Reaction & Review | City Heat

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a film from 1984. That movie is "City Heat".

And, unfortunately, I don't really know a whole lot about this movie. What I can tell you is that it stars Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Clint Eastwood, I've always known to be a really good actor. And even in the movies that are not his best, still wind up being watchable. As for Burt Reynolds, I haven't really seen a ton of movies with him in it. The only two that come to mind are "All Dogs Go To Heaven", and his minor role in that remake for "The Longest Yard".

I can also tell you that this movie is, apparently, a buddy-cop movie. Which, I don't think I've seen too many of those. And I can't count the "Dirty Harry" movies because of what happens to Harry's partners in those movies, so this might be my very first one I'm experiencing. I also know that this movie didn't do well in theaters back in 1984 during Christmas, when it was going up against "Beverly Hills Cop". Which, I could totally understand why, because "Beverly Hills Cop" was a much bigger movie. That, and I also haven't heard a lot of positive things about this movie. Now, I haven't bothered to read why exactly, because I want to go into this thing as blind as possible. I haven't seen any trailers or clips from this movie, so this is going to make my experience much more interesting.

I'm certainly hoping that this movie will end up being decent, even with the negative things I've heard about this thing. And the only way I'm gonna find out how good or bad this movie can possibly be, 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 "City Heat".

13 minutes later

Well, guys, I will say that, while the story hasn't really gone anywhere yet, the music is great. I am really digging the music in this movie, guys. It is some awesome stuff.

15 minutes later

So one of these thugs just took 6 shots from Speer's gun, and he's still standing?! How the fuck is he still standing, much less able to walk? You would think, by this point-oh, and that's seven shots now...and he's still standing. Unless he's wearing some extremely tough body armor, which I'm not sure existed in the 1930's, then there's no...oh, and now he's dead after the eighth shot. Jesus, that took way too fucking long for that guy to die. Holy shit.

5 minutes later

You know, I never thought I would see someone playing a saxophone at a funeral. Especially since he seems to be quite a few feet from where the funeral is being taken place. Granted, I'm not someone who should be judging what should happen at someone's funeral, but it just seems a little bit weird to me. Just thought I should mention.

9 minutes later

Well, guys, I just learned a creative way to take evidence from a gun. You just shoot the bullet at a pillow, and you take the bullet with you. That is something I never would've thought of. Good to know.

8 minutes later

You know, guys, last time I checked, this movie advertised our two main stars teaming up together. But guess what? We barely even have that. So far, they have shared at least three or four scenes together, and they just go off on their separate ways. It makes me question the legitimacy of this supposed team-up. I'm certainly hoping that that they will get together and do something soon. Otherwise, this team-up will seem like a complete waste.

18 minutes later

Well, I will say that is a creative way to douse out the fire. You just take out the fire hydrant, and it will spray water at exactly where the fire is at. Again, I never would've known that, but I guess I do now.

18 minutes later

You know, out of all the things I was expecting to see in this movie, two people role-playing as Little Red Hiding Hood and the Wolf in the bedroom was not one of those things. That was...certainly different.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "City Heat". And we're closing out with a pretty good song here. Let me go ahead and shut the movie off...OK. I can listen to the song later, probably after I'm done putting this review together. Well...what to start with first? I may as well start with the writing.

Writing in this movie is rather weak. Specifically, it has more to do with our two main characters. Because neither one of them seem to have any real depth or background. The closest we get to that is when Murphy puts down a photo frame of the two together when they use to be partners. But aside from that, nothing else comes from it. When one of the female characters, which I believe her name was Addy, asks both of them separately as to why they don't get along with each other, Speer's answer is he doesn't know. And as for Murphy, he just says it's for fun. And I think he meant that he still kinda respects Lt. Speer, even though they don't always see eye to eye. As I said, it would've been nice had we gotten some kind of character depth between the two, but here's the problem. These two don't team together until an hour and ten minutes into the movie, that's only about 97 minutes long. And I'm not counting the few scenes they share together when they are discussing the case at hand, because, as I mentioned before, they go on their separate ways after they're done. They don't share any real depth, outside of them bickering at each other or exchanging sarcastic remarks. Now for some people, that's going to be perfectly fine. But it just comes off as a little bit weak, because you could totally do something more with these two, rather than have them bicker at each other most of the time.

I want to start by talking about Murphy, which is Burt Reynolds' character. And I want to start this by talking about the plot. So, Burt Reynolds' partner, Swift, is secretly working for a mobster named Pitt. And he brings a suitcase that has the records of another mobster's gang to them. This ends up with his girlfriend, I think, getting taken hostage. And this would later turn into a scuffle, where he ends up getting killed by them while his girlfriend makes a run for it. And it later ends up with Murphy wanting to get revenge on them by taking out their gang leader. Before I go any further onto Murphy's character, every other character, aside from Murphy and Speer, ends up being rather shallow. You are either a mobster, one of their leaders, or you're either one of the two female love interests for our main stars. So I will say that the character development is rather weak in that area. Now aside from them, I want to stick with Murphy for a moment. Murphy is, honestly, the most interesting character between him and Speer. He plays up more as the wimpy cop who can barely do anything right on his own. And I really think that this movie would've worked better if it was just a solo film featuring Burt Reynolds, as he's trying to get revenge of his former partner. But because this movie insisted on having him and Clint Eastwood teaming together, I guess, maybe, the movie would've bombed if it didn't have Eastwood in a starring role. Speaking of which, before I get into more of the characters, I did look up the movies budget, and it, apparently, was about $25 million dollars. And the movie made more than $18 million above that. The reason why I bring this up was because, earlier, I mentioned that the movie didn't do well in theaters. Well, I kinda have to retract that statement, because the movie, actually, did pretty well, financially. It's just the negative reception was the only thing I was right about. So, like I said, I think it's possible the movie would probably not have done well, had Eastwood not been involved in the movie.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Eastwood's character, Lt. Speer. Speer is a cop that plays it in the mobsters faces, because he does his police work up close and personal. Well...unless if Murphy is involved, Speer really doesn't do anything and just let's Murphy do his own thing. That is, unless something happens to Speer that is close to him. By that, I mean if you get coffee or tea spilled on him, or if you make a hole on the front of his windshield, then he will go gung-ho and start being a badass while taking out these mobsters no problem. And, I can't believe I would have to make this comparison again, it reminds me a lot of what Dirty Harry would do. Where he would have the same similar police style as Harry Callahan, and would end up being sarcastic. Well, at least depending on the writing in those movies. But anyway, that's what Speer's character in this movie reminds me of. The thing, however, is that Harry actually has development. And setting aside the four sequels, Harry was an interesting character in his lone debut film. Here though, Lt. Speer really doesn't have any kind of character to him, other than being a badass when he needs to and being sarcastic when he has to share a scene with Murphy. As I said earlier, if we had gotten some kind of character depth on Lt. Speer, then I think his character would've meant more to the film, but it really doesn't. And the only reason why he's here is so we can have a buddy-cop film that barely features both of our main characters together. While I'm on the subject of our characters bickering at each other, this movie has quite a bit of humor, because this movie was advertised as a comedy. And I will say that it does kinda work here, however, I do think that the main plot, overall, of Murphy wanting to get revenge for his partner's death is seen rather as sort of an afterthought. And you might not even remember that, as to why Murphy and Lt. Speer need to team up with each other. So, on that end, the writing for our main plot seems like it's sort of there, but you're not really going to care about it, because the movie seems to want to focus on it's team up of Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Again, what little teaming up they actually do in this movie.

