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AfricanAsura
— Reviewing Dojo September 2019
#allthat
#carmensandiego
#heathers
#kim_possible
#loudhouse
#deathbattle
#epicrapbattlesofhistory
#deathbattlescrewattack
#twelveforever
#twelve_forever
#loudhousenickelodeon
#heathers_movie
#stevenuniversethemovie
#stevenuniversemovie
#carmensandiego2019
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2019-10-01 02:23:05 +0000 UTC
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Reviewing Dojo (September 2019)
Fall has arrived, school is unfortunately back in session, and I have an itch for reviewing.
Heathers
In high school there is the most popular clique has all the power. Heather, Heather and Heather are at the top of social food chain and alongside them is Veronica. A typical average school girl with a talent for handwriting. She does their dirty work and she stays at the top of the school hierarchy. The leader of the popular clique Heather Chambers decides to take her best friend Veronica to a party and gets humiliated after one too much to drink. Heather decides to expose Veronica and make her the outcast tomorrow morning. After having a wonderful with J.D. a boy that she likes they decide to pull a prank on Heather only to accidentally kill her with a contaminated drink. Veronica forges a suicide note to cover up the fact that they killed her and must pursue the rest of the school with this lie. Soon however things will become more chaotic the more Veronica realizes how much of a bad influence J.D. actually is.
Well this movie was certainly a dark movie. Not really surprising seeing that this movie is from the 1980s. Dark however doesn't always mean bad and this movie pretty awesome. I'm not really into these high school movies but there is something about 1980s cinematography that I just can't help but be drawn to in spite of my distaste for school. The movie is pretty twisted down to the core as we see our lead Veronica transform from shy girl to bonified badass. I think it is got to be the performance of Winona Ryder. Seeing that she was also the same girl in Beetleguece I guess that shouldn't be very surprising. The bad boy of the film J.D. is also a very fun villain of the movie too. The guy seems to be a criminal mastermind and it was a lot of fun seeing him as the serpent to tempt the beautiful Eden to eat the forbidden fruit. The only thing I find disappointing about the film is the lack of screen time with the Heathers. Now the film does put a crucial plot point around the alpha Queen Bee and it goes all out with it which is fine. However I wished we get more screen time around the other heathers seeing how they are just as wicked as Aplha. I mean the film is called "Heathers" you'd think there would be more screen time with the others. But that's just a nitpick on an other wise great teen flick from the 1980s. If you like a dark school flick or 80s movies in general I recommend this one.
It Just Works (the Chalkeaters)
Made by a YouTube artist by the name of the Chalkeaters this little YouTube video is but a mock letter to the face of Todd Howard CEO of Bethesda game studios. The song highlights their business practices and bad decisions they've done and their unwillingness to improve because their tactics just works no matter how much back lash they get.
Not something I though I would bare witness to. A catchy jazz song that is just a giant if roasting of Bethesda. Clearly they have done their research over the company's marketing/business tactics (which includes rereleasing old games, price gouging in game items, overpriced DLC, and compulsive lying towards their customers and fans), their callus attitude of the backlash and fans growing fatigue of their BS. The final result culminates in a pretty fun villain song. This YouTube video pretty much made Todd Howard into a Disney villain or a knock off Disney villain because of how well written the lyrics are and with the South Park Animation style. The use of the various video game clips and jokes were also well utilized as it just shows off Howard's ignorance claiming this is what his audience wants and what they do is just making him and his company more richer than ever. In his eyes "it just works" and there is no reason to change their tactics because of some angry fans. Ha!😄 Talk about living in an insanity bubble. The song makes it very blatant about it that it is just funny. In fact I think it's very worthy South Park material from the songs comedic tone. Not to mention Todd Howard is basically a South Park Canadian in this song. This song definitely was a good listen it you a musical roasting of an infamous company. Check it the song and listen for yourself.
Twelve Forever (Season 1)
A pilot show originally pitched on Cartoon Network got picked up by Netflix. The premise of the show is about a twelve year old girl named Reggie who goes in a island world run on imagination and mystery to escape the pressures of reality such as school, chores or her worse nightmare growing up. Here in the world of Endless she has the power of fighting skills and super strength and she can do whatever fun she wants and not think about the pressures of reality. Her friends Todd and Esther also have the keys to access the land of endless and they come and go as they please also to escape the pressures of reality. Together Reggie, Todd, and Esther have fun together on Endless with their respective superpowers (Reggie has strength, athletics, and weapons; Todd has shapeshifting; and Esther has light manipulation) while occasionally dealing with the sinister witch of the island dubbed the Butt Witch.
Quite unexpected for this Cartoon Network Pilot to be picked up by the likes of Netflix but that's a minor detail on to the main show itself! I was moderately interested thanks to the aforementioned pilot episode. It looked like the show had an interesting concept and some quirky characters to boot. The full series made some changes but the core concept still remains intact. From watching a show I ultimately have positive to mixed feelings on the final product. I think Twelve Forever has good quality aspects about that make it stand out among Netflix's crowded lineup of shows but I also think the show also has things about that I think others will either not mind or get turned off by.
