Author: Adam

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the original Into the Spider-Verse was an absolute gamechanger for animation. Not just because it was a near masterpiece of visual storytelling that was able to deliver everything that any hardcore comic book or casual fan could possibly want in an animated Spider-Man flick and then some, but was once again proved that animation should be allowed to stand as it’s own medium and NOT as a genre. For many years, animation tends to get a rep for being simply made for kids. Movies such as Minions, Trolls, The Emoji Movie, and even to some extent The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Yes, I’m going there!) gave the impression that animation seem to only exist to keep the kids entertain for an hour and half with flicks that don’t have much meaning or substance behind any of it.** Then, once the kids grow up, they simply move on from animation and stick with strictly live-action movies as those seem to stand out more as being movies for “grown-ups”. However, over the past few years, I would argue there seems to be a renaissance and evolution with animation that you could argue started with Into the Spider-Verse.

Animated movies such as The Mitchell vs The Machines, The Bad Guys, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and (hopefully) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem have used the Spider-Verse animation style as not just a template for breathtaking animation but to tell engaging stories with that animation, the kind of stories that simply could not be told in any other form of medium. It wasn’t just the amazing visuals and set pieces of The Last Wish that engaged folks last Holliday season, it was the superb character development, resonate themes, and the way it used the visual and set pieces to tell a story about life and death and why you should never take any for granted. As animation continues to move forward, the recent success of it can all be tie back to the original Into the Spider-Verse, which, just like the best of animation, was able to not just be a movie strictly for kids, it was for everybody.

After having our minds blown in 2018, there was no doubt gonna be a sequel. Five years later, we have Across the Spider-Verse, the anticipated follow-up which was delayed from it’s initial release date of October 2022 and was even titled Across the Spider-Verse Part 1 until it got changed. And if there’s anyone that believed that a follow-up towards the original couldn’t match or top that bar of quality, to grab a quote that the characters in Across the Spider-Verse say multiple times, “the sky is the limit”.

While it may not match the level of surprise that Into the Spider-Verse had and may leave plenty feeling frustrated albeit amused as it’s notable cliffhanger ending, Across the Spider-Verse makes for another marvelous cinematic experience and will instantly go down as of the most definite middle film chapters in recent memory, perhaps all time. Everything you loved about the original is still present here, the themes and messages that the original got across is expanded to even greater affect here, there’s plenty of callbacks, references, Easter eggs, and fan service galore that will put plenty of smiles on faces, and even if you are left underwhelmed with the way things wrap up, you will no doubt be anxious to see the next one come spring time next year. Across the Spider-Verse not only helps showcases the bright future of animation that awaits us but perhaps the bright future of cinema in general, assuming the right lessons are actually learned, something which Hollywood always tend to drop the ball hard on every time.

Plot Synopsis: Taking place after the events of Into the Spider-Verse, we visits Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), on Earth-65, who is struggling to live up to her father’s expectations. Her father, George Stacy (Shea Whigham) is unaware that Gwen is actually Spider-Woman, who the police captain has a vendetta against because he believes that she was the one responsible for the death of his daughter’s best friend, Peter Parker.

One night in Manhattan, Gwen ends up in an encounter with the Vulture from another alternate universe. It’s then she is approached by two distinct Spider-People, Jess Drew (Issa Rae), a pregnant Spider-Woman who is also a member of the Spider-Society, and Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), the leader of the Spider-Society, who arrive using portal-generating watches and helps Gwen subdue the Vulture. Things take a tragic turn when Gwen is confronted by her father and reveals her identity to him. Being in a shock of disbelief, Captain Stacy attempts to arrest his own daughter but Gwen is able to escape through a dimensional portal with the other two Spider-People after Miguel grants her membership in the Spider-Society.

In Brooklyn on Earth-1610, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is learning how to balance his personal life with his life as Spider-Man. His grades are slipping albeit still averaging around A’s to B’s instead of perfect A+’s and he is struggling to live up to his mom (Luna Lauren Velez) and dad’s (Brian Tyree Henry) expectations. He encounters a new enemy known as the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a scientist whose has an vendetta towards Spider-Man because he was responsible for having his body infused with portals after the Alchemax collider explosion. At first he’s written off as being another disposable bad guy until things take a turn for the worst and the Spot might just be responsible for not just the creation of Miles as Spider-Man but also could lead to the destruction of the Spider-Verse as we know it.

Gwen is able to transport her way towards Earth-1610 to reconnect with Miles and also secretly tracks the Spot across dimensions. However, there may be things that Gwen is not telling Peter that could lead to consequences and getting Miles sucked into a battle he was never destined to be a part off. The two then must take a journey across the Spider-Verse where they along with plenty of other Spider-people that are part of the Spider-Society must stop the Spot from invading the Spider-Verse before he is able to put an end to everyone and everything Spider-Man related.

Just like the original Into the Spider-Verse, it is absolutely incredible with how it’s able to hold up together and never feels weighted down by anything. Despite all of the characters, plots, arcs, themes, and fan service that can be found here, it all flows incredibly well and never feels disjointed or loose. Nearly every single moment or scene that can be found here serves a purpose of some sort. Whether it’s to deliver a spectacular action sequence, a slow but meaningful character moment, or include an obvious call-back that will make fandom cream in their pants, it’s all there for a reason and will never take you out of the movie. Whether you look at the movie as being a visually dazzling animated spectacle, an Easter egg flick, or an earnest character study of arguably the most iconic superhero of all time, Across the Spider-Verse is able to have all of it’s cake and eat it fully with immense satisfaction.

Miles Morales is still here and still makes for arguably the most unique version of Spider-Man that has ever appeared in movie form. If the first movie was about Miles learning to come to terms with his own version of Spider-Man, then this one is about him learning how his own version of Spider-Man is different compare to every other version. While the traditional beats of the character such as the constant struggle of balance between having a normal life and a superhero life along with struggling to connect to friends or family members are still present, it’s strictly Miles’s hand on the wheel this time. Only he can drive forwards towards his own future in ways that no one Spider-person can. He might be Spider-Man but just because he is Spider-Man doesn’t mean he has to follow the traditional path of those that came before or after him, or at least that’s what Miles himself believe. While we will have to wait until the next one to see how that plays out, it’s quite fascinating to see the next step in Mile’s story be about him trying to write his own chapter to his own Spider-Man instead of just copying from any other version.

Just like with the original, there’s is a splendid supporting cast of Spider-Men and Spider-Women that each will have at least one favorite among the fans. Issa Ree’s Jess Drew makes for a unique spin on the character as being the cool, soon-to-be Spider-Mom, that’s able to be a badass of her own while also not having to keep her identity a secret. Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk gets plenty of laughs and a handful of standout moments as this pop rock version of the web swinger. Karan Soni’s Spider-Man India…basically speaks for himself but in the best way possible. And of course, it’s delightful to see Jake Johnson’s Peter B Parker return in a more mature role where we see Peter having his own kid after getting back with Mary Jane Watson and now has to be a hero not just for himself but for his own daughter as well.

The one main standout in terms of the new characters comes from Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara or Spider-Man 2099. While the Spot might technically be the main bad guy of the picture, there can be a strong argument to be made that the actual antagonist is no other than Miguel himself. He seems to be the one person that believes that Miles being Spider-Man is a mistake and is the one thing that could ruin the so-called “canon” of the Spider-Verse. While I’m sure this is clearly meant to be a jab at obsessed fanboys that rejected the idea of someone other than Peter Parker being Spider-Man because…reasons and why getting worked up over what it is or is not canon in anything is ridiculous, it does make for a great contrast with Miles’s goal throughout the movie. Miguel is someone that wants everything to be set in stone, Miles is someone that wants to move that stone towards anywhere where his head is at so it could make for a possible, brighter future. While you can understand both points of views, Miles and Miguel have their own personal reasons for doing what they do and clearly feel in the right even if they might be clearly in the wrong.

And of course, we can’t talk about Across the Spider-Verse without mentioning Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman played by Hailee Steinfeld. To put it simply, this is as much her movie as it is Miles, if not more so. Not just because the movie basically begins and ends with her along with giving her the most complete arc of the movie but it also highlights why Across the Spider-Verse stands out as being more than just another animated movie for kids. With the way each scene is framed, lit, and colored involving Gwen Stacy, it’s able to tell her story in a way that you simply couldn’t tell in live-action or any other form of media. It’s the visual storytelling and the wonderful animation that’s able to carry Gwen’s story about coming out as a superhero, dealing with the aftermath of it, and how she might have to leave those she previously loved behind if they can’t accept her for who she is really is. There are plenty of people that have made connections to Gwen’s story in ways that I’m not sure was intentional or unintentional by the filmmakers but even then, it makes for some masterfully creative storytelling and is honestly the most engaging part of the movie.

Which also has me going into the big debate this movie has had in terms of potential criticisms. There are many folks that have claimed that the movie feels like a “Part 1” and doesn’t work at it’s own thing but I honestly disagree. As I said before, if you look at the whole movie from Gwen’s point-of-view, it’s a complete story arc that has a beginning, middle, and a end. And heck, even if you at it through Miles’s point-of-view, he still has meaningful character growth throughout the movie and does have an arc of his own right where he tries to take matters into his own hands instead of just letting faith trying to write itself. Does the movie set up the next arc for the next movie right at the end of this one? Absolutely! However, there’s enough material in here that easily stand out as it’s own movie.

When it comes to production values, it’s quite amazing how much can be done with animation with a budget of just 100 million dollars. The animation might just be the very best I’ve seen in any movie to date. Not only does the whole movie look AMAZING but just about every single frame of animation is able to tell a story in it’s own right. The set pieces are absolutely spectacular, the characters are as expressive as they can possibly be, the editing is Oscar-caliber, and even the soundtrack somehow manages to outdo the previous movie. The main standout scene is no other than the chase sequence with every Spider-person known to demand. If that scene really took four whole years to create like it’s been reported, then those four whole years were put to perfect use. Every ounce of hard work and effort that the team of animators led by director Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson is on full display throughout the entire 140 minute long runtime and every minute of it is put to great use.

And if you haven’t figured it out by now, the voice acting in the movie is just perfect. Every single actor or actress gives a performance that don’t just feel like they are doing it for a paycheck, they are clearly doing it because they are immensely IN LOVE with their roles! I think almost any person on the planet who has liked Spider-Man have imagined themselves playing any version of Spider-Man. With the way the cast is able to deliver their vocal performances, they don’t just feel like another actor or actress, they feel like one of us who have wished to be Spider-Man someday. And to not get too deep into spoilers, there is one cameo in the movie delivered by a well-known Spider-Man actor that just brought a tear to my eye. It’s was only one line of dialogue but I get the impressions that actor has waited a LONG time to be able to deliver it and it shows in just that one scene.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shows that the Spider-Verse can in fact make lightning strike twice. Everyone involved with the making of this movie wanted to take everything to the next level without holding anything back and they are able to exceed greatly. While we might have to wait to see how they stick the landing with Beyond the Spider-Verse next year, this is no doubt another important milestone for animation. Just like how these Spider-Verse movies prove that Spider-Man belongs to everyone, so does animation. And there should be no one out there that should say otherwise.

Even if we somehow manage to find ourselves in the alternate Spider-Verse in which the next movie ends up being disappointing, Across the Spider-Verse should not be looked anything as yet another reminder of what these movies can do when the heart and passion is there. As I said in the beginning, the sky is the limit. And I don’t think there has been a movie in recent memory that fits that meaning entirely than Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

** I know that The Super Mario Bros. Movie is MUCH better than those other movies but let’s be honest, that movie was strictly made for kids (and fans) first and everyone else second. Don’t deny it!

Other comments:

• No, there is no post credit scenes but stay anyway to pay respect to those that worked so hard on this movie for the past five years. It’s the least we can all do.

• When it comes to the theory around Gwen Stacy, I said it’s more head canon right now but I can totally understand why certain groups connect to Gwen on that level. It makes me wish more storytelling involving representation was anywhere near as creative.

• Miles’s mom is hot. Just saying!

• I can’t recall the last time in recent memory where my theaters was on complete cloud nine throughout the whole movie and even when it was over. These movies are really something special!

• When it comes to complaints of sound editing, it really only became noticeable to me during the opening scene of the picture. After that, it was just fine for me.

• Your move now, Tom Holland!

• Again, sorry it took so late to get this review up! If you want know exactly why, read my blog update I just published.

This year, it will be a full decade since 2013. Yes, you read that correctly. Because of the fact that we live in a time where time seems to fly faster than even the Flash himself, it has been ten years since 2013. I’m as baffled about that fact as you are but the truth is the truth. Of all the things that I look back on about the year 2013, the main thing that really stands out for me was how great of a year it was in terms of video games. No matter what your favorite genre or series of games are, there was a good chance you were satisfied with what you got from them in 2013 (unless you’re a Pac-Man or Sonic fan).