So, overall, guys, the writing is kinda weak, as far as our main plot is concerned. What about the acting? Well, even though the writing here is not that great, the acting is really solid. Just about everybody here turns in an amazing showing. Even with the rather weak writing, the acting definitely makes it up here, so I can give most of the entire cast here a ton of props for making their characters work. There is one bit of acting that I felt was noticeable. And it was the scene I mentioned earlier where Speer ends up putting 8 shots into this one mobster, who was somehow still standing after taking so many gun shots. Well, after the 8th shot, it seems as though he ends up trying to fall backwards at first, but it seems like the actor might've forgotten his part, and quickly started lean forward as he falls down the stairs while passing by Lt. Speer. That, to me, was the one bit of acting that I thought felt kinda weak. But it's not that noticeable, unless you're someone like me who notices this kind of thing. Beyond that, though, the acting is great from just about the entire cast.

There really isn't a whole lot here for special effects. There are very few makeup effects on our female cast members, and that looked rather good. Things involving squibs during gunfights are done well. Pyrotechnics are also done really well. So, I can say that the special effects are really good. Costuming, before I forget to mention it, is really good, too. Including the two role players that were dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Personally, I didn't even know that kind of role-playing existed back in the 1930's, but hey, I could be learning the origins of where role-playing came from, so who knows? Anyway, setting aside all my questions for that scene, special effects and costuming are really good.

Camerawork here is great. Our sound-mix is mixed well. Lighting is done really well. Our music is fantastic, both in score and soundtrack. This is the kind of music that would most definitely sound like it came from the 1930's, and it is great. The music ranges from either piano music, to the saxophone, to the singing of Ginny, who was Swift's lover in this movie. She has an amazing singing voice, and her music is definitely a highlight of this movie. As is the song that was starting to play during the ending credits, where it literally is the theme song for this movie, and it is also amazing. So, I can definitely say that the music certainly carries this movie forward.

Ultimately, guys, can I recommend "City Heat"? Um...kind of. If you're a fan of either Clint Eastwood or Burt Reynolds, or both, then I would say check it out. It's certainly not a terrible movie, but it definitely isn't any of their strongest roles. The one thing that this movie suffers from, at least for me, is the rather weak writing for our main characters. And the story itself, as I mentioned before, is seen more as an afterthought. I'm not really sure if I would watch this movie a second time, but who knows? If I do end up watching it again, I might watch it a couple of more times before deciding on whether or not it's worth holding on to. But, like I said, if you're a fan of either Eastwood or Reynolds, then go ahead and give it a watch. You can probably find this movie cheap on DVD and Blu-Ray for about $6. Or if you can find this thing on either Netflix or Hulu, or any other streaming service that you are using, then go ahead and give it a watch. And if you end up loving it, then, by all means, purchase it. You might really enjoy it. As for me, since I got a slight noir vibe from this movie, I'm gonna go and watch my copy of "Out of the Past". Because I love that thing so much, and I kinda want to keep that noir vibe trending for a while.

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 in the near future. Peace.

Reaction & Review | The Villain

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a Western comedy from 1979. That movie is "The Villain".

This movie caught my interest for 2 reasons. The first one is that this movie is a Western. And, as I made mentioned before in the past, I love Westerns. Adding onto the fact that this movie is a comedy. Which sounds awesome. Because my favorite Western comedy of all time is "McLintock!". In fact, it's probably the only Western comedy that I've ever seen until now. I know most people are going to mention "Blazing Saddles", but, sadly, I've never seen "Blazing Saddles". I hope to change that at some point, though. So already, we're off to a great start with these two genres mixed together for this movie.

The second reason why this movie caught my interest is because of the casting. Specifically, one cast member in particular, which I'll get to in a second. But let me go over the 3 main cast members first. We have Kirk Douglas, who I've always known to be a fantastic actor. We have Ann-Margaret, who, admittedly, I'm not that familiar with. I may have seen her in other movies that I've watched in the past, but nothing in particular is coming into mind at the moment. But then we have the 3rd cast member, and this is the one that got me interested in wanting to watch this movie. The other cast member is Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a western. I never thought I would say that in my lifetime, but it's true. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Western comedy.

Now, when you think of Arnold's movies, you get a few different responses. Movies such as "The Terminator", "Conan the Barbarian", "Predator", "Commando", or those really cheesy, really stupid, family films that he put out in the 90's. But when you think of anything else that he's been in, chances are, nobody's ever going to answer this movie. So I'm really curious to see how Arnold is going to fit in this kind of environment.

I'm also hoping that the entire movie is going to be really funny. 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 "The Villain".

10 minutes later

All right, guys, I'd just like to say that I'm already loving Cactus Jack's horse; Whiskey. And the reason why is that Whiskey is kinda dickish, especially considering that his partner is being carried away after attempting, and failing, to rob the bank. So far, guys, this movie off to a pretty good start.

12 minutes later

You guys know what I'm digging so far? The soundtrack. You guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but the songs I've heard so far have been really catchy. I'm really liking the music in this movie, guys.

3 minutes later

So let me see if I understand this. According to Handsome Stranger's backstory, he tried to stop a bunch of horses that were supposedly on the loose. Yet, what he stopped was a bunch of, I guess, firefighters, from trying to stop a fire that was burning down a whore house. Well...I guess Handsome Stranger certainly has his priorities straight, you know what I mean?

16 minutes later

OK, I have a question. It's a rather stupid one, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. So, Cactus Jack failed again to stop Handsome Stranger with his fake pastor trick after not realizing that Stranger's gun was able to carry seven bullets instead of six. So what I wanna know is where did he get the two horses from? Moreover, where the hell was he able to get a piano organ? And how the hell was he able to get that thing onto a carriage without it completely collapsing? I understand what I'm asking is fucking trivial, and stupid, but it's just kinda bugging me a little bit, you know?

17 minutes later

OK, that was kinda bullshit. So Cactus Jack painted some rocks black to make it look like a fake tunnel. Yet, Handsome Stranger's carriage was able to ride through it, even though there was no hint of a tunnel present before Cactus Jack painted over it. I'm sorry, guys, but that, to me, was kinda stupid.