First I'll talk about the art style. Give the show credit for its unique art style but I'm rather mixed on this one. The animation itself is colorful (it's the colorful island of endless or gray brown realism of reality), lively, and energized but the character designs are a bit of a mixed bag. I find that the real world has more of an interesting look with its characters while Endless doesn't look that appealing in spite of how colorful that world is. Speaking of which Endless island definitely took a page from Adventure Time. There is just so many sites to see, and so many weird and bizarre things it's just unbelievable. I'll give the show credit for its creative island. The action of the show is also highly entertaining and the comedy is funny. But that's a minor aspect about the show so now we move on to the characters.
The cast overall is generally memorable outside of their designs. Thoug again I have mixed feelings about them. I find myself liking characters in the real world more than the characters in Endless. The grand majority of the islanders were just not very charming nor very likable (with a few exceptions). A lot of their personalities and sometimes their representation in the episode either meh or mildly annoying. In contrast the characters in the real world seems to have this relaxed natural vide from them. The real world are just real regular people going through their every day live and it is strangely kind of endearing. Especially when Reggie finally figures out her issue with a problem. I think it has to do with how the episodes are structured and how the real people are utilized more than anything else.
Now I'll talk about out cast the show focuses on. First being Reggie is a weird girl struggling through the transition between her childhood stage and learning to grow up whether she likes it or not. Reggie is a character your either gonna like or find really annoying. Her personality is definitely not for everyones tastes especially her sense of stubbornness, or overt hatred of growing up. Personally I find my self relating to Reggie in more ways than one. Mostly for her reasons to just escape the real world to the fantasy world and just not think about reality at all. There are times I just don't want to think about reality or its implications and just live in my form of escapism. I can also appreciate that growing up is inevitable and it isn't as bad as she thinks it is. It's what you make of it.
Moving on to Todd. Todd is laid back guy being the voice of reason to the team. Nothing really special I can say about the guy but I found myself liking his personality the most out of the trio. Esther the excitable smart girl who is just happy to just be apart of the team and do whatever on Endless. Her design is a little jarring but aside from that she is a cute character. In fact she has the most interesting background compared to Reggie and Todd. Lastly we have the Butt Witch who just causes mischief every chance she gets and try to corrupt the all powerful Twelve. The Butt Witch is the best character in the show. I really couldn't care less about her being a metaphor for all things adult. The animation on her is just so much fun, her design is sinister & hilarious, her voice is just priceless, and her personality is just oozing with sinister charm and charisma. It's a shame we don't see more of her in the show.
Now with all that said do I like the show? Yeah. Quite a bit. I liked it enough that I wanted to watch it all the way through in spite of my issues with the show. It's not a favorite for me but I enjoyed my time with the show just fine. If you like fantasy, and themes of childhood and growing up, than I say Check out Twelve Forever and see for yourself!
The Graduate
Recent College Graduate Benjamin Braddock just arrived back from home with cheers and smiles all around. However Benny isn't too excited as the thoughts for his future are just gigantic crux on his inner thoughts. While pondering he runs into a friend of the family Mrs. Robinson. He takes her home and offers him a time in her bed. For a little while it was all just for the two forbidden lovers and their secret affairs. Unfortunately for the "Mrs." his thought eventually turn to a lovely woman named Elaine who he is smitten by. Mrs. Robinson does not that this turn of affections lightly as the lady is just so in fact her daughter.
This movie is kind of a head scratcher as it does tackle the subject of looking to the future and while dealing with a simple story of a love affair. Admittedly this film is a little too slow for my tastes and sometimes a little drawn out but sometimes the simple scenes are always the best ones. Such as the several instances of Ben starring silently in the distance, and the complicated emotions coming from Mrs. Robinson and her daughter Elaine. Luckily though it does pick up after Elaine comes into the picture as we seen Ben more determined to win Elaine in spite of his royal screw ups. The drama is also really strong in this movie. The actors did a phenomenal job in this movie and the direction of this movie is an interesting directed movie. I don't know what it is about the slow pacing of the movie but it never dragged on too long plus some of the cinematography just really make this movie a classic for a good reason. I don't think I'll be watching this movie again but I am glad that I saw it.
Song reviews (Tangled the series)
I love Tangled the series! I love songs, music, and musicals! So I love Tangled's musical Soundtrack! Specifically the TV shows' soundtrack. I liked the movie soundtrack but the songs generally didn't impress me compared to some of Disney's other movie soundtracks. The shows song however got me hooked and that's part of the reason why I love Tangled the series so much. I think it's because the show got musical legend Alan Menkan and I think it really shows. He did compose and wrote the songs for both Aladdin movies and it really shows. The original movie soundtrack was good but the show's soundtrack is a substantial improvement. Not every song hit all the right notes for me but for the ones that did really struck a chord with me. I'm serious I keep coming back to these songs they're just that good. Now I wanna review the songs that stuck out to me the most. I'm also gonna rank them from my favorite to my least favorite so far. Afterwards I'm eagerly looking forward to what's gonna happen next in season 3.
Living the Dream: Hook hand pretentiously singing about his success about his musician career all the while mocking his young his younger brother.
