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ACollegeStudent
What my ratings mean:
9.5-10: Masterpiece (life's work level media)
9.0-9.5: Incredible to Near Masterpiece
8.0-8.9: Great to Exceptional
7.5-7.9: Good to Very Good
7.0-7.5: Fine to Good
6.0-6.9: Bad to Meh
5: Bad
4: Terrible
3: Very Terrible
2: Horrible
1: God Awful
Ratings
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An error has ocurred. Please try againWhat my ratings mean: 9.5-10: Masterpiece 9.0-9.5: Incredible to Near Masterpiece 8.0-8.9: Great to Exceptional 7.5-7.9: Good to Very Good 7.0-7.5: Fine to Good 6.0-6.9: Bad to Meh 5: Bad 4: Terrible 3: Very Terrible 2: Horrible 1: God Awful
Reviews
Monogatari: Off & Monster Season (2024)
Shinobu Backstory!
Rating: 7.7
Favorite Episode: Wazamonogatari Acerola Bon Appétit Part One
Another solid entry to the monogatari series. Interesting character expansions: Deathtopia shinobu's master is revealed, and coherent character introspections: Nadekomonogatari forcing nadeko to literally confront her past, Araragi realizing he hasn't matured as much as he thought after speaking with Kagueni, Shinobu's past revelation explaining her mannerisms and why she became a vampire etc. Some elements of the arcs were contrived such as Ononoki and Nadeko being uncharacteristically stupid in spawning the worst most powerful version of nadeko expecting her to help OG nadeko's manga aspirations, Harimaze being light level intelligent using her phone to record the specialists at the crime scene to throw off the specialists when she didn't know they existed to begin with etc. Those instances are few and far between for the most part the narrative was tightly written and engaging with an incredibly creative presentation.
Sôsô no Furîren (2023)
A Refreshing Inversion on the Heroes' Journey
Rating: 8.4
Favorite Episode: Tsuyoi mahôtsukai
Favorite Chapter: 98
A refreshing inversion of the heroes journey that teaches you life lessons in a phenomenal visual package. The inversion here is that the narrative starts after the main antagonist (the demon king) is killed and then does a partial character study on Frieren throughout her quest to empathize and find new meaning in her timeless life. The world building is intricate as you visit different settlements on their journey to Ende, where new characters are seamlessly added to the lore complimenting the themes of the arcs while being nuanced and interesting. The serious arcs are varied (ex the Macht arc was mostly a character study, the exam arc was a battle royale, and the most recent arc is a political spy thriller...) which keeps the show engaging. Conflicts are resolved with strategy as the power system follows hard magic but doesn't slow the pacing with monologues. The main cast can and do get hurt when they are outmatched which keeps the stakes moderate however the narrative isn't anywhere near completion so it's expected that we have yet to see an enemy cause permanent damage to any of them. Most impressively in the manga the author was able to execute closed loop causal time travel (Frieren went back in time to get Himmel to write the time travel spell on the goddess monument, that she would have to read to get sent back in time) without destroying the narrative. The only cons of this is that the fluffy arcs between the serious ones are boring and repetitive: (the main trio go on a low stakes fetch quest for a Grimoire, a past flashback explaining the life lesson of the quest crops up, the main trio then leave that village, then rinse and repeat). It adds to the lore but detracts from the engagement as as nothing of consequence is happening to keep you entertained. Similarly, Himmel is a boring and highly idealized hero. He has interesting characteristics like not being able to wield this worlds "Excalibur" and being slightly prideful, but other than that he's perfect in every way even dubbing himself Himmel the "hero" as a kid, never giving up, and saving everyone, and always saying the right thing at the right time. This is probably done on purpose because the story is mostly from Frieren's perspective and she falls more for him as the story progresses, but he's still one of the weaker characters of the series. In the same vein Fern wasn't a very entertaining character for a good portion of the narrative, not only is her character design is plain (she should look either more rugged given she survived a war as a kid or more elegant given she is extraordinarily powerful mage), but also her mannerisms; she has the personality of monotone driftwood, and her antics like her pouting whenever Stark does anything mildly wrong is neither "cute" or funny (especially since she became an adult). However as the manga progress she shows more variance as the stakes of the conflicts rise: like her meltdown in chapter 136. As a whole these cons do not detract from the overall story and can and probably will be resolved before the story ends.
