Movie Review: Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu

The Mandalorian and Grogu, the latest Star Wars movie, and a continuation of the Disney+ series, was released a week late here in South Korea. I just missed its US release date by a few days when I was back for Flynn's graduation. Then I had to spend a week avoiding nerdy YouTube channels and social media posts to prevent spoilers. Anyway, I finally saw it yesterday with Steven. 

Is there cursing in the movie?  The in-universe swear "dank ferrik" gets spoken a time or two. But despite Hutts being integral to the plot and Zeb Orrelios being a major supporting character, I don't remember any "bantha poodoo" or "kerabast" uttered. So a pretty clean movie, language wise, parents!

How was the movie itself? It was a really well done adventure movie that just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. It carries the style and the themes of The Mandalorian onto the big screen. If you like the show, you're gonna like the movie. If you don't like the show, well, there's no accounting for taste. 

Seriously, though, it's not the high concept and high execution level of Andor. Mando has always been Star Wars for kids (which Star Wars always was) and the kids in us adults that grew up with Star Wars.  At its heart, TM&G is a movie about a father and son, trying to make their way in the universe. And it does it well. It's got good pacing, lots of action, fun moments, some emotionally tense moments and a lot of laughs. 

I think the movie benefits from not being shot on The Volume. While the show had some impressive backdrops, there were many times when it feels like the worlds are kinda empty when using The Volume (the Obi Wan series was worse than most Mando episodes for this, I think, but it's still an issue). There are definitely some CGI wonderland scenes, but a lot more of it was practical and you can see the difference.  

I've seen some people complaining about the puppet used for Grogu, but I still like it. While its movements aren't completely natural, the fact that Grogu, and the Anzellans (the little weirdo mechanics) are practical puppets in the scenes gives them more presence. Of course, I'm an old Gen-Xer who grew up with Sesame Street, Muppets, The Dark Crystal, and various other Jim Henson properties, and puppet Yoda. Young whipper-snappers can get off my puppet-appreciating lawn!

Long story short, if you think all Star Wars should be serious drama like Andor from now on (I get it, I do! Andor was GREAT!), you might be disappointed by this kid-friendly adventure movie. But if you like classic action-adventure, and like Star Wars, you're probably going to like it. 

In-Flight Movie Capsule Reviews

 I just returned from the USA. Flynn graduated high school. It was a good trip home, and it was great to see a lot of friends and family while we were back. 

I watched four films I hadn't seen before and one rewatch during both long-haul trans-Pacific flights. Here are a few thoughts. And no, not all of these movies are brand new, but they're ones I hadn't seen before. 

Also, the films were edited for content so curse words were removed from the films. No comment on how dirty the films' language gets unedited. 

On the flight to the US: 

Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (Tsui Hark, 2025)

Any surprise that this type of movie would be my first choice? Probably not. This was a fun wuxia action movie, with some well done stunts, CGI, and fight sequences. The story felt a bit jumbled or rushed at first, and sometimes it wasn't clear what was flashback and what was the current narrative. But once the protagonist Guo Jing and his love interest Huang Rong were introduced and the stakes were set, we get a pretty good martial arts/love triangle/political/war movie. 

I suspect the English subtitles of the version I watched were AI translations, due to inconsistent usage and a few other clues. That may have contributed to the disjointed feeling of the beginning.  Otherwise, a fun watch...but a little long, around 2.5 hours. Not bad if you're on a 13 hour flight. 

Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

One I'd been wanting to watch for almost a decade now, but just never found the time to sit down and watch. Well, after a considerable nap following Condor Heroes, I cued it up. I really enjoyed it. There was less action that what I had been expecting, but the mystery that the replicant detective Joe follows was compelling and made for a fitting continuation of the themes of the original film. Some great acting, moody set pieces, and just the right tone. 

On the return flight to Korea: 

The Naked Gun (Akiva Shafer, 2025)

A sequel/reboot of the classic Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker comedy franchise. It was pretty funny, I'm not gonna lie, and I think Liam Neeson was a good choice for Frank Drebin Jr. But honestly, the writing wasn't quite as sharp as I remember the originals [although it has been many years since I've seen them], or maybe Neeson's comedic timing just isn't as sharp as Leslie Nielson's was. I enjoyed it, but I think there could have been a bit more silliness and a bit tighter editing/pacing of the non-sequiturs may have improved it. 

Tomorrowland (Brad Bird, 2015)

This one completely passed me by when it was released a decade ago. I didn't know anything about it other than the blurb on the in-flight menu [Something along the lines of "Older disgruntled scientist and optimistic teen team up to save a world outside time and space."] It's obviously inspired more or less in name only by the Tomorrowland Disney attraction, like the Pirates of the Caribbean films. And while it's a pretty typical Disney family-friendly feel-good movie, it was fun to watch and had some good character development. Bird is the creative mind behind The Incredibles, after all. I liked it, and the ending made me reminiscent of watching Disney stuff as a kid and feeling hopeful for the future. 

Superman (James Gunn, 2025)

 No notes. Go read my original review of the film for my thoughts. 

Movie Review: Project Hail Mary

 Last Sunday, the family went and saw Project Hail Mary. Here's my review of it.

 

Parents wondering if there are curse words in the movie? Yes, there are. But not as much as in The Martian, a similar movie based on another book by the same author. 

 

First off, this movie is a big hit here in South Korea. My students have been talking about it a lot. And a week ago we tried to see it, but the convenient time slots for us to watch it were sold out. This week, we bought our tickets earlier. Seems like there's plenty of talk about it on the Internet as well. Lots of the YouTube geek media channels have done vids about it. There's talk in book circles about the novel to movie adaptation, etc. 

I haven't read the book. I enjoyed The Martian. Artemis, Andy Weir's follow up novel, was so-so in my opinion. Never bothered to read this one. I may just do that now.  

HOWEVER...the movie was entertaining, but I wouldn't call it great. 

If you don't know, it's yet another story of a human stranded alone in space, having to science their way out of various problems. Except there are a few twists to this movie. The set-up is that alien life is discovered: microorganisms that feed on stellar radiation, which is dimming the stars. The sun and most of our stellar neighbors are in danger this way, so a team is sent to Tau Ceti, which is NOT being affected, to find out why. But things don't go as intended. 

