It’s 2008! We are in the middle of a world changing recession, endless war and chaos continues to rage on in the middle east and overseas, and we got a new Star Wars movie in theaters that just so happens to be three to four episodes of an upcoming tv show strung together with it’s entire plot center around rescuing Jabba the Hutt’s son.
It’s 2026! We are in the middle of a world changing recession, endless war and chaos continues to rage on in the middle east and overseas, and we got a new Star Wars movie in theaters that just so happens to be three to four episodes of an up….(oh never mind) tv show strung together with it’s entire plot center around rescuing Jabba the Hutt’s son.
All kidding aside, The Mandalorian & Grogu‘s mere existence as a feature film is quite bizarre. Coming off seven years since the last Star Wars movie released in theaters, with that being the infamous Star Wars Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the higher-ups at Disney and Lucasfilm thought that the best way to bring the far, far away galaxy back to movie theaters worldwide involves what is basically a handful of reworked episodes of what was suppose to be Season 4 of the hit Disney Plus series, The Mandalorian, over three years after the show ended and over half a decade since it peaked in quality. And much like Dave Filoni’s other theatrically released feature Star Wars film (Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) MOVIE), it’s main plot involves the main characters finding and rescuing Rotta the Hutt, A.K.A. the son of Jabba the Hutt. (And yes, you heard that right! Jabba the Hutt had a son! Try sleeping tonight with that knowledge in your head! Lord knows how hard I’ve tried since 2008!)
I wish I can say there is much more to The Mandalorian & Grogu than that but there really isn’t. This is not a film that aims to expand the Star Wars timeline in any meaningful way, introduce new and exciting characters and plot McGuffins that could possibly matter later on down the road, or even try to stand out among the very best or even the very worst Star Wars has had to offer over the past 50 years. It’s only reason for existence is to keep the lights going on at Lucasfilm, please the higher ups at Mickey Mouse with the mere fact that they finally got a new Star Wars movie released after several years, and scratching that extra dollar itch in nonstop Baby Yoda merchandise. While there’s very little in here that will cause an online civil war or trigger “rage bait” culture, there’s nothing here that will get you intrigued when watching it or get you excited what lies ahead for the future of Star Wars.
Premise: The evil Empire has fallen but Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they enlist the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.
To the credit of Mr. Favreau and Mr. Filoni, The Mandalorian & Grogu does do a pretty good job at standing on it’s own two feet to make it accessible for mainstream audiences. Aside from a occasional reference or two and some mumble jumble about established lore that’s treated more as a throw away line than a necessity, you really don’t need to have seen The Mandalorian or any of the animated series such as The Clone Wars and Rebels to follow what’s going on here. The opening crawl does establish the time period of which the film is set in the Star Wars universe quite well and the gap in between the episodic installments that it’s trying to fill. Context is always key but as someone that has only watched the show one time and haven’t bothered to go back to it since each season premiered, I never found myself lost or confused with what was going on. Just a shame I also never found myself caring about what’s going on.
As stated previously, The Mandalorian & Grogu plays like a compilation of several episodes from the tv show crunched together rather than an actual feature film. For every 30 to 45 minutes of the film, it involves Mando and Grogu going on a mission to achieve an objective, completing that said objective, and getting prepared for what the very next objective awaits. And once that certain section is complete, you get a line of dialogue that was clearly meant to act as the end of an episode, a black screen or screen wipe occurs, and then it’s onto the very next section. It’s even more baffling when the pair technically completes their objective less than an hour of the way through but has to have that objective completely fall apart in nonsensical ways just to justify padding the runtime over two hours. If you thought The Rise of Skywalker felt too much like a plot of a video game, Jon Favreau has come into the clutch just to say, “HOLD MY BEER!”
Granted, all of this CAN be forgiven if the film feels like it’s trying to stand out as it’s own thing and push the property forward in any meaningful way but it’s clearly not. The characters, while look cool and act cute, come off more as action figures and expanded merchandise than actual characters. The action sequences, while competently put together, lacks any stakes or personal investment to get you to care. The story, while nothing that will get anybody worked up over, is without any meaningful themes, arcs, or even lore worthy of making an article on Star Wars Wiki. There’s a huge difference between a swing and a miss and not even bothering to put the bat off your shoulders at all.
For all the faults of the prequel trilogy, sequel trilogy, or Rogue One, they all at least felt like meaningful cinematic events that weren’t afraid to mix up the Star Wars canon and dared to push the series into an actual direction for the future. They had moments that showcased the highest highs and the lowest lows of Star Wars that made them all memorable. And even if some of them contained bad stories, bad characters arcs, and bad moments, they at least HAD stories, arcs, and moments of their own. The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn’t even attempt to reach those highs and lows of the franchise, instead aiming for the absolute bare minimum imaginable.
It’s like Disney and Lucasfilm have become so afraid of it’s own audience that they are scared to do ANYTHING different or meaningful with Star Wars, aiming just to make complete corporate slop to please the masses believing that will be enough. However, if the positive reception of recent Star Wars medium such as Andor, Maul – Shadow Lord, and the recent Respawn games in Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor are anything to go by, those claims are proven false.
Star Wars fans and audiences DO want good stories, characters, ideas, and expansions of the Star Wars universe. You just need to do it RIGHT and make each individual moment of fan service and character growth feel earned and justified. While most of the other Star Wars properties I’ve mention in this review was able to accomplish that, The Mandalorian & Grogu does not. Which yet again makes you wonder, why did this need to be a movie that just HAD to be seen on the big screen?
I don’t want to sound completely doom and gloom with this review. The musical score by Ludwig Goransson is terrific, completely capturing the sound and feel of not just the show it’s based on but also the world of Star Wars as a whole. He’s able to find that right mix of playing like an expanded spiritual version of John Williams while also providing his own distinct voice to the world of Star Wars, something which Michael Giacchino couldn’t quite achieve with Rogue One. As much as I do love Kevin Kiner’s work in The Clone Wars, Goransson does feel like the man that should be leading Star Wars musical scores going forward.
