Karate Kid: Legends Review

 

Karate Kid: Legends is a martial arts drama movie and the sixth film in the franchise. It's produced by Columbia Pictures and Sunswept Entertainment with Sony Pictures Releasing distributing. Rob Lieber wrote and Jonathan Entwistle directed.

The story is, after his mom accepted a job in New York Li Fong has no choice but to move there. But his biggest problem is keeping his promise to give up martial arts after the death of his brother. But when events force him back in, Li will not only fight again to help those in need but learn from the great fighters of Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han.

Initial Reaction

The reason for why I wanted to see this is because I like the Karate Kid movies...well, the first two and the remake. Three and Next Karate Kid were terrible. And yes I did what Cobra Kai as well. So I was excited for what Legends had in store.

Cons

My only real complaint is the villains of Conor Day and O'Shea. They were very one dimensional. And I found it worse with O'Shea. People can call Conor a Johnny Lawrence knockoff all day, but at least his rivalry with Li gives him some sort of character. With O'Shea I kept forgetting about him. So much so that when writing this review I had to do a quick Google search to know what his name was.

Middle Ground

The mix bag stems from the story. Now yes it's predictable, but for the most part I was entertained. But what I found to be the true gray area is the balance of the plot. At one point Li is helping Victor (a pizza shop owner he befriends) get back into the boxing ring, but when something bad happens to Victor we're all of a sudden getting prepared for a tournament. Now the two stories did have some sort of connection, mainly O'Shea being both Conor's sensei and Victor's loan shark, but this abrupt change does make the narrative uneven.

Pros

One pro is the humor. There was a lot of times when I found myself laughing. I think my favorite gag is when Daniel & Mr. Han were showing their different styles and poor Li was being used as the test dummy back to back to back. Then there was the action. I was not only interested in both the training and fighting styles of both karate and kung fu, but also impressed with how the choreography was very well executed, probably helped that Jackie Chan's stunt team lend a helping hand. My last praise is the performances. Now Ben Wang is pretty good as Li. He did good in the fight scenes, and could also provide some good vulnerability to his character. But let's be honest and I hope this doesn't come off as me downplaying Ben, but we all wanted to know how Ralph Macchio & Jackie Chan would do together. And guys they are awesome. Not only will nostalgia hit you but you'll love seeing these two together. Their chemistry together was awesome to see and it was fun to these two interact whether it'd be teaching scenes or a brief action scene.

Now Karate Kid: Legends isn't flawless. But I roll my eyes listening and reading reviews of people calling this bad or (and this is a hot take) call this the worst of the franchise. Really people? Are some of you not aware of The Next Karate Kid? But I digress, the point I want to get to is if you are planning to see this, fine. But just don't rush yourself. This is a movie you can watch but I don't think you need to feel the pressure of needing to see it.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's going to do it for me. Due come back on Monday, Jun 2nd, for yet another comic book review. This time I'll yet again be about the Fantastic Four but, it's about the Ultimate Fantastic Four and the story arc of The Fantastic. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day. 

Road to The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Review

 

Well folks, we're nearing the end. And speaking of end, we're at the end of this era of the Fantastic Four on film.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a comic book movie, the sequel to the 2005 film, and the third movie based on the team. This also takes inspiration from the classic storyline The Galactus Trilogy and Ultimate Extinction. Constantin Film, Marvel Entertainment, 1492 Pictures, Ingenious Films Partners, Dune Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox worked on production. The last of which also did distribution. The story was written by Don Payne, Mark Frost, and John Turman with Tim Story returning to direct.

The story is, a mysterious object has entered the Earth's atmosphere and soon revealed to be a man called the Silver Surfer. After an intense fight they capture him and learn that he works for a planet eater named Galactus, and he's coming towards Earth. Now, the Four must stop the planet eater all while reluctantly working together with their enemy, Doctor Doom.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

First up is the villains. Now the Silver Surfer, he's fine. His got a pretty good storyline. That being him going from enemy to ally. Something very similar to what was done with him in the original Galactus Trilogy by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. So his story was handled well. Then you have Doctor Doom. I didn't hate him in this, but he didn't have the same kind of the threatening vibe he had in the first despite Julian McMahon's best efforts. Then there's Galactus. Now I've read a lot of people being disappointed by he's design, about how he's just a giant "cloud". I think a lot of people didn't read the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy like I did. Having said that, I was still disappointed because there wasn't much there. What I mean is I get they wanted the story to focus on the Four & Silver Surfer, but they could've at least showed Galactus slowly approaching Earth. But we don't see much for the longest time.

