Inside Out 2

Well, it was at least pretty to look at.

Inside Out 2 isn't a bad film, it just wasn't entirely for me. Now in terms of expanded lore and mind mechanics the additions we got were good! The whole thread idea is rather ingenious, and the new emotions we get are logical additions when Riley hits puberty. I will admit the story is a bit ehhh, and the message is very after school special but hey other people can probably get more out of it than me. So the story goes that Riley is doing well in life and continues to be a happy girl until the night when the teenage hormones activate, then everything is thrown into chaos for our normal emotions when and I kid you not a hostile takeover occurs when the new emotions appear. They are being Embarassment, Envy, Ennui, and of course Anxiety. Leading Joy and the others to trek back to headquarters once more to keep Riley on track. Now the animation has improved a good bit and has some intriguing new setpieces to utilize, so no points deducted there. Voice cast is still very on point with Lewis Black being the standout for me comedically, and I'll give a shoutout to both the filmmakers and Kensington Tallman for giving Riley a rather unflattering teen voice showcasing that hard hit your vocals take when puberty is running rampant. I really don't want to bash the movie, cause it just doesn't deserve it but man I know they needed something to create conflict for there to even be a movie but this ain't it chief. Having Anxiety almost immediately literally eject our original emotions just feels off, now I understand for the purpose of the message and the insight of the movie it had to be done but neither are the new emotions treated like villains so it seemed too much. And like I said the overall message is almost the epitome of after school special, I'm almost surprised they didn't do an anti-drug angle. Typical stuff like be a good person, don't abandon your values for popularity, keep your friends close, etc. etc. and I know that is something some teens go through. It's not a horrible message that will do harm to anyone but it ain't really anything new. Plus the movie wiggles it's toes in the drama pool and I hate drama, and what I mean by that is emotional drama the one reason I never watch any live action television series involving teenagers or young adults. Don't have the patience for it. I get it, it has it's place in this movie, but to me it's weak. Best part of the whole damn movie which shows considerable depth is a really poignant and heartbreakingly true line, about how the older you get the less reason you have to be joyful. That nearly speared me straight through the heart, cause so much happens in a life and eventually you reach a point where you lose people, you keep having to change your lifestyle, you lose something important to you and it gets harder. But it never gets impossible. And if that's the only thing I'm taking away from this, that ain't no bad thing.  It's really just those two (albeit central) aspects that are detrimental but it isn't losing a great deal of points, and I feel people can still see it and enjoy it just fine. Can it wait till video? In my opinion yes. But all in all I give it 3 stars, 7/10!

Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales

Halloween may be over but nobody's ever really gone.

After the cute fun time I had with the holiday special, I figured it would be nice to see the next one dip it's toes into more scary territory. I liked it a good deal, and I thought the story was handled really well with Poe crashing on Mustafar and finding Vader's castle, and after reading the cool Tales From Vader's Castle comic I expected more of the same here, and I got it with Vaneer who somehow is still alive after so many years, imparting tales steeped in the morals of the dark side while searching for Sith treasures. I really dig how they took so many little nods to the horror genre in this, a lot of it being classic stuff with The Old Dark House plot of travellers being somewhere they shouldn't, the anthology nature of the stories The Twilight Zone style, treasure hunting cursed relics, a hilarious spoof of The Shining, they had a lot of fun with this and while it wouldn't slightly intimidate younger audiences the comedy is still spot on. And yes I had the time of my life seeing Luke Skywalker join the Imperial Academy and train under Lord Vader, that is how the movies should have went and I will hear nothing else, it was beautiful, funny, and perfect. 10/10 for that story segment! I know it's primarily for laughs and shouldn't be taken seriously at all but I really liked certain aspects of the stories and would love to know more about it. Voice cast is still spot on with very good sound alikes, while still having veterans from the Clone Wars series work their magic. Hell seeing Sam Witwer still play Maul as serious even in this comedy is worth it alone, he juggles that so well but is it any surprise that I'm not fawning over this man and his performance. We love you Sam, always. I give it 3 stars, 7/10, and it is high time I finally catch up on the Star Wars shows. Long have I waited for visions from distant lands, and the continuation after the fallout of the clone wars.

In Retrospect: Toy Story 4

I think I take more issue with this movie now than back then.