The acting was good, but I doubt if any of the cast will be nominated for an academy award. The special effects were well done. The plot was serviceable (there were some holes), and there were plenty of emotional beats. But in the end...slight spoiler?...the Power of Friendship wins. Which makes for a suitably emotional ending, but left me feeling a bit off about the science parts. Weir's reputation (at least from his first two books) was to try to write hard sci-fi, with as much scientific accuracy as he could. This movie, at least, seems to take a lot of short cuts, so it's more fiction than science. 

Don't get me wrong. It's a fun movie, and it does make you care for the characters and root for them to get out of the fix they're in. It just seems to take a few short cuts to get them out of those messes. And the ending, for me, didn't really make sense. Or at least, it was framed as the "only option" when I could think of at least two ways that it could have ended differently. 

And that's why I now want to read the book. I'm curious if the book took those short cuts, or if that was part of the film adaptation process. 

Anyway, it's a fun popcorn movie. Worth a watch. But I wouldn't blame you if you ignore the buzz (or is it hype?) and wait for it to come out on a streaming service.  

 

Movie Review: K-Pop Demon Hunters

I spent the past three weeks teaching the English camp I usually teach over summer and winter breaks. Yes, board games were played (Dungeon!, King of Tokyo, Werewolf Dead or Alive, Bang!). And this past week, my class watched K-Pop Demon Hunters for entertainment. 

 I head about the movie several weeks back when it came out on Netflix. Lots of people here in Korea were gushing about it. I'm not a fan of K-Pop, though, so I didn't rush to watch it. But my students wanted to see it (some of them for the Xth time), so we did. 

Parents wondering about Curse Words: None that I remember. There's some cartoon violence, but it's fairly kid friendly and wholesome. 

The movie follows a trio of K-pop singers who also happen to be the Chosen Ones to defeat demons and protect the magical weave of the world, the Honmoon. But Rumi, their leader, has a secret. And Gwi-Ma, the demon lord, has sent a group of demons to form a K-Pop boy band, Saja Boys, to compete with Huntr/x, the protagonists' girl group. 

The animation is for the most part really nicely done 3D animation mostly in a heightened reality style, but in anime fashion occasionally shots or scenes switch to more cartoony "chibi" or "kawaii" style. Yeah, it's Korean, but my language for discussing this stuff comes from Japan. Sue me. 

The story is fine for kids, but honestly, it's pretty cliche and predictable. But it does have compelling character arcs that pay off in the end (though you can see them coming if you've seen other Chosen One stories before), so it's competently scripted and the voice acting is good. And the music...well, if you like K-Pop, you'll like this film's soundtrack. It's not my style. 

I did appreciate the nods to Korean history, culture, myths, and legends. And as someone running an Asian fantasy D&D campaign, there's always something useful to snag from something like this. And some of the ideas in the film have given me ides for my campaign. 

In the end, yeah, it's not a bad movie. Just not my normal cup of tea. If you have kids and want to watch something together, there are worse choices could make. And even if you don't have kids, if you like Asian fantasy, K-Pop, Korean culture in general, and/or Chosen One/Magical Girl media, why not give it a watch? If you aren't into any of that stuff, you probably aren't missing much by skipping it. 

Final verdict: Not bad, but not something I'd likely watch again. 

Movie Review: Fantasic Four: First Steps

Yesterday, the new Fantastic Four opened in Korea, a day before in the U.S. So of course we went to see it! This was the movie I was looking forward to the most this year, and to get down to it, it did not disappoint. 

Parents wondering about cursing in the movie: A couple instances of "shit" but otherwise nothing too bad. 

First off, I like this cast. All of the four leads felt right for the characters they were playing. And while I've not read FF comics extensively, I've read a few here and there. And seem them in cartoons, crossover events, etc. They got the characters right. Well, mostly. I did like how in the early 00s FF movies, Johnny and Ben were always bickering...but it was overdone then. There could have been a little more of that in this movie without ruining the feeling, in my opinion. And a few times Reed didn't really seem that smart. I think they were trying to show just how tough of a problem Galactus is, but there were a few scenes that made Reed look impotent. Other than those two things, the characters felt right to me. 

I also really like how all four members have a chance to shine. They each get their moments of character development, vulnerability, and a chance to shine in solving the problem of Galactus. And Galactus really is a problem to be solved, not a villain to be defeated. But I won't say more on that to avoid spoilers. 

The special effects were well done. The music was great. The weird retro-futurist 60s of Earth 828 was cool to just look at and admire. And Pedro Pascal again gets to act alongside an armored, floating CGI baby carriage. 

Sorry if this is a little bit spoilery, but it's got nothing to do with the plot. There was absolutely nothing to tie into any other existing MCU properties, but the mid-credit scene does hint at what's to come. The post-credit scene was just fun.

Best MCU movie to date? No. But it was better than a lot of the stuff that's come out the past couple of years. With this film, Thunderbolts*, and Daredevil Born Again, I'm confident that Marvel is righting where they went wrong. 

But...Superman was better. It hurts to say that, as a Marvel kid, but DC wins this round! Don't let that dissuade you, though. Fantastic Four First Steps was not a fantastic bore. I want fantastic more! 

Movie Review: Superman (2025)

 This afternoon, the whole family went to see the new James Gunn Superman. 

Wondering if there are curse words in it? Quite a few characters say shit, but I don't remember any F-bombs in it. 

So how is the movie? It was excellent. It was fun, exciting, had me almost tearing up in a few places, and finally, we have a Lex Luthor whose genius evil plan is actually fairly intricate and complex. No spoilers, but of course you know it's all going to unravel in the end. But it's a worthy plan for a movie villain. 

The acting was good. My wife has been a fan of Christopher Reeve's Superman since she was a girl, and she really liked Corenswet as Clark/Superman, and Brosnahan as Lois Lane. I really loved Hoult's take on Lex Luthor, and a lot of the supporting cast were fun as well. 

