Reaction & Review | Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a movie from 2019. That movie is "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines".

I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you guys, I know almost next to nothing about this movie. The only bits of information that I know of is that it's another one of DC's direct-to-video animated films and that it also came out as part of a combo pack which features "Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition", which is the 2009 animated film I reviewed last year in my previous "Tales of the Longbox" marathon. Although the version I reviewed then wasn't the Commemorative Edition, it was just the standard version that I had reviewed. I've long since traded that version of the movie in for this combo pack, which has both that movie and this one that I'm going to watch for this series.

Really, guys, I don't have much to say for an introduction here other than that. I'm hoping for this film to be good, and, so far, Wonder Woman has a pretty good batting average for me when it comes to her films. I know someone might bring up "Wonder Woman 1984", however, I have not seen that movie yet so I can't comment on it. I'm just gonna focus on this movie for now and see if it's any good. And the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines".

7 minutes later

OK, guys, I know continuity in the DC universe can vary in different timelines, but this is the first one where I can think of where Wonder Woman has to fight her mother, Queen Hippolyta, in order to leave the island with Steve Trevor. It's possible that she may have had to do that in the comics, but still, it's new to me she has to fight her mother of all things.

9 minutes later

OK, I have a question here. So throughout the time that Diana's been staying with Vanessa and her mother, Vanessa has slowly transformed her lifestyle from being a regular teenage girl to, almost, becoming a goth chick. Has Diana not even told Vanessa's mother about how much her daughter's physical appearance has changed? I get that Diana probably wouldn't understand it, seeing as how she's still getting used to our culture and all, but I really think she should've at least noticed the signs of how much Vanessa's appearance has changed. Just something to consider is all.

5 minutes later

So one of the villains of this movie is Dr. Poison...interesting. Last time I saw her was back in the live action movie from 2017. That's sorta cool. I'm curious to see how this movie will actually handle her here.

10 minutes later

All right, I have another question here. So, as I've mentioned once or twice beforehand, I'm not exactly the biggest expert when it comes to Wonder Woman, but how exactly did she get her invisible plane? I'm asking this mainly because they're introducing it here in this movie, and she's not flying it I should mention, so I'm curious as to how she originally got it? I always believed it was some kind of secret technology made by the Amazon's. Granted, I know the Amazon's aren't exactly known for being the most technological group out there, but it's just something that I never quite understood about Wonder Woman's invisible plane. Just curious is all.

3 minutes later

So Vanessa's new identity and form in this movie is that she's now known as Silver Swan. And judging by her appearance and fighting style, she's basically the Falcon from Marvel Comics, only with more mechanical attachments to her body. That's...interesting. Not exactly creative, mind you, but at least it's something a little unique that makes her stand out.

16 minutes later

All right, I was sorta hoping that I wouldn't have to comment on this, but I feel like now is the time to bring this up. Why are there are so many shots of Wonder Woman's ass? I bring this up mainly because there have been a lot of shots where they show off her ass while in her costume. I don't know if this was an intentional thing or not, but it's just something that could be considered distracting. And it is a little bit, if I'm being honest here.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. So, where to start here? Well, I am willing to say that, despite a few minor things here and there, I actually did really enjoy this movie. Now mind you, I wouldn't say that it ranks up there with other DC animated films such as "Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox" or "Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay", however, that does not take away on how well this movie stands on it's own merits. It is a pretty good film.

Now with that said, let's actually get into it here by first talking about the writing. I want to start off with something that stuck out at me at the most. See, as I've already mentioned beforehand, I'm not really the biggest expert when it comes to Wonder Woman's mythos. I never really found her backstory very interesting when compared to a few other superheroes from DC Comics. So I don't really attune myself with her stories all that much. That being said, there is one thing I wanted to bring up in regards to her home of Themyscira. Now I'm not gonna try to spoil too much here, so I'll try my best to keep it to a minimum.

So after Wonder Woman's first fight with Vanessa as Silver Swan, she's taken to some place called Cale Pharmaceuticals, which was the company that Vanessa's mother formerly worked at. And as she's being taken into medical care, it's been revealed that the armor she has implanted in her is something of a virus that's slowly killing her from the inside. Diana believes that the only thing that can help Vanessa is something called a "purple healing ray", which is something that helped healed Steve Trevor's injuries from way early on in the movie. The only thing is, she doesn't know where Themyscira is anymore. So throughout a decent portion of the film, they're trying to figure out a way on how to get to Themyscira, which is where the healing purple ray comes from.

And it's here where I have to ask something about how Themyscira works. Now it's been stated in this film that once Diana leaves Themyscira, she's not gonna have any memory on where it's located. And I have to ask: Is that really something that happens in the comics? Where if you leave Themyscira, you're not gonna have any memory on where it is anymore? My original thought process was that it had been about 5 years after Diana left her home in order to pursue her own path with Steve Trevor, but I don't really ever recall if that was actually an established rule that was applied to Themyscira, or if that was something that's only established for this movie. I don't know, perhaps if I had read the comics, maybe I would've had a better idea on how Diana's home world actually works. I know it's only an all female island and that men are not allowed there, but that's all I know about it. Anything else is just something that I'm left in the dark on. So if anyone reading this can clarify that thing for me, please do. Because that's something that sorta bugged me as I was watching the movie.

That aside, I will say that our story here is pretty good. It sorta reworks Wonder Woman's origin story a little while also telling a slightly more original story. I say "slightly original", because it involves our other main character, Vanessa, who ends up being neglected by her mother when Diana comes over to stay with her and daughter. It then comes later to a point where Vanessa ends up doing some illegal shit involving our villains of the movie, who I will say are not all that interesting. I'll get more to that in a moment. But anyway, Vanessa herself ends up joining their side after an accident happens involving her mother and blames Wonder Woman for it. Now I would normally not like this sort of plot, where a character is having parent issues. And I state this, mainly because I've experienced that kind of shit involving Lara Croft and her father in the Tomb Raider reboot games. However, I will say that, unlike with Lara Croft, where they try to tell the same fucking story involving her having daddy issues again and again, this one is just regulated to just this one movie. So, at least there is that.

Our characters here are mostly really likable. Wonder Woman herself is pretty much what you would come to expect, as she is noble and caring, especially to Vanessa, even after the latter turns evil. Steve Trevor, while not as awesome as he was in the 2009 animated film, is still likable in this own way. Though admittedly, his comic relief in this movie isn't really all that funny. Especially when, again, you compare it to the 2009 film where he was just a charming, womanizing smartass. That said, the relationship he has with Diana is very good here. So, it's a little bit of a trade off that I'm willing to accept here. The villains, though, are really, *really* fucking bland and forgettable. Our main antagonist, Dr. Cyber, is not seen throughout most of the entire movie, aside from hearing her voice from a computer monitor. Dr. Poison is equally just as forgettable, since she really doesn't do much of anything here, outside of giving Vanessa her armor implants. Aside from that, the villains in this movie are incredibly forgetful. In fact, they're probably the most forgettable set of villains I've seen in *any* of the DC animated films I've seen up til this point. Which is a feat that I didn't think was actually possible, but here we are. This movie found a way to make their villains forgettable as shit.

So, overall, guys, the writing here is pretty good. Aside from a few things that aren't exactly great, such as the bland villains, I can certainly say that the writing here is mostly pretty good as a whole. As for the acting, most of it is also pretty good...minus Vanessa's voice actress. For the most part, she sounds rather stilted when delivering lines properly. I don't know if it was because of the script she was given or if she herself really kinda sucks at acting, but she was easily the weakest actress in this entire movie. The rest of the cast did a really decent job, though. So I can actually say that most of the acting is really competent here.

Animation in this movie is pretty good, though I will admit that there a couple of things I noticed about this movie's animation. The first thing is that some of the mouth movements feel a little stilted. And it mostly happens whenever characters aren't moving. Some of that felt a little wonky and awkward. Though really, that is just a minor problem if you were actually looking for it. The other thing, and I brought it up earlier, is when you get to see a lot of shots of Wonder Woman's ass whenever she's in her New 52 outfit. There are a *lot* of these and, like I said earlier, they can be rather distracting, especially when she's in battle. Again, I don't know if that was intentional on the animator's part and they just got really bored one day and decided to add those in for their own amusement or not, but overall, these shots are really distracting. That said, whenever she's wearing her more traditional outfit that she wears in the third act of the movie, you don't notice it very much, if at all. So I guess that's more of a positive if you're someone who's not into these sort of fanservice-y shots of Wonder Woman's behind.

