of Chuck and Elio

We're back with the films of 2025. As you can read above it's about Life of Chuck and Elio, so let's all dive right in.

Why the Delay?

Now if you read my Supergirl review then you were probably expecting this review yesterday on Monday. Well on that day my dad needed my help getting water barrels. Now you'd think that'd be an easy thing, which is was but my man was it pretty long trip. So long that by the time I got home it was like 7:30pm and I wasn't even done watching Elio yet. So I needed to push this review back a day.

Why Didn't I See The Life of Chuck?

Truth be told I was planning on see this. Then I realized I already had a very busy schedule what with planning to review Predator: Killer of Killers, Ballerina, and the next part of the Road to Fantastic Four: First Steps. So I had no choice but to push this movie to this segment. Which sucks because I really do like Mike Flanagan's movies.

What is The Life of Chuck?

The Life of Chuck is a fantasy drama based on Stephen King's 2020 novella of the same name. Studios such as Intrepid Pictures, FilmNation Entertainment, QWGmire, and Red Room Pictures did production while Neon was the distributor. Mike Flanagan both wrote and directed.

The story is, we see the formative years of a man named Charles "Chuck" Krantz. We see how some tragic moments in his life, during which he sees both the ups and downs that life gives you. Chuck will experience many firsts in his life, and in the end he'll have to decide if he wants to be in the dark or live life to the fullest.

My Thoughts

The Good: Let's start off with Tom Hiddleston's performance. It's pretty impressive because he's screen time is relatively limited. But he brought so much emotional depth and quite charisma that it made the adult version of Chuck feel like a full character. There's also a very interesting structure to the movie. I wasn't at all expecting us to start off at Act Three and then end on Act One. Now that could've broke the movie but it became a very interesting watch. Especially since you can have putting the pieces together and find out which character connects to the third act and why. The last thing I'll praise is the emotional core. The story is a beautiful telling of both the beauty and fragility of everyday life. I would go into more spoilers, but I don't want to give too much of the story's plot and themes away. It's just such a fantastic story.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: It's the pacing. Sometimes scenes do progress slower than others, but thankfully a lot of scenes do forward nicely.

Final Verdict: Great.

Why Didn't I See Elio?

When I saw the trailer in theaters and all of the TV spots, I thought this was just gonna be very generic. Which is sad because their was a time when I wouldn't have want to miss a Pixar movie, but since the late 2010's Pixar just doesn't have the same magic it use to. We get either a sequel and whenever we do get something original there's just something missing in those movies when compared to the other films. Sure the animation is always on par, but story wise it's just not the same. So I decided to skip out on Elio and see 28 Years Later instead.

What is Elio?

Elio is an animated sci-fi adventure that was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The people who wrote the screenplay were Mark Hammer, Mike Jones, and Julia Cho and directed by Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, and Madeline Sharafian.

The story is, an eleven year old boy named Elio has been kidnapped by aliens after they mistakenly think he's Earth's ambassador. Now he must navigate his way through this crazy, survive a huge crisis, and find out where it belongs.

My Thoughts

The Good: The animation is nice but that's really no surprise, this is a Pixar flick after all. But sadly the animation can't save this. I'll also give this movie credit. When it comes to bad kids films this one is the least awful of the many ones out there.

The Bad: Let's start off with the art style. Why does Pixar still use this style? I was criticized with Luca and later on with Turning Red. Nobody wants the bean mouth art style anymore! It's generic and should've died in the late 2010s. Then there's Elio. He's just a bad character. He's always stealing from people and if you can ignore that, there's also the fact he's supposed to be an outcast yet he's still very social. I get just because you're an outcast don't inherently have poor social skills, but the movie is trying really hard to make you say "Oh poor little Elio 🥺." And when we're not dealing with Elio then we're dealing with truly stupid characters. One example is the aliens think Elio is Earth's leader, but earlier they just saw him get his ass kicked by bullies. Wouldn't they think that's not Earth's leader because he's getting beaten up? Lastly the story just uses one cliché after another. One of those being Elio befriend an alien who get this, is also an outcast. Yeah, really shattering storytelling aren't we?

The Okay: I've got nothing.

Final Verdict: Bad, But Harmless.

Well that's a wrap. Come back on Monday, Jul 6th, for a brand new Is It True? For that one I'll be tackling a Star Wars fan theory. Until then, try to keep yourself cool while going through this absolute bullcrap of a heatwave week. Get an AC, a fan, go to your local pool or lake for a bit, dunk yourself in a bathtub full ice or all the above. The point is, just stay cool.

