Ricochet (1991) Review:

When the name Russell Mulcahy is brought up for movies, fans will remember him for two well-known properties. The one fans will most fondly remember is Mulcahy’s first entry in movies, that being Highlander (1986). The other widely recognized character that Mulcahy made a movie on was in The Shadow (1994). Of course in between those was Mulcahy’s biggest blunder which was Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). That same year though Mulcahy also directed this movie featuring a different up and coming star. A young Denzel Washington was making his way through movies leaving a generally memorable impression on the characters he took on. At the time, the last big film that Washington got people’s attention in was Glory (1989). He wasn’t a lead, but his supporting role still played a very big part to the story.

The plot here is about Nick Styles (Denzel Washington), a cop who sky rockets to a high promotion after foiling the plans of Earl Talbot Blake (John Lithgow). Upon this moment, Blake makes it his mission to ruin the life Styles built for himself after he breaks out of prison. When he does, Styles is already the district attorney and has a wife Alice (Victoria Dillard) and kids. The original story was written by Menno Meyjes from The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Fred Dekker of House (1985) and Night of the Creeps (1986) fame. The screenplay was then adapted by Steven E. de Souza who wrote for Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987) and Die Hard (1988). Together, these individuals produce a very mindless action thriller. There is entertainment value to be had, it’s just not a story that is game changer in the genre.

A lot of what makes this viewing experience a fluff show are a few things. One thing is that there are moments that are meant to be lighthearted. The dialog just makes it sound like it’s trying to be a buddy cop movie. Even though Styles’ partner Larry (Kevin Pollak) isn’t the funniest if the laughter is relying on him alone. Some of the lines Blake says are also typical villain-esque, like “you’re fired”. There’s also the issue with proof blindly being disregarded by people that any sane person could have figured out. It’s like when there’s an obvious change to something that’s clear as day and yet no one can see that change. It looks stupid that anyone could fall for such an obvious callout. Then there’s just the unrealistic events that happen in various spots. Two guys sabre fight in the middle of jail mess hall. Okay…who gave the inmates the approval to do that? It’s things that take place such as this that question how much in the real world would this happen.

Apparently there is some valid connections to it though. Actress Mary Ellen Trainor plays a new reporter by the name of Gail Wallens. She also played that same character in Diehard (1988),…so a Diehard expanded universe? Strange; guess de Souza was kind of thinking for the long term? Aside from these flaws there are still good parts to the feature. All the actors provide what they can. Denzel Washington is still that likeable protagonist very few if anyone would want to see harmed. John Lithgow as Blake is a decent villain. He certainly can make his presence known and definitely shows no mercy for whoever he has in his sites. Lithgow would later play Lord Farquaad in Shrek (2001). There are appearances from other actors like Ice-T, Lindsay Wagner, John Amos, John Cothran, Lydell M. Cheshier, Sherman Howard also known as Bub from the original Day of the Dead (1985) and even Jessie Ventura.

The action and violence on scene is not abundant but when it’s there, the viewer won’t miss it. Some of it is actually pretty gruesome which is why it clashes with the comedy bits. It’s not a dark comedy. The camerawork fits well with in the picture though. Shot by Peter Levy who worked on A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Predator 2 (1990), the shots are correctly taken with no real issues. For the film score, Alan Silvestri took the job of composing the music. While the album for it contains only a third of the entire run time, the tracks work to the films credit. Several of the cues have similar sounds to that of prior works like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). There are lots of horn blasts and timpani rumbles. Not the strongest composition but still a fun listen.

Premise wise the story is fine, but the details within it, tone of certain scenes and hyper violent action makes this more of a fluff piece. Maybe consider it Diehard (1988)-lite since it’s in the same universe? It has good acting, action, camerawork and music.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016) Review:

Pokémon is a franchise that continues to fascinate despite how repetitive the formulas have become for several films. Roughly after the first two trilogies, the writing was already starting to waiver on originality but it was the likable main characters, voice acting and music that kept it mostly tolerable. Now, with way over ten films the level of quality has remained at average. For the devoted casual viewer, it’s serviceable. To a diehard and unfamiliar viewer, it is likely to not impress from either side. Reason for this are the narratives not doing anything different or taking risks. Each story execution had roughly the same setups and outcomes, almost to the exact moment with minor variations. The last generation of black and white was not impressive from a storytelling perspective and the recent XY generation wasn’t improving much either. Surprisingly, this entry just managed to squeeze by.

Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and adapted in English by James Carter Cathcart, the story is about Ash and company being drawn into the Azoth Kingdom, a steam punk esque mechanical city, only by happen stance. A legendary Pokémon named Volcanion (Mike Pollock) is trying to save a mechanical Pokémon named Magearna being taken by Prince Raleigh (Laurie Hymes). Alongside the prince is Alva (Billy Bob Thompson) who feels he can help bring the Kingdom to its rightful glory. Meanwhile Princess Kimia (Riley Joseph) feels her brother is mistaken. Direction is once again headed by Kunihiko Yuyama and that can also be said for the execution of the story. Let’s see, do we have a legendary Pokémon involved? Yes. Does the Pokémon speak English through telepathy? Yes. Are the antagonists attempting to do what past villains wanted to do with a special Pokémon? Yes. Why can’t anything different be done with the setup?

For once at least the main characters are dragged into a conflict as opposed to just walking into one, but that’s not a big change. Voice acting in general from the cast is fine. This is a standard that has been met consistently though for every entry, thankfully. The few additions like Laurie Hymes and Riley Joseph are both fine, despite Joseph having very few credits. Billy Bob Thompson as Alva works. He has what sounds like the right voice for the role. And for Mike Pollock who’s been with the franchise before is by far the more intriguing actor in the film. Even though the use of Telepathic Pokémon is just obnoxious now, Pollock’s role as Volcanion is not some cutesy eyed puff ball. Volcanion is like an old crotchety man who has no time for fun with a gruff deep voice. That’s a much better attention grabber than the others before it.

It was even more eyebrow raising to see that Team Rocket’s Jessie, James and Meowth were way more involved in this story, which hasn’t happened in quite a long time too. And of course because this entry is in the XY generation, mega evolution is prevalent but so is this new form called a “mega wave”. Also known as a mega evolving hack. Sure, all these minor changes are appreciated and it can keep the interest of the viewer. However, this is still not enough for this story to break the all too familiar rut it’s dug itself into. The plotline is very much the same from previous film entries and the reason why the antagonist is doing their evil deeds is the same as other villains before them. Because Pokémon contain a power far greater if used a certain way that unleashes life altering changes to the norms currently held by everyday normal people and Pokémon alike.

Again, visually there are no issues. The animation continues to work in the films favor. For those who love steam punk related themes, viewers should get a kick out of all the mechanical parts and gears flying around the kingdom of Azoth. Cinematography by Aya Aoshima is an unexplained and undetermined credit to the picture but okay sure. As for music the film score was again composed by Shinji Miyazaki and Ed Goldfarb respectively per their country of origin even though only one score exists. So weird. The music to this entry was also unique and different this time with what sounded like incorporated Harpsicord or calliope giving the setting a more medieval feel surrounding the mechanical kingdom. Too bad all the pluses are not enough to make it far better than it could have been.

At this rate, an entry with even small updates seems to be a nice change. That still doesn’t make it great though. While it continues to suffer from the same recycled storytelling and villains, the voice acting, animation and music make it okay to watch. Once.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) Review:

Many consider of all Batman iterations to be depicted on television that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s version is the definitive one. The animated series which ran for three successful seasons, had a memorable film score, was quite mature for a kids’ cartoon and even had two special features; one theatrically released and the other released on home-video. But that wasn’t the end of the character’s universe. Superman the animated series was also running in parallel which further expanded the realm of the two characters’ worlds. So why stop there? Thus came Batman Beyond, now seen more as a favorite of a select set of fans than a complete success. However, it did reprise the role of the original Batman as a supporting role, which had much of the same traits as the original series. It’s also no surprise this series got a special feature too.

The plot to the story is exactly what the title suggests. After several years being gone, Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) learns that his infamous most difficult enemy, the Joker (Mark Hamill) has returned to Gotham. Except now Wayne is too old to subdue his nemesis and it’s up to Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) as his new protégé to defeat him once and for all. Written by Paul Dini, the script is well written with reflective character development between Wayne, his past, people he’s worked with and whom he works with now. It’s also a learning experience for McGinnis as he discovers more about himself and the kind of Batman he is versus his predecessor. And being that Dini had written for the original and new series, it makes sense he would continue the story. The direction was head by Curt Geda who has more experience as a storyboard artist but has also directed episodes for the same set of TV shows. Again, it makes sense he would be involved.

