Anime Review: 'Sailor Moon S: The Movie'

original Japanese theatrical poster (source)

Today I'll be going over the second theatrical film based on the classic 90s anime Sailor Moon. This is Sailor Moon S: The Movie. The "S" in the title implies that it takes place at some unspecified point in the Sailor Moon S arc, which is the third season/series in the overall canon.

Why am I reviewing this during the Christmas season? Simple: it takes place during Christmas break, in much the same manner that Die Hard takes place on Christmas Eve, therefore making it a Christmas movie, technically. For this review, I will be utilizing screenshots that I took myself from the Blu-ray disc, because I finally have that capacity now (yay for me!).

Movie Review: 'Klaus' (2019)

Welcome to the jingle. (source)

Merry Christmas! I'm still allowed to say that, since Christmas is twelve days, not one. Speaking of, today I'd like to go over a Christmas movie that, had I seen this before 2020, I would have mentioned in my 2010s movie retrospective and would have hailed as a modern classic and the best movie of 2019 with Steven Universe the Movie as a close second. This is Klaus.

Anime Review: 'Akira'

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Earlier this month at my local comic-con I bought myself a used copy of Akira, the landmark anime film that started the anime boom in the West. I had actually seen it a few months earlier online, and after seeing it I wanted to own it. So here we are.

The famous bike slide scene

Akira is based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo. Interestingly, the manga was still being produced when the film adaptation hit theaters in 1988, finishing in 1990. Otomo himself even directed the movie. What sets this film apart from other anime is that it is animated at 24 FPS (frames per second) and it shows the characters lip-synching, meaning that the voice acting had to be recorded before the animation. While this is normal for a Western animated feature, this isn't for anime; animation is mostly limited and audio is recorded after animation. Because of this, the film was the most expensive anime production until Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away in 2001.

Movie Review: 'Sonic the Hedgehog' (2020)

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I saw Sonic the Hedgehog with my sister and her friends last Friday, and, similar to Detective Pikachu from last year, I think it is a well made film. Not groundbreaking by any means, but still enjoyable.

There is an interesting story surrounding this film's production, of which you should be aware. Last year, the first trailer came out and Sonic's design was...less than accurate, to say the least.

Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me. Source

People online were furious that a big budget Sonic movie would portray him this way, and they complained and memed for days on end. This got wind of the director who, realizing that the film would flop if Sonic's sucky design remained, decided to change the release date from November to February and give Sonic a much needed makeover. The result is a better-looking design for the little blue hedgehog.

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Movie Review: 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters'

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Better than Godzilla 2014 in terms of monster screen time and action, but unfortunately contains some anti-human sentiment.

 

Movie Review: 'Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'

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Holy cow, that was so good!

I saw Pokémon: Detective Pikachu yesterday, and I found it surprisingly great, especially for a film based on a foreign property and for video game adaptations in general. I expected the film to be just an okay film, but upon viewing it, I realize that it is much more than that.

For a long time, video game to film adaptations have had the habit of being subpar in quality. Look at films like Super Mario Bros. (1993) and The Angry Birds Movie for examples. There have been exceptions of course, such as Pokémon: The First Movie and Ace Attorney (2012), but overall video game films have been panned by fans and non-fans alike. Enter Detective Pikachu. Loosely inspired from the video game of the same name, this film is able to give fans their nostalgia while also offering something for non-fans to enjoy as well. It has great humor, respect for its source material, and most of all, heart.

The film takes place in the fictional city of Ryme City. A 21-year-old named Tim Goodman recently learns that his father, Harry Goodman, has been supposedly killed in a car accident while investigating a secret lab that has been conducting experiments on the Pokémon Mewtwo. When Tim enters his dad's apartment to clean up, an amnesiac Pikachu shows up and is able to speak to Tim. Tim suspects that his father is still alive, and together he and Pikachu go off to investigate his father's disappearance.

Many Pokémon are featured in the film, and there are many references to the video games and anime series. There are twists and turns even I did not see coming. And the last big reveal of the film brought tears to my eyes.

If you have not seen this film, I highly encourage you to do so. This is definitely going to be known as one of the few good video game movie adaptations.