The opening action sequence with Mando and Grogu does provide that special “Batman meets John Wick” lightning in a bottle that the show was able to achieve with it’s very best set pieces, Grogu and Babu Frik are still cute as ever, and even Rotta the Hutt is able to stand out as being the only character in the movie that has the closest thing to a fully fletch character arc. And as I said before, even if you’ve never seen the show or don’t remember anything about that, you should be able to follow everything just fine, even with characters from the animated series such as Zeb and Embo showing up.
The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn’t so much feel like a movie but more of an obligation. An obligation forced by Disney to get a Star Wars movie out in theaters after seven years just to let everybody know that Star Wars movies are still a thing that is happening on some way, shape, or form. It’s feels like the kind of a movie that gets made JUST so the studios can hold on to the film rights to an IP and NOT because anyone creatively involved had an actual story to tell (Can you guess now why we’ve gotten crappy Spider-Man villain-led movies for the past several years?!).
This is the first Star Wars film that is NOT led by teddy bears or taking place during the holidays where you will wonder what purpose does this serve to the overall Star Wars universe. (Even The Clone Wars movie provided an ill-conceived intro to Ahsoka Tano and Solo filled in oddly answered blanks to Han’s backstory while laying the foundation of more “grounded” Star Wars stories to be told later on down the road.) If the film played out just as several episodes of the show, it MIGHT’VE turned out just fine. But as a feature length film, it stood not chance whatsoever.
Despite all the fan complaining about Kathleen Kennedy throughout the past decade plus with her handling of Star Wars, the newly elected CEO of Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni has not gotten over to a very promising start either with Star Wars films. I might sing a different tune this time next year once Ryan Gosling makes his way to the Star Wars galaxy with Star Wars: Starfighter and once we see a fully realized vision for what the next wave of Star Wars films will be. (That’s not even mentioning how Filoni’s other Star Wars work weren’t know for having the greatest starts either.) As of now, I think I might just be fighting with getting my second season of Maul and my third Jedi game with Cal Kestis and call it a day!
As for The Mandalorian & Grogu, congratulations Gen Alpha for getting your own live-action version of The Clone Wars movie from 2008. I hope you enjoy your stay in the Filoni-verse!
At least Sigourney Weaver got paid for her completely phoned-in extended cameo!
So, yeah, it’s my birthday today! I officially turn 29 years old. To be honest, as I get older, my birthday is the day I really dread because it just reminds me how old I’ve becoming and just how little I’ve actually done with my life for my first 29 years in existence. However, to try to put myself in a happy spirit for this very day, I decided to do something fun and name my two favorite movies from each year that I was born. Starting in 1997 and ending in our current year, 2026. Why two movies from each year you may ask? Because I’m too cool enough where I can name two in a year as oppose to just one.
I just want to let you all know that this is strictly my opinion and these are the two movies from each respective year that have stuck with me all these years. They all may not be objectively the best movies ever made or ones that achieve the artistic level of perfection but these are just the movies that I look back on and remember fondly the most from every year since 1997. If you don’t like these choices, then I’m sorry. If you do, then awesome and I’m glad we share similar tastes. I’m also not gonna go in depth with each one because I rather just let the movies listed speak for themselves and expose my bizarre taste in films.
Anyways, here we go!
1997: Titanic & The Fifth Element
1998: Saving Private Ryan & Mulan
1999: The Matrix & Toy Story 2
2000: Remember The Titans& Gladiator
2001: The Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring & Memento
2002: The Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers & Spider-Man
2003: The Lord of the Rings- Return of the King & Finding Nemo
2004: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie & Spider-Man 2
2005: Batman Begins & Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
2006: The Prestige & Casino Royale
2007: Zodiac& Ratatouille
2008: The Dark Knight & Kung Fu Panda
2009: District 9 & Up
2010: Inception & Toy Story 3
2011: The Tree of Life & Kung Fu Panda 2
2012: The Avengers & The Dark Knight Rises
2013: The Wolf of Wall Street & Pacific Rim
2014: Whiplash & The Raid 2
2015: Inside Out & Mad Max: Fury Road
2016: Arrival & The Handmaiden
2017: Get Out & Logan
2018: Spider-Man- Into the Spider-Verse & Annihilation
2019: Uncut Gems & Avengers: Endgame
2020: Palm Springs & Soul
2021: The Mitchell vs The Machines & Spider-Man- No Way Home
2022: Everything Everywhere All At Once & Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
With The Punisher: One Last Kill now out, it’s time to re-rank all 20 (!) Marvel series/specials that is available to watch exclusively on Disney Plus. These are content made strictly for this exact streaming service with the hopes of telling more stories with established characters that isn’t strictly in film format. When it comes to the overall quality of the shows, it’s results have been…..mixed to say the least. Even with a handful of good things to come out of it, they have their own limits and restrictions that have prevented them to be as engaging with some of the very best that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has offered throughout their history.
In hindsight, they have basically the exact opposite problems as Marvel Netflix. Where as the Netflix series often felt too long and bloated with filter, the Disney Plus series often felt too short and rushed. Despite there being plenty of good things to come from both Netflix and Disney Plus, most of them have struggled to hit that proper balance to have all these shows live up to their fullest potential.
Which one of these is able to be better than the others? Let’s find out by ranking all the Marvel Disney Plus series and specials up to this point!