The Boondocks (2005)
A Satirical Commentary on Society
Rating: 6.9
Favorite Episode: Granddad's Fight
A hilarious satirical commentary on the socio-economic and cultural state of black people in America. As a black guy, I could relate to most of the cultural references that were the backbone of the episodes in the show, and enjoyed how they roasted black people while also delivering positive lessons for any race of people. However as the series progresses you get accustomed to the humor so it becomes less funny after season 2, and the final season had a dramatic dip in quality (it was no longer clever and just became the Cleveland show). But overall a pretty funny anime-inspired comedy.
Taxi Driver (1976)
A Mildly Interesting Character Study
Rating: 7.0
A character study of a mentally disturbed war vet, on a quest to find purpose in his life and to become the protagonist of his own story. This is what inspired Joker (2019) but unlike that movie, most of it wasn't imaginary. Travis's character was coherent and interesting as he was disturbed but not comically unhinged. There were purposeful contradictions in his character such as his self-proclaimed observational prowess on other people's morals when he himself is morally grey. The movie was mildly engaging and funny in places like when he took Betsy to a porno and was baffled she dumped him afterward. There was also an unexpected twist of him "going viral" and becoming the hero for killing the pimps and freeing Iris. Lastly, the ending was ambiguous when it comes to whether he and Betsy will make-up and whether he will lash out at society again in the future (he's still disturbed). But it was an interesting character study despite lacking depth from the side characters and urgency to keep the narrative engaging.
Black Lagoon Omake (2009)
Levity to an otherwise dark series
Rating: 3.0
Favorite Episode: The Melancholy of Balalaika
A bunch of fluffy nonsensical shorts with the black lagoon characters in comedic scenarios. It was funny to see Balalaika actually married to Chang in one episode with Hansel and Gretel as their children. It was also interesting to see that Balalaika's right hand man in the past was actually a generic "soyboy" who only looks battle hardened because he was tired of getting picked on in school. As a whole, I thought most of it wasn't funny, but they're only 5 minutes long and provide some decent levity to an otherwise serious sienen....
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)
The End Of Harry Potter
Rating: 6.9
The end of Harry Potter. The finale answered the major series questions such as why Dumbledore allowed himself to be killed by Snape, why Snape "switched sides," why Harry was mentally bound to Voldemort, why Snape is such a simp, etc. It was visually appealing as the Battle of Hogwarts had great production value, and it ended on a positive note (despite all the deaths, Harry was able to absolve himself of the curse and live a happy life). The series doesn't delve into what Voldemort's motives are exactly besides making Hogwarts edgy and being racist towards Muggles; in that respect, he's a lackluster villain. On the same note, Neville's power of friendship speech at the end was corny as well as him being the one to end Voldemort, but other than that, this is an okay ending to an okay series.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
Probably the best Harry Potter Installment
Rating: 7.1
A dark low fantasy manhunt. With the Death Eaters gaining the upper hand, this installment follows the main trio largely on the run where many of the side characters either get maimed or die, trying to protect Harry and co. The pacing was good, and the tension was palpable as you never knew where Harry's enemies could be. Ron continued to be a nuisance character as his conflict with Harry regarding his inferiority complex and belief that Harry would date Hermione was out of place, contrived, and irritating. However, he wasn't completely useless in this movie as he did destroy one of the Horcruxes. Overall probably the best Potter in the series.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
A Predictable Hero's Journey
Rating: 6.0
A lackluster generic heroes journey with none of the characters you love from the prior ape films. The overall plot was predictable from Noah losing his family, which catalyzed his heroes journey. To him acquiring a mentor (Raka). To him losing that mentor, to him completing his journey and becoming the leader his father wanted him to be. Nothing in this archetype is well done or unique. Similarly, the side characters don't have any distinct traits besides Mae who leans too heavily into being an antihero who even in the last scene contemplates killing Noah, who isn't even a threat to humanity and has shown true altruism towards her despite her betrayal. The highlight of this was the ending where we see the remnants of humanity link up, opening the door for a more interesting sequel. As a whole, a mediocre sequel.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (2024)
Inferior to Tales of the Jedi
Rating: 5.8
Favorite Episode: N/A
A substantial step down from Tales of the Jedi. The first two episodes are just setup to explain the origins of Morgan Elsbeth in the empire. Her motivations make no sense (she joins the empire to execute revenge on an entity (the separatists) that don't even exist anymore, and channel her technical prowess as Thrawns underling)? It's better than working for people ungrateful for your servitude but isn't an understandable character progression. The rest of the episodes answer the question some Clone Wars fans had which was. What happened to Barriss Offee. It was surprising how Vader didn't even react to Barriss becoming an inquisitor given that she's the reason Ashoka got banned from the order accelerating his distrust of the council and descent to the dark side. But this can be explained away by the dichotomy of Vader's character. The rest of her arc was the predictable I'm not as evil as I thought I was arc where as she realizes going full dark side isn't the moral stance she wants to take any more and becomes a village healer. It was just disappointing that they decided to focus on these characters rather than more compelling ones such as Thrawn or Vader or Ventress.