Oh Wow do I not like this song! The music itself is alright but I really hate that the subject matter. The song is just condescending, arrogant, and pretentious cause of Hook Hands fame and glory. To think that the majority Tangled series was doing so well with its songs. Even during the ones I don't care for are better than this song. Still I'd rather listen to this than most hip hop diss tracks.
I've Got This: While the King and Queen are away the Princess will play the ruler. In song form of course.
It's a funny song. We see how Raps is highly inexperienced when it comes to being a leader and this is where the comedy really shines like the sun. Not a very catchy song though. It's easily one of the weaker songs across the Tangled franchise.
Everything I Ever Thought I Knew: With the revelation of his origin revealed Eugene second guesses himself through the power of music.
It's nice to see Eugene get a solo song for once. It's not bad but I've definitely seen better from this show.
Let me Make You Proud: With Varians father on the verge of being encased in Crystal via an alchemy accident he travels through the stormy weather in a last ditch effort in getting Corona's help.
It astounds me how much of a good singer Varian is. I love the determination of this song as we see him trudge through the snow storm trying to get help. It's also kind of sad too. Varian just wants to make his dad proud in spite of his screw ups.
Next Stop Anywhere: Rapunzel is free from her kingdom for the first time and she sings on her way to her adventure.
This is another song that embodies Rapunzel's sense of wonder and adventure. This time now that she is traveling far beyond the walls of Corona accompanied by her boyfriend, and her best friend. Love the theme of excitement and curiosity.
View From Up Here: Rapuzel is turned into a bird and decides to have some fun soaring in the sky and exploring the land.
This is as if Sword and the Stone had a musical number when Ward gets turned into a bird. The song goes into heavy detail of being a bird soaring through the sky, and it really captures that sense of freedom, adventure, and serene beauty of the landscape with Rapunzel's beautiful singing voice and the animation throughout this musical number.
Ready as I'll Ever Be: Varian has captured Queen Arianna and the kingdom of Corona is head out to save their queen. Varian and Corona prepare for an inevitable battle.
Easily one of the most popular songs in the series and for good reason. You get the sense of a war is about to break out, lives may be lost, and there is no turning back now that the lines have been crossed. This makes for quite an amazing war song.
Buddy Song: Lance and Eugene both get hit by some gas of a carnivorous plant and both are loopy off their rocker. The frolic, skip, jump, and sing about they are the best of friends.
This is just a pointless song and I love it! A jazz song about being best of friends is pretty out of place for this series but they really go all out with the visual gags, call backs from passed episodes, and visual metaphors about their friendship. The music is just so bouncy and fun you just can't help but dance to the music. Even if Lance and Eugene were under the effects of killer plant gas.
Listen Up: With the clues destroyed on Ruthless Ruth's club she was going to curse the barbarians, Rapunzel, and the Captain of Corona. Rapunzel however encourages her to play the song Ruth always wanted to play before she died.
A very hauntingly good song. Perfectly fitting for Halloween. You get a barbarian ghost, dark vibrant lighting/colors, spooky imagery, haunting backup vocals, and Rapunzel's slick piano skills to make this a fun song sing to.
Waiting in the Wings: Cassandra is feeling down due to recent events. Rapunzel gives her some advice and some assurance before she sleeps. She heads to a warriors ground alone to sing her feelings about being left behind in the shadows of some one else.
I honestly feel bad for Cass. She has so much potential behind her skills and she knows it but is constantly overshadowed many other people. The music cements that feeling as it starts off quiet and somber music transitions to a inspirational, and then ending on a heartbreaking before the actual heartbreaker later in season 2. You can tell from the emotion in her voice and Cassandra's singing is just nothing short of fantastic. She really hits those high and low notes quite perfectly setting the tragedy of her plight in stone. I really wouldn't be surprised if Cassandra's voice actress did Broadway at some point. That plus all those other aspects makes Waiting in the Wings one of the best songs in the series.
Wind in My Hair: Cassandra takes Rapunzel out on a trip beyond the wall wanting to show her what she found. In the dead of night as they travel Rapunzel's voice sings about her excitement towards the journey that might be ahead beyond the horizon.
The main essential theme of the show as well as the themes of the show in general. Raps has had a quite a few of songs that shines rays of sunlight on her character. In her case it is her endless love for adventure. Anything that is new or anything that she hasn't seen yet she ready to run ahead in the distance with the wind in her hair. I think no other song in series shows this better than this one from the music, to the lyrics, and Mandy Moore's beautiful singing voice. All those aspects combined makes this one of the best songs in the Tangled franchise.
Fearless
A film loosely based on the real life martial artist Huo Yuanjia we see the story of how this famed martial artist during the end of the Qing Dynasty. How he was on the top of the world only to disappear and then return with a fresh new perspective on life. With that he managed to restore the honor of China as his martial arts skills proving to the world that China is not a pitiful state.
