Reaction & Review | Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher

 

Welcome, one and all, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we're closing out this edition of "Tales of the Longbox" with another Marvel animated movie. It came out in 2014. That movie is "Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher".

As you can probably already see, if you're viewing this review on Deviantart, I had a problem getting that entire title to fit within DA's current title system. I genuinely thought I wasn't going to have a problem with the title, until I tried to type it all in, and...I had to make more than one adjustment. For starters, I had to remove the hyphens from R-A-R, because I usually put those in for past reviews for movies with longer titles. And since DA doesn't allow ampersands to be used in their titles for...reasons I'm not totally sure why, I would write the word "and" between Black Widow and Punisher. But because the limit space for that title was too long, I was sorta stumped on how to shorten it. So, I didn't have any choice other than to use the "/" symbol to try and separate their names. And it almost didn't work, because trying to space their names from the "/" symbol was STILL too long, so I had to patch it in together. So, this is honestly the best I can do when trying to work in that long ass title into this review.

So, setting that bullshit involving the title aside, I'm gonna tell you what I do know about this movie going in. I know that it's another animated Marvel movie. I also know that it's animated by Japanese animation studio; Madhouse. Which is totally cool, because they also animated another movie I covered at the start of this marathon, that being "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore". And I also know a little bit about the plot to this movie. Basically, from what I can gather, Black Widow and the Punisher are working together to stop a terrorist organization from selling stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. technology. Which, I'm gonna be honest, sounds like a downgrade, when compared to "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore". Because in that movie, Iron Man was up against this kid, who had an organic-techno suit that was able to hack into other machines, such as satellites and computers. And then we have this movie, where the concept of Punisher and Black Widow trying to stop a terrorist organization from selling stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. tech sounds like it came from an episode of G.I.Joe. At least, that's what I got out of it when I read the summary on the back of the DVD case.

Now, even though the plot does sound like a downgrade, this movie could actually turn that basic plot into an amazing movie. I have no idea if this movie's gonna accomplish that, but I'm gonna hope for the best here. So the only thing for me to do at this point, 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 "Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher".

8 minutes later

Well, guys, even though it is a little bit early in this movie, I can already say that I am loving the Punisher in this thing. In fact, he is more of a badass here than what he was in "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore". Which isn't saying much, considering that his time in that movie was really short. I'm hoping that this movie will continue to make Punisher look awesome, because, already, he's quickly becoming the best character in this entire movie.

14 minutes later

So...Cain got away from Punisher by a bright flash from his phone. That's...kinda stupid, really. I was honestly expecting something more from that, but a bright flash? That's probably one of the stupidest things I've seen, especially considering that Punisher kinda set him up to use it. Granted, I can't entirely blame Punisher on this, because it's something that kinda came out of nowhere, but it's still a little bit stupid on his part.

18 minutes later

You know, guys, how I commented earlier that the Punisher was a complete badass? Well...he still is, but now with those red eyes he's gotten, he actually looks a lot more terrifying than before. I didn't that was actually possible, but somehow, this movie was able to pull that off. Wow.

6 minutes later

Wait, wait, wait, wait! So, let me see if I understand this. Fury has just explained that because Elias was dead, they closed the case file on him after he supposedly "died". And then he just explained that the soldiers that were being created in these pods were a part of some blood serums that were stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. And those blood serums were from certain Avengers members, such as Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk. If memory serves, Elias was a scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D., so why the fuck did Fury prematurely close the case on Elias? He KNEW that that there was important shit that was stolen, so why was there any need for him to stop investigating Elias in the first place?! Guys, this shit is the reason why I fucking hate Fury in the first place, is because of his ass backwards way of thinking. Jesus Christ...

20 minutes later

Wait, is that suppose to be Captain Marvel? OK...I don't recall her hairstyle ever looking THAT, but I will say that it looks sorta different.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher". And that...was a pretty satisfying way to end the movie. Let me go ahead and shut if off here...OK. Well, first question I want to get out of the way is this: Is this movie better than "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore"? Honestly...I couldn't pick a better film out of the two. Because both of them have their strengths and weaknesses that balances each other enough to where I couldn't really pick a better film. So, I'm sorry if you weren't expecting a straight answer, but I really couldn't pick which one was better, because both of them kinda range on being rather average.

So, with that out of the way, let's get into the writing. I brought it up earlier, and I may as well just get it out of the way here. So, around the halfway mark of the film, we get established from Nick Fury that Elias, who we've seen as Black Widow's former lover after he was presumed "dead" from S.H.I.E.L.D., had stolen valuable Intel from S.H.I.E.L.D. And the part of that valuable Intel involved blood serums that were taken from certain Avengers such as Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk. And no one at S.H.I.E.L.D. bothered to investigate the stuff Elias might've stolen, because according to Nick Fury, he's dead and, apparently, we're not interested in investigating even further because of that. What sense does that even make?! Who gives a shit if Elias was supposedly dead? That shouldn't stop you from investigating even further! Mind you, Fury already knows this, but apparently he has to go on this persona of "trust nobody" and I'll only give you Intel that's worth noting because fuck you, that's why. And I understand that Nick Fury has done this kind of shit before. One good example I can think of is during the story of the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game. Basically, the entire plot of that first game was that Dr. Doom had recruited a bunch of Marvel villains, so that way they can help him obtain Odin's powers so that Dr. Doom can become a god with them. It's a bit of a long story as to how he obtains these powers, so I'm not gonna tread too deep into why here. You're just gonna have to play the game yourself to know how he gets it. But anyway, my point was that Fury knew full well that Dr. Doom's plan was to get Odin's powers. And the only way you would've known that is if you talked to a certain NPC character known as Weasel, who is secretly gather the information as long as you guide him with the correct answers. Again, it's a bit of a long story, so you'll have to find that out for yourself. But I'm getting off track here. So, Nick Fury knows all this Intel, and is not even gonna bother telling certain members of the Avengers because he has the 'trust no one' mentality. OK, I kinda get that you don't want shit leaking out to the enemy, but Elias was already going to do this shit, mainly because he didn't think that Black Widow loved him for who he was, because she was too busy being an Avenger. And that he had to do more to gain her love...which was to develop bio enhanced soldiers using blood serums from a few members of the Avengers crew for a terrorist organization. Great job, Fury. You know how to stay on top of shit.

