Blade Runner Black Lotus

Okay look, I'm gonna try to articulate myself as best as possible.




Black Lotus is not a bad show, it's a very niche fandom that sprung forth a very niche show. I think yet again we are touching new grounds, as I've never watched or reviewed a 3D anime series before, it's traditionally 2D and that's what I know best. And indeed Black Lotus has been on my radar for a good few months but I didn't know it was 3D from the get go, yet I knew I wanted to watch it. Here's the thing. As a standalone show, it's decent, I liked it, end of story. As an installment of the Blade Runner series, it can't help but fall a bit flat if only due to the fact that it is quite literally sandwiched between Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049, two excellent pieces of fiction that are beautiful and insightful to us as human beings. It's going to be the black sheep by default. Now does that necessarily mean no one should watch it? Not at all, I kept in mind the target audience as I was watching, it premiered on Toonami and Crunchyroll so teenagers and early adults specifically who love anime. And this could very well be their gateway to watching the movies and perhaps reading Philip K. Dick's novel, though at the same time that breeds apprehension in me. Cause the show is action orientated, which could lead people to believe that's what the movies are like which is exactly what happened in 1982 and it could alienate audiences. But let's actually talk about the show now. So our story takes place still in Los Angeles in the year 2032, as we follow a young woman named Elle who has a strong case of amnesia but is incredibly skilled at kicking ass and is out on a revenge mission against a group of high ranking illustrious figures in society. Any cyberpunk story has a strong anti-corporation, down with the rich sentiment, it's a staple of the subculture. So we pretty much get a piecemeal story over 13 episodes of Elle trekking out to assassinate these figureheads as she regains memories and makes a few allies along the way, a lot of inspiration from revenge movies and introspective dramas were taken and it works adequately. I can see people thinking the show is a slog to get through, it is more slow paced akin to the movies and though it is only about 4 hours in total, it may not seem like much is actually accomplished over time. I can tell you right here right now, skip episode 8, you will miss nothing and learn nothing, it is the epitome of a filler episode. So technically it's even shorter. Elle is a neat protagonist, I was pretty onboard with her in her bomb ass jacket and samurai sword cutting bitches, so I was invested enough. Joseph as her partner in crime makes for a good dynamic, and I'm proud of the creators for not having to force a romance, he has his own history and problems that we get but I feel the show could have utilized all the character's backstories far more effectively. We pal around a bit with LAPD officer Davis, I wasn't feeling much for this character and there is some sextuple amounts of bullshit with her at the tail end of this series, you'll know it when you see it trust me. We actually do get a blade runner who at first I thought was K but no Ryan Gosling for us today, and I find that super interesting how we actually see a blade runner as an antagonist for once it's a cool touch. I mean I know the main focus is on Elle, and the other characters aren't (entirely) wasted, and the voice cast isn't bad one bit, but it begs for more fleshing out. And I'm not entirely sure if this has a negative aspect per se, but the 3D animation lends an odd effect on the voice acting and I'm not sure if I can articulate it well. The animation is good, it obviously doesn't have the budget for totally realistic 3D models, but it does have moments of late 90s/early 2000s TV 3D animation. The motion capture utililized works super well during the fight sequences, and the actual backgrounds and environments look damn good in my opinion. But! The animation doesn't have a great range of facial acting, so it can deaden the impact of line reads which is through no fault of the actors, it's just a side effect of a slight uncanny valley minefield the show has to traverse. I can applaud the creators for wanting to go this direction instead of traditional 2D animation but it's a slippery tightrope to balance. Music kinda sucks though I won't lie, not the actual episode score that fits beautifully in with the soundscape of Vangelis and Hans Zimmer, but they use modern vocal songs for the intro, which while the visuals are great I would not in any universe say the theme is Blade Runner in any capacity, and also the outros during the credits and my God is it just not my scene man. I'm not big on modern music in terms of rap/hip hop/R&B or poppy stuff, it just ain't for me but I can appreciate other people liking it. So all in all, it's a mixed bag for sure but I feel it has enough to be a mostly good mixed bag. I give it 2.5 stars, 7/10. More TV next week, I already talked about it a bit ago but screw that we're going in depth season by season so see you then.

Batman The Long Halloween

Thank you God.

