Dragon Age: Dawn Of The Seeker (2012)

Title: Dragon Age: Dawn Of The Seeker
Release: 2012, Video
Starring: Colleen Clinkenbeard, J. Michael Tatum, Chuck Huber
Directed by: Fumihiko Sori
IMDB Page: Link opens in a new window
Description: In the land of Orlais, the chantry's elite soldiers known as the seekers have tracked down a blood mage cult bent on using a dragons blood and a young girl to free mages from oppression all over Thedas through terror, but as their plot is foiled a much larger and dangerous conspiracy is unveiled.

Watch the review:

Godzilla (2014)

Film: Godzilla
Release: 2014, Theatrical
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen
Directed by: Gareth Edwards
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: 15 years after a nuclear meltdown that tore his family apart, a homebound soldier is forced to go pay bail for his seemingly superstitious father. However when the fathers theories prove to be true, humanity is faced with a problem that has been resting beneath the earth for millenia.

Hans' thoughts:

In 1954, a Japanese film studio called Toho aped the success of the giant monster genre with their own take: Gojira! (or as it's known in the west, Godzilla! King of the Monsters!) The movie was a tremendous success and ushered in the kaiju genre as well as a long spanning movie series, a reboot in the 80's, and an American remake in 1998. The American remake starring Matthew Broderick and directed by disaster-movie master Roland Emmerich is widely regarded as one of the worst movies not only of the genre, but of that decade. When Hollywood announced they were coming out with a new take on the Godzilla characters, fans were (perhaps understandably) wary of what the west would make of their favorite big screen monster this time. 

Did I tune into a Simpsons live-action movie by accident?

So let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first, one of the biggest problems with most disaster movies is that the human parts are absolutely boring, not just by comparison with what is going on in the rest of the movie but by drama standards as well. The human actors who do the best job are Bryan Cranston as the Captain Ahab like Dr. Brody and whoever played that pleading guy trapped in a crane being dragged into the abyss. I'm sorry, I really am, but I felt little to no chemistry between any of the human characters - including up and comer superstar Aaron-Taylor Johnson whom I've previously enjoyed in his role as Kick-Ass. Most of the characters who spoke in the movie had little to nothing to say besides explaining to the audience what is going on on the screen when they weren't mugging at the camera to try and make us believe that what they were looking at was very tragic and very real. I did not believe the love between the main character and his wife, played by Elizabeth Olsen. As many flaws as the '98 Godzilla movie had, at least I cared a little more about the characters on screen - even if that care was whether they were stepped on or eaten. Frequently the movie would give us a two second shot of the action going on and then immediately cut back to a full scene with nothing but human characters - even long after the focus should've cut completely to just the rampage and the reactions by the human onlookers. A fun addition to the human roster however was Ken Watanabe as this movies version of Dr. Serizawa. However Watanabe got little to nothing to do in the entirety of the film and in the first 25 minutes I was honestly wondering whether his character was supposed to be mute.

All this is really a damn shame because once the movie actually kicks into gear there is a lot of good stuff there. The special effects are really cool, the spectacle-o-meter is going into the red with all the stuff happening - you get what you came for. Senseless meaningless and all encompassing destruction. Once all the key players of the movie are on set (and let's be honest nothing in that sentence includes something human) the destruction is great. A lot of critics has treated the fact that there's more than one monster in this movie as a spoiler, however there being a second monster in the film is clearly shown in the officially released trailer. The interaction between monsters and the animation of the monsters felt more real, than the actual human characters running around trying to survive the disaster. I got more attached to evil monsters in this film than I should've and that's for shame. Godzilla is also fortunately in this movie, as opposed to the '98 disaster that simply but a computer generated T-Rex on screen. He looks like his Japanese counter part, he has the power set of his Japanese counterpart and he actually acted like Godzilla would. It was awesome to see him and his enemies smash themselves through the screen time they got - even if the designs of the new monsters were kinda cliché. The human parts may not be all that good but the people tied to the creative process obviously treated this as a petproject that they really wanted to see succeed. They get what the genre is all about, they get why Godzilla is so awesome, all they really need to do for their next outing is work on their drama skills - or maybe motivate their actors a little better. 

After the success of Del Toro's 2013 kaiju love-letter Pacific Rim we may see more and more American kaiju attempts like this one. I'll be happy if the rest of them will at least hit this level of quality and dedication when it comes to the spectacle and special effects. If the sequel to this movie simply ups its game when it comes to the human parts, we may actually get the great western action blast that the king of monsters truly deserves. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Film: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Release: 2014, Theatrical
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Peter Dinkleage, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Previous in the series: The Wolverine
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Years into the future, a race-based war between humans and mutants has thrown the would into chaos and the mutants on the border of extinction. As a last desperate measure, Wolverine is thrown into the mind of himself from 1973, to bring together the corner stones of the mutant civil war: Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier.

Hans' thoughts: 

After bringing the series back from the brink of extinction with X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine, Bryan Singer is bringing us the brink of mutant extinction on the silver screen. With imagery mimicking the footage of the second world war, Singer shows us a dark and twisted future where apparently not only did most of the major cities get nearly destroyed - The sun decided to tone down its shining and draw all the color from the world till everything was a mix of black, grey and blue. Kidding aside, the movie does have a bit of a problem during the first 10 minutes of the movie. No re-introductions are served to an audience that's not seen most of these characters since X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 and that gives us little time to get comfortable before a heavy amount of science fiction talk is thrown in our faces. This movie is mostly for those who has been along for the entire ride. Indeed, the only movie you don't expressively need to have seen before viewing is The Wolverine from last year.

