8 Mile (2002) Review:

The story of Eminem, originally known as Marshal Mathers is a unique one at that. Coming from a world where he had nothing and with no support system is a crazy origin. Of course, the sad thing is his beginnings are very much like several others in today’s world. Considered to be one of the artists that is well respected in the rapping community, Eminem rose from a place where the streets was where the business was and a career that had a short life span. Although several people found him to be crass and vulgar with his words, it was his only outlet to express his frustrations. Additionally, the individuals judging him for his actions were the ones who didn’t have the context at the start. This film though should be able to shed the light on that.

Now while the film reflects Eminem’s early life, it has been clarified that the movie was not intended to be a biopic. Not sure how just changing the names of certain characters and specific things done in the story changes the fact that it still speaks to Eminem’s personal struggles though. Essentially the plot covers how the main character Jimmy “Rabbit” (Eminem in character and persona) is a down on his luck individual struggling and juggling many issues. His drug abusing mom (Kim Basinger) and her on-off drunk of a boyfriend Greg (Michael Shannon) are of no support to him. Jimmy can’t keep a stable job nor can he keep himself out of trouble with the law. The only thing he knows he can do is rap and rhyme lyrics really well; he just doesn’t have a platform to get himself out there.

Written by Scott Silver who would later pen The Fighter (2010) and Joker (2019), the story covers what most believe is an accurate retelling of Eminem’s struggle and discovery of his true self. The thing is, if viewers or fans alike are looking for a movie that shows Eminem’s rise to universal fame, that will not happen here. This may also be a misconception of the scope of Eminem’s life will the movie cover. Directing this feature was Curtis Hanson, who prior to this directed L.A. Confidential (1997). Seeing the struggles of what Jimmy had to endure is difficult to watch. Audiences love a good underdog story and Eminem’s history fits that journey. Either way, seeing what was needed to overcome is hard to watch because of how unsupportive society was to him.

What makes this as effective as possible is the acting from all cast members. Eminem as Jimmy, essentially embodying himself represents himself well. Kim Basinger as Jimmy’s mother plays her part well in showing that he was all on his own despite that she was always around. There were also supporting characters like Future (Mekhi Phifer), Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones) and Sol George (Omar Miller). These three were basically the small glue that kept Jimmy on some kind of track, giving him hope to make it big. Phifer was in Honey (2003) and Dawn of the Dead (2004). Also, one person that Jimmy has to prove he can be someone is his rap opponent Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie, his first movie credit too). Lastly, there’s Alex (Brittany Murphy) who Jimmy has an interest in but isn’t sure how to get her attention naturally.

For cinematography, the operator behind the camera was Rodrigo Prieto. Having worked on Frida (2002), another biopic the same year seems only coincidental that he was credited here too. Prieto naturally captures the environment surrounding Jimmy and the depressing nature of the matter. Whether that be out in the open or in the secluded warehouses, the scenes demonstrate just how low Jimmy was in his life. Prieto also worked on Original Sin (2001) and would later work on Alexander (2004). Finally, the music to this feature was provided by Eminem himself. No score was composed but original songs were produced which also got Eminem one of his biggest awards. The songs definitely help give the audience Eminem’s perspective on life at the time and the album is not hard to get ahold of.

If a viewer is expecting the movie to be a biopic or for it to cover the progression of the artist’s rise to popularity, this movie will not show that. However, the premise focuses on the main character’s realization of talent with solid music, camerawork and acting.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Megumi no Daigo (1999) Review:

Fires exist everywhere in the world. In is inescapable. And of course to counter these hazards, humans created fire departments to respond. The interesting thing is, although fire departments are universal, each department does things slightly differently even within the same country. Being that much of Hollywood has depicted American fire departments, it is always unique to get a different perspective around the world. For Japan, the most recent manga and anime related to this topic is the fiction fantasy based Fire Force. This has some aspects that resemble these entities but not in a realistic way. Prior to this, a different manga and anime that came out went by this name. This although still fiction and of course made to entertain can be seen as much more realistic in what it depicts.

Written originally by Masahito Soda which this is likely his best known work, writes the story about Daigo Asahina (Wataru Takagi), a boy who was rescued one day in a fire by an unknown fireman. As he got older, he made it his mission to become a great fireman too, but with his own way of doing things. With this mentality though, Asahina-san will learn from his mistakes. The anime was adapted by Susumu Nishizawa and Akihiko Inari who had also worked on Cowboy Bebop. From the premise side, the story has the right idea. Like what could be said for other firemen around the world, sometimes it just takes one person to inspire a whole new generation of people to do the same. That is always a good way to start a story.

However, the execution of that story is where it loses its grip. While the idea behind the main character is a noble concept, the meat of the story seems to be lacking. Other than Asahina trying to be the best fire fighter he can be, there’s not much else going on. There are two subplots going on. One regarding some of the actions Asahina has took in his career that causes some friction with his higher ups. The other is Asahina’s relationship with an old teacher of his. Shizuka Ochiai (Kikuko Inoue) who seems to like she doesn’t want Asahina being reckless in his work or to continue his firefighting career. This makes sense since there are real life situations where things like this can happen. However, the characters themselves are little bland. They just aren’t the most charismatic or interesting to listen to.

The acting is good from the small cast that lends their voices. Wataru Takagi as Asahina is okay. One of his earliest roles was in The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor and one of his main roles he has played throughout the years is Genta Kojima from Detective Conan. Kikuko Inoue as Asahina’s teacher does good too. She has held many roles in her time throughout all kinds of franchises. Even Unshô Ishizuka the narrator from Pokémon has a role here. It’s interesting when you get to hear actors from more recurring roles in less prevalent ones. The cast itself is actually quite small considering this is a feature film. Being that this is a more realistic firefighting film, the scenes depicted look to be on the believable side. The animation is okay for this feature but not great.

Normally anime’s from the 1990s or 2000s have a certain look to them that’s very nostalgic. This film though doesn’t quite seem to hit that area despite coming from this era. Unfortunately, the imdb page for this does not list the lead animator so finding who deserves credit is a little difficult. The music sounds decent for the production though. Composed by Shiro Hamaguchi, there’s a march theme heard through the film which alludes to the whole paramilitary aspect of the fire industry. The music also helps give the main character a more heroic sound behind him too. Shiro Hamaguchi has composed other music as well, most notable for the One Piece anime. Lastly there was a Japanese exclusive album with 40 minutes of sound to hear. As far as what’s available, it seems hard to find and hear.

While the music, acting and premise are solid, the story fizzles out pretty early, especially with the plot being light on characters and conflict. The animation is also rather underwhelming.

Points Earned --> 5:10

The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989) Review:

For low budget shlock movies, director Lloyd Kaufman was able to produce film that not only successfully hit that mark but also gained a following. While The Toxic Avenger (1984) was not his first venture, it was the one movie that put him on the map for viewers. The Toxic Avenger (1984) was astonishingly goofy and unrealistic but the story was a basic good over evil story with some charm in its effects. But like all franchises, it comes with what most would expect from its sequels. The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989) was disjointed in its direction and seriously lagged in its pacing. The only thing it still had going for it was its over the top violence. However similar to other first sequels, the second sequel was shot simultaneously to wrap up the whole trilogy.