Man I really missed out on a lot of martial arts movies. This one has been on my radar yet I have not gotten the time to watch it. Well I'm glad that I did cause this movie was very very good. This movie has the awesome martial arts action expected in these movies however this movie is a little bit more grounded compared to...pretty much any movie to Jackie Chan stars in. Maybe it's because of my interests in culture outside of America but it was refreshing to see a more realistically told story that took place in China similarly to IP man. I also find it refreshing to see that the lead protagonists starts off fairly unlikable but than slowly gets better towards the end of the movie. I don't normally see that in the few martial arts movies I've seen and I like the good character development in this movie. The cinematography also looks really beautiful especially during the landscape when Huo leaves out of guilt and shame. Great movie overall, nice historical movie and good martial arts movie as well.
Kim Possible (2019 movie)
After saving the world from Dr. Dementor Kim possible and Ron Stoppable head back to the school to start the new year. Things get off to a rough start as KP runs late for class (again) and the teacher doesn't like her very much, and her school rival Bonnie refused to let her on the position she wanted. Things were not good until she meets a new girl named Athena who instantly clicks with her. The two become best friends and Athena becomes overwhelmingly popular with everybody. Meanwhile behind the scenes Dr. Drakken escapes from prison thanks to his Henchwoman Shego. Drakken uses his latest and greatest creation to take over the world and defeat that all that teen Kim Possible.
I have no idea what really compelled me to watch this movie. I've held off it for a while and now I've come to review it. Needless to say I have some mixed feelings about this movie. Mostly in the negative category. For what it is worth the are a few things that the movie got right about the show. One of the biggest reasons is the set design and it looks great. Practically a lot of the main locations looked like it was tailor made for a live action Kim possible show. For a Disney channel original that's pretty impressive. A handful of the characters were accurate to the original show too. The stand outs being Ron Stoppable, Dr. Drakken and Shego. All of their performances were fairly accurate to their cartoon counterparts and it was nice to see.
With that said now I'll get to negatives of the movies and these are big negatives. One of them is the plot and the main leads Kim Possible and Athena. I do not use this phrase lightly, but the overall plot of movie felt like it was written as a fanfic. From what I've researched basically the Mary Sue character (Athena in this case) instantly becomes friends with a large chunk of the cast to the point where they love her and that one specific person (Kim Possible in this case) is written out of character because the Mary Sue. It was kind of annoying to watch and even harder to stomach if your a KP fan. Admittedly the movie starts off okay staying fairly close to the usual Kim Possible flair (in spite of the set design differences) but then takes nose dive hard off a airplane when we get KP starting her first year of high school and meets Athena. Like I said before Athena practically a Mary Sue considering her personality, near universal likability, and superior skill set. She was really annoying to watch in this movie. Admittedly I did like the plot twist towards the ends third act which is a nice subversion of these types of stories but it unfortunately made no sense because there was practically nothing established that really built up to it resulting it come out of nowhere. That being said I think KP is even worse in this movie. The movie KP is such a far cry from TV KP: Movie KP has a bit of an ego and her motivation for hero duties are only for the glory more than anything else (which explains why she was very show offish in this movie).
Needless to say that this movie really missed the mark on Kim Possible. Not very surprising seeing that most live action movies of cartoons shows have a nasty habit altering the characters to a point of contention. This movie was no exception. I kind of figured this movie wouldn't be good and I wasn't surprised. I don't recommend this movie especially to fans of the show.
Epic Rap Battles of History
George Carlin vs. Richard Pryor
A calvacade of comedy legends duke it out in a battle of rap. Once again great spot on impressions. Especially as the episode continues to add more legendary comedians as it progresses. From the people they got to portray them as well as their styles of comedy. I do kind of wished they didn't use Bill Cosby as a butt monkey though. As someone who didn't grew up on the bill Cosby show I would have liked to see his comedy style incorporated into the rap before he was turned into a punching bag.
Steve Irwin vs Jaques Cousteau
A pretty good episode. I didn't care about who Jaques was though. I mostly came because of the crocodile hunter. I grew up on his show so it was pretty nostalgic to see him be portrayed by someone again.
Mother Teresa vs Sigmund Frued
Maybe it is just because it's been a while since I've seen some older episodes of the show but I think this one is one of the best episodes when it comes to the best disses and flow of the rap. That's saying something considering they all have the same structure. The rap is an interesting perspective on two historical figure who were both famous for different reasons: one is providing world solutions while the other for being providing hope at a very dark time in history. I gotta look up these two if I'm interested I their history. I like the beat of this rap too. It's sort of different style of rap compared to other episodes and it definitely makes a stand out there.
Infinity Train (Season 1)
In the middle of nowhere a young girl named Tulip is going through a rough after her divorced parents let her down/were unable take her to the camp she wanted to go to. Frustrated, angry, and upset she runs away to go to the said camp over at Wisconson. While on the way she runs into a train and hitches a ride with no other faster method of getting there. Turns out this train has cars that each have a unique world to them, and Tulip no is stuck with a number on her palm that continuously counts down. On the train she meets a sphere shaped robot with a split personality named One-One and later a King Corgi named Atticus as the assist Tulip in getting to the from cargo and help her find a way off of the this obscure train.