Then there's character development. Reed and Sue's story wasn't too bad, them just wanting to get married and possibly start a new/normal life is actually a pretty good story. But there were a lot of times when things felt like a repeat of the first. Johnny also has a well handled story of how he needs to mature and I liked that. The Thing on the other hand isn't giving anything. He was just the muscle and that was it.

• Positives

One thing that improved from the first were the special effects. There were some moments that were off, but there was still improvement. Despite the negative reception to Galactus' design, the CGI was quite good. The scale of it was truly felt massive. But the best effect is the Silver Surfer. It was a perfect blend of CGI and practical. The effects of the Surfer really shined when in motion. The movements were sleek as well as dynamic.

Then there was the pacing. While the first movie's pacing wasn't too bad there was times when things were rushed. Here the brisk one hour and thirty-two minute runtime was used properly.

The last thing I'll credit is, once again, the cast of Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis. Their chemistry once again is spot on in both humorous and more dramatic moments. But I also want to give praise to Laurence Fishburne giving his voice to Silver Surfer while Doug Jones gave a great physical performance to the character. Along with the effects & writing, these two did a spectacular job bringing depth to the Surfer.

While there are still problems, Rise of the Silver Surfers still has some entertainment to it.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, May 31st, for my review of Karate Kid: Legends. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Fantastic Four: The Galactus Trilogy & Ultimate Galactus Trilogy Review

That's right. I'm doing another double comic review, only this time it's on the Marvel side instead of DC. What's the reason this time? Well I'll be reviewing Rise of the Silver Surfer soon, and these comics were inspirations. So much like I did with Winter Soldier & Civil War, I'm reviewing these.

First up is The Galactus Trilogy. The story can be found in the 1961 edition of the comic book series, Fantastic Four. More specifically in issues #48-50. Stan Lee wrote the story along with Jack Kirby, who also did the art.

The story is, the Fantastic Four first do battle with a herald named the Silver Surfer and after this fight they're warned of the arrival of Galactus. A powerful being older than the universe itself and survives by feeding off of planets. Knowing this, the Fantastic Four are the only ones that can stop him.

Why The Delay?

If any of you had read my Lilo & Stitch (2025) review, they you were all expecting these reviews by Monday. So what happened? Well Memorial Day happened. My sister invited me to come over to here place, spend time with everybody, and eat some food. And instead of being a dick and telling her to piss off, I decided it was best to spend time with the family and push this back to Tuesday. Honestly, it was worth. I got a free meal and some family time. 😆

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

The mix bag is the same mix feeling I had with Spider-Man: If This Be My Destiny, which was also written by Stan Lee. That being the pacing. Sometimes the pacing is good, it goes by nicely. Oftentimes however things can be slow. Primarily because Stan Lee's writing is very wordy. He'll have speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and caption boxes. Now having that stuff isn't a bad thing you just gotta know when to use them. And Stan, as great as he was, did have a habit of using all three even it meant slowing down the story. Keep in mind, this is still a great story, but that is a tiny bit of a flaw.

• Positives

Now for the good stuff. Starting with the late, great Jack Kirby and his art. Now I'm gonna be honest, while I'm not the biggest Jack Kirby, it's not because I think he's bad! I just like and am far more attached to the people he's influenced more! But despite that I can't deny his impact. Other artists such as the late, great Will Eisner brought a more cinematic flair to comic books, but Jack Kirby built on that and brought a more larger than life edge and is sometimes credited with perfecting that style. And with images like these...

I can see why.