With that said, the story picks up very much where the last film left off. Since the evil corporation Apocalypse Inc. was not able to keep Toxie (John Altamura) in Japan like they had hoped, the chairman (Rick Collins) takes it upon his team to have the city of Tromaville turn on their once beloved hero. Other than his girlfriend Claire (Phoebe Legere), Toxie has to find a way to win back the hearts of the now upset locals. Directed again by Kaufman and Michael Herz and written by Kaufman and Gay Partington Terry, this second entry in continuing the super powered radioactive creature is still less than desirable. Much of this sequel feels like the creatives behind the feature wasn’t sure what to do with Toxie anymore other than pad things out at excessive lengths.

The title is obviously a play on The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) but that’s more or less the entire story. Toxie doesn’t feel great after removing all the evil from his town as he no longer feels he has purpose. The acting was not great in the original but again it all added up to something in the end. Part II was a lot of the original with aspects that felt like were exaggerated further. This film only feels very much the same of Part II. All the characters except Toxie himself make some of the most ridiculous facial expressions and say really weird lines. All the actors that were in Part II are mostly here for this finishing entry as well. Rick Collins is probably the hammiest of them all.

Unfortunately, a lot of the over acting is slow in its delivery. This only makes each scene more and more boring to watch. The pacing is already bad but this makes it worse. When the finale of the film starts at basically the last third of the run time, it might not be the greatest of signs. There are action sequences throughout the film but again they feel very sluggish. The effects on the other hand are a decent aspect to the film. This was always an area of the franchise viewers tended to like. While by today’s standards they’re still probably seen as low quality or uninspired, compared to the entire movie, it is a highlight. There’s a scene that involves a bus and even a character melting. These particular parts look the best.

The camerawork itself is hit and miss. James A. Lebovitz who worked on the previous two films in the franchise had okay shots in certain places and others not so much. There are times where his camera uses the wide angle lens or gets right under an actor’s nose. Pretty sure most viewers don’t need to see what’s up their nose. Lastly what was probably the most surprising is that this feature received a score album. Why this one, who knows. Unlike the first which had no composer, the second which had Barry Guard, this entry had Christopher De Marco. Although the album barely passes thirty minutes, De Marco is able to create a theme for Toxie and uses it throughout his tracks which is respectable. Would’ve been nice if the other entries received this kind of treatment too.

This entry is about as entertaining as the Part II but for different reasons. The acting here is ratcheted up even further, the pacing is still slower than ever and the camerawork is annoying at times. The effects are still credible and music for once has something going for it. That doesn’t make it a good sequel though.

Points Earned --> 4:10

Addams Family Reunion (1998) Review:

The 1990s was a resounding welcome for Charles’ Addams Addams Family adaptation. While there was a small resurgence with the franchise during the 1970s with the animated cartoon of 1973 and the special Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977), the 1990s was where it took off. With the strong push for advertising, The Addams Family (1991) got all kinds of merchandise made after the movie like toys, video games and its own animated spinoff. Then came the sequel Addams Family Values (1993) which went onward with the same cast. Unfortunately, with Raul Julia passing shortly after, any adaptation made after would either run the risk of continuing with a different lead or starting over entirely. For this particular entry, it’s possible that the latter was what was chosen. It’s not as good but not as awful as some say it is.

The story here is about Gomez Addams (Tim Curry) inviting his parents Grandpa Addams (Kevin McCarthy) and Grandma Addams (Estelle Harris) over one night. However, the Addams’ realize that the grandparents have forgotten their bizarre antics that the current generation finds to be normal. So in order to get them more familiar with others Gomez decides to have a family reunion. Unbeknownst to them, the reunion they’re having is with a family tree spelt Adams, with one “d”. The story was written by Rob Kerchner who would later pen Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999) and Scott Sandin. Directing this feature is David Payne, someone who probably takes this feature as their best known credit and has also worked with the previously mentioned writers on a few occasions. Payne has other credits but likely not well known.

Despite this feature not being a direct sequel to the previous two films, it does standalone pretty average for better or worse. The story is definitely a nice change in focus as the last two films for some reason had very strong attention put on Uncle Fester. This time the narrative just involves the family in general. It’s fun for once to see the family interacting as a group as opposed to a select couple of characters being swindled by some antagonist who thinks they’re above the rest. Together the spooky family is introduced to Phillip Adams (Ed Begley Jr.) and Melinda Adams (Heidi Lenhart) who are looking to take their father’s fortune Walter Adams (Ray Walston). All around, the Adams family is very stuck up wants nothing to do with the kooky Addams family. The aspect that doesn’t work with the story is the acting.

Normally the Addams family are the ones who are eccentric and look crazy to everyone else. But for some reason the Adams family members are the ones who are over the top and chewing up the scenery around them. There’s Dolores Adams (Diane Delano) who has a movement and expression for every situation which feels like too much is going on. Meanwhile the Addams family actors look expressionless by comparison. Unfortunately, while Tim Curry is an excellent actor he’s not the best choice for Gomez Addams since his voice is so iconic. Daryl Hannah as Morticia doesn’t have the same charisma as the previous actresses before her even if she ended up playing in both Kill Bill films. Apparently the only actors to return from the last two films were Carel Struycken as Lurch and Christopher Hart as Thing.

Jerry Messing as Pugsley and Patrick Thomas as the new Uncle Fester didn’t go on to do much after this either. As for Nicole Fugere, she plays the new Wednesday but would only go on to continue her role in the spinoff show and end there. Visually speaking even for a TV movie sequel the effects aren’t that bad. Thing as a severed hand still blends in pretty well and the practical creature effects look fine. The camerawork though could’ve been better with Christian Sebaldt taking credit. There’s a lot of close up wide angle shots which become obnoxious. The music however was okay despite not getting any kind of release. Scored by Amotz Plessner, the sound of the movie sounds similar in style to that of Marc Shaiman’s score to the previous two films. 

This is probably the least appreciated Addams Family movie but it’s not awful. The acting is somewhat reversed between main and supporting characters and the cinematography isn’t the best. However, the story is different, effects aren’t bad and the music sounds appropriate for the franchise.

Points Earned --> 6:10

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

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990) Review:

The Dragon Ball Z franchise is starting to show some very similar trends in how the Dragon Ball franchise has released their movies. The Dragon Ball saga had what looked like a retelling of various stories from the series into feature length films. Initially it seemed as though it was going for a summary like telling for a few seasons at a time. But by the time the series had ended, it was just random selections sampled from various episodes. As for Dragon Ball Z, the first film lined up fairly well with how the sequel series was starting. Though not long after the subsequent films to come after are starting to make less sense in terms of chronology. Unfortunately for this next entry, the time line placement is just as off. It just weird.

This story is about an evil Saiyan by the name Turles (Chris Patton) who seeks to finish the job Kakarot (Goku, Sean Schemmel) didn’t complete as a child, which was destroying Earth. Instead of blasting the planet to kingdom come with some kind of energy ball, Turles’ plan is planting what is called the Tree of Might, a megasized sequoia that will produce a fruit with incredible power if eaten. The only catch is that it sucks the entire life out of the planet as a host. However, Goku and friends do not plan on letting that happen and thus viewers have their plot. The production was headed by the usual Nishio, Koyama duo with Eric Vale this time handling the English dub. Even with a different English dub writer the story still lacks in continuity.