This show was one of the big ones on Cartoon Network. The pilot had a lot of love and a huge following. Not gonna lie I loved the pilot as well. Now we got Infinity Train as a full fledged series and I'll give my thoughts lts on the official first season. While the show went through directions that I didn't expect (such as the episode quantity, the strait forward story, and the dark tone/themes) I think the overall show is a great self contained story in the course of 10 episodes.
When I saw unexpected I really mean unexpected. I mean Infinity train is a cart of a different color compared to CN's other shows especially seeing as the pilot (which was also edited for one of the episodes) gave the impression that it going to be mysterious, ominous, and funny. Instead the story is played strait with a troubled girl and her two funny companions by her side. Now this is not a criticism at all. No, the real criticism I have would be the pacing. It moves at breakneck pace as each episode moves forward on the tracks. I think it is more of a case me being too used to slow character development, and overarching story in the course of 2+ seasons like many other cartoons the past few years. I get the impression that this show wanted to tell just one story in a short amount of time. As a response it does leave some questions in the air about how the whole infinitely running trains came to be. That being said my complaint is pretty minor because the execution of the story, concept, and its themes is very very strong.
This show clearly goes all out with its concept as it explores the never ending train. It took a page out of adventure time with all the surreal worlds in each car whether it would be fascinating, silly, dangerous, or pointless. There are definitely a lot more ideas for carts that could be used should the show go All Aboard for another season. That being said its nothing compared to the characters and the its themes. I'll start off with the latter and its themes of divorce, loss, and perseverance to a brighter future brought on by our hitchhiking lady Tulip. Her character development is one of the shows best elements. She starts off bitter and angry because of her parents divorce but as the story progresses she gradually learns to let go and eventually move on with her life. From research I keep hearing that this is kind of a common reaction for kids and divorced parents and if that was the case this is a great portrayal of it. While it can be rushed in some areas it is fascinating that we good look of a story like this and not have be gloss over or just be meaningless like in other cartoons. It's a good thing Tulip herself is also likable too. Because I don't think the story would nearly be as good as it is if she were such sourpuss. But she isn't only good thing about it. We also have a One-One and Atticus. One-One is hilarious with his comments and jokes about everything and Atticus is such a good man due to his regal personality and the fact that he literally is actual dog. These two provide the light hearted fun of the series so it's not all doom and gloom through Tulip's repressed memories. The villain of the movie is a tad underwhelming though. I kind of expecting more build up before the inevitable showdown but the conductor worked fine for what the story wanted to tell.
Definitely a great start for this mini series. While I would have loved to have the season be a little longer the more I think about I don't think it needs to be overly long. Infinity Train is short but a good ride across the infinitely train tracks. With its hint of a season 2 at the end I can't wait and see who is going to next on line in the infinite train tracks.
All That (2019) (1st impressions)
Fresh off the set! Ready yet! Get set! It's all that! In 2019! Nickelodeon is bringing back nostalgia in the form of one of its most popular live action shows of the past. Basically Nickelodeons answer to Saturday night live or Monty Python's Flying Circus we have a cast of really young comedians doing an ensemble of comedy sketches for our own entertainment.
Huh. Looks Old Nick is headed on the nostalgia train as well. They're giving one of their most oldest and popular live action shows another season. This was not something I was expecting Nick to do. Especially seeing as they don't seem to care that much about nostalgia. Regardless I'm here to give my first impressions of the show.
At the time writing there's 7 episodes soon to be more should the show succeed. With sketch shows like this there is about one important question that should be asked... is this show funny? That depends on your tastes. In the case of All That; do you enjoy silly and childish comedy in the form of sketches. In my opinion that is mostly yes.
I've loved this series when I was a kid a I still really love this new version of the same formula. The cast may be all new but all of them have some good comedic talent and chemistry with each other. What's also nice is that the show will occasionally bring in a of the original member(s) of the past seasons reprise some old sketches of the past and even doing some original sketches with the new cast. It was a nice treat the old cast again giving a us a nice dose of the old and new laughs. The occasional bloopers after the musical guest were also hilarious as well as a nice touch.
That being said there are several pratfalls with the new show. I think it is more of a universal than anything but still a problem nonetheless. One is when you catch an unfunny sketch. When they are not funny they are really not funny. Especially when a sketch smacks its one joke to the ground. The other is the musical guests at the end of every episode don't impress me at all. At least they're more entertaining than musical guests in SNL.
In spite of some its shortcomings I've had good time watching the new All That. Only time will tell if I think the show will get better or worse. Nickelodeon still has a bad track record when it comes to their live action shows. Until then I recommend this show for fans and those who like silly childish humor. Check out All That if their comedy stick suits your funny bone.
Carman Sandiego (2019)
A reboot cartoon of a classic 1990s cartoons we have Carman Sandiego. Released on Netlfix Carman Sandiego is a former Vile agent traveling all around the world putting a stop to her former life at every step of the way. Vile wants to steal something of cultural value and Carman will be there to put a stop to their plans. Meanwhile hot on her coattails is an detective dead set on putting behind bars.