Now really and truly I did not like how Toy Story 4 ended, but the rest of the movie was fine and dandy. It had no mistakes in filmmaking but the characters and the story itself were not done great. I'm just gonna say it and you can switch the review off, but this movie should not have existed. Toy Story has already ended, this movie truly does ruin the emotional impact and importance of the third movie. Now before I can fully dig into that, the characters must he addressed. More specifically the writing, I hate, hate, hate, how they handled the characters in this movie! The majority of the cast that we have seen film after film is not used hardly at all, Jessie has no input or importance, nor Rex, nor Slinky, nor the Potato Heads, not anybody. They are all just there because you can't have Toy Story without them. They make Buzz an absolute moron who doesn't even know what a conscience is, and completely betrays his character growth and personality which has been built up from a solid trilogy. They bring back Bo Peep and make her some strong independent action woman....? May I ask why? I didn't see much damsel in distress tropes from her in the first two movies, and I do know she has been on her own surviving for a good few years but I just can't accept her as this type of character. It seems wrong with her, if it was another new toy we met and got to know in this movie, kind of a antithesis of Lotso, an abandoned toy who dusted themselves off and started living for themselves instead of a kid and went on adventures and was kind of a seasoned badass, that would be cool. I would be fine with that. Now granted they do actually achieve this in a way with Gabby which leads to my next point. Every original character that we have grown to see in the first 3 movies is terribly written, however the new characters we meet (all 5 of them by the way) are handled way better and are actually my favorite characters of the film. Well...okay, screw the stuffed animals I was having Transformers 2 flashbacks, Keanu is fine, the tiny cop is fine, but with Forky and Gabby good lord that writing! Granted the idea of a child literally creating a Frankenstein mish-mash toy is a can of worms I'm never opening up, but to see it put in action works. Forky is beloved, his innocence, charm, and humor are spectacular and I really do like the analogy that Forky can be seen as a special needs kid, and they don't treat him badly or bully him, they just work with him in his own way. It's not flat out said, but you can see it that way. That is good character writing. Gabby is a very good character, she's only percieved as a villain but is actually a good toy who genuinely wants to love and be loved, again kind of an opposite of Lotso but she wasn't angry just very sad and wanted to be better. Like whoa, this movie actually has very emotionally complex writing. Nobody is just black or white, people can change and grow and adapt, sometimes hard decisions must be made but can benefit you as a person, don't be troubled by failures of the past but aspire to do better the next day, this can be huge stuff to a very young child! Which leads us to Woody. Ah, I can hear the crackling torches and sharpening pitchforks now. Woody is not a good character in this movie but, and here comes the big one: Woody has always been a horrible character. Does that I mean I hate him? No. But it is painfully transparent what his flaws are. Every single movie, every last one of them, has Woody reverting to how he originally was. He never grows, he never changes, he never betters himself. He is always the toy who puts himself first above others, the clingy, entitled, and let's be honest here jealous cowboy ragdoll who constantly wants his way first because he considers his decisions to make him right all the time. You see his dedication to Bonnie but he's not doing it for her, he's doing it to elevate himself, he has to keep Forky safe to be in good graces with the girl. So why do I hate so much that he decides to abandon his friends, abandon his kid, and decides to go on his own adventures because he wants to be selfish and do things his way? Oh wait. And that completely breaks the bittersweet ending of Toy Story 3, he hates seeing Andy go but he's happy to be with a kid anyways. Not anymore! See you later sucker, have fun with your spork! Now if you'll permit me, I just want to talk about Disney for a moment. What in the name of the seven dwarfs are you doing? With Star Wars, I get it. There are so many characters, and so so many stories you can tell with Star Wars or Marvel even, there's potential for countless stories to be told. Toy Story is not one of them. You cannot make a neverending movie series on Toy Story. Now maybe you're not, but what in the cinnamon toast f*** are you going to do next? Please, enlighten me. I'm almost stunned rigid I haven't seen a trailer or a rumor about "Bo Peep: A Toy Story" movie being made detailing the 9 years we haven't seen this character in continuity. Who are you going to follow? Is it gonna be Woody and Bo Peep on endless adventures meeting new toys and friends? Well if you do that you're completely neglecting and to be perfectly frank, throwing the other characters into an incinerator like garbage! And if you follow Buzz and the gang, you're not gonna see Woody anymore. And people will hate that. Are you just gonna retcon it in the next movie with the whole cast meeting up in like 3 months time and they all decide to be together again? Do you....do you see my issue with this movie's existence? It is not a bad movie, I'd say it's a good movie with many flaws, but it shouldn't exist in the first place. We can imagine the after credits of Bonnie with the toys, and take comfort in that when we leave the theater. But now there is going to be Toy Story movies until I am a bitter old man (Too late.) and I am not looking forward to it. Toy Story 5 could be the movie to overthrow Citizen Kane and Vertigo, and I still would never watch it. Disney is in a rough patch right now, The Incredibles 2 was far too little far too late, Toy Story 4 is a betrayal of the first three movies and kickstarted a possible plethora of unnecesary bad sequels, Frozen 2 has gotten a very lukewarm reception and not all that loved, and the live action remake machine has not been dismantled and thrown into an active volcano. I'm genuinely scared Disney is going to tank, and tank real soon. I mean it did before but that was way before my time, and Disney has been making unbelievable films for over 80 years. It's been 84 years (almost), and they need to re-evaluate, cut the pandering demographic bullshit and just write good characters, leave the live action remakes at the point of impact of a nuclear bomb, and maybe focus a little less time appropriating other studios and just focus a little more on their own.

Toy Story 4

Well I was sorta right about it.