The biggest issue here with that is the movie includes Goku’s friends like Chiaotzu (Monika Antonelli), Tien (John Burgmeier), Piccolo and Yamcha (Chris Sabat). All of which were killed after season one of Dragon Ball Z and would not be resurrected until after season three. This was the same issue as with the previous movie. On top of that, Goku again uses his Kaoken and Spirit Bomb skills in this feature, things he only would have learned while his other friends were in the afterlife. It just makes no sense to include characters who wouldn’t be around. Turles as a villain isn’t even that bad as there can always be a way to introduce an antagonist that has ties to the protagonist. It’s just how it doesn’t fit into the series timeline.

Acting is fine though as the main English dub group from Funimation is in full force. Even though very few characters participate in the main plot, it is interesting to see just how many voices they’re able to pack in. Turles and his henchmen voiced by Chris Patton, Robert McCollum, Jeff Johnson, J. Paul Slavens and Mark Lancaster respectively do a good job too. All of these actors have taken part in many other popular animes as well. As always though, the feature has plenty of action which is cool to watch. Martial arts are special skills and the way it’s animated here is entertaining. Especially because the animation is from the 1990s, which gives it a much more nostalgic look to it. It is unavoidable to say the least.

The cinematography though is still up in the air to understand. With Motoaki Ikegami credited as the cinematographer, it is hard to comprehend just what camerawork is exactly being used here if it is not live action. Ikegami is the same cinematographer credited throughout the last several Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z films. Lastly, while Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the original score to this feature, the English dub again thought it was better to have it rescored by Nathan M. Johnson. There’s no need for this as all the Dragon Ball films kept Kikuchi’s music. It’s just the Dragon Ball Z films the music has been recomposed by various talents. The new music heard here does work in its place but knowing that the sound of the film would be much better in tone and style is what makes it subpar.

While the animation, action and acting is all in the right place, it is still middling at best. The cinematography is unclear, the music isn’t original and the timeline placement of this particular entry again makes no logical sense based on the show.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Addams Family Values (1993) Review:

The beginning of the 1990s was a fresh start for Charles Addams’ the Addams Family franchise. After lying dormant for a couple decades, Paramount Pictures managed to get the reboot released in 1991 and with a resounding approval. Even better was the fact that it put director Barry Sonnenfeld on the map as he would go on to direct the popular Men In Black franchise. Usually being considered a Tim Burton film for its gothic style, Sonnenfeld was the head of it and he was gifted the opportunity again to direct the sequel. The fact is much of this sequel is consistent with the first, which is good but also to its issues. And this is weird because the writing changed hands. Not really sure how that happened but this will be gone into shortly.

The sequel’s narrative focuses on the Addams’ trying to find a nanny, after Morticia (Anjelica Huston) becomes pregnant and gives birth to Pubert (Kristen & Kaitlyn Hooper respectively). Finally, the family lands on Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack), a gold digger who finds convenient ways of getting rich without her past partners. With that said, she sets her sights on Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) who is easily swayed by her beauty. Meanwhile, because Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) can see right through Debbie as to who she is, she has them sent to day camp where other hijinks ensue. This time the script was penned by Paul Rudnick who first wrote Sister Act (1992) and the sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). Again with Sonnenfeld heading the execution.

What makes it so surprising is that both Caroline Thompson nor Larry Wilson worked on this feature, yet again there’s more focus than usual put on Uncle Fester. Is Uncle Fester this unsung character everyone enjoys more than the two main love birds? It’s bewildering that for the second time in this franchise that he’s the individual given the attention more than the others. There is a little more balance though as the rest of the cast seems to get in even screen time with each other. The comedic aspects are all there too as the rather eccentric and morbid interests of the Addams confuses basically anyone they come across. Much of this is highlighted in the scenes where Pugsley and Wednesday have to deal the camp counselors Becky Martin-Granger (Christine Baranski) and Gary Granger (Peter MacNicol) for being overly happy for annoying reasons.

While also at camp, Wednesday begins having feelings for Joel Glicker (David Krumholtz) another camper who has no interest in partaking in any of the activities. There’s also other small appearances from Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce, Peter Graves, and Tony Shalhoub. For the rest of the cast Carole Kane as Grandmama (replacing Judith Malina from the first) does fine. Carel Struycken as Lurch is as good as he was before, as was Christopher Hart as Thing and John Franklin as Cousin It. And of course Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia thankfully return to have the same energy and charisma as the last film too. As for Joan Cusack, she’s definitely good at portraying herself as a scheming no do-gooder. It’s interesting how she would go on to become the voice of Jessie from Pixar’s Toy Story franchise.

Visually speaking the cinematography which was handled by Owen Roizman in the first is now credited to Donald Peterman. Very masterfully, Peterman kept the look that Roizman shot with just as well as if hands had never changed. Everything from the dance sequence to comedic scenes are filmed competently. Peterman would also shoot for Men In Black (1997) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Lastly, the score was composed again by Marc Shaiman who worked on the first. Despite not receiving a longer album release like the original, Shaiman keeps the tone and theme motifs the same as the original which is highly welcomed. When it comes to franchises, recurring main titles should remain unchanged unless further developed. Not completely changed. The score to this sequel just serves as an extension to the original album which is fine.

The sequel proves it self to be a little better than the first as it keeps much of what made the original so likable. The actors all do a great job, music is just as fun and camerawork all remain on point. The story is a little more balanced between characters, except for the fact that out of all of them it focuses on Uncle Fester again, which was the first film’s issue.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (1990) Review:

When it comes to main franchises, keeping stories in order can be tricky. For the sequel series to Dragonball, Dragon Ball Z has started out with its episodes and feature films coming out fairly in line with each other. Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) was right in line with the start of the Saiyan saga that was about to begin as the first season. It’s a nice bridge between the last season of Dragon Ball and the beginning of Dragon Ball Z. As to what it looks like, when the Saiyan saga or first season ended, another feature was released under this title. At this point, things are working out okay, somewhat.

This story follows Earth’s heroes caught in the way of Dr. Kochin (Troy Baker) and his master Dr. Wheelo (R. Bruce Elliott) looking to take over the world. However, in order to do that Dr. Kochin needs to capture the body of the world’s strongest fighter. With that, they capture Master Roshi (Mike McFarland) and Bulma (Tiffany Vollmer) with their bio-engineered fighters. The thing they don’t know is that Goku (Sean Schemmel) is now the strongest fighter and no longer Roshi. With that, Goku is about to face his next biggest enemy. Written by Takao Koyama and directed by Daisuke Nishio who have been the familiar duo for the last few films, this movie remains in line with how the others have been produced. Sort of. There does seem to be some issues though.

As stated before, there are important parts about this film that show that the narrative to this entry is somewhere after season one. Reason for this being Goku is able to perform the Kaoken and spirit bomb techniques. Those moves only existed after the first season. On top of that, Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny) now has a stronger relationship with Piccolo (Chris Sabat). The problem is that in this film Piccolo is alive, and was resurrected in season two. The only time there would be a break was inbetween Namek and Earth that’s after season three and that wouldn’t be until 1992. Everything would have lined up perfectly if Piccolo was not featured in this entry or he was shown to be gone. The introduction of Dr. Wheelo and Kochin is okay though. It’s the same kind of context like the previous film with Garlic Jr.