Those two issues aside, the color palettes here really good, as they mostly do in a lot of the other direct-to-video DC animated movies. So that's always a plus. Sound-mixing here is fine, and the score here is also very serviceable. It's not memorable in any way, but at least it gets the job done.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines"? For the most part, yes. Especially if you're a big fan of Wonder Woman. If you're interested in checking this movie out, I would recommend that you get the combo pack that also features the 2009 animated movie. Or if you can find it solo on DVD or Blu-ray, go ahead and pick up a copy, as long it's cheap anyway. As for myself, well, I did say earlier that I traded in my older copy of the 2009 movie in favor of the combo pack which has both that movie along with "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines". And I don't regret it, personally. I really enjoyed this movie enough to want to hold onto. And since I do have the other movie on this combo pack, I'm gonna go and watch it right now because I'm kinda in the mood to watch it again after reviewing it for this series. So I'm gonna go and watch that next as soon as I get done typing this review up.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Ghost In The Shell

 

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm checking out a sci-fi animated film from 1995. That movie is "Ghost In The Shell".

Now I mentioned this a long time ago, back when I reviewed "Assault Girls", I'm not the biggest fan of the "Ghost In The Shell" series. I tried watching one of the animated series back on Adult Swim. I even watched the 2017 live-action movie that some people bitched about for overly trivial reasons such as the main character being played by a Caucasian person. Even though the Major is an android and she can be whatever gender or race she wants to be. But even with that aside, the movie, for me personally, was just not that interesting. And so I continue to remain indifferent to the series.

Which then brings me to this movie, and it might also raise a question someone might ask. If I'm not a fan of the series, why am I even watching something that I'm indifferent to? Well, the answer is both long and short. The short answer is that I've never seen this movie. The long answer is that I've heard really good things about this movie. And it's also one of those films that revolutionized anime as being a cult following. Some people even rank it amongst other anime films such as "Akira", "Vampire Hunter D", "Metropolis", and "Perfect Blue" as being one of the pioneers of anime becoming popular over in the U.S.

And with it also being based on a manga, I can totally count it for this series, what with it being centered around comic book movies and all. So now, I get to find out if I'm gonna really like this movie and see if it actually earned the cult status that it did back when it first came out. And the only way I'm gonna find that out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Ghost In The Shell".

12 minutes later

So, let me see if I understand this. So they don't have any real information on the Puppet Master's age, sex, or background. Yet, she thinks they're from America because it's their first time in this country. How does the Major know that the person is American? OK yeah, it's their first time in Japan, but that could also apply to *anyone* around the world that isn't from Japan. So again, how does Major Kusanagi even know that the hacker is American? I'm not trying to poke holes in this story, guys, I just think we're kinda jumping to conclusions here without having any real information to work with.

20 minutes later

Sorry, guys, if I'm not saying a whole lot right now. This movie hasn't really given me much to work with. I will say, though, that I am rather intrigued on where this is going. So at least there is that.

20 minutes later

Once more, guys, I'm really sorry that I'm not saying very much. I know I should be talking more about it, but I'm kinda focusing more on the movie itself at the moment. So far, I am willing to say that the movie has been really fascinating, as has been the animation, which I'll talk about later when I get to reviewing it. I'm hoping I'll get more to say more about the story and such, but I'll just continue to wait and see for now.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Ghost In The Shell". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Good lord, where do I even begin here...? I'm gonna say right now, guys, that this movie will be a rather tough one to review. Because while I admit that I did enjoy watching this movie, it also encapsulates why I'm not a fan of the series to begin with.

Let's start off with the writing. And that in itself is gonna be a challenge because I don't exactly know where to begin with here. I guess I should probably start by saying that the story here feels a little rushed. And part of that has to do with the film's runtime. This movie clocks in at about less than 80 minutes long and I feel that it kinda rushes itself in order to get to it's conclusion. I feel that it probably would've flowed better if it had been a little longer. Perhaps maybe another 15 or 20 minutes would've really helped it out. It also doesn't help that the pacing is rather uneven at times. Because there are scenes in this movie where it'll focus on the locations of the movie for minutes at a time, and, while it does look visually impressive, it also doesn't really add much to the story other than to fill time.

In terms of it's story, it's about our main character, Major Kusanagi, and her band of partners, trying to track down a criminal hacker known as the Puppet Master, who basically can control the minds of his victims as they live out some kind of fantasy existence that's completely computer-generated. And I'm gonna say that this movie does present some interesting ideas, such as this where near the beginning of the movie, where Kusanagi and her team are tracking down a couple of guys in a garbage truck, and one of the drivers is telling this other guy about his girlfriend that he lives with. Only to discover, after he gets placed under arrest and is interrogation, he finds out that the life he was living for the last, I think, decade or so was nothing but a lie. The picture he had of the girlfriend turned out that she didn't exist. Which, the whole segment in itself is honestly really haunting because it presents the idea that your mind can just simply be altered like that and your memories can almost never fully recover. It really is one of the more interesting aspects that the movie presents itself with.

Unfortunately, those interesting aspects are very few here. The movie tries to be a sci-fi political thriller, which is fine, because that's what the series is mostly kinda known for. However, it also has to be interesting enough to where you can follow it and be engaged with what's going on. A good example of that would be something that I mentioned earlier, "Perfect Blue". The reason why that movie works as a thriller is because they actually keep you engaged with it's story and is also pretty easy to follow for the most part. This movie, however, tries to be more than what it wants to be. And I'm not gonna sit here and say that it does a really poor job or anything, but given that this film had a somewhat short runtime to begin with, there's only so much you can present your ideas with in such a short runtime. And even barring the runtime aside, most of everything else in this movie, apart from what I talked about earlier, doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, especially if you try to grasp all of it at once.

Now an argument could be made that you'd have to watch it more than once to fully understand it's story and it's themes. And that's not entirely a bad argument there, because I've had some experiences with a couple of movies that did that kind of thing for me. A couple of movies I can think of are, again, "Perfect Blue" and John Carpenter's "They Live". The latter was mainly more of a pacing issue than it's story, however, I didn't find that an issue on my second viewing of it afterwards. But again, the reason why those movies worked is because they were both really easy to follow. And with "Perfect Blue", I was able to understand most of it on my first viewing, and it really does get better on repeat viewings. As with "Ghost In The Shell", I can't do that here. Not just with this movie, but that goes for the animated series that I watched, along with the 2017 live-action movie. I can't immerse myself with this series because it doesn't really have much of anything for me to engage with. I've tried time and again with it, but nothing sticks with me about that series. Which is why I'm probably never going to be watching this movie again simply because I don't have that much of an interest in the "Ghost In The Shell" series.

So, as you can probably surmise, the writing here is a little bit underwhelming. Again, I want to stress that the movie itself isn't bad, it's just that it tries to do a lot within a short runtime, and what you're given doesn't entirely make sense. Maybe on another viewing it'll probably make a little more sense, but as with this series, I just can't engage myself in another viewing of it. So yeah, writing here isn't entirely my thing. As for the acting, well, I did watch the English dub for this film and I can say that it's fine for what it is. The only one that I have mixed feelings on is the actress voicing the Major here. She sounds rather, pardon the pun here,..kinda robotic. Now it kinda makes sense, seeing as how the Major is a cyborg and all, but part of me wonders if that was the intention given her direction for this dub, or if she's acting like she's just reading whatever's on her script. I'm not totally sure which one is more accurate, but honestly, I've heard far worse when it comes to dubs, so it's just something that you have to take for what it's worth.

Animation here is, without question, the best thing about this movie. Everything here flows beautifully, and the locations that you get to see in this futuristic world of Japan looks amazing. Color palettes here are also used very well, too. Both in character design and, again, the locations of Japan. There are also small cases of CG as well, however, they are very brief. And for 1995 standards, it's not too bad. It's not amazing, however, you would also have to be completely foolish to compare CG from the mid 90's to today. But yeah, animation as a whole is really good.

Sound-mix here is mixed fine. Music here is also another thing that I can say is a very big positive for this movie. Every piece of music here is atmospheric and really well done. And while I've complained about the pacing in this movie, I can say that the music will keep you interested. So it's a little bit of a double edged sword there, but still. The score here is great.

Overall, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Ghost In The Shell"? Well, if you're a fan of the series, then you've probably already seen this movie, and probably own it on DVD or Blu-ray. If you're not a fan of the series, however, I'm not totally sure if this movie would be a good starting point for you. I say this as someone who is also not a fan of the series. If you are really curious, though, I would say it could be worth watching at least once. As long as you're able to overlook the somewhat glacial pacing this movie has, then you might find a lot of enjoyment out of it. But as for myself, personally speaking, I can't say that this is something that I'm ever going to watch again. I've given this series multiple tries to win me over as a fan and all of them have kinda struck out. So I'm more than likely not gonna bother with the "Ghost In The Shell" series again anytime soon. It just hasn't really worked out for me. So with that in mind, I'm gonna go and watch "Perfect Blue" again. Because that, to me, is the best thriller I have ever seen and I kinda want it right now after mentioning it a little while back.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Injustice

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm guys, I'm gonna be covering an animated film from 2021. That movie is "Injustice".

