Author: Adam

You would be hard pressed to find a superhero or even licensed game that was able to define the seventh generation of consoles than Batman: Arkham Asylum. It was released in 2009 to massive praise from critics and fans alike, along with winning plenty of awards in the process, including Game of the Year from several media outlets. After so many Batman games have come and gone with mixed results, this was the first one that just perfectly capture the distinct feeling of being the Caped Crusader himself. Coming off the year after the release of The Dark Knight which helped set the golden standard for superhero movies, DC and Rocksteady was able to follow the success of that greatly with Batman: Arkham Asylum, the game which helped set the golden standard for superhero games. As the game is set to turn 14 years old this year, time to look back to see how well this game has held up since then. Does it still work strong as it’s own self-contained Bat experience or is it perhaps a bit overlooked when compared to other entries in the series?

Plot:

The Clown Prince of Crime is at it again! Shortly after the Joker attacked Gotham City Hall and held the Mayor hostage, he is captured by Batman and is taken to Arkham Asylum, just as is often the case whenever he is caught. However, this time Batman believes something is not right, feeling that the Joker gave himself up too easily and something more sinister is on the rise. Because of that, Batman accompanies him along with other personal guards into the Asylum.

Despite Batman’s assistance with the escort, a trap is sprung. It’s revealed that the Joker has issued a plan to take over Arkham Asylum, a plan which he has secretly prepared for months now. With many of gang members being transferred from Blackgate prison after the attack on City Hall along with the help of his girlfriend/sidekick Harley Quinn, Joker is free and now has complete control over the Asylum. With the control he has, he release many criminals that were celled along with Batman’s deadly foes that he has encountered over the years. To avoid anyone else in Gotham from getting in the way, Joker threatens to detonate hidden bombs scattered throughout the city if anyone dares to come to Arkham Asylum.

It’s then that we follow Batman being forced to work by myself along with his trustworthy companion Oracle to stop Joker in what may be his biggest and most overly complicated plan yet. Not only with having to put back ever single criminal that he has put away over the years behind bars and rescue any endangered guards/doctors along the way but Batman must also discover the Joker’s true intention in all of this.

As the game goes on, Batman learns more and more about this so-called Titan program. The kind of program that was used to test on the mercenary named Bane. Titan includes a formula that is able to make someone superhuman and give them super strength. With the Joker constantly getting information on the Titan from the doctors in the Asylum, Batman believe that Joker is using it to create his own army of super hence men, an army that can destroy Arkham Asylum and Gotham City once and for all.

On this very night, Batman must discover the secrets to Titan, put away all of his deadly foes, stop Joker’s ludicrous plan, and take back Arkham Asylum before all hell breaks completely loose.

The story to Arkham Asylum was written by long time veteran Batman write Paul Dini, whose most notable work is from Batman: The Animated Series and a handful of well-known Batman animated films and comics, who takes clear inspiration of the long-running comic book mythos to craft a tight, engaging plot. It’s able to hit the right vibes of being serious but not straight up gloom and add to that feeling of being sucked into a superhero world with Batman and his companions. You really feel like you are with Batman the whole way through and stand perfectly in his shoes as you try to complete every single task at a time to save the night.

The game does an overall good job of finding a good mix of villains that fit in the narrative without distracting you from the main objective of trying to take down the Joker. While not every noteworthy villain in Batman’s gallery is presented here, as that would be saved for later games, there’s enough here to leave any die hard fan satisfied. We get to see the presences of Harley Quinn, Bane, Scarecrow, Zsasz, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and the annoying Riddler himself. About every single one of them feel right at home and ripped straight out of a comic book or an episode of an animated series. Batman is always known for his amazing rose gallery of villains and the plot of this game is able to demonstrates that very well.

The main standouts scenes of character development for Batman revolves with the encounters with Scarecrow. We meet him at least three times as he is constantly trying to get inside Batman’s head by reminding him of the dark sins of his part and potential glimpses of the future to get him to crack like an egg. They are arguably the most emotionally engaging sequences in the game, showcasing just how strong Batman is on the inside and out and the ones which you dive into the inner turmoil of Bruce Wayne and not just Batman. This helps show how Bruce’s goal as Batman is to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies and not the other way around.