Although Dr. Wheelo and Kochin were never shown in the Dragonball series, them being written in works despite it not being the best. It is interesting to know that even for the supporting characters like Bulma have villains tied to them and not just Goku. The voice acting for this feature now has all the current actors behind the characters. Stephanie Nadolny as Gohan, Sonny Strait as Krillin, Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi and Bradford Jackson as Oolong all reprise their roles as their respective characters. Nothing can replace those voices as they are the most iconic of the English dub of the anime. Troy Baker as Dr. Kochin and R. Bruce Elliot as Dr. Wheelo have gone on to voice for various other animes but start off here sounding convincing too.

The animation style to this feature is as what one would expect it to be from this era of 1990s. Anime during this time had a certain charm about it only true fans can appreciate even with its flaws. While it still doesn’t make sense as to why cinematography is needed by Motoaki Ikegami, doesn’t go explained or is seen very clearly. Surprisingly again, the musical score to this entry was rewritten as well. Composing the new score this time was Nathan M. Johnson which fits the scenes shown. For a lot of the scientific aspects for Dr. Wheelo and Kochin, Johnson relies on creepy sounding synthesizers. Again, it fits but if Shunsuke Kikuchi      had originally scored the feature, so why change it? Kikuchi’s music needed no changes at any point for any aspect of the franchise. It makes no sense to do such things.

This feature almost fits perfectly from a timeline perspective but it doesn’t because of Piccolo. Cinematography and the new score is unnecessary too. The animation, voice acting and new batch of villains make it still interesting to watch.

Points Earned --> 5:10

The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989) Review:

Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz are not directors of Oscar awards caliber due to their version what they consider entertainment. The kinds of movies they make lean on the edge of soft core pornography with the amount of gratuitous sex involved. This however only amplifies those who enjoy movies in this kind of raunchy genre. Considered among their best work though was The Toxic Avenger (1984). Not because it was deep in any aspect, but because of the pure spectacle the movie created with its limited budget, gory practical effects and simple story of seeing good triumph over evil. It was their way of doing a superhero story in the style they knew best. With that success in viewership, the two felt it was time for a sequel five years down the road. Maybe sticking with one was enough.

The story continues a little time after the events of the first. Melvin Junko now known as Toxi (John Altamura) has rid his home of all the evil from Tromaville. That is until another evil entity enters the picture under the name Apocalypse Inc. headed by the chairman (Rick Collins). In order for the company to take control the last place they need to conquer is Tromaville and they need Toxi out of the way. With that, they trick him into traveling to Japan to find his estranged father. This time, this sequel was penned by Kaufman and now Gay Partington Terry who helped provide additional material to the first film. The second entry isn’t far worse than the first but it is not easy to get through a lot of the time. Continuity is a bit of an issue here.

For one, Toxi’s original love interest Sara (Andree Maranda) doesn’t appear here. Instead, his new interest is Claire (Phoebe Legere), who also happens to be blind. So what was the point of renaming the character? The continuity seems to be unchecked here. Additionally, the story is lacking being that the original film had a basic idea which was understandable and got to the point. This particular entry has less of a story as the main characters are boiled down to one dimensional individuals with no real depth. The Apocalypse Inc. company is just an idea. It has no real weight in the story as the people behind it have no significance either. Again though, this is probably what Kaufman found to work in the original and just amplified it more. Worser still, the run time is unnecessary as the extra twenty minutes pads out the experience.

Scene after scene it feels like things carry on for far too long. Fight sequences drag, dialogs feel like they go nowhere, while car chases go on and on. Either the pacing needed to be sped up or the run time needed to be cut. The acting from the main cast is as campy as one would expect after seeing the original film, which at this point is okay and expected. John Altamura as Toxi looks very much like Mitch Cohen of the first movie. Phoebe Legere as Toxi’s new girlfriend is fine too. Rick Collins as the chairman bares his teeth for almost every scene he’s in. Rikiya Yasuoka who plays Toxi’s father does the same thing by over exaggerating his facial expressions. Helping Toxi find his father in Japan is Masami (Mayako Katsuragi) who is played okay for an actress with broken English.

Believe it or not, this was also the film debut for Michael Jai White who would later play in Spawn (1997). Visually speaking Kaufman kept the over the top gore and practical effects which come into play for this film. It is still quite grotesque and disgusting but that is what gave the first film its charm too, so credit is due there. The camerawork fits in line with keeping the effects realistic but that’s about it. James A. Lebovitz who did an okay job on the first seemed to have missed the mark here. While the some of the settings take place on the streets of Japan, there’s nothing that exciting to see or watch when it comes to the action. Even more interesting is that the music improved a little with the help of composer Barrie Guard actually creating a recurring theme for Toxi but overall, since there is no official score it is still not that noticeable.

While acting and practical effects remain the strongest attributes of the franchise in terms of likability, the rest of the feature is hard to get to the end. Music and cinematography aren’t that special with really bare bones storytelling. Plus, the runtime and pacing make it painfully slow to watch.

Points Earned -->4:10

Step Up (2006) Review:

Channing Tatum is one of those actors who came from out of the blue from the alternate career he once had. Originally using the skill of dance as his money maker, it would only be until he starred in He’s the Man (2006) alongside Amanda Bynes did he start gaining traction in his movie roles. However, that same year he would star in this film too where Tatum would return to his original career path but in movie form. All the crazier is how he would return to a much more significant film under the name Magic Mike (2012) which would gain him critical success. If anything, this could be seen as his starting point to that of what he would later be best known for. The thing is for this movie, it’s a little bit standard in the execution.

The story’s setting takes place in the urban city where Tatum plays Tyler Gage, a foster child who grew up among others in the streets with no real role model. One day after being caught trespassing in an arts school, he is sentenced to community service cleaning up the school. Little did he know that he would not only find Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan) as a possible partner but also as a dance partner after her main partner injures himself. The narrative was written by Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg who would later write for the Twilight (2008) franchise. Directing the feature was Anne Fletcher in her directorial debut and as her first outing it is fine. There are various parts to the film that needed fine tuning but overall the handling of it was okay.

The weak points in the story are mainly just how the story plays out. For those who have seen a lot of films may see all the twists and turns to come because of how formulaic it is. For example, being that the genre this film is in is mainly drama and music, audiences will obviously know that there will be sexual tension between Tyler and Nora and the ups and downs that come from that. It’s just bound to happen. Tyler also has two friends from the hood Mac (Damaine Radcliff) and Skinny Carter (De'Shawn Washington), whom of which he hung out with and got into trouble with. At the beginning of the film, they scuffle with a gang leader…well, at some point that’ll come back to bite them. These kinds of setups are painfully transparent in how they’re set up and how it’ll finish.

There’s even Nora’s friend Lucy (Drew Sidora) and Miles (Mario) who Tyler befriends. At some point these two characters make a connection and it’s apparent what’ll happen between those two characters too. From an acting perspective, all thespians do their jobs correctly. While the playout of the story is very familiar the actors do what they can to make their characters convincing and it works. Channing Tatum easily plays Tyler as the thug bad boy with no direction despite having a skill he doesn’t take advantage of. Jenna Dewan as Nora clearly can play an upper class person who has no understanding of what Tyler is going through. Coincidentally Jenna Dewan would get married to Channing Tatum shortly after and be with him until 2018. While that’s just trivia, that’s not all the good parts.