 To audiences who remembers that far back, there's a nice reunion with Storm (Halle Berry), Shadowcat (Ellen Page), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and of course Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Unfortunately, while it's nice to see them all together again, they don't get to do much in the movie at all aside from a quick line of dialogue here and there and we just barely see them in action at all. Focus is instead on the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto - namely Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Thankfully, while the dark and grim future of the old actors doesn't have much going on - the movie picks up greatly once we actually have Wolverine in the 70's meeting the younger versions of both the aforementioned two gentlemen and also a certain supporting castmember we've not heard from since X-Men 2. Staying around from First Class we also have Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and as the big turning point of the movie we have the return of Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. 

In the past era which spins most of the movie, the pace is quickly picked up. References to the major lore of the X-Men franchise is thrown at the audience and Peter Dinkleage does a great job as the scientist Dr. Trask. Indeed the very color defined imagery of the future stands as a direct opposite to very alive world of the past. One of the things that's been discussed a lot about the movie is the inclusion of Quicksilver, here played by Evan Peters. The movie seems to have a lot of fun with the concept of an incredibly speedy character and at least one moment had most of the theater bursting with laughter - The ball is in your court Marvel Studios. However like most of the X-Men movies before, this movie doesn't do team focus very well and the main part of the movie is therefore bounced between McAvoy's Xavier and Lawrence's Mystique, with Jackmans' Wolverine serving as the audience point of view. 

On the other hand, something the X-Men movies have always done very well is special effects and once again the effects are in tip top shape to show us the spectacle of just what these characters are capable of. A character I've sadly been missing from the other movies has been Beast and Hoult gets to completely beast out in this movie and actually do some action scenes of his own. X-Men: Days of Future Past is not the greatest of the bunch by any means. Lawrence does not feel like she's particularly interested to be in the movie with most of the returning cast members from the original trilogy. Dinklage's Trask rarely speaks at all which is a major problem considering his status in the film. McAvoy and Fassbender and Hoult all do perfectly great in the movie with Fassbender once again bringing in the bacon with his menacing Magneto. McKellen and Stewart are criminally underused, with McKellen only uttering one or two lines in the entire film. Why they were brought in at all is a mystery. Jackman does as good as always with his portrayal of Wolverine; it's strange they decided to once again throw main focus on him because in the original comic Shadowcat was the one to go back in time. The one piece of expository dialogue we never got was how the time travel stuff actually came into the posession of our heroes but that's just kinda thrown to the wind. There's also focus on a cameo character who nobody who hasn't read the comics or watched X2 lately will actually recognizw due to him only being recognizable by his last name. However it does what it came to do - give us the big rewind so we're ready for the next full-cast action blast. As an action movie it has some spectacular effects to latch onto. It makes for some great entertainment value as well, as a reunion movie however it kinda fails in not letting the old folks have that much to say or do. Whether this was due to budgetary restraints is anyone's guess but it's still a shame.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Film: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Release: 2014, theatrical
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: After a black-ops operation on a hijacked U.S. ship, Captain America starts having doubts about the integrity of S.H.I.E.L.D. as an organization and he soon discovers that maybe modern day America isn't as black and white as the world he came from.

Hans' thoughts:

When you summarize the names of superheroes that will do well internationally in your head "Captain America" is scarcely the first one that comes to mind. Grounded deeply in the American reaction to the Second World War, the character was created basically as a propaganda piece to sell warbonds. One of the most well-known images of the character is simply him giving Adolf Hitler a punch to the jaw. However Captain America: The First Avenger actually turned out to be one of the more well received entries in what is now named "Phase one" of the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), consisting of (in order of continuity): Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and ending with The Avengers in 2012. So far "Phase two" of the MCU is also looking decent enough, while Iron Man 3 received some critical panning and the tie-in TV-show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has been deemed a failure by many fans Thor: The Dark World was considered one of the best entries to date. So how does The Winter Soldier hold up? Surprisingly well actually. 

Unlike Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is very scarce in referencing the events of The Avengers, instead The Winter Soldier gives us a more in-depth look at the intelligence bureau known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Where our titular hero portrayed by Chris Evans, a man of simple values and straightforward methods, is having trouble fitting in with the methods of his secretive boss Nick Fury, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. Evans portrayal of Cap is as good as ever, his arc in this movie is very much about having old world viewpoints in a new world and while the actor himself turns in a good performance, and the writing is actually really good. I can't let the fact go however, that his costume has never really been all that good in any of the movies thus far and unfortunately it's the same case this time around. Costume designers seem to just be unable to get it to look good, and that makes total sense since the original Captain America suit was designed in the 1940's and has seen little to no updates in the years since then. This time they decided to make his ears be free from the hood part of the suit and unfortunately that makes them seem huge. I quickly got used to it, but in the first few moments of the movie I had to remind myself that this was not a comedy. The movie has a lot of returning actors and it works to the advantage of the piece, as instead of throwing a lot of new things at us we have the growth of already established characters with the exception of newcomer Sam Wilson, portrayed by Anthony Mackie. Mackie fits right in with the old cast however, and quickly sets up himself as another well-known Marvel character. His special effects are actually done really well and though his action scenes in full get-up are few they are very enjoyable and doesn't take away focus from the main cast - though unfortunately his costume design for this movie follows the Hollywood trend of removing as many colors as possible from superhero get-ups as was the case for the MCU's version of Hawkeye. The other newcomer is seasoned veteran Robert Redford as the chairman of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he has a lot of great moments in the movie. His portrayal made one of the twists of the movie all the more surprising. Scarlett Johanson returns as Black Widow, once again showing new sides of the character and seems to just have a lot of fun portraying the character. Nevermind the fact that she's not held back by a tacked on romantic sub-plot that probably would've been present in a lesser movie. Black Widow is thus far the only female superhero set up in the MCU, but she can definitely stand toe to toe with the likes of both much more seasoned actors Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford. 

