(SPOILER WARNING!!)
It's no secret to a lot of my friends and family that I am probably the only person on the planet who will openly admit to liking Michael Bay's Transformers movies. They were my introductory point to the greater franchise and I likely wouldn't have become as invested in movies and general fiction as I have over the last 10 years. I still spend an absurd amount of money on buying the latest toys and each time a movie comes out I am guaranteed to watch it.
Granted, I will openly admit that these movies technically aren't very good, and I also understand where most people are coming from when they say they don't like or watch these movies. They are basically just made as a means for Hasbro to make more money by appealing primarily to the young teenage boy demographic who like seeing a ludicrous amounts of explosions and low brow toilet humour. And of course, more characters in the movies means more opportunity to sell toys to the kids. So really, I more or less like these films in an ironic sense, in that I openly acknowledge that they aren't very good, but I still get entertainment value out of watching how ridiculously stupid they can get.
Which brings us to the latest instalment to this long-lasting series; The Last Knight. This is reportedly Bay's last time in the directing chair and Mark Wahlberg, who plays human protagonist Cade Yeager, confirmed this will be his last time in these films. Already, this movie is churning out to be a disaster, with early reviews being exceedingly negative and the opening day not having a good turnout, making $15 million on a massive £217 million budget. How low is that? Fate of the Furious made a 44% difference on it's opening day. So the film hasn't even been out for a week, and it's already shaping up to be the worst of the films just based on the reviews and lack of money coming in.
... Okay, I'm gonna have to be that guy; I actually liked this movie. It's not flawless, but I don't think it's as bad as everyone else says it is.
So, it's been some time since Optimus Prime and Cade defeated Lockdown in Age of Extinction and Optimus has headed out into space to search for The Creator, whom he finds on his ruined home of Cybertron. The Creator, Quintessa, manipulates Optimus into doing her bidding to find a spear that will drain the Earth dry to rebuild Cybertron. Oh, and it also helps that the Earth is occupied by "Cybertron's greatest enemy", Unicron.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Transformers are still fugitives and now so is Cade, as he is hiding the remaining Autobots and Dinobots in an abandoned junkyard. This all changes with Megatron returning and reuniting with some of his remaining Decepticon forces, thus Cade meets an eccentric Earl named Sir Edmund Burton, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, who tells him about the hidden history of the Transformers and that he is important in saving the planet from it's imminent destruction, alongside Burton's robot butler Cogman and a descendent from the wizard Merlin, Vivian Wembley, played by Laura Haddock... yeah, it's that kind of film.
As one could expect, the story is at least 20 different levels of ridiculous and absurd, which can definitely turn some people off. However, this film makes up for it by doing something that most movie franchises don't do nowadays; it starts creating it's own mythology and does some world-building. A problem that I find with certain film franchises that go on for far too long, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, is an inability to probably set-up it's own story and legend to work off of, instead making the story overly convoluted to try and make it feel more "epic", but end up failing because it never gives the audience the chance to take in this information and loses sight of the story and character development.
Granted, The Last Knight's story telling isn't flawless, but it still tries to create and expand upon a mythos that audiences can get behind, incorporating Arthurian legends and myths as well as various aspects from previous Transformers' series. Stuff like the Knights of Cybertron fighting alongside King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, or ancient planet sized beings that pre-date the Autobot-Decepticon war. Heck, even working in the concept of modern philosophers and their scepticism on fantasy and the supernatural. These are things that start to add more scope to the story and make the world feel more alive. It arguably makes this the largest of the movies because of the ideas and myths that it introduces. Granted, the whole "Unicron existing inside the Earth" concept is borrowed directly from Transformers: Prime, but it was ridiculous then as well.
As per usual with these films, the action scenes and effects are pretty damn spectacular. The movements of the Transformers feels very smooth and natural, especially during the fight scenes where they really go all out with the effects budget. But it also takes things to the next level; this time, instead of just another shootout in the city, the battle is first taken into the air as the humans and Autobots, now reunited with Optimus, try making their way onto Cybertron as it enters the Earths atmosphere and starts scraping off entire chunks of the planet. Then, the battle continues on with both Autobots and humans working together to face the Decepticons on equal ground. For the first time in this franchise, it really does feel like the world is coming to an end and there's hardly any time to mess around. It makes everything feel much larger than these films had ever been before,
Now, like I said before, the film isn't flawless, and there are issues with the film that I can completely agree with. Namely, the humour in this film is really bad. I'm not talking about Anthony Hopkins and Cogman as the two of them together were a blast to watch. Rather, I'm talking about the other attempts at humour. A lot of the actors were allowed to ad-lib and improvise some lines on the spot and it just hurts to hear someone like Mark Wahlberg say "Listen here, J-Lo" or his generic black sidekick (who serves no purpose in the film, by the way) talking about his working conditions keeping giant robots hidden from the Government. Again, the only time I chuckled was when Hopkins and Cogman would banter back and forth, as it feels like typical British humour that gets a laugh out of me. But when it's followed by Vivian's mother and friends talking about getting her in bed with someone, it really brings on the cringe factor and makes it awkward to sit through.
Something else that may bother other people is the constantly changing aspect ratio. Don't know what that is? Well, it's basically, to quote my brother, "The ratio of the horizontal to the vertical. If something is 2 metres across and 1 metre tall, it has an aspect of 2:1". This is mainly to indicate which type of camera and screen setting is being used. But with this film, in between shots, it keeps on changing. One shot with have the black borders at the top and bottom, but then the next shot will cut it in half, only to go back to normal, then to disappear, then back again, on and on and on. It can get really distracting and doesn't keep consistent, especially when Bay said they were using IMAX cameras in places.