The only fault in the screenplay is the reason for Joker’s return. An explanation is given which is great because most of the time, reasons aren’t provided. However, once the reason is given it seems the audience must suspend their disbelief in order for it to make sense. It just seems so tacked on as the full justification for the character’s resurgence. That’s really it though when it comes to narrative execution. The voice acting was always on point with the show and maintains that consistency here in this special. Will Friedle who get his start in Boy Meets World and would also voice Ron Stoppable in Disney’s Kim Possible makes a great Terry McGinnis. The attitude is all there and dialog is witty, especially when conversing with Kevin Conroy’s elder surly Bruce Wayne. Rounding out the circle is when Mark Hamill enters the picture laughing the entire way as Joker. This is just another reason why fans feel this animated version of the character remains the best one out there.

Playing as supporting characters is Law & Order’s Angie Harmon as Barbara Gordon, Dean Stockwell as an older Tim Drake (Batman’s 2^nd Robin), Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, Tara Strong and lastly Frank Welker. From a listing like that, it would be hard to see these credible voice actors not giving it their all in a feature like this with such iconic characters involved. The action sequences are entertaining too. Whether it be explosions or one on one physical combat, the scenes capture the energy and weight behind the movements being depicted on screen. Overseeing production was Shôjirô Nishimi as animation director and its likely safe to say this was a critical component as the colors and movements of the scenes are great to view.

Speaking of which the animation in general is well done. Koji Takeuchi served as the animation producer from TMS Entertainment which has handled other productions like Sherlock Hound and even Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Someone definitely needs to explain the purpose of four different cinematographers though for an animated film. It makes no sense, let alone one. Lastly the film score composed by Kristopher Carter was a great effort. Resembling much of the brash guitar based score from the TV show, this film score mixes much of that into its cues along some more organic orchestrations inbetween for more serious or somber moments. It’s not as striking as the original TV shows film score but it is a fun listen either way. Well worth the experience.

Even though the reason for Joker’s return feels a little last minute and cinematography goes unexplained, there’s not much wrong with this. It’s another solid animated Batman entry with good voice acting, music, animation and story in the Batman list of sagas.

Points Earned -->7:10

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015) Review:

Rarely has Pokémon ventured into territory that is either unfamiliar or done anything super different in their formula for film entries. This base template was adequate for a while and had some variations to it along the way. Now though with more than ten films in, it has begun to feel very much the same and unoriginal. Having multiple entries lined up to be released after every season doesn’t seem to help with its freshness. Perhaps releasing a film after every region Ash and friends visit would have been a more reasonable approach. That way there would be more time in between films to develop a better story and make it worthwhile for the fans. Cranking out a film that is basically a copy of the last really does nobody a service. This one still falls in the same trap with some very small differences.

This entry finds Ash and company on their way to another random city, this being inspired from the look of Dubai. There they randomly encounter a new Pokémon by the name of Hoopa (Lori Phillips). Believe it or not, this Pokémon not only knows English but speaks it this time too, wow! Of course it still has the small big eyed cutesy look to it. Hoopa belongs to Baraz (Daniel J. Edwards) and Meray (Emily Woo Zeller) and are looking to restore Hoopa’s power by giving its unbound power back (Ryan William Downey). Currently Hoopa exists in its confined state due to lack of maturity and understanding. Surprisingly this entry is not handled by that usual duo always being mentioned. Yes, it is still directed by Kunihiko Yuyama but the script was written by Atsuhiro Tomioka in their first Pokémon movie credit. Maybe Hideki Sonoda finally took a needed break from doing that last several entries. Unfortunately, Tomioka only adds some new things to this entry.

The pluses to this film are the usual categories pointed out for several films before this one. Voice acting works just fine for this project. The main cast of actors all voice their characters like they should and emote properly when the scene calls for it. Even for the supporting characters, Daniel J. Edwards and Emily Woo Zeller have experience working on other animes. Of all the voices Ryan William Downey who plays the unbound version of Hoopa is pretty cool sounding, even though he has lesser credits to this name. Lori Phillips is also fine as the confined version of Hoopa although the Pokémon is very much a copy of Zorua; laughing and smirking thinking it’s clever. Actually it’s annoying, can’t something more unique be made with these focal point Pokémon’s personalities?! The character arc for Hoopa is okay to be clear, that at least isn’t the usual super power Pokémon in need of saving.