Speaking of the Avengers, that's where my second problem comes in with this film's writing. I honestly don't know why they had to be in this movie at all. OK yes, I did bring up the blood serums involving them a moment ago, but their actual inclusion in this movie doesn't really make much sense. For example, when Black Widow and Punisher are invading the auction for the bio enhanced soldiers, they do end up getting pursued by them. So naturally, they try to fight them off. And at one point, Black Widow tries to play the pacifist card onto Punisher, because Punisher is doing what he does best and just kills them. Black Widow tries to convince him not to do so, because they were once civilians that were dragged into this crazy experiment. Begrudgingly, Punisher ends up doing this, as he sets his gun to stun mode, and just paralyzes a few of the soldiers. Now the reason why I bring this up is because a few minutes after they get cornered by the enhanced soldiers, all of a sudden, the Hulk barges in and just destroys solider after soldier. To which Black Widow replies by saying that she invited a few friends, Hulk being one of them. So...basically, according to Black Widow's logic, it's not OK for Punisher to kill the soldiers, but it's perfectly fine for the Hulk to do it because...well, fuck you, that's why. That's literally the only reason I can think of for that kind of logic. Also, what I find a little bit odd is when the rest of the Avengers come into play. So, of the entirety of the Avengers that Black Widow had invited to help out, those end up being Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, War Machine, and Captain Marvel. I'm not totally sure why Captain America wasn't a part of this, but I'm going to assume that this movie takes place within the Cinematic Universe at some point, or maybe some other timeline of a different comic universe. I don't know, and I particularly don't care. But what I'm getting at is that of those five members, only TWO of them get any dialogue. Those two being the Hulk, which is just the same "Hulk Smash!" shit you've heard plenty of times before. And the other one is Iron Man. Why don't the other members get any dialogue? I have no idea. I guess, maybe, it was just too difficult for the writers to come up with some decent banter as the Avengers were fighting the enhanced soldiers. So really, they are only there for the sake of being there and nothing the fuck else. So, that's also another disappointment. And also, our villains are also bland as shit. For a terrorist organization, nobody has any real character to them. And the reason why for that is because we don't get introduced to them until we get to the auction. And that just kinda makes me question as to why they were even in here to begin with? The only one who has any real depth was Elias, and his character wasn't that bad. It wasn't amazing, but it was sure as shit more developed than what we got at the last 10-15 minutes by introducing them at the last moment.

So, writing here is definitely flawed. And you might think that with all of what I said about this movie, I would say that it sucks. But I'm not, because, like I said, the movie is rather average. At least, to me, it is. But there are moments here that I genuinely liked. For example, the Punisher in this movie is great. Part of that has to do with the acting, which I may as well get into right now. The acting is pretty good from just about the entire cast. Like I said, Punisher was great. And what made the character even better is his voice actor, who goes by the name of Brian Bloom. Bloom does a great job as Frank Castle. He really has that voice that suits the Punisher perfectly. I would love to see another animated film with Bloom doing that same voice for the Punisher, if he was given the chance. Sadly, I don't think that will happen, seeing as how Disney is so uptight about some really stupid bullshit. But anyway, Brian Bloom stands out as the Punisher very well. I should also mention, before I get to the Black Widow, Matt Mercer once again voices Iron Man. And I will say that he actually does a pretty good job here, too. I didn't feel like I was just listening to Matt Mercer speak, such as his performance in "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore". Here though, I could here the cockiness out of Tony Stark here, which is perfect for the character. As for Black Widow's voice actress, I didn't mind it for the most part, but I felt like she could've fine-tuned it a bit. Because I felt like, on a few occasions, that she sorta phoned it in. However, you would really have to notice it like I did. Most people will probably not notice it at all, so it's just something that you have to take for what it's worth. But for the most part, she did a fairly decent job. So overall, I can say that the acting works fine here.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, this movie was animated by Madhouse. And Madhouse usually puts out some awesome stuff here. This movie is no different. The animation and the art style looks great. And similar to "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore", the character designs on the comic book characters look great, too. Although I'm not entirely certain why Captain Marvel has a different hairstyle. But again, it's just minor bullshit that no one's going to care about, save for me. CG, for the most part, is perfectly fine. There were a couple of moments of rather noticeable CG, such as when the big brawl happens at the auction, and the camera will zoom out and turn as the battle escalates. And you might happen to notice CG on the Hulk as he's charging at the soldiers. And that bit of CG looked rather iffy. There are also CG ships here, too. However, I can also say that when it comes to these two animated films from Marvel, both this and "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore", the CG is vastly better utilized here than how DC does it for their animated films. However, that's just me comparing apples to oranges, so I should probably just drop that subject entirely. Overall, though, the CG is fine for the most part. And the overall animation of this movie looks great.

Sound-mix here is mixed well, and the score here is pretty good. It's nothing amazing, but it works well enough for this movie. Ultimately, guys, am I able to recommend "Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher"? Um...kind of. I would say that if you are curious to see how a Japanese animation studio is able to translate Marvel characters into their art style, then sure. I could totally recommend it on that end. Or if you're a die-hard fan of Marvel, then I can easily recommend it with no problems. However, if you're not a fan of superhero films, or you just don't care about Marvel, then you can skip this easily. There's really nothing here that will grab your attention, mainly because this movie is rather average. Again, I want to clarify that the movie is 'average'. And I would rather take an average movie over a bad, or boring, movie any day. So yeah, if you're curious go ahead and find a copy of it somewhere. Or if it's airing somewhere on, say, Netflix, or Hulu, or Disney+ (I'm not entirely certain about the latter), then go ahead and watch it there. I believe there's also a copy of it somewhere on YouTube. So if you want to watch it without having to buy a physical copy of it, then go ahead and check it out there. As for myself...well, I'm not totally sure I would watch this thing a second time. But considering that I traded in my copy of "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore", I think this one will probably meet the same fate. Mind you, I did enjoy watching this movie once. However, I'm not really sure if this thing is gonna be worth watching a second time. Then again, I'm not a huge Marvel fan, so that may just be me being kinda biased. But still, I liked what was here. Just not enough to keep watching it again and again.

And with that, guys, we come to the end of this installment of "Tales of the Longbox". Overall, not a bad marathon. I found a few decent movies from this bunch, so, at least, it's better than nothing. But anyway, guys, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Vampirella

 

Welcome, one and all, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a film from 1996. That movie is "Vampirella".

Now, I don't know a whole lot about the character of Vampirella. Like, I don't know her origin story, I don't know what her powers are, I don't know the basic stuff about the character. What I can tell you about the character is that she started off way back in 1969 under Warren Publishing. And when that publishing company went bankrupt in 1983, she then moved over to Harris Publications. Although they didn't do any comics of her up until 1991. And the character stayed with that publication right up until around 2010 before Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to make Vampirella comics. And to this day, she has remained with that publication company. So, out of all the independent characters that hasn't been tied down to Marvel or DC, Vampirella has mostly had a healthy career throughout her existence.

Now, while I haven't read any Vampirella comics, I still wanted to give this character some limelight. And I wanted to see if there were any movies that featured this character that were worth checking out. And the first thing I found was this movie on YouTube. So, I'm gonna be watching that tonight. Now, much like the character herself, I don't know very much about this movie. And upon doing the scant bit of research on this thing, I did find out one thing about it, which was the person who directed it. The director goes by the name of Jim Wynorski. Some of you may happen to recall, a little while back, I did review another movie of his that he wrote and directed, which was "Chopping Mall". And I really enjoyed "Chopping Mall" for all of it's cheesy B movie gloriness.