I honestly believe there’s a strong argument to be made that 2013 was perhaps the best year of gaming of the 21st century thus far. There was way too many bangers released at the same time that it was so hard to chose which ones to play at the time they came out and which ones to hold off of until the hype had died down. I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for gamers everywhere to make a top 10 list of their favorite games that year. As we look back on gaming in 2013, I want to celebrate by naming my top 15 favorite games that came out in that exact year.

I do want to make a couple of disclaimers. Firstly, I never did own a PlayStation 3 or a Wii U. So any game that was made exclusively from those consoles and never got ported anywhere else will NOT be on this list. Secondly, this lists ONLY include games that I’ve actually played. So, don’t expect to see games such as DmC: Devil May Cry, The Stanley Parable, The Wolf Among Us, and Pikmin 3 on this list. Gaming is expensive and I only purchase games that I’m actually interested in playing and believe will give me my full money’s worth. Thirdly, as is with any list I post on here, this is strictly my opinion. I shouldn’t have to say that but since this is the internet, I think you know why I should mention that.

Anyways, now onto the main list.

15.) Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman: Arkham Origins gets a bad rep. Whether it’s due to not matching up to the quality of the Rocksteady games or the misleading marketing of it, this is considered to be the black sheep of the series. However, when you actually look at the game for what it is and not strictly for what it isn’t, there’s plenty to like here. The gameplay is still fluid and fun, seeing Bruce Wayne in his younger, more reckless stage as Batman is engaging, and it hands down has the best boss fights in the entire Arkham franchise. You can definitely argue that this is a “filler” game but as “filler” games go, this is about as good as these kind of games can get.

14.) Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

I’m not the biggest Assassin’s Creed person out there but I would be foolish to ignore how enjoyable Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is. The open worlds are gorgeous and fun to explore, there’s plenty of content and side missions to keep you distract while completing the main course, and I can’t recall a game in recent memory that gave you the most satisfying experience as being a pirate. Only a forgettable story and too many tailing missions prevent this from being even higher on the list. Even if you are not a fan of Assassin’s Creed, I would say give this a shot because it’s one of the better entries in the series.

13.) Injustice: Gods Among Us

What did you get when you basically have DC’s answer to Marvel vs Capcom and Mortal Kombat, you get Injustice: Gods Among Us. This is a fighting game that can basically appeal to anyone, whether it’s hardcore gamers, casual gamers, or die hard comic book/superhero fans. You get access to anyone of your favorite superheroes throughout DC Comic’s history and pit them all against each other. Throw in a compelling story of Superman losing his powers and going full dictator with an impressive rose gallery of any notable DC hero or villain, Injustice: Gods Among Us is able to deliver exactly the kind of fighting game that it sets itself out to be with nothing convincing you that you won’t get your full money’s worth out of it.

12.) Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon

I’ve never played the original or even the third game but this game along with the series itself makes for a very intriguing one for Mario’s lovable younger brother, Luigi. There’s something so genius about creating a game where Luigi has to navigate through a haunted mansion and face his greatest fears, that being ghosts. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon makes for one really entertaining action-adventure game all around that provides a very unique spin to the Mario franchise and giving Luigi the perfect spotlight to shine.

11.) Rayman Legends

For those looking for a good and well-made platformer that is able to be challenging and frustrating in the best of ways, look no further than Rayman Legends. This has the looks, feels, and creativity of an very effective platformer that will always kick your ass but you will always feel eager to play through it until you beat it regardless. With a bunch of surprises thrown in, beautifully colored background, fair difficulty spikes, and overall fantastic level design, Rayman Legends is about as good as 2D platformers can get and in some respects, is even better than that.

10.) Super Mario 3D World

I didn’t get to play this game until it came to the Switch in 2021. While this is not the best Mario game ever made, Super Mario 3D World is easily one of the more “fun” ones. This is the one Mario game that would introduce one of the most satisfying power-ups in the series with the catsuit allowing you to climb walls and use a scratch attack. It’s also nice to have Princess Peach be a playable character this time around who joins Luigi and Toad to save the day and not just be a simply damsel in distress once again. Yes, it’s certainly not the hardest game ever made but for those that just want to kick back and relax with a straightforward Mario game, this will definitely do the job for you.

9.) The Last of Us

It’s certainly a hot take to have this one rated this low on the list. I imagine everyone and their mother and their grandmother has this in their top 3 at least. From the engaging narrative to the air tight gameplay to the groundbreaking graphics to the impressive sound/voice work, there’s a lot to love about The Last of Us. What holds it back for me is how there are times throughout the game where it feels like it’s trying to be more of a movie or tv series than an actual game (which is ironic considering this would eventually be adapted to a tv series). I’m also not a fan of the completely abrupted ending and the clickers are the most annoying enemy in any video game I’ve ever played. Still, from a technical, narrative, and even gameplay standpoint, The Last of Us is immensely impressive but it’s just not a game that I go back to a lot. It’s an experience that feels very one and done for me but it’s no doubt an experience that is worth experiencing.

8.) Deadpool

The critics were harsh on this one when it came out. While many praised the fourth-wall breaking humor and the meta-filled plot, major criticisms was filled at the gameplay being too dull and repetitive, being compared unfavorably to the Batman: Arkham series. However, speaking as someone who is a big fan of the character, I found Deadpool to be every bit as fun as the Batman: Arkham games. Yes, the gameplay itself is simple and straight forward but it never grew that tiring to me because of how fun and creative the combat was along with containing plenty of amusing quips and laughs throughout that really pulls it through. Nolan North is perfect as the character of Deadpool and I enjoyed all the callbacks, Easter eggs, and references to all the other Marvel properties. It’s not high art by any means but for those who are in need of a good Deadpool fix, this game should do you nicely.

7.) Pokémon X/Y

The ultimate Pokémon game for the 3DS is no other than Pokémon X and Y! It’s able to make use of the 3DS feature completely by added in new gimmicks and features that never hinder the experience. There hasn’t been a Pokémon game quite like that is able to find the right balance of all these different elements into something grand and making it a cohesive whole. It’s able to bring in the things that fans of the previous games have loved about the franchise while also adding in new elements that will appeal to newcomers. When comparing X and Y to the rest of the games in the series, it makes for one of the most consistent and socially-connected Pokémon adventures yet!

6.) Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

And while we are talking about games that’s pure unapologetic, over-the-top fun, how about Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, a game that takes the obscurity of Metal Gear and cranks it up to 11. Whether you are looking at this game as a slashing action-packed adventure or even as the game’s overall story about modern politics that unironically predicted the future of America ahead of time (And I’m not just saying that because there’s a character that literally utters the line, “I’ll make America GREAT AGAIN!”), there is something in here for any kind of hardcore gamer. Add in a really rocking soundtrack, fun boss fights, and all the hashing and slashing imaginable, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance makes for one entertaining adventure in the Metal Gear canon. Yes, Solid Snake is not present this time around but that does not ruin the game whatsoever and shows this series can have an identity without him.

5.) Grand Theft Auto V

I know this game has been overexposed and re-released as much as about any video game ever has. However, if you can close your eyes and imagine yourself back to 2013 when this game came out, then you have a Grand Theft Auto game that is the absolute complete package. Whether you are playing the main campaign, going through online modes, or even messing around and causing chaos just for the sake of getting the police force up your ass, there’s nothing here that won’t keep you entertained whenever you are playing it. This is a game that basically lets you do whatever you want and there is nothing stopping you from trying out whatever you like. Has the hype and success around this game along with Rocksteady continuing to remaster it over and over again diminished the reputation of it a bit? Absolutely! But when looking back on it without the hate-filled glasses on, Grand Theft Auto V is no doubt a game that is a must-own for any gamer to add to their collection.

4.) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

We all love a good Zelda game but for me, the best kind of Zelda games are ones that feel the most relaxing and comforting to play. Before Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom perfected that relaxing and comfort level for me, A Link Between Worlds was able to accomplish that with great wonders. Taking the familiar overworld of A Link to the Past and able to reimagine it greatly for the 3DS, this is one of the most pure fun games in the series and possibly the best experience that Link has ever had in 2D form. Add some impressive 3D visuals, highly entertaining puzzles, a new, revised item-collection system that adds to the gameplay experience, and a terrific open world to explore, you got one of the best Zelda game of all time with A Link Between Worlds.

3.) Tomb Raider (2013)

Talk about how to a serious reboot of a series right! While undoubtedly taking a page from the Uncharted, the modern update of Tomb Raider is able to embrace everything that fans have loved about the character of Lara Croft over the years while also being able to stand by itself perfectly as it’s own unique thing. The graphics are breathtaking, the gameplay contains the perfect mix of combat, platforming, and exploring, the set pieces are terrific and never make you forget you are playing a video game, the voice acting all around, especially with Camilla Ludington as Lara Croft herself, is outstanding, and Lara herself has never been a more compelling and engaging character than she has ever had. While I can flip a coin as to whether this or it’s sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider is the better game, Tomb Raider (2013) is no doubt one of the best gaming reboots to date and one of my personal favorite action-adventure games.

2.) Fire Emblem Awakening

There was not a single game in 2013 that I put in more time and hours in than Fire Emblem: Awakening. This is easily one of the most addictive RPG games that I’ve ever played and possibly even my favorite game on the 3DS. Whereas most games of this genre tend to get bogged down in insane difficulty spikes, dull-looking maps, and muted graphics, Awakening is able to be much more welcoming to those not familiar with the genre and also be more rewarding at the same time. The story itself is engaging, the character themselves are compelling, the lore and world building is intriguing, each power-up, level-up, and weapon upgrade of each character you control is addicting, and by the end, the whole experience is immensely satisfying. Whether you are a newcomer to the series or not, this is a huge recommendation for those that own a 3DS.

1.) Bioshock Infinite

When it came to games released in 2013 that surprised me, entertained me, impressive me, and kept me engaged the whole way through with no notable flaws to be had, I can’t think of a game that hit those bullet points to me as hard as Bioshock Infinite. This game gives you everything you can possibly ask for when it comes to a first-person shooter. The shooting gameplay itself is immensely fun that never wears out it’s welcome, there’s so many unique weapons to choose from that always adds to the experience, the graphics are out of this world, the art design is perfect and matches the Bioshock world completely, the storytelling is some of the best in any video game I’ve played, the mature themes the game provides still resonates with me a full decade later, the voice and sound work is absolutely superb, and Booker and Elizabeth has to be one of the most engaging pairing in not just video games but in any work of fiction that I’ve ever seen. Call of this high praise hyperbole if you want but there was not a game in 2013 that satisfied me more than Bioshock Infinite. I’ve already beating this game five times before and I would be more than welcome to do it all over again. Bioshock Infinite is not only my favorite game of 2013, it’s one of my favorite FPS games to date and one of my personal favorite games period. I can not praise this game enough!

It’s been just over one month since Major League Baseball has kicked off in 2023! In a year where there were rule changes designed to speed up the clock and get more action in the game, there has been plenty of things that folks did not see coming to start the year. There’s the Tampa Bay Rays who won 13 games in a row to start the year, the New York Yankees that had been severely bit by the injury bug and then some, the Chicago White Sox’s supposed championship window that has been multiple years in the making has blown up in their faces, and of course the Pittsburgh Pirates of all teams are in sole possession of 1st place in their own respective division. However, I don’t think there hasn’t been anything as shocking, flabbergasted and even amusing to watch from the rest of the baseball world than the abysmal start of the St. Louis Cardinals. With the exception of fans of the Oakland A’s who will now be forced to watch their declining team depart for Las Vegas in the coming years, there has not been a fanbase in baseball that has suffered quite as much this season than that of the St. Louis Cardinals.

After today’s 11-7 defeat against the Los Angeles Angels, the Cardinals are now at a dreadful record of 10-22, the worst record in the National League and only behind the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics for worst record in all of baseball. It’s their worst start to a season since 1973, literally 50 years ago, and the first time they’ve finished 12 games under 500. since 1999, the year which saw the movie releases of The Matrix, Fight Club, Toy Story 2, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The Cardinals has been a fairly consistent and successful franchise since the beginning of the 21st century, having only one losing season to speak off which occurred in 2007, a year after their 10th World Series title. Unless they are able to pull a devil magic fueled run out of their butts for the remainder of the season, this will likely be the first losing season since then. While the Cardinals being this bad at baseball might be surprising (and even delightful) to the rest of the baseball world, if you were to ask fans of St. Louis, this is honestly something you could almost see coming from a mile away.