I never really grew up with the original show. Heck I've never even played the games that the original show is based on. Even though I did a little research I'm reviewing this show from the perspective of a rookie. From the show alone I say that this show is pretty good. Nothing spectacular but just good.
The new show does keep the format of the show in tact, the protagonists going to to a new place to stop V.I.L.E., while giving brief exposition about the country or continent for educational purposes, the heroes succeed in stopping them from their petty claws. All this while having an over arching story. The story arc is pretty downplayed in this show but it's still present. The show is has entertaining spy action with creative fight scenes perfectly suitable for kids.
The cast Carman Sandiego is likable along with her friends and allies. The red lady herself is given much more depth than the original with a backstory and why she fights against vile within the shadows. It is a far cry from the original and I can guarantee that purists will not like this change at all. Personally though I like this version of Carman, this version is still an interesting thief, and this version is also just a complete badass as well. The villains at V.I.L.E. are typical bad guys, they're colorful in their looks and their ways of doing their vile business but other than that they don't really stand out.
The only thing that may be a point of contention are two things. One is the art style not being the same as the original. This aspect doesn't bother me because I love the anime art style plus the animation itself is slick, stylized, and luminous. The other missing treasure across the world is the fact Carman Sandiego a hero in this show opposed to being a villain like the original. But if your like me and you don't mind open to different interpretations I think this is a good version of the mysterious woman in red.
I generally liked this show overall. It's an short but entertaining spy cartoon. If like animation and the spy genre this one is a decent cartoon to check out. I say fans of the original are either gonna think it's okay or just not like it. Either way check out Carman Sandiego and see for yourself.
Death Battle episodes
ITS TIME FOR SOME MORE DEATH BATTLES!!!
Aang vs Edward Elric: A battle of elemental users feature the Avatar and the cyborg Alchemist of state.
Love the character interaction between Aang and Edward and perfectly fitting for their characters aside from getting rid of Aangs pacifism. It was a decent episode but horribly one sided fight. At least it was still an entertaining fight.
Ghost Rider vs Lobo: Marvel vs. DC is back again this time with the overpowered alien and cyclist of the undead.
This one is also a good episode. It was kind of surprising that this fight wasn't as one sided as I thought it was going to be. I think their mixture of animation/art styles is getting a lot better. It is a lot less jarring then it was before.
Mechagodzilla vs. Dragon Zord: Another case of Clash of the Titans Tommy Oliver's Dragonzord takes on the Mechanized rival of Godzilla!
Man! Power Rangers can't catch a break with their losing streak can they? Anyway! This episode was destructive fun. Nice they didn't go for the sluggish route like they did with Godzilla vs. Gamora.
Leader of the Racks (Loud House)
Leno and her friends head to during work. It was not a good lunch session. Leno and friends complain about their boss being a big drillster. However as soon as they arrive back Mrs. C their boss has to leave to be a representative for the store. While Mrs. C is away she promotes Leni Loud as temporary Manager. Leni is nervous as she never had a position of power before and be a good friend with her work friends. After some encouragement from her sister Lori Leni steps up to the plate and becomes the store Funager.
Man this show doesn't know how to make a bad Leni episode. If that's case I ain't complaining cause this is just another great episode for my favorite airhead. This episode was probably her at her smartest. And considering that Leni has habit of not helpful, making things worse, or completely screw up the plan that's saying a lot. She takes her position seriously in this episode but instead of taking things too far she does the job her way and made it a more pleasurable experience for herself and her favorite Friend-ployees and still gets the work done. Even when the poo hits the fan near the climax she did what had to be done even if it might have costed her. Luckily there was no worries and her friends were very understanding why she did. Oh god this was such a good character episode.
Steven Universe the Movie
Two years have passed since Steven pleaded to the Diamonds for peace and succeeded. After making a broadcast news across the universe and politely declining their offer to join them on the throne he returns to earth. He catches up on some old friends, and see how much has changed on earth. Life could have been more perfect for Steven. However just like that a new gem arrives arrives with an injector dead set on putting an end to his Happily Ever After. This Gem named Spinel poofs Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl and Steven (his gem half at least) but Steven poofs her as well. The gems recover shortly but now have lost their memories including Spinel. Steven hurries to get their memories back and must act really fast because the injector shot on the earth is soon going to destroy all organic life on earth.
Words just cannot describe how much I love this movie. I love animation, I love movies, I love musicals, and I love Steven Universe. This movie is a pretty much a love letter to the show as well as things like animation, musicals, and classical music. You can tell they've put a lot of hard work in this movie. The animation in particular is especially phenomenal. This movie is tv animation eye candy this movie is just that gorgeous.
Moving to the story it is simple amnesia story as we see the main crystal Gems (Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl) relive the most important memories of their lives and figure out what Spinel was really up to from her hyper injector. The story is not the strongest part of the movie. In fact the more I think about it is more less key defining moments/greatest hits montage of the show and characters just told in a different execution. Luckily though this movie does provide some new material to the table now that we got to see the time after the events of Change Your Mind. A lot of it does comes down characters and themes of change. I think this is where the movie is at its most interesting and the characters themselves are still the same lovable cast of characters. At least as far as when it comes to the main characters.