21.) Secret Invasion
There was not a single Marvel Disney Plus series (and perhaps any other MCU entry) that fell as hard as Secret Invasion. While the idea of having a series focused strictly on Nick Fury and the famous Secret Invasion comics are intriguing ideas on paper, the execution could not have been anymore disastrous. It’s poorly structured, well known characters are killed off in the most anti-climatic way possible, the Skrull storyline feels incredibly wasted, the behind-the-scenes reshoots are very obvious, and Nick Fury doesn’t seem to change one bit over the course of the whole series. Not to mention, the pointless retcon of Rhodey being a Skrull since Captain America: Civil War is just lame. This has about every single problem these Marvel Disney Plus series has had and made infinitely worse. The only saving graces are the scenes between Nick Fury and his wife along with G’iah being a neat MCU addition (until she’s able to unlock every single superpower known to demand because……….reasons?!?!?!). Everything else about Secret Invasion is a segment of everything that can go wrong with the MCU when it’s fallen into the wrong hands!
20.) IronHeart
This is the Disney Plus series that was already finished two to three years before it’s release and got put in the back burner and…..it’s clearly obvious why it was hidden for so long. While the cast have their fun moments together, it is bogged down by bluntly obvious behind-the-scenes drama, a directionless plot that doesn’t go anywhere, ties to the MCU that feel incredibly forced, and too many characters that are given nothing to do. It’s like the show is trying to give Riri the same arc that Tony Stark had in Iron Man 3 but with none of the work or effort put into it to make it engaging. While it does end on a promising note for the future and is certainly more cohesive than say Secret Invasion, IronHeart is another forgettable Marvel series that is best left forgotten! And with the little to no marketing attached to this project and it collecting dust for the past two to three years, it seems as though Disney and Marvel would agree!
19.) Echo
There are parts of Echo where it comes close to capturing the same magic that the best of Marvel Netflix had. The backstory with Maya and how she became to be a vigilante is intriguing, every scene with Kingpin is glorious, the action is as brutal as it has been with the MCU, and the tone/style feels like it was ripped straight out of the Marvel Netflix run. It’s just a shame it’s central story is not told in an organic way with obvious reshoots and bizarre pacing that get in the way entirely. Not to mention, it’s overall representation of Cherokee Nation is barely touched upon, almost as if Marvel didn’t want to go too deep into it so they didn’t offend anybody. The seeds are there for future “Spotlight” stories to expand upon greatly but Echo still can’t escape the trappings of most of these Disney Plus series, making it fairly underwhelming and disappointing. PLEASE stop making these a four-hour long movie that is split up into five or six different parts and just make an actual proper tv show!
18.) Moon Knight
This has the ingredients to be a stellar series from it’s terrific cast to it’s psychological thriller elements to it’s exploration of someone with a dissociative identity disorder (DID). Unfortunately, Moon Knight is never able to make for the best of those ideas, despite Oscar Isaac trying his hard out as Marc Spector and May Calamaway being a welcome presence as Layla. It’s intriguing ideas are barely explored upon and mostly just results in a typical chase story with the character hunting down boring McGuffins while introducing lore and mythology that will leave you scratching your head. Not to mention, for a show called Moon Knight, there’s barely any actual Moon Knight in it. It is at least weird and bizarre enough that it might delight some folks who just want exactly that for their Marvel streaming series but it’s not enough to save the show from it’s undeniable shortcomings.
17.) The Falcon & The Winter Soldier
It’s cool to see many of the side characters from the Captain America movies that got sidelined get more to do in their own series along with giving an intriguing arc for Sam Wilson as the newer, progressive Captain America. Just too bad the series is held back by weak villains with odd, nonsensical motivations and an overall structure that feels more suited for a movie rather than a streaming series (something which many of the Disney Plus shows have greatly suffered from). You are lying to yourself if you didn’t find most of the endings to the episodes rather erupt because it just feels like the start of one scene and not the end of the other. I respect The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for what it stands for but certainly not in the way it goes about it. If there is ANY Disney Plus show that would have benefited MUCH better as a movie and NOT a mini-series, it’s this one.
16.) What If?
What If?! was probably the Marvel series with the most unlimited potential for captivating tales and expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Creating scrappy stories of Marvel superheroes told throughout the multiverse and through multiple different variations point of view? That sounds like a series that could last for MANY seasons! Unfortunately, it’s unable to even scratch the surface of that limitless potential throughout the course of it’s three seasons by playing it as easy and safe as humanly possible! There’s a handful of intriguing episodes and fun character swaps along with some returning cast members from the live-action movies/series reprising their roles. Unfortunately, it’s held back by stiff animation, beat-by-beat storytelling, and a feeling of aimlessness rather than ambition with how it’s uses the multiverse (Something which the multiverse saga itself has greatly suffered from!). Instead of going crazy, it goes lazy and tame as hell. There’s some entertaining episodes here and there and plenty of fun to be had but man, it could have been SOOOO much more!
15.) Eyes of Wakanda
Here’s a little side project that has been in the works for awhile which puts the spotlight on the charismatic side characters that assist King T’Challa. It’s always neat to spend more time in the world of Wakanda and the side characters from the Black Panther movies are just as fun here as they are in the movies. But just like with a good number of Disney Plus shows, it still feels like it barely scratches the surface on what it’s trying to do. There’s not many episodes, it’s tackling on it’s subject matter feels very shallow and surface level, and the show moves at such a fast pace that it can be hard to jump into this fascinating world if you are not engaged with it already. I do put it above other animated D+ series like What If…? because it at least is more creative visually and animation wise but Eyes of Wakanda left me wanting more in the ways that I do not believe was intentional.