The only real downside to the overall story mostly comes from the Joker’s plan itself. It feels quite strange, silly, and frankly out of character of him to want to create an army of titans to take over Gotham. While that certainly adds to the comic book-like feel of a game of having a main bad guy with a goofy, over-the-top plan, it doesn’t feel like a plan to come from the Joker himself. This is especially the case with how there are instances where he is trying to get Batman killed, which is something that he deep down doesn’t want to do because as we all know, Joker is literally NOTHING without Batman and has no reason to exist without his presence.

It also doesn’t help with how throughout the game, his motives of wanting to create an army of titans is practically spelt out to the player themselves and Batman with not much mystery thrown in. Even if the ways of achieving his plan is quite unpredictable, the overall goal of the Joker is incredibly straightforward with not much logical reason as to why he wants to achieve it. While the Joker himself is undeniably engaging and a blast to watch whenever he is on screen, his overall plan feels rather superfluous and not something I would imagine would come from the Clown Prince of Crime.

Despite the overcomplicated motives from the main bad guy, the writing in Arkham Asylum is very strong. It’s able to provide that nice blend of the fantastical and whimsical elements of Tim Burton and the more grounded and serious elements of Christopher Nolan without straying too far in either direction. There’s plenty that goes on in the story to keep you engaged and moves at a breakneck pace to where it’s nearly impossible to lose interest with what’s going on because of how the tension always presents itself. The plot of the game is made by someone who has a clear knowledge and love for Batman and it completely shows.

Gameplay:

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure game that takes place from a third-person perspective. The player controls Batman as he explores the ins and outs of Arkham Asylum. As Batman, you have the ability to run, jump, climb, crouch, glide using the cape, and use a grapple gun to either climb on lower structures or teleport yourself to higher ledges. You are able to use these abilities to counter every single gameplay element that the game throws at you.

The most Batman-like element that the game introduces is the “Detective Vision” mode. This is a visual mode which provides contextual information where everything is blue and black that appear in x-ray vision except for certain targets and weaponry that are more red and orange. While this is a mode you are free to use willingly throughout the game (so much so that I’m surprised Batman never suffers a brain tumor by the end of the game), there are certain points you are required to use it to solve the latest crime or follow the tracks of a suspect to get to your next destination. It also comes in great use for other things such as highlight interactive objects like destructible walls and removable grates, the number of enemies in an area, the enemies’ health and mental status, show civilians and corpses, investigate odors, located Riddler trophies, and solve puzzles.

This is a feature that comes incredibly handy that you might even find yourself using it at least a quarter of the whole game, if not more than that. I did find myself mostly using it during the stealth sections as those would always give me the perfect indication as to where each enemy is and what would be the right plan of attack without getting myself killed. If you ever wanted to have the feeling of actually being the World Greatest Detective, then Arkham Asylum will give you that exact experience, even more so than any other game in the series.

Another welcome edition that feels completely like Batman are the gadgets you acquire to help aid yourself whenever you explore a location or fight enemies. The Batarang is a throwing weapon that can temporarily stun enemies or trigger certain devices. The remotely controlled Batarang is one that you have complete control to steer until it hits someone or something. The sonic batarang can be used to gain the attention of specific enemies that are wearing monitoring collars and can even be detonated to knock a nearby enemy out. The explosive gel can be used on breakable walls and floors, and be remotely detonated whenever you want. The line launcher can be used to transport yourself in the air from one location to another. The Batclaw is a grappling device that can be used to for remote objects such as covers for vent and even to grab and pull enemies. And there’s the Cryptographic Sequencer that is used to override security panels, open new paths, and disable various asylum functions.