So, I have pretty high hopes that he'll be able to pull off something good here, too. But I could also see this movie being a massive disappointment. However, I'm still gonna hold out hopes that this movie will be pretty good. So the only way I'm gonna find out how good or bad this movie could 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 "Vampirella".

10 minutes later

You know, guys...the acting in this movie started off kinda shit. But already, it's beginning to get painful to listen to. And if this is the kind of acting that I have to get use to for the next hour and 10 minutes, then it's going be a torturous hour and 10 minutes to get through. I fear I may be in for a painful experience...

4 minutes later

OK, I need to ask this. Why does Vampirella's costume in this movie look so cheap? It seriously looks like somebody took a two piece swimsuit and tried to stitch it together to make the costume look genuine. But it doesn't. It honestly looks terrible, and I gotta look at this shitty costume for the next hour or so.

13 minutes later

You guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but this rock music that's playing right now is shit. Also doesn't help that Vlad's singing is even worse. I'm genuinely hoping that this movie's going to get better soon, but I fear that I may be asking for too much.

9 minutes later

Wait, so even though Adam put on some special-looking cuffs on Vlad that's able to keep him in human form, he was still able to use his powers by making the driver fall asleep, and has now broken free from his cuffs. So what the fuck was the purpose of keeping Vlad cuffed if he was going to break out anyways? Guys, this movie's writing is becoming stupider with each passing minute, and I fear it's not going to get any better from here.

14 minutes later

So...this highly advanced sun gun that's able to pierce through a vampire's skin...is just a huge flashlight? Seriously?! I was expecting something better, not a fucking flashlight! I understand's that it's a prototype weapon, but if that's all it is, then that is a huge letdown in and of itself, guys.

19 minutes later

You know, guys, I really wish I had more to say about this movie, but I don't. It's so fucking boring that I am almost struggling to stay the fuck awake. Thankfully, there's a little more than 15 minutes left in this movie. I kinda hope something interesting will happen during those 15 minutes, but, at this point, I strongly doubt it.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Vampirella". Thank Christ, this thing is fucking over. Let me shut this garbage off...OK. Well...I was expecting something better from this movie, but I ended up getting a boring pile of shit.

Let's just get into the writing, shall we? As I stated at the start of this, I didn't really know a whole lot about the character of Vampirella. And I wanted to avoid looking into her powers from online sources, because I wanted to see if this movie was gonna be a good introduction to the character. I went into it blind, like I do with every other movie I cover for this series. Now, I don't know how much of this movie changed her backstory, but I will say that what does here kinda works. At least, I'm going to assume it's sticking true to who the character is, in terms of her backstory. However, I'm also going to assume that she was written far better in the comics than she was in this movie, because her character in this movie feels completely lifeless. It's not just her, either. Just about every other character in this movie is written to be completely bland and one dimensional. Part of that has to go to the acting, which I'll get to in a bit. But anyway, every character in this movie is written to have one type of personality, and that's it. You are either Vlad or any of the vampires that went with him to Earth, you are Adam Van Helsing (and no, I'm not kidding about that name either) who has almost no personality to speak of. And then you have Vampirella, who's character could've been interesting, if she was written better and didn't have the personality of dried paint. And that's really the biggest problem with this film is that every character feels so bland and generic that you are not going to care about ANY of them. OK yes, we do have a decent backstory on Vampirella in this movie. I just wish her character had more to work with. Her motivation throughout the entire movie is to find Vlad and his vampires and kill them because Vlad killed her stepfather on the planet Drakulon. And that's all fine and dandy, but I really did not care about this character, because she just feels like a bland vampiress, which is not surprising considering that, as I just stated, every other vampire has no personality to them. The closest to personality would have to be Vlad, but even he sorta falls into this category of bland, one dimensional character development. And as for Adam, the only thing we learn about him is that his father was turned into a vampire by Vlad when he and his other vampires came to Earth, and that Adam had no choice but to kill his father, which was something that his father wanted to do, because he didn't want to join up with Vlad's group when they decided to takeover Earth by turning everyone into vampires. So, Adam does end up killing him. And I probably would care about him, if again, his character was actually somewhat interesting. Which it wasn't. And I totally understand that I'm beating a dead horse by talking about how bland the characters are, but guys, I'm gonna keep beating this horse until filmmakers actually start giving a shit about writing good characters. And I mentioned earlier that this was written by Jim Wynorski, who also wrote and directed "Chopping Mall". And while the characters in that movie were mostly stereotypes, it actually worked because you were there to see the characters get killed off by the Killbots. Here though, that's not the case. There is almost no value or interest in these characters, and you're not going to care about any of them by the time that this movie is over.

I did learn one thing from this movie, though. And that is that putting shackles or handcuffs on vampires is fucking worthless. Which might not sound like a surprise, but let me explain further, because there are several examples I'm gonna be bringing up. We get about a 5 or 6 minute prologue in the beginning of the movie, where it takes place on the planet Drakulon. So we see Vlad in handcuffs as he's being escorted to the main chamber where Vamirella's stepfather and his council were going to pass judgement on him. And when Vlad is given a chance to speak, he suddenly breaks his handcuffs and let's his vampires come in the room and kill them all with their guns. My question is that if Vlad can easily break these handcuffs, why didn't he do this beforehand when the guards came into his cell? Because if he did that, then Vlad's vampires would've disguised themselves as the guards and they would've been the ones escorting him to the chambers. I think it would've made more sense than just being escorted by regular guards into the chambers before Vlad broke free from his shackles. But that's just a minor thing. Another example I want to bring up is when after Adam and Operation PURGE capture Vlad and Vampirella. They are both put into different prison vans as they are being escorted to headquarters. Now, I should mention that the cuffs that are put onto Vlad, by Adam, are to keep Vlad in his human form. OK. So...why exactly does Vlad still have his powers? I say this, because Vlad was still able to hypnotize the driver to make him fall asleep and thus cause a car crash, killing two police motorcyclists, and everyone else in the van, save for Adam. Did Adam, or anyone else in Operation PURGE even think that far ahead to go "You know, maybe we should keep the lights on him, so that way he doesn't do any weird shit?" Because it would've been much easier to keep Vlad at bay, so that way he wouldn't be able to pull off some weird shit, such as hypnotizing the driver to make him fall asleep. But no, Vlad ends up getting away anyways. So, the whole idea of putting handcuffs on Vlad to keep him in his human form was a fucking stupid idea in the first place. One other example I want to bring up comes in way late towards the end of the film. So, Vampirella ends up getting captured and is thrown into a cell with Adam. She has her wristband getting taken away, because it's filled with small bottles of blood serum that's suppose to keep her in control from becoming a full-on vampire. But because she doesn't have her blood serum, she's on the verge of becoming a full-on vampire. And because of this predicament, she decides to let Adam shackle her arms, so that way it can give Adam some time to get away. And she also states that these shackles are strong enough to hold her. First of all, and this is just a minor thing, the shackles look really fake. But that's just more of a prop issue than anything else. But anyways, those shackles that were suppose to be strong enough to hold her? Guess what? Big spoiler here: She actually ends up breaking the shackles before she fully goes full-on vampire mode to attack Adam! So...yeah, that's the one thing I learned from this movie. Shackling a vampire is fucking worthless, because they'll just end up breaking it anyways.