Now, I did play the video game that this movie is adapting from, which was actually called "Injustice: Gods Among Us". I didn't play it when it first came out, I actually played it quite a few years after it came out. Which is kind of a mistake on my part because when I attempted to find players I could play against online on my Wii U, I got no response from anyone online. And I know someone's probably gonna say that no one plays the Wii U anymore because the Switch is their holy messiah of Nintendo. But again, I also have to stress that I played it years after the game was originally released. And I am also aware that they released a sequel afterwards, which more people probably played and everyone stopped playing the first game shortly afterwards.

But yeah, regardless of my inexperience with trying to play the game online, I did kinda enjoy it and the story was really good, too. And then I learned that Warner Bros released an animated adaptation of the popular video game. Which leads me all the more curious as to how they handle it here. Now the only things I remember about the story of "Injustice: Gods Among Us" was that Joker killed Lois Lane, and Superman when all apeshit and destroyed the world and everyone in it. I'm not too familiar with the rest of the story beyond that since, again, it's been quite a while since I last experienced the story when I last played the game.

So now, I get to see how they handle the story here through animation and see if it's any good. I'm not totally sure if it is or not, but that's what I'm here to find our. And the only I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Injustice".

2 minutes later

Wait, so Clark believes that Lois is pregnant since he heard a heartbeat coming from her. Um...how does he know that? He never used his X-Ray vision to check and see if there was an embryo inside Lois's stomach. So how the hell does he know that Lois is pregnant? I'm not saying that he's wrong here, I'd just like to see some actual proof is all.

8 minutes later

O...K...so, you guys remembered when I kept mentioning that it had been quite a while since I last played the story of "Injustice: Gods Among Us"? Well, I was totally wrong about Superman being the one who killed everyone after Lois was killed. That was *all* Joker. Holy shit...

6 minutes later

OK, I have a question here and I know it's very trivial in the long run, but I gotta ask. When did Superman develop a five o' clock shadow? I'm assuming some time has passed already since the events of that horrific tragedy, even though we're not told how exactly much time has passed. I'm gonna assume it's been, like, a couple of weeks or so, so I guess it might've been enough time for him to grow a slight beard. I don't even remember if he even had that in the game or not, but still, seeing him get a five o' clock shadow looks a little off to me, you know what I mean?

4 minutes later

All right, guys, two things. One, I got it wrong in thinking that Superman had a five o' clock shadow. That was just odd shading on his face. And two, this little speech that he's making here is reminding me of that speech he made in "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace". You know, the one where he tried to get leaders all over the world to give up nuclear weapons for the sake of peace? This is reminding me of that, only this time, a child didn't ask him to do it for stupid reasons. Just thought I'd mention that.

17 minutes later

OK, now that's *two* kills for Superman, as he just killed Solomon Grundy. And you know what the strange thing is? I can't exactly blame Superman for that one, I blame that more on Harley Quinn because she's the one who caused all the cells at Arkham Asylum to open in the first place. Granted, it was sorta good intentions on her part, but still, she's also responsible for letting one of them die at the hands of Superman. So...good on you, Harley, for being fucking stupid as hell.

2 minutes later

Wait, so in this movie, Selina Kyle knows who Dick Grayson is and knows about Bruce Wayne being Batman. The latter I can believe, because I know in the comics, Bruce revealed his identity to her and the two of them ended up falling in love shortly after that, but I find it a little odd that she knows about who Robin is and also about Dick Grayson. But that's just me, personally.

8 minutes later

Hold up! Wait a fucking second here! So Superman just admitted that he's not a god, even though he, Wonder Woman, and a few others of the Justice League have been going around the world stopping missiles from killing people, blowing up other countries, and forcing world leaders to sign peace treaties. Oh sure, dude, you are *totally* not abusing your authority over other people in their countries and how they run. No dude, you are *truly* using your powers for good and that you're not gonna incite any people to fear you or raise up their pitchforks whatsoever! You are *truly* the hero that everybody looks up to! ...I'm sorry, guys, but there's a limit to how much Superman can overstep his bounds on how stupid he's being and acting right now. That was just a really stupid thing he just said there.

2 minutes later

So hold on a fucking second here! So, the Atom is inside Superman's mind right now with a shard of kryptonite that's making Superman stop in his tracks. Are you telling me that they could've done this at *anytime* during the entirety of the movie, yet, they let Superman dictate on how he should be running the world and also let one of their best friends and ally die in the process. I'm sorry, but this is fucking stupid beyond levels! I'm actually kinda pissed because this is something that they should've fucking thought about *long* time ago and would've prevented a lot more damage than what was already caused by Superman. Fuck this movie, man...

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Injustice". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. God, where do I even start with this thing...? I'm a little torn, guys. Because, even though this movie was way more stupid than I thought it could be, I will say the final fight between the two Supermans, which was also a thing in the ending of the game, was actually really good. And what came after was also really touching, too. Granted, it's also something resembling a plothole, which I'll talk about in a moment. But despite that, even though I'm gonna be ranting against this movie for all of it's flaws, I will say that there is still some good stuff here. So I'm not gonna say that it completely sucks or anything, it's just way too fucking flawed for it's own good.

So with that, let's talk about the biggest flaw this movie suffers from the most, which is it's writing. The writing in this movie is just filled to the brim with so many plotholes and dumb moments that I could be here for hours discussing what went wrong with every scene in this movie. Now before I go any further on it, I am going to say that I'm not gonna be doing any comparisons with how the game's story played out. Because, one, as I've mentioned a couple of times already, it's been a long time since I last played out the game's story, so I'm not gonna be comparing what the game did better over this movie and vice versa. And secondly, this movie goes in a more different direction with it's story anyways, because this movie has certain elements that were not present in the game, which is what I expect from an adaptation. Adaptations of whatever you're adapting from should stand or fall on it's own. And this movie, unfortunately, really kinda stumbles in this area.

To begin with, let's start with the biggest plothole that sticks out at me. And it's the fact that the Atom can go into the mind of Superman with a small shard of kryptonite and basically mess with the Man of Steel. That part, I can kinda buy, because the Atom is capable of shrinking himself to really small levels. However, what I can't buy is the fact that nobody thought of this until they got to the Fortress of Solitude to enact this plan of theirs. Well...to be fair, their real plan was to get some kind of cannon from the Fortress of Solitude that would be able to stop Superman in his tracks. But still, the idea that they could get the Atom to shrink to small size while he holds a small shard of kryptonite to mess with Superman's mind is something that they should've done a *long* time ago.

Same thing with goes with the ending. As much as I did really enjoy the ending, it also makes you question why the hell they didn't think of doing this before Superman overreached his authority over the world is something that is incredibly baffling. The only thing I could think of as to why they let this happen is because maybe they didn't think that Superman, at the beginning, *would* be able to take it this far with how he's trying to police the world by stopping all wars from happening. But still, you could also argue that this is something that Batman, the World's Greatest Detective, should've thought about to begin with. I mean, the guy was able to defeat the entirety of the Justice League by himself in "Justice League: Doom" by learning all of the League's weaknesses and outsmarting them. How the fuck did Batman not use his brain here to outsmart Superman like that is something that really makes me question if, in this universe, he's just a half decent detective rather than being the smartest?

But that's just Batman. Let's talk about Superman in this movie. Now, in fairness, I can give his character some leeway here. Obviously, what he's doing is done with good intentions. He wants people to stop killing each other over war so that another tragedy like Metropolis won't happen again. That stuff is all well and good. However, he's obviously not thinking clearly with a lot of his actions. Like when he kills a lot of people at this dance club because most of them were dressed up similarly to the Joker. That is when even Wonder Woman, who's acts really stupid and is by Superman's side for most of this movie, realizes that something is wrong with him and eventually turns on him near the end of the film. So, as much as I can criticize Superman and his actions in this movie, I feel like a lot of that was done intentionally. I mean, I could go more into the stupid shit where he said that he's not a god, yet he's basically overstepping his bounds like forcing world leaders to sign peace treaties to end their wars. However, like I said, I believe this was done intentionally to show his flaws as a character. So I'm gonna give Superman a bit of a pass in this story.

However, I can't do the same with a certain other character: Damien Wayne, AKA Robin. Ever since I watched certain other DC animated films such as "Son of Batman" and "Justice League vs. Teen Titans", I've always had a certain amount of dislike for the character and they kinda ramp it up here where he's being an immature idiot. And the crowning achievement of him being an idiot comes when he accidentally kills Nightwing during the fight at Arkham Asylum. Which, when I originally saw that scene, I thought he just knocked him out cold. I didn't think him throwing his weapon at the side of Nightwing's head like that would actually kill him. But it somehow did, and it builds more of a distrust between him and Batman, even though that issue was already kinda resolved in "Son of Batman". But no, they undo it here by having Damien kill Nightwing and it just makes me dislike both him and Batman for this movie for undoing shit that didn't need to be undone.