13 minutes later

Well, I think it's safe to say that these are, probably, the most inept Indians I have seen in a Western in a long time. Apparently, after you mount your horses and charge, they apparently don't know what the fuck they are doing. Most of them are falling off their horses or don't know where the fuck they are suppose to go while on their horses. Maybe Cactus Jack should've rethought this plan, but, then again, all of his other plans have failed up to this point, so I guess I shouldn't expect too much.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Villain". Let me shut the movie off...OK. Wow...that ending. Well, without going into spoilers, the movie basically ends with a piece of a music that is a rendition of the "Looney Tunes" theme song. I'm not totally sure if, or how, they got the rights to use that song, but I'll save that for when I talk about the soundtrack.

Right now, I want to start with writing. Now, in case you couldn't tell with my mention of the "Looney Tunes" theme song, this movie is basically just that. It is a straight-up live action cartoon. Specifically, it's what would happen if you take the concept of Wile E. Coyote, and you stretch that to an hour and a half. And it kinda works. Because, as a child, I grew up watching "Looney Tunes", and I do remember watching a lot of Wile E. Coyote shorts. So, you're basically watching nothing but that for an hour half. And for those who enjoyed watching the Wile E. Coyote shorts, then this movie is going to deliver just that. I should mention that this movie does not take itself seriously at all. Which makes sense if you're advertising a movie that is labelled as a comedy, especially if the concept is basically taking the premise of Wile E. Coyote and making it into an hour and a half movie. So, if this movie tried to build dramatic tension for no reason, then this movie would've suffered, and it would've sucked in the process. As for the story itself, beyond the premise of it being a live action Wile E. Coyote cartoon, the story here is OK, though it is a bit shallow. Basically, Cactus Jack is a terrible villain, which is intentional, but I'll get into that when I talk about characters, who ends up being sent by the owner of a bank that Cactus Jack blew up, and he sends Jack out to get the money from Handsome Stranger, who is escorting Charming Jones, because her father paid him to do so. And from there, it ends up going the route of Wile E. Coyote, as Cactus Jack tries to stop Handsome Jack to get the money, and...well, you get the idea, if you've seen any of the Wile E. Coyote shorts.

Now because this thing is a parody of Wile E. Coyote, there is one, possibly, two things that might hold this movie back for you. One of them would be the pacing. I should note that this movie, as I made mention before, is an hour and a half long. Which is fine for comedies, because you really don't want to stretch it beyond that. However, I do feel, at times, the movie sorta drags. One moment, in particular, is whenever we have to deal with the Indians. The Indians, in this movie, really kinda drags this movie down. They really don't play much of a role in this movie until Cactus Jack tries to enlist their help in stopping Handsome Stranger. And, even then, their scenes go on for a little too long, and most of their scenes aren't funny. I can see that they were trying to make them funny, but it doesn't really work for most of their scenes. There was one moment with them that I thought was kinda funny. And that was when Handsome Stranger and Charming Jones cross the Indian County line. When they see that, the Indians try to stop themselves from crossing the line, however, one of them ends up crossing the line, and the Indian Chief, upon seeing that he did cross the County line, tells him to come back to his own turf. I'm going to assume that it was suppose to be a play off of racial humor, but it did make me smile, even if the joke was slightly racist. But still, that was the only time where anything funny involving the Indians worked. Aside from that, though, they kinda dragged the movie down to a screeching halt, and the movie could've benefited with their scenes being a lot shorter. The second thing that might hold this movie back for some people would be the repetition. Because this thing is an hour and a half of live action Wile E. Coyote shorts, that's most of what you're going to see in this movie is where Cactus Jack tries, and fails, to stop Handsome Stranger, and all of his traps end up backfiring. And to some people who are not into this style of humor are probably not going to care for this movie at all. Or, if you've never seen a Wile E. Coyote short in your life, then you're probably not going to understand the fact that this movie is, basically, trying to pay tribute to those Wile E. Coyote shorts. And so, you might end up despising this movie if you're expecting it to, either, be serious at times, or if you see this style of humor not to your liking. And I could totally see that happening. However, since I did watch a majority of those Wile E. Coyote shorts, I was able to get into this movie with, almost, no problem. So it depends if you like your comedies to either being fast paced and straight to the point, or you like it slow and build up to something that you might view as funny.

Beyond the style of humor that this movie was aiming for, let's talk about the characters. Our characters are interesting, yet kinda shallow at the same time. Cactus Jack is, as I made mention before, a terrible villain, who tries everything in his book to be as bad as possible. And I'm not kidding about the book, either. Because he literally carries a handy book about how to be the best bad man in the West. Which I thought was kinda cute and charming. What's weird, though, is that after he tears the book off after all the tricks he tries to use end up failing against Handsome Stranger, his plans, after that, still fail. So I guess whether he had the handy book or not, he was not going to be successful, anyways. So...oh well. I will say that my favorite character in this movie has to go to Cactus Jack's horse; Whiskey. As I made mentioned earlier, Whiskey is just lovably dickish, and if I ever had a horse, I would totally love to have one like Whiskey. But that's just me getting off topic. Point is, Whiskey was the best character in the entire movie for me. Handsome Stranger is oblivious to just about everything around him, despite always trying to do the right thing. One example I brought up earlier was when he was talking about how he tried to stop a carriage of horses that were 'out of control', and once he does, the camera shows that it was group of firefighters that were coming to help put out a fire. I didn't even know that there were firefighters in the Old West, but that's not really an issue. And then, after that, he is approached by this lady, who yells at him that her life's work was going up in smoke. And then Handsome Stranger asks her what did she work as? I guess Handsome Stranger never took into account about what she worked as, thanks to her outfit. Or, before that, he tries to help an old lady, who didn't look old in the slightest, cross the street, even though she didn't want to cross the street. And, a bit of a spoiler here, the next time we see her, she ends up getting injured because she tried to cross back the street where Handsome Stranger tried to 'help' her, and ends up getting ridiculed by her because of his 'selfless' act. Then we have Charming Jones, the woman who Handsome Stranger is helping to escort, who's main goal this entire movie was to get Handsome Stranger to fall for her, and she ends up failing each time, because Handsome Stranger doesn't know how to take a hint. Honestly, of the three main cast members, she comes across as the weakest when it comes to depth. However, I'm willing to give most of it a pass, because the movie is still pretty good, and the humor here does work, with a couple of exceptions aside. Part of that has to do with my bias for Westerns, but in terms of comedy, I really did enjoy what was here, especially with what did work in terms of humor.