This doesn’t mean the rest of the writing works though. The continuity to this narrative doesn’t make sense. The reason why the title says “Clash of Ages” is due to it involving the many legendary Pokémon on screen. However, some of the legendaries called into question are ones that either should appear and don’t, ones that shouldn’t appear but do, and ones that look nothing like they’ve been depicted before. It’s very confusing because this is obviously supposed to take place as the latest point in time in Ash’s journey. Yet with these discrepancies, it’s very difficult to understand why things are the way they are. Then again, being that Ash and friends have done some time traveling in various stories, maybe that’s what’s causing these changes? It’s really not clear and doesn’t make sense why these loose ends can’t be tied up.

Visually though the animation is still very good looking. The 3D CGI images against the digital 2D animation blends well together with nothing that looks like an eyesore. Cinematography was handled by Tatsumi Yukiwaki who seems to be taking over this role for Hisao Shirai. Of course, the clarity of the role goes unknown. Music on the other hand was another interesting listening experience provided once again by Shinji Miyazaki even though Ed Goldfarb is credited for some reason. Because the location of the story takes place in the area closely resembling the middle east, Miyazaki incorporates a lot of instruments and cues that match the setting and it gives the scenes a much more engaging feel. And as expected there is a Japanese album release but that is all. As we all have come to know and expect.

The franchise is still languishing in the average viewing experience realm. Aside from some minor changes in screenwriter, change in musical sound, standard animation and credible voice acting it is still a regular ho-hum entry. The main Pokémon still isn’t that interesting and continuity is baffling to say the least.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Review:

Usually sequels are planned to be released in an ordered process. The standard lead time is between two to three years. Sometimes there are delays which can push it out. Then there are also the rushed ones where a film is pumped out in a little longer than a year’s length. To do that is nuts but it’s proven to be done before. For George A. Romero, it seems he truly went at his own pace when it came to making his movies. Even though Romero had worked on other films in between the “dead” entries, the intervals at which each film came out was almost consecutively ten years apart. That’s a long time. Weirdly enough, it seems the remakes of his films are following the same path despite him not even being involved. While Night of the Living Dead (1990) was an amicable update to the original, it did have some issues. Almost fifteen years later, came this sequel. It’s about the same but for some different reasons.
 

The setup to the story is the same as the original involving a bunch of strangers taking refuge in an abandoned shopping mall after the world is turned upside down with undead corpses attacking the living.  This was directed by newcomer at the time Zack Snyder, who is now best known for several comic book related films. Before this Snyder was directing music videos, similar to Michael Bay’s startup before turning action director. The screenplay was written by James Gunn, the same person who is also best known for his array of comic book films too. Before this though, there was hesitation for him writing for this production. Reason being, that his biggest credit at the time was penning the script for the live-action Scooby-Doo (2002) film. And of course, most know pretty well how that movie did with viewers and fans alike.
 
The cast of actors to play these everyday people are Ana (Sarah Polley) a nurse, Kenneth (Ving Rhames) a cop, Michael (Jake Weber) a TV salesman, Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and Luda (Inna Korobkina) and CJ (Michael Kelly) a security guard to the mall along with his rookie Terry (Kevin Zegers). Together these main characters spend most of their time together in the mall. There they learn about their histories as well as how to cope with what’s around them and support each other. This script includes way more characters in general than that of the original but it works out okay. Gunn even has a couple twists in the story that can play to the opposite to what viewers may expect for certain characters. Sarah Polley is a good lead and being that her character’s a nurse, growing accustomed to the horrors around her seemed easier to handle. The same could be said for Ving Rhames as the cop.
 
Jake Weber although plays what seems like a wimpy character quickly toughens up. And of all thespians, the actor who has the best lines and best character arc goes to Michael Kelly. Clearly it looked like he had the most fun. However, this does not totally omit any typical character tropes seen in other horror films. Two good examples of this are Mekhi Phifer’s role and Ty Burrell as some snobby rich guy. Guess one can’t avoid all the pitfalls. Yet casting director Joseph Middleton was able to nab Ken Foree, Tom Savini and Scott H. Reiniger from the original film for cameos. Very nice. Still there is one other thing that’s a bit odd that likely was not mentioned in any other zombie film which was raised here. Apparently dogs can run circles around zombies and not be seen as food? That’s something new…why’s that? Unanswered question. Additionally, the zombies in this film are far more aggressive as opposed to all others featured before. They run now.
 