The elephant in the room in this review thus far is of course The Winter Soldier himself, this is not because of his portrayal (the character is actually done a lot of justice and I enjoyed every single scene he was in) but because his identity is supposed to be a complete secret. Rest assured Marvel fans, there's no big fake out moments here as was the case with The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. More than that I'm not really willing to say, even though promotional material for the movie has not been all that secretive I feel that non-comic book nerds should discover this awesome plot twist for themselves. So there's that. Moving on to the action of the movie, it has a fair amount of "shaky cam". Meaning of course that the camera is moved frequently in the film to up the intensity of some of the scenes. Unfortunately it makes some scenes fairly hard to follow and I heard complaints from one of my companions that he could barely see what was going on in some of the bigger action scenes at all. It's a big shame because on the other hand the hand-to-hand combat scenes are really good and the choreography makes the action in these scenes seem very intense without needing the added effects of shaking the camera. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a much more eventful movie than its already strong predecessor and stands as a testament to the really great thing Marvel Studios has going at the moment proving that the high quality of "phase one" wasn't a complete freak of nature. The special effects of the movie are great, even if we're not able to see as many of them as we would like due to the rapid camera movement and the writing of the story is spot on - taking one of the major plotlines of Captain America's comic line and updating it for modern movie going audiences and the setting of the MCU.

V For Vendetta (2005)

Film: V For Vendetta
Release: 2005, theatrical
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman
Directed by: James McTeigue
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: In the mid-21st century, Britain has become a fascist regime. One night on the 5th of November a reminder to remember a heinous plot is set to never be forgot.

Hans' thoughts:

Very vigorously would valuers of vindictive revolutionary vendettas value V for Vendetta for its volume as a vector for vocal web-users. Re-written and re-visited by the Whachowskis, it ventures wondrously within the very vague vicinity of the victorious and the virulent views of it's reviewers. The video relies the comic book verses regarding the vaudevillian vindicator which wears the visage called V visualized by the recitalist Weaving. I was be-wondered by the ventures victory in verifying the vexing wonder of V. . Vies a vie, it explores the reason for wearing a disguise whilst fighting crime - not as much as in Watchmen where it's the very vestige of the writers work though still very represented in some form. 

The visuals verily wear the visage of revolutionaries, while relying wisdom regarding the role of the victim compared to role of the victimisers. One again the Wachowskis flaunt their vigor for visual violence. while verily the recitalists realize the roles remarkably. Phew, Okay. I'm sorry. Enough of that. To anyone unaware the original introduction of our main character V features a very well written piece of dialogue with wordplay using the V-sound. Out of all the actors I felt Portman in the role of Evey lacked a little bit of energy and it seems as though she just kind of goes along with whatever happens to her, no matter how cruel it is. For the purpose of the story, Portman certainly does a well enough job that it doesn't distract too much however it's hard to not see it whenever she plays off of charismatic actors like Stephen Fry or Hugo Weaving - Weaving is of course given a momentous task as his face is never actually seen and it falls to the cameraman to accurately convey what the character is going through in any instance. That's of course helped a little bit by the fact that the character of V is supposed to be more of a symbol than an actual character. Most interesting to me was the journey of Stephen Rea in the role of the  police detective Finch as he uncovers more and more about the state of affairs in future Britain and the truth behind the government.

In the villain department, John Hurt makes a very threatening Big Brother-esque villain. Being shown on a giant TV-screen throughout most of the movie his knack for monologue and tone of voice shines through. Likewise does Tim Pigott-Smith pose a threat as the head of the state police known as finger men. However it seems like he channeled Dick Cheney of the then current Bush government in America. There's a lot of snarl and down to business temperament portrayed even when we're just looking at his face. V for Vendetta is above all a very beautifully shot movie and at times it distracts from the at times only half-hearted crime mystery tucked in between the plot-lines. Whether the mystery portion was more fleshed out in the original comic I unfortunately don't know as I've not read it, however it's safe to say that like with the movie adaptation of Moore's other famous work Watchmen, details were left out in favor of focusing on the underlying morale and point of the story. As it stands I can at least recommend V for Vendetta for a very captivating story, some masterfully done shot and the Wachowski staple of excellent action.

Justice League: War (2014)

Film: Justice League: War
Release: 2014, Video
Starring: Sean Astin, Christopher Gorham, Jason O'Mara
Directed by: Jay Oliva
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: All over the world, strange kidnappings by monstrous beings are taking place. During an investigating into the matter in Gotham City, Hal Jordan the Green Lantern of Earth meets the rumored "Bat Man".

Hans' thoughts:

Kickstarting a new DC animated universe, Justice League: War is an adaptation of the first story arc of the rebooted Justice League comic books from 2011. On planet Earth, superheroes are appearing for the very first time and brought together to fight a full scale invasion from the death lord of planet Apokolips, Darkseid. A few changes has been made to the original story for the sake of adaptation, the most notable being that Aquaman is switched out with Shazam (Captain Marvel) in the roster of the team. Why they decided to do so is anyone's guess, but it might be because Shazams origin story was retold as a subplot in the original format independent of the main story-line. 