Now let's get to the acting. The acting here is mostly decent. There are two actors, however, I need to make mention. One of them is Arnold Schwarzenegger. One thing I was curious about was how Arnold was going to handle this kind of setting, being that this is, probably, the only Western that he's ever been in. And after watching this movie, my expectations for him were pretty much what I thought it was going to be. For those who have never seen any movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, most of the time, his acting ranges from wooden, to kinda shit. And this movie is no exception. Now, granted, it's not something that I'm going to criticize him for because I know that Schwarzenegger is never going to be considered a great actor. Even calling his acting 'good' is rare, in most cases. But anyway, this movie has the same kind of shitty, wooden acting you would expect from Schwarzenegger. And most of that can be seen as laughable, so I can give his performance in this movie a bit of a pass. The other actor I need to make mention in this movie, and it's not even a part of the main cast, is the actor who plays the other villain in this movie; Avery Simpson. Now, when I first saw him on screen, I didn't think much of it. But as time went on, I started to get a look at his creepy buggish eyes, and there was something about it that looked familiar to me. So, I looked up who the actor was, and he goes by the name of Jack Elam. And that's when I recognized him from another movie with those same eyes, and his familiar voice. That movie being "Rio Lobo". For those who've never seen "Rio Lobo", he played another character in that movie named Phillips, who was, sort of, a drunk and played some sort of weird instrument. But anyway, I recognized him from that movie and I sorta smiled because, it's one of those weird, nerdy, moments where I recognize an older actor from a different movie and I just have to make mention of them because that's just how I am sometimes. Anyway, he turns in a really good showing, for the few scenes that he was in the movie. I kinda wish he was in the movie longer, but, oh well, it's not a big deal in the end. But as for the rest of the cast, they all turned fine showings, so I can't really harp on the acting, unless you want me to count Schwarzenegger's kinda shitty acting. However, as I said, I'm not going to do that here. So, setting aside his questionable performance, I can certainly give most of the acting a positive from me.

Costuming here is done really well. Special effects, such as the makeup effects on Charming Jones looks really good, as is her costuming, too. Our props here for stuff like the rolling boulder that Cactus Jack uses a couple of times looks kinda fake, but it's not something you're going to notice, or care about, unless you have a great attention to detail for props for whatever reason. Speaking of which, I need to talk about editing for a second. Because there are a couple of moments where the editing seems to be a bit sketchy. One of those moments happens when Cactus Jack is under Handsome Stranger's carriage, trying to hold on. During all this, Cactus Jack's shoulder straps gets held back as it's continuing to stretch backwards, where it leaves his body, and then the weight starts to become too much and it pulls him backwards, as he goes flying towards his jumpsuit. The camera then shows a wide shot of Cactus Jack flying back towards his jumpsuit, but when he reaches it, you don't get to see him go into his jumpsuit, and the camera will then change shots to where he's back in his jumpsuit. So there is that bit where editing seemed a bit off. The other one has to do with the rolling boulder I mentioned a while ago, where it will show three of the same shots of Cactus Jack getting run downed by the boulder. Now that shot could've been intentional, but it still seemed a little bit weird to me.

Camerawork here, minus the couple of oddities in editing, is really good. Lighting is done rather well. Then again, most of this movie was filmed outdoors, so I would expect the lighting to be really good. Sound-mix is mixed well. The music is great. In particular, I'm mostly talking about the character themes for Cactus Jack, Handsome Stranger, and Charming Jones. All of their theme songs were amazing, and I loved it. Partially because, it's that old school country music that I loved listening to when watching Westerns, so that definitely works. There is also the rendition of the "Looney Tunes" theme song I mentioned earlier. Again, I'm not sure if Columbia Pictures, or the company that put this movie out on DVD, which was Sony, had the rights to use that song, but I will say that the rendition is really good, so I guess I can't complain either way.

So, with all that being said, am I able to recommend "The Villain"? If you are a fan of the Wile E. Coyote shorts, or if you like comedies in general, then yes, I can totally recommend it. If you're a fan of Westerns, then I can also definitely recommend it. However, if you're not fan of any of those things, or if this kind of humor doesn't suit your tastes, then your probably going to want to avoid this movie. Me, personally, I really enjoyed this thing, despite the flaws that this movie does have. And I'm not just saying that because of my bias for Westerns, but more so that I enjoyed watching the Wile E. Coyote shorts as a kid, so it didn't really bother me as much as it should have. Now, I will say that this thing is nowhere near as funny as "McLintock!". However, I consider "McLintock!" in a league of itself, so I'm not going to bother making that comparison. But yeah, guys, if you ever see this thing anywhere, be it on DVD, Blu-ray, or if it's on Netflix, or Hulu, go ahead and give it a watch. It's certainly worth watching, at least, once, if you're ever curious about this movie. As for myself, I'm definitely going to give this thing a happy spot on my DVD shelf, so I can safely say that I'll be watching it more than once. Now...I kinda want to go and watch another comedy. And I do have "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" sitting on my DVD shelf, so I'm gonna go watch that, just so I can keep the theme of "Looney Tunes" going.

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 in the near future. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Audition

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm covering a Japanese horror movie from 1999. That movie is "Audition".

Now, I can tell you, guys, that "Audition" was directed by Takashi Miike. And Takashi Miike has a very long filmography under his name. Films such as "Ichi the Killer", "The Happiness of the Katakuris", "Visitor Q", and a bunch of other films that he's directed. And, out of all of his movies, this one is considered one of his most well known films. 

What I can tell you about "Audition" that I do know, outside of it being directed by Takashi Miike, is the plot, in which it's about a guy who lost his wife, and he ends up finding a new wife, which ends up being the woman that's advertised on the front cover for this movie. Speaking of which, I can also tell you that the movie stars Eihi Shiina. And I've seen her in one other movie that she starred in, which was "Tokyo Gore Police". I should mention that I did enjoy "Tokyo Gore Police", even though the movie was a tad bit long for my tastes. And she was great in that movie. So there's a really good chance that she'll pull off something great here, too.

One other thing that I should mention, which has nothing to do with the movie itself, but more so about it's director; Takashi Miike. He made a cameo appearance in one other movie that I covered for this series. That movie ended up being "The Neighbor No. 13". Now, I did know about it beforehand because, when I still had a copy of "The Neighbor No. 13", it mentioned on the back of the case that there was a special appearance by Takashi Miike. I didn't mention it at the time because I barely knew who he was, so I didn't bother bringing it up. Personally, I wish he could've picked a better movie to make a cameo appearance in, but I guess, sometimes, your first impression isn't always going to be your best.

Setting aside my disdain for that movie, I'm certainly hoping that "Audition" will be amazing, because I've heard nothing but great things about this movie. I'm hoping that all of the praise that this movie has gotten will be able to live up to that praise because Japanese horror movies, at least for me, have not had the best reputation for this series, so far. So I am hoping for "Audition" to be able to break that streak and present something good and entertaining. But the only way I'm gonna know if this movie will be any good, 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 "Audition".