My other praise goes to the story. Firstly there's the themes. The first theme was the hallmark during Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's run, that being family and unity. The Four's family bond and dynamic not only brought some more lighthearted moments, but this also brought the stakes to a grounded level. The next theme is how this is humanity fighting against a cosmic indifference, in this case Galactus. I saw and read how the Four are not only fighting for survival, but they also question somethings about purpose and what humanity's place is when the universe seems like it's, as I said before, indifferent. There's also the Silver Surfer's story arc. Throughout the story he's questioning if he should continue being Galactus' herald or break free, take a stand, and help save the Earth? I actually found myself being very interested in that part more than I thought I'd be. It added not only another bit of drama but also added to his character. Now I have heard people mention how a certain weapon ends things abruptly, and that's fair. But given all of the other stuff I'm almost willing to forgive that.

My last praise goes to how this story praved the way for cosmic storytelling for comic books. Prior to this trilogy, a lot of comic book villain fights were Earthbound. But when the story came out, years later other cosmic stories would follow. The biggest examples being Infinity Gauntlet and Crisis on Infinite Earths. The story also created a certain arc structure. If you ever want to know where multi-issue story arcs, escalating stakes, character driven conflicts, and huge climatic endings came from, look for than here. For better or worse, Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "The King" Kirby invented something huge, and creators even to this day are doing what these two did and if comic books keep going (hopefully with the pc woke nonsense finally cut out) we'll continue to use what these two comic titans created.

If you're getting into Fantastic Four or Marvel Comics in general, The Galactus Trilogy is something you have to read. It's an absolute classic.

My final rating is, A MUST READ!

Alright, next up is The Ultimate Galactus Trilogy. The storyline was part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint and consist of the three miniseries. Those being Ultimate Nightmare, Ultimate Secret, and Ultimate Extinction. All three were written by Warren Ellis. Issues 1-2, 4 & 5 of Ultimate Nightmare were drawn by Trevor Hairsine while issue 3 was drawn by Steve Epting. Ultimate Secret was drawn by Steve McNiven for issues 1-2, while issues 3-4 were drawn by Tom Raney and Ultimate Extinction was drawn solely by Brandon Peterson.

The story is, it all started with a broadcast the disrupted the entire world's televisions and computer monitors giving warning of death and destruction. As our heroes continue to investigate of what caused this, they soon realize it's something far worse than they thought. Now, The Ultimates, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four join forces to stop the force known as Gah Lak Tus.

• Negatives

Nothing to read here.

• Mix

Let's start off with character development. We get some great interactions with the Ultimates (this world's version of the Avengers by the way), the Fantastic Four, and Captain Marvel. We get funny moments like how in Ultimate Secret, Thor is willing to get beers for Johnny Storm and The Thing because he views them as mighty warriors. To a more heated exchange between Reed Richards and Nick Fury in Ultimate Extinction. Those were great moments but, while the X-Men are involved, mainly Professor X and Jean Grey, they aren't given as much development as the characters.

Then there's the artwork. I'm gonna break this down by who I liked the most to the least. So let's start off with...

Now I didn't know who Trevor Hairsine was prior to reading Ultimate Nightmare and I don't recall reading anything recent with his name on it, but even without that in mind I loved what he did here. It's not only cinematic, but his more shadowy style really captured Ultimate Nightmare's horror tone. His art was excellently eerie, especially when our heroes were in the Cold War era bunkers. So Mr. Hairsine, I give you two big 👍🏻👍🏻.

As mentioned previously Steve Epting was only involved in one issue and that was for issue #3 of Ultimate Nightmare, but what little work he did do I still liked. He's was cleaner when compared to Trevor Hairsine, but despite being cleaner his layouts provided awesome action scenes for when the Ultimates & X-Men were fighting against science experiments that were long abandoned.

Now as you can see, Tony Raney has a far more stylized (or cartoonish, whatever word you wanna use) when compared to Hairsine and Epting. But considering how much action was in those issues of Ultimate Secret, I think that more cartoonish style wasn't a bad decision. Some could argue it made the action more dynamic. Although I do admit some of his facial expressions were...odd to say the least. Like this one.

No folks that is NOT Jeffery Dahmer about to enjoy killing his next victim, that's Reed Richards about to enjoy a trip to outer space. I can understand why you'd be confused.