14.) Marvel Zombies
The newest addition to the Disney Plus Marvel canon doesn’t so much feel like it’s own series but more of a specific story arc made for Marvel’s What If? that for whatever reason got cut from the original show and had been sitting on the back burner for the past four years until it suddenly didn’t. The good news is that it deliver the goods in putting some of MCU’s heroes old and new together into this zombie world filled with blood, gore, and carnage, making for perhaps the best use of Marvel Studios animation to date. The bad news is that it still can’t reach it’s full potential because of how slim the whole experience feels and really feels like it only exists just to have more Disney Plus content on the streaming service. If a Season 2 happens, I’ll watch it but for now, I’m very on the fence on this one.
13.) The Punisher: One Last Kill
After abandoning doing MCU specials for the past few years, Disney and Marvel Studios decided to bring it back in the form of The Punisher: One Last Kill. On the bright side, it is able to deliver the brutal and bloody kills that fans love from their favorite bone crusher and Jon Bernthal is as good as he’s always been as the title character. On the down side, there’s nothing much here that we already haven’t seen before with this version of Frank Castle. Yet again, we see a good chunk of the special of him mourning over his beloved wife and kids and yet again someone he messed with in the past has return to act revenge on him. If you were to tell me this was a POC footage that got made back in 2015 or 2016 during the Marvel Netflix era that Disney decided to put on their streaming service just because, I would’ve believed you entirely. I sure hope Mr. Castle is able to get new things to do in Spider-Man: Brand New Day or a potential new series of his own because, it seems like Marvel is beginning to run out of tricks with this character.
12.) Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel gets off to perhaps the best start out of any of the Marvel Disney Plus series. With showcasing a classic coming-of-age story, neat visuals, intriguing family dynamics, and a hugely charismatic and charming lead character in Kamala Khan, played wonderfully by Iman Villani. It’s mostly the second half when the dull as hell villains get thrown into the picture that don’t really mess with the style and tone of the show where it falters quite a bit, almost as if Team A was put in charge of the episodes given early to critics while Team B handled the rest because Team A decided to go home. Thankfully, there’s just a bit more of the former in the latter to make this show overall worthwhile, with the entire experience being held together by Villani’s incredible turn as Ms. Marvel herself. If this gets a Season 2, please put more focus on Kamala and her family and friends and not so much on everything else.
11.) The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Perhaps the most inconsequential of all these series but still has heart and charm when it counts. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special makes for a cute holiday tale in the MCU which sees the lovable galactic misfits celebrating Christmas in a time where things are most dire for Peter Quill! This is the special that gave Drax and Mantis more time in the spotlight than ever before, along with the delightful presence of Kevin Bacon himself. It’s mostly slim and something you can tell was made rather quickly without too much thought being put into it but no doubt James Gunn’s passion and love for the characters from his successful films is on full display here. Also, you are a robot if you didn’t at least get a bit misty eye at the ending with Peter and Mantis. Just saying!
10.) Hawkeye
While far from the most ambitious Marvel Disney Plus series, Hawkeye is the one series that take full advantage of it’s lower stakes and able to meet exactly the kind of endpoint it is aiming for, making a charming Christmas superhero tale that doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is. This of course helps introduces the immensely lovable Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop and gives Jeremy Renner his full time to shine as Hawkeye, which Florence Pugh’s Yelena eventually joining in on the ride. It does suck though that Kingpin doesn’t get much to do there and his only real purpose is to set up the Echo series. However, considering the MCU is clearly not done with Wilson Fisk yet and he’ll play bigger roles later on down the road, I can let it slide. Nevertheless, this was a good time and worth revisiting again during this wonderful holiday time.
9.) Agatha All Along
The latest series in Agatha: All Along is easily one of the most unique and creative Marvel has been in it’s Disney Plus era. It’s able to act as a proper follow-up to WandaVision while perfectly embracing it’s queer vibes and camp value that makes for the right watch at the right time of the season. The entire cast is awesome (Kathryn Han and Aubrey Plaza were literally MADE for each other), Jac Schaeffer is able to direct and show run the HELL out of every episode, and there’s so many unique surprises and reveals that will delight the most diehard of MCU fans. There are certain aspects and directing choices that won’t appeal to everyone (particularly some of the musical choices and being more “queer” than most MCU prosperities) but for those who believe the MCU is at it’s best when they are at their more weird and experimental, Agatha: All Along makes for a very special treat!
8.) Werewolf By Night
Marvel’s first ever attempt at doing a special sees an interesting take on the horror genre and universal monsters. With the old-school black-and-white style, gorgeous cinematography, haunting score, and plenty of blood and violence to be found, Werewolf By Night is everything you could want out of a special Halloween special and perhaps even more than that. Even judging it strictly based off of werewolves, this is probably the best werewolf content in the last decade or so. I never thought someone as Michael Giacchino, someone who is most well known as being a musical composer, could make such an unique stamp for his first every directional debut but he really manages to blow my socks away. This is something I can see myself watching every Halloween and never getting tried with it. Just stick to the original black-and-white format please!
7.) She-Hulk: Attorney By Law
While not quite the best Marvel Disney Plus series, this is the one that plays the most like an actual television show as oppose to a six-part mini series or a feature film cut in pieces. It’s able to tell a funny, fourth-wall breaking story about a woman struggling with her daily life, dating life, and superhero life all at the same time while introducing plenty of welcome cameos such as Wong, Bruce Banner, Megan Thee Stallion, and especially Daredevil. Tatiana Maslany is absolute perfection as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, able to be super convincing as both a cute, vulnerable lawyer and a beautifully buff green hulk. It might be too “meta” for some and will certainly causes the heads of every incel out there that it’s poking fun at to explode, but nevertheless, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is definitely one of the most fun and enjoyable series in the Marvel Disney Plus library.