Every single one of these gadgets tends to serve some sort of purpose for any possible enemy counter or progression in the story to get from one location to another. The best times to use them is whenever you are in a stealth section and want to take enemies out one by one or when you need to get to certain areas to either advance in the story or find certain unlockables/riddler trophies. I don’t think there’s a single person that ever thinks of Batman without some acknowledgement of his fancy toys and Rocksteady was certainly well aware of that when developing this game. While there’s other equipment you never get control of such as the Batwing or Batmobile (something which would get introduce MUCH later down the road), you will likely find yourself using a good portion of these gadgets to move along with the game and feel pretty satisfied when using them.

Even with how claustrophobic the game can be when exploring each Asylum, the game does have it’s own open world with Arkham island. This is the island you will explore to get from Point A to Point B to advance in the story along with finding certain items, solving puzzle, and collecting Riddler trophies in order to unlock bonus art and content involving maps for the optional challenge mode that the game provides. While this is certainly not the most wide open world that the series would have and those who were wanting more time spent just gliding with Batman’s wings might be a tad underwhelmed, it does function as giving players a bit of space to free roam around in until they have to get to the next area to either make through way through the plot or collect a certain Riddle trophy.

And speaking of riddles, the one side mission that the game present that you will likely have to wait until beating the main campaign to beat involves collecting the green question mark and solving every riddle that The Riddler himself is able to throw at you. There are a total of 240 collectable items scattered throughout. These include Riddler trophies, chattering Joker teeth that you can simply batarang in half, interview tapes with the Arkham inmates, and cryptic messages left in the asylum by it’s founder Amadeus Arkham that discuss the history of the Asylum itself. The player is rewarded for solving riddles and finding collectibles with experience points that can help upgrade whatever you need and additional game content, including maps for the challenge mode. You must collect all 240 items to defeat the Riddler himself and unlock every single bonus content that the game provides. While it’s not something that’s require to beat the main game, you will likely find yourself collecting whatever trophy or item you are able to get along the way as it’s nearly impossible to ignore them. Especially since they are everywhere, EVERYWHERE!

And of course, who would I be if I review Arkham Asylum and I don’t bring up the the game’s combat system. As Batman is clearly an experienced hand-to-hand combat fighter as he trained with the League of Shadows, you get to experienced that first hand in this game. During the game, you will encounter a lot of thugs and bad guys at once. When doing so, you are able to perform several moves to be able to take them down. You are able to punch and kick enemies head on, stun them with your cape, and be able to counter certain attacks to prevent damage to yourself. The more you are able to do so without breaking a sweat, the higher you will achieve your combos. The higher the combo, the more XP points you will reward yourself that can help upgrade any kind of combo, gadget, and suit that you need.

While it may not necessarily be the most skilled combo set ever and rarely ever goes past the simple button mashing mechanics that gamers have grown accustom to with fighting games, there is never a moment when fighting bad guys that isn’t satisfying or doesn’t feel like Batman at all. There’s too many different combos, moves, and skill sets that is introduces that is always able to keep the experience fresh without losing any steam. It also helps that there are certain enemies introduced throughout the game that requires different methods to beat such as using the stun attack or attacking them from behind.

It’s not quite perfect and wouldn’t be until later games which the combat would be provided with more polish. There are times where I would lose my combat meter due to the game not responding to my counter attack when it should have, an enemy that just wasn’t in the right position for me to attack for some reason, and not being able to block an upcoming enemy’s attack when performing a ground takedown because the game itself won’t let me. It’s not a deal breaker or something that will make you want to rage quit the game but every once in a while, you might experience some minor frustration when building up certain combos during an enemy encounter or challenge because of one of the three things I just mentioned.

One other notable aspect that I’ve already mention a few times are the areas of stealth. These are usually doing certain areas of the game where you are required to take enemies out (most of which are armed) one by one without being detected in order to either save a hostage or move onto the next area. The player can use predatory tactics through stealth which include silent takedowns, where Batman drops from overhead perches and is able to snatch enemies away, or even using the explosive gel to knock enemies off their feet. There are certain section where you are required to use certain tactics instead of choosing your own way to take enemies out such as needing to avoid Joker’s henchmen or else you will fail your objective.

