Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (1991) Review:

As it has been raised many times over, the Dragon Ball Z franchise has largely been unorganized in it’s way of film release and the chronology of its stories. In order to make them actually fit within the episode seasons, there would have had to be some serious down time between stories. The only film that actually fit in was The Dead Zone (1989). Other than this, all other entries have some aspect about them that don’t allow them to fit into the shows chronology. Why were there these difference between the films and show? Hard to say if it was creative differences or just misalignment. Either way, the order films now have completely detached themselves at this point where maybe each film follows a different timeline. It’s a bit hard to determine.

This entry is about another Earth invasion, this time by the villain name of Lord Slug (Brice Armstrong). Slug carries a secret trait no one from the Z fighter’s side has ever heard about which is what makes him so strong. For whatever reason, Slug now finds planet Earth his choice for the taking and it’s up to Goku (Sean Schemmel) and friends to stop him. This entry was originally directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, who had directed episodes of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, as well as Bardock – The Father of Goku (1990). The screenplay was penned by Takao Koyama who also worked on the same credits as well as the Dead Zone (1989), The World’s Strongest (1990) and The Tree of Might (1990). Perhaps Koyama is just making his own separate storyline.

Arguably, this particular entry is a little worse than the past few. One, despite Slug having the secret trait that gets revealed later on, he’s not that smart of a villain nor is he taken down with much effort either. It’s sad being that the only other villain similar to him was King Piccolo. Lord Slug’s appearance is literally for random reasons. And as discussed, timeline information doesn’t go together here with the show. The other characters like Piccolo (Chris Sabat), Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny), Krillin (Sonny Strait) and various smaller supporting characters show up too. Yet with Piccolo involved, means it would fall sometime before season one, if it were to be there. Either way, with certain characters around, it just throws off the whole fitting in part. The English dub writers Neil Bligh and John Burgmeier weren’t able to modify much of the story either.

And these were the guys who had dubbed plenty of the previous films too. The voice acting is one thing that can’t be denied. All the voice actors from the English dub who have partaken in the anime are on point with their delivery. And at minimum, this is definitely a trait that is needed for the feature to even be remotely watchable. Brice Armstrong as Lord Slug fits in pretty well too. Fans of the show could probably figure out that he was actually the narrator for all the original Dragon Ball anime before Kyle Herbert took over as the Dragon Ball Z narrator. The animation is solid as well for the feature as usual. The way every scene is colored and moved looks great and gives the nostalgic feel to it.

The same could be said for the action sequences that were animated. The fight scenes are well choreographed and are fun to watch playout. For whatever reason, this film also needed two cinematographers, Masaru Sakanishi and Motoi Takahashi respectively. For Sakanishi, this was their first Dragon Ball Z film, as was Takahashi. However, Takahashi had worked on all three original Sailor Moon features. Still it did not feel necessary, as the music too. The English dub to this feature is awful in its soundtrack selection. Instead of sticking with Shunsuke Kikuchi’s musical score, the team felt having thirteen heavy metal songs layered throughout by various groups like Dust for Life, Disturbed, Breaking Point and so on were better. Heavy metal is fine if used the right way, but this franchise never needed that. It just sounds like garbage.

Acting and animation are the features that thankfully remain unchanged, but the rest is hard to accept. The villain had potential but goes nowhere, the continuity is still all over the place and the music is terrible in terms of placement.

Points Earned --> 4:!0

Osmosis Jones (2001) Review:

The body is a funny and interesting masterpiece of nature. The fact that mankind has still not been able to crack every single secret that there is to know about the human body is insane. Bodies themselves have been the focus of movies forever. From films like John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) to Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man (1999), various life forms including our own want a piece of the human body. Whether that be for good or bad reasons. Bodily humor has also been the focus of many comedies too, but not one that can be thought of that goes about it in this manner. The weird thing is, one would have thought perhaps this would have gotten a sequel film, but it literally showed up and left as quickly as it arrived.

The narrative is about Frank (Bill Murray), a single down on his luck father to his daughter Shane (Elena Franklin). He tries to make good on being a decent father but fails because of his poor habits. Adding to that is Bob (Chris Elliot) who only enables his behavior. One day though, after eating food that fell on the ground applying the “ten second rule” does he begin to find out it’s not a great rule. Regrouping down inside the “city” of Frank, audiences find Frank’s underappreciated white blood cell cop Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock) under orders by the lazy Mayor Phlegmming (William Shatner). Arriving in Frank’s system is the deadly Thrax (Laurence Fishburne) who looks to make a new record killing. Thinking his ailments is just a cold, Frank takes a pill containing Drixonol where Osmosis meets his temporary partner Drix (David Hyde Pierce).

