I really don’t think we talk enough about how good DreamWorks can be when it comes to making sequels for their most successful franchises. Sure, follow-ups like Trolls: World Tour and The Croods: A New Age were nothing to write home about but they are able to deliver strong sequels when they matter the most. Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, How To Train Your Dragon 2! All Part Twos that manages to be as good if not better than their already impressive predecessors. Those were all installments that were able to expand upon their respective franchises in interesting ways to make them animated classics! Even Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa was a pretty good sequel to what was mostly a pretty good first film in the original Madagascar as well. And with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, I don’t think it would be crazy to consider DreamWorks to be one of the better animation studios out there when it comes to delivering absolutely banger sequels where other studios tend to fall flat.
Plot Synopsis: Taking place after the events of Shrek: Forever After and the first movie, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) continues his stride as hero/fugitive of San Ricardo. After engaging in battle with a giant monster, he is accidentally killed by a bell that was dropped on him. Waking up at his doctor’s office, Puss is notified that he has now lost eight of his nine lives and has only one of them remaining. Once he gets into a match with a deadly bounty hunter that happens to be a wolf (Wagner Moura) and suffers humiliating defeat, the mighty cat believes that it’s no longer worth risking his last life as a fighter. It’s then Puss decides to hang up the cape and hat and heads off to be a personal cat for Mama Luna (Da’Vine Jay Randolph).
As he settles in his new cat life, including meeting a new therapy dog named Perrito (Harvey Guillen), new enemies emerges such as Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her three bears (Olivia Coleman, Ray Winstone, and Samson Kayo) who arrive to find him as the deadly wolf that Puss had an encounter with put a bounty on his head. It’s upon their arrival that he discovers a thing known as the Mystical Last Wish, something that Puss believes can help him restore all nine of his lives. With the help of his former counterpart, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and his new counterpart, Perrito, Puss must out of his brief retirement and embark on a journey to claim the mystical wishing star before any of his foes do.
Puss in Boots has always been a side character with unlimited potential for engaging stories of his own. While he mostly acts as comic relief in the Shrek movies, he still does have an interesting backstory of his own and an unique presence onscreen that you could see him carrying his own movie without the worry of not having enough Mike Myers or Eddie Murphy thrown into the mix. The first film showcased that just fine but The Last Wish does it even better. Not only because it’s well made with beautiful animation, entertaining action, intriguing lore, and having a handful of laughs, but the dark angle and engaging direction it goes with the character of Puss in Boots.
The whole “nine lives” for cats thing are usually treated as a myth in movies but here, it not only plays it as it’s real but it helps enrich the development that Puss goes through, with the cat in boots coming to the realization of how many lives he has simply threw away and may never get back. While he had remained strong as an independent fighter who concurred plenty of his foes, that was mostly in the mindset that he still had plenty of extras lives to work with if he had failed. You get killed by your enemies, you can just hit the restart button and try again. Now that he no longer has any more green Mario mushrooms to work with, he can’t take any more lives for granted. And if he is unable to do that, then is he really Puss in Boots that he has built in his infamous legacy or is he just simply an adorable little kitty? That is the ringing question that looms throughout The Last Wish which helps makes the adventure that Puss and his companions go through all the more compelling.
The thing I imagine most will be surprised by with The Last Wish is just how far it goes with it’s dark subject matter involving Puss in Boot’s potential death on the rise. While we see Puss making plenty of wisecracks along the way with Prietto and Kitty, you can tell he’s doing it in a way that comes across as a defense mechanism. Trying to hide that dark, glooming, fearful thought that he may actually die for real if he fails his mission. And if he does die, did he end up living the life he wanted to live with the ones he deep down cares about or would he had been better off as simply a normal house cat? It makes for a nice commentary on not taking life and the ones you love for granted by always remembering to cherish every beautiful moment you have because one day, it will all be gone.
The biggest aspect of the movie that stands out greatly is the animation style. Just like with this year’s The Bad Guys, DreamWorks has taken obvious inspiration for the animation style of their newest movies from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The kind of style that allows for beautiful, colorful storybook illustrations to help better tell their story, give characters more expressions, and make some well-choreographed, energetic action set pieces. Instead of sticking with the more realistic style like the first one did by simply translating that same style from the Shrek movies, this one puts more focus on a painterly style design to give the film it’s more “fairy-tale”-like feel that it’s suppose to have with a Puss in Boots adventure. And holy smokes, does this animation style fit perfectly within this movie. If this is the kind of direction that DreamWorks hopes to take after this film, then I am more than onboard for it.
The rest of the technical aspects are absolutely stellar as well. The characters themselves look great and blend in perfectly with the animation, save for some cameos that may or may not involve certain characters from another certain franchise that Puss in Boots may or may not have been involved in. Editor James Ryan does a solid job of holding the whole picture together without it being a sore to the eyes. The score from Heitor Pereira is astonishingly superb with beautiful fitting music throughout that are catchy but also soothing. For an animated flick like this, I don’t think you could have asked for a better looking or better sounding movie than what The Last Wish provides.
The voice cast is a nice mix of known talent of old and new. Antonio Banderas is as perfect as Puss in Boots as he’s ever been, especially here where he gets to play a deeper, more complex version of the lovable misfit kitty cat. Salma Hayek works even better here as Kitty than she did in the first movie, being the perfect counterpart to Puss as she makes him question how he views lives and being around the ones he loves. Harvey Guillen does make for a somewhat annoying impression as Perrito at the start but grows on you the more he is on screen making for the right comic relief to have thrown into the mix with what is a personal story of life and death. Florence Pugh fits well as Goldilocks as an antagonist with real human motivations to want to retrieve the wishing star involving family matters, even if her accent is becoming a bit more obvious as time goes on. Olivia Colman, Ray Winestone, and Samson Kayo are all recognizable but functional as their bear counterparts and Goldilock’s lone family.
Arguably the biggest standout in terms of the new characters is with the main antagonists of John Mulaney as Jack Horner and Wagner Moura as Big Bad Wolf. Jack Horner just for the fact that’s is refreshing to have a bad guy that is straight to the point with his badness and is beyond evil for no reason whatsoever other than that’s just who he is, which has Mulaney clearly having the time of his life playing this character. And the Big Bad Wolf for the fact that he is easily one of the more intimidating and threatening villains in recent memory, aided greatly by Moura’s dry and menacing performance which helps make for easily the deadliest foe that Puss has ever encountered.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an exciting, triumphing sequel to go along with the other superb sequel that DreamWorks animation has created with their filmography. Even the tiny nitpicks I have such as the very final scene being a bit of an eye roller can’t bring down the film in any way. The animation is spectacular, the characters are engaging, the set pieces are exhilarating and inventive, the story goes into dark places you wouldn’t expect a simple “kids” movie would go, and it teaches a very valuable lesson on how we should live our life to the fullest with the ones we love before it’s too late. It’s one of the best animated films of the year, it’s one of the best films of the year period, and is definitely worth checking out in theaters once it releases next month.
We can only hope that DreamWorks will pull a Madagascar 3 with Trolls 3 being the best of the trilogy and Kung Fu Panda 4 will follow the Toy Story 4 trope of at least being good albeit unnecessary, matching it for perhaps the best animated quadrilogy yet. Perhaps then, people will start giving them the credit they deserve and not just pure scorn for their missteps. Even so, great sequels to their most well-known franchises have already been made and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish joins the list of those with grace!
Other comments:
Fair warning to parents of younger children, there is some mild swearing in the movie and censoring of major swearing in the picture. If you have kids that haven’t been on the internet yet, then you might want to avoid this unless you want your kids to be asking questions to you afterwards what the “bleeping” sound was for.
The new DreamWorks logo did play in my showing and I was fine with it. It’s only like 30 seconds long and looks even better on the big screen. I don’t understand the outrage over it whatsoever. Could have used a bit more Madagascar and Megamind in it and less Boss Baby though.
If this is unable to make a profit because it didn’t have enough theater showings due to Avatar: The Way of Water, then James Cameron must pay!
It would probably be hyperbolic to claim that Glass Onion is to Knives Out what The Godfather: Part II is to the original Godfather. By that I mean that it’s a sequel that is arguably bigger, brooder, wider in scope, has more going on thematically, and an all around better movie than the original but still lacks the iconic moments, quotes, character beats, and the overall “spark” that the first one provided. Making what feels like should be a better movie in every single way but just doesn’t. However, it would also not be fair to judge these movies through their lenses since unlike with the two Godfather movies, it’s not aiming to be as symbolic thematically or be a direct sequel to one another but just providing crowd pleasing entertainment that will make for a rocking good time out with the friends. However, like those two untouchable masterpieces, this is looking to be a perfect companion piece that stands well on it’s own without putting so much pressure on itself without concerns as to how they can outdo what they did the first time around.
Here again we have an all-star cast full of great talent being all laid back and having the time of their lives with director/writer Rian Johnson’s top-notch directing and air-tight, witty screenplay able to carry them the whole way through. I don’t know if I liked Glass Onion just as much as the first Knives Out but at the same time, it’s really hard for me to care if I don’t because it’s still remains a blast regardless.
Premise: Taking place in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic (Yes, that’s actually a thing here!), a high-tech billionaire named Miles Bron (Edward Norton) sends encrypted boxes to four of his closet friends for an invitation to a murder mystery-themed party. Those four friends include, scientist Lionel Toussiant (Leslie Odom Jr.), state governor of Connecticut Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), former supermodel turned fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) and twitch streamer and men’s right activist (Duke Cody). A couple of other folks that are also along for the fiesta include Birdie’s assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick), Duke’s girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cine), Miles’ former business partner Andi (Janelle Monae), and the infamous/well-known detective we followed in the first movie Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).