Akira (1988)
It's Not What You Think It Is
Rating: 7.6
A complicated abstract allegory about humanity playing with a power they cannot responsibly possess. (it's a metaphor for nukes). This movie has some of the best shock value since EoE and must've startled the people watching this in the 80's. The movie's A-plot is generally coherent as it follows an orphan who is society's doormat and longs to be someone of importance. He then achieves this by awakening god-level powers and lashing out against society. The conflict was decently nuanced as almost everyone is morally grey. Scenes that you think are supposed to represent the heroic side are actually ambiguous (ex Takashi being "rescued" by the resistance seems like a father rescuing his son, but is actually the abduction of a potential world-ending godman that needs to remain in captivity to ensure the safety of Tokyo). The movie was one of the last animated works to be created on 1's so the production value was incredible. However, the movie does a poor job of revealing the plan of the children to save Tetsuo by leading him to Akira so that he can awaken Akira and allow Akira to aid his ascension to the God of his own universe. That critical subplot is nearly impossible to decipher on a first watch especially since they were trying to assassinate Tetsuo fearing he would bring the destruction of the world. The movie also went of the deep end in the final sequences with the whole Tetsuo turning into a black hole and creating his own dimension plot point. The scale of that event made the ending feel whimsical. Lastly, the side characters were mediocre though the pacing was fast enough to where their lack of depth didn't detract from the narrative. Overall an interesting insanely animated film missing the depth from its manga source material.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)
The definition of Mid
Rating: 6.9
Favorite Episode: The Cavalry Has Arrive
An ok series about rogue clones navigating a post-order 66 world. Most of the series is centered around side quests for information regarding Omega's importance to the empire including the obvious revelation that she is a conduit for the force due to her blood m-count transfer properties. The characters were generally well written with interesting developments such as Crosshair leaving then rejoining the team, Tech sacrificing himself for the team, etc. Omega was irritating because she followed the naive character archetype where the plot allowed her to not have her naivety directly countered. While also allowing her to almost always come out on top whether it's sensical or not. Similarly, the number of times the Bad Batch would choose the less pragmatic approach to a problem or get involved in a useless sidequest because of Omega's messiah complex slowed the pacing (this series has a filler problem), and made the series boring. There were some great cameos Palpatine, Cad Bane, Rex, Cody, Fennec Shand, and incredible production value as the Clone Wars animation style has improved since season 7. But overall the series just had too much filler, predictable subplots, and played it too safe to maintain a gripping narrative.
Black Lagoon (2006)
Strong female characters done right!