Beyond that issue, our story here could've been great, if we actually had better written characters that we could care about. But this movie ended up failing to do that. So, what about the acting? Well, I commented at the start of this thing that the acting was a little bit painful. And guess what? It did not end up getting any better. The acting from, almost, the entire cast was complete shit. The only actor who seemed to be trying was Roger Daltrey as our main villain, Vlad. He was trying desperately to make his character work, and he ALMOST succeeds. I say 'almost', because he even sorta phones it in at times. Especially his god-awful singing, but that's just more attributed to the one song in this entire soundtrack, which I'll talk about in a bit. But sticking to the acting for a moment, everyone else just phoned it in. Nobody else turned in a showing that I would say is halfway decent. And that includes our actress playing Vampirella. She sounds so wooden, that it actually makes the character so boring to watch in this movie. But then again, as I've stated before in the past, you can only do so much with a script that's written kinda like shit. So you shouldn't expect the actors to perform miracles with it. And this movie is no exception. So, the acting is mostly terrible, save for maybe Roger Daltrey's performance as Vlad.

I want to talk about costuming. Specifically, I want to talk about Vampirella's costume in this movie. If you ever get a chance to look up images of Vampirella on the internet, you'll probably notice that her costume is a bit more...revealing, shall we say. Well, they obviously changed that costume to something different in this movie. Now, I am not going to entirely blame the filmmakers on this change, because I can kinda see why they needed to do that. Mainly because, I can kinda see that it would be difficult for any actress to put on that original costume and not risk having any of their nipples popping out of it during filming. So that much I can understand. However...why exactly does the costume in this movie look like it was bought out from a really cheap clothing store? Because that's honestly what I see when I see this costume. It looks like somebody in the costuming department bought a $25 dollar two piece leather swimsuit and decided to stitch it together so that you can have something that looks kinda like a Vampirella costume. Actually no, this thing looks more like a reverse Wonder Woman costume, because the costuming on her lower area has a symbol that looks very similar to Wonder Woman's. At least, to me, it does. Now, while I don't have any figures for this movie's budget, I'm going to assume that this movie was filmed on a low budget. So you might be thinking that they didn't have the resources to find a decent-looking costume for Vampirella because of it's supposed low budget. Well, I call bullshit on that. Because I remember watching another superhero film such as "Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.", and the costuming on Kabukiman looked great, even with that film's low budget. But, then again, Troma is known for making low budget films, and even they can get pretty good-looking costumes for their films. In this movie, not so much. The costume looks like cheap-looking shit, and it stands out in a rather bad way. I can also say that the sun blocking costumes that a pair of our vampires wear in this movie also look like shit. So yeah, costuming here leaves a lot to be desired.

As for special effects, well...it varies quite a bit. In terms of the makeup effects, they're OK. Nothing about that looks overly bad. When they they start to become vampires, such as the case with Vampirella and Vlad, they look pretty good. Blood effects, however, are rather questionable. Because on a couple of occasions, after a vampire bites it's victim, you don't always get to see the blood pouring out of the victim's bite mark. Now when you do get to see a lot of practical blood, it looks really good. But on those occasions when you don't, all you see on the vampires after they bite their victims are just dried paint around their lips, and that looks kinda like shit. Speaking of looking like shit, the bat transformations also look really bad. And those bat transformations only occur whenever you see either Vlad or Vampirella turn into a bat when they are leaving a scene. And it looks so bad, to a point where it can almost be seen as just laughably bad. I can also say that some of the props in this movie, such as the pair of shackles Vampirella wears towards the end of the film look rather fake, and the prototype sun gun looks fucking chunky as hell. But otherwise, special effects in this movie are very questionable at best.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is lit pretty well, even in areas that are filmed in the dark. Sound-mix here is OK. Our score here is decent. There is one song, however, that I need to comment on. I pointed this out earlier, and it's the song that played whenever Vlad was singing at Las Vegas. At two points, you get to hear this really shitty mid-90's rock music play as Vlad was singing this song. Now, while I can say that Roger Daltrey turned in an OK showing in this movie, he probably shouldn't have been asked to sing, because his singing was just terrible. Now, I don't know if it was because the lyrics were shit, or the band that was playing this song was just a really shitty rock band. But either way, it was just terrible to listen to. If you ever want to watch this movie for whatever reason, listen to the song yourself, and you'll see what I mean. Unless if you're really into god awful mid-90's rock music, then you're probably going to despise this song.

So overall, guys, am I able to recommend "Vampirella"? No. I really can't, unless if you have a morbid curiosity. Otherwise, your best bet, if you want to get into the Vampirella universe, is to go read any of the books. Again, while I haven't read any of the comics involving this character, I'm going to take a bet here and say that they're a hell of a lot better than what was in this movie. This movie is boring as shit, and I really can't recommend it unless if you either have a morbid curiosity like I did, or if you are already a fan of the character and you want to see what a live-action movie can do with her, then you can go right ahead and check it out. It's on YouTube, at least at the time that I'm writing this review. Also, I should mention that the version I watched automatically comes with Spanish subtitles. Which didn't really bother me, personally, because the movie's audio was the English version. So as long as you're able to look past that, you can also watch the movie with no problems. But for everyone else, there is no reason for you to watch this thing. As I stated a moment ago, your best bet is to read any of the comics. They're probably a lot better than what was in this movie. Now...seeing as how Jim Wynorski's name was attached to this stupid thing, and how I referenced "Chopping Mall" earlier, I'm gonna go see if "Chopping Mall" is still up on YouTube. Because that is a better movie that Jim Wynorski made, especially when compared to this thing. So, I'm gonna go watch that after I'm done putting this review together.

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 | Justice League: Starcrossed The Movie

 

Welcome, one and all, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentleman, I'm gonna be covering an animated television film from 2004. That movie is "Justice League: Starcrossed The Movie".