Visually, what’s on screen is good too. Michael Seresin is credited as the cinematographer to this movie and he captures all the right things. All the dance scenes are well shot too. Started with movies like Rambo III (1988) and two years before ended up helping with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). The dancing itself is also well choreographed where it looks like no one had issues following how to perform in that respect. Lastly for music, the score to this feature is not that prevalent. Since it is a dance genre film, the majority of the music belongs to soundtrack artists. Even with that though Aaron Zigman supposedly scored the film. The same composer behind The Notebook (2004), which is surprising considering how popular that love story movie turned out to be. There’s no score available that can be found for this movie though, which isn’t surprising.

The story is very generic and music belongs mainly to the soundtrack, which makes sense for the genre. It’s just not as entertaining as it could be, although it still holds up. The acting is good as are the dance sequences and the camerawork.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) Review:

It seems like in most mainstream animes that gained large popularity among fans, feature films would come out after every season. The release schedule to these franchises are mostly consistent. The best example of this is Pokémon. The Sailor Moon series looked to be fairly on point with this as well, even though the first and final season were not bookended by any films. The original Dragon Ball show run followed this rule though. After every season, a film was released which made sense in terms of execution. However, the concepts for this films were quite different. For some reason, the creatives behind it felt it was better to retell various sections of the show in a different continuity. So far for the sequel series, Dragon Ball Z, the film release is sticking closer to the show.

Fans start off with Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny), Goku’s (Sean Schemmel) son being kidnapped by a group of demonic warriors. The leader of this group is led by a character named Garlic Jr. (Chuck Huber), an individual who has a bone to pick with Kami and Piccolo (Chris Sabat). Garlic Jr.’s hope is to become immortal and destroy the world in the name of his father Garlic Sr. The original script behind Akira Toriyama’s manga adaptation goes Takao Koyama. This is the same individual behind various episodes to Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. The same goes for director Daisuke Nishio and who also worked on the first two Dragon Ball films. For this feature, there are points that make it a much better start than the Dragon Ball films before it, but still not totally a bullseye.

What works for the story is that this narrative technically can work as story that comes right after the end of the last Dragon Ball season. Reason for this, it is before the arrival of Raditz, Goku’s brother, and the reveal of his now iconic origins. Additionally, the rivalry between Piccolo and Goku is the only thing spoken of during this film. So the timing stands correct. This is where the alignment ends though. Garlic Jr. and Sr. are one big missing story throughout the shows history. There is proper context given as to why Garlic Jr. seeks revenge on Kami for wronging his father but that’s the extent of it. Unfortunately, there was no actual episode depicting this character in the show, so it feels sort of just thrown in there. This last minute add feels very similar to that of how Dr. Gero would appear in the cell saga. Dr. Gero was apparently around but was never depicted.

The voice acting is great though from most performers. Sean Schemmel is the definitive English dub of Goku. The same goes for Sonny Strait as Krillin, Stephanie Nadolny as Gohan and Chris Sabat as Piccolo and Kami. Chuck Huber as the disgruntled Garlic Jr. works fine. Sadly, Huber’s voice is very recognizable and if anything, for those who can get easily confused may think Garlic Jr. is Emperor Pilaf and that’s because Huber also voices the character. There’s just not much of a distinction between the two characters and how they sound.  There’s also brief voice appearances from Mike McFarland as Master Roshi, Tiffany Vollmer as Bulma, Cynthia Cranz as Chi and Dave 'Squatch' Ward as the Ox King. The animation to the film is done nicely. It is still a product of the 1990’s anime style which gives it a very nostalgic look.

In part, the action that’s animated on screen is awesome too. The hand to hand combat and Goku using his power pole are the fun parts. And there’s always one Kamehameha on screen too. Still like many other anime films, Motoaki Ikegami is credited as the cinematographer to this production. Ikegami essentially had a hand in most of the Dragon Ball films too. Why though, will go unexplained. Finally, the music to this production is a little sad to hear. Instead of Shunsuke Kikuchi’s memorable score cues being use throughout, the English dub went with a new score composed by a gentleman by the name of Mark Menza. Weirdly enough he’s not credited on IMDb but is listed in the credits of the film. Perhaps this is because he didn’t get credit for productions until the mid-90s. Either way, Menza music is okay, but just isn’t for Dragon Ball Z. It sounds like an early version of Bruce Falconer’s music to the series later on.

While the narrative starts off right with acceptable continuity compared to the first set of Dragon Ball films, it still falls short with the villain being rather random. The musical score is also recreated which isn’t necessary. Thankfully, the voice acting and animation keep it mildly okay to watch.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole (1995) Review:

For many franchises, when it comes to trilogies the third film can hit two spots. The more unusual route is the final film being a knockout end to fantastic story. Normally though, final films end in the lowest of the lowest rating compared to the ones before it. For the Sailor Moon series, despite it being delayed in sending out its set of films, they started out solid with Sailor Moon R: The Movie: The Promise of the Rose (1993). This was after the second season. Then after the third season finished, the franchise came out with Sailor Moon S: The Movie - Hearts in Ice (1994) as the second entry and it was a little weaker in storytelling. And finally, after the end of the fourth season this movie was released and it is better than the second film. Of course it still has its flaws to contend with.

The story follows the sailor guardians facing off an evil witch who employs henchman fairies with magic flutes to whisk children away into a realm where they will never grow up. They only discover this after Chibiusa (Sandy Fox) is almost kidnapped by the hypnotic sound of the pied piper-esque villains. Of them though, one fairy named Perle (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) disagrees with what’s being done and joins Sailor Moon (Stephanie Sheh) and friends. Writing this feature is Yôji Enokido, who’s also a writer to the show. Doing the English dub is Lisa Lumby-Richards who also worked on the English dub of the show. As for directing, Hiroki Shibata returns from the last film to head this project. From the story side of this film, the underlying message of understanding growing up is apart of life is a significant one. There’s just no way around it.

Additionally, the lesson that a child’s ambitions and beliefs change over time as they grow is also important. The main issue though outside of that is the witch Badiane (Tara Sands). The motive behind the villain and her backstory is largely absent and comes across weak in development. In a way Badiane is just another bland villain from the inventory of evil doers to come and go. The only thing that Badiane is after is the children’s “sugar energy”, which in all honesty sounds really corny. It’s also interesting because practically all of the fourth season of the show was about dreams. And this feature focuses very much of that again on children and the dreams they have. It’s actually quite surprising how often this is mentioned through that season and this film. The other thing that doesn’t make sense is why Perle disagrees with Badiane. No explanation was provided.

The performances from the English dub voice cast are all welcome once again for their roles. Stephanie Sheh is and always will be Usagi Sailor Moon. Sandy Fox as Chibiusa Sailor Chibi Moon is as boisterous as ever. Perle the fairy by Colleen O’Shaughnessey is convincing in the role despite the character being a boy. O’Shaughnessey would also voice Jasmine Fenton and the Danny Phantom series as well as Tails in the animated and live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films. Tara Sands as Badiane despite not being a fleshed out villain also does well. Sands would later be known as the voice of Pokémon’s Bulbasaur and even Yu-Gi-Oh’s Mokuba. And as a surprise the other worldly sailor guardians Uranus (Erica Mendez), Neptune (Lauren Landa) and Pluto (Veronica Taylor) return as well for a little screen time.