Many of these areas include stone gargoyles that are placed very high and near roof-level, helping Batman to remain concealed and out of enemies’ sight. You are are able to use the grapnel gun to get to the gargoyles very quickly, giving yourself a high vantage point by gaining a good spot to observe the area you are in and spot where each enemy is at. From these gargoyles, Batman can chose either to glide down and attack enemies head on (which I only recommend doing if it’s far away from other enemies scattered throughout the room) or hang upside down and be able to grapple a nearby enemy and leave him tethered there (which again only due when it’s only one enemy close by). Other options to to take out enemies in stealth include using floor gates to attack from below, hide around or behind corners to catch them by surprise, use batarangs to stun them, and use the grapnel gun to pull them over ledges which will knock them completely out. These are the areas where you are usually required to do more than just punch and kick enemies whenever you can and more have to take more careful and smarter measure to take out your opponents.

I can’t tell you how satisfying these sections can be most of the times, even more so than the other games in the series. It’s just so much fun to always screw around with the bad guys and scare the living piss out of them as you take out each opponent one at a time. Especially when you and even the enemies know that the Batman will take them down at some point, it’s only a matter of when.

As nearly every single aspect of the game feels exactly like Batman, these sections are arguably the most important one. These sections are a reminder of what Batman himself stands for, striking fear into the hearts of his criminals. If that’s not what Batman is suppose to stand for, then I don’t know what does.

The one final big aspect to the gameplay are the boss fights. Unfortunately, these are easily the worst part of the game and arguably the only real weak element about the gameplay. They aren’t exactly unplayable by any means and those who enjoy mindless combat might get enjoyment out of it but they don’t feel satisfying to play through. Most of the bosses feels very repetitive and redundant. They aren’t any different than fighting the other bad guys in the game and most of them required the exact same strategy to beat every single time. It’s mostly just the fight you have with Bane earlier in the game and repeated several times over for the rest of the game with two exceptions.

The first exception is Poison Ivy, whose fight is actually quite decent. While there are still henchmen you have to fight, you do have to find different ways to beat her than previous battles and always have to be on your toes as she will always find a way to attack you. It’s not a great boss fight but it does at least feel like one in the game which feels different than fighting a random titan thug or a big fella.

The second exception is Killer Croc, whose “fight” is an absolute joke. I put fight in quotes because it’s not really a fight. Even saying encounter is a stretch. All you do throughout this section is collect spores around Croc’s lair and whenever he approaches you, you just throw a batarang at him and that’s it! For a main bad guy whose set up at the very beginning of the game, you would expect their encounter to feel more important than it actually is.

As much as most folks referred to the final showdown with Joker as the worst boss fight in the game (which was also rather underwhelming), the one with Killer Croc is one that stood out for me as the lamest one and the perfect example of how weak the boss fights are in this game.

Even with the lackluster bosses, the gameplay throughout Batman: Arkham Asylum is about as polished and well-done as one could hope for with a Batman license game. Despite many different gameplay styles and elements the game introduces, it all feels cohesive and comes together as a satisfying whole. It rarely felt like a chore to play through and even the things I didn’t need at one moment, I would always go out of my way to get because of how nearly impossible it is to avoid. Whether I was beating the crap out of bad guys, gliding through the Arkham island, investigating a certain crime scene, finding stealth ways to take out my opponents, or going out of my way to collect a simple green question mark, there was always something to keep me interested in the game and made it hard to find a stopping point with each playthrough because of how much fun it is. Back in 2009, there wasn’t many licensed games that earned the title of it’s successful IP that it was adapting but no doubt, Batman: Arkham Asylum was and still to this very day is one of those exceptions.

Graphics:

At the game of it’s release in 2009, Arkham Asylum looked absolutely great with the right textures and visual imagery throughout the whole experience. However, there were some minor issues when it came to some of the animation of the cutscenes and the CGI stuff had a bit of pixelization. While the newer Return to Arkham edition (which is the version I played recently) does look much clearer with more light and texture to it along with updated character models, it still does feel like the same skeleton throughout with not much effort to fix those minor errors. I’m not sure why it’s so hard for companies to patch a couple of bugs that should only take a short amount of time to do but whatever.