Acting wise I have to admit I felt it in places was a bit weak. Especially the actress playing Wonder Woman had a few lines that felt way too read from the script, probably rehearsed well enough, but it's like she didn't make the dialogue her own. It's the same case in varying degrees with the other actors, however for whatever reason she was the one that stood out the most to me. Steve Blum, who's an industry veteran by this point did a good job as Darkseid however the voice-filtering on him sometimes made him nearly incomprehensible. Despite this, dialogue is actually very much on point and works well with the very uncomplicated plot - exposition is handed out quickly, "this is what's going on and why - now watch Superman punch this alien". This paves the way instead for more silly remarks and reactions between the individual heroes to the strangeness that surrounds them.

I was actually pretty thrilled by the action scenes in this, the movie does not serve as an origin story for the individual heroes (with the exception of Cyborg) so it's taken more of a "less talkie, more punchy" kind of nature. The action scenes are well edited and animated, with sound effects that really underscores the effects of the punches. The artstyle of the movie is similar to that of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox from last year, and serves as a decent adaptation of the new costumes designed by artist Jim Lee.  Both Flashpoint and this story was written by Geoff Johns, and you can recognize his background as a writer for The Flash and Green Lantern as they've both been given extra attention. Flash was the main character in Flashpoint, and Green Lantern is the main character in this piece. Green Lantern especially ends up being a character with humorous moments and exchanges right from the get-go.

Justice League: War is by no stretch a great animated movie and it pales in comparison to some of the other DC direct-to-video releases. Despite the creators intention of making it a jumping on point for newcomers, It unfortunately also withholds one of the problems of the animated films by just leaving way too much up to the viewer. Hopefully some of the more unknown characters like Shazam will come into their own with a movie detailing their origin. That being said, for anyone who loves well-animated action scenes and the Justice League this is an entertaining piece through and through. It keeps a fast-pace, has some funny lines and a great retelling of both the origin story of Cyborg and the coming together of The World's Finest, setting up what will hopefully be a great series of movies.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Film: Hot Fuzz
Release: 2007, theatrical
Starring: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Previous in the series: Shaun of the Dead
Next in the series: The World's End
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Ace police officer Nicholas Angel is sent to the sleepy English village of Sandford because he's so talented that he makes the other officers in London look bad by comparison. There, what should have been an uneventful stationing turns out to uncover that the village of Sandford may not be as innocent as it appears.

Hans' thoughts:

Two things that British entertainment is known for is really good comedy and really good crime stories. So obviously they will be brought together from time to time and so they have in "Hot Fuzz" - The tale of an overqualified police officer who has to deal with one of the weirdest mysteries a small town in England can offer.  Following the success of "Shaun of the Dead", writer/director Edgar Wright brings back comedy duo of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in the second installment of what would later be called "The Cornetto trilogy". A series of film not connected by narrative but by the reference to Cornetto Ice Cream throughout all three, well that's one way to ensure a marketing deal. 

Hot Fuzz is not only a funny movie when it comes to the dialogue, tons of little snippets of information and running gags are thrown into the movie that you might not all catch up on in the first viewing, this makes the movie rewatchable i close succession without it being redundant which is something you don't see happening to a lot of movies - it's definitely not something I would call a common goal of film directors. Another thing you'll notice right away is also the editing, the film deals in very rapid editing which results in making every scene seem heart pumping - even if the main character is just doing paperwork in the police station. The movie also has that distinct Anchorman quality to it, being extremely quotable and littered with hilarious and memorable moments. I also have to commend the writing for this one, a lot of comedies relies on the excuse that something just kinda happens but in this film everything has a setup and everything is kept tabs on throughout the tale. You will definitely be missing out if you don't pay attention while watching this.

All main characters are also given their own character arcs, as well as even some of the fairly minor ones. Characters will learn to doubt everything they thought they knew and it's all delivered incredibly well by a cast that may not be starstudded but is very talented and manages to deliver even the smallest jokes with timing only backed up further by the editing. The way jokes are set up is almost reminiscent of a sketch comedy show or a really well-written sitcom. Some jokes are thrown at you in rapid succession while others are set up and very carefully executed. Hot Fuzz is in conclusion a very funny and over-the-top take on the action movie genre and the knack for mysteries. With a genuinely surprising twist as well as a great cast of actors the film is for anyone who likes a good laugh, and who doesn't?

Story-liners: Strider (1989)

Game: Strider
Release: Retail, 1989
System: Nintendo Entertainment System
Starring: None
Directed by: Masayoshi "Patariro" Kurokawa
Next in the series: Strider 2
IMDB page: None
Description: In the dark future of 2048, a criminal cartel of highly trained ninjas known as the Striders operate throughout the world. The youngest ever member of the elite-squad named Hiryu uncovers a conspiracy that will change the organization forever.

Hans' thoughts:

Ah, the NES. Bringing back gaming from the horrible aftermath of the legendary crash of 83, the Nintendo Entertainment System became one of the only consoles on the market and the best-selling one for a substantial period of time. One of the superstar companies of the NES was Capcom, who created such well-known properties as Mega Man, Street Fighter and some of the best Disney games to date. However one of their lesser known franchises is the action science fiction of Strider. Strider broke ground at the time by being one of very few games that had much in the way of an actual storyline that wasn't just slapped together for the sake of convenience. Strider is a tale of aliens, ninjas and nefarious plots all centered around some kinda wonky but ultimately fun gameplay. You take control of Hiryu, an expert in most forms of weapons use but with focus on the quickness of his blade.