Despite the Cardinals coming into the season as favorites to win the NL Central for the second straight year and were even dark horse candidates for a World Series run by some, they had some glaring issues that their front office refused to address in the offseason that could hold them back. They had a starting rotation that was projected to be one of the worst in baseball with no ace or notable top pitcher to speak off, they had to deal with a much more balanced schedule and not having as much games against weak division opponents, the banning of shifts which aided them the last few years with their stellar defense backing up their pitch-to-contact starters, and the notable retiring of two faces of the franchise with Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. And all that President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak and crew had to response to those issues during the offseason was the signing of the best free agent catcher on the market in Willson Contreras and literally nothing else. Even with those glaring flaws not being addressed, the Cardinals still believed themselves to be contenders for 2023. After all, they had six starting pitchers, according to Mo himself!

Needless to say, putting blind fate in a severely flawed rotation and expecting the offense to mash their way to six or more runs per game has backfired severely for the Redbirds. This was something that Cardinals fans going into the season were well aware of but for whatever reason, the front office and management were either unaware of or just didn’t care to address. However, this had been a notable problem for at least the last few coming years. I’ve already address the main things that St. Louis was going to be without coming into the season but let’s go over some of them one-by-one to show how the “success” the Cardinals have had in recent memory may not be as impressive as one might think and why their dreadful start seemed like it was years in the making.

A More Balanced Schedule

As much as the Cardinals have had a winning record for the last 16 years, one has to wonder how much of that is credited to how bad the others teams in their division has been and not just how good St. Louis has been. Yes, the Cardinals were able to make successful playoff runs in the early 2010s where they were a legit threat to other teams but how about in recent memory.

Since their early postseason exit to their longtime rival Chicago Cubs in the 2015 NLDS, the Cardinals have only won one playoff series and lost 11 of the 15 playoff games that they have played in, including losing 9 of their last 10. Which again, begs the question of how much of those playoff appearances mostly came from wining enough games against weak division opponents such as the Reds, Pirates, and other teams that weren’t trying to win for the past few years, and not because they are actual legit competitors.

All you had to do was look at the St. Louis Cardinals last year. Despite having an impressive record of 93-69 during the regular season, they were 34-38 (34-40 if you count the playoffs) against teams with winning records and just 47-41 facing teams outside of the NL Central. Which is why their two-game sweep in the playoffs at home against the Philadelphia Phillies should not have been as shocking as it was. Heck, even I mention that the Phillies shouldn’t be underestimated back last October since they have more experience against competitive teams such as the Braves and Mets in their divisions last year and I was right.

Regardless of what you could say about the Cardinals last year, they were no longer gonna be able to beat up on as many crappy teams for 2023 as they’ve done before, due to a more balanced schedule where everyone has to play everyone. It was their chance to prove to the world that they have been real competitors all this time instead of pretenders. Unfortunately for them, they are surely looking like pretenders.

The Banning of Defensive Shifts

I’m honestly shocked this wasn’t talked about more during the offseason than it was as a potential downside for this team in 2023. For a team that had a rotation filled with pitch-to-contact guys and had been relying on gold glove caliber defense to win games, the removing of the shifts was gonna play a HUGE factor to this season. And the Cardinals have SUFFERED as a result.

You would be hard pressed to have seen a team this year that has suffered from giving up hits that always manage to sneak pass the defense because they can’t shift, bloop hits that bounces in the least likely spot possible, and constantly failing to put away hitters when they are down to their last strike within an at-bat. Not having any notable swing-and-miss starters was going to put the defense to the test and that team has not been up to the task whatsoever.

The defense has been one of the Cardinals’ greatest strength for the last few years, most notably in 2021 where the team won a combined total of five gold glove awards, the first team in MLB history to accomplish that. However, one can’t wonder if that had more to do with the defensive shifts being included in prior years that than their actual skills on defense. That’s not to discredit the defense as a whole but they were gonna have to be WAY more affective than they are now to be able to back up their pitching staff.

Losing Legends

It was always going to be a tough hole to fill with longtime faces of the franchises and future hall of famers in Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina heading into retirement after last year. Even when Albert departed in free agency after 2011, the Cards still had Yadi front and center as being an exceptional catcher and leader to carry them ever since then. However, they are now gone and a good chunk of that leadership that was able to carry the team for nearly the past two decades would be gone. Even with the other beloved Cardinal veteran in Adam Wainwright deciding to return for one last season, who has provided great leadership over his career in St. Louis, it was going to be much more glaring than anyone realized.

To give the front office credit, they did go out and get the best possible replacement for Yadi in the offseason with the addition of Willson Contreras, who left the divisional rival Cubs. While his framing of pitches and calling games would be much to desire, his strong arm and elite offense should be enough to overcome these obstacles. It wouldn’t be Yadi but at least it seems like his successor would be a legendary one. However, that does not seem to be the case whatsoever. While the offensive numbers from Contreras have been solid to start the season thus far, his framing pitches, calling games, and chemistry with the pitching staff has been far from it.

Again, it’s hard to hell how much of this is actually Contreras’s fault and more of how Cardinals have just been spoiled by Yadi for the past 18 years. The Cardinals has had a similar pitching staff for years now but they’ve never been as bad as they are now. Is it just that Yadi was just a once in a generation catcher that was so masterful at framing, calling games, and carrying the pitching staff for so long that anyone that follows him was gonna look bad in comparison? Is it that Contreras is just a bad catcher whose only notable strength is his arm and bat? Is it just that this starting rotation was as ever bit as weak as it was projected to be for this season? Regardless of what your answers are to any of these questions, the absence of Yadier Molina has left an enormous impact.

While the noticeable lack of Yadi can be found with what goes on in play on the field, it has also greatly affected what goes on off the field as well. Manager Oli Marmol had a successful rookie season as manager in 2022 by winning 93 wins and winning the Central division. However, with how bad the Cards have been to start the year, how much of last year’s success can actually be contributed to his managerial skills. A big portion of the blame for St. Louis poor display of baseball can be contributed to Marmol’s questionable in-game decision making, outspoken comments on particular umpires, calling out his own players, most notably Tyler O’Neill, and having little to no feel for the game. It makes you wonder how much of last year’s success could be contribute by the veteran leadership from the likes of Albert and Yadi than it does with Marmol.

Even taking away losing two veteran leaders and future hall of famers, this is mostly the same Cardinal team from last year that won their division with only notable differences being the addition of Wilson Contreras and the subtraction of Jose Quintana. Not to mention, Molina had been gone for a good chunk of his final season and Pujols didn’t really take off his swan song surge until after the All-Star break. Even if you take in the fact that they will have less games to beat up on the Reds and Pirates (who they are currently behind in the division), it’s baffling how a team that is mostly young with a handful of well-known veteran players still present could be this bad. Which again goes back to the manger Oli Marmol.

Did Marmol ever form a connection with the players in the past year or was it just the veteran leaders who were on their goodbye tour that motivate the players to play their butts off? Was it actually Albert and Yadi that the players was playing for and not the manager himself? No one has an definitive answer for it but once again, the lack of their presence has made results quite noticeable.

Yes, you can also argue that superstars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado could be considered veteran leaders as well but they haven’t really been known for having success in the playoffs nor have they come close to winning a ring. Not to mention, they have been on several losing teams over the years with their previous teams they were a part off. While the Cardinals are never comfortable with losing, Goldy and Nolan have been for quite some time during their time with the Diamondbacks and Rockies. After being a part of a bunch of bad seasons with their previous teams, how’s another one going to hurt for them?

It’s not fair to blame it all solely on Goldschmidt and Arenado but it does make you wonder if the two are as quiet and stoic off the field as they are on the field. While there’s a strong argument that those two will be future hall-of-famers due to the success in the regular season, their lack of credible leadership has not made this start for the Cardinals any better whatsoever.

It Was All Leading Up To This

In all hindsight, this honestly feels more than just an ordinary bad season like the Cardinals’ last losing season in 2007. At least, that team was coming off of a World Series win and playoff runs in six of the last seven years. A down year after a championship victory was easier for fans to swallow. Unfortunately, now that we basically live in the age of “What have you done for me lately?”, the 2023 Cardinals have no recent success to look back on that they can be proud off. It’s been 12 years since the team’s last World Series title, 10 years since the team’s last World Series appearance, and even 9 years since their last actual National League Championship series victory. Since then, they haven’t really come close to another successful playoff run and it’s looking like they will not have another one anytime soon. This is mainly because the problems that the Cardinals have right now are ones that have been incredibly obvious in this organization for the past several years, from top to bottom.

Thus far, the 2023 season basically feels like a tribute to every screw-up and mistake this front office has made since the 2011 title. From the awful free agents signings to the dreadful talent evaluation to the poor development of prospects to the inexperience coaching/management to the lack of a plan, vision, or any accountability from the higher ups, reality is finally starting to settle in for the Redbirds. Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same!

The only difference with this season is that there will be NOTHING that can bail them out this time like it has done in previous years. They no longer have weak division opponents to beat off of because they have now improved over the years. They no longer have defensive shifts to back up their pitch-to-contact filled pitching staff because the shifts are no more. They no longer have proven winning veterans that can guide the team through tough stretches because they are now long gone. And I’m fairly certain that there’s NOT gonna be another historic 17-game winning streak or collapse on par with the 2011 Braves and 2021 Padres that will be able to get them in the playoffs because they no longer have the heart, identity, or so-called “pixie dust” they have had over the years. The baseball gods have at long last stop giving the Cardinals their blessings, now it’s payment time. And that payment has resulted in the franchise’s worst start in 50 years and as the season goes on, could be one of the worst seasons in this franchise’s massive history.

Can They Turn It Around?

Of course, some will argue that it’s still early and that there is five more months of baseball left to play. After all, this is a team that just two years ago were able to pull an historic 17-game winning streak to get into the playoffs. You can also look at teams in recent memory that were able to make impressive World Series runs despite having terrible starts to their seasons such as the 2019 Washington Nationals or last year’s Philadelphia Phillies. While that is still technically possible, I just don’t see that happening because of all the faults that are present with this roster that can’t be fixed with a soft patch, most notably the starting pitching.

The 2019 Nationals had a starting rotation filled with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin (at least when he was good), and Anibal Sanchez. The 2022 Phillies had arguably the best #1 and #2 punch in all of baseball in Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola. Aside from maybe Jordan Montgomery (who will be departing in free agency at the end of the year), the Cardinals have absolutely no one even close to the level of the pitchers mention. The starting pitching has range from inconsistent to just plain awful and that will likely not change.

They do have Adam Wainwright who is expected to come back soon and perhaps young top prospects such as Matthew Liberatore or Michael McGreevy might add a bit of a spark to the rotation but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. With the lack of a true firearm, swing-and-miss starter, or a notable ace of any kind, any chance of a resurgence like previous teams mentions is incredibly unlikely. And please don’t bring up the 2011 Cardinals, that drum has been beat FAR too many times for nearly the past decade.

Unless there’s a big change in the front office and management or the roster that has underachieved for the first 32 games is able to MASSIVELY overachieve for the remaining 130 games, I do not sense a turn around coming anytime soon. At best, they might finish in 3rd or 4th place in the division and just beat out from being in the bottom 10 in baseball but that’s about it. The glaring flaws from the organization from top to bottom can no longer be controlled and there isn’t enough proven talent that can overcome them the way they have done in the past. If the 2022 Cardinals was the equivalent of writing a bike with training wheels, the 2023 Cardinals is the equivalent of writing a bike for the first time without them and crashing hard into a tree as a result.

The End Of A Dream

As I’ve suffered watching this team consistently finding ways to lose game after game, it doesn’t have me thinking of what’s gonna happen for the rest of the season but more what’s going to happen to this team in the future. And I can’t help but thinking that this season is just a start of a long, rough road ahead. This is basically what has been in the makings for several years now and it’s finally caught up.

As of right now, there is no ace-caliber pitcher in the system, no reliable or proven outfielders, no notable leaders, no proper face of the franchise, and they no longer have as many bad teams to beat up on as they’ve done in the years past. These aren’t problems that can be fixed over the course of a season or off-season, these are problems that are going to take YEARS to fix. I’m talking fresh new philosophies in the hitting and pitching department, experienced coaching and managing that know how to develop their talent and use analytics properly, and a new front office that knows how to observe and evaluate the talent they have without letting an Sandy Alcantara or Randy Arozarena slip away. Unfortunately, that looks like that won’t be the case anytime soon.

Owner Bill Dewitt Jr. is clearly on John Mozeliak’s side every step of the way and has provided him with more job security than the President of the United States. At best, it will take multiple disastrous seasons such as this for there to be a massive change from the people responsible for the construction of this team. And that does not sound like a team that is pleasant to watch whatsoever.

Because of all that and more, this is the first time I can recall as a fan that I just don’t have any hope or interest in this team going forward. They clearly have no plan or vision for the future and have been relying on blind luck to carry them to over 82 wins and wild card clinches since 2016. Now, that luck has officially ran out and as everyone in baseball can now tell, they have no answers or solutions to any of the problems presented. If the people in charge of this mess don’t know or care how to fix this, then why should I bother spending my time with it.