I haven't read Superman comics extensively, but I liked that the film used characters from the All Star Superman run in the Daily Planet. I don't know how important they are in normal Superman comics (haven't read any in a long time) but it was fun to see that group in the film. Plus, they found room for Otis and Miss Tessmacher from the Donner films (who may also be in the comics?).  

Another thing I liked was that the plot didn't go as I was expecting it to from the trailers. That's all I'll say on it, but while there were a few things I predicted, lots of other things surprised me. 

The special effects were mostly good, but there was a scene where a choice was made to make a certain...element, let's say...look like it was made of Minecraft blocks. Not sure where that choice came from, and it looked odd. Was it intentional? Was it just rushed? No idea. But overall the super powers, the fantastic locations, the creatures, etc. looked good.  

Most of all, and no apologies to the Snyder-verse fans, we finally have a Superman who embodies HOPE again. For that, I'm really happy. 

Go see this movie. Seriously. It's good. 

Movie Review: Thunderbolts*

On Saturday, my younger son and I went to see the newest MCU movie, Thunderbolts*. I have to say, I wasn't eagerly anticipating this movie, but the trailers did make me hopeful that it would at least be entertaining. I went in with fairly low expectations, and it surpassed them by quite a bit. 

Note for anyone wondering how much "cursing" is in the movie, there's a fair amount of mild swearing. 

Yes, Google searches for movie titles plus "curse words" still lead people to my movie reviews. 

So, Thunderbolts. The team of the B-league antiheroes. Former villains/opponents, brought together and trying to do the right thing. It's got the Marvel action, humor, and heroics we expect. It's also a movie built around exploring depression, regret, and redemption. Yeah, the movie has heart. It's not a huge world-shattering plot. It feels fairly small and personal, despite the way things go south in the third act and do threaten the world...or at least NYC. 

And for a team that "just punches and shoots" as you may have heard in the trailer, our protagonists can't fall back on their military training to resolve the plot. 

I'll avoid spoilers, but this movie felt like a callback to the Phase I MCU movies. And yet, the resolution (and post-credits stinger) tie into the overarching plot of...what is this, Phase VI? After the slightly better than mediocre (fun and full of action, but failing to resonate) Captain America: Brave New World, this is an improvement. 

Watching Thunderbolts* after watching Daredevil Born Again (which was excellent!), I feel like Marvel may have finally figured out their new formula for success. And I was already looking forward to Fantastic 4 this summer, but I'm even more excited now! Of course, the MCU is also going up against the new James Gunn Superman, which I'm also really excited for. 

If you're missing the feel of the early MCU in the post-Disney+ glut era, check out this movie.

Movie Review -- Captain America: Brave New World

Steven (my 10yo) and I went and saw the new Marvel movie yesterday. It's the fourth Captain America movie, but of course following the events of Avengers Endgame (where Steve Rogers retired) and the Disney+ show Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Sam Wilson becomes the new Captain America, it's got Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson in the title role. So maybe the start of a new Cap trilogy? We'll see.

I'll try to avoid spoilers here, since the movie just released this week. 

Overall, it was a solid political/espionage thriller with superheroes involved. Much like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, while it had its superhero action scenes, it was really a story about solving a mystery and preventing political ramifications from damaging the status quo. In that sense, I really liked it. It didn't need to be a "big damn movie" to tell its story. It used the political and espionage angles to inform us about the characters, rather than setting up a mystical MacGuffin to prevent the end of the world/multiverse. 

Most of the characters had clear motives, and most of the principle characters had a satisfactory story arch within the movie. 

The action scenes were well shot and well edited, so I never felt confused, or that I was just watching a big CGI puke vomited all over the screen. 

The dialogue could have been snappier at times. There were a few funny bits, but not as much as in previous Cap films or in the FatWS series. 

There were a couple of well-placed cameos of characters from previous films/shows that made sense within the narrative, not just as "member-berries."

Was it great? I wouldn't say that. I enjoyed it, and I think people who don't really care about superheroes or science fiction but like espionage thrillers (Bourne movies, etc.) would enjoy it despite the supersoldiers and gamma-fied people and whatnot. And it's got just enough of that comic book goodness to keep the comics nerds in their seats. 

I think it could have been improved if they had not spoiled a few things in their own promotional materials. If they had kept people wondering "will he? won't he?" about Thunderbolt Ross turning into Red Hulk, for example, that might have been better. But that might have been an impossibility in today's social media spoiler age. 

So again, a solid movie. Worth the price of admission, but probably not one to set up among the best of the MCU. But in comparison to the MCU movies of the past two years, it's nice to see them putting out something small, contained, and decently crafted.

Movie Review: Rebel Moon (Part 2)

Yeah, I said I probably wasn't going to watch this after watching Part 1, but I did. So how was it? 

First of all, there was a bit of swearing, but not much. PG-13 level. 1 f-bomb, a few other swears. Not a lot. So parents searching for "curse" words, you've been warned, but it's not bad. 

This was more of the same. 

There were some cool visuals and action sequences, but not as many as in Part 1. 

There were ham-fisted attempts at characterization. Sorry, this is a bit spoilery, but it's at the beginning so I'm not spoiling much. They literally go around the table with each "hero" telling their sad tragic backstory with flashback. And no, they don't actually make me feel more invested in each hero. Except Kora, the main character. She had an additional flashback during a love scene (didn't they do that in part 1 as well? I think so...). During the group therapy session, she clams up. 

King Kong had better character development in Godzilla x Kong (which I saw just before leaving for the USA, and enjoyed, I should write about it). 

The villains are cartoonishly bad. They should be menacing, but they're just kind of pathetic. Why isn't the Resistance mopping them up across the galaxy?

So many plot holes. 

So many predictable developments. I was literally thinking, "Oh, this should happen next" and it does, quite a few times. 

They took the basic framework of 7 Samurai, but other adaptations ranging from The Magnificent Seven to Battle Beyond the Stars have made you at least feel invested in the seven heroes. I don't need to know what it was that Robert Vaughn's character did to feel an attachment to a guy trying to redeem himself. I just need to know that he did some shit and now this is his last chance to make up for it. 