Now Steve McNiven made a name for himself on Marvel story arcs such as Civil War, the Wolverine story of Old Man Logan, The Sentry story in New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis, and Nemesis by Mark Millar. And I liked his art work on those, but here I wasn't really feeling it. It's not bad, but it just didn't seem to pop like those other stories I mentioned. Maybe this was more of the colorist than the artist. Again, not bad just meh.

The last and my least favorite was Brandon Peterson's work on Ultimate Extinction. Now as you can see those panels are actually really good. I especially liked the Helicarriers and those building panels. Those look really, they look like they could be shots in a movie or the movie's storyboards. As for the characters themselves, once again get a good look.

Now I'm not one of those people who complain about more stylish art in comic books, hell some of my favorite artists like John Romita Jr., Humberto Ramos, and Jorge Jiménez don't draw in realistic styles, but this is far too glossy for my taste. Maybe this is another case of colorist than artist either way it wasn't for me. Still liked Ultimate Extinction's story, but art not so much.

• Positives

Let's move onto to far more positive aspects like the pacing. These miniseries go by fast. I was able to get through all three within one day. Sure I did that Lee & Kirby's trilogy, but it felt like I was sitting on my couch for almost an hour or more. With this trilogy a couple of minutes.

Then there's the sci-fi and horror elements. Ultimate Nightmare has a great moody thriller atmosphere. It almost felt like I was gonna be reading a survival horror comic. And continuing with the horror elements, this Galactus, or Gah Lak Tus, is even more like an apocalyptic sci-fi horror. I would tell you why that is, but when doing any of my reviews I try to keep them spoiler free. There's also so this pretty creepy cult. Again, don't want to give spoilers, but the fact Gah Lak Tus is being treated like a god giving out divine will, adds to the horror elements. Then there's the sci-fi. We get our usual aliens, but it's the technology and Reed Richards scientific ingenuity that'll keep you interested. Especially since they bring up good aspects of the story such as Reed not feeling good about himself creating a weapon that could stun or kill something.

The last thing I'll praise is the story. First I love how this is self-contained. You can read this by itself without it interrupting other Ultimate series like Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men, or even Ultimate Spider-Man. Then there's the humanity's resilience. This is very similar to what Lee & Kirby did. But what separates the two is Ellis' sci-fi while extraordinary, does have quite a bit of grounded realism in it. Regardless of that, we see human ingenuity confronting overwhelming odds. The story does a tremendous job reinforcing hope against what seems to be an unstoppable despair.

My final rating is, Good.

So that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, May 29th, for the next part of the Road to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with my review of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Lilo & Stitch (2025) Review

 NOTE!: I WILL BE GIVING SPOILERS AT THE END OF THE REVIEW! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT THOSE, STOP AT MY FINAL RATING THOUGHT!

Well here we go again. Another round of Disney live-action remakes. Guess apparently the CEO of Disney [Bob Iger] will go to any extent to NOT make anything original.

Lilo & Stitch is a live-action remake of the 2002 animated movie of the same name. Production was done by both Walt Disney Pictures and Rideback with distribution by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Dean Fleischer Camp directed while Chris Kekaniokalani Bright & Mike Van Waes wrote.

The story is, a lonely girl named Lilo has adopted what she believes is to be a dog and names him Stitch. Unaware to her Stitch is actually a genetic experiment meant for destruction and his only with her and her older sister Nani to hide and avoid capture. The two soon bond and both must avoid something that'll fracture not only their separate lives but their new family.

Initial Reaction

Now I by no means was excited for this. First Dosney remakes their classics like Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, then their 90's classics like Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, and now they're doing the 2000s?! I get they're over twenty years old but come on! Worse off they're making a remake of Moana and that one's not even a decade old! So even though I'm not enthusiastic about this remake I did review the 2002 original and promise a review for the remake, so here I am.