I will always have plenty of memories from this team to fall back on that can never be taken away. I’m grateful to have see this team win multiple times and witness a couple of World Series championships before my very eyes. However, I think now might be a proper time to take a long break from the team. Say for next month where I may or may not go with my family to watch this team on the road against the Texas Rangers, I have no desire to attend another game until something big changes for the future. Everyone involved with the Cardinals FO have had undeniable successes in the past but they have long past their expiration date and it’s time to move on from them. If not, then prepare for seasons such as this one for the foreseeable future, Cardinals fans. We have one dark future ahead of us.

Do you remember when the Guardians of the Galaxy were the underdogs? Do you remember when no one aside from hardcore comic book fans knew of their very existence? Do you remember when this was an untested property that was for sure to fail simply because it wasn’t another traditional installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, back when it was simply just Iron Man and his amazing friends? Well, here we are now nearly a full decade later and these a-holes are still around.

Not only is Guardians of the Galaxy one of the more beloved series within the MCU but it’s also one of the only remaining properties left from Marvel to be a guaranteed financial hit based on the name alone. And with Vol. 3 set to be the conclusion to this iteration of the Guardians, they are about to lose another one. While that might be a negative from a business standpoint, it is surely a positive from an artistic and creative one. Not only does it give director/writer James Gunn the chance to end his Marvel run on a high note before he departs full time to course the upcoming DC universe, it’s able to provide something that very little comic book movie trilogies have nowadays, an actual definite ending.

Make no mistake, there is nothing that is on Gunn’s mind throughout Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 than given the trilogy that he started a truly satisfying conclusion with the characters that he loves from the bottom of his heart. There’s no concern with setting up other movies, there’s no attempt to get you interested in whatever comes next, and it’s not even trying to be the so-called “savior” of the MCU. The only goal it sets for itself is to give a good and proper farewell to what is arguably Marvel’s most surprising franchise yet. In all of those regards, it succeeds entirely.

While there is some flaws to be had, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is simply fantastic. It’s every bit as good as the first two, and in many regards even better, it instantly joins the list of some of the very best work in the MCU, and it will no doubt satisfy audiences that are just craving for one last adventure with their favorite band of galactic misfits. It’s far in a way the most mature of the Guardians movies, every character gets a meaningful arc or moment to shine, it’s themes around family and friendship are more meaningful than ever before, and even some of the shortcomings of the more recent entries (mainly the CGI and VFX work) are actually some of the very strengths of the film. While there will certainly be plenty that will be put off guard with how different it is compared to the first two Guardians movies in regards to tone and feel, it’s clear that nothing in this movie is included without purpose. James Gunn knew exactly the movie he set himself out to make with this one and he accomplishes it greatly.

(Warning: The following premise might contain some mild spoilers for the movie. The reason I say this is because there is a certain subplot/element that the trailers have not touched upon. It’s not a huge spoiler as it’s revealed early on in the movie but for those that want to go into this movie completely blind, be warned.)

Plot Synopsis: Taking place after the events of The Holiday Special, we see the Guardians adjusting to life on the planet Knowhere, where Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still grieving over the lost of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and constantly getting flat-out drunk in the process. One night, a powerful golden A.I. created by the Sovereign named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) is sent to Knowhere to find Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and bring him back to High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), the mad scientist responsible for making our favorite trash panda the way he is now. While Warlock fails his mission to retrieve him after encountering the other Guardians members, Rocket is left badly wounded and on the verge of death.

The team tries to heal Rocket until Nebula (Karen Gillan) explains that any attempt to operate on him will trigger a fail-safe device inside of him that could potentially kill the raccoon. It’s then that the Guardians team of Starlord, Nebula, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (Vin Diesel) set themselves on a mission to retrieve the code that will turn off the fail-safe device that is inside Rocket in order to save his life. Of course, they can’t do it themselves as they also seek the help from Gamora, who once again is the Gamora from 2014 and not the one that Peter fell in love with, who is with the Ravagers, led by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone) and also has Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Yondu’s second-in command, who is still around.

Meanwhile, as Rocket is on his potential death bed, he has constant flashbacks to his time with the High Evolutionary, where he was experimented and tortured along with his friends. The High Evolutionary is a sinister monster who has a goal of trying to make everyone and everything “perfect” while creating a new Earth that is filled with nothing but perfection. The Guardians of the Galaxy find themselves facing their biggest challenge yet, not only to save the galaxy from the High Evolutionary but also saves their own well-beings.

When reading that plot synopsis, you might think that sounds quite dark for a movie about the Guardians of the Galaxy along with taking place within the MCU. And you would be right! This story plays out as grim and somber as you would imagine that certainly earns it’s PG-13 rating (and that’s not just because it’s the first MCU movie with a f-bomb added to it). By diving into the past sins of the Guardians along with flashback scenes about how Rocket Raccoon got created the way they did, Gunn leaves no stone unturned and isn’t afraid to have his audience witness these bleak events along with these characters.

To be sure, the movie still contains the typical humor and comedy that the Marvel movies are known for with plenty of amusing gags and quips throughout that adds enough light to the bleakness of the story. However, unlike with most other MCU movies, the humor serves a purpose and adds to the characters themselves. They aren’t simply joking around because they are in an MCU movie, they are joking to hide from that sense of sorrow that they are feeling deep down and it’s just who they are. It’s manages to be the darkest of the Guardians movies while also the funniest of the Guardians movies without it ever coming across as too jarring.

The biggest hook with the Guardians of the Galaxy other than the weirdness and sci-fi elements is with the characters themselves. At this point, James Gunn basically assumes you love these characters to death and are willing to go through any journey with them. After going through their own movies where they save the galaxy and the crossover movies where they (somewhat) save the entire universe, here we see the Guardians saving themselves….along with a handful of others. It’s not only their raccoon friend that’s dying, it’s their emotional well-beings and the thought how the next mistake they make could be the last one. And if that is made, did they do what they wanted to accomplish for themselves or do they need to fight for that second chance to do so?

Did Peter Quill need to make amends with his grandfather to feel whole again? Does Mantis need her own identity aside from being a servant to Ego or a member of the Guardians? Does Gamora need to be the Gamora that the family remembers to be accepted? Does Rocket really need to run towards the monster who made him instead of running away from him to fulfill his destiny? Can Nebula turn her sister the way she did to herself? Can Drax serve a purpose that doesn’t involve sacrificing himself to be with his family again? Can Groot say anything other than I am groot? All those questions in more helps showcases just how far the Guardians are willing to go to save themselves because at this point, they all know that they love each other just as much as the audience loves them.

What really helps here are the performances of the main cast that certainly give it their all and deliver their finest performances to date. Chris Pratt is able to deliver the emotional beats as well as he has ever had as Star Lord, so much so that the moments where he’s being quippy can be seen as coming out of nowhere even when it’s what the character has been doing all along. Zoe Saldana finds even more depth to Gamora, where she basically has to play a character that is not the ones that was with the Guardians with the first two movies and Infinity War, and is able to absolutely sell it. Karen Gillian is great at helping showcasing just how far the character of Nebula as come since her somewhat extended cameo in the first movie. Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff are just as lovable, funny, and charming as they’ve been in the previous movies as Drax and Mantis. Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, despite always appearing in and out of the film whenever the script needs it, blends well with the rest of the cast as well as Linda Cardellini as Lylla, Rocket’s female friend. The other returning cast members from the previous movies such as Sean Gunn’s Kraglin, Sylvester Stallone’s Stakar, and Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha are recognizable but still enjoyable to see.

The two biggest standout performances however comes from Chukwudi Iwjui as the main bad guy of High Evolutionary and Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. High Evolutionary makes for hands down the most HATEABLE bad guy in the entire MCU, one that you absolute love to LOATHE for all the sinister things that he has done and his bats*it crazy plan. This all makes it the more better with Iwjui’s performance who strikes a fine line between going full ham and being a legit threat at the same time. When it comes to Bradley Cooper as Rocket, this might go down as the very best performance in the entire MCU. Although he plays less of the sarcastic, wise-cracking raccoon, he’s able to give an emotional and vulnerable performance of being a little fella that’s on life support. Cooper has proven to be a great dramatic actor on occasions but I don’t I’ve ever seen him tackle a role quite like this.

In terms of production, this is a huge step-up from previous MCU movies. While there’s is obvious CGI and effects added to the picture, it never feels jarring or out of place. This is a beautiful film to look at because of how clear the vision of James Gunn is on screen. I don’t know if it’s because there was more time added to this than other MCU movies or because Gunn is just a more experience director but this is still a visually dazzling film that never becomes unpleasant to look at. The action sequences, while a bit few and far in between compare to the other Guardians movies, are quite good with one extended, one-camera sequence in the climax being the clear standout of the picture. These scenes are cut, clean, and easy to follow/enjoy while they are happening. And of course, the music choices are just as inspired as the previous Guardians movies and the original score by John Murphy might just be the best of the trilogy.

In terms of downsides, there are times to where the movie does move too fast to get from one emotional beat to the next, which mostly involves characters talking about their past mistakes much faster than they should even if the situation they are in calls for it. There’s also the subplot involving Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock that makes sense thematically but feels disconnected with the rest of the movie in terms of story. And there’s also a plot element that’s introduces during the third act that feels tacked on and seems to only exist to add more tension towards the second half of the climax.

Even so, even when these movies are not perfect, they always feel right. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is able to successfully hit all the beats it needs to give fans and audiences a satisfying ending to it’s trilogy along with showing off how Marvel can still find ways to deliver quality entertainment, even when it might seem like they’ve reached their limits. It’s able to be funny, dark, sad, engaging, and deliver the highest and most personal stakes of all the three Guardians movies.

I don’t know what the future holds for the MCU or the team members that live to fight another day but at this moment, I don’t really care. All I wanted from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was for it to deliver a conclusion that felt definite and right. And if you ask me, it was no doubt able to deliver a famously huge third.

Other comments:

• Yes, there are two post credit scenes!

• And yes, I saved the worst pun for last!

• Btw, I’m not joking when I said this is the darkest and bleakest of these movies. Fair warning to children taking their kids to see this, there are some haunting flashbacks scenes with Rocket involving animal abuse and extermination. If you think that’s too much for your children to handle, then you might want to skip out on this one.

• How in the world do you give the MCU’s first F bomb to Chris Pratt and NOT Samuel L Jackson? Kevin Feige better answer for that!

• Nebula might honestly be the most developed character in the entire MCU! Her arc throughout these movies is just magnificent!

• I know James Gunn loves his friends and family but maybe cool it with the constant cameos off them for future DC movies. Or at least make them less recognizable!

• Love the shout-out to St. Charles, Missouri!

After being hinted at for a long while, it has finally happened. The writers of the Writer’s Guild of America has gone on strike once again. On April 18th, 97.85% of members of the WGA labor union of screenwriters in the USA agreed to go on strike if they fail to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the major film and television studios of Hollywood by May 1st. No deal was agreed upon and because of that, today officially begins the newest strike among the WGA.

Of course, this is not the first time a strike has occurred involving writers in film and television. No one could forget the strike that occurred from November 5th, 2007 to February 12th, 2008. Despite the strike only lasting for a little over three months, film and tv quite suffered the next few years because of it. With tv, it mostly involved talk shows with well-known people such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Craig Ferguson, Conan O’Brien, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Jay Leno. With film, well…..let’s just say we got Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and leave it at that.

Just like that the strike that took place in the 2000s, the main talk shows that are more well-known will be affected by the current one that just happened. The shows of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Bill Maher were all shut down immediately due to the writers of those shows taking part of the strike and will be cancelled until further notice. And I’m sure movies will take a huge affect by this with the coming years that will offer plenty of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallens for our viewing pleasures.

When looking at the way film is going now, a strike involving writers is the last thing that needed to happen. Theaters had been taking it a hit in the 2020s thanks to the global pandemic which pretty much encourages plenty of folks out there to just stay home and watch something instead of going out and spending their hard earned money to see it in theaters. Sure, there are a few exceptions such as Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water but there’s not nearly enough experiences being made strictly for the big screens that have many people motivated to watch them outside of their own home. So much so, that more and more movies are now being release digitally as soon as possible in the hopes of being able to make the quickest buck imaginable before the said movie becomes out of the conversation. You don’t believe me, Evil Dead Rise is going to be available on digital next week, which would be just THREE weeks after it came out in theaters. Whether that’s due to the recent success of streaming services and studios feeling they can gain more viewership through is beyond me but no doubt it’s taking a hit.

That being said, the writers of the entertainment industry deserve all the credit and respect in the world for standing up for themselves because they feel like they are not being paid fairly. After all, these are the folks that are writing the scripts for the entertainment that we watch and consume. It’s only fair that they deserve a good portion of the credit whenever a certain show or film is a success. Yes, directing, acting, the visual work, and soundtrack are important things to a production but so is writing. If there’s anybody that deserves a fair wage to writing the scripts and screenplays to these successful and even non successful entertainment content, it’s the writers.