One last issue I have is with a lot of the characters; most of the new ones are practically worthless. As mentioned before, Cade now has a black sidekick helping him hide the Autobots. He serves no purpose other than some more of that awkward low brow humour that doesn't get a laugh. But then there's this kid called Izabella, played by Isabella Moner, who lives in a ruined town with her pet Autobot Squeaks and is taken in by Cade, even getting into the final battle. But outside of telling Squeaks to fight and giving Bumblebee a new voice box, she contributes absolutely nothing to the story. She could have been written out of the film and nothing would change. She's just there for a few scenes then disappears for most of the story and then she's just suddenly back. Even some of the newer non-human characters don't serve a point. They introduce Hot Rod into this movie as a stereotypical French Autobot who only matters in the final ten minutes. There's a combiner under Quintessa's control called Infernocus who gets whooped by Optimus then the individual bots get decapitated before they have a chance to fight. There are far too many new characters in this film, most of them not even serving a purpose. Tell me if you actually know the name of any of the human soldiers except for Lennox, played again by Josh Duhammel.
While I will acknowledge that much of this review has been somewhat negative, I still actually like this movie. Some of that may come from my bias as someone who was introduced to the franchise through these movies, maybe I'm just not seeing what everyone is getting so angry about. But I just wanted to make it clear that I like this movie. Even if I'm in the minority, I still stand by my opinion and will let everyone else have their own. After all, opinions are like assholes; everybody has their own. Just, please don't get to mad when I say I like the Transformers movies.
Overall rating: 7/10 (Good).
Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, saying... 'Til All Are One!
Saturday 24 June 2017
Wednesday 21 June 2017
Steven Universe Season 1
(SPOILER WARNING!!)
Along with being an advocate of Tokusatsu, I am also becoming more interested in modern cartoons. Stuff like Avatar and Gravity Falls are obvious examples, but one that has recently grabbed my attention was Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar and aired on Cartoon Network. Rebecca is still in the spotlight for her writing talents, as she is also working on the equally popular Adventure Time (which, for the record, I have not watched yet).
The general story focuses on... well, Steven Universe, a little teenager who has a love for live and always wants to see the best in other people. However, his life is anything but ordinary, as he is half-human and half-Gem. What is a Gem, you may ask? Well, the Gems are a race of "polymorphic sentient rocks" (the shows words, not mine), creating humanoid bodies in order to get around. Steven lives with the Crystal Gems, a small rebellion who faced off against the Gems of Homeworld over 6000 years ago. The three rebels that Steven lives with are Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl (though Amethyst came around a while after the Gem War was already over). They fight to protect the Earth from any threat in memory of their leader and Steven's mother, Rose Quartz, who also gave up her physical form in order to give birth to Steven. However, as the series progresses and Steven starts gaining control of his powers, we start to see that not everything is not as black and white as one would believe.
Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into this show initially, primarily for two reasons:
1. Most, if not every, episode runs an average of about 11-12 minutes long, so some stuff might feel a bit rushed early on and there may be instances where someone watching will have to pay attention to as many details as possible. Granted, a lot of the episodes focus is on Steven and his interactions with the Gems and other people of the town, Beach City. However, this does kind of lead into:
2. Most of Season 1's episodes are virtually filler. When I say most, I mean roughly 35 episodes of a season that lasts for 52 episodes. Granted, many of them are focused on Stevens interactions with people and discovering newer abilities (such as summoning a shield or literal healing spit). And newer characters introduced through some of these episodes do come back to play a bigger role, namely Connie Maheswaran, an initially shy bookworm who later becomes a valued member of the Crystal Gems and Steven's best friend/potential love interest.
However, there are some episodes that they play up as important, but are still ultimately filler, such as "So Many Birthdays". The only major detail revealed in this episode is that while Gems are immortal, they can still feel pain and die. Otherwise, this episode adds nothing else to the grand scheme of things, instead just being a bizarre story of Steven rapidly ageing then turning back to normal... that's about it. Or even "Together Breakfast", where the focus is just on Steven trying to get the Gems to try out a new breakfast he made... that's about it.
But when the show starts to pick up, it REALLY picks up, with episodes like "Giant Woman", which reveals that Gems have an ability called "Fusion", where two more Gems can combine their individual essences into a singular being. This made for great lore expansion as we get the idea that back on Homeworld, this is kind of a taboo thing. Not Fusion itself, but when two different Gems fuse, which also ties back to Garnet's character (I'll discuss this later). This also leads to a lot of great characters created from Fusion, such as Opal from Amethyst and Pearl, Sardonyx from Pearl and Garnet, or Sugilite from Garnet and Amethyst.
Other episodes, such as "Marble Madness" and "Mirror Gem" also gives a massive clue to other storylines that were yet to come, the former allowing us to see updated Homeworld tech and the latter allowing us to meet a future main cast member, Lapis Lazuli, a Gem who was stuck in a Gem mirror for 5000 years and was kept prisoner by the Crystal Gems, though they were apparently unaware that Lapis was even in there. "Marble Madness" also introduces us to Peridot, another future main character who gets a surprising story arc in the next season, but we'll climb that rock when it comes.
As for the main characters we have right now, they are really entertaining while also having a lot of layers to them. For instance, it's revealed in the episode "Rose's Scabbard" that Pearl has been by Rose Quartz's side since before the war, falling in love with her, making it devastating for her when Rose fell in love with a human, Greg, and gave up her physical form to have a child with him. Pearl lost her chance at happiness with the woman she loved, and constantly reminds herself of that whenever she looks at Steven. She feels horrible whenever she treats Steven as if he's Rose, but can't help herself as that is in her nature, not helped that she is also overly protective of Steven because she doesn't want to lose someone she loves again.
But it's not just Pearl; Amethyst has a surprisingly tragic backstory as well. For most of the show, she acts as kind of the generic trouble maker, cracking jokes at every opportunity and generally getting on Pearl's nerves. But all of that, as revealed in "On The Run", is just a facade, a mask that Amethyst wears to hide how she feels. I said earlier that Amethyst came long after the war was over, but it's more than that. Amethyst was created in what the Gems call a "Kindergarten", a place where Gems are mass-produced for Homeworld's goal of planetary conquest. However, Amethyst stayed in the ground for too long and came out overcooked, not only being weaker than most Amethyst's, but also being shorter. This formed a MASSIVE inferiority complex for her, as she hates seeing herself as weak. She wants to be strong and wise like Garnet, or elegant and sophisticated like Pearl, but she's just blinding herself under the delusion that she has to be like other people in order to be appreciated.