Part 1 at least had some interesting visuals and action scenes to just sit back and enjoy the eye candy. Part 2 felt pretty flat, although the conclusion was done in a way that makes you feel the triumph of their victory (yeah, spoiler, but you knew they were gonna win)...until something happens that seems like it should be a reversal...and then predictable deus ex machina saves the day after all. 

And of course, there's set-up for a sequel. 

I really wouldn't waste your time on this. I had two hours to kill Saturday morning, but even if you are in a similar position, find something else to watch. It's disappointing.

Movie Capsule Review: Dune Part 2 with bonus Lynch 84 Dune notes

Last Thursday, I showed the boys the 1984 David Lynch Dune movie. I hadn't seen it since I was pretty young (late teens or early 20s?). I'd forgotten or hadn't realized back then that it was acted and directed much like as if it were a stage production. Sparse sets, heavily enunciated, etc. And of course, watching it now, the personal shields make the characters look like Minecraft or Roblox characters. 

Still, I enjoyed it. It is suitably weird, and while many of the effects do look dated, I think the sandworms hold up after all these years. Plus, you've got to love Patrick Stewart as Gurney. But this film's version of Duncan Idaho really gets treated poorly. If you hadn't read the books you'd wonder why we should even care about his death. 

Oh, then on Saturday, Flynn and I went to see the new Villeneuve Dune Part 2. 

I liked it, and so did he. It has good production values, and it's pretty well acted. In particular, Christopher Walken is restrained as Emperor Shaddam IV, which is good. Maybe it's his age, maybe it's the directing, but wacko Walken of yesteryear would not have worked for this. 

The film follows the book more closely than the 84 film, but then being split into two parts allows for that. And it has been quite a while since I've read the book, so some of my memories of it could be off, but in this film, Paul is very reluctant to 'go south' and lead the Fremen for a good part of the movie, which I don't remember it being such a big character point in the book. Maybe it's time to read it again, though, I may be misremembering. Other than that, I enjoyed it. 

Is it my favorite sci-fi movie of all time? No, but it was definitely worth the wait from part 1. And having just recently (finally) read Dune Messiah, I'm looking forward to the Part 3 coming in a few years.

Movie Review: Rebel Moon (part 1)

On Friday, my older son and I watched the new Zack Snyder film on Netflix, Rebel Moon (part 1). 

For those who don't know, this started out as a pitch for a Star Wars film that Lucasfilm rejected. 

And for those of you wondering if it has curse words, not really. Other than the violence and one attempted rape scene (no nudity), it's pretty kid friendly. 

Now I'm not a huge Snyder fan, but I've enjoyed some of his works in the past. So I was curious to see what he would have done with a Star Wars film. Obviously, this film has been changed. The serial numbers have been filed off, but I also assume some things have been changed story-wise as well since it was pitched to Disney/Lucasfilm. But the curiosity was there. 

While watching, at first, Flynn kept puzzling over what era of Star Wars this would have been set in, if LF had picked it up. Was it Palpatine's Empire? The Sith Empire? Some future era? The opening narration tells us that it happens after 100 kings had ruled (or was it 1000?) but that could easily have changed from the original SW version. Were the Bloodaxe siblings originally Luke and Leia? Probably not. We never could figure it out.

Anyway, about the film itself: we were both disappointed by it. 

I don't want to spoil things, so I'll just say this: the pacing was slow and plodding, which you'd expect from a more character driven piece. But there was little to no character development, and most characters were introduced in a way that didn't give us much emotional involvement with them. The ending wasn't a surprise, and didn't really leave me thrilled to have spent two hours watching this thing. 

Snyder is known for his cool visuals, and this film was lacking in that as well. The CGI and the settings looked OK, but they used camera settings that hyper-focused certain things and left the periphery looking like vaseline was smeared over the lens. At first, I thought it was my eyes or a smudge on my glasses, but no, it was the way the movie was shot. And when there were big action/adventure set pieces, they weren't that amazing. Fairly run of the mill, really. 

I'm not sure if I'll bother with Part 2 when it comes out in a few months. 

Would I recommend it? Not really, but if you're already paying for Netflix and you've got a few hours to spare, it's not the worst thing you could watch. There are a few things you might be able to pull from it as gaming inspiration, but don't expect to be taken away to a place long, long ago in a galaxy far away.  For all of George Lucas' faults as a writer/director, the worst of his Star Wars movies are still better than this.

Why People Are Upset with the MCU (And how that relates to high level gaming)

In 2008, the same year we moved to Korea and my first son was born, Iron Man debuted in theaters, and The Hulk (Ed Norton...remember that?) not long after. And the MCU was born. This led to an eventually more and more interconnected series of films based on the Marvel comics, culminating in Avengers Infinity War in 2018 and Endgame in 2019. 

Right before Covid19. 

And since Endgame, we've not only had covid delaying projects, we had the release of Disney+ streaming with more MCU content in the forms of limited series and one shot special presentations along with the movies. And in this post-Endgame MCU, lots of fans have been underwhelmed. I've been enjoying most of it, but it's hard to follow something as cathartic as Endgame. Say what you will about the quality of the movie itself as a film, as a culmination of 11 years of interconnected storytelling, it was a satisfying way to wrap up that story arch. 

And then Marvel had to keep putting out more content. 

I think they've been making the right moves. They've diversified the types of content they're putting out, both as types of media properties, and with regard to the types of stories they're telling and the characters they're bringing in to the MCU. We've got intense character-driven drama (WandaVision), typical action adventure fare (Shang-Chi, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Hawkeye), horror-tinged superheroics (Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Werewolf by Night), comic action (Loki, Ms. Marvel), 4th wall breaking comedy (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), along with continuing some of the previous popular franchises (Guardians of the Galaxy [done well], Thor: Love and Thunder [not done very well]), and even working in previous Marvel movie properties (Spider-Man No Way Home, The Marvels) within the MCU's new Multiverse phase. 