Despite it being the worst time for a writer’s strike, it’s also the most proper one. The Covid-19 pandemic has went on for over three years now and we have been slowly working out way to get things back where they used to be. There should not be any salary concerns for those in Hollywood since a good portion of the movies and shows affected by the pandemic have come out now. If there is, then I think that says more about the higher ups that refuses to pay the writers fairly than it says about Covid. If that is the case, then this strike is 100% warranted. And if AMPTP thinks it isn’t, then they better find a way to resolve it ASAP or else films and television will take a even bigger dive nose in quality than it did after the last strike.

Speaking as someone that inspires to be a writer, I 100% support the WGA entirely. They are far from perfect but they are undoubtedly the hardest working men and women in the entertainment industry and we would not get all these stories if it weren’t for them. Because of all that and more, they deserved to be paid properly. I hope the situation resolves quickly so this won’t affect the future of film and tv too badly but if it does, then the AMPTP and anyone else that supports them will have no one to blame but themselves with the dreadful aftermath that will come for this.

Nevertheless, the 2023 strike of the Writer’s Guild of America has commenced. This day, May 2nd, will be yet another important day to look back upon as the start of something big.

Back in February, I did a retrospective marathon of the three Batman: Arkham games developed by Rocksteady. Initially, I decided to do that marathon because I recently played through those games and wanted to write about them in anticipation for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the next game to come from Rocksteady and their first one for home consoles since concluding the Arkham series in 2015 with Arkham Knight. While that turned out to be too soon/pointless as the game has been delayed yet again until February 2024, I certainly did have fun talking about those games and giving my perspectives on them.

When it comes to Batman: Arkham Knight, while a critical and commercial success, there were certain things that stuck out about the game that left many fans feeling underwhelmed. While I still found it to be a great game in it’s own right and a strong conclusion to the series, I did find myself agreeing with the two most common criticisms of the game that held it back for a lot of people. Those two main criticism being the addition of the Batmobile and the character of the Arkham Knight itself. Granted, the Batmobile itself was something that really only got on my nerves towards the last third of the game to where it became very tedious and bloated with too many tank battles. The Arkham Knight, on the other hand, I certainly had issues with.

During my Arkham Knight retrospective, I claimed I wanted to make an entire piece talking about the character of the Arkham Knight himself and why I don’t think he works in the context of this game. Ever since I first beat Batman: Arkham Knight, there was something about the Arkham Knight himself that just didn’t land with me. While the idea of having a mysterious opponent that knows Batman’s every mood is interesting on paper, the execution of it in the game was quite iffy. It was only in my recent playthrough that I was able to understand why the Arkham Knight itself doesn’t work for me and I imagine for many others as well. However, before we talk about the main issues with the Arkham Knight, let’s first discuss who the Arkham Knight really is.

(Spoilers from here on out! You have been warned!)

Who Is The Arkham Knight?

Right before the main confrontation with Scarecrow, it is revealed that the Arkham Knight itself is no other than Jason Todd. For those unaware, Jason Todd was formerly known as Robin, Batman’s sidekick, and also is know in other Batman media as the Red Hood. The two had a strong bonding together until one day, Jason was thought to be dead by Batman. However, his death was faked by the Joker and held him captive at an abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum for over a year to break his sanity. The Joker would torture him on a daily basis until one day, he filmed himself shooting Jason at point blank rage, supposedly killing him. Joker sent Batman the film of his staged execution, which made Bruce himself believe that Jason was in fact dead. However, once again, that was all fake.

Sometime after being left for dead by the Joker, Jason was able to survive being shot at and was able to escape from the Asylum. According to the prequel comic book of Batman: Arkham Knight along with a 6-issue miniseries titled Batman: Arkham Knight Genesis, Jason had planned his vengeance against Batman by spending years assembling and training his own militia in Venezuela with the help of deadly assassin Deathstroke. It’s then he would later transform himself into the Arkham Knight itself. Once he was fully prepared and trained, the Arkham Knight would team up with Scarecrow on a Halloween night to take over Gotham City and destroy Batman once and for all.

When looking at those ideas and set-ups, it sounds really interesting. However, once you play the game, I couldn’t help but feel the Arkham Knight itself left plenty to be desired. Here are the main reasons why:

No Build-Up

The first main issue is how the character of Jason Todd seems to come out of nowhere in the context of the Arkhamverse itself. At this point and time, the universe of these games was so well-defined and explained where you basically knew every single important character in Batman’s lore. From his allies to his villains, there was no more room to throw in any more.

That didn’t stop Rocksteady from wanting to add in the story of Jason Todd/The Red Hood and have that be the main hook of the game. Before Arkham Knight, there was little to no build-up towards a potential appearance of Jason Todd himself. Sure, some might argue there was a reference or two from the other games but that was clearly all that it was meant to be, a reference or two, and not setting up Jason Todd later on down the road in the series. The Bat family had already been introduced and defined with Alfred, Robin, Nightwing, and Oracle/Batgirl. There was nothing hinting about another member of that family that happened to exist in Bruce’s decade-plus run as Batman in this timeline.

It’s also hard to buy how Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective, wasn’t able to discover an abandon wing in Arkham Asylum and find that’s where the Joker has been hiding Jason all along. If it was another place in Gotham City, I could buy that. But the Arkham Asylum itself, where Batman frequently visits to lock up the major criminals, no chance whatsoever. Yes, I know it was technically over just one single year but that is still plenty of time for Batman to be able to discover a secret hideout of his greatest enemy.

The inclusion of Jason Todd this late into the series comes across as a giant-cop out from Rocksteady. Instead of being able to come up with a wholly original villain of their own, they just made a re-skin version of another well-known Batman foe except with a different grudge against the Caped Crusader. While one could argue that Arkham City introducing as much allies as it did that weren’t in Arkham Asylum was starting to push it, having Jason Todd come out of practically nowhere at the last second is where Rocksteady took it a step too far in that regard.

He’s Not Scary Or Intimating

This might be more of an subjective criticism but another main problem I had when confronting the Arkham Knight was that I was never scared or intimated by him. Throughout the game, he is constantly going on and on how he knows everything about Batman and how he’s gonna kill him. Whenever he talks like that, I don’t get afraid of him, I just want him to shut up!

I get the Arkham Knight is suppose to have a grudge and obsession with Batman but his constant gloating gets tiresome really quick. By the third or fourth time you confront him and he is still going on and on about how much better he is than Batman, you are over his threats and almost want to mute the game every time he shows up. The character always talks and acts like he’s intimating but he barely ever showcases it throughout the game.

The Arkham Knight doesn’t really do anything worthy of making him stand out as a menacing bad guy in his own right except for capturing Barbara. Sure, he leads his own militia forces that would take over Gotham but almost any other Batman villain could do exactly that so that’s not worth giving credit where it’s due. If anything, it’s basically Scarecrow that forces the citizens of Gotham to evacuate as unleashed the fear toxin is what helps them take control of the city.

Rocksteady was clearly motivated to make a mysterious bad guy that would get under the skin of Batman but it honestly felt like he more got under the skin of the players more, which I don’t think was the intention. Instead of the Arkham Knight being scary or intimating, he was mostly just annoying. And considering he’s suppose to be one of the two main villains and represent the title of the actual game, that’s not a good thing whatsoever.

Lack Of A Satisfying Resolution

When you are building a character throughout the majority of the story and keeping their identity a secret for a long time, you have to make sure you find the proper resolution for that story arc so that it does not feel like so much time was wasted on keeping that identity a secret. Unfortunately, Arkham Knight falls into that exact trap with the way it wraps up the story of Jason Todd, both with the campaign and the Red Hood DLC story pack.

Once Batman defeats Jason after he reveals himself to be the Arkham Knight, he tries to convince his fallen Robin to come back home and find redemption in himself again. Because Jason feels like there is no redemption left in him, he refuses and escapes from Batman. At that point, he had now fully accepts his identity as no longer the Arkham Knight but now as the Red Hood.

However, during the final confrontation with Scarecrow after he unmasks Batman and threatens to kill him, the Red Hood appears and frees Bruce from captivity, who subdues Scarecrow with his own fear toxin. And then, he disappears once again and that’s about it. He just stops by as almost a deus ex machina to save Batman to let him defeat Scarecrow and then screws off again.

We don’t get a resolution, we don’t know if Jason just did that because he wanted to help Batman or he just hates Scarecrow more, and we don’t even get a dialogue exchange between the two or even a word spoken of him. He just comes in as some last heroic act and then goes back to being whoever the hell he is now. Is he now a hero, villain, or anti-hero? Your guess is as good as mine.

And before anyone makes a comment, we should also talk about the Red Hood DLC story pack that was released sometime after the game’s official release.

Since I imagine everyone had similar complaints as I did, Rocksteady would later release DLC for the Red Hood which was meant to take place after the events of Arkham Knight where Jason Todd has fully embraced his identity as Red Hood and goes up against Black Mask. It’s during the DLC where you go up against Black Mask and his army killing them off one-by-one, which ends with Red Hood bringing Black Mask to his death by tossing him out the window. While the concept of taking control of Red Hood, who is basically Batman with no restrictions, is fun in terms of gameplay, it’s very unsatisfying in terms of story.

All of this basically means that Jason himself has learned nothing from his experience as the Arkham Knight. His noble act at the end of the main story of saving Batman basically means nothing as he just went back to being the exact same guy as the Red Hood as he was as the Arkham Knight. So much so, that it feels like there’s very little difference between the two. It makes you wonder why they even bothered to have Jason take on two different identities if he never really changed as either one of them. Sure, he’s more of a killer this time than he was as the Arkham Knight but the game itself basically states that the only thing stopping himself from killing Batman and those close to him is strictly due to Scarecrow wanting them alive and not because he’s too cold to pull the trigger. And yes, I know that’s technically faithful to the source material to have Red Hood going off and killing his foes but that further goes to show how little he fits in this story.

You would also think that Batman would have at least wanted to check in on Red Hood to see where he had gone before faking his own death. Did he just assume Jason would be the same Robin he had before after saving him or that Robin and Nightwing would just track him down themselves? It’s way too much of an important plot detail to simply gloss over and makes you wonder if Bruce had second thoughts on activating the Knightfall Protocol before letting the Red Hood become a thing?

With so much time focused on this character and the way his identity was kept a secret from the majority of the game, you had to have the most satisfying payoff to his story imaginable that perfectly tied everything together to make it all worthwhile. Unfortunately, the way that the Arkham Knight/Red Hood story concludes left me as empty as it possibly could have been.

Marketing Over Storytelling

Back in 2013, a blockbuster known as Star Trek: Into Darkness made it’s way to theaters. Up to that film’s release, the marketing campaign tried their hardest to keep the mystery of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character a secret. Right when the trailers debuted, many Trekkies figured that character, who at the time was named John Harrison, would be the well-known series antagonist, Khan Noonien Singh. Despite the efforts from director J.J. Abrams and Benedict Cumberbatch of trying to throw everyone off by claiming that wasn’t Khan, it was revealed about an hour into the movie that the character of John Harrison was in fact Khan himself.

Even to this day, it felt like such a bizarre marketing tragedy to keep his identity a secret. Not only was the reveal of Khan thuddingly obvious to anyone who is familiar with Star Trek, but it served no importance to the narrative of the movie. Characters such as Kirk and Spock have virtually no reaction to that reveal and him being Khan didn’t really seemed to change anything aspect about the character. When looking at it from a fan’s standpoint, the reveal felt pointless and obvious. When looking at it from a casual audience standpoint, the reveal likely had them scratching their head in confusion because they had no idea what John Harrison being Khan was suppose to mean. It came across as hollow fan service that I don’t think even the people who wrote the script understood themselves.

Khan in Star Trek: Into Darkness was basically an incident of a character existing solely for the purpose of marketing and not because the character itself adds anything to the story. While handled in a different fashion, I can’t help but feel like Rocksteady fell into a similar trapping with the way they handled the Arkham itself in terms of the marketing for him and the story revolving around him.

To give credit to Rocksteady, the Arkham Knight itself was certainly MUCH better handled than with Khan in Into Darkness. At least the mystery of who the Arkham Knight is plays some importance to the narrative of the story and does provide some context from the source material as to who Jason Todd is and why him being a main villain is a shocking reveal to those not familiar with Batman lore. While the Arkham Knight is certainly more functional than Khan, I still can’t help but feel like the character’s main existence serves more from a marketing standpoint and not a storytelling one.