Cons

Oh boy, the problems...where do I even begin? Let's start off with the pacing. I'm honestly astonished with the runtime. The animated original is an hour and twenty-five minutes, this one is an hour and forty-eight minutes. Why is this relevant? Because somehow, somehow the remake feels like the abridged version. I mean it, whenever they copy scenes from the animated movie is almost sped up. The one I remember the most was Stitch's escape at the beginning of the movie. In the animated one, it is quick but we still had a story told. In the remake is like only the most memorable scenes were used. This basically how Stitch's escape in the remake went. Stitch is on trial Stitch is given his punishment Stitch finds a way to escape Stitch escapes Stitch takes a ship and now he's heading to Earth! It's like someone wrote the classic scenes, but they barely remembered went happened. Like I said before, this pacing felt like an abridged version. How do you pull that off when you have an extra twenty-three minutes to the movie you're remaking? The next part I'll touch on is the humor. I admit a couple parts got a chuckle out of me, but the rest is bad. Whenever they reenact a joke from the original they add on to it. Remember that one scene in the original where Cobra Bubbles asked Lilo how things are going at her house asking her if she's being taken care of well, and Nani's behind Cobra giving Lilo hand signals of what to say so it seems like things are going smoothly, and then Nani screws up which leads to Lilo also screwing up. Well they reenacted that scene but they added like three more gags to it. Which they didn't need to. The original joke was fine. The add-ons just ruin it. Then there's the ending. Wow that ending. I'll have to go into more details when I get into spoilers, but what I will say is they really put Nani in a bad light. But the worse, the absolute worse is the characters. I get wanting to do different things with these characters, but this wasn't the way to go. I'm gonna go through the most important alterations one by one.

First is the first titled Lilo. She was really toned down in this. She wasn't really all that weird in this. They don't even have her act like a total brat in this which was a bad decision. Cause in the original, Lilo isn't a brat just because she can be. Her mom and dad died, she's lashing out. Which is something a child would do. But here, not so much. This felt like Lilo in name only...which now that I think about it that can be said for a lot of these characters.

Now for the second titled character, Stitch. Later on I'll praise him, but the problem with him was the writers made him playful and tamed way too quick. I mean it, I think sometime after Lilo adopts him, he's already friendly with her. There's no scenes of him pushing her around and being a jerk. So his arc of going from savage to family member is barely there. So ya know what? It's good his Ugly Duckling metaphor was cut out. Cause had they used it in this, essentially with this version of Stitch, it wouldn't have worked.

Then there's Nani. That ending did her dirty, but I'll get into that later. What I will say is this Nani didn't have the same sense of urgency as the original Nani had. The writers want you to believe she's just as overworked and trying her best despite her flaws, but there's one teeny, tiny, itty-bitty problem....THIS NANI HAS A NEIGHBOR/FAMILY FRIEND WHO HELPS HER WITH LILO! So there's no point in Nani having to worry about the case worker. By having this neighbor friend (who's name is Tūtū by the way), Nani doesn't need to worry so much about raising Lilo. Because now there's gonna be someone else who can pick up Lilo after school when Nani's not available, there's someone else to help feed Lilo if Nani is too busy at work, and Nani doesn't need to worry about Lilo being alone if God forbid if she dies, because Tūtū will be right there if that happens. And also because of this addition of Tūtū the social worker story angle is now forced.

Speaking of social workers, how's Cobra Bubbles? Well much like everybody else his character is butchered. Now instead of being a  caring social worker who only wants the best for Lilo while also being a C.I.A. agent, he's now just a generic C.I.A agent. Yep, all of the things you loved about him have been reduced to bland C.I.A agent. Which means he also doesn't get his best comedy moments.

Now let's move onto Jumba. He's the villain now. I get he was antagonistic in the animated original, but he wasn't evil. Here he' irredeemable and basically Gantu. I mean that, a lot of Gantu's character traits were giving to Jumba. Why do that? Why not just have Gantu?! Thanks for the character assassination there writers. 😒

Hey remember David? Nani's love interest and then boyfriend. Well he's an idiot now. Yeah if you thought Cobra had a generic character David is even worse. Instead of being a chilled guy, he's just a dumbass and nothing else.