Now this movie, from what little information I could find on it, is centered around the Justice League cartoon from the mid-2000's. Which is pretty cool, because while I didn't watch a whole lot of the Justice League cartoon, I did watch most of "Justice League: Unlimited", and I remembered that show being great. And this movie is, technically, combining a 3 part episode called "Starcrossed", where it involved the Justice League fighting against the Thanagarians, into a full-length film. Now from what little I remember about the Thanagarian race, they're basically these angel-like humans with wings. Two of these Thanagarians are members of the Justice League, both of which consist of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. And from what I read on the back of the DVD case, Hawkgirl is probably gonna be the center of attention in this movie. I'm not sure how much of a role Hawkman is going to play in this movie, but I'll find out when I start watching it.

Now, as I just stated a moment ago, this movie is basically taking those 3 particular episodes from the show and stitching them together as a full-length movie. So I can technically cover it for this series, seeing as how I don't review TV shows anyways. Now I have no idea if this thing is going to be any good. I have a feeling that it's gonna be decent, seeing as how it's taking place within the Justice League cartoon. But the only way I'm gonna figure out if this thing is any 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 "Justice League: Starcrossed The Movie".

6 minutes later

You know, guys, I totally forgot how good the theme song was for the Justice League show. Hearing this rendition of it that's playing right now in the opening credits is fucking awesome, and I am loving it.

4 minutes later

OK, I have a bit of a question here. So, I'm gonna assume this movie takes place sometime after the 2 part episode where the Joker set up a bunch of bombs all over Las Vegas. And at the end of that 2 part episode, Hawkgirl and John Stewart ended up being together. And yet, she's already engaged to her Thanagarian lover. I have a question about all this. If this Thanagarian has heard a lot about Green Lantern from Hawkgirl, then wouldn't he know about their relationship together? I totally understand that Hawkgirl would've probably kept that relationship a secret anyways, but it just seems rather strange to me that Hawkgirl never told him, her Thanagarian lover, about that. Just saying. It just seems a little bit strange to me.

8 minutes later

Wait a second here. So Batman disguised himself as an old man to get onto the Thanagarian ship, just so he can overhear what the Thanagarians are really planning? You know, I probably shouldn't be surprised to see this coming, since this is Batman and all, but for a moment, though, there, I was almost fooled by that disguise. At least, until I heard Kevin Conroy's old man voice start to fade. Still though, I'm kinda surprised Batman was able to pull that off so easily.

10 minutes later

You know, I already made this point back in my review of "Wonder Woman" a couple of weeks ago, but I'm gonna mention it again here. It was really cool that Diana was able to fight off this Thanagarian guard all by herself, while being tied up. And she was able to get the knife away from him with her mouth, and free herself by throwing the knife with her mouth at the switch, which caused her to be released from her bindings. I think it would've really sucked if her aiming with that knife was just a bit off, and she missed it entirely. I'm JUST saying, you know, it could've ended a lot of worse.

10 minutes later

So let me see if I understand this. Bruce and Diana were saved when this guy helped them into this Indian restaurant, and also helped disguise Diana a little bit. When the Thanagarians asked if he had seen a man and a woman with dark hair enter the restaurant, they don't bother to go "Oh, and by the way, one of them is wearing a black jacket and one of them is wearing light blue". They don't even bother to ask that, because there are plenty of people at this restaurant with dark hair. How the hell did these Thanagarians not remember what they looked liked?! They've SEEN what they've been wearing, and they don't bother to intrude any further because multiple in this restaurant have dark hair. You know, I think it's safe to say that the Thanagarians are beginning to act a little bit stupid now.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Justice League: Starcrossed The Movie". Let me shut the movie off here...OK. Well...I guess this shouldn't be a shocker, but this was a really good movie. I mean, I had a feeling it was gonna be good because it was centered around the Justice League cartoon. Now, mind you, this thing is nowhere near as good as, say, "World's Finest", but I would say it is better than something like "Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman". So, at least, there is that.

But I'm just stalling at this point, let's get into the writing. The writing here is really good. And for a 3 part episode, this is certainly a really solid story. Now there are some minor issues that I do want to bring up. And when I say that they're minor, I mean they're minor simply because I haven't seen enough of the Justice League show. I should probably explain what I mean. Now, about a little halfway into the movie, the Thanagarians have taken over Earth and put the planet under martial law. And when the Justice League are trying to out maneuver the Thanagarians at that point, they were still in their costumes. So when they hide inside this shopping center, they are trying to figure out a way to get to Wayne Manor, seeing as how the Thanagarians have also taken over the Watch Tower. And the Martian Manhunter thinks that they could blend in with the normal citizens, seeing as how they're still going on about their normal routine despite being under martial law. Wally West, AKA The Flash, thinks that it might not be a good idea, because even he doesn't know who Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Batman really are. And when Batman reveals himself to be Bruce Wayne, Wally sounds rather surprised by this. And I'm trying to figure out why, exactly? Because I would've assumed that when the Justice League was formed, everyone knew of their hidden identities right from the word go. So, am I to assume that Wally West is the only one who doesn't know most of the Leagues identities? It just seems really weird to me that he never knew anything about this. However, this might be because I haven't watched enough of the Justice League show to really hone in on this moment. So I'm probably just completely misremembering a lot of things that I never knew about. Speaking of which, another issue I want to bring up is something I mentioned earlier. I mentioned before that I wasn't totally sure how much of a role Hawkman was going to play in this movie. Well...I think I'm definitely misremembering things, because he doesn't make an appearance in this movie at ALL. I'm going to assume he had more of a role in "Justice League: Unlimited", because he hadn't joined the Justice League at this point in time during the Justice League's run. However, I was kinda thinking maybe he would make an appearance in this movie, seeing as how the Thanagarians were invading Earth after a fake invasion warning was announced by the Thanagarians to the people of Earth.

Yeah, I should probably explain the story of this movie. So, as I just mentioned, the Thanagarians come to Earth to warn the people of the planet that they're going to be invaded by a race known as the Gordanians, who are basically the Thanagarians enemy. But when Batman discovers that a Gordanian ship was destroyed near a peace summit, he finds out that one of the dead Gordanians was already dead long before in their ship, and Batman thinks that they, that being the Justice League and the people of Earth, have been set up. And they were. So, the Thanagarians end up incapacitating the Justice League and take over the Earth by putting them under martial law. And to make a long story short, the reason why they invaded Earth was because they wanted to use it as some sort of a hyperspace bypass so that they can get to the Gordanian home world, and end their war with that race there. It's a bit of a long story with that, but it still totally works here. And as I said earlier, the writing here is really good, and most of everything makes sense here. Granted, I could still poke minor holes into this story, such as when Bruce and Diana are being rescued by this Indian guy who escorts them into his restaurant, they try to disguise Diana a bit by covering part of her hair with a blue bandanna of sorts. And when a couple of the Thanagarian soldiers enter the restaurant, they ask the Indian guy if he had seen two people with dark hair. To which the Indian guy retaliates by asking them to be specific. Again, I want to reiterate this. They had SEEN what Bruce and Diana looked like, so they should've known right then and there that they were this specific couple at this restaurant because Diana was wearing light blue. But no, they don't say anything like that, and they just decide to leave because I guess they're kinda stupid that way. But again, this is all just minor bullshit that nobody's gonna notice except me. So you have to take it all for what it's worth. Aside from that, the writing here is really good. Our characters are all likable. But then again, all of these characters have these established personalities that came from the Justice League show. So if you had seen the TV show, then this movie is going to carry all of that into here. And the one who gets the most development in this movie is Hawkgirl, also known as Shayera. Her character development in this movie is really well done, including the relationship she has with John Stewart. In fact, as I was watching it, it kinda makes me yearn for a solo film starring this character. If DC and Warner Bros. wanted to either make a live-action movie or an animated film dedicated to this character, and hopefully keep identity politics out of it, then I think it would make for a really interesting movie. But that is just me thinking about possibilities that may or may not end up happening. Point is, the writing in this movie is really good, and it does it's job well enough here.