So you're probably wondering if there are *any* likable characters in this movie? Well, yes, there are. I can name 3 of them. Catwoman, Mr. Terrific, and Plastic Man. The latter in which he has the most personality of the group. Catwoman is somewhat more level-headed when she goes into the batcave to calm Bruce down and just let his emotions out not as Batman, but as himself. That moment was really good. And then you have Mr. Terrific. Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with him other than he's suppose to be the third smartest guy in the DC universe. One scene in particular that I can remember with him is when Superman asks him to help get rid of guns. And Mr. Terrific counters him by saying that, well, are you gonna stop people from smoking, which causes cancer and kills people faster? Are you gonna stop people from speeding in their cars? He admits that he could help Superman get rid of most guns, but there would still be a way for people, good and bad, to get guns. So he declines to help him. I was gonna question why, later in the film, he had these special cameras with his insignia that is policing people all over the world, but then I realized that Superman probably forced him to make those him, and it was revealed that he was set up in a prison that is underwater. So I can forgive that sort of issue.

Guys, there is so much more that I could mention involving the writing, however, I would be here for an entire day talking about more flaws that this movie has. So I'm just gonna sum up to you guys by saying that the writing here is incredibly flawed. There is so much stupidity and plotholes that you could pile into a crock pot and still wouldn't be able to fill it all the way with. That said, I will say that the acting here is certainly really decent. It's not the best I've heard, in terms of acting from previous DC animated films that I've seen, but it is certainly not horrible either. Everyone turned in a fairly decent showing for what they had to work with here. So I can at least say that the acting here is fairly competent.

Animation here is mostly really good, though there are a couple of moments where the frames look a little bit wonky. One example I can think of at the top of my mind is when Nightwing is facing off against one of the inmates at Arkham Asylum. I don't remember which one, but it doesn't really matter. But yeah, there's a frame during the fight where it looked a little wonky and it sorta looked like an in-between frame rather than a finished one. But it's honestly a minor flaw as long as you're not looking for it like I did. The rest of the animation is really good. Sure, it's not on par with some other films I've seen in the DC animated lineup, though it's honestly just a personal thing, because I really enjoy a lot of these animated films from DC and there's a few that stand out to me that look really good. But it's nothing to take away from the animation here, as it most of it flows really well.

I want to touch upon the art-style, though, for just a moment. Because there's two characters, whose designs in particular struck out at me in a somewhat bizarre way. Both of which are Superman and Wonder Woman. With Superman, you can actually see the bone structure in his abs through his costume and it sticks out like an eyesore. It either means Superman's been hitting the gym or he hasn't been really eating enough to let his body be like that. Which, considering all the shit that he had to go through in this movie, I can kinda buy the fact that he hasn't really eaten much. Snarking aside, it's a rather odd design choice to give him, but I did sorta get use to it eventually as the movie went on.

However, that doesn't compare to Wonder Woman. Her arms look ridiculously muscular in this film! And they stick out way more than Superman's abs because every time that she shows up on camera, her arm structure looks so off-putting that it makes you wonder why the artists for this movie went with this sort of design choice? OK yes, I understand that this is a superhero movie. And it's common practice for a lot of superheroes to look buff and strong. However, with Wonder Woman, in every carnation that I've seen her in, whether it's the comics, the TV show from the late 70's to early 80's, or even the Justice League animated series, I've *never* seen her develop muscles of any kind. But this is the first time I've ever seen her with muscles, and it just doesn't look right on the character at all. She's strong even without muscles! So why give her this off-putting choice really doesn't make much of any sense. At least, to me, it doesn't.

So yeah, setting aside the odd choice of muscle structure for those certain characters, the rest of the characters look really good. And the color palettes are utilized really well, too. So, I can say, for the most part, the animation and it's art-style is mostly good. Sound-mixing here is good, too, as is the score. Neither is anything special, but at least it's competent.

Ultimately, guys, when everything is and done, can I recommend "Injustice"? It's a really tough call. I would maybe say that if you can overlook all of the plotholes that this movie has, you might be able to enjoy it for what it is. That said, I rather recommend you play the game that it's based on rather than this. At least the game is fun, even if the story there is sorta flawed, too. This movie, though, I just can't quite find it in myself to fully recommend as a purchase. I would say that if you can find it as a rental or on some streaming service, maybe sure. But that's the extent to where I can recommend it. I bought a physical copy of this movie, and I'm really disappointed in it. I wanted to like this. I really did. I thought it was going to be just as awesome as many of the other animated films from DC that I have seen. But sadly, that's just not quite the case here. Again, it's not the worst one out there, personally speaking. That honor, to me, goes to "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract". I doubt any DC animated film will reach the awfulness of that movie. But still, this movie isn't really good enough to hold onto for my DVD collection. Speaking of which, I do have plenty of other animated films from DC that I can watch and enjoy. And you know what? I mentioned "Justice League: Doom" earlier, so I'm gonna go and watch that next so that I can be a little bit more happier after having to watch this thing.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | The Rocketeer

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a film from 1991. That movie is "The Rocketeer".

I'm gonna be with you, guys, I know very little about the movie and the comics that came before it. As far as I know, the first time this character appeared was back in the early 80's, and I've heard nothing but good things about the comics. So who knows? If this movie turns out to be any good, I may be tempted to check out the comics at some point.

Now as far as the movie is concerned, I know this movie is considered to be a cult hit amongst fans who had seen this film. Granted, the movie bombed in theaters, but that still didn't stop from fans and critics from loving the movie. So, there is a possibility that I may end up enjoying it as well. I don't know if I'll love it as much as diehard fans have, but it is still possible.

Really, guys, the only way I'm gonna find out if this movie is truly good at all is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Rocketeer".

8 minutes later

OK, I have a question here. So while Clifford's plane was in the air and losing oil at the same time, did nobody else on the ground see the other guy getting shot at by, what I'm going to assume are mobsters? Unless it was at another base, then I find it a little difficult to see how no one could've noticed all that happening. I mean, it's possible that they might've been too far away from anyone else noticing, but still, my point kinda stands.

30 seconds later

All right, never mind, they *do* acknowledge that it happened at their base. That's my fault for kinda jumping the gun there.

10 minutes later

OK, I was gonna ask why the hell Cliff and his buddy were taking a statue earlier on, but now I know why. They wanted to test out the rocket that was put in the seat of the plane. So, I guess that explains. Granted, I don't exactly remember *when* the rocket was put into the seat of the plane, because they never showed it, but I'm going to assume the guy that was outrunning the feds put it in the plane before trying to get away. Though that's just my guess, really.

15 minutes later

You know, guys, as amusing as it is to see Cliff accidentally ruining the set there, I do find it interesting to see how movies were made back in the late 30's. Granted, I don't know how often they used actual sets for castles, but it is still really interesting to see.

11 minutes later

I will say, guys, that the flying scene there after Cliff dons the costume was actually pretty cool. And pretty decently made for a movie made in 1991. That was rather impressive.

6 minutes later

So the feds are firing at the guy that Sinclaire had hired to get the rocket back, and he returns fire at them with only two pistols. And out of all that, the only thing that was hit was the guy's hat. I think it's safe to confirm that nobody in this movie can shoot for shit. Mind you, the guy was inside Cliff's house when they were firing at him from outside, but still, it kinda baffles me that nobody can shoot at each other for shit.

19 minutes later

OK, you know what? This movie knows how to be really funny when it wants to be. I really wasn't expecting that, but shit, I'm actually really digging this movie's humor a bit.

14 minutes later

So you're telling me that the Nazi's ultimate plan is to launch a group of jetpack soldiers, much like the Rocketeer's look, all around the world so that they can ultimately take over it. Granted, that plan sounds really goofy and cool...and yet, I still think it would fail considering, you know, Hitler and his army weren't exactly getting along with each other, especially during the last moments when they were in the bunker. But then again, this was also before WWII even started, so hey, maybe Hitler was actually somewhat of a competent leader then, who knows? Still, at least the plan sounds competent on paper.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Rocketeer". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Well, I guess I can go ahead and state that this movie was actually really good. Now when I say it's really good, I'm not quite saying that the movie is great or anything. It does have a couple of things here and there that are sorta misses, but they're mostly minor stuff, which I'll get to later on.

Why don't we go ahead and start this review off by talking about the writing. Now I should first say that this movie is, what I would deem as a popcorn flick. Where you go into it with your brain shut off and you're bound to really enjoy it. Now that isn't to say that you couldn't put your own thoughts into it, like I always do with these sorts of reviews, but I do think it is a much better experience if you go into this movie with your brain shut off. Not that the movie is filling you in with some over-complicated plot or anything, but it is one of those movies that you can just go into and really enjoy it for how fun it really is. And I normally don't dig into blurbs for most movies, because blurbs are mostly worthless in the end. However, one of them mentions "Thrills and Fun", and I will say that it really does live up to being thrilling and fun. Which is why I think the movie works better if you go into it with your brain shut off.