Despite being informed by Miles himself that he didn’t received an invitation, Blanc is able to stay after he stated to Miles that his arrival is due to the possibility of one of Miles’ friends attempting to murder him during the vacation. As expected, someone eventually turns up dead and ends up spoiling all the fun for the gang. It’s then that Blanc has to put his detective skills to the test along with one of the found members of the group as they look to solve the case of the murder mystery before chaos reigns supreme at Glass Onion itself.
While Glass Onion might technically be a sequel to the original Knives Out, it’s not necessarily a direct one. Knowledge of the events that transpired in the first film is not needed to fully understand this installment. Only Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc and Noah Sean (playing a totally different character this time out) return here for the ride. That in of itself makes it abundantly clear that Johnson sees his Knives Out franchise as one of episodic adventures and not so much of one with a heavy usage of continuity and lore. Even so, Glass Onion puts just as much advantage with that as one can hope that still continues the story of Benoit Blanc but with a new case with new people this time around.
The mystery (No spoilers, I promise!) is even more twisty and turny this time out as you get to see the whole scenario play out through multiple lenses. This is definitely a movie that I will imagine will play well on multiple viewings as just about nearly every plot point and Easter egg involving all the characters involve get a payoff of some sort. There’s so much intrigue with everyone here that you might even forget at times that this is still suppose to be a murder mystery. Not just because the characters themselves are having a good time one another for good chunks of it but it seems like the cast themselves are so into it and stand out so well on their own that it’s unfortunate that someone is likely going have to die. That could be seen as a problem but there’s enough going on here that it makes sure that the whole “who lives/who dies” is not the only thing that matters here.
Despite the murder mystery being the point of the movie, it’s not the only point. Even if you are able to guess who the main killer (or killers (?)) are ahead of time, it’s clear that there is much more to solve in the mystery than just whose guilty of murder and who is not.
What also helps is that the cast is downright terrific here. Every one in the cast bounces each other really well that even those with characterization that is a bit thin such as Jessica Henwicks’s Peg or Leslie Odom Jr.’s Lionel fit so good here that it really doesn’t matter. Daniel Craig is back once again clearing having the time of his life as an over-the-top detective with an amusing but also downright funny accent, who now practically has his own franchise after 007 if he wants to continue doing this for the next decade or so. Noah Segan doesn’t get as much standout moments as before but is still a delight with the minimum screen presence he has. The rest of the cast are tremendous with the big standouts for me being Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, and especially Janelle Monae. It’s hard to describe Monae without getting into spoilers with the character (or characters (?)) that she plays but she has an absolutely mesmerizing screen presence here that will definitely get the attention from those that aren’t familiar with her work.
From a directorial and technical standpoint, it’s about as good as it can get with a movie with this budget. Rian Johnson clearly knows the movies he’s trying to make here and what things he is best at behind the camera. He always seems to know how not only how to make a movie look good but also have his actors look good right in front of it. The cinematography by Steve Yedlin is rock solid along with everything else. Editor Bob Ducsay might have had a more of a challenging time this time out by taking the same story but add multiple viewpoints but he does a good enough job where he is still able to leave things up to interpretation no matter the focus until everything ties together. The one element that I found slightly underwhelming is the score by Nathan Johnson. It’s not bad per se but there are certain character themes that don’t feel like they fit with the rest of the movie and play far too many times than it should. It’s hard to explain but let’s just say there’s a theme that plays for Janelle Monae that is like the equivalent of that over-the-top Wonder Woman theme. Just like with that one, it’s fine in it’s own right but really doesn’t belong in the movies they are in.
If there’s another minor nitpick I have is that I really don’t like how some movies nowadays are inserting the Covid-19 pandemic into their settings. I can understand from a certain point of view why it would be appropriate for a movie like this considering it attempts to tackle conflict and ideology in modern times while also feeling like period pieces for the near future. However, Covid-19 was just an absolute disaster in the real world and the pandemic was such a major globing event that affected many lives for the worse that I don’t think it’s worth bringing into movies. It’s not as part of the plot as say Kimi but it might make you roll your eyes until it’s just forgetting all together. Definitely not the worst example of this but it still remains an example.
Apologies if this review comes up as short and not as in depth as prior ones are but there’s just not much that needs to be say about Glass Onion other than it’s another rocking good time like the first movie. Rian Johnson is clearly at home with these movies, knowing exactly what he wants to do and exactly how to do it. It’s entertaining, the cast is stellar, the screenplay is air tight, there’s plenty of laughs and shocks along the way, and it might even make you hungry for more of these kind of movies.
This might have been originally made as a Netflix exclusive but I believe that’s a mistake in of itself because these are the kind of movies that can keep cinema going as the superhero bubble might be bursting soon and Hollywood looks for the next successful genre or sub-genre to ride the cocktails on. See this on the big screen if you can and watch it again once it comes out on Netflix right around Christmas time! These are the kind of movies I don’t seeing wearing out their welcome for me anytime soon.
Bring on the third one! Heck, bring on three more after that and make a saga out of it! Certainly worse movies out there to make a saga with!
Other comments:
There’s been recent reports that this movie is actually doing even better at the box office than some other flicks coming out during this holiday weekend. Kinda goes to show how much of a mistake it was to make this as a Netflix exclusive.
It’s gonna be hilarious to see how many members of a certain political group are gonna think this movie embraces their politics because of Dave Bautista and Madelyn Cine’s characters when it’s actually making fun of them. It’ll be the same people that think Andor supports their politics because of the way the Empire is potrayed!
Andor is terrific btw! Go watch it!
Did the movie ever explain how Noah Segan actually got to Glass Onion or was I just phasing out when that happened? Either way, it gave me more Noah Segan so I can’t complain.
Bring back Janelle Monae in the next one! And have Blanc’s “boyfriend” play a role as well!
Toy Story 2 is wildly considered to be one of the greatest sequels ever made and for good reason! It takes everything people loved about the first movie and expands upon them in every way. With even more memorable characters, stellar animation, hard hitting emotion, and timely themes anyone at any age can relate to, Toy Story 2 is one of the sequels that somehow manages to be as good if not better than the original. Heck, there’s plenty of folks that would argue that Toy Story 2 is the best Toy Story movie out of the four that we have and even the best Pixar movie ever made. With a movie as well-made and loved by so many people, you would assume this would have had the most smoothest, least stressful film production imaginable. You would be wrong! As a matter of fact, you would be seriously dead wrong! If films were judge solely on what kind of production it had, then Toy Story 2 would be on par with flicks such as Food Fight or The Emoji Movie.
Toy Story 2 has to have one of the worst and most stressful productions for a big movie that I’ve ever heard of. From confrontation from Disney on whether or not it should released in theaters to nearly all of the files getting deleted to having to rework the plot over the course of one weekend to finish a near two and a half year long development cycle in the span of just nine months, it is about as stressful and pressure filled as a production of a movie can get.
To coumarate the film’s 23rd anniversary, let’s take a look back as to all the problems that Pixar have to face during the production, all of the obstacles everyone involved had to overcome, and despite having everything going against them, they still managed to deliver an amazing film in the end. This is the story of the production of Toy Story 2!
Direct-To-Video or Theaters?
The first conflict of the movie was whether or not Toy Story 2 could be released in theaters. Back in the 1990s, Disney didn’t view sequels as a high priority or movies that had to be seen in cinema. With the commercial success they’ve gained with their sequels that were straight to VHS and DVDs, they usually didn’t put as much focus on the sequels as they do their original films. Whenever they did sequels directly for VHS and DVD, the majority of those would be made by a studio of their own called Disneytoon Studios. Disneytoon Studios are the ones that Disney depends on to deliver these direct-to-video sequels with a cheaper budget, shorter development time, lower resolution, and mostly something they can carve out in a hurry for a quick buck without much concern over the movie’s overall quality. All of those reasons and more is why when a sequel to Toy Story was greenlighted, not only did Disney plan on making it go direct-to-video, but they were considering letting Disneytoon Studios take care of it instead of Pixar. Since they technically own the rights to Toy Story and they still hadn’t acquired Pixar yet, Disney had all the power in the whole to make this happen.
As much blasphemy as that sounds to chose Disneytoon over Pixar, it should be notified that this was back when Pixar was still no where near as known in the later 1990s as they are now. With A Bug’s Life still in the works and all of the other future hits from the company that still had yet to be actual hits, they were still only known as the studio behind the original Toy Story and a couple of short films and nothing more. However, Pixar was a company that took great value in the quality of their work and never wanted to accepted mediocrity. The folks there had to know that if they would going to become anywhere near as big as they would later on, then they would have to always work their butts off to create the best possible feature films they can make.
Eventually, after Toy Story 2 was confirmed, Pixar met with Disney to convinced them that not only they were right for the jobs to helm it but that it should be released in theaters. After looking at some early story reels for the movie, the higher ups at Disney were impressed and agreed to release it in theaters. Despite certain complications with Disney to have the movie come out on the big screen, that turned out to be the least challenging part of production.
Team A and Team B
Once Pixar was hired by Disney to helm Toy Story 2, there was some conflicts surrounding which members of the Pixar team that was actually going to be working on it. The production originally began in a building separated from Pixar as most of the crew behind the original went off to work on A Bug’s Life. In this case, think of John Lasseter (a name which everyone would want to forget nearly two decades later) and the original crew from the first movie as Team A and the team that was originally assigned Toy Story 2 as Team B. Despite having all the intention and confidence in the world to make Toy Story 2 the best sequel possible, Team B just could not get the job done on their own.