Similar to the lead-up to Into Darkness, Rocksteady did try to throw everyone off of who their mysterious character was. They even went on record that the Arkham Knight would be a completely original character created by themselves with collaboration from DC Comics. While that might technically be true from a certain point of view (*insert Luke Skywalker’s “A certain point of view?”*), from another view that basically comes across a blatant lie. Yes, the character of the Arkham Knight himself is an original one as this was the game that the character debuted in, but the identity of who he is not original in the slightest.

For those who are unaware of who Jason Todd was before this game, he was formally known in previous Batman lore as the Red Hood. In the film Batman: Under The Red Hood, he was a former apprentice of Batman who was left for dead, tortured by the Joker, was left dead again, and then survive to pursue his own sort of vigilante justice. Except this time, he would go a step further and kill his enemies one-by-one instead of sending them to jail. However, at a certain point in the film, the Red Hood reveals to Batman that he is no other than Jason Todd himself, his student who he thought was dead but is fully alive. If you are paying attention, the backstory of the Red Hood in the movie is basically the exact same as that of the Arkham Knight. However, there is one slight chance, his grudge against Batman.

In Under the Red Hood, Jason actually forgives Bruce for not saving him as he felt that he had every reason to believe he was dead. What pushed him over the edge was the fact that Batman had let the Joker live and never killed him despite the fact that the clown prince of crime may have been responsible for the death of his own partner. It’s then that Batman gives a fantastic speech as to why he hasn’t killed the Joker or any of his main enemies. Even though he has constantly thought about torturing and killing the Joker many times, he will not do it because if he starts to kill there, he may never stop once he starts down that dark path.

In the context of the Arkham Knight, Jason’s grudge against Batman is changed completely. They can’t have him being pissed at Batman for the Joker being alive because he’s now dead. So, they decided to make it to where Jason is in fact ticked at Batman for leaving him to die with the Joker and replacing him with haste. That in of itself might make for an engaging conflict for some but because Jason himself has had little to no build up in the series up to this point, the whole thing feels very tacked on and isn’t as important as the game wants you to believe.

Before the reveal, the only context we are given of Jason in the Arkhamverse is through these out-of-nowhere flashback sequences where we see the Joker torturing Jason Todd before he shoots him on camera, potentially killing him. Not to mention, these sections don’t appear until about a 3/4 of the way into the game and is inserted in the most forced and awkward way possible. I don’t know if it’s because Rocksteady thought that waiting that long to reveal Jason Todd would make it more appealing but at that point, anyone who hadn’t guessed who the Arkham Knight is yet probably had it spelt out for them during these sequences. Instead of feeling like smart foreshadowing, it comes across more as stalling an inevitable fate.

What makes it even worse is how little the Arkham Knight actually matters in terms of the story. The only main thing he accomplishes on his own that any other one of Batman foes couldn’t is that he captures Barbara and helps Batman at the very end. Just about anything else he does in the game is either a.) not important or b.) could have been handled by any other one of Batman foes. Despite being a part of the main title of the game and is suppose to be the main draw of the game, the Arkham Knight practically feels like a footnote in his own game.

This is where we go back to the marketing over storytelling claimed I made earlier. After Arkham City ended with Joker dying and having DLC later on with Harley Quinn attempting to get her revenge, Rocksteady likely found themselves hitting a brick wall on who the main villain of the next game would be. Because they felt like Scarecrow himself wouldn’t be enough to draw people in, they decided to make a mysterious “new” baddie for Batman to take down. Even if the character is basically a re-skinned version of another known Batman character, just change up his name and appearance so the marketing can set him up as being the main ultimate bad guy so that might get people interested in seeing how the Arkham series would conclude. While that makes for clever marketing, I don’t think it made for the best storytelling for the game. While it’s certainly not the worse version of this trend, the Arkham Knight plays with that exact trend nonetheless.

In Conclusion

Despite my main criticisms, I don’t think the Arkham Knight himself is a bad character or one that I hate. I just don’t think he works for this story.

The reveal of Jason Todd as the Arkham Knight is too obvious and on the nose, there’s hardly anything that makes him standout as being the next worthy foe of Batman, he’s not scary or menacing, there’s no satisfying resolution to this story, and he doesn’t have as much of a presence as the game thinks he actually does. While there are a few redeemable qualities to him such as the idea around him, his sick suit and Troy Baker’s performance, the character himself left plenty to be desired.

Above all, the Arkham Knight himself just seems like a character made for marketing purposes and not for story purposes. It’s as if Rocksteady was too caught up in trying to sell everyone of making their own badass villain that they never bother to put in as much effort into making sure he fits with the story organically.

This all makes me wonder how Paul Dini, the long-time Batman writer who wrote the scripts for Asylum and City, would have tackled the character of the Arkham Knight himself if Rocksteady had him return for this game. Would he gone the same direction as they did? Would he had Damian Wayne be the Arkham Knight instead? Would he had used a fully original character and find a way to make it fit in the context of the Arkhamverse? We will never know the answer to any of that but that is a question I imagine many Batman fans are still asking themselves to this day.

Let this be a lesson to future storytellers out there. When crafting a character whose identity is suppose to be a mystery and have that be the main selling point, make sure to put just as much (if not more) effort into the storytelling of the character as you do with the marketing. In order for a mysterious character to work, they have to be a character that makes sense in their own right and be interesting enough to where future viewings or playthroughs won’t be harmed once you know who the character really is.

While I still stand by the fact that Batman: Arkham Knight itself is a great game that ended the Arkham series on a high note, I also stand with the fact that while not necessarily being bad in his own right, the Arkham Knight just doesn’t work in the context of the Arkhamverse.

Yes, this is the real review!

There are times where being a reviewer is hard. This mostly comes from reviewing something based off an IP that you grew up loving that is clearly meant to revoke the nostalgia in you and remind you why you loved that property in the first place but doesn’t really have anything else to offer besides that. In the case of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, this is an example of a movie that basically walks a fine line between the fanboy mindset and the cynical mindset.

The fanboy mindset tells me that this might just be the most faithful video game adaption (with the exception of Arcane and The Last of Us) to date with breathtaking animation, amusing worth building, fun action setpieces, an outstanding original score, plenty of easter eggs, callbacks, and references from the games, fan favorite characters that get at least one or two moments to shine, and a voice cast which despite being celebrities, surprisingly fit quite well in their roles. Then comes the cynical mindset which can go on about the movie’s by-the-numbers storytelling, forced gags, awkwardly insert tracks, sticking to certain genre cliches to a T, and probably doesn’t work for those who aren’t fond of the source material it’s based on.

While I can totally see someone leaning one way or the other, by the end of the day, you have to remember what you are getting yourself into and what kind of movie you are watching. If you are someone that goes into a Mario movie in hopes to have storytelling, character development, and depth on par with the likes of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, then you really didn’t know what you are getting into and will likely be disappointed. However, if you are someone that goes into a Mario movie for the eye popping visuals, fun set pieces, iconic tracks getting remastered, seeing some of your favorite characters using your favorite power-ups, and just enjoy finding the easter eggs in something you like, then you will likely have a good time. For me, I leaned into the latter and because of that, I quite enjoyed myself.

Is it a great movie overall? No! Does it contain some elements that I’ve grown tiresome with Illumination Animation? Definitely! But, is it a Mario movie that feels like it was made by fans for fans? Absolutely!

Plot Synopsis: Based off the extremely successful video game franchise from Nintendo, we have an origin story for the brothers and Italian American plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day). During accomplishing a job for their struggling plumbing business, Mario and Luigi are split up as they find themselves teleported to the alternate world known as the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s soon discover that the two find themselves entangled in a battle between Mushroom Kingdom, led by their princess named Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and the Koopas, led by the evil, menacing Bowser (Jack Black).

As Luigi find himself captive by Bowser himself, Mario is right outside the Mushroom Kingdom where he runs into Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) who takes him to Princess Peach herself. Peach, who has had plenty of experience in combat and adventuring, plans to stop Bowser by forging an alliance with the Jungle Kingdom led by King Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) and his son Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen). Once the princess meets Mario, she agrees to have him tag along to help save his brother, Luigi but must first teach Mario how to actually be the Mario we all know and love and be his guide across the Mushroom Kingdom.

We then see Mario, Peach, and Toad go on an adventure together to stop Bowser and save Luigi before Bowser himself is able to carry out his deadly plan to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom and force the princess to be his bride.

Let’s first get this out of the way since this has been a common criticism of the movie. Yes, the plot is very thin and straight forward with as much meaning as the scene in the original game where Toad says, “Sorry, Mario! Your princess is in another castle!” (which this movie references in the best way). Just like the games, it mostly exists just for characters to get from Point A to Point B and show off the amazing and colorful worlds that Mario and crew have to fight their way towards. There’s not much themes of the movie other than, the power of brotherhood and being an underdog can be cool sometimes, and most of the plots beats and character arcs are ones you can see coming from a mile away. However, isn’t that Mario at his core?

I’m not one to excuse lazy writing but in this case, it feels more like proper writing. Mario isn’t really known as a character with much depth and his stories tend to be lighthearted, straight forward fairytale-like plots where he needs to stop Bowser and save someone or something in the process. Is that much? No. Is it Mario! Absolutely yes! The story itself isn’t anything we never seen before but again, who really goes into a Mario movie for the story?

I imagine the elements that fans go into a Mario movie for is to see their favorite Italian plumber and his allies go on adventures together, performing platforming sections, unlock special power abilities, explore the ins-and-outs of the world, listen to some good tunes, ride a go-kart or two, and be amazed by the amazing visuals. If that’s what you are going into a Mario movie for, then you should be more than satisfied as the movie delivers all of that exactly as you want.

The animation as you would expect for any big animated movie nowadays is STUNNING! The worlds and characters themselves look incredibly gorgeous and feel like they were ripped straight from the games. So much so, there are times to where it feels like these could be cutscenes ripped directly from a Mario game in 2023 and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The way that each characters goes from different locations scattered throughout is an absolute treat for the eyes. If it wasn’t for the scenes in Brooklyn with the hilariously out-of-place looking dogs that looks it was ripped from The Secret Life of Pets, I wouldn’t even have guessed this was from Illumination Animation as well.

And as I’ve stated in the beginning, I don’t think I have seen a more faithful adaption in movie form than with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The movie is filled with callbacks and references to the games that it’s able to perfectly translated onto the big screen. Think about at least one noteworthy thing from your favorite Mario games and there’s a good chance it’s in this movie. We get the classic power-ups such as red mushrooms, blue mushrooms, red flowers, blue flowers, and even the tanooki suit! We get the castle that is taking directly from Super Mario 64! We get a Peach’s training course which is taking directly from Super Mario Maker! We get a rainbow road track that’s taking directly from Mario Kart Wii and 8! And we even get a cameo with *Spoiler!* from *Spoiler*!

While I’m sure plenty will claim that is too much fan service, but I honestly don’t know how the movie could have worked without it. I imagine most fans of the games will want the movie to remind them of the games. After all these years of folks complaining about how video game movies are nothing like the games, are we really now gonna complain when video game movies are actually similar to the games? I’m not a hypocrite so I wouldn’t do that.

When it comes to the voice cast, while it’s certainly full of recognizable celebrities, they do fit their roles quite well. First off, YES, Chris Pratt is just fine as Mario! Despite all of the controversy surrounding his casting (admittedly from me as well), especially with the fact that he’s not Italian or has an accent, he’s able to hold his own just fine as the Italian Plumber without ever become obnoxious or hard to listen to. It does take a moment or two to get use to his voice but once I did, I didn’t hear Star Lord or Emmet trying to play Mario, I just heard Mario. And for those wondering, yes the accent thing is immediately addressed in the movie.

Everyone else is just fine as well. Charlie Day is likable as Luigi and has great chemistry with Pratt, even if he doesn’t have nearly as much screen time as I would have liked. Anya Taylor-Joy brings enough charm and personality to this stronger version of Peach that felt like a mix of between her character in 3D World and Super Smash Bros. Keegan-Michael Key brings plenty of laughs as Toad and has probably some of the funnier moments in the movie. Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong sounds exactly what you would expect Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong to sound like. Charles Martinet, the original voice of Mario and Luigi, is able to shine on his own with the cameos he’s given to voice. Lastly, Jack Black as Bowser is absolute perfection as you knew he would be and that’s all that needs to be said about that!

In terms of the music, this is where I start to get into the negatives with this movie. When it comes to the original tracks and remixes by Brian Tyler and Koji Kondo, they are stellar. I can imagine those two had the time of their lives being able to take these iconic tracks that has help shaped the identity of Mario and make it something of their own. So much so, that this might be one of the few times where I actually want to buy the soundtrack of the movie because of how good it sounds. It’s the tracks from other things that are inserted in here that took me out of it.

While the songs they chose aren’t bad in their own rights, they don’t feel like they have a place in a Mario movie. Say what you will about the Sonic The Hedgehog movies having well-known songs but it made more sense there since it was live-action and meant to be taking place in the real world with real humans. For Mario, even when it technically takes place in a real world of Brooklyn, is not a world which well-known songs should be added in, just original tracks and songs from it’s own thing. That’s part of where the Illumination animation influence of the movie bothered me.