I want to mention the film's humor next, because the movie is surprisingly really funny at times. The movie has quite a bit of humor in here that will guarantee to almost make you laugh. Now being that this film is from Disney, it is something to kinda expect, seeing as how their movies and TV shows is mainly targeted towards a family friendly audience. However, unlike the numerous films made for TV that they use to shit out on the Disney Channel, the humor in this one feels more natural in a way. A lot of it comes out of nowhere, especially during the scene where Cliff, as the Rocketeer, shoots out of a laundry shoot. That honestly caught me off guard and it made me kinda laugh a bit. Now granted, not all of the humor lands here. However, there is enough here to where you be guaranteed to get at least one laugh here or there.

Our characters here are all very likable and have tons of depths. I'm even including our villain, Neville Sinclair, who's both charming and creepy at the same time. I say that about the latter because of how close he gets to Jenny, who is Cliff's love interest in the movie. Cliff himself, as I said, is both likable as himself and as the Rocketeer. The only thing that seems a little bit off to me about him as the Rocketeer is that he doesn't really have any sort of combat abilities that makes him stand out. The only thing that he's mostly known for is the rocket pack that he uses to fly. But as for combat abilities, he really doesn't do much of that here aside from a little bit of it in the final act of the movie. Now who knows, if I ever get around to reading the comics, I may find out more on how he fights. But until then, this movie is all I've got to work with and it's not really much to go on for me.

Aside from that, our story here is really simple and easy to follow. Now again, seeing as how I haven't read any of the comics, I don't know how accurate this movie is to those comics, but what I can say is that it does capture the feel of how pulp comics were like at the time. From how the characters talk, to the set pieces of the time period. All of it looks and feels awesome. So yeah, writing here is really solid. The acting is also fantastic. Every actor in this movie is giving it their all and I couldn't find a single actor that phoned it in. Probably the best actor would have to be Timothy Dalton as the movie's villain. As I said before, the man knows how to play both charming and creepy at the same time. Everyone else, like I said, is just as good as Timothy Dalton was and that's really awesome to admit.

Special effects in this movie are...kind of a mixed bag. Now when I say that, I'm mostly referring to any of the flying scenes in this movie. I said earlier that they looked really cool when you first see them, but admittedly, some of the scenes have kinda aged poorly. The most noticeable ones are when you get to see them up close, and you can tell that it looks like the character was just chroma-keyed into the shot. I'd say the worst of them comes towards the very end where you get to see an explosion occur and it looks kinda terrible, especially when you have to see a character that's close to the fire effects of the explosion. Like I said, those shots looked really poor. However, those scenes are few and far and between. And they're really not that noticeable in the long run as long as you're not trying to look for it like I am, since I'm kinda prone to notice those details.

But aside from that, the costuming here is really good. The filmmakers went out of their to make sure everyone in this movie looked like they came from the late 30's, and it's really spot on. Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is lit perfectly fine. The sound-mixing here is good, too. The music here is great, since again, this movie is suppose to resemble the late 1930's and they even got some really good 1930's songs to back it up. The score itself isn't really all that great, but the songs themselves are fantastic. So yeah, I can say that most of the technical stuff here is perfectly fine, especially since it's from a major studio such as Disney.

So when all is said and done, guys, am I able to recommend "The Rocketeer". Yes, I certainly can. The movie is a really solid popcorn flick. If you, yourself is interested in checking this movie out, well, it's obviously out on every bit of home media, be it VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. Or if you somehow have Disney+, it should be available on there too. I wouldn't know, personally speaking, since I don't have Disney+ and am not bothering to get it anytime soon. But if it is on there, go ahead and check it out. It really is a good movie. I wouldn't say that I ended up loving it, but I can see why it gained a cult following. I'm happy to finally own a copy of this movie myself, so I'll definitely be adding to my DVD collection. Speaking of which, I'm kinda browsing through that at the moment and I noticed another film that I covered from Disney that I still have. I'm gonna go and watch "TRON" again because I haven't seen that one in a good while. So I'll go do that next once I get done with this review.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Ultimate Avengers 2

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Yes, guys, it's that time, once again, where I take a look at a group of comic book related movies. But this time, I'm doing it a little bit differently here. See, normally, I would spread it out to two months. However, instead, I've decided that I'm gonna be dedicating a whole month to this marathon. And that's also gonna happen for every other marathon from this point forward, because I feel like I'm motivated enough to covering more movies rather than just doing 4 to 5 movies a month. And for this marathon, I have 9 comic book related movies and, like I said, I'm gonna be covering all of them for this month.

And we're gonna kick this marathon off with...another follow up. Yeah, this has been kind of been on going for the last couple of weeks, since both movies I covered during the tail end of last year were both sequels to movies I had already covered. I didn't really plan on that, it just kinda happened, really. But anyway, tonight's movie came out in 2006. That movie is "Ultimate Avengers 2". Though technically, some sites I've read up on call it "Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther". Which I'll talk about that in a second here.

But yeah, for those of you who may not happen to remember, last year, I reviewed the first "Ultimate Avengers" movie in my previous "Tales of the Longbox" marathon. And I wound up kinda liking it. Mind you, the movie wasn't great, and it certainly wasn't worth holding onto, but I still would say that the film is worth watching, if at least once.

Which then brings me into the sequel, and this one is a little...odd. See, as I mentioned in my review for "Ultimate Avengers: The Movie", that movie came out in 2006. Specifically in February of 2006. This movie also came out in that very same year. Now admittedly, I don't know what month exactly it came out in, but it's very strange to release a sequel months after your first movie. I would normally expect a sequel to be released maybe a year or two afterwards, but not a few months after you release the first movie. That, to me, just seems kinda odd.

But anyway, setting that aside, as I already brought up in regards to the movie's title, this movie marks the debut of Black Panther. In fact, if I remember correctly, the first movie's advertisements were also showing previews of it's sequel, and they were showing Black Panther in action. Now I should mention, before anyone might ask me of this, I have seen the first "Black Panther" movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while I thought the movie was decent, it probably would've been a lot better if the film wasn't being heavily politicized by retards. I won't go into details about that, but let's just say it was really fucking stupid and leave it at that.

So anyway, we have the sequel here and, much like the first movie, it's also really short. It has the same runtime as the first movie, so I won't be losing a whole lot of sleep if this thing ends up sucking. I'm hoping that it doesn't. I really want this film to be good, but I won't know for sure unless I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Ultimate Avengers 2".

4 minutes later

OK, guys, I'm not really the biggest expert on Black Panther, or at least this iteration of him anyway, but did he ever, like, turn his face into a *literal* panther whenever it was necessary? And also, his costume looks vastly different compared to what his more traditional costume looks like. Maybe this is before they discovered vibranium, but still, this costume doesn't look really impressive to me.

20 minutes later

All right, I have a question. So, this alien has taken the form of Kleiser, who was the Nazi General from the first movie. And Steve Rogers has a boner hatred for Kleiser and wants to kill him. And mind you, we've already learned from Fury that the alien is capable of shape shifting. Wouldn't it make more sense for Steve to focus on the aliens themselves rather than Kleiser, since he's probably already dead and the alien just needed a body to morph into simply because. I get that Steve hates Kleiser and all, but it still makes more sense to focus on the alien that's shifted into him rather than the man himself. Just my opinion, really.

8 minutes later

So one of Iron Man's weapons was disabled by a throwing spear and also damaged by a large wooden log. Admittedly, I don't know the timeline in which these particular animated movies take place, but if it was after this one, then maybe it *was* a good idea of Tony to ditch that suit in "The Invincible Iron Man" if it's able to be damaged by old age weapons like throwing spears. That's pretty fucking sad.

11 minutes later

I'm gonna tell you, guys, I don't think I would be able to stand watching the same footage like Banner has been doing throughout most of this movie. I would probably be driven insane. Or if not that, then probably bored to death. And yet, somehow, Banner is still at it. Not exactly by choice, mind you, but still.

5 minutes later

OK, I was wrong. Apparently, Vibranium *does* exist. Which makes me question what the hell kind of progress the Wakandans have actually made on this since their discovery? But then again, I'm not exactly what you would call a Wakandan myself so what the hell do I know?

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Ultimate Avengers 2", or "Ultimate Avengers 2: The Rise of Panther" if you want to be technical about it. I'm gonna go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Well, I think I can summarize my thoughts about the film with this: It's pretty good overall. Mind you, when I say it's pretty good, I am in no way saying that the movie is great. Or in my case, it's worth watching a second time. But I can say that the movie is still pretty enjoyable for the most part.

So, let's go ahead and dive right into this one by first talking about the writing. I've noticed a pattern with almost all of the animated movies that are put out by Marvel. Almost all of them range on being sorta average. They're not completely horrible or anything, aside from "The Invincible Iron Man". But none of them have completely wowed me either. And because of that, I don't really feel like keeping any of them for my DVD collection. Now part of the reason being is because I'm more of a DC fan rather than Marvel. I usually am invested in more of DC's animated films rather than Marvel. Their live action movies are somewhat of a different story, but I'm not gonna get into all that. But yeah, I've given Marvel's animated films a few chances here and there, and none of them have really stood out at me as of yet. And this movie is really no exception.