19 minutes later

Well, guys, I can say that, while the movie is moving at a rather slow pace, it is certainly fascinating, so far. I kinda hope the pacing will pick up as this thing continues on, but right now, I'm really getting sucked into the story. And that's always a positive.

8 minutes later

Wow. So one of these women auditioning for this fake role just admitted that she committed suicide twice and was sent to the asylum 3 times. Seems kinda messed up and odd, but hey, I can't really question her life choices, now can I?

10 minutes later

OK, I have a bit of a stupid question. So, is he not going to mention to Asami about this director Shibata being missing for over a year? Seems a little bit odd to me that he would not ask that question to her. I understand that it's a trivial thing to be bringing up, but it does raise a question about her background, you know?

9 minutes later

All right, that was a little bit creepy on the few shots we've seen of Asami with her head down, up until the duffel bag started moving. Wasn't really scary, but still, kinda, creepy.

12 minutes later

OK, those burnt marks on her leg are kinda nasty. Certainly would be pretty awful for anyone to have those sort of burnt marks anywhere on their body.

15 minutes later

You know, guys, out of all the things I was expecting from this movie, a human tongue flailing on the ground was not one of them. That was certainly different. Kinda nasty, but at least it's something new and creative.

12 minutes later

Is he trying to drink her vomit without a tongue? Well...it's certainly different. Kinda disgusting, sorta sick, and I'm kinda thankful I had dinner before watching this. Otherwise, I would've lost my appetite.

4 minutes later

...I was wondering what that wire was that she was holding on the front cover. And I'm gonna tell you, guys, that was fucking awesome. I loved that.

2 minutes later

O...K. Well, I can safely say that I'm thankful for never getting a needle shot in the tongue. That was...incredibly painful.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Audition". Let me shut the movie off...OK. Wow...what do I even talk about first? Well, I guess the best thing to start with is talking about the writing, as I mostly do with these reviews.

Before I started up this movie, I briefly mentioned about my previous experiences with Japanese horror movies, and how they didn't have the best reputation since I started doing this series. Granted, it's only been about 2 movies, but still, neither one of them made me interested in the Japanese horror movie genre. "The Neighbor No. 13" suffered from horrible everything with stupid characters, cheap special effects, a dub that wasn't all that great, and writing that could've been amazing, had the people who worked on that movie actually tried. Which they didn't. "Shock Labyrinth" also suffered from awful special effects, specifically in digital effects that overlapped the few good practical effects that movie had. And it's story could've been written better had it made some level of sense, and didn't have a god awful twist that ruined any chance of me watching that movie a second time. My point is, both movies suffered from a lot of things that would make a good horror movie, and both ended up sucking in the end. This movie, on the other hand, shows you that you can have a simple, yet amazing, story that won't make you ask a ton of questions. Questions involving logic issues with the story, or writing that was shallow and shit. This movie has none of that here. It, basically, is an example of a cautionary tale that anyone you meet is not always who they say they are. And "Audition" tells this story brilliantly. It shows you that you don't need an overly complicated story to make you care about what's going on. Now, I will admit that there a couple of minor issues with the writing, but I'm going to explain why they aren't a big issue in the long run.

The first issue I'm going to discuss is pacing. This movie has a VERY slow pace. This movie, for about 50 minutes to an hour, doesn't really have much happening. We're mostly focusing on Aoyama, who's been trying to find a wife, after his previous wife dies. And he does so through a fake film audition that his co-worker, I believe, comes up with. And so they start meeting the female applicants who are auditioning for the role, even though it's mainly to help find Aoyama a wife out of these auditions. And most of that ends up taking about the first 30 minutes or so of the movie. And then the other half hour is about meeting with Asami, the person who he ends up picking, and trying to propose to her. Well, he dates her a couple of times first, of course, just so he can understand what he's getting into about her past. I won't go too deep into Asami's character for the sake of spoilers, but I will say that out of every character in this movie, Asami is the most interesting. In fact, she is the reason to watch this movie. Which makes sense, of course, otherwise, she would not be on the front cover of this movie. But anyway, as I made mention earlier, this movie takes it time to boil up a slower paced story. And in a lot of cases, I would have an issue with this. Because most of the time, I feel as though certain movies are just dragging their feet and are not trying to develop anything involving characters or story development. Or, barring that, at least giving half a reason as to why I should care about their characters, even with the lack of depth that they may have. But this movie has that slow-paced advantage, because we are building up to the torture scenes. And it works so well. And what makes it even better is that this movie does not rely on jump scares. OK, granted, there are a couple of scenes that may attempt this, but I, personally, am not going to count them as jump scares, because I would barely constitute them as jump scares, anyways. I mentioned Asami earlier, and how she is the most interesting character in the movie. On the subject of characters, the others don't really have a ton of depth. In fact, I can only name two off the bat. One of them is Aoyama, who is the widower that loses his previous wife. He really doesn't have a ton of depth to him, other than he is a father that is worried about growing old, and is not getting any younger. And then there's his son, Shigehiko, who is studying about dinosaurs. He really has no depth beyond that. However, I'm willing to give that a pass because, even though they are kinda weak in depth, at least the movie gives you a reason to care about them. And that's more than enough that I could ask for out of a horror movie.

If I had to nitpick anything, and this is going to involve the second issue I have with writing, is something that I was thinking about when watching this movie. So, at the very beginning of the movie, we get to see the death of Aoyama's wife, who had just passed away at the hospital. Moments later, his son comes in, who was a child at the time, and he had made something for his Mom. I couldn't tell you what it was, but that doesn't really matter. So then the movie jumps ahead to about 7 years, where his son has grown up and Aoyama looks the same, despite the 7 year jump. And then one day, after the two of them come home from fishing, his son asks why his Dad hasn't remarried yet. And right there, I was wondering why his son never asked him about this during the 7 years after his Mom died? Now, I could understand not asking about it during his childhood years, because I don't think a child would be asking questions about marriage at that young age. But you would assume he would ask about remarriage, like, several years before the 7 years had hit, and ask about it then. And I totally understand that it's a very trivial, and stupid, thing to even be thinking about, but it was on my mind for about 5 minutes after he started asking about it. And at that point, I started to forget about it, because I knew it wasn't going to be a big deal, anyways. Beyond that point, the writing is really strong throughout it's 115 minute runtime.