Which leads us to the main characters. This is where the film shimmering surface shines the brightest. The main characters are still really lovable as per usual even when Garnet Pearl and Amethyst get reverted to how they were made via their memory loss. That may sound like a bad thing but it is not. The amnesiac gems is still part of their characters considering their back stories and how far they've come. The gems are still so much fun to be around even though their character development has been regressed and the quickly get it all back through the film. Pearl and Garnet were just complete comedy gold, and Amy was just strait up adorable. The other characters (Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, Greg, and few others) are well utilized in spite of their small screen time. Now let's get to the real shiny gems of the movie; Steven Universe and Spinel. Starting with the diamond boy he has a very interesting development since the time skip. Now that he's established peace across the universe he's trying to get that well deserved break he pretty much deserves only to have all be swept under the rug by main villain. It a little bit of a selfish side to him but that's really kept as a bit of a minor aspect about him. Yeah he wants everything to go back to how they were, and feels useless that his powers don't work very well now that the world needs him again. In spite of that it is not really out of character for him. Considering what he's been throughout the series and especially in this movie it is understandable that he's a little on edge. He still goes through great character development in this movie and he is still a great character with his genuine concern for everyone's well being. Plus his frustrations give him a lot of depth now that he's little older now.
Now time talk about Spinel. By far is the best villain in series and she doesn't really do much in terms of villainy. She did spend most of the movie being bouncy cartoon character from 1930s and generally being to the Steven in universe. Luckily though she has these saving graces. The fun loving side does come of as charming and funny. While the villain side of Spinel is just a fun from her playfully sinister introduction, her erratic fighting style, and menacing approach during the final act. The also such she is such a tragic character. It is so heart breaking to see her how she became so bitter and sad especially seeing as she never really wanted to be bad in the first place. I really wanna give that gem a hug.
Not much bad I can say with this movie. As a fan I think this movie was well worth the wait and movie it was just an enjoyable blast from start to finish. If you're not a fan of Steven Universe, or musicals than this movie will not do it for you. However for fans this is a must watch, and for musical fans this is also a great movie to check out.
Steven Universe the Movie Soundtrack
Since I love the music so much and because it's a major part of the show I decided to review the soundtrack as well. As per usual the music in the show is still very strong in this movie from the background music to vocal performances there is not shortage of good to great songs in this movie. Seriously Ive been humming these songs these songs all month. These songs are just that catchy and memorable. I'll be ranking them from the ones I liked the least to what I liked the most.
16) system/B00R.pearl_final(3).info: Pearl gets rebooted and she now serves "um Greg Universe" about the general things that are happening at this time as the rest of the gems reform over a short period of time.
Easily funniest song in the movie for the scene and situation. Pearl becomes the robotically Musical Captain Obvious stating the original purpose of the reformed gems, the interactions are funny, and the music is still nice.
15) Finale: A slight reprise of Happily Ever After this significantly the movies close complete with a Broadway style curtain call just for show.
A typical reprise you would see any kind of musical or Broadway play and it is done well here. The Broadway curtain ending was a nice touch though.
14) Found: Understanding the pain Spinel went through thanks to Pink Diamond Steven invites her to return to earth. There she can start over and become the friend she needed after years of solitude and loneliness.
A calm and soothing song as we see Steven offer his hand in friendship. Not much happens but the song itself is just so sweet.
13) Isn't it Love: Sapphire goes out of her way to rescue Ruby from being shattered by a giant anvil. As a response the two fuse as the two sing about this new experience together as they slowly one.
It is interesting to finally see the perspective of what it's like becoming a fusion for the first time. The song itself is nice too as we hear Garnet's state and confusion as she tries to piece together this new found experience for the first time all over again. It's a nice song sung by the square mom.
12) Tale of Steven: The opening credits song singing the tale of Steven, how he came to be, and how he became a living legend of the universe. Sung by the Diamond matriarchy.
This song pays homage to older Disney movies. Back then they would show the credits first coupled with a song that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. This movie could have done a simple intro and get rest over with but nope a soothing and dazzling credits scene style that movies don't do anymore. I love this approach it feels so nostalgic and it surprisingly fits the tone of the movie seeing as the music plays a huge role in the franchise.
11) Disobedient: At the rock show the night at beach city Sadie Killer and the Suspects try to jog her Pearl's memory with a song about being rebellious from the life that she knew before.
A fitting song for the likes of Sadie once again as she vaguely sings about sick of being a serpent so she rebels against this force. Speaking of which Sadies singing has actually improved quite a bit so it actually sounds nice.
10) Let Us Adore You: After Steven has made his broadcast announcement across the universe he tries to make his way back to earth. Only to musically begged by likes of the Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and White Diamond to stay at the palace so they can smother himBegging Steven to stay on home world.
A quintet style song sung by Diamond trio of Yellow, Blue and White was kind of unexpected. Yet it is also strait up hilarious. This style of songs have always been funny to me in cartoons and this one is no exception. It's also the first time Blue and White get to utilize their singing chops alongside Yellow and this trio sounds beautiful together. Now I can't wait to see a solo performance of Blue and White Diamond.