Now as for the acting, well, seeing as how this movie is centered around the Justice League show, it would make sense to have the voice cast from that show to be present here. And that is exactly what happens. All of the voice cast from the Justice League cartoon reprise their roles here. We have George Newbern as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Phil LaMarr as the Green Lantern, just to name several examples. All of them do a great job with their roles. But then again, I couldn't ask for a better voice cast than this. This is probably one of the best voice casts for a Justice League cartoon show. And that's always a positive to hear their voices again here. I do have to comment on one voice actor, though. And that is Victor Rivers as Hro Talak, which was the Thanagarian general that is leading the invasion. Now, when I first heard this voice, I genuinely thought he was being voiced by Michael Ironside. Because, I know Michael Ironside also voices Darkseid, who is the biggest bad guy of all DC Comics. But then I found out he was voiced by somebody else that sounds a LOT like him. And I'm not gonna sit here and say that Victor Rivers does a bad job here, because he does turn in a really good showing. However, I do have a question about one thing. Is Hro Talak suppose to be supporting an accent? I swear to God guys, almost every time that I hear him speak, it seems as though as Talak was suppose to be giving off some sort of an accent, and it kinda threw me off slightly. Because I don't know if that's how the character is suppose to speak, or if that's how Victor was suppose to give out his lines here. It just seemed a little bit weird to me, because I really couldn't tell you if it was one way or the other. However, that could just be me nitpicking here, because it was something that I happened to notice. But regardless of that minor detail, the acting here is still really solid. Which is something that I expected from the same voice cast from the show.

Now let's get to the animation. Again, seeing as how this movie is centered around the Justice League show, you would expect the same animation and art style to be a part of this movie. Which it is. The animation is really good. However, seeing as how this is the same Bruce Timm style of animation, it is expected to be just as good here, as it was in the TV show. It might not sound like very much, but it's still really solid animation. And the art style is also great here, too. But again, this is from Bruce Timm, and almost anything he had a hand involving DC's cartoons are nothing short of amazing. So, animation and art style is great. And then there's the CG...oh boy. Now, I've often commented in the past about how DC and Warner Bros. usually have a really bad track record in how they handle CG into their animated films. And for the first half of this movie, I was able to overlook that. Because while it was noticeable here again in this movie, it wasn't something that I was going to harp on this movie too much for. However, as the movie continued on, and I continued to see more CG vehicles, the problem became too noticeable, even for me. All of the Thanagarian ships in this movie look like complete shit. And it really is a stark contrast, especially when you consider how good the 2D animation is for this movie. I mean, come on, is it really that difficult to get some decent-looking CG for these vehicles? It can't be asking for too much, right? Well...then again, I guess it might be, seeing as how this problem involving CG vehicles still plagues most of their DC animated films, even their recent ones. So, I guess I just answered my own question there. Oh well, it is what it is. It's not something that's gonna take out of the movie entirely, but it is something that you're bound to notice. So you just have to take it for what it's worth. So overall, the animation, minus the CG vehicles, is great.

Sound-mix here is mixed well, and the score here is really good. It is something that you would hear in an episode of "Justice League" and Justice League: Unlimited". It's nothing amazing, aside from the amazing rendition of the Justice League theme song that plays at the opening of this movie, and again during the ending credits. So it's your standard score that works really well for this movie.

Overall, guys, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Justice League: Starcrossed The Movie"? Totally. Like, if you are a fan of the Justice League cartoon show, chances are, you've probably already seen this. Now again, this movie is not in the same league such as "World's Finest", "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm", or, for me personally, "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay", but it's still a really solid movie. And I would highly recommend it to fans of DC cartoon's, whether they be their animated films or their TV shows. However, if you're someone like me who hasn't really seen most of, or any, of the Justice League cartoon show, then you might want to watch the show first before you get into this movie. Because if you go into it like I did, you will probably ask questions that might stick out at you, such as Wally West discovering who Batman really is. But again, it's just a minor thing, unless you start to really think about that kind of stuff. Overall, guys, this is a really good movie, and I would, again, recommend it to anyone who is a fan of DC Comics. Speaking of which, seeing as how I mentioned "World's Finest", I'm probably gonna go and watch that movie right now. Because that is a really awesome movie, and it has a been a little while since I last watched it.

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 | Daredevil

 

Welcome, one and all, to "Tales of the Longbox" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be checking out a movie from 2003. That movie is "Daredevil".

Now, before I get into this movie, I need to get one thing out of the way right here. I do not care about the "Daredevil" Netflix series. I didn't care about it when it premiered on Netflix. I didn't care about it when it got cancelled. I don't even care if they brought it back or not. I just do not care about that series whatsoever. I just wanted to let you guys know now, so, that way, nobody will ask me about my opinion of it in the future.

So, setting that little controversy aside, let's get into the movie itself. Now, I do kinda remember watching the ads for this thing back in 2003. And the movie looked OK. Granted, it wasn't something that I was interested in checking out back then, but still, the movie looked OK. As for what I know about the movie itself, I know that it stars Ben Affleck, and I know that he plays a blind lawyer by the name of Matthew Murdock, who ends up becoming our title character. Speaking of Daredevil himself, the only real experience I ever had with this character was when I played as him as one of the many playable characters in the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game for the Xbox 360. And I remembered that game being really fun. In fact, I had re-bought the game about a month ago, and it still holds up as a pretty fun game, albeit with a few glitches here and there. But anyway, I did get to learn a little bit about Daredevil through that game, so I kinda know what I'm getting myself into in regards to this character.