Now let's get to the acting. The acting here is, almost, fantastic. There is one moment where I thought the acting seemed a little bit weak. And that is during the big torture scene towards the end of the movie, and I may have to spoil a little bit of the torture scene in order for me to talk about this part of the acting. So, Aoyama's son comes home and he sees his Dad on the floor, stabbed and his one of his feet cut off. Rather than looking shocked, as what a normal person would react to upon seeing a loved one in this state, he has a deadpan look on his face and sounds incredibly bored when he asks his Dad about what happened to him. And that's rather shocking, too, because the actor playing Aoyama's son was great before we get to the torture scene. I'm not sure if that was a slight misdirection on the acting, or if that's how he was suppose to react to seeing his Dad getting tortured. Either way, it just came across as a bit weak, and that's the only instance of bad acting I found in this movie. As for rest of the cast, holy shit, did they turn in amazing showings. And I'm even going to include the two child actors who were in this movie, for, like, the very short time that they were in the film. They also turned in amazing showings. So I can say that the acting was fantastic from everyone. And, even though, I did complain about one instance of bad acting coming from Aoyama's son, his acting before, and after that, were great. So I'm not going to harp on his one mishap, because his acting was just that good.

Moving onto special effects. And this is where the movie truly shines. This has some of the best practical effects I have seen done in a horror movie in a long time. As far as I could tell, there is no use of any digital effects here. We have quite a bit of blood in this movie. Granted, it's not like "Tokyo Gore Police" in where blood is just splattering all over the place like fireworks. It's only used in areas where blood is needed. And that's when Asami has to use this piano wire that's able to cut into flesh and bone, and it looks great here. We have body parts that were, either, cut off previously, such as that tongue I mentioned earlier. Or when we get to see one of Aoyama's feet being cut off and thrown towards a glass door. That stuff looked amazing, too. Makeup effects are also pretty good, too, such as the burnt marks I mentioned earlier. Guys, for a movie that came out in 1999, it, probably, has some of the best special effects in a movie that came out that year. And it still looks great over 20 years later, which is awesome to see.

Camerawork here is pretty good. The lighting is well lit. Sound-mix is mixed perfectly. There is almost no music in this movie, which is great. Because, similar to when I covered "The Old Dark House" a couple of episodes ago, it benefits from not having a typical horror movie score. And it works, especially, well during the big torture scene at the end, and I loved that attention to detail. It proves, once more, that you don't always need a generic score in order to 'enhance' your horror movie. This movie, including "The Old Dark House", are two great examples that most horror movies should follow before deciding to add in any kind of score for their horror movie.

So, with all that being said, can I recommend "Audition"? Yes. Definitely. However, I have to stress that this is not going to be a film for everyone. If you're someone who doesn't like seeing blood, or body parts being cut off, then there is no way in hell I can recommend this movie. But if you're someone who's into horror movies, especially the psychological kind of horror movies, then you're going to absolutely adore this thing. This movie was amazing. I loved this movie. And I can officially say that my mini curse with Japanese horror movies has been broken thanks to this thing. And it's going to have a very happy spot on my DVD shelf. Now...I do remember Emer Prevost, the man who originated Reaction & Review, putting out a Reaction & Review for this movie. I'm gonna go watch that, and see how close my views end up matching his. Because it's been a few years since I last watched that review.

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 in the near future. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions

Welcome, one and all, to the 50th episode of Reaction & Review. My god, guys, I cannot believe I actually made it to this milestone. I'm probably going to be repeating myself when I say this kind of thing, but I genuinely thought that I was going stop writing these reviews by episode 5 and just packing it in afterwards. But I'm so damn happy to have made this far. And I wanted to find a movie that, not only would be perfect for this sort of milestone, but it's a movie that I've been wanting to watch for the last few years now. Tonight's movie, for episode 50, is an animated film from 2016. That movie is "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions".

Now, for those of you who don't know me, I have been a fan of this franchise almost my entire life. I have seen the original "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series during my childhood, and I loved it. I collected the trading cards when I was trying to build my poorly structured deck, I've played a few of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" video games, and I'm going to include Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links as well. At least, until it became un-fucking-playable because of it's terrible PVP, but I'm not going to dwell on that here. I've also seen most of the other "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series that came after the original. I watched "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX", which I didn't even know existed until I watched an episode of it one night with a friend on Cartoon Network. And it wasn't really my thing, personally. I, then, watched "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's", which I thought was amazing. I absolutely loved that series, and I consider it almost as good as the original series. I watched most of "Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal", which was pretty good, until it stopped airing on TV, and I didn't get a chance to finish the rest of that series. I saw bits and pieces of "Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V" on Nickelodeon, but I haven't seen enough to gauge an opinion on it. And I know there's another "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series that came after "Arc V" which was called " Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS", but I don't even know if that thing has an English dub, so I can't really say anything about it. Plus also, I don't have that much of an interest in watching it, anyways.

And then we get to this movie, which I know is set, sometime, after the ending of the original series. I also know that this movie was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise, which is totally awesome. Now, before I get into this thing, I should mention that I have seen the previous two "Yu-Gi-Oh!" movies. "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie", which I enjoyed as a child, has aged a little bit poorly. And "Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time", while ridiculously short, was still pretty good. I'm hoping for this movie to be better than the previous two films in this series.

Now, as much I would like to say that I'm going into this thing blind, I do know what's going to happen. Because, thanks to playing Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, it kinda spoiled me about what's going to happen story-wise. So, while I do know that much going in, I want to know how we get to all of that. That part, I don't know. I am certainly hoping for this thing to be amazing. But 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 "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions".

14 minutes later

Thank Christ, those bullies are fucking gone. I totally forgot about Scud, in particular, when I played Duel Links. Because trying to unlock him was a pain in the ass. I totally understand that what I'm saying has almost nothing to do with the movie, but I kinda needed to vent there. In fact, I feel totally happy now that they're gone this early in the movie. So, hopefully, they'll stay that way.

13 minutes later

Wait, so nobody noticed Aigami disappear? He was right within crowd range, and nobody saw him? I could understand not being able to see his friend, comrade, whatever, but the fact that Aigami disappeared, while people were walking by, comes across as a bit stupid.

5 minutes later

You know, guys, I just noticed this, but Kaiba seems a lot more relax to the idea of magic being real and how to counter against it like it's nothing. I'm still wondering how the hell he knows about Aigami's other name, but I'm gonna hold off on that, and see if this movie will attempt to explain that.

9 minutes later

Wait a second here. So, Kaiba just tribute summoned 3 of his monsters to summon Obelisk the Tormentor. Setting aside the fact that the Egyptian God cards, as the movie just stated, disappeared after the Pharaoh returned to the spirit world, how was he able tribute summon during a dimension duel? Because earlier, Aigami stated that you can summon whatever monsters you want, regardless of it's star power, so why exactly does Obelisk need the standard 3 monster tribute summon? It's kinda bugging a bit, and the more I think about it, the more it's starting hurting my head.

18 minutes later

You know, guys, I was just thinking about something. So, Joey's trapped in this dimension world where Aigami has banished him to. And he's telling Joey that his memories will fade and that no one will remember him. Do you know what this reminds me of? It reminds of the shadow duel between Yami Marik and Mai Valentine. I understand that most people who haven't seen the original "Yu-Gi-Oh!" show will have no idea what I'm talking about, but this whole thing about Joey losing his memories while stuck in this dimension world is reminding me of that. Just thought I'd share that with you guys.