Now on to Garnet, who is hands down my favourite character. She is basically the de facto leader after Rose left the Gems, having to be strong for the others and be by their side through the various missions they go on. She also seems to be the most like a mother towards Steven, never being too stern or too uncaring, just balancing out both enough to remind Steven that she does care, but her stoic nature just makes it hard for her to be personally approachable. However, it's more than just her being a great role model for Steven, she is also quite a savage badass in battle, using her own ability of "Future Vision" to help her arrive to the best possible outcome for the scenario.
Now, remember when I said that Fusion ties to Garnet's character? Well, here's why; SPOILERS!!!
Garnet, as revealed in the season finale "Jailbreak", is a Fusion herself, of the Gems named Ruby and Sapphire (insert your own Pokemon jokes here). It's revealed quickly in the episode that the two are in love with each other and prefer to remain as a "Permafusion", as their love for each other keeps them together as Garnet for a long time. But it's not just Garnet being one half Ruby and one half Sapphire; it's more of the best aspects of both Gems coming together to form a basis for Garnet's personality. This is made all the more ironic when viewers remember that Ruby and Sapphire are complete opposites to each other. Ruby, as later expanded upon in future episodes, is hot-headed, protective of people she loves and can be lost when she doesn't have someone to guide her. In comparison, Sapphire can come of as stoic, closed off and subtly confidant that she is always right with her Future Vision. But either in spite of or because of that, the two of them are uncontrollably adorable together, whether fused or separated.
And now, for the main star himself; Steven Universe. He is sweet, compassionate and always has an optimistic point of view in the most dire of situations. But even he is flawed. He can be unbelievably naive, sometimes he can be a bit overbearing with how he always wants to be on a mission with the Gems. But as the show progresses, we see what makes Steven such an endearing character. Throughout the series, we see him learning more about his heritage as a Gem and what he is capable of. His first fusion, for instance, is not with any of the Gems; it's with Connie, creating the endlessly entertaining Stevonnie. This is not only a great experience for them both, but it also brings to mind stuff like puberty or personal connections, which are themes that are dealt with in a surprisingly mature way. And I don't mean "raunchy for the sake of a bad joke" mature, I mean "dealt with in an intelligent but understandable manner" mature. Steven is a great character not because he's a super badass, but because he's still written and developed as a normal human boy who happens to have extraordinary abilities.
Now, of course, not every character in this series is as great as others. For instance, I really did not like the character of Lars, a boy who works at the local doughnut store. Lars is an egocentric jackass who keeps on trying to act like a cool kid when really he's just a poser looking for attention. I already don't like this kind of character archetype, so it just grates on my nerves whenever I have to watch an episode where he is part of the major focus. But even if I don't like Lars, he is a saint in comparison to easily the worst character on the show; Ronaldo Fryman. Ronaldo is a self-righteous, sanctimonious, egocentric, condescending asshole who only cares about his blog and is willing to put ANYONE in danger if it means giving him even an ounce of attention. He's a conspiracy nut and an utter insult to nerds and Bloggers everywhere. He's the focus of easily the worst episodes of the show and a large part why I hate those episodes is because of him. Trust me, I have a larger rant planned for when I get to Seasons 2 and 4.
Otherwise, there are plenty of human characters I really enjoy. Of course, Connie is an obvious one, but I also grew to appreciate Greg, Steven's father. He's a former amateur rock star who washed out and stayed in Beach City after meeting Rose and the Gems. Now, after his rock days are over, he mainly spends his time living in his van and owning a car wash. From that description, one would automatically think that he's the generic lazy dad who hardly ever acknowledges his son's existence.
And if you thought that, then congratulations, because YOU'RE WRONG!!
Greg Universe has to be one of the best dads in the history of animation. He listens to what his son has to say, takes him seriously and will give out any advice that he thinks can help Steven's growth. But he also shows that he loves Steven on the simple fact that, outside of his van and car wash, Steven is the only thing he has left that reminds him or Rose. He doesn't try to treat Steven as if he is Rose, but is willing to always be there for his son whenever he needs him. He even proofs himself useful on several occasions, such as helping the Gems decipher a message that Lapis is trying to sent to Steven from Homeworld, or later on on the series when Steven has questions about Rose. He may a flawed human being, but that's what also makes Greg such a likeable character.
Steven Universe is a show filled with interesting and colourful characters, beautiful animation, great mythos, wonderful musical numbers and a mature mindset when talking about issues that need to be talked about in a serious manner. It's not perfect, especially with how rocky the show starts off, but over time it grows on the viewers and is very charming. I almost don't want the show to end, especially now that, as of writing this, we are in the show's fifth season. Let's hope that show keeps going for as long as it can.
Overall rating: 9/10 (Awesome).
Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, signing off!
Along with being an advocate of Tokusatsu, I am also becoming more interested in modern cartoons. Stuff like Avatar and Gravity Falls are obvious examples, but one that has recently grabbed my attention was Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar and aired on Cartoon Network. Rebecca is still in the spotlight for her writing talents, as she is also working on the equally popular Adventure Time (which, for the record, I have not watched yet).
The general story focuses on... well, Steven Universe, a little teenager who has a love for live and always wants to see the best in other people. However, his life is anything but ordinary, as he is half-human and half-Gem. What is a Gem, you may ask? Well, the Gems are a race of "polymorphic sentient rocks" (the shows words, not mine), creating humanoid bodies in order to get around. Steven lives with the Crystal Gems, a small rebellion who faced off against the Gems of Homeworld over 6000 years ago. The three rebels that Steven lives with are Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl (though Amethyst came around a while after the Gem War was already over). They fight to protect the Earth from any threat in memory of their leader and Steven's mother, Rose Quartz, who also gave up her physical form in order to give birth to Steven. However, as the series progresses and Steven starts gaining control of his powers, we start to see that not everything is not as black and white as one would believe.
Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into this show initially, primarily for two reasons:
1. Most, if not every, episode runs an average of about 11-12 minutes long, so some stuff might feel a bit rushed early on and there may be instances where someone watching will have to pay attention to as many details as possible. Granted, a lot of the episodes focus is on Steven and his interactions with the Gems and other people of the town, Beach City. However, this does kind of lead into:
2. Most of Season 1's episodes are virtually filler. When I say most, I mean roughly 35 episodes of a season that lasts for 52 episodes. Granted, many of them are focused on Stevens interactions with people and discovering newer abilities (such as summoning a shield or literal healing spit). And newer characters introduced through some of these episodes do come back to play a bigger role, namely Connie Maheswaran, an initially shy bookworm who later becomes a valued member of the Crystal Gems and Steven's best friend/potential love interest.