Rating: 7.9
Favorite Episode: Swan Song at Dawn
A generally well-written crime drama with nuanced interesting characters and powerful female leads. All of the characters including their motivations on why they operate in the underworld is well explained, sensical and nuanced ex: Eda a seemingly comic relief nun was actually operating a front for the CIA, Revy a trauma-born assassin who garnered her tough exterior due to an abusive household and corrupt justice system, Dutch a ex revolutionary bidding his time in the underworld, Balalakia a soviet bred war dog discarded after the dissolution of her country who uses her strategic prowess in the underworld etc.. The main character has both interesting and substantial development throughout the series going from a corporate slave, to a fledgling criminal in the "twilight", trying to execute justice in a world that opposes it. To essentially Light Yagami gambling, with people's lives using nefarious means to get to positive ends (Roberta's blood trail). Then finally to someone who has an identity crisis because they don't know who they are anymore (Wild Red Wild Card). All of it was well done to the point where you wouldn't be surprised if this was based on someone's actual life. The series always kept a serious undertone delving into very dark topics such as child slavery and sexual exploitation during the Hansel and Gretel arc, which was predicated on historical events directly referencing the Ceausescu's children. The author did his research in regard to how criminal organizations operate and how the underworld is comprised of people who both willingly and unwillingly become the "villains" of society. However, this series's biggest issue is how it handles physical conflicts. The fights are extraordinarily comical and unrealistic for such an otherwise realistic series. Way too many instances to enumerate but from everything in Roberta's blood trail from her getting hit by Balalaika's rocket launchers and surviving, getting sniped by the Americans and surviving, not getting sniped by the Americans (who are special forces) while she stands in broad daylight and fires a 50 cal with one arm etc is ridiculous, and immediately destroys the immersion of the show. Revy has insane plot armor not only being able to dual wield but also being able to dodge bullets even while underwater. Consequently, almost every confrontation in the series was a poorly done conglomeration of explosions and gunfire. Other than that this series regularly elevates itself and is a solid watch overall.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Rejects UNITE!
Rating: 7.4
Honestly, a pretty solid film about rejects banding together for something more important than themselves. The execution of the themes around this and the development of Wolverine and Deadpool were a little predictable but sensible nonetheless. The action sequences were super clean and the humor was good for the most part. There were some jokes and scenes that felt like it was trying too hard to be funny (like every scene with the dog in it). Also, the classic hero walkups like when Deadpool Blade, Laura and the gang went to confront Cassandra were overdone though this was probably the intention. It didn't make sense why the TVA didn't just get rid of the time ripper if they weren't in the business of pruning timelines early with it anymore and I'm not sure why Cassandra didn't just finish off Deadpool initially when they escaped on that conveniently working rocket foot; but other than that a nice watch.
The Acolyte (2024)
My review is more coherent than the show do not waste your time on this.
Rating: 1.0
Favorite Episode: N/A
This is one of the rare times it's not even worth it to list out all the contrivances, holes, contradictions and all around terrible writing to prove why this show is horrible. I refuse to waste anymore time than I already have watching this series to write a true breakdown. Every youtuber, casual fan, hardcore fan etc, are in unanimous agreement that this is fundamentally a disgusting show that interjects intersectional feminism and oddly gay fantasy's by making the jedi an allegory for the patriarchy and the space witches marginalized women who dID nOthIng wRonG. You had characters killing themselves because they thought they committed a horrid act against the main characters when in reality they were completely justified at every step. You had characters changing motivations three times in one episode, you had forced pronouns on literal animals, and worst of all you had the destruction of established lore by one making the main characters the chosen one (created from the force before the actual chosen), Darth Plagueis only trying to make the chosen one because these women and this show did it first, ki-adi mundi now a liar who covered up the revelation of a sith, yoda the same way etc. Its atrocious the writers just wanted to interject themselves and one up George lucas's established characters. If this is how Star wars is run then the franchise will die within the next decade. This review is more coherent than the entire show and I've already spent more than enough time on this garbage so you don't have to. Just watch andor instead.
Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020)
The End of Adventure Time
Rating: 7.5
Favorite Episode: Part Five: Obsidian
A proper send-off to the Adventure Time series. Like the original series, it seamlessly blends mature topics (self-loathing, death, grief, etc), into a vibrant presentation that never feels tonally inconsistent or jarring. We got to see the origin story of how BMO met Finn and Jake and more characterization on why PB and Marceline weren't together at the start of the series. It was interesting how we were able to see where all the characters who died throughout the series ended up in the dead world and in proper Adventure time fashion Finn and Jake teamed up to take on the Lich for the last time. The last episode wasn't good but together again and obsidian make up for it.