6.) Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
It might’ve took three times (four if you count the PBS-friendly Spidey And His Amazing Friends) but Disney has finally been able to crack the code on how to make a solid Spider-Man cartoon. Blending the traditional comic book panel traits of the character’s well-known origin while incorporating new distinct traits of it’s own, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is able to find the right balance of exploring the thrills of being Spider-Man and the chills of being Peter Parker, something which The Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man (2017) failed to do. The newer cast of characters the show chooses to explore are (mostly) intriguing, it’s callbacks and references all feel earned, the theme song is dope as hell, and it’s able to use it’s alternate timeline and multiverse concept to not just reuse plot assets of the MCU or recurring fan favorite characters but also show how Peter’s life would’ve been different in the MCU if things play out a different way and he made all new friends and allies in the process. There are some strange creative decisions I’m not a fan of and the animation style won’t be to everyone’s taste but for the most part, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a winner and is perhaps (by default) the best Spidey show since The Spectacular Spider-Man. I’m definitely intrigued to see Season 2!
5.) WandaVision
The very first of the Disney Plus series gives one of the best and most interesting characters in the whole universe, Wanda Maximoff, her own time to shine. What starts off becoming a fun homage to 90’s sitcoms becomes more of a character study of Wanda where she has to deal with the sins and consequences over the actions she has committed up to this point, while learning to move on from the pain and grief she feels with the loss of her Vision. The entire cast is great here with Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda, Kathryn Hann’s Agatha, and Teyonah Parris’s Monica being the standouts with Paul Bettany as Vison being pretty good as well. The finale does suffer with the whole big CGI fight feeling quite forced and certain payoffs to certain things will be underwhelming to hardcore Marvel fans but as a whole, WandaVision still makes for a creative, fun, and engaging series that is one of the most interesting of the Disney Plus shows thus far.
Ralph Bohner was hilarious btw!
4.) Wonder Man
The one MCU show that no one expected ANYTHING from turned out to be one of it’s very best! Wonder Man makes for a surprisingly very fresh and enjoyable entry into the Marvel Disney Plus canon, stripping away form the typical action and quippy nature that the universe is no for in order for a more human story about an actor just trying to land a dream role and also happens to have superpowers while trying to do it. Simon and Trevor have awesome chemistry, it’s deep drive into the film and entertainment industry is intriguing, there is plenty of twists, reveals, and references that will keep you intrigued the whole way through, and this feels like a complete tv show from beginning to end, with very little of the flaws from the previous series to be found here and containing a perfectly functional episode structure. Between this, Shang-Chi, and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Destin Daniel Cretton has proven himself to be one of the most reliable directors that is currently working for Marvel Studios.
3.) Daredevil: Born Again
Talk about the biggest bump in quality yet! While Season 1 of what was basically the unofficial fourth season of Netflix’s Daredevil left plenty to be desired, Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again is able to deliver the thrills and chills that resembles Marvel Television at it’s absolute finest! Free from all the reshoots and reworking from the first season, co-show runners Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are able to let loose with the long awaited sequel series of Daredevil! It’s able to perfectly capture the street level vibe of the Marvel Netflix era while telling a dark story that feels timely yet efficient within the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character work between Daredevil and the newly elected Mayor Fisk is ace stuff, the cast of old and new are great in their roles, and it ends on a haunting cliffhanger that sets the table for an exciting third season with the rest of The Defenders and The Punisher: One Last Kill special later this year. It’s not perfect and still falls slightly sort of the very best of the Netflix Daredevil series but this is about as hard and aura as a Daredevil show on Disney Plus can get. Now, if only Daredevil can join up with a certain spider later on down the road and the two can fight Kingpin or something!
2.) Loki
Everyone favorite villain turned anti-hero in Loki is the best of the live-action Marvel Disney Plus shows thus far. There hasn’t been a live-action series thus far that took full advantage of the multiverse concept like this one did. It’s able to introduce the complete bonkers elements, universe building, and just plain “out there” concepts that Marvel set out to do with Phase 4 but never once loses focuses on the characters and their adventures throughout. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is more interesting and engaging than ever before showing off his “anti-hero” side than every other movie or show that he’s been in. Sophia Di Martion’s Sylvie makes for a great counterpart and stands out well as her own version of the God of Mischief. Owen Wilson is able to make the character of Mobius more charming and likable than he has every right to be. However, the one that arguably shines the most despite only showing up in the final episode is Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror! He not only helps make the character such an entertaining presence when he comes onscreen but also makes the series stick the landing in the end (Just a shame about………well yeah!). If more Disney Plus projects and post-Endgame content were on this level of quality, we would have had very little to complain about Marvel throughout the 2020s.
1.) X-Men ’97
In an era where it seems like the hype around superheroes and revivals have died down, here comes in X-Men 97, that was able to make it’s way to Disney Plus and show everyone how these things are suppose to be done. This was about as good of a revival as it could get, perfectly translate the traditional values and roots that the X-Men are known for in modern times while still being able to capture that Saturday morning cartoon vibe. The 2D animation is stunning and feels perfectly in line with it’s 96′ series counter part, the action sequences are filled with energy and excitement, and there is plenty of time given to each cast member of the X-Men to shine. And it was SUPER nice to see my boy Scott and my girl Rogue being done justice for once. Oh, and the glimmers of seeing Spider-Man 94′ back again brought a tear to my eye! No offense to the last several shows I listed but I think most would agree that X-Men 97 was far in a way the best Marvel Disney Plus show to come out thus far. It’s so good that I would love to see more Marvel revivals of beloved shows done in a similar matter. Come on, Disney! Greenlight Spider-Man 98 already! You know you want to!
With this weekend’s release of Mortal Kombat II, now is a good time to talk about what I consider to be the best video game movies ever made. Despite all the constant negative reputation surrounding films that acts as adaption of well-known gaming franchises, I think most would agree that there has been an enormous quality leap for those in recent years. While I still believe there was always a solid video game movie flick every now and then, it was sometime between the late 2010s and early 2020s which saw much better and more faithful video game adaptions in movie forms. Perhaps it has to do with more cast and crew involved with these projects nowadays that actually have a knowledge and respect towards the property it’s based on but, it’s definitely nice and refreshing to see better video game flicks come out as of late, especially after several years of folks claiming that video game just can’t work in movie form whatsoever.