However, there are some episodes that they play up as important, but are still ultimately filler, such as "So Many Birthdays". The only major detail revealed in this episode is that while Gems are immortal, they can still feel pain and die. Otherwise, this episode adds nothing else to the grand scheme of things, instead just being a bizarre story of Steven rapidly ageing then turning back to normal... that's about it. Or even "Together Breakfast", where the focus is just on Steven trying to get the Gems to try out a new breakfast he made... that's about it.
But when the show starts to pick up, it REALLY picks up, with episodes like "Giant Woman", which reveals that Gems have an ability called "Fusion", where two more Gems can combine their individual essences into a singular being. This made for great lore expansion as we get the idea that back on Homeworld, this is kind of a taboo thing. Not Fusion itself, but when two different Gems fuse, which also ties back to Garnet's character (I'll discuss this later). This also leads to a lot of great characters created from Fusion, such as Opal from Amethyst and Pearl, Sardonyx from Pearl and Garnet, or Sugilite from Garnet and Amethyst.
Other episodes, such as "Marble Madness" and "Mirror Gem" also gives a massive clue to other storylines that were yet to come, the former allowing us to see updated Homeworld tech and the latter allowing us to meet a future main cast member, Lapis Lazuli, a Gem who was stuck in a Gem mirror for 5000 years and was kept prisoner by the Crystal Gems, though they were apparently unaware that Lapis was even in there. "Marble Madness" also introduces us to Peridot, another future main character who gets a surprising story arc in the next season, but we'll climb that rock when it comes.
As for the main characters we have right now, they are really entertaining while also having a lot of layers to them. For instance, it's revealed in the episode "Rose's Scabbard" that Pearl has been by Rose Quartz's side since before the war, falling in love with her, making it devastating for her when Rose fell in love with a human, Greg, and gave up her physical form to have a child with him. Pearl lost her chance at happiness with the woman she loved, and constantly reminds herself of that whenever she looks at Steven. She feels horrible whenever she treats Steven as if he's Rose, but can't help herself as that is in her nature, not helped that she is also overly protective of Steven because she doesn't want to lose someone she loves again.
But it's not just Pearl; Amethyst has a surprisingly tragic backstory as well. For most of the show, she acts as kind of the generic trouble maker, cracking jokes at every opportunity and generally getting on Pearl's nerves. But all of that, as revealed in "On The Run", is just a facade, a mask that Amethyst wears to hide how she feels. I said earlier that Amethyst came long after the war was over, but it's more than that. Amethyst was created in what the Gems call a "Kindergarten", a place where Gems are mass-produced for Homeworld's goal of planetary conquest. However, Amethyst stayed in the ground for too long and came out overcooked, not only being weaker than most Amethyst's, but also being shorter. This formed a MASSIVE inferiority complex for her, as she hates seeing herself as weak. She wants to be strong and wise like Garnet, or elegant and sophisticated like Pearl, but she's just blinding herself under the delusion that she has to be like other people in order to be appreciated.
Now on to Garnet, who is hands down my favourite character. She is basically the de facto leader after Rose left the Gems, having to be strong for the others and be by their side through the various missions they go on. She also seems to be the most like a mother towards Steven, never being too stern or too uncaring, just balancing out both enough to remind Steven that she does care, but her stoic nature just makes it hard for her to be personally approachable. However, it's more than just her being a great role model for Steven, she is also quite a savage badass in battle, using her own ability of "Future Vision" to help her arrive to the best possible outcome for the scenario.
Now, remember when I said that Fusion ties to Garnet's character? Well, here's why; SPOILERS!!!
Garnet, as revealed in the season finale "Jailbreak", is a Fusion herself, of the Gems named Ruby and Sapphire (insert your own Pokemon jokes here). It's revealed quickly in the episode that the two are in love with each other and prefer to remain as a "Permafusion", as their love for each other keeps them together as Garnet for a long time. But it's not just Garnet being one half Ruby and one half Sapphire; it's more of the best aspects of both Gems coming together to form a basis for Garnet's personality. This is made all the more ironic when viewers remember that Ruby and Sapphire are complete opposites to each other. Ruby, as later expanded upon in future episodes, is hot-headed, protective of people she loves and can be lost when she doesn't have someone to guide her. In comparison, Sapphire can come of as stoic, closed off and subtly confidant that she is always right with her Future Vision. But either in spite of or because of that, the two of them are uncontrollably adorable together, whether fused or separated.
And now, for the main star himself; Steven Universe. He is sweet, compassionate and always has an optimistic point of view in the most dire of situations. But even he is flawed. He can be unbelievably naive, sometimes he can be a bit overbearing with how he always wants to be on a mission with the Gems. But as the show progresses, we see what makes Steven such an endearing character. Throughout the series, we see him learning more about his heritage as a Gem and what he is capable of. His first fusion, for instance, is not with any of the Gems; it's with Connie, creating the endlessly entertaining Stevonnie. This is not only a great experience for them both, but it also brings to mind stuff like puberty or personal connections, which are themes that are dealt with in a surprisingly mature way. And I don't mean "raunchy for the sake of a bad joke" mature, I mean "dealt with in an intelligent but understandable manner" mature. Steven is a great character not because he's a super badass, but because he's still written and developed as a normal human boy who happens to have extraordinary abilities.
Now, of course, not every character in this series is as great as others. For instance, I really did not like the character of Lars, a boy who works at the local doughnut store. Lars is an egocentric jackass who keeps on trying to act like a cool kid when really he's just a poser looking for attention. I already don't like this kind of character archetype, so it just grates on my nerves whenever I have to watch an episode where he is part of the major focus. But even if I don't like Lars, he is a saint in comparison to easily the worst character on the show; Ronaldo Fryman. Ronaldo is a self-righteous, sanctimonious, egocentric, condescending asshole who only cares about his blog and is willing to put ANYONE in danger if it means giving him even an ounce of attention. He's a conspiracy nut and an utter insult to nerds and Bloggers everywhere. He's the focus of easily the worst episodes of the show and a large part why I hate those episodes is because of him. Trust me, I have a larger rant planned for when I get to Seasons 2 and 4.