Even so, I’d love the way the game looked graphically back in 2009 and I still love it now. The islands of the Asylum have the perfect mix of a creepy and cool factor to them, the locations you explore fit right in the overall mood of the game, the characters designs fit them and match the art style, and it’s also refreshing in a video game to see the main protagonist shown taking more damaging and even bleeding in certain areas to show how much of a messed up time he has had in the game. It’s exactly the kind of look you would expect for a DC Batman adventure that I don’t think you could replicate any better.

Arkham Asylum has the kind of graphics, aesthetics, and art style that I miss in games nowadays. Where most games that come out today try to look as bleak and realistic as possible, Asylum is able to still feel like it belongs in it’s own fictional superhero universe despite telling a rather dark story. It’s okay to modernize your graphics to have it look more realistic but you still need to remember that it’s a video game overall and not a live-action movie. This is able to have that functional graphical brain in it’s head that certain games nowadays lack. Because of that and more, Arkham Asylum remains a graphical wonder.

Sound:

The score composed by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish is expertly done. It perfectly captures the mood and tone of the game while giving the impression you are in a true Batman adventure. It’s not the cheesy pop of Neal Hefti, the epic tune of Danny Elfman, or the intense, fist bumping tracks of Han Zimmer. It’s just feel like it’s own thing but also is able to scratch that surface of Batman that had yet to be fully scratched by other composers up to 2009. The whole music fits so well that even the tracks you here on loop such as the ones for the combat or predator challenges and even the little tune you hear before Joker speaks on the intercom never gets tiresome because it always feels right at any given moment.

However, the real achievement when it comes to sound comes from the strong voice work throughout. Those who grew up with or have watched Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe are clearly familiar with certain voice actors in this game. The three main ones include Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker, and Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn. Not only are all three of them as good as you remember them being in this game, they are arguably even better here. Even if it might feel odd to hear these voice actors more known for voicing these characters in more child-friendly Batman content (imagine how Sonic fans felt having hearing the voice cast from Sonic X saying swear words in Shadow The Hedgehog), these three have clearly not skipped at beat when voicing these iconic characters.

Kevin Conroy (May his lovely soul RIP!) is able to deliver the perfect voice delivery throughout every cutscene as Batman himself. He’s able to find the right brooding voice without it coming off flat, wooden, or as an unintentional parody. Just like with Kevin’s other work as Batman, you are always reminded just how human Batman can be, that there is a real person behind the mask. Whenever it seems like he’s stiff and emotionless, there will always come a few moments scatter throughout that will remind you of that exact fact, especially with the moments with Scarecrow. Even if you are someone that has never watched Batman: The Animated Series or haven’t seen any of Conroy’s previous work as Batman (I would strongly recommend checking out Mask of the Phantasm!), you will likely be engaged with his performance throughout the game without ever questioning it and understand perfectly why he has resonated as a fan-favorite voice for The Dark Knight for so many years.

Arleen Sorkin is an actress that had been the voice of Harley Quinn since the character’s official debut in Batman: The Animated Series (A reminder that Harley Quinn was not a character created from the comics but strictly from that show!). This game along with DC Universe Online would be her final voice performances of the character herself as Sorkin would retire from acting after 2011. With Arkham Asylum being among her final times playing this famous character, it sure is a great note to go out on. She’s able to find the right amount of charisma, craziness, and even vulnerability to make Harley Quinn a blast to watch whenever she’s appears on screen without her coming across as overly loud or obnoxious. For a character that was suppose to be a one-and-done deal in the series which she debuted in and only reappeared due to her popularity, I would imagine Arleen Sorkin played a huge part of that with her stellar voice work throughout her career as Mr. J’s pudding (I promise that’s the only time I will use that word that in this review!).