Cinematography is again apart of this film which by no means is clear as to how. Credit goes to Motoi Takahashi for this even though, it doesn’t seem necessary. Besides that though, the look of the animation is well done. There’s a lot more noticeable frames to the movements in scenes that make things move much smooth. The design of Badiane is also quite unique to look at. Finally, the music which was once again composed by Takanori Arisawa is on point. Since children are the main focus, Arisawa composes a little march for them as the tune Badiane’s henchman play to hypnotize them. The remaining parts of the score are performed by classic orchestral pieces that play right into the scene at hand. Without this component, the film will not have the same amount of appeal.

The villain to this feature is not well developed and one key character’s motive goes unexplained. The themes behind it though play a larger part. The animation, voice acting and music bring the third original Sailor Moon film back to a better standing than the first sequel.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku (1990) Review:

For Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series, many readers were enamored with the main character Goku. And for viewers of the anime once it aired, fans were all the more interested by the lore created around the characters. How was there such an incredible boy that defied the odds in so many ways and yet still managed to overcome such challenges? Goku was no ordinary child, not solely because of his skill but most notably because of the strange anatomical feature no other human had – a tail. Topping that off was that during the full moon, Goku would transform into a great rampaging ape. Little did anyone know that Toriyama would end up creating the story to how Goku came to be. Not to mention that it would end up being one of Toriyama’s favorite stories.

The narrative is centered around Bardock, as mentioned in the title, the father of Goku. Essentially serving as the prequel to Goku’s origins, Bardock is the unsung hero who tried to do something only his son would end up finishing. After completing a routine mission with his team ordered by his boss Frieza (Linda Young), Bardock (Sonny Strait) is magically gifted the ability to foresee future events. These events give him glimpses of his son and Frieza. With that, he sets out to learn the truth. Directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto and Daisuke Nishio who both worked on episodes of the show headed this project. When it came to the English dub, Neil Bligh again handled this part with Takao Koyama and Katsuyuki Sumizawa penning the original script. For the most part this feature is watchable albeit some minor issues.

For one, the concept that Toriyama had created and bringing it to screen is great. As mentioned before, the mystery of Goku and his history is revealed here which is unlike any other story told before. Learning of where Goku came from, his ancestry and how his lineage ties to the overall bout between him and Frieza is one big twist. The fact that Frieza thought he would never come across another person like Goku is one big kick from karma. There is a little continuity error fans may notice and wonder why it was never referred to. That being Raditz who openly confirmed his relationship to Goku at the start of Dragon Ball Z. Here though, Bardock makes no acknowledgement of his other son. Strange, it makes sense if there was no good way to put Raditz in the story, but at least make a reference.

From the acting side, all the English dubbing is performed well. Sonny Strait better known for his role as adult Krillin, is also a strong force as Bardock. His voice has just enough gruff to make the character sound like a much more hardened Goku, being that he looks almost exactly the same. Linda Young as Frieza in her starting stages as the ruler of the universe definitely knows how to play the role well. Throughout the special, audiences will also see other treats like Zarbon and kid Vegeta voiced by Chris Sabat. Unfortunately, Sabat also voices Nappa instead of Phil Parsons, which doesn’t sound right but its only for a line or two. Lastly there’s little tidbits of Chris Forbis as Dodoria, Stephanie Nadolny as baby Goku and Sean Schemmel as adult Goku. All of them give performances fans will recognize.

The animation to this project looks great. Like all other films in this franchise, it very much has all the same look. Especially since this is late 1980s, early 1990s anime. Surprisingly there is no person credited for cinematography in this film. This honestly, makes more sense since animation would not require a physical camera to film what’s being put to screen. However, music is a bit of a disappointment. For some reason, instead of sticking to Shunsuke Kikuchi’s score used in all previous projects, a new score was composed by Mark Akin, Andy Baylor and Dale Kelly. This background music is unfortunately very dated sounding and does not match the setting used except for a few scenes. A lot of it sounds like hard rock, metal and rap. This just isn’t what this franchise is.

This feature provides a wonderful eye opener to those who want to know the origins of Dragon Ball’s favorite main character. The animation and voice acting are all spot on (minus one). The music to this though is less than to be desired.

Points Earned --> 6:10 

It Takes Two (1995) Review:

Family entertainment in films has taken all sorts of forms. There’s movies that involve a mix of live-action and animation. There’s ones that involve fantasy and others involving more mature themes. The one thing though that tends to fascinate people in general are the concept of identical twins. There’s just something about two people who look and sound exactly alike and can sometimes be completely different. However, the similarities can overlap greatly in personality and sometimes even psychologically despite most thinking it is only cosmetic. One of the most recognizable set of twins to come out of Hollywood was Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, also known as the Olsen Twins. If it weren’t for the Full House TV show in the 1980s, it’s hard to say how popular they would have become. By the time this film came out, they were practically ending that series.

The story is about two twins living completely separate and different lives. Amanda (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a down on her luck orphan. She just can’t seem to find a good set of parents to adopt her with the help from her sponsor Diane (Kirstie Alley). Then there’s Alyssa (Ashley Olsen), the daughter of a successful business man Roger (Steve Guttenberg). By chance, one day Amanda takes a trip with her fellow orphans to the Callaway camp that Roger lets others use. Little do any of these four individuals know that their lives will be turned upside down when the twins discover each other and switch places. In a way, this is like The Parent Trap (1961) and its remake of 1998 although sharing a closer resemblance to the Prince and the Pauper. The script was written by Deborah Dean Davis known for penning a couple of episodes to various TV shows like Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider.

This is also Davis’ only theatrical film credit, which is sort of surprising because this is also one of her last credits to date. For viewers who have seen many movies before this one, will not be that new in terms of ideas. The predictability is very standard. Two twins aren’t happy with their current situations so they devise a plan to change that and most can anticipate where that leads to. Further making that more blatantly apparent is the reason Alyssa makes her plan with Amanda. Her mom has long since gone and daddy Roger has found himself a new woman Clarice (Jane Sibbett) who is clearly there for other reasons. It’s just plain as day, when it’s been seen, it’s known how the narrative will be executed. The directing from Andy Tennant doesn’t improve it by that much either.

Tennant would direct a year later Fools Rush In (1997) and even later Hitch (2005). From how the characters are written though, the main ones are still likable in their own way. Kirstie Alley has the very mom-like attitude towards Amanda and that makes her significant. Most remember Alley from her role in Cheers.  Steve Guttenberg as Alyssa’s father is also friendly. He’s doesn’t come off as a jerk in any way, just very blind to his flaws. Guttenberg is well known for his parts in the Police Academy (1984) franchise. As if anything needs to be said about the Olsen twins, their acting is fine. They don’t come across annoying either. Jane Sibbett plays her part well as the woman who hangs with Roger for other obvious reasons. And there’s a butler Vincenzo (Philip Bosco) who also had some parts in other movies like Three Men and a Baby (1987) and Shaft (2000).