9) Who We Are: Steven is down in the dumps after everything he worked for is going down the drain. Bismuth reminds Steven just who they are and sing her encouragements towards him that we are gonna figure this out. Accompanied by the likes of Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.
Did not expect Bismuth to get a song for herself! I ain't complaining because this song was fun. Her singing voice ain't that great but it was great to see that Steven still has friends to back him up even when things aren't great. The song is a reminder that Steven is a Crystal Gem and even if there is just one left they will always find a way to save the day.
8) Let Us Adore You Reprise: The Diamond arrive on earth once again disappointed. This time that earth is kind of in ruins now. Steven then reintroduces the diamonds to Spinel. Spinel makes a good impression on them with her silly antics. To which the Diamonds invite Spinel to stay at the palace.
One of the few time I actually prefer the reprise over the original. Not much has changed with the lyrics but it does give off a more welcoming feeling as they offer Spinel a place in the palace. Especially when she starts bouncing with joy.
7) Change: After finally finding the piece of his puzzle Steven finally regains his power and makes one final stand against Spinel. All the while singing to her about his experience with change and how she can change too.
I Love the feeling of triumph resonating from this song as Steven puts his dukes up against Spinel. The fight itself is intense and yet so encouraging as Steven sings that you can change and become better if you willing to. Very fitting for Diamond boy being the all loving paragon that Steven is. Not to mention the fight with him and Spinel was just freaking awesome!
6) Happily Ever After: A happy song reminiscing about the past and how they managed to get to their happily ever after. With no one left to fight and peace being restored across the Universe.
Nice exposition about each character and how they managed to get where they are in this peaceful Galaxy. This song is also just so wholesome as we see the massive change that has happened on earth over the course of 2 years.
5) No Matter What: After finding Amethyst Steven tries to jog her memory going on a road trip and showing teaching her life on earth singing and dancing all the way.
Classy Steven makes an tapping performance to Amethyst complete with dancing and gentlemanly grace. The is a wholesome catchy little number about staying by her side through thick and thin. This scene and song is so charming as he gives Big Sister Amethyst a stroll down her memory lane doing practically everything what she loved doing, did, and went through during her time on earth.
4) True Kinda Love: Garnet finally got her memory back as she stands up to Spinel. Singing her philosophy on true form love and how it make her and everybody around a stronger even in spite of all the hardship going around the right now and possibly through Spinel's mind.
Now we get to the promotional song for this movie. It has been everywhere since the buildup of this movie, and even showed in the trailer. I can't think of a more perfect song for this movie than this one. This song feels like another strong that seems tailor made for Garnet and her philosophy on love. The music, and Estelle's singing is really soothing even when it's during the big climax against the likes of the bitter and Angry Spinel. The message I think is also the best part of the song. In fact the more I think about it I think the whole movie was centered around this theme. The message of the song is that it's easy to just wallow in despair, anger, or fear and take out that negative emotion on as many people as they can. However Love can help you get through even the hardest of situations. It ain't easy but you you have to keep at it. It's a great message and a great song from a great movie.
3) Drift Away: Spinel (who has lost her memories after being slashed with her gem scythe early in the movie) takes Steven to the garden. A place where she used to have all sorts of fun with Pink Diamond. She sings to Steven about all the years she spent waiting for Pink to return.
Now this song really hit me in the feels. We finally get Spinel's backstory of how she came to be and let me say it is just sad. Really sad. The detailed lyrics of Spinel's time waiting alone only for Pink all because of Pink Diamond's little game, scenery of the garden eventually becoming a patch of dead plants, eventually realizing she had just been duped, and finally reformation of Spinel's memories. The somber music is what really sells this song, and Spinel's singing really hammers in that emotional sucker punch to the feels.
2) Independent Together: After Disobedient didn't do anything for Pearl's memory Steven quickly figures out the missing piece of the puzzle. Greg and Steven fuse to become Steg and sings about freedom and independence to Pearl.
A very unexpected scene for the series. A fusion from Steven and Greg! That and this song is just amazing. The song just had a lot of energy as this song almost felt encouraging to just be someone you want to be opposed to how every else does. Steg just had so much Funky Flow that I though it was gonna die and his voice actor was an amazing singer. Also when Opal showed up to play a duet with Steg I was practically melting in my seat.
1) Other Friends: A mysterious Gem arrives on Earth and she has a vendetta against Steven himself. Gleefully she sings to Steven and the Crystal Gems how she is happy to meet them as she fights/plays with them with her stretchy fighting style and tricky maneuvers.
It has been a while since I last heard a villain song. This song is as menacing as it is fun. This song shows Spinels tricky, silly, and unorthodox nature through the utterly sinister music. You get the impression that she sees this whole thing as a game and she just wants to have fun. And by fun I mean that she want Steven and the Crystal Gems shattered. Truly a fun sinister song from a silly sinister and tragic villain.
Thank you for your time and you all have yourselves a mighty fine day! How was your entertainment experience this month? See anything old or new? What were your favorites? Comment down and share your thoughts below! And I'll see you all next time!
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