Of course, the real standout of the game, and perhaps the entire series, is no other than Mark Hamill as the Joker. As perfect as Hamill has been as the character since he first started, he somehow manages to bring something new and even better throughout the entire Arkham series developed by Rocksteady. While other previous performances with the clown prince of crime did have the character be more laid back and subtle with his delivery and actions, this game has him go all out and be more expressive than ever before. He’s sinister, menacing, funny, brutal, unpredictable, and always has the perfect laugh. With each scene, you just never know what you are gonna get with the Joker and whether or not he is being serious, funny, or sarcastic. While the strong writing might have more to do with that (save for the plan with the Titan monsters), it’s also the brilliant voice work from Luke Skywalker himself (I still can’t believe these two characters are played by the same person) that is able to always give that sense of ambiguity and unpredictability to the Joker, the two big elements which the character is most well known for. Hamill has stated recently that he is likely done playing the Joker after the recent passing of Kevin Conroy. Even so, I can’t imagine there being a better Joker voice than him.

While the rest of the cast don’t shine as well as the main three just mention, they all do great work as well with not a single voice feeling out of place or miscast. If I had to nitpick, there are times where Tom Kane’s voice as Commissioner Gordon and Warden Sharp feels interchangeable and the moments of Tasia Valenza’s Poison Ivy screeching out in pain just sounds like her orgasming. Even so, the voice acting remains an absolute strength with this game along with just about every other game in the series.

Downloadable Content:

Arkham Asylum also features a series of it’s own downloadable content. Unlike with the later Arkham games, none of them are related to the story itself and mostly just offers the optional challenge modes the game provides, which test Batman’s abilities in combat and in stealth. This DLC pack consists of challenge maps that are separated from the game’s main campaign. These mostly include maps that aren’t strictly ones you unlock while playing the game but has other maps that weren’t initially included at the time of the game’s release. Just like with the other maps, these largely focus on completing certain tasks, such as fighting your way through a big wave of enemies in combat and taking out patrolling enemy squads while using stealth. When completing these challenges, those who have access to online with Xbox, PlayStation, or PC will be able to have their score ranked along with other players with the game having it’s own online leaderboard for each challenge.

The biggest thing provided with the DLC is making the Joker a playable character in these combat and stealth challenges maps. During these missions, the Joker must confront the guards of the Asylum and even police commissioner James Gordon. The Joker has his own combat abilities and weaponry, such as a handgun, exploding chattering teeth, and x-ray glasses which allows him to see opponents through walls. For the most part, he plays pretty much the same as Batman only feeling a bit lighter and not as willing to throw himself all across the room in combat like Batman does.

Considering I was able to get all of this DLC for free when purchasing the Return to Arkham edition, I can’t really complain about it. For anyone else that wasn’t able to acquire this DLC for free, it didn’t necessarily come across as a must-buy unless you were either incredibly eager to play as Joker or just because you are a trophy/achievement whore (which I admit to be feeling guilty of too). The DLC is what it is and not much more than that. Of all the games in the series, this is certainly the one to have the least variety in terms of DLC.

Conclusion:

Batman: Arkham Asylum is ever bit as awesome as I remember it being in 2009. While the boss fights are still rather weak and I don’t fully buy Joker’s “let’s create an army of Banes” master plan, nearly everything else is done rather flawlessly that it’s hard to let those minor gripes bring down the entire game. The combat is absolutely fun with plenty of inventive ways to beat your opponents, the gadgets always come in handy, the detective aspects add a ton to the experience and character of Batman, the entire Arkham island itself is cool to explore, the unlockables are so eager to collect, the voice acting is incredibly stellar, and there’s never a second which you don’t feel like you are in control of The Dark Knight himself.

Is it the absolute best in the series? Well, you will just have to wait to hear my thoughts on the next two games in the series but no doubt, this is a game that has continued to stand the test time, even 14 years later. For a studio that was relatively unknown before Arkham Asylum came out, there was no better way for Rocksteady to put themselves on the map for gamers all around after crafting this absolute achievement of a video game.