The designs of the game, while poorly animated even for their time are absolutely gorgeous. Monsters will look threatening despite their lack of movement and human characters will be simplistic but easy to tell apart. The game was released in tandem with a manga based on the storyline and you can tell that a professional comic book artist has been behind the designs as it takes cue from classic manga conventions of the era. The sci-fi setting, while not plausible at all is a least a little reserved from potentially going completely off the chain and just inventing all sorts of stuff that you could see no practical usage of. Hiryu will go around several locations in the world, from Australia to Kazakhstan. 

The music while a bit melancholic is designed to get you pumped for the adventure you're about to embark on. Capcom was an absolute powerhouse for video game music at the time and it is very present already when you listen to the title screen. The many different sets of locations combined with the many secrets to uncover sets the scene for a ton of exploration which is why the music being actually good and not too repetitive is extremely important. Thankfully it keeps the Capcom tradition through and through, the upbeat rhythm makes you pumped for fighting soldiers with your short ranged but highly effective weapon.

The characters, while not fleshed out in the slightest are strangely enough compelling. I'd actually argue that the low amount of information we receive in the game speaks for the validity of this being a shadowy organization with little time for lengthy explanation. You do what you're told and you do it without question. The villains of the game works with an alien race known as the Zain, creatures that can take over the minds of others and make them insane. Their creepy designs really serve to make this backstory into a real threat worthy of our capable hero. While definitely aged, the story of Strider is a fun action/adventure science fiction that encompasses a game that could just have been a bunch of nonsense as was the norm for the era, which makes it a great little extra touch on an otherwise fun experience.

Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (1990)

Film: Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (Doragon bôru Z: Kono yo de ichiban tsuyoi yatsu)
Release: 1990, theatrical
Starring: Sean Schemmel, Stephanie Nadolny, R. Bruce Elliot
Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Previous in the series: Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone
Next in the series: Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window

Description: The aging Dr. Kochin gathers the Dragon Balls and decides to wish for the resurrection of his mentor, the most brilliant and villainous mind the world has ever seen, Dr. Wheelo.

Hans' thoughts:

The second movie to be based on the Dragon Ball Z series, this movie once again doesn't seem to fit in anywhere particular in the overall timeline. However if it were to based completely on their looks and power levels I would wager somewhere during the attack of the Saiyans. The World's Strongest tells the story of the resurrection of a brilliant but slightly mad scientist called Dr. Wheelo. The man's body did not survive the restoration process however and he is nothing but a living brain able to communicate through machinery, he decides he wants to be the most powerful man in the world so he sends his people out to find the world's strongest man - whom he believes to Master Roshi, due to the many years that have passed since he was alive. While you can certainly question why Dr. Wheelo and his henchmen didn't just look up "The World's Strongest" in a modern day encyclopedia to find out that Master Roshi hasn't held the title for years, it makes for an interesting concept that someone would actually have a beef with Roshi. 

However good setup does not a good plotline make and Dr. Wheelo as a villain did not interest me in the slightest. His character design is never really shown due to the dark coloring of the movie and once he becomes the actual action villain of the piece he is taken out so quickly that it felt like a big load of nothing. This movie is a prime example of good concept but ridiculously poor execution. His underlings aren't especially interesting to look at either, some of them look like a barebones recolor of the saibamen from the Saiyan attack in the main series, while his elite squad of 3 fighters all look like they could have been interesting if they had actually been given anything to do in the movie besides make up for the action sequence quota. Dr. Koshin who kickstarts the problems just looks like a creepy old man but at least the reveal of how he was able to collect the Dragon Balls in his poor physical condition does make for a fun little twist. Unfortunately the five minute resolution of the movie just kills everything that was set up.

Not even our heroes get all that much to do this time around, aside from some barebones social interaction they pretty much just go from fight scene to fight scene. Had they actually done something with the fact that they having Roshi partake in the action perhaps the movie could have been salvage in the dramatic department but that part of the plot is brushed aside very early on in order to exploit the potential for rivalry between Son Goku and Piccolo. Dragon Ball has always had a very colorful character gallery and it's always sad when characters go barely used like in this case. I'm almost convinced that this movie could have taken a more interesting route had it either been put in another franchise altogether or at the very least at a more suitable point in the timeline. 

The World's Strongest is in my opinion one of the poorest Dragon Ball movies because of it's lazy design, poor writing  and just boring tone. This is a very boring Dragon Ball movie, the stakes are as low as ever and the fight scenes just kinda buzz by your eyes on the screen. Coloring wise the movie is also very poor, this might just be because of the age of the picture but in none of the versions I have seen of this are the dark coloring of the backgrounds not a problem, features will frequently blend in with the background and our main villain is barely visible once he joins in the fight. To top it all off, the movie also has some of the poorest sound design I have ever seen in a animated feature, the reused sound effects are a staple of the series, but why they decided to have such a barebones usage of the series soundtrack is anyone's guess. If you don't want to miss any of the Dragon Ball movies, you will find at the very least a light dosage of entertainment but everyone else I'll argue that your time is better spent elsewhere.

Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone (1989)

Film: Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone (Doragon bôru Z: Ora no Gohan wo kaese)
Release: 1989, theatrical
Starring: Sean Schemmel, Stephanie Nadolny, Christopher Sabat
Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Previous in the series: Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure
Next in the series: Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: One day a mysterious group of fighters kidnap the son of Son Goku. It turns out to be the work of the powerful Garlic Jr., a villain with a connection to Kami's past.

Hans' thoughts:

The first of the Dragon Ball movies to be based on the adulthood era, the only one of the movies to directly affect events in TV-series and the first of the movies to not continue the storyline in the alternate movie universe. The Dead Zone takes place between the fight against Piccolo at the Martial Arts Tournament and the appearance of Raditz on Earth. Years after barely defeating Piccolo and saving the world, Goku has married his fiancé Chichi and had a child whom he named after his grandfather, Son Gohan. Most people who know of this era of the show know it as "Dragon Ball Z", it's a direct continuation of the original series and draws from the latter half of original manga but the "Z" was added to the title of the animated series as a reference to the distinct change in tone the story would have beyond this point, the humor would be greatly downplayed in favor of longer fight scenes and more drama-driven storytelling. The Dead Zone pretty much exemplifies this change, most of the characters that until now have been mainstays of the series have been put on the backburner. The character designs are also more humanoid - the details come more from their battle armors and hairstyles. 

Plotwise we have a pretty epic tale, it's not often we hear of events on Earth prior to Goku's landing as a small child so it's nice to get some insight, even if it is unofficial. Hundreds of years ago the unnamed Namekian that would later be known as Kami fought a man named Garlic over the succession of the former Kami (Kami being a word for "God" or "Spirit" in the Japanese Shinto mythology). Garlic's greed got the best of him and he was sealed away, in the present his son known as Garlic Jr. is gathering the Dragon Balls in order to wish for immortality and take revenge for his father. This of course causes the involvement of our hero, as one of the Dragon Balls is attached to the hat of his son and he gets kidnapped by Garlic Jr.s elite warriors in the process. The stakes feel pretty high and Goku's newly adopted serious demeanor does make for a very cool action hero. The humor of the previous movies is nearly completely gone, while there are some rather silly moments in the movie (such as a drugged hallucination sequence) the new focus is very visible. Where exactly this movie is supposed to take place in the plotline other than "before Raditz landed" is a bit of a mist however, as some of the vents directly contradict the way things go down in the main series.

Thankfully the villain of this movie is a lot better than the previous movie-original villains we have seen until now. Garlic Jr. being directly involved with characters of the main storyline makes us interested in him as a character and as opposed to original villains that would delve into fanfiction territory in later movies, he doesn't feel like a tacked on side-villain at all. As far as his minions go, while they're not particularly fleshed out they do manage to seem threatening enough for our heroes to take on.The action scenes also take up more of the movie, and thankfully they're a bit better handled than even some fights in the main series. I don't really have much to report on the side of the english voice cast, they're not doing bad jobs at all but they're not being fantastic either. The best performance in the movie is Christopher Sabat, he voices several of the characters but the one he did best with was Kami if only because of his monologue.

Animation-wise the movie is a bit of a step up from any of the former movies, the colors feel more streamlined and not nearly as blurred together with the lineart as in the others while a trippy drug sequence made for comical effect showcases some fun imagery if only briefly. Garlic Junior's "final form" is also a lot more threatening looking design-wise. While certainly not the best Dragon Ball movie, it manages to hold your attention for the duration and like the other movies the short running time of around 40 minutes makes it so it doesn't outstay it's welcome. While I'm personally more fond of the childhood tales of Goku and friends you also can't deny the utter star power of the Z series and it's version of the characters. 

Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure (1988)

Film: Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure (Doragon bôru: Makafushigi dai bôken)
Release: 1988, Theatrical
Starring: Ceyli Delgadillo, Meredith McCoy, Kent Williams
Directed by: Kazuhisa Takenouichi
Previous in the series: Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
Next in the series: Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Taking place a year later, Goku and Krillin has finished their training with Master Roshi and is going to the big city to prove themselves in the international martial arts tournament. Meanwhile, a child emperor has lost his queen and is gathering the legendary dragon balls in order to find her, little aware that his advisor has sinister purposes of his own

Hans' thoughts:

Presumably this movie takes place in the same version of the Dragon Ball universe where the two previous films takes place, as once again we have a retelling of, this time not only one but two major story arcs from the main comics with a series of changes made to make it work as a film. The story lines combined are what is known among fans as "The 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai" and "The Red Ribbon Saga" but with major changes in what amount of involvement different characters have in the plot and what position they have. Most notable are the changes done to the characters of Tien and Chiaotzu. In the original comics, Tien and Chiaotzu made their first appearance as competitors in a martial arts tournament being misguided into cruelty by their ambitious master and rival of Master Roshi, Master Shen. In this version, Chiaotzu is the child emperor of the nation where the tournament is held, Shen is his deceiving advisor and Tien serves as his bodyguard, on top of that, what in the series and comics is known as the Red Ribbon army owned by the devilish Commander Red is in this version the royal army of Emperor Chiaotzu, with Mercenary Tao Bai Bai serving as it's general and Master Shen serving as it's behind-the-scenes commander. Blue does make an appearance as well, but in this case he serves as a lieutenant rather than a General.