Otherwise, there are plenty of human characters I really enjoy. Of course, Connie is an obvious one, but I also grew to appreciate Greg, Steven's father. He's a former amateur rock star who washed out and stayed in Beach City after meeting Rose and the Gems. Now, after his rock days are over, he mainly spends his time living in his van and owning a car wash. From that description, one would automatically think that he's the generic lazy dad who hardly ever acknowledges his son's existence.
And if you thought that, then congratulations, because YOU'RE WRONG!!
Greg Universe has to be one of the best dads in the history of animation. He listens to what his son has to say, takes him seriously and will give out any advice that he thinks can help Steven's growth. But he also shows that he loves Steven on the simple fact that, outside of his van and car wash, Steven is the only thing he has left that reminds him or Rose. He doesn't try to treat Steven as if he is Rose, but is willing to always be there for his son whenever he needs him. He even proofs himself useful on several occasions, such as helping the Gems decipher a message that Lapis is trying to sent to Steven from Homeworld, or later on on the series when Steven has questions about Rose. He may a flawed human being, but that's what also makes Greg such a likeable character.
Steven Universe is a show filled with interesting and colourful characters, beautiful animation, great mythos, wonderful musical numbers and a mature mindset when talking about issues that need to be talked about in a serious manner. It's not perfect, especially with how rocky the show starts off, but over time it grows on the viewers and is very charming. I almost don't want the show to end, especially now that, as of writing this, we are in the show's fifth season. Let's hope that show keeps going for as long as it can.
Overall rating: 9/10 (Awesome).
Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, signing off!
Sunday 11 June 2017
Kamen Rider W (2009-2010)
(SPOILER WARNING!!)
As I have stated in the intro to this series, I am a major fan and advocate of Tokusatsu, a Japanese mother genre that covers anything live-action that is created through practical and CG effects. This genre more or less spawned from the success of Gojira (Godzilla) in 1954 released by Toho. Various long-lasting franchises such as Ultraman and Super Sentai have become household names in Japan. Which, of course, brings us to today's subject. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you; Kamen Rider!
First aired in 1971, the series is the brainchild of acclaimed manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, who initially presented the idea as a 100-page one shot named "The Skull Man", a story where the protagonist is a vigilante seeking vengeance for the death of his parents, killing many people along the way. Obviously, this was quite the dark story, revolving around mutants and psychic abilities. However, Toei (the company now in charge of producing Kamen Rider) chose only adapt certain elements of the manga and created an entire new mythos with Ishinomori having full creative control. In this case, the titular Skull Man changed from a skeletal themed vigilante to an insect themed cyborg. Said cyborg was Takeshi Hongo, a man who was kidnapped by the evil organisation Shocker and was in the process of becoming one of their minions. However, he was saved by his college professor, Midorikawa, and used his newfound power to fight Shocker's army of mutants, becoming Kamen Rider Ichigo.
For the last 46 years, Kamen Rider has become iconic with Japanese audiences, with a new season every year after it's revitalisation in 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga. Though Ishinomori-San may no longer be with us, his legacy lives on. However, we aren't just here to honour the memory of one of Japan's best manga artists, we are also to do a review of my first and personal favourite Rider series; Kamen Rider W (pronounced as Double)!
This season ran from 2009 to 2010 and was primarily written by Riku Sanjou, who would later be better known for Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and Kamen Rider Drive, both of which were still successful series.
The story takes place in the fictional windy city of Fuuto, an otherwise peaceful town if it weren't for it's ridiculous crime rate, particularly the Dopant crimes. Dopants are normal people who get their hands on these little trinkets called Gaia Memories that, when inserted to any part of the body, transforms them into mutants with unbelievable powers. Enter our two main protagonists; Shotarou Hidari, a self-proclaimed hard boiled private detective, and his partner Philip, a person with the ability to access to the Gaia Library, where all the information on various Dopants are stored. In other words, Philip is basically a human Wikipedia, except with more viable information sources.
Regardless, the pair are a two-in-one Kamen Rider, with Shotarou being the host body and Philip's conscious entering it so that the two are in sync with each other whenever they fight the Dopants. Complicating matters is the arrival of Akiko Narumi, the daughter of Shotarou's late mentor Sokichi (formally Kamen Rider Skull), who wants in on the detective business just so the boys can pay the rent. No complicated enough? Well, how about the Sonozaki family, the main benefactors for the distribution of Gaia Memories who also have a connection to Philip's mysterious past? Add in the secondary Rider, Ryu Terui (Kamen Rider Accel), who is after a Dopant using the "W" Gaia Memory who was responsible for killing his family, and you got yourself plenty of stuff going on in this 49 episode series. And that's not even getting into the power struggles in the Sonozaki family as one of the daughters, Saeko, wants to take over the business and the other, Wakana, wants to live a normal live but can't due to her upbringing.
Needless to say, there is plenty that happens in this show, but none of it feels overwhelming as each main plot-point and sub-story is given enough time to grow and develop, giving a legitimate sense of importance and closure. One of my personal favourite sub-plots revolves around Philip's past, as he has no memory (pun unintended) of his previous life. For a good portion of the series, he is constantly confronted by Saeko, who keeps on referring to him as Raito.
This is where spoilers come in, so you have been warned.
Raito is Saeko and Wakana's brother who died 12 years prior to the series after he accidentally fell into the well that was connected to the true Gaia Memory, although he came back as an avatar of the Gaia Library and had his memories wiped by the orders of his father, Ryubee. He was kept as an experiment by his father and Saeko as a means of producing more Gaia Memories until the day that Shotarou and Sokichi broke into the facility and unintentionally rescued him, resulting in Sokichi's death and Philip and Shotarou becoming W. We actually see snippets of this in the opening scene in the first episode, but without the overall context as a means of building mystery and suspense, which the show does exceedingly well.