If you are a Batman fan and somehow still have not checked this game out, I highly recommend it. Even if you are not a Batman fan and want a really fun action packed game, then I recommend it too. Perhaps it might even turn you into a Batman fan yourself just like I imagine it did for gamers everywhere back in 2009. If 2008 showed how good superhero films can get with The Dark Knight, then 2009 showed how good superhero games can get with Batman: Arkham Asylum! Even to this day, the Caped Crusader remains the standard!

Next stop, we will take a look at the sequel that Rocksteady already had their eyes on even before completing this game. If you look closely around in Warren Sharp’s room, you were given a clue to where the Arkham series would be headed next. If you didn’t, then you would be able to find out yourself two years later with 2011’s Batman: Arkham City!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now available on 4K/Blu-Ray and for streaming on Disney Plus. While the film has ultimately been received well by fans and critics, one of the biggest things about the movie that is still being debated to this day is on whether or not it was right to kill off Prince T’Challa and not just recast the character. This is a discussion that has gone back and forth ever since the tragic passing of the late great Chadwick Boseman. While there’s a strong argument for both sides, I’m on the side that believes that not recasting him and even killing him off in Wakanda Forever was the right move. To back up that argument, I have come up with at least four reasons as to why that is the case.

1.) It Would Go Against The Film’s Themes

While the final finished movie was clearly not the one that Ryan Coogler and company had in mind during initial development of it, it really is impressive how organically natural of a sequel Wakanda Forever is, even without the original Black Panther himself. So much so, that it almost feels as if the death of T’Challa was planned from the beginning. Which is why ressurecting him in this story despite no Chadwick Boseman would have done a huge disservice to the film and possibly wouldn’t have been as emotionally powerful as it is.

Many of the conflict and arcs that Shuri goes through strongly reflect and mirrors the ones that T’Challa faced from the first film. Things such as having to move on to the next person up in a position of power after the last one sitting on the throne had passed away, how to negotiate with opposing sides during a time of crisis and brink of war, how much power and resources is too much to keep for yourself, and how even good heartfelt people can be consumed with vengeance to become the kind of monster they swore on destroying. While you can definitely tell how affected the entire cast and crew were with Chadwick Boseman’s sudden death, his presence is still felt throughout which helps makes Wakanda Forever a right companion piece to the original even without their main star.

Even if recasting wouldn’t outright contradict the themes and arc that Shuri herself goes through, it would not have hit as hard as it did if T’Challa was still around with another actor playing him.

2.) “Wakanda Is Not A Place, It’s A People!”

One of the best things that stands out about the Black Panther films is the way the main setting of Wakanda is portrayed. Similar to that of New York in Spider-Man and Gotham City in Batman, Wakanda represents the heart and soul of the Black Panther character. Not just as a place or even as a nation but as a people. It’s the people that holds this great tribe together, not the other way around. You can burn the whole country down but as long as there are Wakandans remain, it will never truly die.

The real glue that is able to hold these Black Panther movies together and helps compliment one another is how both seem to realized the importance of Wakanda. It understands that Wakanda itself is even greater than that of Black Panther. The Black Panther at it’s core is a resemblance of what the nation of Wakanda stands for, a powerful being with unlimited power and resources of it’s own with a goal of not attacking others but strictly to defend themselves from others that oppose them. Wakanda means as much to the Black Panther as the Black Panther does mean to Wakanda. Even if Black Panther dies, Wakanda itself must live on to avoid letting the previous deaths of their people be in vain. Not strictly to let vengeance consume them but empower them to inspire others to remain a loyal hero.

From T’Chaka to T’Challa to Ramonda to Shuri, as long as one is standing to lead their people, The Black Panther and Wakanda will always remain strong. In many ways, these two Black Panther movies basically does the whole “Asgard is not a place, it’s a people” thing better than even Thor Ragnarok did.

3.) Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

The unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman created a massive blackhole for Marvel and Ryan Coogler that simply could not be solved by just recasting or rewriting the role. No one was as important or as pitch-perfect in the role of T’Challa as Chadwick Boseman was and no one could replacing him this quickly. It would feel wrong and would put whoever was casted to replace him in an unwinnable scenario of trying to replicate a version of Black Panther that was never intended to be theirs.