Supergirl (2026) Review

 

Alright, we got another film set in the DC Universe. Will this one be any good, will be decent like last year's Superman, or is it as bad as some reviews say it is?

Supergirl (2026) is a comic book movie that takes influence from the 2021 comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. It also serves as the second film in the DC Universe. Production was done by DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, and The Safran Company with distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie's written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie.

The story is, Kara was enjoying celebrating her 23rd birthday. But things took a turn when she meets a revenge seeking girl named Ruthye wants someone to help her find and kill a man named Krem of the Yellow Hills for the murder of her family. At first Kara doesn't want any part of this, but when her dog Krypto is poisoned by Krem she joins up with Ruthye to find Krem and cure Krypto. During this journey Kara also wants to stop Ruthye for letting revenge take her over, but can Kara truly help her when she's a mess herself?

Initial Reaction

My expectations for this movie were low. Mainly because so far Gunn's DCU hasn't been all that spectacular despite what grifters and influencers would have you believe. Everything with this new DC cinematic universe has either been decent or bad. It also doesn't help that character of Supergirl just can't catch a break on the big screen. First there was the laughably bad 1984 Supergirl film. Where the main villain's focus is she wants to bang her handsome gardener....I'm not joking that's basically that villain's motive. Then there was The Flash back in 2023. Now I didn't hate that movie it was decent at best, yet at the same time a huge box office bomb. It also didn't help that Milly Alcock the star of the movie apparently didn't learn anything from Rachel Zegler. Cause she decided to shot her mouth off and go on and on about how fans are sexist and they don't want to see a female play a superhero. And all of that other bull. So yeah. Supergirl (2026) has quite a lot going against it.

Cons

One problem with the movie is the villain Krem of the Yellow Hills. What a forgettable bad guy. There's nothing about him that'll stand out from other comic book movie villains. He is bland, he is boring, and he's generic. It also doesn't help that instead of giving him his comic book design which was this.

Now some of you could argue his design probably doesn't look memorable as well. But I'll this over the movie Krem who looks like a rejected Ravager from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Then there's also the look of the movie. Aside from maybe one or two shots, there was nothing about the cinematography that popped out at me. It looks bland and every planet Kara and Ruthye go to pretty blend in with each other. Almost to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if people mistaken Kara and Ruthye being on the same world despite the movie showing them traveling from place to place. It also doesn't help that this would've been a perfect opportunity to bring the colors that were in the comic book [Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow] to the big screen. But nope, we either get shades of brown or colors that don't stand out at all. Remind me again how James Gunn's DCU is the colorful one yet Zack Snyder's DCEU films were the ones lacking color?

Then we have the writing for the characters. We lack of there of. There's barely any develop for them. Ruthye despite being the reason why Supergirl is part of this adventure, barely has a story. Her story much like the comic miniseries is about how she should let hate and revenge consume her and she shouldn't kill people. But aside from one argument with Kara/Supergirl, it's never truly touched upon. Then we have Supergirl herself. While we get to see her trauma about surviving the destruction of Krypton and seeing her family die, but the end of the movie everything she lectures Ruthye about (or barely lectures her on) she does herself! So basically this version of Supergirl is a massive hypocritic.

• Mix

I've got nothing.

• Positives

The only praise I can give is Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa's performances. Despite the bad material, Milly is still able to give a pretty good performance. On the other side, Momoa was actually pretty entertaining in the film despite his role not being as big as the marketing would let you believe.

Supergirl (2026) may not be in my top ten of worst comic book movies, but it's still not worth seeing in theaters. Just wait until it's on HBO Max (which giving the box office numbers will probably be very soon) or rent it for like four dollars.

A Few Words

Hey! Before I give my final rating there's something else I wanted to say but it's mainly just a theory and not something I can confirm which is why it's not in the negative category of this review.

So with that out of the way I have a theory that James Gunn is more than just a producer for this movie. I believe he either shadow co-wrote, shadow co-direct, or both when working on this project. Why? Because while I'm not the biggest fan of Craig Gillespie's work I've seen some of his stuff. Those being the 2011 remake of Fright Night, I, Tonya, and Cruella, none of those movies reminded me of stuff James Gunn would do. And what has Gunn been known to do as of recently? Have humor that clashes with the tone of a movie, needle drops both with popular songs and songs that aren't so popular, and making stuff feel like Guardians of the Galaxy one way or another. And what does Supergirl have? All of the stuff I just listed.

Let me remind you this is only a theory and not something that's a true. Now do give you may rating.

My final rating is, Bad.

How is that after Wonder Woman superhero films or tv shows starring females have only gotten worse? Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jun 29th, for part six of Looking Back at the Films of 2025. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.