None of these projects really come close to the feeling of culmination that Endgame brought the long-time fans, although GotG3 and Spider-Man No Way Home come close. And that's upset a lot of fans. And then there are the chuds who think every project with a female or POC lead is pandering to the "Woke Mob" or some garbage. But they'd be upset no matter what Marvel does, since outrage leads to social media engagement. Let's ignore them and focus on the fans who are just feeling a bit let down because the drama isn't cranked up to 11 on these projects. 

How does this relate to high level D&D? Isn't it obvious? 

Look at Marvel Comics. I don't know any comic fans that try to follow every single book Marvel (or DC or Image or whichever comics company you follow) puts out. Not every book suits everyone's tastes, and it's okay to follow those you like and not those you don't. 

The current state of the MCU is pretty much the same. Before Infinity War/Endgame, everyone was pretty much on the same page. You had to watch the movies. All of them. The TV shows were optional (I still haven't seen Agent Carter, The Inhumans, Cloak and Dagger...I did watch Agents of SHIELD and all the Daredevil Netflix related shows). Now, though, not every movie is for the entire audience. Not every show or special is for the entire audience. It's OK to pick and choose. There is variety. 

Your campaign should be similar to the comics or the current MCU. There should be all sorts of things going on in your campaign. Different types of things. Sometimes, every player will be interested in something going on. Sometimes, some players will and others won't. Sometimes, no one will be interested. And that's all good. 

If you're playing a high level game, as I've mentioned before, not every player needs to be involved in every game session. Each player should be able to follow their own interests. Maybe a subset of PCs will be interested in a common thing, and they can game together. Sometimes, everyone gets together to forward some common goal. But the campaign should cease to be built around the idea of all the players getting together each week or fortnight to game as a unit. 

If you've built your game up to basically focus on this small group of heroes and their antics, and then you suddenly try to diversify the campaign now that you're at high levels and the typical dungeon raid is losing it's appeal, you're going to run into some of the bumpiness that the MCU fandom has been going through the past three years or so. But you can get through it, if you stick with it. If you're not at that climax moment of the campaign yet, start diversifying it now (ideas for adventure/challenge diversity in that link). 

Trust me, if you do start diversifying the campaign now, then after the PCs have finally toppled Drol Krad the Dark Lord, they will still have many irons in the fire for them to pursue after the campaign's "endgame" and they can start the real endgame of the campaign: Domains. Political Intrigue. Leadership. Quests. Personal Ambitions. Planar Exploration. Epic Challenges. Building Legacies.

Reviews: Loki Season 2, The Marvels

This week, we had both the season 2 finale (possibly series finale?) of Loki on Disney+, and the premier of the newest MCU film, The Marvels. This is a spoiler-free review of both. 

Obligatory "Curse" Word Notice for Parents: The Marvels has a few mild swears. Loki as well. Nothing much to worry about. 

Loki Season 2

I really like how this show played out in the second season. I really enjoyed the first season, as well. 

In season 2, we see Loki and companions finding out about what the TVA really is, and is not, and it had a few surprising twists along the way. There were great comedic performances from Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Key Huy Quan, and the rest of the cast, and some bits of good emotional/dramatic acting as well. 

I may have mentioned this in my Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review, but I'm bummed that Jonathan Majors may be out as Kang, because he is (despite being an accused abuser) very talented and does a great job as Kang/He Who Remains/Victor Timely. But if Marvel/Disney need to replace him with another actor, or find a way to switch to another villain like Dr. Doom, I can handle it. 

Dealing with characters who are "outside" of time, where time is a constant flat circle to those outside its frame of reference, is difficult, and there were definitely times when I thought, wait a minute... But the show made sense in general, and the emotional through-line was satisfying. 

The Marvels

The family just saw this yesterday. My older son and I enjoyed it. It's not a top tier MCU film, but it's solid and entertaining, in our opinions. My younger son proclaimed it "mid" and my wife (who wasn't all that impressed by the Ms. Marvel show, but who did enjoy the first Captain Marvel movie) didn't like it that much. 

While overall, it's a fun movie, and the plot is interesting, there is a bit of unevenness in the acting. Iman Velani is hamming it up, and really makes the film, as Kamala Khan. Kamala's family, just like in the D+ show, are also really fun to watch. Brie Larson, who in general I find to be a good actress, seemed to be phoning it in, though. Every emotion was muted. In scenes where Carol Danvers had some emotional struggle, she wasn't overly upset, wasn't overly happy, wasn't overly embarrassed... She was a bit too Zen. 

And I think the editing of the movie, while it did cut the fat and make it speed by, rendered some other parts a bit off-putting. Sam Jackson's Nick Fury is a big part of the movie...except it feels like he's hardly in the movie. He does stuff. People do stuff around him. But it never really quite feels like he's fully part of the story for some reason. There was a big focus on developing the character in Captain Marvel, and maybe they thought with the release coming so soon after Secret Invasion that they didn't need to play up the Nick Fury side of things, but he could have been replaced with generic S.A.B.E.R. Agent and it wouldn't have changed anything. The nameless (Asgardian?) S.A.B.E.R. agent that Yusuf tries to talk into investing for retirement could have filled the role. 

On the plus side, Zawe Ashton's villain Dar-Ben had a plausible beef with Captain Marvel, and a sinister and crafty plan that made sense and would put her in the "hero" role for the Kree. And that role didn't need a ton of backstory to make it plausible and understandable, either. 

Oh, and of course there is a fun final scene, and a mid-credit scene that tease future projects and provide a LOT of fan service. 

________________

My recommendation? If you haven't seen Loki, watch it. It's fun, funny, and charming. It's the best MCU thing that has been on Disney+. 

The Marvels is good, but not amazing. If you're feeling super-hero fatigue, I won't blame you if you skip it. The stuff with Kamala Khan and her family may make it worth the price of admission if you enjoyed their show. Otherwise, it's a fairly by-the-numbers comic book hero movie.

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

 I just finished watching the new, and final, Indiana Jones film. I won't spoil it, but I'll give a few thoughts. 

And for parents wondering about curse words in the film, rest assured, this is as family friendly as Indy has always been. 

I, like many people my age, grew up with the original Indiana Jones trilogy, and love those movies. And while they're set in the modern age, they've got a lot that can be emulated in D&D. The movies are, after all, about a treasure hunter. But also like most of us, I felt that the 4th film, which came out 15 years ago, was terrible. It had some of the style of the old movies, but not enough. It relied overly much on CGI (which wasn't always that good), and had a clunky script. 