I’m gonna go on record of saying that I am normally not a fan of the movies by Illumination Animation. They often tend to make the most average, run-of-the-mill, kids movies imaginable that try to be as safe and disposable as possible just because it’s for kids. While I enjoyed the original Despicable Me just fine, I’ve had a hard time of connecting to any other movie that they’ve made since then. So the fact that I enjoyed The Super Mario Bros Movie should not be seen as a compliment on their part. If anything, it feels more like I enjoyed the movie in spite of Illumination and not because of them.

Much like other Illumination movies, there are times to where the movie is too gagged heavy, moves too fast, and doesn’t give you a lot of moments to breathe and get yourself sucked into the Mario worlds as we know it. It’s not as bad as in their other movies mostly because there’s just too many eye-popping scenes involving the Mario characters doing something we liked from the games, it’s never given a chance to bring the whole thing down. I give credit to Nintendo on that part as they clearly made sure that this doesn’t get screwed up.

The biggest negative of the movie has to do with the treatment of Luigi himself. While I’m glad they were able to keep the innocent and fraidy-cat personality that Luigi has always had, he gets quite sidelined throughout the good majority of the movie because he exists just to be a captured victim for Bowser. I get that the filmmakers didn’t want to make Peach the damsel in distress this time around and probably thought that Luigi getting kidnapped by Bowser would make Mario more motivated to stop the monster for their first ever encounter but it certainly doesn’t do the character or even movie any favors. There’s almost a good half-hour of the movie where the character vanishes completely and you almost completely forget he’s actually in it. I can almost forgive that because he is giving at least one awesome scene in the climax, but it certainly makes the title of The Super Mario Bros. Movie a tad misleading since it’s mostly just Mario with the focus and not Luigi. If anything, this movie would have been better off not having any damsel in distress except for toads or adorable looking creatures and just had Luigi join alongside Mario, Peach, and Toad to save the day.

I’ll admit, if I was not a fan of Mario or had no attachment to the character, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this movie as much and just see it as another “meh” kids movie from Illumination. But, because I am a fan, I was quite satisfied. If anyone that has been a fan of Mario at some point in their life, I can’t imagine they won’t have some sort of satisfaction with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

I understand we live in a time where movies with “fan service” are getting quite tiresome and “critic/fanboy proof” but this is one of the rare occasions to where it’s just find for it to be complete fan service and nothing more to justify it’s existence. Because it’s clear that the cast and crew were having a lot of fun making this movie and I had a lot of fun watching it.

If you want a recent animated movie with more effort put to storytelling and character development, go watch Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (which you REALLY should) or wait for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse to come out in June. If you want a Mario movie that feels like the most faithful adaption of the games possible, go watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Other comments:

• Yes, this is the real review and how I actually felt about the movie!

• Yes, there are two post-credit scenes!

• Ironic how a movie that has been described as an “Easter egg” movie is being released the same time as Easter weekend! Just all too fitting!

• There’s one scene in the movie with Bowser singing a song for Peach that is a perfect reminder that Jack Black has a lovely singing voice.

• I can’t be the only one that thought of Elsa from Frozen when Peach got her ice power-up! You knew darn well that Illumination purposely ripped that off because they just couldn’t help themselves. It was still cool tho.

• If you are expecting a lot of Yoshi or even any form of Yoshi, prepare for disappointment! And no that “tease” does NOT help either!

• There’s at least one scene in the climax that was about as goosebumps heavy as the scene in Sonic 2 where Sonic turns into his Super form! It’s just something the child in me as been waiting for my whole life to see!

• I might do a list of my Top 10 Favorite Mario Games this weekend because why not?

John Wick: Chapter 4 has been out for over a week now. I’m sure most of those that were wanting to see the film has already seen it by now. Because of that, now is a good time to talk about the big spoilers for the picture, particularly it’s rather surprising ending. While I haven’t seen too many thoughts about the the ending, I would imagine people are rather split down the middle of it or possibly even confused about it.

Although, I do think the one ringing question that anyone has about it is whether or not the franchise itself will stand by that ending? Despite it being the best way to wrap up story of John Wick himself and have his whole journey come full circle, will Lionsgate toss the ending aside and make it a footnote for the future just so the John Wick universe itself can keep going? First off, we have to discuss what the ending was itself and everything that has led up to it.

*Warning! The rest of this article contains MAJOR spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want anything spoilers, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*

So, basically the whole journey of John Wick: Chapter 4 has to do with John Wick himself taking the entire High Table head on with the knowledge of having both nothing and everything to live for at the same time. While there’s not anyone too attach to himself that would scar him mentally as the death of his wife and their dog did, the thought of sucking down that one last breath without avenging the death of his loved ones is something that John Wick just cannot bear. Which is why we constantly see John pursuing himself beyond measures and not stop until the High Table is stopped which would granted his freedom.

After we go through one of the most thoroughly impressive stairwell fight scenes in any film, we see John and his old pal Caine come together for one last showdown, one which was arranged from that High Table that would take place at sunset. The one that is guaranteed to gain the freedom of whoever survives the encounter. With that freedom, their name will be cleared and whoever lives will no longer be hunted by the High Table ever again.

During the showdown, John and Caine suffer serious wounds after the first two rounds of dueling. The third round comes to a halt when Caine shoots John for a third time where John appears to have missed. It’s then that De Gramont is so eager to watch John die that he wants to take matters into his own hand and kill the hitman himself. But, as it turns out, John did not actually fire the third bullet yet and uses that shot he has to kill De Gramont point blank.

After that, the Harbinger grants Caine and John their freedom from the High Table while Wintson is reinstated. While Caine is able to walk away with his injuries, John is not so fortunate. Instead, he collapses on the staircase and reminisces the lasting memories of his life and marriage that he can now fully put behind him. Now that he is free, he can rest. And rest is exactly what comes next for John, permanently.

Once he takes that one last glorious moment to remind himself that he has avenged his wife, dog, and himself, John Wick passes way due to his injuries. Sometime later, Winston and the Bowery King send their farewells to John at a gravesite where he is buried next of his wife, Helen.

He’s Dead,……Jim?

So, yep John Wick is dead! Despite everything that John has survived throughout the course of these movies and his entire life as a deadly assassin, that is what kills him. A couple of gunshots to the gut that he just didn’t have enough time to recover from. While I imagine that can be viewed as rather anticlimactic by some people to have that be the end of John Wick, I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.

I’m sure John himself could have pushed himself to survive those wounds and get it treated immediately if he wanted to. I mean this is a guy that was able to walk away after getting run over by a car repeatedly, smashed through glass walls, be thrown from one floor to another, and even survive falling down a building. If he could make it through all of that, why can’t he just do it again? The short answer: Because he had no reason to.

The main driving force for John and the reason he came out of retirement since the first movie was to hunt down his feared enemies had to do with the unfinished deeds surrounding his wife and the dog that she left behind for him. That’s why for all the stabs, punches, and gunshots he’s taken, he made himself recover from all of that. Why? Because he still had a purpose to serve, a job to serve, and a deed to finish. Without any of those, John Wick had no reason to continue doing what he does beat. However, now that he accomplishes everything he set himself out to do, he can now rest and is hopefully somewhere up top and leaving peacefully with his wife and their dog. Or, that’s at least what they wants us to think.

Will Lionsgate Stand By The Ending?

Of course, the big question is whether or not they will actually stand by that ending. After all, Lionsgate had already announced plans for a Chapter 5 before Chapter 4 was even finished, with the idea of shooting Chapter 4 and 5 back-to-back. However, that idea was eventually scraped as Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski wanting to just focus strictly on making the fourth movie. The two had also came out before the movie released that they were looking to take a break from the series and give themselves a rest for it.

However, after the early strong box office numbers for Chapter 4, there seems to be some motivation from Lionsgate to make a Chapter 5, when Stahelski even recently claiming that he would be open to return for another John Wick picture. It remains to be seen if we will get a Chapter 5 sometime soon but even then, I think we’ve gotten to a place within the universe of John Wick that it might be time to draw the focus on other characters outside of John Wick himself.

The Potential Future

We know that there is a Ballerina movie in the works with Ana De Armas that is set to come out next summer. That sounds intriguing, especially after seeing De Armas hold her own in her awesome extended cameo in No Time To Die, but that might just open the box for plenty of other interesting side stories that can be told in this universe.

There’s characters such as Sophia and Akira that have interesting backstories and connections to John Wick along with having perfect set-ups that could lead to their own movies or series. And if the post-credit scene of Chapter 4 is any indication, with Caine returning to Paris to reunite with his daughter but is approached by Akira, that could potentially be the direction that this franchise is looking towards. Whether or not Chapter 5 is made, there is still other stories that can be told without John Wick being the sole focus that could keep people interested in this franchise for the future.

I’m not gonna act like I know the future of John Wick as your guess is as good as mine. Even so, Chapter 4 does a great job of tying up the loose ends from the previous movies and having the entire series come to satisfying conclusive circle. Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahleski had a lot to be proud of with what they’ve accomplished with this series and I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with next.

Until then, I hope the two of them are enjoying a nice relaxing vacation in Hawaii. And make sure to go see John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters because it rocks!

Every year, there comes that one film that just blows you away. That one film that just speaks to you on a personal level and changes the way you think about yourself. You don’t know how or why but it just amazes you in every way. It gives you hope for not just movies but in humanity! When it comes to all the movies that I’ve seen this year, there is not one that has fit that description perfectly than Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey. It’s easily the best Winnie The Pooh movie ever made and definitely better than all of that Disney crap that didn’t understand the character. It’s the darkest Winnie The Pooh movie to date and finally gives the fans of the character the serious tone they have been looking for along with addressing all the complaints that everyone had about the Disney adaptions. It’s an instant horror movie classic that delivers the scares, kills, and gores that we’ve all been waiting for. And it’s the best movie of 2023! Take that John Wick and Marvel!

Premise: Christopher Robin is headed off to college and he has abandoned his old friends, Pooh and Piglet, which then leads to the duo embracing their inner monsters.

I would go further with the plot description but I don’t know if I can. Not because I don’t wanna spoil anything since there’s really nothing to spoil about the movie but I couldn’t tell you what the story is aside from that. It’s all over the place with it constantly cutting back and forth to the Winnie the Pooh characters, Christopher Robin, and whoever else is in the movie. There’s also the fact that there are undeveloped characters and tacky subplots that come in out of nowhere, then completely disappear for long stretches of the movie before reappearing again out of nowhere, and it all turns out to be complete pointless by the end of the movie. But hey, who cares about any of that right? If you want a good story or character development, go read a book or something. What anyone cares about in a horror movie is the scares and kills and oh man, do they deliver!

This is one of the most scary movies I’ve even seen in my life. Even though it’s basically the same cheap jump scare over and over and over again, I still fell for it every single time because of how well it’s done. Every time Pooh comes out of nowhere to scare Christopher Robin or his girlfriend, it was so terrifying that it made me look behind my back to see if he was right there about to get me as well. If a movie can terrify you so much that it makes you believe that the scary person is literally right there with you when you are watching it, then it’s definitely doing something right.

And don’t even get me started on the kills, this has some of the most bloodiest, goriest, and satisfying kills in any horror movie I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly better than the ones that was in Scream 6 where it didn’t even look real at all. This however, felt so real that I basically felt the character’s pain. During that scene where Pooh and Piglet are torturing Christopher Robin by whipping him repeatedly in his naked back, I felt every single bit of that pain. So much so that I nearly threw out my back trying to put lotion on it just to make sure that I didn’t too feel the pain. That other scene where Pooh is going around and murdering Christopher Robin’s friends with a hammer blows any killing scene in any Texas Chainsaw movie out of the water.

The best thing about this move however is how it accomplishes the one thing that all fans of Winnie the Pooh have always wanted to see, Pooh and his friends getting revenge on Christopher Robin for abandoning them. Unlike that Disney live-action movie that was too scared to go into that because they have to make it kid-friendly, this one is finally able to deliver the perfect story of vengeance that everyone has been wanting to see. Never mind the fact that Christopher Robin was getting older, had to move on with his life, and Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Owl and Rabbit aren’t even suppose to be real, that little bastard abandoned the only friends he ever had and deserves all the scorn he get. It’s such an empowering, uplifting story of time, loneliness, and abandonment. It reminds us that we are not alone and there is always someone that will stab us in the back. And when that happens, you can stabbed them in the back as well. It’s only fair after all.