Good news! It didn't suck. In fact....it's right up there with The Dark Knight Returns and Superman Red Son for me. There is a lot to talk about without spoilers so I will attempt to keep this coherent. The first thing I gotta say is, the film had me on two fronts from the start. The first shot of the Gotham skyline is absolutely gorgeous and the opening titles are easily the best out of the modern animated DC movies. If Matt Reeve's The Batman has an opening even half as good as this, it may get a 10/10. I'm so thankful we didn't have to wait long for part 2, and was actually quite curious where they would split the film. I very much liked and appreciated how they handled this story, with a long game of holiday related murders leading Batman, Jim, and Harvey to figure out who the mysterious killer is as boundaries are pushed on all sides. It's a very complicated case man, a lot of in's, a lot of out's, a lot of what have you's. I actually went and read The Long Halloween before watching the whole film and there was so much in that book that I was wondering how they would put it to the screen, because the book is very much a detective story with not a lot of action, it's stylized as all hell with at least a dozen Sin City parts composed of black, white, and red but I can safely say I love the production. The animation is absolutely great, the backgrounds are impeccable and the character designs have these thick black outlines that give this mix of The Brave And The Bold with Venture Bros., I kinda like how minimalistic yet striking the batsuit is in this it gave me heavy season 4 of The Animated Series vibes. Cast is wonderful and brings nothing short of their A-game, with Jensen Ackles getting the promotion to Batman since Under The Red Hood and has such a strong great voice and as a Supernatural fan I was impressed how much I didn't just hear Dean in the role. Naya Rivera is right up there with the all time greats of Catwoman voice acting in this, she was a joy to watch and I have nothing but love and respect for her. Josh Duhamel taking on my favorite Batman villain was also spot on, I adored the relationship between Harvey and his wife Gilda you can really get that sense of true romance in their perfomances and the same goes for Bruce and Selina, but yeah he was mighty good as Harvey and I swear he sounded just like the original Animated Series Two-Face near the end, way to go my guy. Wonderful to see Troy Baker back as Joker, how I missed this man in this role, despite not a load of screen time. The absolute stand out performance, believe it or not, is once again the man of a thousand DC characters David Dastmalchian as the Calendar Man. Best performance I've seen him give yet in the DC universe, can't wait for Suicide Squad, and while I always hear Maurice LaMarche from the Arkham Games when I read the comics he is awesome in this part! Here's to many more future parts my friend. And the absolute best part is that they treat the story seriously and not only that but it's a total run time of about 3 hours so it doesn't rush, you would be surprised how many quiet moments there are in this film. It really struck me that they just focus on these characters, cause at the end of the day a lot of the graphic novel did the same. I can't tell you how much I love it. Sure they change stuff, streamline stuff, yet it really didn't bother me and something struck me that really needs to happen to more people. A lot of people shit on adaptations, oh it didn't follow the book exactly, oh they changed this element, and I was sitting there thinking why would you want to watch a movie where you know exactly everything that is about to happen? Cause this movie kept me guessing, I was wondering where they were going with it cause the book ends on kind of an open note where debate and discussion is encouraged, so it didn't feel like a carbon copy of the book. They did their own thing while still adhering to the story of the original work and paying respect to it. That is no bad thing. I did however take a bit of grievance with two things, one being the ending that seemed out of left field and contributed nothing, I liked the book ending way better. Second is the movie projects Batman as a crimefighter but not a detective, it even brings up multiple times how Bruce didn't expect to be a detective. Bollocks! Great bolshy yarblockos to you! I know this kinda follows the events after Batman Year One so he isn't flawless in his technique, but seriously are you taking the piss? He studied how to be a detective! Urgh, but other than that excellent film. A serious fullhearted recommendation, 4 stars, 8.5/10 maybe even a 9, now I think the only big story they need to cover now is Knightfall. But time will tell, and I will see you Friday.

Transformers Dark At The Moon

You know what? I don't need to write a review. Someone way more talented and hilarious has made a video on Transformers 3, and pretty much said everything I have ever had to say abouth this movie. So guess what? I'm putting a link to that video! And watch his Transformers 2 video, that kicks ass. Dude even took notes while watching the movie, just like me. He's got this man. He's got this by the ass!!

So here's the link: https://youtu.be/-GMD7mCOXTM

That's all folks! See you tomorrow for a new movie!

Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen

This movie is terrible. One of the worst I have ever seen. But the rage has left and all I feel is contempt and disdain.

Revenge Of The Comic Sidekicks oh sorry, I mean Fallen takes place 2 years after the first. But I assure you this movie is far more original than the first, it follows the Autobots and Decepticons as they search for an ancient relic from their homeworld of immense power whose location is only known to Shia Labeouf. Wait. Yep, it's the same movie only with a few more references to the original Transformers movie from the 80s. God I so am fed up with these movies. What is there to say? It sucks. The action is subpar, the comedy itself is a joke, the characters are insufferable, it's just so bad! There is less reason to watch this movie than the last! Okay, when the first movie hit, we didn't know. It was, oh cool a Transformers movie! And the movie wasn't horrible, it was adequate. No harm, no foul. Then the second one hit....like a slap in the genitals, and it sucked balls! It's such rubbish! 4 pages of notes this time! And we're still not done!! And I quite possibly despise the 3rd movie the most. We shall see. Hang out on my twitter to see my notes this time, not as good this time since the anger has faded but still interesting to read. Better than this shit!