Team B would have to go to Lasseter for help numerous of times during the production and the team itself just were never were able to come together as a cohesive whole despite all their best intentions. Shortly after Team A was finished with A Bug’s Life, they came to check in on Team B with the production of the movie….and it was quite a mess. Lasseter and company felt that movie was just flat and was no where near as emotionally affected or engaging as it could be. As I’ve stated before in this piece, Pixar had committed to a very strict policy for themselves to deliver the best movie in terms of quality imaginable. Having a sequel to Toy Story being mediocre or even just “okay” was no where near good enough for them.
With the deadline of the movie approaching (along with other personal matters that we will be discussing), Lasseter and most of the team from the first movie (Again, Team A!) decided to step in to work on Toy Story 2 in the hopes of delivering something better than it’s original state.
So far, the production has been quite shaky but it doesn’t seem THAT much to handle, right? Well, now let’s get into the REAL meat of this catastrophic development! The parts of production that nearly broke Pixar and made Toy Story 2 almost non-existent!
The Computer Accident
This is the part of the story that I believe most people know about when it comes to the behind the scenes of Toy Story 2, the computer files being accidentally deleted. Right before Team A step in to rework the story from Team B, they nearly lost all of the files they had saved for the movie. A member of the Pixar team named, Oren Jacob, who was the assistant technical director, initially attended to delete some files to create more space and make room for the ones they needed for the movie. But in doing so, he began to deleted files from the actual movie itself such as character models, story reels, storyboards, etc. and didn’t take notice of that until it was too late. Despite file servers eventually being shut down while that was happening, over 90% of the files, that took at least two years to make, were deleted and all gone! They did have backup files of their own at Pixar but unfortunately, those also decided to stop working at the worst possible time and they had nothing left! It was all over!
With two years of development flushed down the drain and less than a year until the intended deadline, everything seemed doomed for failure for both Toy Story 2 and Pixar themselves. If Pixar couldn’t get the movie done in some form of quality before their deadline, then why in the world would Disney want to work with them again? This was their one chance to recapture lightning in an bottle and put themselves fresh on the map for everyone to witness their glorious achievements and they blew it! Or at least it seemed like it?!
Galyn Susman, the savior of Toy Story 2 at your service!
If there is at least one person that should stand out as the hero (or heroine) of the production of Toy Story 2, that would be Galyn Susman. Susman, who was the technical director of the film who had been working at home after having her own child, confirmed to have existing backup files of her own in her own home computer. By some miracle saving grace, the Pixar team were able to recover the majority of the files they had lost, save for the work for the last couple of days, and the production was allow to proceed. Even then, it had been revealed that the files they couldn’t save didn’t turn out to be as important as originally intended.
Okay, that was certainly a heart raiser and something NO ONE ever wants to go through but at least it can’t get worse than that, right?! Right?!
Unsatisfying Results
Even with the production still staying afloat thanks to Galyn Susman having backup files of her own that the team could use, Pixar still wasn’t happy with the quality of Toy Story 2 thus far. Team B of Pixar clearly wasn’t working well on their own and was basically helpless without Team A around. With as strict as Pixar is to delivering top quality films, releasing Toy Story 2 in the current state that it was in was simply not an option.
With around nine months left to go, Pixar met with Disney, hoping they would let them delay the picture in hopes of being given more time to redo the film. Disney however refused. They felt the quality of the movie was fine the way it was and that it didn’t need to be redone. As a result, no extension was given to them. Pixar had no choice but to get the movie done on time for it’s November 1999 release date.
Despite having the files to complete the movie in it’s current form before the holidays rolled around, Pixar believed that wasn’t good enough and didn’t want to release the picture in it’s existent state. Despite not having much time left, Pixar decided to start the process over again in the hopes of delivering a more quality project than it was in it’s original form. It was this stage of production that the making of Toy Story 2 turned into a race against time.
Maximum OverworkingOverload
With Lasseter and Team A fully on board, the production of Toy Story 2 started the process of being reworked. In order to meet Disney’s deadline, Pixar now have to make an initial development cycle of over two and a half years into just nine months. The first film’s creative team had to redevelop the entire story of Toy Story 2 in the pan of just one weekend. It was then that the animation team behind Pixar were in for what was most likely the most difficult time of their entire careers with the company.
While longer hours and more work days were nothing out of the ordinary for the team at Pixar, especially for Lasseter himself, the immense heavy workload eventually got to many people behind the hard working crew. The team worked shifts that went beyond 10 hours a day and 6 days a week. About a third of the group suffered from repetitive stress injuries and a syndrome known as carpal tunnel. There was even an instance where an animator forgot to drop their kid off at a daycare and left them in the back of the seat of their car by accident. While the child themselves turned out to be just fine, these were just minor details of how much of a massive working overload the process of making Toy Story 2 was and how it was affecting the work-life styles from the folks at Pixar.
The team had to push themselves beyond their limits to make the best sequel they could possibly make to what was already a majorly groundbreaking film for animation in the original Toy Story. The most amazing thing about all of this is how it all worked out in the end. Despite having every reason in the world to fail, Toy Story 2 managed to be one of the greatest sequels not only in animation history but possibly even film history as well! It made it all worth it by the end!
It All Worked Out
I don’t think most people realize to this day what an absolute impact that the success of Toy Story 2 had on Disney and Pixar! It was able to convince Disney that sequels are majorly important movies that deserve to be seen on the big screen and it helped put Pixar on the map as easily one of the best animation studios out there. If this movie was a failure, there’s a big chance we would be seeing a different version of both Disney and Pixar than we are seeing right now or at least we have seen since 1999.
This whole ordeal also help greatly characterized Pixar as a top-tier film company. They didn’t have to go through all of this. They could have just took Disney’s word for it and deliver the same movie that was in the original subpar state that had been already approved by their higher ups and called it a day. But, they had higher expectations for themselves! They wanted to make something truly meaningful and worthwhile to the rest of the world, even if they had to go through hell and back to make it happen.
Although every single creative person from Pixar must have been exhausted to death after all that extra hard work they put in to make Toy Story 2 as good as it was, they certainly have a film to be proud of themselves for. Being able to deliver the movie in some sort of finished form is already a miracle in of itself but having it be one of the best Parts 2 films of all time is surely a sign that anything is possible. That just because a film has a bad and troubled production does not mean it will turn out to be a bad film itself. Anything in filmmaking or even life can be overcome if you have the right team of people to make it all a possibility.
Toy Story 2 could have killed Pixar but in the end, it only made them stronger!
Thanks everyone for reading and I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Here’s some other links about the production hell of Toy Story 2:
Sonic Frontiers is a weird, strange beast of a game. When looking at it on the surface level, it looks at though it’s the equivalent of that gif from Grand Theft Auto where the person goes, “Ah s*it, here we go again!” In that, here we go again with Sonic Team not knowing what to actually do with Sonic the Hedgehog and are continuing to just throw stuff at the wall to see whatever sticks.
It always seems as though SEGA and Sonic Team have no idea how to respond after a supposed successful formula had worn out it’s welcome. Instead of trying to expanding on that formula even further, they decide to ditch it altogether and start everything from scratch. This always leads them to constantly experiment with future Sonic games, mostly by borrowing from other successful IPs, until they are able to develop a core gameplay style that guarantees at least a 7/10. After Sonic Generations seemingly put an end to the “boost” era of Sonic, this lead to experimental titles such as Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, which lead to middling to poor results. And even when they tried to go back to the boost formula they thought didn’t need anymore with Sonic Forces, they only ended up botching it beyond repair and breaking what was never broken.
Now, here we go again with Sonic Frontiers, a game that is clearly taking a page from other successful open-world IPs such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Shadow of the Colossus, to hopefully deliver a different kind of Sonic gameplay that will be a template for the future of the Blue Blur in videogame form. Is Sonic Team able to hit upon a winning formula this time or is it yet another experimental game that is an undeveloped, forgettable mess? To answer both of those questions in the words of Mephiles from the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the answer is Yes and No!
Plot:
(Reminder: I’m only going over the overall premise of the plot that only covers about a quarter or third of the game. I promise there are no major spoilers here! But if you want to go in completely blind, then perhaps skip over the plot section of the review.)
Taking place sometime after previous main title games, we see Doctor Eggman arrive at a place called the Starfall Islands. He hopes to obtain the island’s ancient technology created by the powerful beings who originally inhabited there in order to unlock it’s unlimited power. After interacting with a portal that could take him to somewhere mysterious, Eggman summons a robot defense force from Starfall Island who makes a threating presence. It’s then that Sage, a strange A.I. with the DNA and lifespan of a young girl, detects that the robots will attack Eggman and ceases hijacking the portal, unlocking a protection protocol from her programming that sends the Doctor straight into the portal.
We then cut to Sonic, Tails, and Amy who make their way to the Starfall Islands to investigate the location of the Chaos Emeralds, as they were mysteriously summoned there. As the trio are flying in the skies on the Tornado, a wormhole comes out of nowhere and our heroes are sucked right into it. It’s revealed from a disembodied that the wormhole itself leads to an isolated place called Cyber Space, which only Sonic himself is able to escape from.