But this latest and final movie learned from those mistakes. And it's not surprising, as it's directed by James Mangold, who knows how to make a great movie. 

This iteration of Indiana Jones is of course much older, but we do get some time at the beginning with a digitally de-aged Indy during WWII, and it looked really good. It felt a lot like Spielberg's original trilogy. The whole movie, really. Even once it transitions to the "present" of 1969, they quickly move the action to the Mediterranean Sea, where things are a bit older and less modern than 60's New York City. 

The movie has all the plot points you'd expect from an Indy film. Lots of chases, reversals, switching possession of the McGuffin, clever escapes from dangerous situations, bad guys who just won't stop, and tension between Indy and his allies. One down-side is that the movie is nearly 3 hours long. That's a bit much, but the movie does keep things moving so it wasn't boring. And Harrison Ford was still able to pull off that Indiana Jones charm one more time. 

In addition to all the swashbuckling, derring-do, and such, Indiana Jones is given an emotional character arc in the movie, but that part was a little weak. It's set up and worked into his character choices in the film, but in the end it gets resolved a little too quickly, and not by a choice made by Jones. But we really come to these movies for the chases, the crawls through old ruins and tombs, and the excitement. So it doesn't bother me too much. Indy didn't really have much character growth in the first two films, either. 

There are only a few references to the older movies (and that includes Crystal Skull), but there were some nice cameos from some of our favorite characters. One was noticeably missing, though. Too bad. 

Now that Ford is retiring the character, I'd love to see a reboot of the series, but not a rehash of the old films. I'd rather they do what they do with James Bond. Cast a new young actor. Make more Indiana Jones films set in the 1930s. Hell, they don't need to stick to any sort of timeline. Just give us some good early 20th century cliffhanger serial style adventure films, and every few years recast Indy with a new, younger actor. Why not? Disney has the property now, you know they're going to try and milk it for all it's worth. Might as well dive feet first into what really works. 

Oh, and an interesting side note. Neither of my boys were interested in seeing it, so I went by myself. There were maybe around six or seven fellow geezers (yeah, I'm not quite that old, but...) in the theater. When I arrived, there were around 100 6th graders hanging around the lobby. I thought they were probably going to see Across the Spiderverse as a school trip (my younger son's school is right now on a science museum field trip, must be field trip day in Busan). But no, they were here to see this movie. And there were more than 100. The theater was packed with them, and I think there were 180 seats. While they were somewhat noisy and disruptive, they were having fun. And when the movie finished, a lot of them started to applaud.

Multiversal Movie Micro Reviews

 Just a quick post to discuss briefly two movies I've watched. Gaming is going well, and work on the GM guide for TS&R is going really slow (too much real work to do), so not much directly game related to blog about at the moment. So we get this instead. 

And yes, today I'm going to give my quick capsule reviews, spoiler free, for Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse from Sony/Marvel, and The Flash from Warner/DC. 

For parents worried about cursing: I don't remember any horrible swears in Spider-Man. The Flash had the one allowed F-bomb for a PG13 film, right at the end, and not a lot of other swearing. 

Across the Spiderverse (AtSV) is of course the sequel to Into the Spiderverse from a few years back. As with the first movie, I really love the mixing and unconventional use of animation styles in this movie. It's just a pleasure to watch from a visual arts perspective. It uses colors, art styles, meta details like art direction notes, and even frame rates to make each world and each version of Spider-Man distinct and interesting. I really enjoyed watching this up until the ending. The story is good, but not as tight as ItSV. It's got that "middle of the trilogy" problem that we saw in The Matrix or the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, where the first movie was a solid standalone story with potential for more, but the second and third installments are really one big story so you need to wait for the conclusion. That said, it was a solid film otherwise, and it has me excited for the conclusion. 

The Flash is the possibly final entry to the current DCEU movie line (I think there's some TV shows left as well) before James Gunn takes over and relaunches things. I've never been as big of a DC fan as I am a Marvel fan from my comics reading days, but the Flash has always been my favorite DC character. This movie actually does something I found really cool, in that while telling its own self-contained story, it also sets up the possibility of multiversal rebooting, which would allow the upcoming Gunn line of DCU movies/shows to take what they like from the Snyderverse and ditch the rest. As a story on its own merits, it was entertaining, and I don't want to spoil things, but it was a bit refreshing that the main conflict for Barry Allen/The Flash Prime in the end was internal, and the external challenges are really resolved by all the other characters. It seems like they learned from the mistakes of Wonder Woman, which should have had internal conflict front and center in the end, but was just a big punch-out instead. 

Both of these movies, by their multiversal nature, spend a lot of time referencing previous media involving their main characters, which is always a lot of fun. I think both of these films handle multiverse concepts better than either Spider-Man: No Way Home or Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did. Of the two, AtSV is the better movie, but The Flash wasn't bad.

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Yesterday (Friday) was Children's Day, so the boys had the day off from school. We celebrated by seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and having lunch at a pizza/salad bar buffet. Oh, and I ran a session of Star Wars d6, but I'll save that for another post. Let's talk about the movie! 

First off, since Google searches for movie title + curse word tend to direct people here, if you're worried about curse words in a movie, this one had a small amount, but as you may have heard, Star Lord drops the first F-bomb in the MCU. It wasn't where I would have expected it to be, and so it comes off as rather inconsequential. So anyway, be warned if you don't want your kids to hear that kind of language.

How was the movie? So good. There is an interesting plot line, not a ton of exposition at the beginning but you don't need it anyway, and the emotional stakes are clear through the movie. And they don't all resolve the way I expected them to resolve, which was a nice touch. 

I've got to say, like a lot of other people, I thought Phase 4 of the MCU was weak. And maybe it's just hard to follow something like Infinity War/End Game with lesser stakes, lesser intensity movies. And Phase 4 was also an expansion/set-up phase, which Marvel needs. They can't just keep milking the same characters forever if they want to keep audiences involved. I thought Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a step back towards the sorts of movies we expect (although it has some flaws). This movie, though, was not just getting back, it was overdoing it. 