The chemistry between actors all seem to work out okay. There are some moments where things are taken too nonchalantly or various scenes seem over the top to be taken so seriously. But this does add to the humor. Filming the project was Kenneth Zunder. Having a mixed history of working on TV shows and movies, Zunder’s work is fine for this okay movie. The shots taken of the camp area and Callaway mansion are very spacious to look at. Zunder’s best credits belong to Chicago Hope and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Lastly the musical score wasn’t that memorable. Mainly because the score wasn’t that prevalent. Composed by Sherman Foote the music behind the scenes are just sprinkled throughout while most of what is heard is the soundtrack. Really not that interesting.

Aside from nonexistent music and a rather straight forward script that makes it quite transparent in story, it’s okay to watch. It’s a nice throwback to various actors people have come to enjoy and remember. The characters are written for each actor well, which gives good chemistry and the camerawork is serviceable.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Sailor Moon S: The Movie - Hearts in Ice (1994) Review:

Japanese anime during the 1990s had fairly solid properties going on even before Pokémon hit the scene. Sailor Moon had proven to be quite a hit starting in 1992. By this time, the series had already aired three seasons and one film. Despite the show feeling very much like a little girl’s cartoon, many were enjoying it. So unsurprisingly, the next entry in the show’s film log came around. The first film was a fairly decent beginning in its set of movies to come. This one however feels sort of familiar to that of the last which doesn’t make it that unique. The viewing experience is not a total wash, there were just aspects that could have used fine tuning or a simple change up in how execution was to be done.

The plot to this entry is about Usagi, Sailor Moon (Stephanie Sheh) and the rest of the sailor guardians crossing paths with a couple who are in a rocky place in their relationship. Kakeru (Chris Hackney) is an astrologist, hoping to discover the Moon Goddess. Feeling that his lifelong dream sounds like a fairy tale is his girlfriend Himeko (Eden Riegel). They both don’t see eye to eye but with the help from Luna (Michelle Ruff) and the sailor guardians, there’s a chance they will fall in love again. Meanwhile an evil ice witch on a comet is headed towards Earth and if nothing’s done, the planet will become a frozen wasteland. The screenplay was once again written by Sukehiro Tomita, who also wrote the previous film. Directing the feature was Hiroki Shibata, who began their career with an Akira Toriyama Dr. Slump movie.

For what’s in the film, as mentioned before the plot feels similar to that of Sailor Moon R: The Movie – The Promise of the Rose (1993). The difference is, instead of the antagonist having a connection with one of the protagonist like Tuxedo Mask (Robbie Daymond). This time the antagonist revolves around Kakeru and Himeko. It’s just not that different in how things play out other than which character is actually interacting more with the antagonist than the other. Additionally, Luna the cat develops an affinity for Kakeru after she has a brief encounter with him. The issue is that some of these motivations behind the characters feel like they’re stretched further in believability than they should be. Obviously the universe this show takes place in has a lot of magical items that are not actually real, but there are parts where the reality of certain situations is a little beyond the shows established rules of possibility.

Despite these flaws within the films experience, there are still several good parts. For one the voice acting is all commendable. The couple of Kakeru and Himeko sounds like a believable relationship despite one feeling strongly for science and the other for magic beings. Stephanie Sheh returning as Sailor Moon works her magic well. The same goes for Cristina Valenzuela as Sailor Mars, Kate Higgins as Sailor Mercury, Bennett Abara as Sailor Jupiter, Cherami Leigh as Sailor Venus, Sandy Fox as Chibiusa, Lauren Landa as Sailor Neptune, Erica Mendez as Sailor Uranus and Veronica Taylor as Sailor Pluto. All the actors (mainly actresses) give the performances they are best known for in the show and it all sounds acceptable. Michelle Ruff probably has to provide the most emotional performance of all of them, due to Luna’s involvement with the couple.

Visually speaking like other anime reviews, the cinematography is a credit that goes misunderstood. As to what kind of camerawork is needed for animation is yet to be confirmed. However, the animation though is as good as it would look like for 1994. The scenes have a lot more detail added to them than the typical episode which makes the scenes look that much better. Finally, the music to the film score by Takanori Arisawa provides another great listening experience. For the more tender moments, Arisawa sounds like the used xylophone but then breaks out into a full orchestra. It is very sweet to hear, and equally pleasing to the ears like the last film and the show with fluttering flutes. There is a Japanese album to listen to and it covers eighty to ninety percent of the film.

Sadly, this particular entry seems to recycle some ideas from the previous film into this one. The music, animation and voice acting are still all great to experience. It’s just that some aspects seem a little more out of whack than normal this time.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure (1988)

For Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series, the set of films to be released during its run hasn’t been the best. Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986) was more or less a summation of the first season despite it leaving out some key elements. Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle (1987) was more of a recap of the first few episodes of the second season. So to expect this film to follow any kind of order for the third round would be improper. This third film was released towards the end of the eighth season. With that said, the alignment of how this story sits is going to be all kinds of jumbled parts thrown together. Is it better than the others before it? That’s debatable as there are parts that still don’t make a lot of sense.

The story is like the other films where the characters known from the show are in an alternate timeline. This time Chiaotzu (Monika Antonelli), Tien’s (John Burgmeier) loyal companion now acts as an emperor. Tien, Mercenary Tao (Kent Williams) and Master Shen (Chuck Huber) serve under his wing. Their goal is to locate all dragon balls so they can find Chiaotzu’s long lost wife. Meanwhile, Bulma (Tiffany Vollmer), Yamcha (Chris Sabat), Krillin (Laurie Steele) and Goku (Ceyli Delgadillo) are working to collect the dragon balls too. Along their travels they encounter Upa (Kara Edwards) and his father Bora (Dameon Clarke). Together they help Goku and friends to help collect the mystical items to help make their wish come true. Directing this feature goes to Kazuhisa Takenouchi who has also worked on the show and the Sailor Moon series.

Writing the original script for Japan goes to Yoshifumi Yûki who also wrote for the previous two films as well as two Dr. Slump movies originally created by Akira Toriyama. Working on the English version of the script is Neil Bligh who also worked on Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986). From an English dub cast perspective, the people attached are the preferred among many. All actors listed are the ones who voiced their characters throughout the series, that is except for one. Again as to why Stephanie Nadolny was unavailable considering she voiced Goku in the show doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Ceyli Delgadillo who also played Goku’s voice in the previous film Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle (1987) just doesn’t cut it. From a storytelling angle the amount of coverage this movie tries to cover is too way long a span.

There is no consistency as to how the stories are being readjusted. Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986) seemed like it had an idea by condensing a season into one movie. Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle (1987) didn’t even try for the whole season two. The story here is now trying to cover everything that happened from season three to season eight. That’s a lot to cram in and the bulk of it really covers parts of season four, five and seven. Making things even more random is that Arale from Dr. Slump appears in this movie as an easter egg so to speak. The inclusion of the character is played just as a comic relief foil to Mercenary Tao. Obviously it was put there for a reason but it wasn’t necessary.