15 minutes later

So Kaiba's telling Yugi to take part in his tournament, because Yugi holds a piece of the Millennium Puzzle...all the while both of them are standing in the middle of traffic, where all cars have stopped. Did they have to have this conversation in the middle of traffic? It just seems really weird that nobody is yelling at them to get out of the way. I understand that it's trivial, and fucking stupid, to even bring up, but it just seems out of place to me for them to be having this conversation, you know?

5 minutes later

...I was going to say that was quite possibly the darkest death I have ever seen where a fighter pilot dies from a blast from the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but no. It was just a hologram. Still though, at least it was something different.

9 minutes later

Wait a fucking second here. So, Diva's Cubic monsters can just fuse together at will and attack Yugi multiple times directly? I can, maybe, understand if Diva was playing a Quick-Play fusion spell, but he's not. I know this because, when I played Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, they never had the ability to fuse. You had to summon them in a certain way in order to get the necessary Cubic monster you want. This kinda shit is one of the reasons why I stopped playing Duel Links, and it's because of that kind of bullshit where players would spam the same shitty decks, with cards and moves that would, almost, guarantee you a win in one turn. I understand that I'm getting way off topic here, but the more I think about this, the more that it's hurting my brain.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions". Let me shut that off...holy shit. What to even talk about first...? Well...I guess I can start by saying that, out of all 3 of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" movies that exist, this one is quite possibly the best. However, that's not saying a whole lot, considering that the first movie has aged, kinda, poorly. And the other movie has a ridiculously short runtime.

So, with that out of the way, let's start with the writing. Way back when I covered "Transformers: The Movie", I said that there was a possibility that you could go into that movie and be lost on certain things, if you were unfamiliar with Transformers. However, I was willing to overlook most of that, because the story is still really sharp, and the writing helped carried that movie forward. When it comes "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions", I will say that the story is really interesting, by the standards of "Yu-Gi-Oh!". But there is one thing that could potentially ruin this movie for you, and it really has to do with the duels. Now, what I mean by that is, if you are someone who has never seen the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" TV show, or if you've never played the trading card game, then you're probably going to hate this movie. Because the one thing about "Yu-Gi-Oh!" is that it relies heavily on duels for just about everything. And if you're watching this thing, and you don't understand how the game works, then you're probably gonna ask a ton of questions. And, believe me, I was asking a ton of questions myself when watching this thing, even as a fan of "Yu-Gi-Oh!". So, if you try to watch this movie as your first experience with "Yu-Gi-Oh!", you're probably not going to understand any of this, and, as I made mention before, you're probably going to end up hating it because of the game's logic issues. Your best bet, if you want to get into "Yu-Gi-Oh!", is to start with the original show. Granted, the first season is incredibly dated, and rather goofy, but it's still watchable. And the other seasons after that are still really solid. But that's just me talking about the show.

As I said, this movie has a ton of logic issues involving the duels. So, let's start by talking about Dimension dueling. Now, because I have played Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, I do have some experience with it. So, when you are playing in this Dimension duel, you can summon monsters that are above the 4 star rating on the monster cards. With the one lone exception being the Egyptian God monsters. Now yes, I did ask how exactly was Kaiba able to tribute summon Obelisk the Tormentor, even though they were playing in this Dimension duel, and you can summon just about any monster you want, regardless of it's star rating. Well, as that duel ended, I did remember that you can do that in Duel Links, because I was someone who played as Kaiba, and tribute summoned Obelisk the Tormentor during certain events where you can play in Dimension duels. So, I will retract that question I had earlier about it, because it was something that I had forgotten about, up until the ending of the duel between Kaiba and Aigami. Or Diva, if you prefer. But there were two things I do not remember about Dimension dueling. The first thing was that you can summon monsters by infusing your spirit with them, or some shit like that, and you can determine how many attack points they get based on how you summon them. I do not remember that when I was playing the Dimension duels in Duel Links, but that's honestly a minor thing, so I won't go too deep into that. What I can talk about are the Cubic monsters that Diva uses. Now, because I barely used them in Duel Links, I don't have that much knowledge on them. However, what I did remember was that you couldn't just fuse them together, unless you had 3 Cubic monsters of a certain kind, and they would go to the graveyard. They don't just attack your opponents life points and then you could fuse them back together and just attack your opponents life points again on a loop. It's stupidly overpowered, and it still reminds me of when players used the same, shitbag, decks that would use the same certain cards with the exact same moves, and, in most cases, would end a duel in one or two turns. Which was, as I made mentioned before, one of the reasons why I stopped playing Duel Links because PVP became so unplayable, that the duels stopped becoming fun and just made me quit the game entirely. But again, I'm getting way off track by venting about my experiences with Duel Links. My point is, Diva just uses these Cubic monsters by fusing them with each direct attack, and, as I stated, it's stupidly overpowered, and doesn't really make much sense. And Diva uses this same strategy again when he faces Yugi at this tournament that Kaiba's holding and he gets Yugi's life points down from 8000 to around 1000 in one turn. Again, I could maybe understand if Diva was using a Quick-Play spell when doing this stupid, over-powered, attack. But no, he can just do it on a will because fuck you, that's why.

Now, setting aside the duels, specifically on how the Dimension duels work, let's move on to the characters. Now again, for those who have never seen the original show, and if you're going into this movie as your first experience with "Yu-Gi-Oh!", you're probably going to see most of these characters as rather bland. With, one or two exceptions, but I'll get into those in a moment. But seeing as how I have seen the original show, I can say that most of them did have development. Now, because this movie is set about a year or two after the ending of the original series, we have most of the characters from the show back in this movie. Most of the characters are graduating High School, and are going to go their separate ways. We have Yugi Muto, who, after being parted away from Atem, is going to help his Grandfather run his game shop, while trying to come up with his own game so that he, and his friends, could play it together once it's completed. Joey Wheeler is wanting to become a pro duelist and wants to be number one. Honestly, of the original cast, Joey is the one character out of all of them, that has the least development in this movie. We don't get any information about his sister; Serenity, or anything about Mai. I'm not going to spoil anything about them, you're just gonna have to watch the show for yourself. We have Tristan, who never really had a big character arc, outside of him and Joey being bullies to Yugi from the original show, until another bully showed up where Yugi defended them and they became friends afterwards. The only thing that he's going to do is work at his dad's factory after graduation. So I can give Tristan a bit of a pass, even with the lack of a character arc for him. Tea, who is the only female of the group, wanted to become a dancer, as was established in the first season of the show. And she's gonna have her dreams realized after graduation. Also, she was a big advocate of friendship in the original show, which made her kind of annoying, but it still worked. Then we have Bakura, who, not only had a big role in the original series, but has more of a background as to how he obtained the Millennium Ring as a child, thanks to his father. I'm not gonna spoil how his father got his hands on the ring, you're gonna have to watch the movie for yourself. We also have a cameo appearance from Duke Devlin, who only played a small role during the Dungeon Dice saga. Duke doesn't really do much here, either. But again, he's only in here as a cameo for two or three scenes, so I'm not gonna go any further on him. So, in terms of the main cast, most of them have grown up within the year or two after the ending of the original series. 