It’s then we Sonic exploring the islands as he looks to find the Chaos Emeralds, defeat the lone threat of the Titans, and save his friends. However, things get complicated when Sonic is constantly butting heads with Sage, who constantly pleads for Sonic to leave the islands or else there will be consequences, and discover that there may be more to those who previously lived on these islands than he originally realizes. Throughout the time spent on the floating islands, we see Sonic constantly interacting with Amy, Tails, and Knuckles in their half-life, ghost forms. Whenever Sonic is with one of them, his pals reminisce themselves of old times and how far they’ve come since then along with exploring the backstory as to what originally took place on Starfall Islands and why the race who previously lived on the islands are all gone. As for Sage, she is working to free Dr. Eggman from Cyber Space and stop Sonic from accomplishing his goals, but shows a bit of heart from underneath as the story progresses and realizes she may not be as evil as she was programmed to be by her so-called father.
I won’t go much further than that as I don’t want to flirt with spoilers but story wise, this is definitely a big departure with more recent Sonic games. Ditching the Saturday morning cartoon vibe that previous writers provided with the franchise in favor of something more bleak and mature with it’s own set of lore and callbacks to the other games. That’s not to say there’s no humor at all or it’s as completely self-serious as say Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic 06 (Thank goodness!), but it does feel refreshing for the Sonic franchise to put a little more effort in the storytelling department and provide some development to the characters themselves.
Granted, the overall alien race you learn about aren’t very interesting in their own rights and most of the mysteries are ones you can basically see coming from a mile way, but the real standout here are the characterization and interactions between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sage, and Dr. Eggman. You get a major sense that these characters which fans have grown up with for so many years have finally matured and grown up themselves. They are all willing to take the next step into their next phase in life with the way they handle the dire situations they are in throughout the story.
Sonic is able to show more care and emotion than ever while still being his usual snarky self, Tails wants to prove he is willing to hold own ground by being more independent and resourceful for himself, Knuckles begins to imagine a life outside of just guarding the Master Emerald, Amy is showing to care deeply about those around here and not just herself and Sonic, and you even get to see Eggman expresses his true feelings on Sonic and how he actually views him as a worthy foe.
The real standout here is the new character of Sage herself. She is easily the best new character the Sonic franchise has had in ages. While she might give the impression of being an annoying bugger at the beginning, the way the character grows as she constantly interacts with the rest of the cast is really compelling stuff. Seeing this new A.I. figure show more heart, emotions, and humanity as the story goes on is really satisfying to see and even connect to. Some real standouts moments are between her and Eggman, making for a special father/daughter bondage, a kind that we have not seen in the franchise. Some might not like having the main bad guy of the series having a “soft spot” for once but I thought it was great. Sage is easily the best new character in the series since Blaze the Cat and probably the best antagonist/anti-hero since Shadow the Hedgehog. For the first time in god knows how long, the franchise has introduces a new character that I would actually like to see return in future games.
Big credit has to go to story writer Ian Flynn, the man who has been behind the Archie comics for Sonic the Hedgehog for a long time. He is clearly a dedicated fan who has immense love for these characters and lore that the series has established for the past three decades. While a handful of callbacks and references might seem a bit on the nose, it all comes from a level of respect and fondness for the property that I can’t help but feel satisfied whenever they appeared or was mentioned. The writing isn’t Shakespearian by any means and won’t win any big awards but I sure do hope Flynn returns to write future games as he seems to know what Sonic fans want out of their favorite characters and stories.
Gameplay:
Now, onto the thing that I and imagine everyone else was most curious about. Sonic Frontiers mostly consists as a 3D platformer and an action–adventure game with an entirely open world setting, or as Sonic Team calls it “open zone”. The player, throughout the game, will explore the Starfall islands to complete multiple objectives and missions along with fighting a bunch of enemies as a means to collect items to progress through the story. Sonic still has most of his abilities from previous game such as running at high speed, collecting rings, grinding on rails, homing attack to enemies, double jump, drop dash, and being able to boost. However there are new abilities added in this time out such as combat attacks, climbing/running alongside walls, and a move called the Cyloop. The Cyloop is used to create a circle of light around objects and even able to interact with them. Using the Cyloop can results in performing different tasks such as drawing certain shapes, like an infinity symbol that allows Sonic unlimited boost for a short period of time, and even attack enemies that can take away their shield and leave them vulnerable for a few seconds. The player is able to custom the controls and the way Sonic moves along with upgrading Sonic’s speed, attack, defense, and the amount of rings as you progress throughout the game.
The biggest selling point with the game is of course, the open world (Sorry, I meant “open zone”!) style of gameplay. While there have been Sonic games in the past that hinted of an idea for an open world style Sonic game with past hub worlds such as Station Square in Adventure, the mini towns in Unleashed, and the enormous atrocity that was Soleanna in 06, Frontiers marks the first time that the franchise has used open worlds as a major part of the core style of gameplay. Even though from an aesthetic standpoint along with other story/sound elements proves that Sonic Team was clearly inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it still does retain most of the traditional Sonic elements such as springs, boost pads, grind rails, etc. to still make it feel like you’re playing as Sonic and not Link.
The players will explore the islands to complete multiple objectives such as solving puzzles and platforming challenges to collect items and reveal hidden locations from the island map. Collectibles include adorable Kocos, which are used to unlock Sonic’s move set, red and blues seeds, which are used to unlock Sonic’s combat set, and memory tokens, which are used to unlock cutscenes with Sonic’s friends that eithers moves the story forward (along with an occasional mini game) or expand on the characters and their relationships with Sonic, revealing a hidden trait or two about themselves.
Another big element of the game are the cyber space levels, some in which are required to progress through the game. The best way to unlock them is by defeating larger “Guardian” mini bosses, all of which have their own names. After defeating one of them, you are rewarded with a portal gear, which collecting enough of them will unlock a portal which will take you to cyber space. It’s then that cyber spaces level mostly contain traditional levels and designs from past Sonic games, most notably Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, etc., for you to speed your way through. There are 30 total cyber space levels in the game with each one include three optional objectives such as time attack, collecting enough rings and getting all five red rings. Completing a single objective rewards the player with a key which is required to collect a Chaos Emerald in each world. While not every single cyber space level is required to beat the campaign, they are mostly needed to beat to at least unlock three to four chaos emeralds of each island where others can be unlocked by completing a mini game and one you gain just before you fight the big Titan boss of each island.
It’s then that Sonic will go into his Super Sonic form as that is the only logical way for him to beat the Titan. You are basically given a time limit with the amount of rings you collected (So, be sure you have your whole ring gauge filed up and upgraded as much as possible) to take down the giant Titan before you lose your super form and die. Repeat about three more times throughout the game (save for the fourth island) and that’s basically the core gameplay of Sonic Frontiers in a nutshell.
Okay, there’s also a fishing mini game featuring the most beloved/hated character in the franchise known a Big the Cat. Throughout each island, there is a portal that teleports the player to this fishing minigame. Sonic is able to fish with Big as he exchange purple coins, which can also be found scattered around the island. It’s then you catch fish and other objects that is able to net fishing tokens which you can redeem for items and collectables such as any of the ones I previously mentioned along with Egg Memos, which is basically logs of Eggman as he is trapped in Cyber Space. It’s mostly another way to get certain items you need to advance in the story. I don’t why this was here but hey, it’s at least better than Big’s own fishing levels in Sonic Adventure, right?!
When describing all of that at once, it makes Sonic Frontiers sound like it’s quite an overwhelming experience. Yet again, here’s a Sonic game borrowing from another recognizable brand but adding more Sonic-like elements that’s helps differ it just enough to avoid any potential copyright lawsuits from the heads ups at Nintendo. However, how is it when actually sitting down and playing the game. Well, it’s actually not too bad….for the most part.
First off, Sonic himself controls quite well and very smoothly. This is probably the most comfortable the hedgehog has felt since the Adventure games. The controls are laid out in a way that you are able to control Sonic the way you like and use whatever move or combo set you want to do your current objective. Aside from some instances where I accidentally fell off a platform because I forgot to let go of the boost button, I was able to control Sonic just the way I wanted to. If you want to run around really fast, you are able to do that. If you wanting to slow down and explore a little, you are able to do that too. It’s like the style that Lost World attempted except here, it never sacrifices the speed and momentum that will take you out of the experience.
Which also helps that you will always feel motivated to want to upgrade Sonic’s move and combat set as much as you can. Whether you most aim to run as fast as you can or defeat enemies in the deadliest and quickest way possible, there is always a sense for you to upgrade your speed, rings, combat, and shield set as much as you can as you advance through the story. Once I upgraded all four of those sets to the highest level I could, I could not have felt any more satisfied from having a Sonic that feels 100% like the speedy blue blur we all know and love.
As for the combat itself, it’s about as simplistic and as button mashing as you would expect but it’s also mostly satisfying. As Sonic, you are able to use new combo attacks and unlock more combos from the skill tree to be able to find new and inventive ways to take out your opponents. Some enemies can be quite annoying and they only require an extra trick or two to beat but they can definitely be satisfying to beat up the more you upgrade your combo set. And unlike say the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed (which I actually enjoy more than others), it doesn’t feel the need to sacrifice the speed of Sonic or need to change his appearance for it to be in line with the character. It’s hard to explain exactly the experience but this feels like the first time in a Sonic game where I actually felt 100% like Sonic when engaging in combat.
The Guardian mini bosses can be quite tricky to beat though. Every time you approach one, an automated cutscene appears which displays the name of the Guardian and you are basically forced into combat. Although some of these are fun, it gets quite obnoxious when the game forces you to stop to play a five second cutscene of a Guardians that you don’t want to face. You just hope that you are able to run away in time before being forced to fight the enemy you don’t want to fight, especially the ones where you are falling from the skies and trapped in a laser field where you can’t leave until you either beat the enemy or die. It’s just annoying!