Now that I've gotten that little tangent out of the way, the writing in this movie is decent for the most part. I mentioned earlier about Black Panther being a part of this and, in a small way, it is something of an origin story for T'Challa becoming Black Panther. I say it's a small way, because the most you get out of it ties into the plot of the movie where Kleiser, who was the Nazi General from the opening of the previous movie, ends up somehow alive and has murdered T'Challa's father, who was the reigning king of Wakanda, to which it falls on T'Challa to take his place. Aside from that, his origin story here is kept to a minimum. Now granted, as I stated earlier, I did watch the 2018 "Black Panther" movie, however, I don't really remember exactly how his origin story played out in that one. I know it's different from this movie, but again, I don't really remember much about it. That said, I'm not sure if there was a moment where in that movie his face transformed into a real panther much like this did. I still found that to be really odd and I'm really curious to know if, say, you don the Black Panther costume, do you automatically gain the powers of Black Panther? I'm guessing so, since T'Challa's able to pull it off with no real explanation as to how it all works. But that is honestly just a minor gripe I had with it, aside from his costume also looking kinda shit, but again, I'm gonna let that slide for now.

Since I'm kinda already talking about it, I may as well get into the characters. And this here is where most of the issues come in with the writing. See, for some reason, a lot of the characters in this movie seem to argue with each other on something. With Steve, he really wants to get revenge on Kleiser, who was also responsible for killing some of his friends during the war. And that's mostly his mindset throughout the entire movie. Even though Fury and Black Widow want him to take time off, he refuses and almost gets his team killed at one point when Kleiser disguised himself as Black Panther by getting an alien on one of their ships. Hank Pym and the Wasp argue with each other the most because Hank is apparently overusing his Giant Man powers and Wasp wants him to control it to where it won't put a strain on his body. Thor, who I liked in the previous movie and is sadly not in this one for very long either, is able to see into the future where all of the Avengers are dead thanks to an alien invasion. And he tries to go warn them, his father, whom was the one that showed him the future, warns his son that he shouldn't get involved and leave the humans to their fate. Which is sort of a dick move because what's to stop the aliens from conquering Asgard once humanity has fallen to the aliens? I should mention that the whole reason for this alien invasion is that they want the vibranium that's hidden underneath Wakanda. Granted, I don't know how strong vibranium would be able to stand up to the Gods of Asgard, but it is something to at least consider.

T'Challa is also arguing with the elders of Wakanda, who have a long standing law where they don't seek help from the outside world. Now what's sorta interesting about this is that T'Challa's father also had issues with the elders because he himself wanted to break tradition from certain laws. So, like father, like son. However, one of the elders is a dick because during the alien invasion on Wakanda, T'Challa is speaking to Nick Fury from a monitor about what's going at the moment with the invasion. And after T'Challa tells Fury why the aliens are attacking Wakanda, the elder destroys communication with a spear and scolds T'Challa for trying to break tradition. Really, dude, *that's* your main concern? Not trying to help stop the aliens, it's just more so your "tradition" that's concerning? Yeah, it's really kinda stupid. What's also sorta stupid is that apparently, the aliens found out about Bruce being contained after the incident of the previous movie and is being given a dose of poison to stop him from becoming the Hulk. One of the aliens just forces a scientist to overdose Banner with poison gas and he ends up dying...well, that's what I thought anyway. Somehow, during the chaos, Banner becomes the Hulk, whom we only see of twice in this movie and is never brought up again, even after everything involving the aliens has calmed down. How Banner was able to do all this, despite the fact that he was shown to be dying, is a simple case of fuck you, that is why.

So yeah, the writing here isn't exactly great, but it's far from awful either. Like I said, it's just sorta teetering on being average. The story itself is fine, though it's obviously nowhere near as strongly written as the first movie was. That said, I will say that the acting here is mostly really good. Just about everyone here reprises their roles from the first movie, which unfortunately includes Marc Worden voicing Tony Stark again. On the off chance you didn't read my reviews for "The Invincible Iron Man" and the first "Ultimate Avengers" movie, his acting is horrible as Tony Stark. The man has no real range as he's mostly acting sarcastic in almost all of his lines. If there's any real positive I can say about his performance here is that he doesn't have very many lines to work with. Which is why I didn't mention him when talking about characters. His voice is very bland and, once more, proves my point that the man cannot act as Tony Stark. And I have no idea who, over at the casting department, thought that Marc Worden would be a good choice to keep around for these movies. He's a horrible voice actor, and I hope that I never run into him again voicing Tony Stark for anything else again.

But, aside from him, everyone else turns in a really good showing for their respective characters. Animation is also pretty good, too. Granted, it's not quite as crisp as the previous movie was, but it's mostly the same kind of animation that was in the previous movie. Color palettes here are also utilized really well, too. There's not much else I can say about the animation aside from it looking pretty good.

Sound-mixing here is mixed fine. And the music here, at least in terms of score, works in some tribal chanting and drums that match the setting for any scene taking place in Wakanda. That stuff is pretty good, though admittedly it's not great. But at least it is something sorta new. The rest of the score is completely forgettable, though. So there's much I can add to it other than that.

So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Ultimate Avengers 2"? If you liked the first movie enough and you want to check out it's sequel, go right ahead. The movie is still pretty good for the most part. It's not quite as good as the first movie was, but it's still fine for what it is. The movie's also pretty short, too, like I mentioned earlier. So if you have about 73 minutes to spare, then go ahead pick up a copy somewhere, or if it's posted online via YouTube or on any streaming service. It is worth checking out once. But to watch it multiple times over...I don't know. Personally speaking, I don't see myself watching this, or even the first movie ever again anytime soon. They just don't stand out to me as much as they should. I mean, if I wanted to watch anything with Marvel's name on it, I have, what very few mind you, movie's that come from the MCU that are worth holding onto. For example, I think I'm gonna go watch the first "Iron Man" movie again, because I've seen it multiple times and it still stands out to me to this day. So yeah, that's what I'm gonna go do next after I get done typing this review up.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Escape From L.A.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, we're closing out 2025 with a movie that's also a follow up from a previous episode of mine. The movie came out in 1996. That movie is "Escape From L.A."

Now, for those of you who are new here and are reading this for the first time, I'll fill you in. Several years ago, I reviewed "Escape From New York" and I loved it. It was the second movie from John Carpenter that I hadn't seen before and I'm glad I did. Not only did I love it, I also ranked it as my number one movie from one of my early Top 5 movies list I did for Reaction & Review of that year.

And tonight, I get to check out it's only sequel. Now, I've heard some mixed things about this film. I've heard some people say that the movie's pretty good, though not quite as good as the first one. I've even heard some people flat out admit that the movie is a pile of shit. And I'll admit, I do have some concerns with it myself. For starters, like I said, this movie came out in 1996. It's predecessor, "Escape From New York", came out in 1981. So to wait 15 years to make a sequel seems kind of odd to me.

The other minor thing that I wanted to mention is that, even though John Carpenter is credited as both a writer and director, I noticed that Nick Castle, the man who-co wrote with Carpenter on "Escape From New York" doesn't come back for this one. Now I don't know the reason why exactly, but I will say that they did get two other people on board as co-writers. One of them being Debra Hill, who was one of the producers on "Escape From New York". The other being the film's star Kurt Russell. So it's a trade off I'm willing to accept here.

Now whether or not that translates into a good movie is another issue altogether. But that's what I'm here to find out. I really hope that this movie will be just as entertaining as the first film was. And the only way I'm gonna know for sure is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Escape From L.A.".

5 minutes later

So let me see if I understand this. Los Angeles, after it became an island after all the devastation it suffered from, is now basically a deportation port for people who are unfit or undesirable to live in the new United States. You know, some people have predicted for years that California itself would end up drowning in the ocean, though that obviously still hasn't happened. But if it did, and it ended up like an island like how it's being described here, one could make an argument that certain celebrities would fit perfectly on that island. Not just because Los Angeles is an actual shithole, mind you, but that a certain number of Hollywood celebrities are just horrible people in general that you hope you get to see those people stranded there. Mind you, this is just my own bullshit theory, so you can take it for what it's worth. But it is something that you could potentially ponder on. At least, to me you could.

11 minutes later

So Snake has been infected with some kind of virus that will kill him in less than 10 hours. And unless he can retrieve the black box, he will die due to the virus's infection. That *is* sorta interesting. Though when you think about it, it's a much smaller timetable to work with...oh, and apparently, Snake's been talking to a hologram of the President...OK. Anyway, back to my point, it's a smaller timetable to work with considering in the first movie, he had about a whole day's worth to save the President. But still, at least it's an interesting way to get Snake's cooperation.