One Piece: Wan pîsu (1999)
A Heavy Time Investment with Mediocre Payoff (Read Review)
Rating: 4.0
Manga Rating: 5.0
Favorite Episode: Kesareta Nakama-tachi: Mugiwara Ichimi Saigo no Hi
This is the most disappointing series I've ever seen. With a fandom this large and this vocal you'd think it would be a never ending masterwork; it's mediocre at best and an extreme example of survivorship bias. I'm expecting to get absolutely ratioed for this but like always I have to keep it authentic.
Here are the pros of and what everyone praises it for:
Expansive and well connected lore via callbacks set up 100's of chapters in the past. Well Written interesting characters with backstories that seamlessly build and connect with established lore (e.g: Robin's backstory reveals key details of the void century and Jinbe's backstory reveals the origins of Arlong as well as fisher tiger and the political climate on fishman island). An inspirational and optimistic main character.
A creative power system: (devil fruits) with users that exploit them to there advantage in intelligent ways (e.g Gear 4 vulcanization of rubber interesting mix of fantasy and real world physical enhancements to rubber)
A coherent narrative at a high level.
Here are the cons and why people drop the series:
Terrible conflict resolution that relies on excessive plot armor, contrivances, and power ups that suspend disbelief. Examples of this are:
Luffy being defeated three times (dehydrated, impaled, poisoned) against crocodile in Alabasta yet somehow still able to be the crap out of him by being saved by conveniences like "eating blood to replenish blood" and a water droplet falling and saving him from dehydration.
Usopp getting hit with a literal four ton bat in Alabasta shattering every bone in his body (this was even shown) and one scene later is patched up and ready to go despite having zero powers.
Luffy somehow able to get up and beat Rob lucci after being clobbered 3 times in Enies lobby.
Luffy's half a day resurrection from death after being poisoned and defeated by Magellan in impel down even with tension hormone and using gear 2 (which should've just accelerated the poison coursing through his bloodstream killing him instantly because gear 2 literally raises his BP as confirmed in Enies lobby). It's noted that the consequence of tension hormone abuse will shave a decade of his lifespan but even this doesn't matter because it doesn't affect the outcome of the narrative in a drastic or palpable way.
Luffy even being able to fight in marine ford despite "dying" in impel down, and taking another tension hormone which should've killed him instantly. The exhaustion from fighting through impel down and fighting in marine ford and being resurrected in impel down should've rendered him unable to fight in this arc which takes place in the same day.
Shanks showing up to MarineFord at the perfect time to protect Luffy allowing him to escape with law unharmed.
Luffy being defeated by Kaido 5+ times and still powering up even to gear 5 twice and destroying him.
All this plot armor destroys all narrative tension, the main cast is immune to consequences and physical harm that even when they "lose" (like in sabaody archipelago) you realize they just got a pass to a train for a couple years so that when they don't lose it's "believable". There are zero consequences for being bad or weak.
Formulaic and repetitive arcs that follow the same pattern:
Gang arrives to island --> island ins and outs explained by natives which the main casts befriends --> political turmoil of island revealed --> luffy rushes in to defeat the primary antagonist then goes into a training arc because he can't defeat them or goes into a training arc then rushes to defeat the antagonist --> Luffy fights the first strongest, Zoro the 2nd Sanji the 3rd --> a ton of monologues --> a feast --> updated bounties --> flashbacks to how the world changes after the antagonists are defeated (usually a power vacuum) --> melodramatic departure. Some of the arcs break this formula like marineford which is just a battle royale and ling ring long land which is just an avoidable carnival.
The Overuse of monologues in the middle of pivotal scenes:
For example Spandam would've literally won and taken robin to impel down if he didn't stop to monologue when she was up the stairs Most arcs have protagonists repeating the themes of the arc and why they fight which is almost always ("I have to save my friends and this country"), in the MIDDLE of fights which slows the pacing and is corny in general.