This also creates a great emotional conflict with Philip, as he is conflicted about what to do. He has been searching throughout the entire series to find the secrets of his family. And now that he knows, he's unsure of how to look at this, knowing that his enemies are ultimately his family. However, he overcomes this remembering that his true family now resides with Shotarou and Akiko. There is this great synergy between Shotarou and Philip, this sense that the two, through great hardship and determination, can overcome anything and that so long as the people of Fuuto love their city, they will always be partners and heroes.
The idea of balance seems to be a common theme for the entire show, now that one can think about it once it's finished. And that is best showcased with the awesome suit designs. W has got to have some of the best suits in the franchise, if not THE best.
W's base form, Cyclone/Joker, is probably the best example of this, with the green and gold contrasting beautifully with the black and purple, all of which is complimented by the excellent shade of silver running down the middle and on the antennae and the hints of red on the Double Driver and eye pieces make great eye-catchers. It's just an awesome design, but is made even better when Fang/Joker is introduced.
If this doesn't scream AWESOME, then I don't know what will.
Another character that really struck a chord with me was the secondary Rider; Ryu Terui, also known as Kamen Rider Accel. As I eluded to before, Ryu's family was killed by a Dopant that used a "W" Gaia Memory, and he uses Philip's resources to try and find the man responsible. For the first few episodes of his introduction, he is kind of a prick; shrugging off anyone's interest in what he's doing and constantly telling them to "don't ask me questions!" However, he does come learn to value the connections that he has with the people around him, especially Akiko whom he eventually marries in one of W's crossover movies with the next series, OOO. That's definitely an odd pairing, but it's one I came to really appreciate, especially when Drive comes along and reveals that Ryu and Akiko had a daughter named Haruna. And when he got his revenge against the Dopant, Weather, it feels earned, especially sense it's also the debut of his awesome upgrade form, Trial.
Another great aspect of the show is the music. W easily has one of the best soundtracks in the franchise, with each base form (Cyclone/Joker, Heat/Metal, Luna/Trigger, Fang/Joker and Cyclone/Joker Xtreme) having their own unique theme song that fights with each time they are used. Even Accel gets an epic rock ballad by the legendary Defspinal for his own standalone film. Just give it a listen!
W was the first Rider series that I watched all the way through and to this day, remains my absolute favourite, with a well-crafted story, excellent pacing, awesome soundtrack, entertaining characters and a great sense of humour. This show is easy to find subbed, but I highly recommend going to KissAsian and finding it along many other great Rider series.
Overall rating: 10/10 (Amazing)!
Til next time, I'm Callum Lewis, the Media Man, saying... HENSHIN!!!
As I have stated in the intro to this series, I am a major fan and advocate of Tokusatsu, a Japanese mother genre that covers anything live-action that is created through practical and CG effects. This genre more or less spawned from the success of Gojira (Godzilla) in 1954 released by Toho. Various long-lasting franchises such as Ultraman and Super Sentai have become household names in Japan. Which, of course, brings us to today's subject. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you; Kamen Rider!
First aired in 1971, the series is the brainchild of acclaimed manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, who initially presented the idea as a 100-page one shot named "The Skull Man", a story where the protagonist is a vigilante seeking vengeance for the death of his parents, killing many people along the way. Obviously, this was quite the dark story, revolving around mutants and psychic abilities. However, Toei (the company now in charge of producing Kamen Rider) chose only adapt certain elements of the manga and created an entire new mythos with Ishinomori having full creative control. In this case, the titular Skull Man changed from a skeletal themed vigilante to an insect themed cyborg. Said cyborg was Takeshi Hongo, a man who was kidnapped by the evil organisation Shocker and was in the process of becoming one of their minions. However, he was saved by his college professor, Midorikawa, and used his newfound power to fight Shocker's army of mutants, becoming Kamen Rider Ichigo.
For the last 46 years, Kamen Rider has become iconic with Japanese audiences, with a new season every year after it's revitalisation in 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga. Though Ishinomori-San may no longer be with us, his legacy lives on. However, we aren't just here to honour the memory of one of Japan's best manga artists, we are also to do a review of my first and personal favourite Rider series; Kamen Rider W (pronounced as Double)!
This season ran from 2009 to 2010 and was primarily written by Riku Sanjou, who would later be better known for Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and Kamen Rider Drive, both of which were still successful series.
The story takes place in the fictional windy city of Fuuto, an otherwise peaceful town if it weren't for it's ridiculous crime rate, particularly the Dopant crimes. Dopants are normal people who get their hands on these little trinkets called Gaia Memories that, when inserted to any part of the body, transforms them into mutants with unbelievable powers. Enter our two main protagonists; Shotarou Hidari, a self-proclaimed hard boiled private detective, and his partner Philip, a person with the ability to access to the Gaia Library, where all the information on various Dopants are stored. In other words, Philip is basically a human Wikipedia, except with more viable information sources.
Regardless, the pair are a two-in-one Kamen Rider, with Shotarou being the host body and Philip's conscious entering it so that the two are in sync with each other whenever they fight the Dopants. Complicating matters is the arrival of Akiko Narumi, the daughter of Shotarou's late mentor Sokichi (formally Kamen Rider Skull), who wants in on the detective business just so the boys can pay the rent. No complicated enough? Well, how about the Sonozaki family, the main benefactors for the distribution of Gaia Memories who also have a connection to Philip's mysterious past? Add in the secondary Rider, Ryu Terui (Kamen Rider Accel), who is after a Dopant using the "W" Gaia Memory who was responsible for killing his family, and you got yourself plenty of stuff going on in this 49 episode series. And that's not even getting into the power struggles in the Sonozaki family as one of the daughters, Saeko, wants to take over the business and the other, Wakana, wants to live a normal live but can't due to her upbringing.
Needless to say, there is plenty that happens in this show, but none of it feels overwhelming as each main plot-point and sub-story is given enough time to grow and develop, giving a legitimate sense of importance and closure. One of my personal favourite sub-plots revolves around Philip's past, as he has no memory (pun unintended) of his previous life. For a good portion of the series, he is constantly confronted by Saeko, who keeps on referring to him as Raito.