Conceptually, the story is very creative. Because Frank’s body is essentially a government run entity by its own sentient organisms, it makes sense that it would operate like a country, state and/or city. White blood cells are the cops and bacteria are seen as illegal immigrants because they technically are foreign. It all makes logical sense. Blood vessels are the travel highways while power lines represent the nervous system. Writing the script was Marc Hyman who would later pen Meet the Fockers (2004). Not sure if he was the one who came up with the inventive puns and thoughts on it, but it’s clever. Directing the feature was Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the same duo who headed Dumb and Dumber (1994), Kingpin (1996) and Shallow Hal (2001). Surely they had some input as well.

The voice acting is all commendable. Chris Rock as Osmosis Jones is a fun lead, he doesn’t come across annoying. Just loud and enthusiastic. David Hyde Pierce as Drix plays a good foil to Osmosis Jones since he is very scientific and literal. Brandy Norwood plays Leah, the secretary to Mayor Phlegmming of which Jones has a crush for. Even William Shatner is pretty entertaining as the Mayor. The most surprising and entertaining talent though is Laurence Fishburne as Thrax. Normally Fishburne doesn’t play bad characters, so to hear him voice one is different and fun. Sadly, that’s kind of where the fun ends. For whatever reason, the live-action segments on the outside focusing on the human cast just isn’t that interesting. It’s not that the actors aren’t good but they just don’t have much to do and it kind just comes off as boring. Seeing Bill Murray just be a bum the whole time isn’t much to look at.

The same could be said for the live-action camerawork shot by Mark Irwin. This is also a shame because Irwin has worked on good films too like Scanners (1981), The Fly (1986), The Blob (1988) and RoboCop 2 (1990). Jumping back though, the animation is colorful and zippy. The characters are all very expressive and fluid in their movements making them far more fun to watch move about. Not to mention again the way the environment is set up to resemble the real world but in a human body. Finally, the film score composed by Randy Edelman wasn’t too bad either despite no official score has been released which is sad. There doesn’t seem to be main title but the music is appropriate for the settings put to screen and they do have emotional substance when required.

The overall story is cool to watch while being creative as it gets inside the body. For some reason though the real world just isn’t as entertaining to watch. All acting is fine, the animated parts grab your attention and the music works too.

Points Earned --> 7:10

Matilda (1996) Review:

Danny DeVito is one of those unique individuals that has made a name for himself in Hollywood despite how he looks. He’s by no means an action star or to be listed on People’s Magazine under the top whatever count of attractive people. For guys in general, being under five foot five is already a problem and he stands a whopping two inches below five feet. Yet somehow, this thespian has managed his way into being a very well known, talented and likable actor. Despite having acting credits going back to 1970, he would not be better known for directing until the late 80s to mid-90s. This film is what many early millennials would remember him for. Even though he also had other popular credits to films like Disney’s Hercules (1997), Space Jam (1996) and Batman Returns (1992).

The story to this feature is about a small sweet hearted girl named Matilda (Mara Wilson) who lives under her guardians Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman respectively. The Wormwood adults are dismissive and think of Matilda as a nuisance. However, for whatever reason they feel their son Michael (Brian Levinson) is God’s gift to the world. The Wormwood family in general are not good people either, they steal and are scheming people who look only for their own benefit. That is why when Matilda learns she has special telekinetic powers, they send her to a school where its run by the mean Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris) and sympathetic Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz). The screenplay was penned by Nicholas Kazan (Bicentennial Man (1999)) and Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)).

The origin of this material came from Roald Dahl, the same mind behind Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), The Witches (1990) and James and the Giant Peach (1996). In a way, this film plays off as a more wholesome version to that of Stephen King’s Carrie (1976); both of which involve telekinetic powers but one uses their abilities for good while the other is a ticking time bomb. Conceptually, the story is cute and harmless. Underdog films are the kinds of stories public audiences love because everyone wants the small and disregarded to become successful. There’s only two aspects to the movie that don’t quite make sense. The first being that it is never explained just how Matilda develops or acquires her powers. Where did it come from? Never explained.