However in spite of all these changes, the core feel of the story is actually kept very much intact. Characters still play the same role as they did before but in a vastly different setting and it makes for a interesting "what if..?" scenario. This story, while not entirely humorless, does have a more serious tone but it differentiates from Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle by actually giving a sense of high stakes. The martial arts tournament also gives the opportunity for more action scenes, but (perhaps thankfully) the focus is quickly shifted to giving us a main villain in the form of Mercenary Tao. Tao was the first character to actually start killing people in the series so having him here makes for a really badass bad guy. His motivations are purely based on bloodlust however, so perhaps for the sake of substance Master Shen is there as well as the one pulling the strings. 

Oddly enough this movie doesn't use any original characters at all to the point of keeping scenes from the original story arcs you wouldn't consider all that important. The most obvious one would be the inclusion of Goku's journey to Penguin City, for those not in the know, Penguin City was the setting for a comedic series called Dr. Slump that the author of the original comic book Akira Toriyama had done before he went on to create Dragon Ball. In the comic, Goku travels to Penguin City while fighting the villanous General Blue of the Red Ribbon army. There he meets some of the characters from Dr. Slump comic series and is even assisted by them in the fight. This is somewhat kept into the movie, as Arale, the superpowered main character of the series stays around to spectate a battle between Goku and Mercenary Tao throughout their second battle. It was meant as a easter egg for the fans of Dr. Slump in the original manga, so keeping it in a movie adaptation is one thing, but putting her on the poster is a really strange choice. Why they did this is anyone's guess but my bet is that it was done for marketing reasons.

Most of Goku's normal allies, while definitely present throughout, takes a major backseat in this movie. This is mainly Goku's adventure and it is mostly focused on having Goku overcome his struggles by himself. This makes the other characters mainly serve as expository characters and most of their scenes involve comic relief. Honestly though, if it wasn't for the cheerful music and bright colors some of the moments in this one actually becomes pretty serious so I'm glad they at the very least decided to leave the other characters in the movie. The Red Ribbon Army saga of the comics is one of my favorite comic book plotlines out there, so take it from me when I say that all the changes made to the story actually doesn't take you out of the experience. Instead it's a fun movie and perhaps one of the best Dragon Ball movies out there, Z or otherwise included.

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986)

Film: Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (Doragun bôru: Shenron no densetsu)
Release: 1986, theatrical
Starring: Colleen Clinkenbeard, Monica Rial, Jeremy Inman
Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
Next in the series: Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: In the mountains, a boy named Son Goku lives in total seclusion until one day he meets a young treasure hunting girl named Bulma - meanwhile in a small kingdom, the king has grown cruel and greedy in the hunt for the highly valuable Blood Rubies.

Hans' thoughts:

For kids all over the world, Dragon Ball has played the role of their first introduction to the shounen manga genre. The tale of a young boy, his friends and their action filled hunt for the legendary seven dragon balls that can fulfill any wish has proven to be such a popular genre the the series has spun off several video games, four cartoon shows, a slew of merchandise and of course a long line of movies. This time we're looking at the very first Dragon Ball movie, Curse of the Blood Rubies. The movie is centered around a small kingdom ruled by a king that has recently grown malevolent and has a extreme hunger he believes can only be removed by the magic of the dragon balls, he sends out his two elite soldiers to find the remaining balls he needs, meanwhile the movie also retells the first four or five chapters of the original series as we get the origin of Goku and Bulma's meeting, as well as a re-introduction for Master Roshi the turtle hermit, Yamcha the bandit and Oolong & Pool the two shapeshifting animals. As far as the retelling goes, I have to admit that while I perfectly understand their reasons for doing so I had far preferred they'd kept the origins out of the movie. The original stories the introduced the characters were pretty heavily grounded in the raunchy comedic nature of the show and some of the best moments have been left out - most likely due to the perceived age-rating of the film. However to their credit the writers of the film has managed to keep the spirit of the series very much alive and all the characters have their personalities intact. It should also be mentioned that this film has a running time of a meager 47 minutes, so it doesn't outstay it's welcome at all.

If you're familiar at all with the show, you know pretty much the standard fare for what you're in for. Goku is our super strong but fairly naive and stupid hero that saves the day with the help of his more world-weary cynical allies that are pretty much only in it for themselves. As far as Dragon Ball movies go, the storyline for this one is pretty good - Dragon Ball is a very action heavy but also storyline oriented series so trying to make something that fits somewhere into the story can be pretty trying - most of the time, the movies will mix up who were alive and had what powers at a certain point of the series. That's probably why they initially decided to make the movie take place at the very beginning of the story, making this some sort of alternative plotline. The actual big bad of this plotline in the series was the vindictive Prince Pilaf, who is nowhere to be found in this movie.

The villains have very simple designs compared to almost all other instances this series has ever seen, a low amount of color and more focus on body type is also a witness of how early on in the run the movie was made. Our main villain is kept in shadow for most of it, and does look interesting one he's finally revealed but the villains we spend the most time with are just two people in uniform. It's simplistic, but in the context of the story it works very well. By this time in the series, we had yet to be introduced to the major science fiction aspects the show would later encompass, and as such the film as much more of a medieval fantasy feel to it with Bulma's Capsule Corp. technology being the only real reminder of the shows setting most of the time. The animation of the movie is also very simplistic, I imagine it was done on the same budget as the show as it makes high use of still-frames to tell it's story. While mostly good, there is the case of the character of a little girl made especially for the movie, she's the films main character outside of the series mainstays and while she has a simple and cute design very akin to the iconic Akira Toriyama art style, the animators decided to animate some of her hairs separately and that unfortunately gives off the effect of her looking like a glorified Raggedy Ann doll.