7 minutes later

Well, guys, even though it is a little bit early in the film, I can safely say that the CG, at least in this sequence here, is ridiculously shit. OK granted, I understand this movie was made in the mid-90's, but this CG here is shit even by the standards of 1996. I'm hoping maybe as the movie goes on, I'll get to see less of it, but I'm not sure if that's going to be the case or not.

12 minutes later

Well, guys, I am willing to say that Snake Plissken is still a major badass. That was kinda awesome. Granted, it was kinda stupid of them to not shoot at Snake at any given time, but I'm willing to kinda let it slide there.

7 minutes later

OK, that is really creative on how Plissken just had a blow dart inside his mouth and shot at this surgeon generals face. I'm curious as to how long he actually had that in his mouth or how he was actually able to hide it there, but then again, considering what the man's been through in his time of war, I'm going to assume that's natural for him to do something like that.

6 minutes later

OK, that was sorta unexpected. The only other character, aside from Snake, who had something resembling depth is now dead. Well, if this movie ends up going like it did in the first movie, Snake can't have people who are alive around him. That's kinda tragic, really.

11 minutes later

So Snake has to play basketball solo, and he has to get 10 points. Otherwise, he gets shot and killed. You know, guys, I'm no fan of basketball, but if the NBA ever wanted to implement this sort of rule for their sport, it would actually give me a reason to watch basketball. Just something I thought I'd share with you guys.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Escape From L.A.". Let me go ahead and shut the film off now...OK. Well, first thing I gotta answer is the obvious. Is this movie better than the first one? No. Not even by a mile does this thing come even close to how awesome the first movie was. Now I will go ahead and say that, while it doesn't really come close to surpassing the original in any way, I can't deny that I had fun watching with this movie. Now mind you, it isn't entirely good. The film is flawed as shit, but it's still enjoyable in it's own unique way.

So, let's dive right into this one and talk more about the movie. Let's start with the writing. The best way I can summarize this movie's story is that it almost feels like a rehash of "Escape From New York". You have scenes in this movie that are almost identical to how it was done in the first film. A couple of examples I would list is stuff like the opening scene to Snake getting arrested and being cut a deal to him dropping on the island, only it's through a submarine this time and not a jet. I'll talk more about that submarine later when I get to the CG. Another example I can think of is the basketball game where the crowd is chanting for Snake, much similar to how Snake killed that one dude in the first movie in a wrestling ring. There's more I could mention here, but basically, guys, it's examples like those where you can tell that the movie is basically just a rehash of the first film. Now if you haven't seen "Escape From New York" and you saw this movie first, you probably wouldn't notice it. In fact, you would probably view in a different manner.

As such, I want to mention the film's tone a little bit. See, while the movie is more or less just a rehash of "Escape From New York", there's one thing that feels a little different to how the first movie operated. The first movie felt something like a sci-fi action thriller. And it took itself quite seriously. Granted, it does have a couple of goofy moments, but it still knew what it wanted to be in terms of it's tone. This movie, on the other hand, feels a lot more...goofier than before. I'd almost say that it feels like a parody of the first movie to a certain extent. And it's kind of a double-edged sword here. On one hand, it feels rather off putting, especially knowing how much of a tonal shift it goes from being a sci-fi action thriller to it being a stupid plotless action film. On the other hand, though, it *is* somewhat refreshing to see this kind of change unfold as you watch the movie. It kinda reminds me of what happened in between Puppet Master's 3 and 4. Where the third movie was pretty dark in it's tone, and the fourth movie changes that by being somewhat more light-hearted. And that's what this movie is in a nutshell. It's a dumb action film that harkens back to how a lot of action movies from the 90's operated. Which I know might turn some people off, but again, it's something that kinda stuck with me throughout the film.

Characters here are kind of a mixed bag. Personally speaking, barring Snake Plissken, the characters in this movie are nowhere near as interesting as the first movie. The only characters I can mention are the President's daughter, who gets kidnapped and is kind of an annoying bitch. Cuervo Jones is this movie's main antagonist and the best thing I can remember about him is that he looks like a young Fidel Castro cosplayer. Other than that, he has nothing on the Duke from the first movie. That brings me to the only other character I can mention, which is Eddie. Or "Map to the Stars" Eddie. Don't ask me why he calls himself that, it's not really important. But I will say that Eddie is probably the only character who has something resembling a personality. He kinda acts like a car salesman mobster, which makes sense, since he is played by Steve Buscemi, and he's had experience in those roles both before and after this movie. But yeah, he easily is the best side character in the entire movie. Snake Plissken himself is more or less the same character he was in the first movie. Cynical, doesn't give a shit, and just does whatever he needs to do in order to get the mission done. And he can also be a badass too, which is always awesome to see.

So, to paraphrase with you guys, the writing in this movie is pretty weak. Only because it's just blatantly rehashing the first movie's plot, only now they're just making it more goofier and more action packed. But again, it doesn't necessarily make it bad, it's just...different is all. So with that said, let's go straight into the acting. The acting here is actually really good. Kurt Russell is the only one who reprises his role as Snake Plissken and he's great at it. Even during a 15 year gap from when he last played the character, the man has not lost his step at all. Steve Buscemi, as I mentioned before, is very natural in his role and seems like he's having a lot of fun with it. The only one who I have mixed feelings on is Peter Fonda as the surfer bum. I don't know what it is exactly, but something about his performance just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe it's just because I've never seen Peter Fonda in this sort of role before. Mind you now, he's only in two scenes of the entire movie. One at the beginning when Snake is on the island, and the other is a scene that I cannot spoil because it's something you would have to witness for yourself. Trust me, you'll know what that scene is the moment you get to it. But yeah, Fonda's acting in this movie isn't really bad per se, it's just something that's putting me off slightly.

Now let's get to the worst aspect of the film: the CG. Oh dear god, where do I begin here...? Well, to summarize for you guys, the CG in this movie is beyond dogshit. The submarine sequence is basically the beginning of what you would come to expect with the horribly rendered CG. Because almost any scene that has Snake in any type of vehicle looks awful. The only scene where it looks decent for the most part is during the motorcycle chase, and most of that is done practically. Well, except for a shot when he lands the motorcycle on the back of a truck and the compositing of the shot looks horrible. That also includes the bulletproof helicopters, where the CG looks like it came out of fucking "Beast Wars". Guys, as I've mentioned it before, but the CG in this movie would look terrible not just by today's standards, but also by the standards set in 1996. I've seen movies from the mid 90's that had far better looking CG, like the "Mortal Kombat" film which came out a year prior to this one, and was working with a lower budget of $20 million. This film has over twice the budget and the CG looks like utter dogshit. It's really kinda sad, especially when you think on how "Escape From New York" relied on practical effects rather than shitty, outdated CG. But then again, as I mentioned before, "Escape From New York" was released in 1981, where CG hadn't really existed yet. But regardless, the CG is easily the worst thing about this movie.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting here is lit fine. The sound-mixing here is good. The music is also pretty good, too. It was done by John Carpenter, who's also had experience in making music, which some people may not be aware of, but I'm letting you know now just in case you didn't. So yeah, the music here is pretty good.

So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Escape From L.A."? I can, yes. But only if you view it as a mindless popcorn flick. If you're able to turn your brain off for about an hour and 41 minutes of it's runtime, then you'll probably really enjoy it. I don't know how one would feel about it's tonal shift from the first movie to this one, though. If you're not a fan of goofy plotless action films, then you're probably not gonna want to watch this one. If you want a more serious film in this kind of manner, then I would just recommend watching the first movie and ignore this one. However, if you're able to accept some of the goofiness of what this movie tries to do, then, again, you're probably really gonna enjoy this one. Now obviously, I would watch the first movie more often than this one, but it might still be worth rewatching again if I wanted to turn my brain off for whatever reasoning. I don't know if it will be good on multiple viewings, but I could see myself watching it again if I'm in the mood for it. Speaking of which, I kinda just want to watch the first movie again, seeing as how it's been a little bit since I last watched it. So I'm gonna go do that next once I get done typing this one up.

And with that, guys, we conclude the last Reaction & Review for 2025. And I'll be back next year for my annual "Tales of the Longbox" marathon. Until then, guys, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the "Reaction & Review Christmas Special". Yes, guys, it's that time of year again where I, once more, cover another Christmas related movie. And not only is it that, guys, but it's also a follow up to another Christmas movie that I already reviewed. Tonight's movie is a horror movie that came out in 1987. That movie is "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2".

Now for those of you who are reading this for the first time, I should probably fill you in. Back in July of this year, I reviewed the first "Silent Night, Deadly Night" film, and I loved it. I thought it was one of the best Christmas horror movies I had seen in a long time, and I now make it a tradition to try and watch it every year during the Christmas season. And I had said, back then, that I would review Part 2 as my yearly Christmas Special, and thus here we are.