However, the stranger aspect is that the story is narrated by Danny DeVito himself. So is Mr. Wormwood recounting his memories? Or is DeVito playing a completely different independent character? It’s a little confusing. Aside from these parts, the story works in its little world. Acting performed by all actors is fun to watch. The comedic moments where Matilda stuns or surprises various characters provides some decent chuckles. Especially for Danny DeVito as Mr. Wormwood seeing that he had it coming from the beginning. The same could be said for Mrs. Wormwood and Agatha Trunchbull who all feel they have ultimate power over all who are under them. Rhea Perlman had worked with DeVito before and would also have a role in The Sessions (2012). Before this movie, Embeth Davidtz would be in the critically acclaimed Schindler’s List (1993) and later in Bicentennial Man (1999).

The camerawork provided by Stefan Czapsky was a little disorienting though. Which is quite frankly surprising seeing that Czapsky had worked on other adequately shot films like Child’s Play 2 (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Batman Returns (1992). Here though, the camerawork is okay in some places and in others, wide and dutch angles are utilized which just gets annoying to look at. The musical score composed by David Newman however is on the better side of things. Having scored for plenty of other family oriented movies, this fits his type of genre. There’s plenty of kooky sounding cues as well as more sentimental ones needed for those softer scenes. Having worked on films like The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Coneheads (1993), The Air Up There (1994) as well as The Phantom (1996), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Anastasia (1997), it’s no surprise Newman felt right at home here too.

Even though Matilda’s powers never really get an explanation and the camera shots can be a little disorienting, it’s still a decent movie to watch for the family. The cast are goofy in their own ways, good or bad, the music is appropriate and the story is innocent.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003) Review:

By the early 2000s, Warner Brothers Studios had made quite a name for themselves regarding their animated comic book television properties. Starting out with Batman: The Animated Series, then to the New Batman Adventures along with the side running Superman: The Animated Series, fans of the characters couldn’t get enough. Not to mention Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero (1998) all received positive reviews too. On the side there was also Batman Beyond and its related film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Then of course there was Justice League which expanded the roster of various fan favorites and lastly Justice League Unlimited. In the middle of the final show, the studio went ahead and produced another exclusive Batman film. They were just on a roll.

Being that Batman was shown to work with Robin and Batgirl, the last major character to not be shown was Batwoman. After a series of heists being thwarted by Batwoman, Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) sets his goal of figuring out just who is the woman behind the mask. The story was written by Michael Reaves and Sheldon Moldoff both of which who helped work on the other two Batman films separately. Together they come together to pen a story that is roughly equal to the other entries in this particular realm of animated features. Directing this production was Curt Geda, another familiar to the list of television productions mentioned earlier. Adding to that is his credit to the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker movie which also was well put together.

The only aspect of the film that doesn’t really do well is the predictability of the story. In short, there are some new characters that pop up through the run time that make it very easy for audiences to figure out the mystery. It’s just not that hard to pick out. It’s a little disappointing being that every other character that returns from the regular show episodes make it so obvious. First, if the name is Batwoman – then of course audiences will be paying attention to the female characters, simple as that. Unlike the villain from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) which could have been anyone. This is the only real callout though. The voice acting itself is on point with lots of actors some may not even be aware were cast in this specific movie.

Other than iconic Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred, Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon and Robert Costanzo as Detective Bullock the rest are all fresh voices to hear. Kevin Michael Richardson is perfectly cast as gangster Carlton Duquesne, Hector Elizondo voices Bane in a very awesome way and David Ogden Stiers voices Penguin. There’s also appearances from Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon, Eli Marienthal as Robin, Kimberly Brooks, Elisa Gabrielli, Kelly Ripa and even Kyra Sedgwick. All of which have performed in various productions and have proven to be adequate for the roles they took on. Even though Penguin and Bane had been voiced by other actors in previous viewings, Paul Williams and Henry Silva respectively, they both sound convincing in their own right.

Visually, the animation looks great here. It also doesn’t seem to contain any computer generated imagery, but if so it isn’t noticeable. Past films have included such effects and they look a little out of date now mixed in with their two dimensional animated counterparts. There’s also plenty of action to be had which makes this adventure mystery movie that much more entertaining to watch. Finally, the musical score was composed by Lolita Ritmanis who is quite familiar with the other properties referred to before. As like the show itself Ritmanis keeps the familiar Batman theme everyone enjoys so much while keeping the other tracks just as interesting to listen to. The fact that she also got an album release with an hour of material is also an accomplishment being that her name isn’t as well known.

Despite it not being a big question as to who actually is the Batwoman, the overall story works just fine. The animation, action, voice acting and music suite the film well in another successful outing in the caped crusader franchise.

Points Earned -->8:10