Repetitive character archetypes: all major characters have a sob story in order to give them depth and all their sob stories boil down to "the world government is bad and has wronged me" For example:
Boa hancock a slave to the world government
Ace a guy who lost his father to the world government and mother who was killed hiding him from the world government
Bartholomew Kuma: a guy who gave his entire life to the world government to protect and cure Bonny who was only born because a celestial dragon pumped and dumped his love interest.
Nami: a woman whose island was enslaved and adoptive mother was killed by a racist warlord sponsored by the world government.
Nefartari Vivi: a girl whose kingdom was destroyed by a warlord for personal gain etc.
Horrendous artstyle that destroys gives the series a comedic undertone at all times. Some examples:
The pivotal battles in marine ford being interrupted by a giant non binary guy with a head the size of the screen dressed as a drag queen (Ivankov).
Ace dying followed by Luffy opening his mouth an impossible 180 degrees while screaming making him look like some demented alien preparing for his next meal. Made Ace's death funny when it obviously wasn't supposed to be.
Orochi a lame villain with the most comically over the top ugly character design ever. Every scene he showed up in was a joke.
Franky: a dude in tights with robotic shoulders the size of two characters combined every scene he's in is hilarious. He's supposed to be the straw hat's iron man and with a less stupid design he could be both flashy and intimidating.
Expendable side characters that have as much plot amour as the main character. For example
Pell was blown up saving alabasta (perfect character send off) only to show up in the end on crutches alive.
Kinnemon was clobbered by Kaido twice (he has no powers) and somehow survived
Kanjuro was "killed" by the scabbards and somehow resurrected at orochi's command in an attempt to blow up the entire island.
Orochi visibly died to Kaido without activating his devil fruit and somehow survived (while adding nothing to the narrative) to only be incinerated in the end.
Bellamy survived his fight with Luffy in dressrosa
Hajrudin got all his bones crushed by a 10-ton man in dressrosa and still somehow was able to continue the fight
Luffy's heart stopped (literally dying) then he powered up to his most powerful form yet (gear 5) in Wano.
Conis dad was beamed by Enel in Skypiea but somehow still survived despite having no powers and being old.
Pound was killed on screen in whole cake showed up alive later.
Bon clay not didn't die in impel down despite getting a melodramatic farewell as he stands behind a bloodlusted Magellan who literally states he was going to kill him.
A common retort to this critic is the death of Whitebeard and Ace. However their deaths aren't as impactful or significant as you're led to believe. They're only important because the author says they are, and due to their status within the lore (emperor and son of roger/brother of the MC). They did not have any agency or palpable screen time in the narrative. You knew Whitebeard was living on borrowed time when his character was introduced as he was shown connected to medical machines and IV's. You knew he was going to die to protect his sea "family" if you were paying attention to his character. His death is completely telegraphed. On the other hand Ace's entire character is rooted in flashbacks he's essentially dead in the current narrative aside from the blackbeard confrontation (a flashback) which is immediately followed up by his death. In the end he was just replaced by Sabo who actually had screentime and relevance in the current and future narrative.
Horrendous pacing (in the anime) where at worst a ½ a chapter per episode adaptation rate is normal (normal animes have 4-5 chapters per episode)
Lackluster fight choreography (exacerbated by half of every arc being fights)
This is attributed to every character even if they don't have powers calling out their attacks. Attack callouts aren't inherently bad series like Hunter x Hunter do it masterfully by having characters only audibly call out attacks if they are powerful enough to where they require a specific activation to trigger (with the exception of Gon who calls out his simplistic attack because he's an enhancer). Most of the time they don't tell their opponents what they're doing and will call out their attack via an INNER monologue. One piece makes everyone call out everything: "COILER SHOOT! GUM GUM GATLING!! CLIMA TACTO! RADICAAAL BEAM!" It's useless, makes the fights feel juvenile and aren't even strategic because everyone does it. The only strategic fights are ones between characters with no powers like Nami vs Khalifa. Everyone else just power ups until they can defeat their opponent: (e.g robin devil technique in Wano, luffy gear 5, zoro demon techniques, Sanji flaming leg technique (how does he even do this before his germa lineage awakens?)). If they don't power up then the antagonist's will just make a uncharacteristically dumb decisions that allow the hero's to win (e.g: khalifa literally waiting for Nami to attack her which causes her to be electrocuted and defeated in Enies lobby, same thing with nami vs miss double finger). REST OF REVIEW ON TV SHOWS WATCHED RATED AND REVIEWED LIST. I've reached the character limit.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
A melodramatic mess
Rating: 6.5
Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this. The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny. That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film. Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince. Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie). The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight. One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Potter PTSD
Rating: 7.0
This movie was about the psychological and political aftermath of the return of Voldemort. Having Harry struggle with PTSD after the encounter from the last film and attempting to shut off his friends and shoulder the burden like a true MC was interesting and well done. The political subplots about suppressing public knowledge on the impending conflict were realistic and the concept of Voldemort and Harry being a magic dyad was unexpected. There was also a slightly important character death in the demise of Sirius black. However, the power of friendship being something worth fighting for the theme at the end was cliche, and the room of requirement allowing only the main cast to train undetected was far too convenient. Overall an interesting addition to the franchise.