Middle Ground

It's the performances. Everybody does do very well, especially Maia Kealoha as Lilo. This was her film debut and she did great. And Chris Sanders after so many years of not voicing the character for a long time, still kills it as Stitch. I was so happy to hear him play this character again. Now Zack Galifianakis can be entertaining, he was not the right guy to play Jumba. He was greatly miscasted.

Pros

Now despite me complaining about his story arc, Stitch was the only truly good thing about the whole movie. All of his scenes were fun. So thankfully Stitch is something to look forward to.

Guys, I really don't like this movie. Sure some of the live-action Disney remakes didn't bother me too bad, expect for the live-action Snow White that was terrible whether you did or didn't see the animated original. But this remake really pissed me off. Cause I grew up with Lilo & Stitch. I watched all of the movies and would watch the TV series on Disney Channel. So this is one of those Disney remakes that actually stung.

My final rating is, Bad.

🚨 SPOILER ALERT! 🚨

ALRIGHT! I'M GONNA GIVE AWAY THE ENDING! SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS, LEAVE NOW!

So here's how the ending went. Once Jumba is defeated, Nani, Lilo, Stitch, etc. return to Nani & Lilo's home and repair it. During a conversation Nani gives up her guardianship of Lilo and gives her to, unsurprisingly enough, Tūtū. Sometime later during a mid-credit Nani is studying marine biology in college at the University of California in San Diego and by using Jumba's portal gun, she goes to visit Lilo and Stitch.

This ending did Nani no service. This really puts her in a bad light. Cause now Nani looks selfish and looks like she's only focused on her marine biology. "But Mike, she has a portal gun. She can go visit them". No! Sorry it still doesn't work. The portal gun is a cop out. The portal gun is only there so the writers think you'll be easily tricked into thinking this isn't a poorly written happy ending. Also, Hawaii has more than several colleges and universities. Nani didn't have to go all the way to California.

So apparently in this movie, "Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Unless that family is in the way of your college dreams, in that case to hell with them! 🖕"

So that's all for now. Due come back on Monday, May 26th, for my comic book reviews of Fantastic Four: The Galactus Trilogy & The Ultimate Galactus Trilogy. That's right, it's a double review! Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Lilo & Stitch (2002)

 

With the remake around the corner it's time to look back at the beloved animated original.

Lilo & Stitch is an animated sci-fi comedy that was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation with Buena Vista Pictures Distribution distributing. Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois both wrote and directed.

The story is, after escaping his exile sentence Experiment 626 lands on Earth and plans to hide there. He's soon adopted by orphan sisters Nani & Lilo and Lilo names him Stitch. At first Stitch just wants to use the sisters as a way to stay hidden, but he soon begins to bond with them. But what he doesn't know yet is there's two other aliens who've landed on Earth and they intend to recapture him.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

The only thing that needed more work were the villains. While they have entertaining moments and some characteristics, their character depth isn't nearly given as much development as characters like Nani, Lilo, and Stitch.

• Positives

One good thing about this is the pacing. Some areas did get slow but a majority of the runtime goes by smoothly.

Now to write about the great stuff. One being the humor. Some of the comedy does have slapstick and it was funny. But I found a lot of the dialogue to pretty hilarious. There's one line from Jumba where he says, "His destructive programming is taking effect. He will be irresistibly drawn to large cities, where he will back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone's left shoe". I don't know why but that last part got a big laugh out of me. 😆

My next praise goes to the music. I actually forgot how beautiful the music was. We get a beautiful mix of Elvis Presley songs and Alan Silvestri's score. It worked perfectly with both comedic and emotional beats. Along with the great writing, the music is perfectly impactful.

Then there's the animation. As a kid I liked the way it looked, and now as an adult I find it gorgeous. The Hawaiian backdrop is beautifully made and the vibrant water color visuals even more so. I just couldn't help but get immersed into this style.

