#52 - Death Note (Netflix) (Happy New Year)

Yes, I’m going here again, sue me, I warned you in the last rage review.

The Japanese adaptations of Death Note are probably the reviews that in retrospect, I regret being as harsh on. Not because I don’t stand by my criticisms, exactly. But I feel the producers had a losing battle, needing to tell a 3-act story in only 2 acts. Even then, the stories were heavily rushed and more should’ve trimmed to streamline the plot. It probably doesn’t help I had to watch the subbed versions as the dub wasn’t a DVD release. But whatever their faults, know this, at least they’re not this movie

Netflix is a hub for creative content (Voltron) and utter garbage (the Ridiculous 6) I’m going to try and review more stuff on Netflix next year, I mentioned before about doing a load of retrospectives. I’d say this ranks more in the middle, but this has received a wave of negative reactions from fans of the anime/manga and I figured I’d put my thoughts on the table. Happy New Year!

Why I love Arthur Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us and it’s time to finally look at a Christmas special, as we do every year, but because I’m busy around the holidays, I’m only doing a short piece on this one. This may essentially end up being a repeat of the Nostalgia Critic Editorial on it, but I want to say I love this movie so much… Arthur Christmas

A team-up between Sony Animation: the studio that brought you The Emoji Movie and you know, this abomination

And Aardman most known for stop-motion stuff like Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, this movie came out in 2012 to a positive critical reception but rather low box office figures, only $142m on a $100m budget, it’s quite possible this movie lost money at the box office.

But I think it really is good enough to be considered a classic, here’s why

Uncharted: Lost Legacy review

Despite a small number of issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Uncharted 4, and the announcement that it was going to get a single-player expansion was exciting. But I dismissed it as a 3-4 hour experience and decided to buy the expansion separately as opposed to buying the season pass and paying for the multiplayer stuff I’m not interested in. A decision I would later come to regret when the expansion became longer and the individual price came out at £25, cheap for a standalone title, which it ultimately is, although about half the length of a usual Uncharted game.

What’s more interesting is their choice of protagonists, Nathan’s story is done, there’s little story left to tell for him, a lot of fans thought they might go for a Sam Drake/Sully story, and whilst that would be cool, there was a character I personally wish had some screen time in Uncharted 4 because she’s that awesome.

This is Chloe Frazer, she’s tough, she takes no sh*t and she’s badass, but has a sense of humour. She’s smart and can be manipulative to get what she wants, but she’s willing to walk away if the risk is too great. Chloe is a well-defined and interesting character and who better to partner her up with than the person who last time I complained was neither of these things, Nadine Ross? Can being a treasure hunter help her character get some much-needed development?

Well, here’s how I rated Uncharted: Lost Legacy

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Episodes 1-3 review - Orientation (parts 1 and 2)/A life Spent

Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. has entered its 5^th season. And rather than starting in January when it’s convenient for me, it’s decided to run right in through Christmas, meaning there’s likely to be a long list of episodes I’m covering next time. Let’s start with the 2-parter Orientation.

#51 - Batman and Harley Quinn

Oh boy, we’ve got a bad one for this entry. And I wanted to start with a simple question. Bruce Timm, what happened to you?

Bruce Timm has become somewhat of a legend when it comes to superhero stuff, being one of the guys behind the excellent DCAU and the very good Green Lantern: The Animated series, which I will eventually cover as a retrospective.

Then he took some time off, when he first came back it was for Justice League: Gods and Monsters; a unique take on the trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman where their morals are more grey than usual. It was good, even great, but then something happened, his next movie was the Killing Joke. I ripped this movie apart back in May, particular for that abysmal opening third featuring Batman and Batgirl having sex on a rooftop.

So, for this story, one that’s completely unique, they wanted to tone down the darker tone and focus on humour. That’s fine. Justice League Action, which is a solid if shallow show did that exact thing. But here’s the thing, being a comedy whilst also being adult-orientated can lend itself to some very bad things. I’m looking at you, FAMILY GUY!

So, are we talking At World’s End comedy or Dude, Where’s my Car? comedy? Would it really be here if it wasn’t the latter?

Mini Review - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

So, we’re concluding Marvel Month with Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2. Given the success of the original, a sequel was inevitable, what might surprise you is the budget wasn’t raised. It still had a £200m budget, and again it was successful, earning $860m at the box office, and was well received critically, with an 82% rotten tomatoes rating.

Marvel Month - Mini Review - Doctor Strange

Whilst the Scarlett Witch exists in the MCU, she was more a super-powered being than a genuine magic user. Magic is a fascinating area that does warrant exploration and it’s not beyond the realms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which can more-or-less do anything by this point. And for exploring the realms of magic, doing the origin of Doctor Strange, a character who is himself relatively new to the realm, makes perfect sense.

So… Doctor Strange had a budget of $166m and made a profitable $677m, it also was well liked by critics despite some unfortunate press going in. 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty high. But here are my thoughts