Now that another video game movie in Mortal Kombat II is now out in theaters, I’m gonna talk about 15 video game films that I believe range from decent to being worthy of their source material. A friendly reminder that I am only referring to movies that are STRICTLY adaption of video games and not just ones that have video game elements to them. That’s why you won’t see movies such as Wreck-It Ralph and Free Guy on here.
15.) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
This is one that gets a ton of flack from fans but it’s much better than it’s haters would want you to believe. While this is certainly a departure from the games themselves with a setting that takes place on Earth in the year 2065, it still succeeds on it’s own merits of telling a new and original story. Instead of trying to awkwardly cram an entire plot of a RPG game into a single film with all of the famous fantasy elements of the game shoehorned in, it puts more on an emphasis on blending the sci-fi and fantasy genre together with a more straightforward and different plot that can stand on it’s own merits. Yeah, the CGI animation hasn’t aged particularly well (especially with eerie eyes of the characters) and those that were expecting a complete “easter egg” fest will be disappointed, but Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is still a fairly interesting adaption overall from the creator of Final Fantasy himself.
14.) Tomb Raider (2018)
While I always had soft spot for the two prior Tomb Raider movies with Angelina Jolie, the 2018 film with Alicia Vikander is still the best and most faithful film adaption of Lara Croft to date. Borrowing heavily from the recent rebooted video game series by Crystal Dynamics, we get to see the origin of Lara Croft’s early adventures where she’s much younger, less experienced, and more reckless. Alicia Vikander is great in the role and does a good job on portraying the version of Lara that is confident but still having to constantly question herself. It certainly does acquire a certain suspension of disbelief, kinda like with the games, and there are times where there’s a bit too much fan service for it’s own good, but for what’s it worth, it’s still an enjoyable time and I would certainly be open for a sequel with Vikander’s return.
13.) Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
This is another one that gets a lot of hate from both critics and fans. While I can understand critics not digging it, I don’t understand the reasons for fans rejecting it. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is about the biggest love letter to the Resident Evil franchise that has been on film to date. Many of the references and call-backs to the games are very well utilized here with a cast that are very comfortable in their roles, kills that are gruesome and effective, and has the same kind of tone, style, and feel that the games provided. The plot is overstuffed with an attempt to combine the plot of the first two games into one movie and there definitely are changes to the material that are presented here but that shouldn’t be enough to dismiss this one entirely, especially for longtime fans of the series. If you were someone that was deeply infuriated by the Resident Evil films from Paul W.S. Anderson, Johannes Roberts’s Welcome to Raccoon City might just give you the Resident Evil movie fix you’ve been waiting for. At least until Zach Cregger works his magic!
12.) Detective Pikachu
A Pokémon movie had all the potential to work as a feature film, especially since there had already been several straight-to-dvd films that had come before this. However, there had never been a well-known live-action Pokémon movie until 2019’s Detective Pikachu. Thankfully, it is able to deliver a good time that fully embraces the world that Pokémon is established in while maintaining a good sense of humor throughout. Ryan Reynolds works very well as Pikachu and has good chemistry with Justice Smith’s Tim, forming the perfect kind of bond ship I imagine players always saw themselves with their own fellow Pokémon from their favorite installments in the series. It doesn’t break any new ground but Detective Pikachu has plenty of heart, laughs, and amusing set pieces that will likely leave any die hard Pokémon fan with a smile on their face after watching it.
11.) Professor Layton & The Eternal Diva
If you want a video game flick that can provided an intriguing mystery and a puzzle that you won’t be able to solve in a heartbeat, look no further than Professor Layton and the Enteral Diva. For a gaming franchise where puzzles are it’s main point, this adaption is one that has more than enough brain teasers to satisfy longtime fans and even get more newcomers interest in it. You also have some well-done animation, an art style that fits very well with the games it’s based on, a talented voice cast, and a story about memory and mortality that stands well on it’s own. To say any more will be spoiling but there’s plenty to like here from both fans of the series and those that enjoy a good mystery thriller.
10.) Sonic The Hedgehog
This was a film that everyone and their mother was determined to hate the moment the very first trailer dropped with the fugly Sonic design. But then, the film was delayed to change up the design and things looked more promising. Then we all saw it and it was pretty damn good. Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the very few films to take the whole “cartoon characters in the real world” gimmick and actually make it work. Even if it didn’t film didn’t act as a proper adaption for Sonic, it works very well as a story about a young kid that’s trying to find his place in a new world. Ben Schwartz is great as Sonic and plays off of James Marsden very well but it’s Jim Carrey that steals the show as Robotnik as everyone expected, getting a chance to go full Jim Carrey like never before. It certainly does hit plenty of the notes that these “family movies but for kids” flicks do but for what it’s worth, Sonic the Hedgehog got something for everyone to enjoy.
9.) Mortal Kombat II
After the muted/lukewarm reception of 2021’s Mortal Kombat, 2026’s Mortal Kombat II is able to deliver the goods that it’s predecessor didn’t for a solid crowd pleaser that works for both fans of Mortal Kombat and mainstream audiences. It’s able to dial up on the ridiculously bloody spirit of it’s source material while making sure to put it’s focus on action, gore, and fan favorite characters over convoluted mythology and confusing lore. The plot itself is about as dumb and over-the-top as you would expect for a MK movie and there are certainly some questionable casting choices (I love Karl Urban but he is NOT Johnny Cage!) but for what it’s worth, Mortal Kombat II does work as a big improvement over it’s predecessors, proving that the filmmakers did their homework and take fan feedback seriously. It’s not the best Mortal Kombat movie ever made but it does it’s job just fine.