From a directing and production standpoint, well, it’s quite shitty. The directing is all over the place, the editing is choppy, and the blood and gore just look like ketchup and spaghetti and meatballs. But then again, it was the director’s first ever big mainstream movie so he deserves some slack. Plus, he was only given a budget of 100,000 dollars, so it’s not like you can expect it to be actually good. Never mind the fact that well-known movies such as Clerks and The Blair Witch Project were made for even less of that budget but then again, who cares. Who watches a movie for that anyway? If you wanna watch something with good direction or production, go watch a Broadway musical or something.

One more thing that is worth mentioning are the performances from these actors and actresses who I have never heard off and don’t remember their names from the credits. However, that’s a good thing because it allows themselves to completely embody their roles without having you think of any well-known actor that it completely takes you out of it. Unlike in say Christopher Robin where I never bought Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin and I just saw Obi-Wan Kenobi pretending to be Christopher Robin. The fact this cast is so unknown that they don’t even have their own Wikipedia article makes it all the more better because it makes you realize that anyone can act professionally. Sure, the moments where they have to cry and be scare fall flat because you can tell that they are either inexperienced or not being directed very bell, but then again, who cares. If you wanna watch something with good acting, go watch a play or something.

Overall, Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey is about as pitch perfect as movies can get. It’s scary, terrifying, contains plenty of scares and kills, takes itself incredibly seriously, and finally gives Christopher Robin the brutal death that asshole has deserved for all these years. Sure, it’s poorly made, written, acted, and does basically nothing new or interesting in it’s premise but who cares when it’s a literal masterpiece.

Hollywood should take notes from this movie! It’s then they might realize that it’s time to stop making these movies based off of children properties and make them strictly for adults. The kids have had their chance but it’s the adults that matter now! And if Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey is anything to go by, then the future of cinema is safe. It’s the best movie of the year and the best movie of the decade so far! Forget about that Dungeons and Dragons crap or that new woke Mario movie, this is what movies are about!

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April Fools btw!

How much John Wick is too much John Wick? That has to be the one question that everyone behind these movies has had to ask themselves after making each each new installment. As much fun as it is to watch Keanu Reeves kicking ass acting like he’s still one of the best action stars out there (He still is!), there comes a point where that will no longer be as impressive or exciting. Even though we will always cheers on the heroes to win every battle, none of that will mean a thing until someday they are able to win the war. Which was perhaps the one big fault of John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum, a movie that by design set itself up to be the concluding chapter of the story only to reveal itself towards the ending to being another big piece of a glorified puzzle. The same thing can’t be said for Chapter 4, a movie that takes all of the build up from the previous three movies and have it all pay off in a way that gives the complete sense of finality. Whether or not this will actually be the final chapter in the story of John Wick remains to be seen but if it is, then I can’t think of a more magnificent note to go out on.

Not only is John Wick: Chapter 4 perhaps the best movie in this franchise, it essentially joins the list of some of the best action movies ever made and perhaps the best action movie overall since Mad Max: Fury Road and Mission Impossible: Fallout. Yes, the action has never been better choregraphed and executed than it has been here. Yes, the cinematography and pure scope have never looked and felt better than it does here. Yes, just about every noteworthy person in the cast get a moment to shine and scenes that stand out so well you can’t wait until someone uploads them to YouTube. Yes, the near three-hour runtime does not feel daunting in any way. However, what is most impressive of all is how it is able to wrap up the four-movie arc of John Wick in a way that just feels complete and right.

Synopsis: Taking place sometime after the events of Chapter 3, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is still hiding underground with Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) as he prepares to take vengeance against the High Table. Once he is ready to head back into action, his first step is to go to Morocco and kill the Elder there, the only individual member above the High Table. Shortly after that deadly deed is done, the word gets outs quickly of the Elder’s death which makes the High Table realizes that John Wick is in fact still alive.

Due to his failures to kill the infamous assassin despite shooting him off of a rooftop, Winston Scott (Ian McShane) is excommunicated from the High Table by the senior member of the High Table known as Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard). By making his mission to stop John Wick once and for all, Vincent de Gramont hires a handful of highly trained assassins such as Caine (Donnie Yen) and the Tracker (Shamier Anderson) to exterminated the hitman along with promising a handsome wealthy award to anyone in the world who is successful in killing him.

With the price on his head being as large as it has ever been, John Wick must take the fight against the High Table while seeking out his most powerful allies across the globe. Will John finally gain the freedom that he and his wife would have wanted or will the number of assassins be too much for him and lead to his sudden defeat?

The character of John Wick himself has always been the one main component that makes this series stand out along with the other action-heavy franchises out there. Not just because we get to see Keanu Reeves kicking more ass than he did in all four Matrix movies combined but more because of the crystal clear reasons as to why he’s doing it. It adds the human nature and drama to the character that always ties into his intriguing yet tragic backstory. While all the John Wick movies have got that up to this point, I don’t think there has been a movie in the franchise to get that just as well as Chapter 4 does.

The main goal that always drive John Wick in this series is freedom. Not just the freedom of no longer having a bounty on his head but the freedom of not letting the ghost of his late great wife haunt him forever. No matter what the fate comes from his allies or even himself, John will always fight for his freedom to avenge his late great wife, his late great dog, and even his later great self. It doesn’t matter how many hits he takes or how many enemies he has to kill, John Wick is someone that simply will not stop until he gains his freedom. Not only because he has nothing or everything to lose but precisely because he has nothing and everything to lose at the same time. If there was any sort of doubt of that in any of the previous movies, then Chapter 4 proves that to be 100% the case.

John Wick himself takes more damage here than he does in any other movie to this point. Even if it’s not likely he would have survived at least a good portion of fights in rea life, he still finds a way to fight back due to his determination and dedication to his own goals. Sure, go ahead and push him down as many steps as you want or run him over with your car as many times as you can but he will eventually come back and kill you all the same. It’s only when his goal is complete that he will allow himself to lay down and rest until death arrives. The action has always been a standout in this franchise but it’s always been the simplistic but intriguing character study of John Wick himself that adds the extra icing on the cake.

That’s not to say the action scenes aren’t worth talking about because they absolutely are. I can’t recall a franchise in recent memory other than another certain one staring Tom Cruise which the people behind the movies are able to constantly top themselves in the action department. Just when you think they can’t go any bigger or better, Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves will always say to hold their beer.

The action in this film is absolutely spectacular all around. Every fight and gun scene is a standout in every sense of the word. They certainly required a significant amount of suspension of disbelief but that’s what makes it all of the more fun and memorable. There are plenty of great ones that stand out greatly such as the one with John riding a horse, one where John is driving a car, the one where John’s facing off against Killa, the one with John being armed with a freaking Dragon’s Breath shotgun, and the one that takes place in the museum where the characters played by Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rina Sawayana are giving their own badass moments. However, the scene that stands out the most, which will likely go down as one of the best action sequences in recent memory is the one taking place at the staircase.

That is the moment where the film’s overall action, stunts, choreography, and stakes are at it’s absolute best. This is the action scene that provides just about everything you could possibly want in any action scene. The right amount of excitement, tension, and badassery with whoever John goes up against. Once you think that sequence is all over, the film pulls the rug from underneath him and the audience. I can’t remember the last time an action sequence that got me and the audience I was with enthralled but also gasping in horror with what they had just witnessed. If it feels like I’m just scratching the surface when describing that scene, that’s because I don’t want to give too much away and believe it is worth experiencing for yourself.

Another thing that helps Chapter 4 raises the bar on the franchise is having some of the best side characters in the franchise played by a tremendous supporting cast. You could honestly seem almost every one of these characters being able to carry their own feature film and you might even be asking for one after seeing the movie. Some of the returning characters from the previous movies do make a welcome albeit brief return. Laurence Fishburne is just as much fun as Bowery and has just as much chemsity with Keanu Reeves as he always has. Ian McShane is still an enjoyable presence as Winston Scott whose character is given a bit more of an interesting direction here than the previous movies, even after his sudden turn towards the end of the last movie. And if you are wondering how Lance Reddick as Charon is handled shortly after the actor’s recent passing, you might be fairly disappointed and that’s all I will say about that.

However, it’s the new cast of characters we get that help make this movie shine even brighter. They don’t just simply exist to add more badass characters for the sake of it in this franchise but some of them even have their own intriguing stories and arcs that I wouldn’t being seen continued in future movies. Donnie Yen as Caine is marvelous and is able to stand out even better as being a blind badass than he did in Rogue One. Shamier Anderson as the Tracker manages to fit right into this universe and be more compelling than I think the original script originally had him has. Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu Koji is able to greatly carry his acting chops and marital experience from his international films to this movie with absolute ease. Rina Sawayama as Akira is giving a more brief role than I honestly wanted but she does make for a good first impression in her intital acting debut. Scott Adkins as Killa makes for one of the most intimating threats that John Wick has ever come across against in any one of these movies. Bill Skarsgard, while might not necessarily be the most scary bad guy in appearance, is arguably the most deadly main foe that John Wick himself has ever come across against as he is a man who wants to do everything in his power to end the man for good. And did I even mention Clancy Brown shows up here along with Natalia Tena playing John’s adoptive sister. Despite having such a massive cast, nearly every single important player is giving a moment to themselves.

If there’s another feature to these movies that don’t get nearly as much praise as it’s should is the way that it’s shot, lit, edited, and directed. Even for a simple action movie, there is as much love and effort put into them as you would expect for a movie trying to win a Best Picture. It’s clear that director Chad Stahelski and cinematographer Dan Laustsen wanted to make Chapter 4 the best looking and made John Wick movie to date and it shows perfectly on the big screen. There are so many shots in this movie that look so good that you will want plenty of posters of those exact shots. There’s plenty of gorgeous location shootings that it would fit greatly on a painting at a museum. Every single frame and shot is a genuine work of art in it’s own right.

The editing by Nathan Orloff is very well done whether it’s for an action scene or a scene where characters are talking. The score by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard is about as good as it has always been in this franchise. The stunt team, who I imagine have one of the toughest tasks of any big movie to date, do stellar work and certainly makes a strong case that the Academy MUST have an Oscar for the greatest stunts. It’s thoroughly entertaining and engaging throughout, it’s paced must better than you would expect for these kind of movies, and even the 169 minute long runtime feels earned without the experience becoming too tiring. This film has about all the love and care one could possibly hope for when it comes to the craftsmanship and filmmaking.

I do imagine that this movie will be written off by some as being too over-the-top, too unrealistic, and containing too many action scenes. Than in of itself is fair and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, if you were not expecting any of that, then why are you watching a John Wick movie? Why watch a movie that makes it very clear what it’s goals are and how they are willing to accomplish it but still complain about it? Not everything has to be realistic or make complete logic sense. Sometimes it’s okay to let known veterans such as Keanu Reeves kick ass as he approaches his 60s, letting him live in his own fantasy world as being the most deadly assassin in film history. Some might complain about that but for me, as long as it’s damn entertaining to watch, then bring it on.

If I had to give a grip, it mostly has to do with the way that Lance Reddick’s character is handled. It’s not necessarily the movie’s fault as the beloved actor died just one week before it was going to hit theaters and no one could have predicted his death would be so sudden but I would be lying if I said that last scene with him left quite a sour taste in my mouth and took me out for at least the next three to five minutes. Again, I’m not blaming anyone on the creative team of this but I imagine even they would have preferred to give the character a better conclusion than what he’s given if they could go back in time and do just that.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is an exceptional achievement of not just the John Wick franchise but for the action genre in general. Not since The Raid movies has there been a series of action films that dares to go as big, bold, and as over-the-top as this film does. Working perfectly as John Wick himself getting pushed beyond his reasonable measures along with director Chad Stahelski and crew of pushing themselves to make the most unbelievable and badass film imaginable. Even if Chapter 4 does bring a logical stopping point to John Wick’s story, it leaves plenty of room of other characters in the series to have their stories to continue if anyone wants to go that route.

I’m not one that likes to claim when a movie is “perfect” but when it comes to John Wick: Chapter 4 and is able to deliver the goods with an absolute bullet point, it’s hard to bring up any flaws that bring the experience down. Even the cracks in the armor one might bring up may possible not be seen as cracks in the armor to another person but more of a upgrade to that armor. Nevertheless, no matter where this series goes next, I’m willing to stick with it until the end of the line.

Let’s see what you got Ballerina!

Oh…and Tom Cruise with that Mission Impossible thing coming out in July!

Other comments:

• Yes, there is one post credit scene! Stay through the credits!

• As much as I am looking forward to Ana De Armas kicking more ass than she did in No Time To Die in Ballerina, I honestly think I would prefer to see a movie with Donnie Yin’s character. His character just seems so intriguing and his backstory seems more personal than even John Wick’s! Plus, we can use more Donnie Yin in our lives!

• I might do a separate spoiler post but whether or not I think they stand by that ending, my answer is Yes and No! I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

• I will be doing a ranking of all of these movies soon so look out for that!

• Of course, RIP to the late great Lance Reddick! You will be forever missed!