The last thing I'll praise is the story. It's just so heartwarming. The cornerstone is Lilo and Stitch. Lilo is a lonely girl who's not only struggling with her parents death, but also feelings of grief and struggling trying to fit in. Then there's Stitch. His sole cause is to destroy and at the beginning he's having the time of his life doing just that. But once he's in Hawaii and that one thing he was created for is taking away, he now has to find a new purpose. When they first naturally things don't go so well, but as the movie goes on they bond. Lilo never once saw Stitch as a monster but as a potential friend and teaches him about family and loyalty through small tender moments. Stitch in return stops seeing Lilo as a way to avoid capture, and seeing her as family and being able to defy his programming. We also get a great story with Nani. While she's also saddened by the death of her parents, she knows she has to step up and take care of her sister Lilo. But she's under stress both from parenthood, financial strain, and social worker Cobra Bubbles keeping constant tabs on her, which in return gives her the fear that she might lose Lilo/the only family member she has left. It's very realistic and gut punch. Because of this the story is a greatly told tale of family, hope, and showing any outsider can find a home.

Guys, Lilo & Stitch is awesome. It's one of Disney's best of their more modern classics and I was very happy to get a chance to review it even if nobody is excited for the live-action remake.

My final rating is, Great.

So that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, May 24th, for my review of well, the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Final Destination: Bloodlines Review

 

Finally, the newest Final Destination has finally arrived!

Final Destination: Bloodlines is a supernatural horror movie and the sixth installment of the franchise. New Line Cinema, Practical Pictures, Freshman Year, and Fireside Films produced with Warner Bros. Pictures distributing. The story is written by Jon Watts, Guy Busick, and Lori Evans Taylor with Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein directing.

The story is, a young college student named Stefani Reyes is having what she assumed were nightmares going back to 1969 to a building collapsing and killing everyone including her grandparents. She soon learns this is actually her grandmother's premonition and finds out Death is coming to kill her family who weren't supposed to exist in the first place. Now, Stefani and her family must find a way to survive.

Initial Reaction

When I found out about this I was immediately hooked. Cause I really enjoy the Final Destination movie, they're great turn off your brain fun. Well The Final Destination aka Final Destination 4 was lackluster, but one, two, three, and five are entertaining. I was so pumped for this I actually watched those previous movies leading to this. So yeah, safe to say I was really really excited for Bloodlines.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

One mix bag is the humor. Now all of the dark comedy was great. There were many times when me and the audience laughed at that. One moment I remember is a scene had a female-led rendition of B.J. Thomas' song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head". Some of probably have a good idea why that's darkly funny, but for someone of that don't, go see the movie. You'll understand why. But the stuff I wasn't really getting into was the more meta stuff. It wasn't bad, it was just okay. Another mix is the performances. Some of the cast are pretty good, others can be a little melodramatic. But I think the biggest one people are gonna talk about is Tony Todd's final performance as William Bludworth/his last on-screen performance before sadly passing away. Tony isn't in the film that long but what we did get from him was great. Not only in a sense for his character, but he gives out a short but beautiful speech about life. He gave us a heart warming send off. So thank you Tony Todd. It's tragic you're no longer with us, but I hope you're at peace.

Pros

Let's start by praising the pacing. If there's top five reasons why people like these movies, it's because they're a breeze to get through. Every Final Destination movie goes by quickly and doesn't overstay its welcome. And Bloodlines is no different. The movie goes by fast but we got plenty of story. The next credit goes to the effects. While it is a slight bummer that not every single thing is done practically. The effects were still really good. Then there's the family dynamic. Now usually this film series focuses on survivors who are friends or become friends. Now there was nothing wrong with that. It worked, but it was refreshing to have the characters be an actual family. It added a new layer, we explored something new, and even had a couple of good emotional moments. Now this franchise is all about the kills. The gory, Rube Goldberg kills. So how were they this time around? Well fans I can safely say you're not gonna be disappointed. There's plenty of great and creative kills throughout the movie. The biggest highlights were the opening Skyview Tower premonition scene and an MRI machine death. So yeah, the kills are fantastic.

The wait for this was worth it. Sure I had some issues, but at the end of the day I had a blast with Bloodlines.

My final rating is, Good.

Boy that was a fun time. So that's all for now. Due come back on Thursday, May 22nd, for my A Look Back at review of 2002's Lilo & Stitch. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Superman (2025) - Man of Steel Review

 

Alright, back to my favorite Road to series. And we're back with one of my many favorite Superman films too.