Monkey Man (2024)
A More Disturbing John Wick
Rating: 7.2
Pretty good, it's essentially John Wick with a darker backstory, different race, and zero resources to execute his task. The movie was brutal as people would be getting visibly sliced open, fingers chopped off, shot etc, the action was intense, well choreographed and disturbing, and the ending was more realistic as monkey man succumbs to his injuries and dies. The side characters could've been stronger as the main antagonists motivations boiled down to "oppress and destroy because they're on sacred land we want," and the other protagonists like Pitobash weren't all that interesting they just helped out once and tagged along for the rest of the film. Some things make no sense like the police not attempting to recover Monkey Man's body when he was sniped yet the villagers did this without being detected. Or the final fight sequence where nobody had a gun to protect the most important person in the nation which conveniently allows Monkeyman to melee everyone. The villagers teaming up with monkey man was silly and Rana deciding to just wait on an upper floor for monkeyman to fight him instead of calling for more backup was stupid. Other than that a pretty good watch.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Where the potter's start to get darker.
Rating: 7.0
The interpersonal drama in this was both heavy-handed and entertaining. Ron being angry at Harry for being able to participate in the tri-wizard tournament was irritating despite them making up in the end, and Hermione's anger towards Ron for not picking up her hints read like a high school fanfiction (granted they are children). The third act carries the film where Voldemort returns and Barty Crouch Jr.'s conspiracy is revealed. The movie leaves off on a dark note as the antagonist is now a palpable character in the plot. This movie raises more questions as to how deep the resurrect Voldemort conspiracy goes and why people are so devoted to him anyways. The movie ends in a named character's death which darkens the tone for future installments.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
They had a winning lotto ticket and changed the numbers
Rating: 1.0
Writing this review evoked more emotion than watching this destruction of an animated masterwork. Pragmatically this is a 4/10, but personally it's a solid 1. It doesn't have to be a 1-1 copy but most changes were complete garbage. Way too many to list but: Reversed sibling dynamics: (Azula inferiority arc, Sokka becomes the father figure Katara becomes the insolent child). An accelerated Katara power crawl (Aang told her one thing and she's now a water bending pro), amalgamations of unrelated arcs (ex: Jet in Omashu combined with the Mechanist air temple arc). Kyoshi character destruction (she became a gung-ho "forget your friends and FIGHT" character losing all nuance from the novels). Weird Gyatso power of friendship themes (Aang calms himself down at his grave by remembering their friendship not acknowledging his new support system in Sokka and Katara). Roku character destruction: (his first lines are jokes, Roku is supposed stoic, refined, and compassionate). Sokka's no longer sexist removing a core part of his character development. Idiotic plot points: (Aang going to Roku's temple alone to find a MacGuffin to free his friends, Ozai not knowing about Sozin's comet at the start of the series, Yue breaking off her engagement because she talked to Sokka once. Aang not trying to learn water bending, Kyoshi breaking the power system by showing Aang the future, etc. The show violates the fundamentals of storytelling by telling and not showing (characters go on preachy monologues by either explaining their own character traits, or other characters' traits or repeating the themes of the arc). The only good in this thing is that it looks incredible (for the most part), and made great changes such as removing Aang and Katara's romance, characterizing Ozai, showing the agni kai between Zuko and Ozai, showing the genocide, showing death and blood, introducing more previous avatars, making Zhao a more calculating threat, the 41st division addition to display Zuko's compassion, and making the spirit world disturbing. I don't care to see the remaining seasons so this is a review of season 1 only. They literally had a winning lotto ticket and decided to change the numbers. This could've been another masterwork.