Now, I only know of one scene in this movie, and it's a scene that anyone who had also seen this film would be very familiar with. I'm, of course, talking about the infamous Garbage Day scene. If, on the off chance, that you have never watched that scene...it's best that you look it up yourself. Because my words alone would not be able to do it any justice. I will say that I have seen a clip of this scene many times beforehand and it is really funny, at least out of context anyways. But now I get to see the whole scene in context and find out how it all leads up to that moment.

Beyond that, I also know that this movie follows Billy's little brother, who's now taken the mantle of doing the killing in Santa's outfit. Billy, for those of you who don't remember, was the Santa killer from the first movie. And, like I just said, it's his little brother's turn. So now, I'm gonna find out if this movie will be just as interesting as the first movie was. And the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2".

10 minutes later

You know, guys, I was just thinking about something. So they're showing stock footage of what happened in the first movie, where Billy's parents were being killed while his little baby brother in the car, and he, as a kid, had hid while his mother was being raped and killed as well. I'm curious as to why Billy didn't just distract the guy in the Santa outfit from killing his mother? I get that he was probably scared for his life, which makes a lot of sense, but the smallest part of me is thinking that he *could've* prevented it if he had intervened a little earlier. I don't know, perhaps maybe I'm just thinking way too deep into this, but it is something that did occur to me upon rewatching this scene again.

16 minutes later

I should let you guys know that we're still on this trip down memory lane where we're still seeing stock footage from the first movie. And normally, I would complain about the movie's pacing being complete shit. But somehow, I'm actually kinda willing to let this slide, and I'll let you guys know why when I eventually get to reviewing this movie.

6 minutes later

Guys, I said this before in my review for the first movie, but watching that awesome kill again here is fucking hilarious and amazing at the same time. I love it.

17 minutes later

Well, guys, it took a while, but Ricky finally has his first kill. And you know what? He's just about as psycho as his brother was. And honestly, I'm kinda loving it.

5 minutes later

OK, and now Ricky has killed this douchebag with an umbrella. And it was able to open itself up after impaling the guy, too. That's certainly really cool.

13 minutes later

Holy shit...! OK, guys, I just found the most creative death scene I have seen in a long time. Probably since the previous movie, at the very least. That is amazing beyond words, guys, I'm just gonna say.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2". And man, what a way to end a movie. Let me go ahead and shut this thing off here...OK. So...I may as well this answer this question first, seeing as how it's a sequel and all. Is this movie good? Oh yes, most certainly. Is it as good as the first movie was? Admittedly, no, it isn't. And I'll get to why in a moment, but I am still willing to admit that I really enjoyed this movie. So much so that I will be adding to my list of Christmas movies that I must watch every year around this time.

Why don't we go ahead and start this thing off proper by first discussing the writing. And I have to start off with a problem that could potentially ruin it for a lot of people who might be interested in this movie. You see, for the first 40 minutes or so, the movie is essentially a clip show of what happened in the first movie. And I know a lot of people who hate clip shows because they want to see new stuff happening in something like a movie or a TV show, rather than seeing old clips of the previous episode piled up into a compilation so that it can have an excuse for a plot. One example I can think of is with "Puppet Master: The Legacy". Which, for those who don't know, is the eighth movie in the "Puppet Master" series by Full Moon. All that movie is was basically a poorly put together clip show of the previous movies. And don't get me started on it's plot, beyond the clip show, because it is so fucking terrible that I personally don't count it as canon to the "Puppet Master" series as a whole.

But I'm getting off topic. I should probably get back to reviewing this movie. So, as I was saying, when it comes to clip shows, a lot of people get turned off by this concept. And I totally understand why. Even for someone like myself who understands why clip shows exist, they are mostly pointless at best. And I normally would say that for this movie as well, seeing as how almost the first half of the movie is basically just a clip show. However...I can't exactly do that here. Because, and I briefly mentioned it in my review of the first "Silent Night. Deadly Night" movie, not a lot of people watched the first movie. Mainly because, it was pulled out of theaters real quick for, not only how poorly it was doing, but because a lot of people really hated that film for the time when it came out. So for this movie to go out of it's way to show what exactly happened in a movie that not a lot of people saw then is completely justified. This is one of those rare occasions where I can accept the idea of the first half being a clip show for anyone who might've missed out on the first film.

And the best part about this is that it has a really good framing device. We're being told about the events of the first movie from Ricky, who is Billy's little brother from the first movie, as he tells his story to a therapist from his point of view. I should also point out that Ricky's in a mental ward while he's telling this story to the therapist. I'll get a little more into this when I get to talking about characters, but the one thing I could nitpick here is how exactly would Ricky have known the events in almost very sharp detail of what happened to his brother, prior to him getting killed? I should mention that Ricky was just a little kid back then. So how exactly would he have known all this is a little bit of an oddity. However, I get the impression that Ricky already knew what happened to his brother before he got all psycho, what with Billy's traumatic experience and everything. And I'm guessing that he probably already knew the details from either one of the nuns who worked at the orphanage that Ricky and his brother were staying at, or he might've heard about it from the police sometime after they had shot and killed his brother. Either example works in my book.

So let's talk about the only character who's even worth talking about: Ricky. Now, as I mentioned before, he's at a mental ward for the events that follow after his brother's death. I won't spoil that part for you guys, but I will say that his conversations with the therapist that he's answering questions for is gold. See, throughout these scenes, you're suppose to take Ricky seriously, as he's telling his story to the therapist. But you can't, because the way that Ricky talks is that he's suppose to sound menacing...but it almost comes off as comically cheesy at the same. And as some of you probably know, I love this sort of acting, provided that it's not trying too hard to sound forced. But this is the perfect kind of hamfisted dialogue that's suppose to be taken seriously, but because of the way that Ricky talks during these scenes, it's impossible to do that here because of how funny it comes off as. And it mainly has to do with the actor playing Ricky.

Which, you know what, I'm just gonna go straight into the acting here, since I'm already mentioning Ricky's actor and all. The actor who plays Ricky goes by the name of Eric Freeman. This guy takes his role and just runs with it. The man is just oozing with so much charm that you're not gonna be able to take him seriously, especially when he leaves the mental ward and, well, goes nuts, let's just put it that way. But yeah, his acting in this movie isn't what I would call "good", but it makes him stand out as the most memorable actor of the entire movie. Everyone else here is just kinda terrible. Nobody puts in any amount of decent effort. Some of it sounds really wooden, while others try to ham up their lines. However, in the case of the latter, they're never going to outshine what Eric Freeman for his character. So it's just a case of you just have to accept the acting for what it is. It's just terrible with a side of ham and wood to go with it.

I want to touch upon special effects for a moment. Now for the most part, the effects in this movie range on just standard blood effects and the occasional visual effects too, but there's one thing I want to talk about in regards to makeup effects. Now I am gonna spoil one other thing about this movie. Mother Superior, the nun in the first movie, is also in this one too. And it's been stated by one of the nuns that she had suffered a stoke, thus she retired and went to live on her own. Well, from between the first movie and this one, she also, somehow, developed some kind of skin disease on her face. I swear to god, guys, for some reason, the makeup on Mother Superior's face looks as if she was possessed by a lizard. I don't know why that is, and I also don't know how common it was for someone to look like half a lizard after they suffer a stroke back in the day, but it just looks *really* odd on her. I guess they wanted to make it look like she got older, but somehow, she ended up looking uglier than she did. Which, I don't know if that was meant to be intentional or not, but still. It is something that might throw you off the first time you watch it.

But overall, guys, despite that one bit, the special effects in this movie are pretty good. They're not amazing, mind you, but for the small budget that they had to work with, it's still decent for what it is. Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is also good, too. The sound-mixing is mixed fine. Music here is pretty forgettable. While we're not flooded with stereotypical Christmas songs, the music here isn't really anything to write home about at all, aside from the infamous "Garbage Day" scene I mentioned earlier. But other than that, the music in this movie is rather forgetful.

Ultimately, guys, when everything is said and done, am I able to recommend "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2"? If you liked the first movie, or even loved it like I did, then yes, I would totally recommend this film to you guys. If you haven't seen the first movie, then it's possible that you might want to watch that one first before jumping into this one. Though it is debatable that you could skip the first film and just watch the clip show of the second movie, I still would highly recommend it because there's a lot more in it than just what was shown here for this movie. While this one is obviously not as good as the first film was, this film definitely fits into the "so bad, it's good" genre, to where it's funny as hell, and is definitely guaranteed to make you laugh. At least, if you're into these sorts of bad movies like I am, of course. Like I said earlier, I enjoyed this movie a lot to where I'm gonna add it to my list of Christmas movies that I plan to watch every year around this time. And speaking of which, I really want to go back and watch the first "Silent Night, Deadly Night" movie again, seeing as how this movie wanted to sum up what happened there. I'm gonna go watch it in it's entirety because I love it so much.

So anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of this year's "Reaction & Review Christmas Special". Until next time, guys, take care, and have a very Merry Christmas. Peace.