8.) Rampage
It’s a monster movie with The Rock! What else could you possibly want?! Rampage acts as an adaptation of a very popular arcade game that was also released on the original Nintendo Entertainment System back in the ’90s. The results is basically a feature film that plays like a straight up monster movie where monsters attack the city and the main character has to attempt to save the city. Does it follow every trope for these kind of movies to a t? Sure, but it’s still a lot of fun for those that have a fondness for these kind of movies and of course, have a fondness for the Rock kicking serious butt. And it might just be even better than the majority of the current Monsterverse films.
7.) Gran Turismo
The newest video game movie directed by Neil Blomkamp is much better than it had any right to be. Gran Turismo follows the (shockingly) true story of an expert gamer turning into a full-time racer. Despite the actual story being something you can see coming a mile away with the inclusions of many of the typical cliches for sport movies, it’s able to overcome all of that thanks to superb directing, incredibly tense and well-done racing sequences, sound design that’s off the charts, and having a surprising amount of heart throughout. At it’s core, it’s basically a story of someone being able to make their dreams come true once they are able to get their one shot at it. And of course, David Harbour is always welcome in anything! Keep your expectations in check and you might be find yourself surprised at how much of a fun and moving ride this is!
6.) Silent Hill
Back then, the best kind of video game movies weren’t so much the ones that felt the most faithful to the games but more of the ones that’s able to fully embrace the subgenre that the games were a part off and build a stand alone story out of that. 2006’s Silent Hill was able to deliver exactly that by going into full horror and thriller mode with the exact kind of mood and atmosphere that the games themselves embraced. The monsters themselves are great, the tension and suspense is felt completely throughout, and it’s somehow able to bring the sleepy town of “Silent Hill” to life. Despite initially getting panned by critics at the time of it’s release, fans of Silent Hill have come to love and appreciate this film adaption. Just skip the sequel entirely (oh, and you can take or leave the OTHER sequel as well)!
5.) The Super Mario Bros Movie
To be honest, if we are going by video games in terms of straight up faithfulness to the games themselves, this would likely be #1 easily. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the one video game movie that feels like it was 100% ripped straight from the games in terms of it’s animation, style, world building, and amount of fan service throughout. It even works quite well as a simple story of a complete zero turning into a complete hero along with the importance of brotherhood. It’s just so much fun seeing characters such as Mario, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Toad kicking butt together on the big screen for the first time ever. Not even the tropes from Illumination Animation that brought down their prior movies such as an obvious celebrity heavy voice cast and awkwardly inserted song tracks are able to bring this one down. If only Luigi didn’t get done dirty and Yoshi played any role whatsoever that this could have been ranked higher. And yes, Chris Pratt was just fine as Mario and Jack Black was as perfect as Bowser as you would expected. I’m gonna go listen to Peaches again.
4.) Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is able to find that perfect balance of being faithful to the source material while also staying strong as it’s own film. It’s able to expand on the themes of the first film very well with Sonic wanting to come into his own as a hero along with learning to accept Tom as a father figure. You also have more elements from the source material thrown in here that work wonderfully here. Tails is cuter than a bag of kittens and a complete fanboy for Sonic, Jim Carrey is back and better than ever as Robotnik, and Knuckles whose played perfectly by Idris Elba, has never been cooler and more badass than he has been here. Not to mention, the final 30 minutes is everything that any Sonic fan could possibly dream off seeing in a Sonic movie. Even if you don’t care for the wedding subplot (which I actually liked and found it pretty funny), there is plenty for anyone to enjoy here. If you are a fan of Sonic, someone who enjoyed the first movie, or just want to have a good and fun time overall, then Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a video game movie for you!
3.) Mortal Kombat
Despite this being the Mortal Kombat movie with the PG-13 rating with practically no gore to speak off, the 1995 version is still the best Mortal Kombat movie release to date. It’s able to capture all the fun, camp, action, and over-the-top-ness that the game series provided while also having the entire cast of fan favorite characters with their own arcs and personal moments to shine, with a plot that’s surprisingly very functional with no useless filler to speak of and is quite easy to follow, regardless of whether you played the games or not. Even if it does strip itself from the gore and certain elements from the games, it’s still able to work incredibly well as an adaption by fully capturing the spirit of the 90s and the central essence that the franchise has embraced since the beginning. While this has been (slightly) surpassed in recent years as being the best video game movie ever made, it’s still stands comfortably as one of the better ones ever made.
2.) Werewolves Within
Here’s one that very few people know is actually a video game movie or even are aware of it’s existence. That needs to change ASAP because Werewolves Within is an absolute slam dunk of a motion picture and is one of the very best video games films ever made. Despite making significant changes to the source material, it’s able to remaining very true to the entire point of the game, which of course is guessing who is suppose to be the werewolf among a certain group. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting the core appeal of the series you are adapting along with crafting a film that can stand well on it’s own two feet. It’s very well made, the characters are very entertaining, everyone from the cast and crew is clearly having a blast, and the mystery of the werewolf will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat until the very end. Just like with Professor Layton and the Enteral Diva, it works greatly as a mystery thriller for fans of the source material and for newcomers as well.
1.) Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Just when you thought it couldn’t get better than Sonic 2, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is able to sweep in and take the crown as not just the best Sonic movie to date but also the very best video game movie to date! This is just about every Sonic’s fans dream come true! The Sonic characters themselves are at the absolute forefront with more focus than ever, the action and set pieces are all exhilarating and fun to watch, the CGI and special effects are a treat for the eyes, there is more fan service and easter eggs than before, it’s able to adapt the storylines from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog near perfectly, and Keanu Reeves predictably kills it as Shadow, as the character gives more depth and development than he arguably has in any other Sonic medium! It’s also nice to see how Sonic himself has grown through out the trilogy and seeing Jim Carrey bounce off well…..himself is an absolute laugh riot! This is just a series of films that keeps getting better with each installment and if the post credit scenes for this one is anything to go by, the next one could be even better! Is it high art? Probably not! But does it understand the assignment? Hell yeah, it does! Whether you are a longtime fan or a newcomer that has recently got into the series or someone that enjoys a good time, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is an absolute triumph and is my personal favorite video game movie to date!