The other objectives you can do around the islands mostly involves timed puzzle solving and platforming challenges. These are mostly done to unlock areas on your map so you know where certain folks, items, and portals are at without having to go into certain areas of the island blind. Just like with the combat, they are about as simple as they come. It mostly involves touching light up squares in a certain order without touching the ones that don’t light up or climbing up platforming and grinding on rails to get to the objective before times run out. Although, every once in a while, there are some sections where Sonic is jumping rope for some reason. I sure can’t imagine where Sonic Team got that from either (*cough* Super Mario Odyssey *cough*).
Every once in a while on the island, there will come a section that takes place at night where shooting stars are falling from the skies, just like the blood moon section in Breath of the Wild. It’s during this part that there’s a mini-slot machine that determines what kind of items you will get. It’s mostly just the purple tokens you get with the other superstar-like things you collect that you can select to help the slot machine get the item you want. These sections happen at the most random times but if you are having trouble looking for purple tokens, these sections will help you out greatly.
When talking about the cyber space levels, these are the sections that play the most like the other boost titles in the series such has Unleashed, Colors, Generations and, Forces. Despite wanting to take things in a new direction, Sonic Team still went through the trouble of making these levels to give the “boost to win” fans enough fill. Surprisingly, these levels might honestly be the worst part of the game. While not all these levels are losers, they are an absolute downgrade compared to the other boost titles in the series and are not as satisfying to play through as before.
First off, they are WAY too short, only averaging from like a single minute to maybe four minutes. Unless you take your time when trying to find each red ring, they basically just come and go. I understand they aren’t necessarily the main point of the game and mostly act as side missions until they’re not but I feel like they could have afforded to at least be a bit longer and not feel so abrupted after each level it’s over. If you thought the modern Sonic levels in Forces were too short, then you haven’t seen nothing yet.
That’s not even mentioning how about a good chunk of the cyber space levels are basically just reused from every other boost game and even follows some of the same level structure nearly beat-for-beat. For example, go back and play the very first level from Unleashed and the very first level from Frontiers and you will noticed that it’s basically the exact same level. While it might make sense from a story standpoint to have the levels be homages to Sonic’s past since cyber space is suppose to consist of Sonic’s memories from his journeys in the past 30+ years, it’s just a shame we still have Sonic Team being unable to creative wholly original boost levels of their own anymore and still feeling the need to shoehorn in past stages with not much originality to it.
Also, some of these stages has some weird and insane difficulty spikes. There were times I could get a S rank with no problem but there were also times towards where it felt like a miracle to just get an A rank. To tell you the truth, I still have yet to get a complete S rank on literally the SECOND cyber space level in the game because how hard it is to get that rank. It’s like they just picked and choose each stage willy nilly without thinking about the difficulty spikes that come with it.
While some of the more original cyber space levels are a little better, there’s not enough of them to make me want to replay them on my own times. When comparing to the other boost installments, Frontiers is easily the weakest one of all of them, even more so than Forces. Unless they are able to improve on them in future games, I would rather Sonic Team just put these kind of levels to rest as they clearly can’t make them work anymore.
The boss fights, on the other hand, are absolutely awesome! With one noticeable exception (which we will get to later), I can’t recall the last time I had so much fun facing off against big bosses in a Sonic game. Aside from one Parry move that is required to beat most of them which took a while to get used too, these battles rule with the amount of challenge and difficulty without feeling too cheap and ridiculous. You should make sure to upgrade all of your sets whenever you can so it won’t be much of a hassle for you. Do it at the right times and these are an absolute blast to play through!
Super Sonic has never felt so badass and satisfying to use, most of the song choices during these fights are inspired and make you want to kick the Titan’s ass, and they actually feel like their own unique bosses rather than the same bad guys you’ve been beating up on throughout the whole game. I can’t recall a Sonic game where the boss fights were this entertaining to play through, with one huge exception that will be mentioned later.
Now, with what I just described, you might wonder why I sounded so bitter and lukewarm towards Frontiers at the very beginning of the review. After all, with open zones that are fun to run, explore, and platform in, enemies and boss fights that are satisfying to face of against, and water down but still playable cyber space levels, what could be wrong. Well, the one thing that has always derailed prior 3D Sonic games and something that Sonic Team always fall victim towards, the grinding and repetitiveness.
In the mix of all of the things I have just mention, there is a TON of grinding that is required to get through the game. Whether you are trying to beat the story quickly or not and no matter what way you want to grind for items, be prepare to be grinding for a good chunk of the game. Throughout the game, there are numerous times where you have to backtrack and find enough memory tokens before being able to advance in the story. Remember how annoying the medal grinding was in Unleashed? It’s kinda like that except possibly even worse.
It always feel ridiculous once I’m finally able to get enough memory tokens to talk to Tails or Knuckles only to find out shortly after that I need to collect like fifty more to talk to them again and then like a hundred more right after that. It makes the pacing of the game grind to a screeching halt as it can take forever to make progress of the story because of all the constant backtracking you are forced to do. Unless you are able to find Big’s fishing portal or know every single quick method to gain memory tokens, you will spending plenty of time running and jumping around the island collecting items and having to upgrade constantly just to move on in the story.
Sonic Team has always had a problem with length in Sonic games and that is certainly the case with this one as well. A Sonic game is usually either way too short or way too long with no gray line in between minus a few exceptions. However, Sonic Frontiers could have easily fixed this problem with a campaign length around 10 to 12 hours with an extra 5 to 10 hours of content to 100% the game in it’s entirety. It would have made the experience more enjoyable and less fatigue with better pacing and more flow to the game.
Unfortunately, Sonic Team can just never bother to get out of their own damn way and always feel the need to pad the game with needless grinding to give the players their full money’s worth. That feels needless as the game is already long enough to warrant multiple sittings to complete while still containing a fully package experience. As a result of the constant padding scattered throughout, we have a game that takes at least 20 to 25 hours to complete the main campaign with another 10 hours to 100% the whole thing when at least 10 or so hours could have been trimmed down to cut down on that grind and repetition.
I should also mention that there is a pinball minigame that comes out of absolutely nowhere just before you get to the Titan boss on the third island. I’m mentioning it because it absolute STINKS! With this minigame, you have to get at least FIVE million points without losing your ball more than three times. Lose it enough times and you have to start the whole thing over again! This is easily the worst part to play through in the entire game!
You basically just have to hope you get so lucky that you are able to string together enough combos by collecting the red rings that appear in the quickest way possible without having your ball go down the wrong pathway too many times or else you will be stuck on that thing FOREVER. I don’t understand why Sonic Team felt the need to throw a different gameplay style this late into the game but it’s was pointless, unnecessary, and just felt like more needless padding!
One more negative thing that stands out in the gameplay is the true final boss, the boss you unlock if you have completed the game on hard mode up to that point (which I recommend you do btw). I won’t spoiler what it is but it’s involve yet another gameplay style that’s thrown into the game late which I really don’t know why anyone thought this should consist as the final boss of the game. It doesn’t so much feel like a boss fight but more like another mini game, especially since you would likely have played that mini game at least two or three times before getting here.
I understand that you’ve already done like four Super Sonic boss fights before this and had to think of something else but I honestly expected something more memorable and epic then whatever this was. It’s hard to get too much into details without spoilers but it’s just a shame they had to save the absolute worst boss fight for last.
When looking at the gameplay of Frontiers as a whole, the formula is there along with the core gameplay. The additions of the open zones and even cyber space levels are ones that can work greatly for future games if expanded upon properly. However, it’s the constant grinding and backtracking along with adding in needless gameplay styles that don’t belong which prevents Sonic Frontiers from living up to it’s true potential. The potential is definitely there with no doubts about it but I believe it has yet to be fully explored to it’s fullest advantage.
Graphics:
This game is really gorgeous from a graphical standpoint. Aside from the occasional distracting pop in and it being a shame that the cutscenes couldn’t be fully formed CGI like they were in the trailers, it’s definitely about as good as a Sonic game could look in the year 2022. All of the Sonic characters look great, the environment throughout the games are an absolute treat for the eyes, and even the 30 FPS on the PlayStation 4 (Yes, I played it on the PlayStation 4! I still don’t have a proper next gen console yet!) don’t become as noticeable the more you play through the game. Although, I wouldn’t guarantee you WON’T be other games that Sonic Team clearly took inspiration from, most notably of course The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but I also wouldn’t guarantee you will come way from Frontiers believing it’s an ugly game to look at it whatsoever.
Sound:
The music, just like with the majority of Sonic games, is very well done here. It’s certainly much different here than past Sonic games as there are more piano notes here and a more “haunting” orchestra as it captures the mysterious and bleak tone of the entire game. At times, it did feel more Zelda-like than Sonic (Do I even need to bring up that game again?!) but it does fit very well with the rest of the game. The vocal tracks that play during the boss fights are pretty kick ass as well that gave me big vibes of Metal Gear Rising. It’s not the best Sonic soundtrack as many of the cyberspace themes are quite forgettable but you will certainly never feel compelled to put the volume on mute when playing through the game.
One other different direction taking with this game is with the voice acting. Most of the voice cast from the previous games return here with the one notable exception of Knuckles being voiced by Dave B. Mitchell (Although he did do the voice of Knux in Team Sonic Racing). With a game and story that is intended to be more bleaker and serious than prior games, there had to come different voice direction for the current cast and they are really able to get the best out of them.