But now, we move on to Seto Kaiba. Who's big motivation in this movie is that he wants to resurrect the Pharaoh by collecting the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle and putting them back together, so that he can duel him and claim his rightful place as the number one duelist. I want to touch upon Kaiba, himself, for a moment. Because in the original show, Kaiba only cared about himself. Without going into too much spoilers from the show, Kaiba lost to Yugi in the very first episode. And, setting aside his motivation from what he did in the first season, most of his goal was trying to beat Yugi, so that he could become the number one duelist again. Now, aside from him wanting to beat Yugi, he never believed in stuff such as magic, or ancient magic, in this case. And he always viewed it as "hocus pocus nonsense". Well, from the time of the ending of the original series, and into this movie, Kaiba suddenly believes in all of this ancient magic that he, once, tried to reject as a trick. So much so, that he suddenly knows about Aigami, and his powers of the Plana. Which, I still don't know how he knows anything about that, because we never get an explanation as to how he knows any of this stuff. I believe, at one point, Kaiba says that there's nothing that he doesn't know because he's a genius...sure. When someone comes up with a real answer, I'll be waiting for one. And seeing Kaiba just believe all of this stuff involving ancient magic, or how he, somehow, knows all about the Plana and it's magic, it comes across as a bit of a jump from his character from the original show, considering that he never believed anything involving magic. And then we Aigami, or Diva, or whatever, who's one of the few original characters in this movie that has the most development. And, outside of the bullshit involving the Dimension duels, his character is definitely the most interesting. And, without going too deep into spoilers, he is one of the reasons to watch this movie. One last thing I want to touch upon about the duels is that, because a lot it of won't make a ton of sense to new viewers of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", your best bet, as I have stated before is to watch the original series first, before even thinking about going into this movie. Just so you'll have a better idea of how the duels work. However, if you are going to run the risk of watching this movie first over the original series, then what I would do is shut your brain off when the duels are going on. Because that is the only way you're going to get some enjoyment out of those scenes.

Overall, guys, the writing, for the standards of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", is really good. It's not great, but it still works well enough. Now, let's get to the acting. If there is one thing I love about this movie, is that they brought back, almost, the entire cast, who worked over at 4Kids, that provided the voices from the original show. I say almost, because there is one actor who is absent here. For those that never watched the original series, Yugi's Grandfather, Solomon, was voiced by the late Maddie Blaustein. She was mostly known for voicing Meowth from Pokemon. And it does make sense that she doesn't make a return here, because she had, unfortunately, passed away well over a decade ago. Mind you, now, Yugi's Grandfather's only in the movie for about two scenes, and that's it. However, I still felt like it was worth mentioning. As for the rest of the cast, they come back here, and they still turn in a really good showing. And this is me being kinda biased in this area because, I grew up listening to their voice work as a child, and to hear their voices again kinda made me smile. So, I can definitely say, at least for me, the acting was great. I will say, however, that some of their voices sounded a little bit underplayed. Now, it could be because the characters have aged, and they wanted to mellow out some of their performances. But, as I said, it didn't really bother me, so I was able to give most of it a pass. Now, I understand that there are those who cannot stand this cast, either for petty reasons because they worked at 4Kids, or because they don't like to listen to English dubs. And I will say that the movie does provide an option in where you can watch it with the original Japanese language and subtitles. So if you have to watch it that way, you can go right ahead and not worry about watching the English dub. But setting aside my personal experience with the dub cast, I can definitely say the acting was really good, as is the dub.

Animation in this thing really solid. The art style here works perfectly. I kinda like how the characters look a little bit different, because now they have grown up and are ready to graduate. So, I can definitely say the character designs are great, as is the color palettes. This movie utilizes a ton of CG, mainly for stuff such as the Duel Monsters. And, for the most part, the CG is really solid. One thing that I should mention is that the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series never utilized CG up until "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's". And the CG in that show was pretty good, for a series that was incorporating CG in a, mostly, 2D show. The only thing that looked kinda off was the Duel Runners, because the Duel Runners in CG, especially with character models on them, looked a bit questionable. And while most of the CG in this movie is really solid, there is one or two monsters I could say that looked kinda shitty in CG. Such as the very first monster Yugi summons in his duel against Diva, and that monster looked rather bad. And the CG on the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, when you first see it, looks kinda ugly. And it could be seen as a little bit distracting. Beyond those two examples those, the CG is mostly good, so I can definitely say that animation, in both areas, looks great.

Sound-mix is mixed well. The music in this is the kinda thing you would hear from an episode of the original show. However, I will say that it's utilized better here, because I do remember watching the older show, and there were moments where the music would not let up and have many quiet moments. Here though, the music is definitely better. There is one piece of music, however, I need to mention. It's a scene where Yugi and his friends are at the mall and they're having ice cream. And as they're talking, you get to hear an instrumental version of a song called "One Card Short", which is a song that was used in "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie". And I thought that was a nice touch because, while it's not my favorite song from that soundtrack, it was nice to hear it again in this movie.

So, with all this being said, am I able to recommend "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions"? Only if you're a fan of "Yu-Gi-Oh!". I can't recommend it to non fans, and I certainly can't recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched the original show or played the trading card game. This movie, unfortunately, does not have much of a recommendation range from me. Because, as I've stated before, anyone who's going into this movie, and does not have any prior experience with "Yu-Gi-Oh!" are not going to understand any of the duels, or they might see the characters being bland to them. However, if you are a fan of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", and you've not had a chance to see this yet, then I can definitely recommend it. Or, if you're someone who has seen the show before on a casual basis, and if you're looking for a blast from the past, then definitely check it out. This movie is a very good way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise. And I'm definitely going to be holding onto this movie because, while I may have had some issues with it, I'm probably going to notice more things about the duels on my 2nd or 3rd viewing of this movie. I really enjoyed this thing. And while I may not be as big on the franchise nowadays, I'm still, probably, going to come back to this series by re-watching some of the older episodes online.

And, with that, guys, we come to the close of the 50th episode of Reaction & Review. Like I said before, I'm so happy I got to celebrate this milestone. And I certainly can't wait to see what the next 50 episodes have in store for me. But, for now, guys, take care, and I will see you all in the near future. Peace.