This is where spoilers come in, so you have been warned.
Raito is Saeko and Wakana's brother who died 12 years prior to the series after he accidentally fell into the well that was connected to the true Gaia Memory, although he came back as an avatar of the Gaia Library and had his memories wiped by the orders of his father, Ryubee. He was kept as an experiment by his father and Saeko as a means of producing more Gaia Memories until the day that Shotarou and Sokichi broke into the facility and unintentionally rescued him, resulting in Sokichi's death and Philip and Shotarou becoming W. We actually see snippets of this in the opening scene in the first episode, but without the overall context as a means of building mystery and suspense, which the show does exceedingly well.
This also creates a great emotional conflict with Philip, as he is conflicted about what to do. He has been searching throughout the entire series to find the secrets of his family. And now that he knows, he's unsure of how to look at this, knowing that his enemies are ultimately his family. However, he overcomes this remembering that his true family now resides with Shotarou and Akiko. There is this great synergy between Shotarou and Philip, this sense that the two, through great hardship and determination, can overcome anything and that so long as the people of Fuuto love their city, they will always be partners and heroes.
The idea of balance seems to be a common theme for the entire show, now that one can think about it once it's finished. And that is best showcased with the awesome suit designs. W has got to have some of the best suits in the franchise, if not THE best.
W's base form, Cyclone/Joker, is probably the best example of this, with the green and gold contrasting beautifully with the black and purple, all of which is complimented by the excellent shade of silver running down the middle and on the antennae and the hints of red on the Double Driver and eye pieces make great eye-catchers. It's just an awesome design, but is made even better when Fang/Joker is introduced.
If this doesn't scream AWESOME, then I don't know what will.
Another character that really struck a chord with me was the secondary Rider; Ryu Terui, also known as Kamen Rider Accel. As I eluded to before, Ryu's family was killed by a Dopant that used a "W" Gaia Memory, and he uses Philip's resources to try and find the man responsible. For the first few episodes of his introduction, he is kind of a prick; shrugging off anyone's interest in what he's doing and constantly telling them to "don't ask me questions!" However, he does come learn to value the connections that he has with the people around him, especially Akiko whom he eventually marries in one of W's crossover movies with the next series, OOO. That's definitely an odd pairing, but it's one I came to really appreciate, especially when Drive comes along and reveals that Ryu and Akiko had a daughter named Haruna. And when he got his revenge against the Dopant, Weather, it feels earned, especially sense it's also the debut of his awesome upgrade form, Trial.
Another great aspect of the show is the music. W easily has one of the best soundtracks in the franchise, with each base form (Cyclone/Joker, Heat/Metal, Luna/Trigger, Fang/Joker and Cyclone/Joker Xtreme) having their own unique theme song that fights with each time they are used. Even Accel gets an epic rock ballad by the legendary Defspinal for his own standalone film. Just give it a listen!
W was the first Rider series that I watched all the way through and to this day, remains my absolute favourite, with a well-crafted story, excellent pacing, awesome soundtrack, entertaining characters and a great sense of humour. This show is easy to find subbed, but I highly recommend going to KissAsian and finding it along many other great Rider series.
Overall rating: 10/10 (Amazing)!
Til next time, I'm Callum Lewis, the Media Man, saying... HENSHIN!!!
Friday 2 June 2017
Wonder Woman (2017)
(SPOILER WARNING!!)
I will openly admit, I was not looking forward to this movie. Thus far, I have hated the current DCEU films, as they felt like an open mockery of classic DC characters. Granted, Suicide Squad was entertaining, but only in an ironic way, not because it was legitimately good.
Furthermore, although I grew up with DC characters as opposed to Marvel (even if their films are infinitely superior), I was never overly familiar with Wonder Woman, just that she was one of the core trinity of the Justice League (alongside Batman and Superman).
Oddly enough, however, I walked out of the newest film with the same reaction as the Power Rangers reboot; in that, I surprisingly liked it!
The story? Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) is a warrior in training growing up on the island of Themyscira, an island solely populated by women. That is until one day, when a fighter plane crashes and she saves the pilot, Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pines). He tells the Amazons that he is a soldier for the First World War and it's imperative that he gets information about a chemical weapon to the British military. Although they refuse to help him, Diana decides to go with him and fight in the war, believing that the Germans are under the influence of Ares, the God of War. All the while, said chemical weapon is being developed by Isabel Maru, a.k.a Dr Poison (Elena Ayana), and overseen by Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston).
The set-up is relatively simple, but it's definitely welcomed after the convoluted nature of Batman v Superman (which I refer to as Crazy Steve v Bearded Idiot) and the explosion of exposition from the first 20 minutes of Suicide Squad. It gives the audience enough of a backstory to understand what's going on, while also allowing enough time for the characters to start flourishing. This is something that none of the other films in the DCEU has been able to do thus far, which is a massive sigh of relief for me.
Another mark of improvement for this film is in the acting department. Gal Godot, for the first time since her casting, really sold me on her portrayal as Wonder Woman. She does show that her character is initially naive, with her beliefs that defeating Ares will suddenly stop the war, but it never goes too far with her being an utter idiot. There is the right balance of the kind and compassionate being who believes in humanity, and the warrior badass who is capable of holding her own. It never goes too far with either side, thus making her more, for lack of a better word, human. In fact, the acting all around is pretty solid. Chris Pines fits in snugly into his role as Wonder Woman's companion, Danny Huston is entertainingly over the top as Ludendorff, and even some of the minor roles such as Ayana as Dr Poison is surprisingly believable.
The action scenes, while still containing a lot of unnecessary slow motion, are also very well structured, fitting in seamlessly with the time period and working within the framework of the scenario. It's not just simply "have a fight wherever possible",a s was the case with the previous films; the fight scenes in the movie are mainly in battle grounds, namely the scene showcased in the trailer of Wonder Woman running through No Man's Land and giving the soldiers a chance to charge across the field without getting shot at.
The only legitimate criticism I can give to this movie is that, like the previous films, the main villain, Ares, is weak, underdeveloped and somewhat incompetent. This is where I will go into spoiler territory, so you have been warned.