Roger Craig Smith sounds the best and most natural than he has ever sounded as Sonic, with most of his line delivery not feeling as forced and the scenes where he has to emote doesn’t sound painful. Some might be turned off about how deeper Roger’s voice sounds but I think it works for the better for this game and makes Roger’s Sonic stand out more on his own. Colleen O’Shaughnessey is still amazing as Tails and I don’t think I have ever heard the character sound better than I did this year with the movie and this game. Cindy Robinson has really grown into the role as Amy and certainly sounds the best as the character when she’s not trying to do a bad Minnie Mouse impression. Mike Pollock still sounds as good as Eggman as he’s always does and is still easily the best voice actor in Sonic history. Dave B. Mitchell makes for a suitable follow up to Travis Willingham and might even surpass him in that regard. Kyle Herber as Big the Cat is well…..Big the Cat I guess. Lastly, there’s young actress Ryan Bartley as Sage who fits the character perfectly, capturing both the menace and sympathetic traits of the character very well that helps the player get behind and understand the character.
I don’t know what the future holds with this current voice cast but I’m at least glad they were able to be well utilized for this game.
Conclusion:
Sonic Frontiers is guilty of many of the same flaws that have plagued most 3D Sonic games but unlike with most recent entries in the series, there is actually some charm hidden within like a beautiful little diamond in the rough. The overall core formula and open zones work well here and does help set a promising template for future Sonic games. If it wasn’t for the needless grinding and repetitiveness along with better and more original cyberspace levels, this could have lived up to it’s absolute ambition instead of feeling like it missed it in several spots.
My thoughts on Frontiers is similar to my thoughts on Unleashed on my first playthrough. It’s a game that felt buggy, uneven, and contained many questionable design choices but you can see a core gameplay here that works wonder and has the potential to be even better in future games. Much like Unleashed, I can see this growing on me with multiple playthroughs and it will certain be a cult classic to many Sonic fans, even if there are already plenty of them that already enjoy this game. I can also see Sonic Team learning from their mistakes like they did with Unleashed and expanding/improving on this formula to create even better, greater, and more polished experiences like they did with Colors and Generations. I can’t guarantee but I can see it and I see it now!
Sonic Frontiers is about as imperfect as you can expect a Sonic game to be but for the first time in a long while, it did leave me with an actual feeling of optimism for Sonic moving forward. In a way, that’s basically more than enough, especially with how much worse it could have gotten. If anything, it’s certainly (by default) the best 3D Sonic game since Generations and the best Sonic game overall (again by default) since Mania.
A promising foundation has now been set for Sonic’s future. Hopefully, SEGA and Sonic Team can build upon that and fulfill that promise going forward. The future of Sonic is in your hands, guys! Don’t smurf it up!
Why the hell is Queens playing during this trailer?! Talk about tone deaf!
Other comments:
I did want to mention that there was an arcade mode unlocked after you complete the game where you can speed run all of the cyber space levels but, it feels pointless tbh. There’s no leaderboards for best time or score, no unlockables of any kind, and no change in difficulty or design whatsoever. I wonder if we’ll get a patch in the future that adds some of those things. Otherwise, arcade mode is basically a waste.
There is also some extra Monster Hunter DLC items that recently released. It basically gives you a choice of two different clothing to wear for Sonic in the game. It’s cute I guess but it would be nice to see some real DLC coming in the near future.
Here’s one of the gear that I wore for Sonic . You can barely see Sonic’s eyes here.
Okay, I’m done for real now. Thanks for reading and look forward to more content on here!
In case anyone is unaware, it was revealed yesterday that a good portion of Twitter workers have resigned from their jobs after refusing to meet Musk’s deadline to agree on working with him on what he is calling “Twitter 2.0”. That has left to many questioning the website’s future and most assuming that it’s about as good as dead. As a response to this, Twitter alerted their (remaining) employees that all office buildings had been closed and badge access was suspended, the former which will remain close until November 21st. Until then, who knows what is in store for Twitter and it’s supposed and possibly non-existent “future”?
Here’s the report and mini thread from Zoe Schiffer herself that broke the news on Twitter last night about this stunning development.
NEW: Twitter just alerted employees that effective immediately, all office buildings are temporarily closed and badge access is suspended. No details given as to why.
We're hearing this is because Elon Musk and his team are terrified employees are going to sabotage the company. Also, they're still trying to figure out which Twitter workers they need to cut access for.
Offices will reopen on November 21st. In the meantime: "Please continue to comply with company policy by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere."
So far no Twitter employees have been deactivated — even those who’ve publicly resigned. Musk and his team only collected the list of “yes’s” — employees who said they want to be part of Twitter 2.0. They’re still trying to track who is out.
So, yeah. A whole weekend without employees having access to Twitter definitely leaves the website feeling more vulnerable than it has been for quite some time. And with Twitter losing a good portion of their employees, who knows how long this site actually has until the unthinkable happens? Heck, there was even some from inside Twitter itself that it could have happened as good as last night or from a week for now.
Well, for what I know at the moment, it didn’t go away last night because the site was still running when I got up this morning, almost like nothing ever happened. As for it being dead by the end of the week, I think that also might be a bit of a hyperbolic. As much as everyone has well within their rights to worry about the future of Twitter after Musk bought it and how much fun it is for shitposters trying to meme their way through this dire situation as the supposed Titanic begins to crash, I truly don’t think Twitter is going to be gone forever at any potential given moment.
I’m not just saying this because I don’t want to look like a complete idiot after claiming that Elon Musk owning Twitter won’t officially kill the site back in April when it was reported that he was interested in purchasing it. However, I do think it would be a bit premature to make claims about the website being completely dead. Could it be buggy as hell for the upcoming weekend? Yes! Could it shut down for a little while until Twitter offices reopen and more fresh blood get hired? Yes! But, dead forever?! I really don’t think so!
As much as I hate Musk and him buying Twitter, I highly doubt he would have simply washed 44 billion dollars down the drain just like that. He clearly had a vision of his own on how Twitter should be operated. He had to know there would be a good portion of folks who would not be on board with his vision and that he would have to hire new faces effective immediately. If that many people can quit Twitter just like that, then I’m fairly certain you can hire that many people in the same sort of time span. Regardless of one thinks about Musk and him being the CEO of Twitter, there are certainly hundreds of thousands of individuals out there that would kill to work for a big website like Twitter and would take a job for it ASAP.
I know I’ve stated it in the past but this whole shitshow reminds me of when YouTube changed the comment section and forced it’s users to sign up for a Google Pus account. This was a massive change for the site and it let to a complete and utter mess of a comment section and new YouTube format that some believe would kill the site. Yet, here it is nearly a full decade later still alive and well. I expect Twitter to go through a similar phase. Changers will come that will annoy the hell out of all of us but after a while, we’ll all get used to it and accept it and wonder why we made a big deal of it whatsoever. That just life on social media in a nutshell.
The biggest possible outcome I see from this scenario is that the site will likely remain buggy and possibly be unresponsive for this weekend. However, once offices reopened, new faces are hired, and Musk finds a new CEO, which he is reportedly looking for at the moment, I believe things will run more smoothly with Twitter. Changes might be coming which will lead into that supposed “Twitter 2.0” that Musk or whoever will envision but after that, I believe the site will carrying on like normal.
Do I know for a fact that anything like this will happen in the upcoming future? Absolutely not! But if I think for a split second without getting caught in immediate reactions to the news of Twitter losing a good amount of employment, I can see this issue being resolved effective immediately or at least at some point in the future. Twitter is too big of a platform to completely collapse overnight and I definitely think this is a matter that can be overcome so that the site won’t be gone for good anytime soon.
However, just in case the unthinkable does indeed happens, here are other social media platforms where you can follow me at:
I will remain on Twitter and carrying on as usual until I either no longer have access to it or the site just “dies”. Until then, be on the lookout for more articles for me in the coming weeks as I do have quite a bit of content planned for the rest of the month and year.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feels like a sequel that should be given an automatic pass regardless of it’s quality due to the unavoidable tragic nature of it’s development. The unfortunate passing of the beloved actor Chadwick Boseman, who was an absolute revolutionary as Prince T’Challa and Black Panther himself, created a massive blackhole for Marvel and Ryan Coogler that simply could not be solved by just recasting or rewriting the role. No one was as important or as pitch-perfect in the role of Black Panther as Chadwick Boseman was and no one could replacing him this quickly. It would feel wrong and would put whoever was casted in an unwinnable scenario of trying to replicate a version of Black Panther that was never intended to be theirs. Sure, there will come a time where a new actor can take on Prince T’Challa without the need to worry about following Chadwick Boseman but now is not that time.
The only thing we can do right now in the wake of this horrendous passing is to grief. Grief the loss of a beloved figure, mourn his death, realize the importance and legacy he bestowed upon the world, and figure out how to move forward without his presence. It might be the hardest thing to do but it is certainly the right thing to do. You might find that to be the wrong way to handle this situation of losing the great Chadwick Boseman. However, if Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is anything to by, it looks as though director Ryan Coogler and everyone involved with the sequel would seem to agree with me.
Premise: After the unexpected passing of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Wakanda is now in a more vulnerable place than ever before. With no Black Panther to lead the nation and pressure from other countries to share it’s vibranium, tensions are at an all time high. Things are made even more complicated when an army of underwater dwelling people called the Talokan, led by their leader Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejia) threatens war against Wakanda and the rest of the world, which could put the nation in battle not just against the Talokan but the rest of the world as well. It’s now up to the leaders and members of Wakanda with Shuri (Leita Wright), Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Okoye (Danai Gurira), M’Baku (Winston Duke), and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’O) along with teenage techno genius Riri Williams (Dominquie Throne) to do whatever takes to protect Wakanda and not fail all of those that came before them.