Madame Web (2024)
Common Sony L
Rating: 2.0
A good old-fashioned dumpster fire. This is fundamentally terrible due to the lack of narrative tension: (you know nothing of consequence will happen to anyone because you get spoilers due to Webb's ability every 20-ish minutes). Completely unlikeable characters, an unengaging villain: he wanted the spider powers to build his off-screened empire and didn't like Madam Webb's mom because her "path was clear cut" and he came from nothing?? He's also a moron who couldn't even hire a team of people to track down the girls and pinned it all on one person. Nonsensical plot points: the entire teen diner scene, as well as the spider people not protecting the spiders allowing them to be stolen despite acknowledging with great power comes great responsibility, why did they only step in when Madam Webb's mom was going to die? Weird product placement: The villain was defeated by a Pepsi sign; and clunky informal dialogue. This isn't even considering how it breaks Spider-Man canon as a prequel. You're better off watching Morbius at least that was funny.
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kizuna no Kiseki, Soshite Hashira Geiko e (2024)
This doesn't warrant a cinematic release
Rating: 6.0
This movie was really just an extended preview into the next season of the anime. Much of the movie was recaps of the entire anime up until that point which was stupid as the target demographic of this movie would have already seen the prior seasons. The recap wasn't even good it was just clips of prior seasons with the subtitles removed. The new plot points revealed that the Hashira will just be training the Slayer Corps as they predict that an all-out assault will take place to capture Nezuko. There's a big contradiction in this as they decide to leave Nezuko with only Kanao to guard her at Shinobu's estate. But decide to invite Tamayo who is also a demon to the Hashira HQ to work along Shinobu?? Why would you leave your most valuable asset, what your enemy is after, not in the place that's the most protected?? As always the presentation was a masterpiece Ufotable continues to elevate the source material. Unfortunately, the source material itself is mediocre.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Slightly better than the Chamber of Secrets
Rating: 7.0
Slightly better than the Chamber of Secrets. In the first act there was a lot of setup towards the third act where there were multiple callbacks making everything come full circle ex: The class learning about Animagus's vs Werewolf's, foreshadowing the final conflict between a werewolf (lupin) and Animagus (Sirius black). Hermione spawning into class revealed later to be her literally time traveling, a mechanic that resolves the main conflict etc. Some plot points don't make sense such as why Dumbledore would allow something as dangerous as dementors to guard the school when they've already attacked students like Harry and can literally kill them. Also there were interesting questioned posed in the ending such as why Pettigrew killed James Potter and became a servant of Voldemort. The time travel was deterministic so it didn't break the narrative. As a whole, it was a decent watch.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Die for something real
Rating: 7.6
This was a beatifically shot sequel that treads on similar themes of the prior blade runner such as what it means to be human, and discrimination against the unknown (replicants). Despite being slow in places (many scenes felt long as nothing would be happening characters would just be walking), it was mentally engaging as your placed in K's shoes figuring out what's real and what isn't (i.e is he the chosen one or not?). The twist that K wasn't the child of deckard and rachael was well done and allowed for a more interesting ending in where K decides to sacrifice himself for something real, and allow deckard to see his daughter; a stark contrast to the completely artificial life he was living. Some plot points weren't explained well such as how the resistance even formed in the first place, why Gen 8's are being hunted and why do they have longer lifespans, how the resistance knew to even question K in the first place, How much Deckard's daughter knows of the plan and how she went from an orphanage to containment, and why the resistance hasn't revealed her yet; that muddle the film. But its themes and execution were consistent and it ended well enough to be a fine movie.