Man of Steel is a comic book movie based on the DC Comics' iconic character Superman. It's as a reboot to the Superman films series and the first installment of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Production was done by DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Peters Entertainment with Warner Bros. Pictures also helping with production as well as doing distribution. Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer wrote the story with Zack Snyder directing.

The story is, just before the planet Krypton was destroyed, Kal-El was sent to Earth as a baby. As he grew he started to realize he's not like everybody else. Soon, he travels the world saving people in secret. But when another surviving Kryptonian named Zod comes to Earth and plans to terraform it into a new Krypton, Kal-El must step out of the shadows and save his adopted home.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

My only gray area with the movie is the pacing. The first half can very much drag. Mainly because we do jump back and forth with flashbacks to Clark's childhood. Thankfully as the film goes on the speed does pick up and it starts to become a breeze to get through.

• Positives

Let's start off with things people can agree on and then I move to opinions that I imagine you'll find controversial. First thing is Han Zimmer's score. It's pretty tough to praise this because any positive praise has pretty much been given. Zimmer's score is emotionally heavy and epic. I've watched this at least six times and I still can't help but hum along to "Flight". That bit of music makes me feel like I can fly.

Then there's the action. The action is jaw dropping. I loved it! And one thing I've come to love whether it'd be flight, super speed or fighting, it's you can almost feel and see the physicality.

Now I'll move onto the performances, more specifically from Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon. First Henry. Now I've heard a lot of people complain about Henry being stoic, but that was the point. This is a very stoic Clark because he's trying to figure things out. So it'd make sense Henry Cavill would act like that. But Henry does have and nail a lot of the more vulnerable moments. Hell one of he's best moments is when he's angry and he's punching Zod all while saying "You think you can threaten my mother!" It's a small moment but it was great acting from Henry. Then there's Michael Shannon as General Zod. Shannon was fully committed to the role. He perfectly nailed Zod's unyielding ruthlessness and focus on his mission to resurrect Krypton, but also added a lot of quiet emotional depth as well. And he's especially amazing when goes all feral.

My next praise will be to oh what a surprise, Zack Snyder's directing. It's basically my same old praise. He makes shots visually stunning . His camera work is dynamic and his images are breathtaking. Many of those frames did become iconic to Superman. Some creators have even outright said they were inspired by Snyder's style. These shots alone 👇🏻 are great and they're not even scrapping the top of the iceberg.

Now here comes my biggest controversial opinions, starting with the gritty tone. I know people hate the gritty tone, but people! You have to understand something. Superman needed a newer tone. Snyder and co. couldn't copy the tone from the Donner/Reeve films. They tried that in 2006 with Superman Returns and guess what? It bombed. People showed back then they didn't want a tone from 1978. They wanted something different! And Man of Steel provided that. The tone is actually handled very well. And the thing is the movie's just gritty and that's it. It's not overtly dark like everybody tries to make it out to be. Besides, you know those comic books that everybody on social media talk about, the source material that they supposedly love oh so much? Well a lot of the best Superman stories are gritty and throw away the "big blue boyscout" shtick. Hell! I reviewed one of them not too long ago! Kingdom Come. That story's gritty and I always see it on the top five best Superman stories. So yes, the gritty tone is actually a good thing.

The next and last controversial opinion I have is about the story. Despite the initial slow start, the story is really good. We've got great world-building with how Krypton works. What their society is like and a lot of the technology. But the best part were the themes. Two things touched upon is identity and belonging. Throughout a good portion of the film we witness Clark struggling to figure out who he is. Him discovering his alien heritage, why he was sent to Earth, and even why his birth is such a big deal. Then he wants to figure where he belongs in this world. It was quite a great hero's journey. There was also the writers tackling destiny and choice. The movie highlights the clash between Superman's decision to become a protector and Zod's predetermined fate of being a warrior/protector of Krypton and only Krypton. These themes added great layers to the movie and I loved it.

While I wasn't blinded to some flaws, I still really liked this movie. It was the modern Superman I was waiting for.

My final rating is, Great.

It was so much fun revisiting this. But that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, May 17th, for my review of Final Destination: Bloodlines. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.