The thing that is 100% clear about Wakanda Forever is how it’s incredibly well-aware that they can not replicate what Chadwick Boseman did with the character of Prince T’Challa and Black Panther. They know that his lack of presence leaves massive shoes to fill that is not quite ready to be worn by anyone else yet. Chadwick Boseman will always be Black Panther no matter who else puts on the suit. As much as that can take one out of the experience with that crossing a fine line between fiction and reality, Coogler is able to use Boseman’s death to continue the themes and morals that he established within the original film.
Many of the conflict and arcs that the main character the movie focuses on goes through strongly reflect and even mirrors the one from the first film. Things such as having to move on to the next person up in a position of power after the last one on the throne passed away, how to negotiate with other sides with the power and resources you have in a time of crisis and brink of war, and how even good heartfelt people can be consumed with vengeance to become the kind of monster they swore on destroying. While you can definitely tell how affected the entire cast and crew were with Chadwick Boseman’s sudden death, his presence is still felt throughout which helps makes Wakanda Forever a right companion piece to the original even without their main star.
What also help greatly in making this a worthy companion piece is how the wonderful supporting cast that Coogler established very well in the first film is able to help carry the baton here with the spotlight strictly shinning on them. The main core of ladies are still here with Shuri, Ramonda, Okoye, Ayo, and Nakia with their own different things to do and important roles to play, M’Baku is still here and is funnier than ever, and even Everett K. Ross makes a return despite feeling like a complete afterthought here. There are still a handful of missing folks here such as W’Kabi, and the ones that was killed off in the last one that made a lasting impression like Zuri and Klaw (Am I missing someone?) but the ones that are here that helped T’Challa and his journey as King are able to perfectly carry this one despite knowing deep down they can never replicated the character of T’Challa himself.
The supporting cast from the original are not the only ones carrying the thing as there as two new additions here with Riri Williams as Ironheart and Namor as the main villain. Ironheart has a strong introduction here and fits in well with the rest of the cast but really is not as important to the plot as the movie itself thinks she is. After a certain point, her role becomes insignificant and is just feels like she’s there along for the ride because she has a Disney Plus show coming down the road and she had to be introduced in the MCU somehow.
Namor, however, is a different story as he helps makes for a great successor to that of Kilmonger. Not only because Tenoch Huerta Mejia absolutely owns the role but the character of Namor is able to follow similar traits as with the other characters in the movie. He wants to do whatever it takes for his home and people but can’t find a way to do it that doesn’t involve killing and tearing down others to make it happen. It’s that sense of vengeance that the protagonists in these movies can overcome but the antagonists get consumed by that helps realizes these characters and makes them just as human as any of us.
If anything else, the real glue that is able to hold these Black Panther movies together and helps compliment one another is how both seem to realized the importance of Wakanda is even greater than that of Black Panther. The Black Panther at it’s core is a resemblance of what the nation of Wakanda stands for, a powerful being with unlimited power and resources of it’s own with a goal of not attacking others but strictly to defend themselves from others that oppose them. Wakanda means as much to the Black Panther as the Black Panther does to Wakanda. Even if Black Panther dies, Wakanda itself must live on to avoid letting the previous deaths of their people be in vain. In a way, these two Black Panther movies basically does the whole “Asgard is not a place, it’s a people” thing better than even Thor Ragnarok did.
The performances of the cast are all nothing sort of sensational! Letita Wright was giving a bigger weight to carry with having to be the next person up to lead with Black Panther name. Despite the unrealistic expectations placed upon her along with previous controversy from behind the scenes, Wright is able to sell every moment on screen with Shuri as she is forced to play a role that is much bigger than she probably had in mind when she first signed on for the sequel. Danai Guirra, Lupita Nyong’O and Winston Duke are just as much of a welcome presence as they were in the first film. Dominque Throne despite not being as well implemented as she probably should have, fits the role of Riri Williams perfectly as has great chemistry with the rest of the cast. Tenoch Huerta Mejia is able to help make Namora every bit of a compelling and threatening villain as the script demands for it. Martin Freeman is fine but quite underutilized here as Agent Ross. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is about as far as she is from her Seinfeld days as she was in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Finally, the real standout here is Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, able to covey perfectly not just a troubled queen but a troubled mother as well who is still grieving from her dead son. I’m not the one to make the claims of someone needing to be nominated for an Oscar in these superhero films but Bassett should certainly be an exception to that for the Academy come spring time next year.
From a technical standpoint, it’s pretty top notch as well despite some shortcomings that has honestly started to plague Marvel features in recent memory. Ryan Coogler is able to provide his trademark stamp he was able to with the first one even when he has to checkmark things off of a list of “must have” for MCU movies at this point. The action scenes are mostly well done and entertaining even with a handful of shaky cam and not having one that quite tops the car chase scene of the first one and T’Challa and Kilmonger’s first showdown. It looks gorgeous with beautiful cinematography from Autumn Durald Arkapaw, especially in the underwater scenes in Taloklan. The original score by Ludwig Gorannason is tremendous and is able to fully display the bleak and tragic nature of the whole picture. The main downside is unfortunately the CGI. While it’s certainly an improvement over the first movie, it still feels way below par, as it especially gets extremely noticeable with the Black Panther armor and Iron suits in actions that feels like Marvel yet again overworking their poor effects artists with not much downtime for themselves. Either do it better or stop doing it at all!
Despite certain elements that can certainly be glossed over due to certain circumstances, there are certain things that hold the film back that can’t be overlooked. The pacing comes to a screeching hold in the middle as the film takes a bit too much setting up the conflicts of the characters with the third act despite not moving the story forward. There’s a main subplot involving Agent Ross trying to convince the U.S. government to not to go to war with Wakanda that feels tacked on and doesn’t really get a resolution, probably because that will likely be the main central plot for an upcoming movie or series. And as cool as Ironheart is, she really stops becoming important to the plot after a certain point and again seems like she’s only here to set up her own series as well.
As much as I do believe that Wakanda Forever isn’t as strong as the first one, I don’t think that is a fair comparison to make whatsoever. This was clearly not the film that everyone involved had in mind when the production first started and had to do any means necessary to continue with a follow-up that makes sense thematically and for it’s universe in a limited amount of time. The fact that Coogler was able to make a film that works on both of those terms is something that should be applauded for and not looked down upon in any way. While it may not be his strongest film to date, it is certainly the one that feels the most like a miracle.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is about as good and thematically rich of a sequel as it could have been given the circumstances surrounding it. Despite losing a main key piece, it is still able to follow the remaining characters and themes from the first one in a way that feels organic and right. It’s beautifully acted and made, the handling of Chadwick Boseman’s death is done to near perfection, and is certainly a film you will want to bring tissues too. As divisive as Phase 4 as a whole as been, I don’t think it could have ended on a more emotional note that hopefully can bring the majority of fans and moviegoers together and realized what amazing things they had in the past while hoping for amazing things in the future.
Even if the original Black Panther is gone, Wakanda still remain as strong forever. That’s what Chadwick Boseman would want and I hope he is up in heaven right now smiling for what his loved ones was able to pull off for him here.
Other comments:
There is only one mid credit scene here but I strongly advise everyone seeing it to stay until the very end of the credits. Not only because of the special tribute giving to Chadwick Boseman doing it but it’s the most respectful thing to do. The people making this had a hard of a time than ever crafting a picture like this and it’s best to show our respect to those that work hard by staying until the very end.
Lupita Nyong’o might just be the most beautiful woman on the planet! Just saying!
You are lying to yourselves if you don’t get reminded of Avatar and Aquaman during the scenes in Talokan.
I do plan on making a ranking of all 30 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Because 1.) I’m insane and 2.) I just like making rankings for some reason. Stay tuned for that!
RIP Chadwick Boseman! We will never ever, forget you! Long live the king!
I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to give the credit where it’s due. However, after the results of the 2022 World Series and what this team has done for the past five years since they got caught with their pants down, I have no choice but to accept it. The Houston Astros are not only the real deal but they are a legit powerhouse, a dynasty in the making, and easily the best and most well ran team in Major League Baseball right now.
What the Astros did in the past is now irrelevant. By winning this year’s World Series along with their other deep playoff runs since 2017, they have proven they have the talent and resources to not only win it all fair and square but have the talent and resources to do that over and over again for a really long time.
In case there is someone out there who’s unaware, the 2017 Houston Astros where involved with one of the biggest cheating scandals in baseball history. During home games in the regular season and the postseason, the team used hidden cameras to steal signs from opposing pitchers so they would get a good idea of what type of pitch was going to be thrown at them during each at bat. They would have someone in the clubhouse take a good look at the footage that was being shown through the cameras and would bang on trash cans as a way to alert the hitters of what type of pitch was coming.
Here’s a video right here to show you proof of that.
With a scandal this big and done during meaningful playoff games, let alone the World Series, you would think that the MLB would take absolute brutal actions against the Astro players for their actions in the 2017 season. Believe it or not, not much was done to discipline the players for it.
While there was certainly some fines, suspensions and firings from management and the higher ups, there was hardly any consequences that the players themselves had to face for cheating. Their 2017 title wasn’t removed, their ring was still theirs to keep, the players themselves didn’t really show any remorse, regret, or felt like they did anything inherently wrong, and they were still able to compete and play baseball the following years like the whole thing never happened.
This was outrageous! This was the biggest cheating scandal that happened to the sports since steroids was a thing and MLB thought it was best to sweep the whole thing under the rug like it was never a thing. This lead to the mindset of many people that the Astro were frauds and couldn’t win the whole thing with no cheating involved. There was no way they could be competitive in any way without hidden cameras and steal signs, right? Right?! As it turns out, we call couldn’t be anything but wrong.