I watched the Funimation version of the film, so I was treated to the English voice cast. While it's certainly apparent that the cast has become much better since it actually turned out to be a decent enough dub. Of course at times the difference in sound level between the high quality microphones used for the dub and the background music did become fairly obvious but never to the point that it took me out of the experience. There exists some very horrible voice-overs of Japanese animation out there and you can do far worse than the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball that as to some people become neigh iconic and a preferred choice. That's the boat I'm in, as I have never been a big fan of especially Goku's original voice, while it's standard fare for women to voice main character in japanese animation, in the case of Son Goku I felt the actress let him be way too high pitched. As I said however, this version had the Funimation voice cast and they do a well enough job of conveying the characters and their emotions. 

Superior quality of the original series aside, this movie holds it's own among the dragon ball animated movies and is a fitting start for what would become one of the most popular animated series in the genre. A mix of a sweet and simple story, some nice comedic moments and a fair quality of the series staple of martial arts action scenes. Curse of the Blood Rubies may not be the greatest Dragon Ball story out there but it manages to be a fun animated kids movie and an entertaining nostalgia trip for long time fans.

Story-liners: Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

Game: Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Release: 2013, Retail
System: Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PC
Starring: Adrian Pasdar, John Eric Bentley, James Arnold Taylor
Directed by: Mark Hoffmeier
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: When The Silver Surfer is shot down on his trip to earth, his cosmic board scatters into powerful cosmic blocks. It becomes a race against time, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes are fighting the greatest villains in the Marvel universe, led by Doctor Doom, to stop them from using the new blocks for their nefarious purposes.

Hans' thoughts:

Lego Games. Starting with the Lego Star Wars games, the game company Travellers Tales has managed to turn simple retellings of movie storylines into both a major marketing success and a series of genuinely well-made childrens platformers. This game is the third of their licensed to be based on an original tale, following the two Lego Batman games. The game is pretty much the same formula from the previous Lego games overall, carrying over the open world hub and voiced cut-scenes from Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Thankfully, while the appearances of other superheroes in Lego Batman 2 amounted to not much more than cameos (save for the case of Superman) Lego Marvel Superheroes benefits from it's title not being bound to a single character. Besides the "must show" characters made popular by The Avengers movie, we have a surprising amount of lesser-known characters making an appearance in the game. I was actually baffled by how little the game banks on using characters and situations similar to the films. Of course you can't go completely without it and jokes like Nick Fury constantly eating Shawarma, or animations like Hulk throwing his enemies in a similar fashion to his most memorable moment in The Avengers can be found throughout the title, some of running gags are based on exaggerating the characters which means that they can become kind of grating on the nerves after a while. There are only so many times you want to hear Captain America make a pun based on his patriotism. Characters having a large part in the story is mainly that of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America.. and then out of nowhere: Reed Richards aka. Mister Fantastic. While not too obscure, it has been quite a while since The Fantastic Four made a major appearance in contemporary media. It just goes to show that the writers has not allowed themselves to be held back by a memo from the marketing depart which, considering the state of the competition over at DC, is really refreshing. The game even has some boss fights featuring lesser known Marvel villains. 

The look of the game, as you may have guessed, is entirely based on Lego's. In the former titles it could look very much off a times but thankfully this time around the higher quality graphics has really helped in making the game actually look and feel like you're looking at the toys interacting with the environments. The voice work of the game is, while not quite up to snuff at times, never too bad. The best one is Clark Gregg, once again reprising his role as Agent Coulson. I have to admit that I have never been much of a fan of the character but it is nice to have him around none the less. There is the occasional line from the others, especially the female actor for Maria Hill, that is read rather mechanically, but it never to the point where you are pulled out of your engagement in just how fun the simplistic controls for the game is. This is a major strong point for the lego games, when you have completed the main story once you're able to unlock tons of well-known characters and collectibles. There are hours to be spent on the game if you're going after 100%. A new addition to the game is additional side-stages, all narrated in comic book fashion by the fan-favorite character Deadpool, who sadly doesn't make an appearance in the main story aside from a small cameo. In the side-stages, you're exposed to mini-stories like The Vulture & Howard The Duck attacking Marvel Studios. These small amounts of Deadpool are at the very least fun to listen to, and of course he's also available as a unlockable character once you've completed the storyline. 

This game, while not encompassing ALL of the Marvel universe (Let's face it, that would be a 50+ hour game) it does manage to make the characters very approachable to even the untrained fan. For the bigger true believers, there are fun meta-gags scattered throughout the game which I'm sure you'll pick up on right away. To me, this was the game at it's finest. Jokes about recurring character tropes, fun (if repetitive) banter from bystanders and a story which managed to only become better and better as the story went along. All the major Marvel villains make a noteworthy appearance, and while it's kinda obvious what the end-game of the villains is, it still makes for a great moment when the jig is up and our heroes have to fight the big bad that's been looming over the story ever since before the title screen. The twists and turns the story makes to include as many well-established Marvel locals as possible also makes for a welcome surprise. There are a few places I would've loved to have seen (such as the African nation Wakanda) but on the other hand, forcing such places into the story would probably have made it suffer from it. As it is, most of the story takes place in the hometown of most of the Marvel superheroes: New York city. While I very much doubt that the interpretation of the city is accurate at all (I've never been there), the map is big enough to make it feel like you're actually making your way through a big city. MArvel Superheroes manages to give a quick introduction to a beloved group of characters, while still telling a fun story. the question "I wonder who's gonna turn up next" is probably gonna be on your mind as you play through this simple, yet enjoyable experience.