Long-awaited sequels seems to be the norm nowadays in Hollywood! In an era where it’s getting increasingly difficult to get audiences to see an non-IP film in theaters that does NOT star Ryan Gosling and a space rock, studios have had no choice but to dig through their ancient archives to see what beloved classic or cult following flick they can make a follow-up to in some way, shape, or form. While there’s always a Top Gun: Maverick-level exception, most of these sequels failed to answer the one question that should be made when one of these follow-ups are pitched to the studios. Does this sequel justify it’s existence? In the case of The Devil Wears Prada 2, I’m gonna have to go with a very shoulder shrugging no.
Sure, it’s as handsomely well-made as the original film from 20 years ago and it’s nice to see the returning cast and a couple of new faces showing off their fashion styles. However, when looking at it as an individual whole, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has as much depth and a “getting the gang back together” vibe as a basic Zoom call. If you had just did a Zoom call back in 2020 during the lockout with Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt all together, having a virtual drinking party, you would likely get more out of that than you would watching The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Premise: The Devil Wears Prada 2 follows a veteran Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) navigating the decline of traditional print media. She faces off against her former assistant, Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), now a high-powered luxury executive controlling vital advertising dollars. Andy Sachs (Ann Hathaway) reunites with Miranda to handle a Scandal, set against a fashion-focused backdrop
As it the case with most of these long-awaited follow-ups/legacy sequels, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is all about how the world has changed for the worse for our main characters since we last saw them and how they need to learn how to adapt to current times before they get too stuck in the past. In this case, it’s about traditional journalism being severely downgraded, the sharp decline of the physical and print media business, massive layoffs happening in drones no matter where you go, and how the people are the very top gain more and more profit while the rest of us suffer. Or that it was the film THINKS it’s about…..until it doesn’t.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 isn’t so much interested in exploring the struggles of modern journalism than it is using it as a footnote to justify the sequel taking place in modern times. We hear about how much the business is being shrunk to death and downsized and how it is hurting everyone around Andy but not really Andy herself. Whenever the film begins to lose sighting of that core issue it’s claiming to address, it just introduces a few more scenes of other characters reacting to their firings and throws in a couple more soulless billionaires that is running the journalism industry into the ground to save it’s own face.
It adds more insult to injury with Andy constantly snuffing at the state of modern journalism but the film itself never takes a stand for preserving journalism to the way it was back in 2006 than it is in 2026. It never justifies why the traditional media outlets of the past should be preserved for the future or evolve in ways that it can still keep the heart and soul of it intact. Like, yes, the journalism and entertainment business is hard right now! What else do you got, movie?!
The film also repeats the traditional sin of long-awaited sequels by bringing Andy back to square one of her character growth from the original just for the sake of getting her back together with Miranda, Emily, and Nigel. Yes, Andy still wants Miranda’s approval (even though she already got it in the last movie). Yes, Miranda refuses to give it to her (even though she already did at the end of the last movie). Yes, Emily is still an ice queen but with a different job. Yes, Nigel still acts like the tough-father figure to Andy and gives her the same lessons to learn that she already did in the last movie. It’s all about hitting the same beats from two decades before, trying to give you the illusion that it’s actually rhyming intentional parallels to the original and not flat out copying it.
Even the extended cameos and notable celebrity appearances are quite half-baked this time around. I won’t go into too much spoilers but it’s bizarre of the film’s handling of the famous people they actually got to appear and those that are just mentioned by name. (There’s LITERALLY a scene where a character claims to see Hugh Jackman in attendance and goes over to talk to him but we never actually cut to him!) There’s a couple of nice mentions and notices but none of them feel all that inspired, feeling like they are only there because they got an extra day-off and not because they got a point or an amusing joke to make. I get it’s 2026 and celebrity cameos/appearances aren’t too special anymore because of how much they’re all everywhere but if there’s ANY film that should be able to make it work, it’s a Devil Wears Prada film.
This is not all to say that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is an absolute failure overall. It’s got plenty of eye-popping shots (most notably of Italy), a decent pace throughout, some hidden laughs along the way, and my god, have the four main leads not aged a SINGLE day despite it being 20 years later (Seriously, it’s not just Anne Hathaway that’s a chameleon! The ENTIRE original cast is!). Even Kenneth Branagh has a nice presence here, just playing a decent, respectful man who is a committed and faithful partner to his wife. You don’t get that very often in this day and age.
I’m not the biggest champion of the original Devil Wears Prada but at least that had a consistent point to make. It was able to use all of it’s beautiful aesthetics, colorful imagery, and a superbly talented cast to make a point about the fashion industry deserving more respect from top to bottom. It was able to perfectly match it’s style with it’s substance and NOT needing to sacrifice one or the other. The Devil Wears Prada 2 just kinda meanders throughout the majority of it’s runtime, hoping that the return of the wonderful OG cast and pretty visuals will be able to push through any meaningful commentary that just feels like it was thrown in at the last minute to meet with the current times. It might make for a fun night out but as the original movie states, the industry deserves so much better than that.
For all the redeemable qualities The Devil Wears Prada 2 might have, it still left me asking the same question I had when the sequel was first announced. Why does it need to exist? The fact that I don’t have a straight answer for you other than dollar signs proves that the movie fails to meet it’s own standards set by it’s own foundations.
Adam's Blog 