Visually, as Snyder fans would come to know and love, the film is very good looking. The special effects look mostly practical which is good because even for 2004, CGI didn’t always look real. Behind the camera was Matthew F. Leonetti, a cinematographer with quite a history behind him. Before this he had worked on Raise the Titanic (1980), Poltergeist (1982), Hard to Kill (1990) and Rush Hour 2 (2001). Finally, the film score was composed by Tyler Bates. For this project Bates had the chance to make something of the franchise being that none of the films ever had a signature identity. He didn’t do that though, but managed to still create themes that worked for the scenes. Before this, Bates’ most notable credit was to another remake by name of Get Carter (2000), another film from the 70s.
 
For a remake, it entertains surprisingly well even though there are still some regular clichés the genre will come across. These small flaws are made up for through the actors’ performances, the music, special effects and camerawork.

Points Earned --> 7:10

Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014) Review:

The Pokémon anime never lets up on what seems to work despite that plan not really working. For the last several entries, the films revolving around Ash and company has been average at best and sometimes falling beneath that. Only occasionally has the story been slightly above average, but that’s going back to around a decade ago of films. Unfortunately, it’s also getting more difficult to go on about the differences in storytelling especially when the changes feel so minimal. One would think that with a series running for so long that there could be some variety to the films but it looks like the franchise may truly be out of new ideas. This entry really feels no different from that of the past several films. The biggest change are the main protagonists…but that’s been expected now. Then again so are other aspects.

The story is about a new Pokémon named Diancie (Caitlin Glass) who can create diamonds but not well. She is the princess of her kingdom that is dying and needs to replace the current diamond which acts as their power source. To do this, she must find the legendary Pokémon Xerneas (Mary O’Brady) to help make this ability stronger. On her travels she runs into Ash and friends where they decide to follow her. However, Team Rocket and a few other bandits are out looking to capture Diancie as well. Shocker. On top of that, there’s Yveltal, the dark version of Xerneas who is rumored to be nearby. Anything else needs to be thrown in there? Of course, who’s handling this project? None other than the Yuyama Sonoda duo. Geez, these two must really feel confident that these stories are still solid.

Let’s tackle something that does work, the main characters. In the black and white seasons, Ash, Iris and Cilan’s chemistry were okay but probably rank lowest so far. For the new X & Y seasons, Ash is now joined by Serena (Haven Paschall), Clemont (Mike Liscio) and his little sister Bonnie (Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld). These characters are already proving themselves to be more interesting than the last bunch. Clemont with his ill-fated self-destructive contraptions, Serena with her secret crush on Ash and Bonnie for always trying to match a girl with Clemont; the reversal of Brock’s situation. They all have their quirks but are fun and goofy in their own way. The team rocket gang are still fun although they are no longer as serious as they were a couple seasons ago. Despite that, they do get more screen time here than the last few films.

However, that’s kind of the extent of the engaging characters. The voice acting is fine by all cast members but the characters still don’t amount to much. Caitlin Glass plays a great princess but the role of her character isn’t new. Further making things a usual go to are the telepathic abilities and legendary Pokémon. It is understandable to a point that new seasons require new legendaries to keep things going…but the legendaries aren’t anything to be impressed over. Xerneas is just another “life giving”, “wish granting”, insert the god-like term here Pokémon. As for telepathy, it seems like more and more Pokémon are able to speak English with the main characters. Can it least vary some? The other thieves looking to capture Diancie aren’t memorable either, even though Marc Thompson is one of the voice actors.

Unfortunately, more could have been done to develop a portion of these characters. The amount of individuals in this story is just more than it needs to be. Animation though is still good for the quality of the franchise. No complaints there. Cinematography was taken care of again by Tatsumi Yukiwaki and now also Aya Aoshima. No reason given as to why it’s needed. For music, surprisingly the US dub had its own score composed by Ed Goldfarb instead of Shinji Miyazaki even though he scored for the Japanese dub. The weird thing is that it doesn’t look like there was a US album released on this…so the point of rescoring was for…what? What can be said though is that the music sounds a lot livelier and has interesting cues throughout. In some ways it sounds like something of another genre, but it works.

The general components to this entry work like viewers expect. The animation is good, the voice acting and main characters are their usual selves and the music is decent. However, those same familiarities find themselves showing up in the same bland villains, boring legendary Pokémon and generic storytelling.

Points Earned --> 5:10