Now, there's one thing I need to make mention of before I get into this movie. The version of this movie I bought on DVD was the Director's Cut. Which, according to the back of the DVD case, advertises 30 minutes of extra footage that was not released in theaters. And I was kinda debating on whether or not I wanted to watch the Director's Cut, or watch the Theatrical Cut. So, I had to make my decision based on a coin flip: Heads for the Director's Cut, and tails for the Theatrical Cut. And the winner was...heads. So, I'm gonna get to see if this extra footage is gonna help enhance the movie in any way. Mind you, I haven't seen any footage of this movie since 2003, back when I watched the ads for it. So, I'm probably not gonna notice what this extra footage is. But regardless if I end up noticing it or not, I still want to see if this movie ends up being 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 "Daredevil".

16 minutes later

Well, guys, I am able to say one thing, so far. Even though young Matthew Murdock has lost his eyesight, he's still able to kick tons of ass by beating these 3 bullies from earlier on in the movie. That is pretty awesome.

7 minutes later

All right, that's got to be one of the most homeliest-looking courtrooms I've ever seen. It's so fucking dreary, that it only has a few people, and a couple of fans going off. I understand that this, I think, is Matt Murdock's first case as a lawyer. Could be totally wrong there. But why the fuck would you hold your case in one of the most dreary-looking courtrooms ever? It just looks very out of place to me. Just thought I'd let you guys know.

10 minutes later

Well...I guess if you wanted to leave proof that Daredevil exists, just create a flaming trail of his insignia at the scene of a crime. That is certainly a decent way to leave your mark, I guess.

11 minutes later

You know, guys, I will say that little fight sequence between Murdock and Elektra there was pretty good. Do you know what would've made it better? If Elektra's actress, Jennifer Garner, knew how to act. So far, she hasn't accomplished that. I'm kinda hoping maybe her acting will get better as the film goes along. But, as of right now, I'm not having any high hopes for that.

12 minutes later

OK, I gotta bit of a stupid question here. So, Murdock and his friend are investigating this apartment. I will say that, while it is sorta cool that Murdock is figuring out how this murder was carried out with his senses, does he not know not to touch ANYTHING at a crime scene? Mind you, he is a lawyer, so you would think that he would know about this. I understand that it sounds like a trivial thing to be bitching about, but it's just something that I was thinking about, you know?

17 minutes later

Well, guys, I am willing to say that, while Jennifer Garner's acting is still complete shit, Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin is fucking amazing. He was born to play this role.

20 minutes later

Guys, I'm gonna talk a little bit about this later on in the review, but this Director's Cut is kinda...slow. Mind you, the movie itself has been pretty decent. But I wish we would get to see more of this subplot that this DVD was trying to advertise. Again, I'm gonna talk more about this later on in the review. But I just want to let you guys know, now, that this "extra footage" is not doing a whole lot right now.

8 minutes later

O...K. You know, I would imagine that having one of your hands stabbed with your own sais would actually be rather painful. I'm hoping that Bullseye actually does more damage to her, so that, hopefully, we'll be able to get to see less of Jennifer Garner in this movie. It's rather doubtful, but I'm still having hopes.

2 minutes later

And thus, Jennifer Garner's character is finally dead. And nothing of value was lost. Unfortunately, having played the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game, I do know about a bit of special dialogue in the game between her and Bullseye. So if it's going to go the way I think it's going to go, she'll be brought back to life soon enough. Still, at least I don't have to put up with Jennifer Garner's terrible acting in this movie for the time being.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Daredevil". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off...OK. Well, I guess I was wrong on one thing. I assumed that Elektra was going to be revived. However, I guess that didn't really happen. I'm going to assume that happens in her own movie. Oh well. The good news out of all this was that I didn't have to suffer through anymore of Jennifer's Garner's terrible acting. But I'll get into all of that when I talk about the acting.

Right now, I want to start by talking about the writing. And I'm gonna start with what was advertised for the Director's Cut on this DVD. Now, even though, I've never seen any footage from this movie since I watched the ads back in 2003, I do know what it was trying to advertise thanks to the back of the DVD case. So, this subplot involves Matthew Murdock trying to defend a man by the name of Dante Jackson, who was framed for murder, because he was framed for killing this prostitute. And I was curious to see how this was going to go, because a lot of people have said that this Director's Cut is the better version, rather than the Theatrical Cut. Now, I don't really know if that's the case or not. However...I'm gonna be honest when I say this, this subplot doesn't really get a ton of buildup. And the reason why it doesn't is because of the pacing. Because when we do first start with this subplot, we are opened to the trial as Murdock was giving his opening statement to the court. And then it leads to the police chief, Mackenzie, giving out his testimony. Throughout this, Murdock was trying to get a good reading on his heartbeat, just to make sure he was telling the truth. And he was...kind of. I'm not gonna spoil this subplot for you guys, on the off chance you want to go and see this movie for yourself. But then, after that scene ends with Murdock learning that Mackenzie was telling the truth, we then cut to a different scene entirely with Murdock and Elektra sharing screen time together. And this comes right the fuck out of nowhere, because I thought there was suppose to be more of that previous scene. But guess what? We don't get ANY development on that scene until right after Elektra's father dies. And that continues with Nelson trying to take Murdock's place because of the events that just happened after Elektra's father dies. He does a poor job of it, mind you, but the trial is still going on at that time. And throughout the movie, we get bits and pieces of this info regarding who was the person that framed Dante Jackson for murder. But like I said, we didn't get any continuation of this trial until about 30 or 40 minutes later on, and that's just too much time for a movie to drop a subplot like that and pick it back up. Now, what I would've done with that first scene involving the trial was to end it on a first day. THEN you could cut it to where Murdock and Elektra share character development together. But to have that first trial scene end rather abruptly, and not pick it up until later on in the movie, makes me question why people thought that this Director's Cut was great. Now, mind you, this subplot does have some sort of payoff, but at that point, it just comes off as too little, too late. Now again, I haven't seen the Theatrical Cut, so I don't know if it's any better, but I will say that this subplot doesn't enhance the movie much in any way. At least, I don't think it does.