For much of the film, Wonder Woman is under the impression that Ludendorff is the human form of Ares, manipulating the Germans to keep fighting in spite of the main generals wanting to sign the armistice that would end the conflict. However, as soon as she kills Ludendorff, it's revealed that Sir Morgan (David Thewlis), a man who has supported Steve and Diana to go to Germany, was the actual embodiment of Ares this entire time, manipulating both sides.
My problem with this? It comes right the Hell out of nowhere! There is literally NO build up to Morgan being Ares, nor does it make any sense. When we first meet Morgan, he's trying to convince the British generals that they must sign the armistice that will ultimately end the war. He claims to Diana that he's the God of Truth, but his method of manipulation involves altering the truth to his benefit and giving people the incentive to keep fighting. So why would his human disguise be trying to get this treaty signed if he actually wants the war to continue?
It also doesn't help that, until the last 15 minutes or so, Ares hasn't been seen in this movie outside of a mural showing him being defeated by Zeus. And yes, Diana is certain that Ludendorff is Ares, but we as the audience knew that couldn't be the truth because Ludendorff in this film was based on the real life German general Ludendorff, who died in 1937. It really is weak how they handled Ares, especially during the final fight where he is defeated with such relative ease and the only reason he stood toe to toe with Diana is that he just used the stuff around him as weapons.
Outside of that, however, the rest of the film is a legitimate solid effort, something that I was not expecting to say. I walked in to this film expecting it to suck, but I walked out of it pleasantly surprised. If Justice League is this good (which I highly doubt, given that we still don't have solo Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash movies yet), then this poorly started cinematic universe might actually have a chance of competing with Marvel (although, ironically, both cinematic universes suffer from weak villains. Weird).
Overall Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, signing off.
I will openly admit, I was not looking forward to this movie. Thus far, I have hated the current DCEU films, as they felt like an open mockery of classic DC characters. Granted, Suicide Squad was entertaining, but only in an ironic way, not because it was legitimately good.
Furthermore, although I grew up with DC characters as opposed to Marvel (even if their films are infinitely superior), I was never overly familiar with Wonder Woman, just that she was one of the core trinity of the Justice League (alongside Batman and Superman).
Oddly enough, however, I walked out of the newest film with the same reaction as the Power Rangers reboot; in that, I surprisingly liked it!
The story? Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) is a warrior in training growing up on the island of Themyscira, an island solely populated by women. That is until one day, when a fighter plane crashes and she saves the pilot, Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pines). He tells the Amazons that he is a soldier for the First World War and it's imperative that he gets information about a chemical weapon to the British military. Although they refuse to help him, Diana decides to go with him and fight in the war, believing that the Germans are under the influence of Ares, the God of War. All the while, said chemical weapon is being developed by Isabel Maru, a.k.a Dr Poison (Elena Ayana), and overseen by Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston).
The set-up is relatively simple, but it's definitely welcomed after the convoluted nature of Batman v Superman (which I refer to as Crazy Steve v Bearded Idiot) and the explosion of exposition from the first 20 minutes of Suicide Squad. It gives the audience enough of a backstory to understand what's going on, while also allowing enough time for the characters to start flourishing. This is something that none of the other films in the DCEU has been able to do thus far, which is a massive sigh of relief for me.
Another mark of improvement for this film is in the acting department. Gal Godot, for the first time since her casting, really sold me on her portrayal as Wonder Woman. She does show that her character is initially naive, with her beliefs that defeating Ares will suddenly stop the war, but it never goes too far with her being an utter idiot. There is the right balance of the kind and compassionate being who believes in humanity, and the warrior badass who is capable of holding her own. It never goes too far with either side, thus making her more, for lack of a better word, human. In fact, the acting all around is pretty solid. Chris Pines fits in snugly into his role as Wonder Woman's companion, Danny Huston is entertainingly over the top as Ludendorff, and even some of the minor roles such as Ayana as Dr Poison is surprisingly believable.
The action scenes, while still containing a lot of unnecessary slow motion, are also very well structured, fitting in seamlessly with the time period and working within the framework of the scenario. It's not just simply "have a fight wherever possible",a s was the case with the previous films; the fight scenes in the movie are mainly in battle grounds, namely the scene showcased in the trailer of Wonder Woman running through No Man's Land and giving the soldiers a chance to charge across the field without getting shot at.
The only legitimate criticism I can give to this movie is that, like the previous films, the main villain, Ares, is weak, underdeveloped and somewhat incompetent. This is where I will go into spoiler territory, so you have been warned.
For much of the film, Wonder Woman is under the impression that Ludendorff is the human form of Ares, manipulating the Germans to keep fighting in spite of the main generals wanting to sign the armistice that would end the conflict. However, as soon as she kills Ludendorff, it's revealed that Sir Morgan (David Thewlis), a man who has supported Steve and Diana to go to Germany, was the actual embodiment of Ares this entire time, manipulating both sides.
My problem with this? It comes right the Hell out of nowhere! There is literally NO build up to Morgan being Ares, nor does it make any sense. When we first meet Morgan, he's trying to convince the British generals that they must sign the armistice that will ultimately end the war. He claims to Diana that he's the God of Truth, but his method of manipulation involves altering the truth to his benefit and giving people the incentive to keep fighting. So why would his human disguise be trying to get this treaty signed if he actually wants the war to continue?
It also doesn't help that, until the last 15 minutes or so, Ares hasn't been seen in this movie outside of a mural showing him being defeated by Zeus. And yes, Diana is certain that Ludendorff is Ares, but we as the audience knew that couldn't be the truth because Ludendorff in this film was based on the real life German general Ludendorff, who died in 1937. It really is weak how they handled Ares, especially during the final fight where he is defeated with such relative ease and the only reason he stood toe to toe with Diana is that he just used the stuff around him as weapons.
Outside of that, however, the rest of the film is a legitimate solid effort, something that I was not expecting to say. I walked in to this film expecting it to suck, but I walked out of it pleasantly surprised. If Justice League is this good (which I highly doubt, given that we still don't have solo Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash movies yet), then this poorly started cinematic universe might actually have a chance of competing with Marvel (although, ironically, both cinematic universes suffer from weak villains. Weird).
Overall Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, signing off.
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