While I’m surely not the first person to make this comparison but I can’t help but compare the Houston Astros these past six years to that of the New England Patriots in the 2000s and onwards with their dynasty. Similar to the Astros in 2017, the Patriots had their own cheating allegation against them when they won the franchise’s first ever championship. The allegation in this instance was that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams during their daily routines a day before the Super Bowl to get an idea of what their plan of attacks was on their offensive and defensive lines. Although this allegation was never 100% proven and even The Boston Hearld that reported that eventually retracted it, that was the narrative of the aftermath of Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots were frauds and couldn’t win it all without needing to copy off the other student’s answers. There was no way they were a legit powerhouse or a dynasty in the making, right? Right?!
Yep, you’d be wrong again!
Even if the Patriots did actually cheat during that Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams, they proven themselves to be FAR from frauds with what they were able to accomplish for nearly the past two decades.
Since that Super Bowl against the Rams, the Patriots went on to go to eight more Super Bowls and win five of them (one of them against the Rams as well). Lead by the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady and arguably the greatest head coach of all time in Bill Belichick, the Patriots proved their first championship wasn’t no fluke whatsoever and just continued to build upon one impressive, amazing dynasty. An era in which the New England Patriots where basically the Galactic Empire of National Football, with no one standing in their way and always spreading great fear and destruction to those who oppose him. Although that era of dominance might be gone now since Brady left New England, no doubt it’s one of, if not the greatest dynasty in sports history and one that will never be forgotten.
Unless you are a Saint Louisian or a Missouri native like me, you probably have long forgot about the cheating accusation that took place during the Super Bowl played in February 2002. And why is it that many have long forgot about that? Probably because the Patriots have multiple other championships won under the belt since then that they could easily sweep that one they may have been found guilty of for cheating completely under the rug. New England was able to prove many times over of all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears they take to win it all multiple times by continuing to playing the game of the football the way it’s suppose to be played. After this World Series victory from the Astros, I see them going down a similar path as the Patriots are, although perhaps not quite as dominant.
Going back to the Astros, you might wonder how exactly Houston responded after winning their first World Series in franchise history in 2017 that in the eyes of many was tainted after it got revealed what happen behind the scenes two years later. Well, about the most meaningful and impressive way imaginable.
Since 2017, the Astros have made it to the American League Championships series five straight times, made it to World Series three times, and winning one World Series fair and square against the Phillies in 2022. I’m sorry but you don’t go to the World Series four time in six years and make it to at least the ALCS six years in a row solely by cheating. It take high energy and talent from everyone involved with team, from the players to the coaches to the mangers to the front office to the scouting department and to player evaluation. Cheating can only get you so far before it stops working for you but by constantly building around an incredible foundation using legal resources, it will eventually turn you into something special and that is exactly what the Houston Astros have become.
As much as fans and media despise how the Astro players themselves have responded to the cheating scandal in 2017 off the field, you can’t help but respect how they have handled in ON the field.
Despite being booed everywhere else they go, despite being taunted by opposing fans and players constantly, and despite likely receiving death threats, they have responded by playing some damn great baseball these past few years. Despite the shortening 2020 season where the Astros finished under .500 (even though they came one win away from the World Series because of expanded playoffs), they have shown why they are elite as they have been with the talent they have now in the present and the talent they have for the future.
The main core pieces of that 2017 team with Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, Yuli Gurriel, and Lance McCullers Jr. was still present and accounted for and was still (mostly) affective in their championship run. Even the cores pieces from 2017 to 2021 that left such as Gerrit Cole, George Springer, Zack Grienke, and Carlos Correa have been replaced nicely with the likes of Framber Valdez, Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez, and the ALCS & World Series MVP in Jeremy Pena. It doesn’t matter who they walk because they will always have someone coming up from the farm that can easily fit in nicely with everyone else. That shows you the power of having an elite farm system, a scouting department that knows how to draft talent, and a front office that knows exactly what players to keep in the long run and when to let certain players go. It’s not cheating that has led the Astros to their success, it’s just being really damn good at everything they do in baseball.
If you are reading through this, you might get the assumption that I’m saying that you must like and respect the Houston Astros now since they won a legit World Series and have to forget everything that happened in 2017 because of that but that not what I’m saying at all. What I’m trying to get across is it’s that the Houston Astros are a real, legit juggernaut that will continue to be a problem for other teams for years to come despite what happened in 2017. Just like how the Patriots responded after being accused of cheating with their first championship, the Astros have responded as good as they possibly could have with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It might take a few more championships for the Astros to accomplish the same wonder as the Patriots did in their near two decade long dynasty run but I do get the feeling that once the Astros are no longer that dominant, the 2017 cheating scandal will be as long forgotten in the minds of sports fans as what the Patriots was in 2000, aside from sports fans from Missouri, New York, and California of course.
Even so, the Houston Astros are the World Series champions of 2022. Congrats to that group and especially congrats to manger Dusty Baker for his first ever ring as a manger!
Just like the New England Patriots, I might hate you guys and will never forgive you what you did in the past but you have gained my respect and proved you are the real deal. You’ve earned this World Series title!
Also, a big shoutout to Trey Mancini, a survivor of cancer for getting a ring as well!
After several months of constant back and forward on whether or not Elon Musk will buy Twitter, the infamous millionaire is now the direct owner of Twitter. And as one of his first acts as owner of Twitter, Musk has recently announced that a monthly subscription fee will be charge to accounts who are verified. For now own, verified accounts will have to pay $8 a month to continue to have a blue check mark right next to their name on Twitter and keep their status of their accounts verified. Not only is this move beyond stupid, greedy, and manipulative, but it contradicts the entire point of a verified Twitter account in the first place.
Why did Twitter make verified accounts a thing in the first place?
Back in 2009, Twitter launched their own “verified accounts” program. After receiving numerous complaints from known celebrities such as Kayne West (who I pray is NOT in the running for president in two years) and being sued by longtime baseball manager Tony La Russa over unauthorized accounts by impersonators, verified accounts became a thing to counteract the accounts being created by trolls or impersonators. It’s very existence was to make sure all the “important” people out there on the website can show everyone else that the account they are running is in fact their legit account and not one made by a troll or a impersonator. That way, Twitter could address the criticisms of fake accounts and famous people who used Twitter can let their audience know of the tweets they put out on the account that is actually there’s. However, with this new subscription fee that Musk was implemented, the whole purpose of a blue check mark is now useless.
Not only do you know have to pay to keep your check mark next to your name on your account but that also means you have to pay to let all your followers know that the account you run is in fact yours and no one else’s. Wasn’t the entire point of a verified account was to cut down on the baiting spam and trolling with other accounts? Wasn’t it suppose to act as a solution for the site and avoid any future complaints and law suits on this exact matter? Why test your user by forcing them to pay up to 60 bucks a year to keep their name on their site clean and not allow others to impersonate them? Musk has always talked about freedom of speech as a big thing but in the case of Twitter, I guess speech on verified accounts will now cost you eight bucks a month.
You Can Now Make Your Twitter Account Verified By Just Paying A Subscription Fee
What makes matters even more complicated is that there will also be a new Twitter subscription titled, “Twitter Blue”, that will allow users to get verified without any hard effort or viewership needed. Yes, you read that right! If you pay eight bucks a month for Twitter Blue, then you are automatically able to get a blue check mark on your account just like that no matter what. I can’t recall a owner in recent memory that has actively missed a point of the thing they actually known and why it has been as successful as it has been before they took over, outside of a sports commissioner of course.
Not only is this the equivalent of paying Musk bottled air, this is basically opening the door for more spamming and trolling in the near future. Because if some loser decided that he is willing to fork over eight dollars a month and wants to make a parody account of someone famous, then they are able to be verified and can easily deceived and manipulate the audience of that famous person. Not only does it goes against what verified account stood for since the program got made but this will most likely lead to even more backlash and possibly even lawsuits against Twitter for impersonation accounts. I mean if I’m a troll, why not do just that? I now have the power and resource to do just that if I’m able to fork over a couple of dollar signs even if I only want to do it for one month. Not that I don’t think Musk and Twitter can’t afford to get sued for it but why even make that a possibility by making accounts verified all willy nilly without needing to do much except pay a monthly fee. You are just opening up Pandora’s box here.
Will Elon Musk destroy Twitter?
Back in April, I did a piece when it was confirmed that Elon Musk has bought Twitter and I claimed that despite inevitable changes to come, it won’t completely destroy the site. While I still stand by those claims as of right now, I do think this was a big change I was afraid we would get. Granted, I’m not verified on Twitter and don’t plan to be for the near future but this is only gonna alienate a certain group of the audience that been on the site for so long and only attract a certain other group filled with losers who have no lives and likes to troll because they have nothing better to do. Unless Musk makes a paid subscription permeant for all Twitter users in general, I think the site will remain the same and won’t be wrecked, at least until someone one else is able to make a Twitter copycat that’s successful. And even then, that will probably take a LONG ass time before that happens.
Nevertheless, I do not see this new verification subscription working well at all whatsoever. Hopefully, this will eventually go the way of say Google Plus, where a company trying to force fed a feature that nobody wants down our throats will backfire so badly that will just give up on it after a year or two. Even then at least when Google and YouTube did that, they weren’t forcing their audience to pay a subscription for it. Just yet another big greedy rich asshole move by a big greedy rich asshole.
I’ll still be on Twitter for now but who knows for how long if this subscription feature actually becomes a success? I sure can’t wait a year from now having to pay 20 dollars a month just to make a tweet about how much the Mario movie sucks. I would certainly make that a tweet made for 20 dollars a month.
Adam's Blog 