Now Toy Story 4 is a really good movie, I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed it. The animation is top notch, with excellent use of color and such fluid movements. The comedy made me laugh just as hard as when I watched Toy Story 2. It's great seeing actual good new characters, including a sympathetic villain done to absolute perfection, with of course our star roster. I even really enjoyed the story, I thought Inwas going to despise Bonnie's creation Forky but he grew on me quickly, and the idea of a road trip and fairgrounds backdrop with our favorite toys is really great! However, the ending didn't do it for me. Now I know. I know. It's a new chapter, as a very wise man said "Let the past die.", it even had this sort of Lost In Translation style ending so how could I not like it. Well when you watch every Toy Story movie Woody is our focus, we learn so much about him, and how much he is loyal to his kids, we see him still struggling with seeing Andy go yet is so ready to take care of Bonnie for years to come, and just remembering that undying loyalty and the importance of that to his character, makes the ending something I felt out of character and while could be interesting in future movies just felt wrong. Not full on betrayal or the ending ruined the whole movie, because it's not. It's a good movie, I really liked it, but I just have this nagging feeling that it does take away from Andy's ending. I really wanted there to be no Toy Story 4, it ended and it ended very well when you got right down to it. And I forgot to say last time, but I fully believe the fan theory that Andy's mom is Emily and I was shocked to see no scene in the last movie where she finds Jessie and has just this split second reaction, I could have sworn that scene existed. I guess I had a severe Mandela Effect moment, and a bad lapse of memory so I had to bring that up. Should you go see Toy Story 4? Well it depends if you're fully content with 3 or if you want to see more adventures. It is a very good movie and one you should see before the end, Pixar did such a good job with their animation and the characters but it did make me go into some deep denial. But the ending isn't really a bad one, and I should have a more open mind towards it. New chapter, and all that. I give Toy Story 4 a solid three and a half stars, and yet another fine addition to the series.

But what shall we do for the last week before my somewhat summer vacation? Well with me thinking a lot about how summers were for me as a kid and how much I do truly miss summer vacations from school, I figured we could look at some teen movies. Why? Because I'm an old, bitter, grumpy old man who is heavily nostalgic and needs to reflect on years gone by.

Batman Ninja

Why not call it Ninja Batman? I don't know.

Boy was this a trip. Where to begin with this movie? Well I was hoping to see it in theaters, it came out just 3 days shy of my birthday but thankfully it hit video not all that long after. I didn't hear much about the movie beyond a trailer and it looked interesting. It has a cool and fascinating premise, it's almost Elseworlds material! What if Batman, the Bat Family, and a collection of his rogues gallery instead of 21st century Gotham, were in 14th century Japan? The result is...bat shit insane (no pun intended). I mean Jesus fish, what did I just watch? Only in Japan folks. Okay, gotta back up. So Bruce and company are trying to take down Gorilla Grodd who has collected Joker, Harley, Two-Face, Penguin, Ivy, and Deathstroke when suddenly all the characters get time warped (or should I say TARDIS-d?) away to feudal Japan where the rogues have become warlords, while Batman has arrived two years later thus forcing him to gather his forces and take out the tyrants. Told you it was insane. Now things must be said, I love the designs. They fit the era and look incredible. The voice cast, both in Japanese and English are really damn good. My hat especially goes off to Wataru Takagi in the Japanese version, he is having the time of his life playing Joker and it is awesome! The english cast is standard but great, we got Roger Craig Smith back to do Batman after Arkham Origins, Grey Griffin as Selina, Tara Strong as Harley, and Fred Tatasciore as both Grodd and Deathstroke. All excellent as always and a joy to see again. I highly suggest you see both the Japanese and American version, because both are good but neither are better. I get the immense feeling though you are not meant to bring logic with you into this movie. There are multiple points where you ask basic questions and no good answers are given. How do they have 21st century tech to create war mech/Gundam/Voltron castles? No I'm not making that up. This movie is hopped up on something and my God is it glorious. Logical? No. Awesome? Actually, yeah! So don't expect say, Mask Of The Phantasm or Under The Red Hood levels of plot and character. Just say the title, that's all you need. It's meant for spectacle, and the animation is amazing yet something I have never seen. The backgrounds are 2D with a very older look to them, think Samurai Champloo yet less defined and done more in a Japanese woodblock painting. You can even see the imprint of the texture of the paper in the sky! But here is the odd part, the character models are 3D, yet are drawn in a 2D fashion. You follow me? They are 3D models walking along a 2D background, yet made to appear 2D, with stencil marks and shading you do with hand drawn animation. And the whole friggin' movie is just as weird as that. Granted it's a fun movie, that is great for a popcorn night with friends, but the meat is not in the story or characters but the atmosphere, animation style, and spectacle of the action. And you know what the bad part is? I don't think I have ever seen a samurai movie. I mean, ever. Closest thing was this, and I've seen Samurai Champloo 2 or 3 times, and of course Samurai Jack. But no Kurosawa and you know, it's hard to call yourself a film critic when you have not experienced one of the most well known and influential director's work in history. So no doubt we will do a Kurosawa week, hell it may even be longer than a week. But next week we say sayonara to Japan, and hello to Vegas.