I don't want to give any spoilers this early after the movie's release, but as I said, the movie makes you care for these characters and their troubles, and forces them to confront a lot of issues, but it's also got that GotG humor throughout. The movie has lots of crazy locations and action set pieces, an interesting and differently motivated villain, interesting new characters, some old familiar supporting characters returning, and a lot of heart. James Gunn knows how to make a movie, and I'm actually looking forward to him setting the DC hero movies on the right track after the years of whatever they've been doing (which mostly hasn't worked for me). 

Go see this movie. Even if you're sick of Marvel, even if you're not a fan of comic book movies, go see this. It's a rare trilogy ender that is better than the previous two entries.

Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves review

Yesterday morning, the boys and I took in an early showing of the new D&D movie. We went to a morning show because after lunch, we met up with the group for my TS&R Jade game. The game went well. We had a new player, Philip who has been playing in my Star Wars campaign tried D&D for the first time. Nate & Denis, plus my boys, and Denis' daughter Renee (who played Goldie the Fairy Princess in my West Marches game) also showed up. Philip and Renee needed new characters, and Flynn (my older boy) forgot his character sheet, so we needed to roll up 3 new PCs for the game. But despite that, they still managed to make their first foray into The Pits of Lao, the micro-megadungeon near the home town (300 keyed areas over 3 levels, but no plans to expand it further, so micro-mega). They found one of the "special" special rooms, where they had chances to compete in various challenges to raise their ability scores...at the risk of dropping them if they lost. Some winners, some losers. Lots of fun. They also managed to talk or sneak their way past every other encounter, and steal a bit of treasure on the way, so all in all a good session! 

But you're probably here to read about the movie, not my game. And of course, since internet searches for "curse words in movie x" often end up here, there were some swearing in the movie, but not too much. Several instances of thematically appropriate or comically timed "shit" but no f-bombs. That's about it. 

So, how did we like it? Overall, it was entertaining. Compared to the bar set by the D&D movies of 20 years ago, it was amazing! But that's a pretty low bar. Compared to other classic or more modern fantasy films, it was decent, but not amazing. 

The casting and acting was pretty good. Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez are charming and funny as the leads. Hugh Grant is having a blast hamming it up as the con-man turned nobleman. The other supporting actors all turned in good performances. 

The special effects were fine. Nothing amazing. The magical effects and monsters looked pretty good, but they weren't the best CGI I've ever seen. Sometimes it was just very apparent that it was an animated thing. While I think some early CGI movies (the original Jurassic Park, the Lord of the Rings trilogy) have effects that still look pretty good all these years later, I don't know if these effects will still look so good down the road. But for now, they're good enough. Better than a lot of the stuff in Quantumania (a film I enjoyed, but it's pretty much 2 hours of CGI soup to look at). 

The story was very appropriate to D&D, and all the fun little references and Easter eggs were fun to try and spot. There wasn't anything in the film that isn't established in D&D already as far as magic or monsters go, which is a plus for fans of the game. 

But while I've seen some people online praising this move, there's one thing I found it annoying and caused the first half of the movie to drag and be a bit boring. Every time a main character gets introduced, there's a big exposition scene. Now, that is kind of like what happens in some peoples' games when a new character joins the party. And so that does kind of fit in a D&D movie that's trying to play out like it could be a game of D&D without the 4th wall breaks of a movie like The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. But as a guy who has studied how to make a movie, it was a bit grating. My boys found it pretty boring at first, too, and they have not studied screenwriting. I've been thinking of all the ways they could have shown us the backstories without having to tell them to us. And in some instances, the whole "backstory" flashback was just to set up a joke later in the movie which was extra annoying.

The second half of the movie was much better. It focused on the characters having to overcome their personal issues while trying to overcome the external challenges of the film, which is what makes for good cinema. And the ending was suitably emotionally engaging (if predictable). There were a lot of jokes in the movie. Some hit, some missed. I'd say for me more hit than missed. The potatoes usually hit. ;)

We liked it, but none of us came out of the theater loving it. It was fun. It was alright. I'd watch it again when it comes up on streaming (if it's on one of the services we subscribe to). And if they made a sequel, I'd go see it. But I wouldn't go spend money to see it again in the theater.

The movie, huh? And TS&R Updates

So it's been 10 days since my last post. I figure I should put something up here on the old blog. But I don't have a lot to say about gaming at the moment. 

My last Star Wars session (on the 12th) went really well. They managed to avoid some of the complications and finish everything I'd prepped in just that one session. They did some pre-planning before the session started, and that allowed me to get some of the fiddly logistics out of the way (ship upgrades, droid purchases, trading the Inquisitor's shuttle for a Z-95 Headhunter to run escort for their YT-1300 freighter, etc.) before the session started. Then they managed to leverage their various skills to slip through an Imperial blockade, pick up a group of Mandalorians including an armorer who could forge the beskar steel they found in the previous game, and then run a con with the blockade just long enough to plot a course into hyperspace and jump out seconds before getting intercepted by TIE Fighters and engaged with by Star Destroyer long range guns. They got the Mandos to the 4th Moon of Bogden (where once upon a time Jango Fett was hired to be a clone donor), and after a run-in with a pair of pickpockets running a damsel in distress con, got their weapons/armor upgraded in thanks. Mandalore has been destroyed in the Night of 1000 Tears though, so that will have some ramifications going forward in the game. 

I've been watching The Mandalorian season 3, and liking it so far. It's a bit different feel than the previous two seasons, but so far I'm interested in what they'll do with the story now. Also, season 2 of the Bad Batch, which is not quite as interesting as season 1 was. Maybe it will pick up in the final few episodes? 

I had originally planned to wait and binge watch season 3 of Star Trek Picard. Season 2 was so-so, so I hadn't been too eager for it, despite knowing that most of the TNG cast would be appearing. But then I heard some good buzz from friends, so started in on it. It's definitely better than S1 or S2 so far, but the whole "dark and gritty" tone of modern Trek, and the emphasis on trying to tell cool stories rather than interesting (pseudo) scientific stories, just doesn't work as well for me. Maybe I should start in on Strange New Worlds. I haven't watched any of that yet, but I hear it's more like classic Trek. 