Visually speaking, the animation looks as good as always. Although every decade has its moments of strangeness and wonkiness, anime in the 80s and 90s are quite appealing. Also as expected this movie has Motoaki Ikegami as the credited cinematographer. The question of why, remains to be answered. Motoaki Ikegami also did the same for work for the last two films. Lastly the music once again supplied by the talented Shunsuke Kikuchi knows no faults. The music seamlessly blends with the scenes show on screen and it’s all fun to watch and listen. This is also one the rare cases where themes from the show are recycled in for the feature bears no issue. It’s not always a good thing but Kikuchi’s music really doesn’t need a substitute for the work.

The look of the film, the sound and majority of the US voice acting are now where they should be. Yet the actor for Goku still couldn’t be nabbed. Additionally, the writing to this feature is just very bloated with multiple scenes and characters that are trying to recap highlights fans remember from the show.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Anastasia (1997) Review:

When it comes to animation, there are only a few names that people think of who have made an impact with their films. The first is usually Walt Disney for obvious reasons. The second is Richard Williams for having worked on films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), while directing Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1976) and The Thief and the Cobbler (1993). There is a third though and his name is Don Bluth. Originally working for Disney before leaving on his own accord, Bluth went on to create many films people remember from their childhood. He even worked on the animations for the Dragon’s Lair video game that has become known for its notorious difficulty. Before one of his last films, that is Titan A.E. (2000), Bluth directed a film before it that many people feel was his last best film and that was this.

Part of what makes this film remembered so well is that it revolves around an actual historical figure. The story plays to the fantasy of what would have happened if Anastasia (Meg Ryan) had survived the Bolshevik revolution of Russia in 1917 where Czar Nicholas Romanov II and his entire family that she belonged to had been executed. Unfortunately for her in the film, she escapes but at the expense of her memory not knowing her origin years later. The only thing she knows is that she suspects her family is in France after receiving a locket from her Grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury). To find her way there she finds Dimitri (John Cusack) and Vlad (Kelsey Grammer) who might be able to help. They also might have a connection as well to what Anastasia’s looking for.

The film was directed not only by Bluth but also Gary Goldman who has been with him since. For writing, the screenplay was shared among Susan Gauthier from the Carol Burnett Show, Bruce Graham from Roseanne, and Noni White and Bob Tzudiker from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Together these four pen a script that is sufficient in what’s put to screen and has moments of entertainment. From a character perspective, all of them feel authentic in their motives except for one. The one character who seems to be the weakest is the villain Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd). It’s not that the character isn’t entertaining, it’s just that Rasputin is kind of there from time to time. It’s like the story can’t find a balance between how much it should focus on Anastasia reaching France and Rasputin trying to eliminate her.

Aside from this though the acting is fine. It was actually quite hard to tell that Kelsey Grammer voiced Vlad. The rest are all pretty identifiable in their performances. Even Hank Azaria playing the anthropomorphic bat Bartok, a sympathetic foil to that of Rasputin was fun to listen to. The character is not even shown how they came to be. Meg Ryan as Anastasia is perfect as she personifies her voice to sound like a strong heroine lead. There is a continuity error with her character and that’s where she miraculously recalls something she didn’t seem to know before. As to how this happens, goes unexplained. There are no other blatant issues that audiences would see here. It is intriguing that again the script was penned by two TV writers. For animation, the look of the film is quite appealing. All the movements of the characters are expressive and are very smooth.

Of course that is why Don Bluth films are regarded in the way that they are. It’s also rather surprising just how visually graphic the character of Rasputin is. He literally falls apart and veins and bodily innards are shown. For a rated G film, that’s unheard of. Lastly the music was decent enough. Composed by David Newman who also worked on The Phantom (1996) and The Nutty Professor (1996) is sadly not heard too much in the album provided. The movie contains more songs sung by the characters which is fine as some may find these songs memorable from their childhood. However, the score itself is rather unattainable for an expanded version. Still, the music in the film is well done and has the right tracks for the appropriate scenes.

Aside from having some focus imbalance on the heroine and the villain and a glaring continuity error, the film entertains like it should. The acting is professional, the animation delivers and the music will find its set of fans to listen to.

Points Earned --> 6:10

Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (1987) Review:

With the success of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball property hitting big at home, after three seasons Toei Animation felt the series was prime for some movie making as well. For some reason, the first film Dragon Ball Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986) didn’t come out until then, instead within the year. Not to mention that rule stuck for this second film to come out. It’s hard to say why that’s the case instead of annually for every season in other animes that came out after it. That’s not the only thing though, this second production also has the same concept as the last film. Instead of creating a film that fits in the timeline of the series, it sticks to recapping events from prior seasons but in a different way. It’s really unclear as to why this is a thing for this franchise.

The narrative to this retelling of events follows Goku (Ceyli Delgadillo) and Krillin (Laurie Steele) finding Master Roshi (Mike McFarland) in hopes of being trained by him. Rather than doing that right away, he tells them the story of a princess in the devil’s castle and asks them to bring the princess back to him. Only then would he train them. Along the way Yamcha (Chris Sabat), Bulma (Leslie Alexander), Puar (Monika Antonelli) and Oolong (Bradford Jackson) follow the two to what’s called the Devil’s hand. This particular entry was written by Keiji Terui who worked on the show prior going back to season one. Directing was the same person as before which was Daisuke Nishio. As an entry to the start of Dragon Ball movies, this second entry is not staying consistent in the groundwork that the first film laid.

Unlike the first movie which covered almost all of the first Dragon Ball season, this story is very much a summation of the first three episodes of the second season. It’s a disappointing as at least the first film felt like it was trying to cover its bases, but this is one just doesn’t cut it. There’s also some continuity issues with this feature if one is sticking to the Dragon Ball film timelines instead of the show. This is the first film where Goku turns into his ape form, yet one of the characters says “not again”. Since these films are supposed to be an alternative timeline to the show, this line makes no sense. At least if the production company is going to go in a certain direction with their films, at least be on target with what’s happened so far.

Now to be fair, perhaps this was only an issue in the English dub but that still should have been checked with being set for the west. The acting is also very subpar surprisingly for the voice actors on board. Leslie Alexander as the new Bulma is still no close match to Tiffany Vollmer. The same also goes for Ceyli Delgadillo as Goku, who is by no means close to Stephanie Nadolny’s version. Even stranger is that Chris Sabat as Yamcha doesn’t sound like he’s sure of what his character should sound like either. And it’s not like he didn’t know as he was voicing Yamcha in the show before this film was even released. Bradford Jackson and Laurie Steele seem to do okay though. It’s interesting too because Leslie Alexander was in Red Dead Redemption II.

Visually the animation is still appealing to look at. The animation director for this feature was Minoru Maeda who also worked on the film before it. The colors all look sharp and solid, while the character designs are correct with their depictions in the show. Cinematography is a question here with credit being given to Motoaki Ikegami as like the last film. The music though is as solid as it could be with Shunsuke Kikuchi’s themes sprinkled throughout the film. There are a few themes the recur that seem out of place but this might be due to the dub mixing used in the west, which still should have came out better. Can’t knock the film score because that’s one of the few things that remains on point. Without Kikuchi’s score, it may not even be as recognizable.

This entry is not as well put together as the first film for some reason. Music and animation are consistent in their quality but everything seems to be off base for no reason. The story doesn’t recall what’s supposed to have happened from the last film with continuity errors and the acting sounds like a demo reel for some performers.

Points Earned --> 4:10