There is one more issue I had with this movie's story. And it doesn't have anything to do with the subplot. It really has to do with Daredevil's origin story. Now, it's not so much the origin story itself that's the issue. The origin story is really good, and it really builds up Murdock's character. The only issue I had with the origin story has to do with, once more, the pacing. Again, I really like the origin story here for Matthew Murdock. It really is a good origin story about how he ended up being blind as a kid, and how he lost his Dad, after he refused to forfeit a fight so that he wouldn't see his son lose. All of that is really solid. However, after his Dad ends up getting killed, we cut ahead in time to where Murdock ends up becoming an adult and he becomes a lawyer. Oh, and he also becomes Daredevil with no real buildup. What I mean by that is we never get to see how Matthew Murdock decided to become a superhero and how he came up with the costume for Daredevil. Now, I totally understand that it's sort of a cliche trope for superhero origin stories. However, you ARE working with a comic book property. I think it would help enhance the character a little bit. I'm gonna give you guys a few examples. When Tony Stark ends up deciding to become Iron Man, after he shuts down his own weapons company, we actually get to see how he does this with the suit that he wears. We get to see him test it out on a couple of occasions before deciding on the hot-rod red and yellow color. And thus, the rest is history with him. In Peter Parker's case, after he gets bitten by the radioactive spider, we see him trying to get use to the idea of him being able to climb up walls, testing some spider liquid, and then deciding on a costume. With Bruce Wayne, his is a little more complicated. He didn't just start off fighting crime after his parents were shot and killed. He actually went through a lot of intensive training overseas before deciding to don the bat costume. In Bruce's case, he was trying to find a way to strike fear into the hearts of his criminals, letting them know that he would be watching them in case they decide to do something. You know, it's those kinds of examples that help make a superhero worth caring about a little more. And again, that's not to say that Daredevil's origin story is bad. But to have this movie skip out on those little details I mentioned actually kinda take you out of the movie a little bit. Just seeing young Matt Murdock's father getting killed, and then having the next scene to jump ahead of time to where Murdock is now a lawyer AND a superhero out of nowhere, it just comes across as rather rushed. So, it is something that you have to take for what it's worth. Beyond that, though, our story is pretty good, and our characters are mostly likable. So overall, the writing here is pretty good, minus the pacing issues that this movie suffers from.

Now, what about the acting? Well, the acting from, almost, the entire cast is really good. The one exception to all this is Jennifer Garner as Elektra. Oh boy...Jennifer Garner's acting. I was hoping, and I mean GENUINELY hoping, that Jennifer Garner was going to get better as the film went along. Oh, how I ever was so wrong on that. She turns in the absolute worst showing from the entire cast. She doesn't know how to show emotion when delivering her lines. It is almost painful to listen to. And it's such a stark contrast, when compared to the rest of the cast. I'm able to get behind Ben Affleck, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Colin Farrell's performances, because those 3 know how to act. And then you have a steaming turd like Jennifer Garner trying to emote, and...oh god, is it ever terrible. You know, I happen to vaguely remember that she was the star of some drama that aired on ABC years ago. And I couldn't tell you back then if her acting in that thing was any good or not. But you know what? If it was anything like THIS performance, then I dread to even think what she could do in that "Elektra" movie. And yes, I do know that Elektra has her own movie...and Jennifer Garner is the star in that thing. I hope to never watch it, because I fear her acting is just going to be as bad, if not worse, than what she did in this movie. Beyond her, though, just about everybody else in this movie actually turns in a really good showing. So I have to give props to everyone, minus Jennifer Garner, for giving a 110% in this movie.

Costuming here, at least when it comes to the Daredevil costume, is really good. I always liked this costume. It looks really unique, especially the little devil horns that are on his head. Especially knowing that this costume was, I'm going to assume, inspired from his Dad when he was known as Jack "The Devil" Murdock. Again, I wish we could've seen HOW Murdock was able to make his costume, but I'm not gonna beat on that horse any longer. Makeup effects are pretty good. I will also say that the fight choreography in this movie is great. All of the fights flow naturally, and there is nothing here that is considered a pace breaker to slow any of the fights down. And you know what? Even though Jennifer Garner's acting in this movie was absolutely horrible, she DOES know how to fight, and she's, at least, able to make her fight scenes work. Which is more than what I could say about the actor who played as Mark in "The Russian Ninja". Where in that movie, Mark didn't know how to feel pain on an emotional or physical level, and the fight choreography in that movie ended up being complete garbage in the process. At least here, Jennifer Garner is able hold up well in a fight scene. I wish her acting wasn't complete shit, but, oh well, it is what it is. So overall, the fight choreography in this movie was great.

In terms of special effects, the one thing I can talk about is Daredevil's vision. Because a lot of that is where the CG was put into place. And it it looks pretty good. As for what it looks like, well, I want you to imagine Superman's X-Ray vision, but with sound included. It's nothing amazing, but it certainly does make the character stand out in a unique way. There's also a few instances of blood in this movie. Which is rather strange, considering that this thing was Rated R. I was expecting a little bit more blood, but that's just a minor thing entirely. Overall, the special effects in this movie are pretty good.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is mostly good, save for, maybe, one scene where Daredevil is trying to avoid a ton of gunshots from these people at a bar. It's a bit of a long story, so I won't go too deep into that. But the scene's lighting during all this flickers quite a bit, and you might not be able to see a whole lot going on as Daredevil is trying to fight off these thugs. But once that is all out of the way, we are able to see things a bit more clearly. I will also say that there is quite a bit of darkness in this movie. However, unlike the scene I just mentioned, there is no flickering going on with the lighting. So, at least, we have that. Sound-mix is mixed almost perfectly, save for one small moment where Murdock leaves Elektra after he hears some shouting going on due to his enhanced hearing. It's raining during this scene, as Murdock leaves, and Elektra is, I think, trying to shout out to Murdock's name, but I don't know if that was entirely the case. I don't know if it was because the rain was intentionally trying to drown out her voice, or if it was because Jennifer Garner doesn't know how to emote properly. However, I am not going to harp on that issue any longer, so I'm just gonna leave it as is. Music, in terms of the score, is nothing special. The soundtrack is OK. There is one song I did recognize in this movie, which was a song from Evanescence called "Bring Me To Life". And I remember that song being OK. Granted, it's not a song that I would go back and listen to repeatedly, but it's still decent for what it is. So overall, the soundtrack here is decent.

So, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Daredevil"? If you're able to look past all of the pacing issues that this movie suffers from, then what you, essentially, have is a pretty decent comic book movie. While I am not going to say that the Director's Cut of this movie is amazing, it's still worth checking out, at least once. I personally don't think I'm gonna be watching this movie a second time, but I still enjoyed watching this movie once. Our story, minus the pacing, is still pretty solid. And you also have to deal with Jennifer Garner's terrible acting in this movie, because she does kinda bring the movie down a little bit. But once her character is dead, it stays dead for the entire movie. I'm pretty sure her solo film is going to explain how she comes back to life, but I am not going to worry about that, because I really don't want to watch that movie. But I'm getting way off track here. The movie is rather decent. And if you're able to find this movie, whether it's the Theatrical Cut, or this Director's Cut on DVD and Blu-ray, go ahead and pick it up. As long as it's cheap. Which it should be, considering that the DVD that I bought was only about $5. It's probably not going to have a place on my DVD shelf, but still, I had a little bit of fun with this movie. Now...seeing as how I was comparing superhero origins earlier in this review, I was thinking about the first Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" movie when I was doing that. And I just bought a DVD 3-pack that has the first 3 movies. So, I'm gonna go watch the first one, because it has been a long, LONG time since I last watched that movie. So I'm gonna go do that, just so I can relive my experience of when I first watched that movie in theaters.

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.