And on the movie side of things, Shazam 2 is out, but we haven't seen it yet. I really liked the first Shazam. It's the best DCEU film. But we were busy this past weekend with a lot of stuff, so it's still on the to-watch list. And the D&D movie seems to be out in the US, at least in some markets. I've seen people posting about it on Facebook. But it's not out in Korea yet. We'll definitely go see it. It looks fun, and from what I've been reading on social media, it's a decent adventure comedy film, although not so "D&D" other than a lot of fan service thrown in. 

Back to gaming, other than Star Wars, I'm still working on my TS&R Ruby books. The players book could be released as is, but I think I should read over it one more time. I always find a few small mistakes. Also, I don't have any equipment illustrations like the Jade book has, but then the Jade book's ones are my poorly hand-drawn efforts, so maybe it's just as well without it.

I'm almost done formatting the Ruby Bestiary & Treasury as well. It's got even more monsters than the Jade book (over 400, compared to 350+ in Jade), but more of them are familiar to D&D players. Still, I've managed, while formatting for space and illustrations, to find space to plug in a few more monsters, so there are some new things in there. Both of these books will also be pay-what-you-want titles when I get them ready. B&T just needs a reworking of the random encounter tables, as the ones I had before included a lot of monsters that are only in Jade, and I might want to put a few of the late entries in there as well. Once the random encounter tables are done, the book is ready. 

Editing/revising/formatting the Ruby books also helped me find a few mistakes in the Jade books, so I'll likely be updating those soon as well. I'll let everyone know here on the blog, and via DriveThru when the updated versions have been uploaded.

Movie Review - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The movie opened on Wednesday, 2/15 in South Korea, so we got to see it a bit before some other countries did. So if you're surprised that I'm already reviewing it, that's why. I don't have any inside connections. :D 

Mandatory Curse Words Warning: For parents googling "Are there curse words in Quantumania?" (Yes, I still get those!), there isn't very much. Hank Pym has the worst mouth in the movie, but all in all it's pretty family friendly. I think it was a bit less than in the previous Ant-Man movies, actually. 

On to the movie itself (no spoilers)! First of all, I really liked it. After Dr. Strange & the Multiverse of Madness (which I quite liked but was a different kind of superhero movie) and Thor Love & Thunder (which was OK, but I'm not itching to give it a second viewing), then Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (which was emotional but felt incomplete), this felt like a return to the Marvel formula in a way, but it wasn't 100% the typical MCU plotting. In fact, the plot draws heavily on pulpy/YA secondary world fantasy, where characters from our world get pulled into a fantasy land and have to learn to navigate its ways while fighting the evil wizard who rules over the place (as seen in The Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Three Hearts & Three Lions, The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show, etc.). 

It's also nice to see a Marvel movie where instead of the main character having daddy issues, he has issues with being a daddy. 

The characters are pretty well established by now, and the actors were able to work well as an ensemble. Kathryn Newton fit in well as the re-cast Cassie Lang. She seemed like she'd been part of this family since the beginning. And Jonathan Majors was legitimately menacing as Kang. 

There were a few plot holes here and there (one big glaring one that would have rendered the entire movie pointless, but oh well), but overall the story line was pretty easy to follow along, even for my 8 year old, and it was engaging and fun to watch.

So if you're one of those people complaining that Marvel has gotten too experimental recently, this should appease you. And if you're one of the people who was happy to see the MCU moving away from the formulaic plots and themes, this might not be your cup of tea, but I at least found it to be different enough from the archetypal MCU movie while still retaining the MCU feel. 

And it's got me even more excited for what's to come. There's also a slightly different type of post credit scene (the second one) which I found cool. But no spoilers. You're gonna have to go see it yourself (or look it up on YouTube I guess).

Disappointment

I know I said I was gonna try to blog about RPGs more and media less, but I gotta put something up on the blog here. Sorry to disappoint.

We watched the first episode of the new Disney+ Willow show. It was a disappointment as well. 

I gotta say, when the movie first came out, and the commercials and trailers said the name, I was not interested. It sounded too soft and silly, not like the badass fantasy I wanted to watch. But my best friend saw it, told me about it, and I checked it out (later, on home video). And loved it! 

Back in the 90s, Chris Claremont of X-Men comics fame wrote a trilogy of novels as sequels to the movie. But he basically blew up the world of the movies and changed everything, just keeping a couple of characters (Willow, Elora Danan, the brownies Franjean and Rool) and shoehorned them into what I assume was the fantasy novel trilogy he wanted to write that had nothing to do with Willow. 

I don't remember if I even finished the second novel or not. 

Despite knowing that the new Disney+ show is just the latest of the relentless 80s/90s nostalgia cash grabs, I had hoped it would be better than those Claremont novels. After the first episode, I'm not so sure. 

The episode, despite having Joanne Whaley as Queen Sorsha narrating the opening explaining what's happened since the movie, felt nothing like the movie. The tone was off. The dialogue from everyone but Sorsha (and later Willow & Meegosh) was too modern. It felt like watching one of those old Disney Channel programs my son would watch sometimes when he was little. Wizards of Waverly Place or something. Well, it had a more serious tone than that, but the whole "cool teens doing cool teen stuff" vibe was off-putting. There was nothing like the mythic, classic fantasy vibe of Lucas's movie. And that was before the crappy pop song end credits. 

Now, to make sure there are no misunderstandings...

 

-- spoilers ahead, be warned -- 

 

I wasn't bothered by the lesbian romance. The inversion of the prince of Galadorn being the educated, intelligent but worthless in a fight character was interesting. There were some cool monsters to fight in one sequence. But other than that, that's about it. It was even pretty obvious all along who was secretly Elora Danan. 

I'll probably check out next week's episode to give it a second chance, but if this episode is equally bad, I probably won't finish the series. What a let-down after the entertaining She Hulk and excellent Andor (yeah, probably more on this soon, since it really knocked it out of the park after the first two so-so episodes).