The only thing anyone can do at the moment in the wake of this horrendous passing is to grief. Grief the loss of a beloved figure, realize the importance and legacy he bestowed upon the world, and figure out how to move forward without his presence. It might be the hardest thing to do but it is certainly the right thing to do. If Wakanda Forever is anything to by, it looks as though director Ryan Coogler and everyone involved with the sequel would seem to agree with those statements.

No one involved with the production of this movie was ready to see a new Prince T’Challa yet. Chadwick Boseman was clearly on their minds 24/7 throughout the entire development and still remains comfortably in their hearts. Simply putting someone else in the role would not make the pain go away. If the people behind Wakanda Forever are not ready to move on, then I don’t think anyone else is either.

4.) There Will Come A Time Later!

Once we get to the end of the film and see Shuri burning her funeral robe in accordance with her late mother’s wishes, we see her taking that one last moment of grief. We see her remembering her late great brother and all the amazing things he has done for his people. It’s the moment that Shuri has been waiting for at least a year now. A moment to finally be alone and be allowed to grief and mourn in peace.

What happens from here on out remains to be seen but if the post credit scene is any indication, there may come a time in the future that a brand new T’Challa will come to the world. After her time of grief, Shuri is visited by Nakia where she reveals that she and T’Challa had a son that she has been raising in secret. The son’s name is revealed to be Toussaint and that his Wakanda name is T’Challa, named after his own father and the Black Panther himself.

There are many ways you can interpret that post credit scene but to me, that is getting across the message that there will be another T’Challa someday. Even though Chadwick Boseman is now gone from Earth, the spirit of T’Challa will always remains, being passed from one generation to the next. Whether it’s in the form of his own son or another multiverse version of him, T’Challa will return one day and hopefully be played by an actor who is the perfect successor to Chadwick Boseman. Even if it’s not the right time now, there will come that time some day. It’s just a matter of when.

Earlier this week, the new head of DC Studios in James Gunn revealed the news he had been teasing since the start of 2023, the overall new slate of DC productions for the foreseeable future. As described by Gunn himself, this is a carefully planned out template to give the DC Universe itself some form of connective tissue with one of another in terms of it’s movies, shows, and video games. With 2023 bringing the end of the current DCEU with the four movies such as Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with The Flash basically acting as a reset to it’s timeline, 2024 and onwards will bring forward the new content in the form of the now titled DC Universe and DC Elseworlds. The DC Universe will include content involving movies and shows that will be shared and take place in their own form of continuity. DC Elseworlds will refer to content outside of the continuity of the DC Universe that will mostly act as their own stand-alone stories. The first chapter of the DC Universe (which I imagine will be similar to that of the phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) is referred to as Gods & Monsters. While I’m sure we will get more info throughout the year as we get closer to the beginning of this new DC canon, this is what the overall plan for DC looks like for at least the next four to five years.

When looking at it, this seems like this is what Warner Bros has been looking to do with DC for at least the past decade. By not so much trying to play catch-up with Marvel and more carefully laying out their foundation with some intriguing voices behind it, this is a good way for WB to hit the reset button on their DC properties and offer a fresh new start to their next crop of movies and shows. It will allow to create the kind of straight forward continuity that the prior DC universe tried but ultimately failed to do while also being able to have mainstream audiences keep track of what’s going on with DC without much confusion. It will also help to include the likes of James Gunn who has had experience of being able to deliver crowd pleasing comic book properties onto the big screen and streaming services such as Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker in ways that Zack Snyder couldn’t do with his feature DC films. Despite this slate sounding like a good idea on paper, I still can’t help but think most of this sounds very been there and done that.

First off, despite what certain folks might claim, DC’s biggest problem in the past was NOT that they didn’t have a so-called plan for their universe. They actually did exactly that when Zack Snyder was in charge of DC movies. After Man of Steel came out and the wave of the success of The Avengers had hit the movie industry, that persuade Warner Bros to let Snyder be the guide to creating their own cinematic universe that compete with Marvel. Even before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came out, there were plans for a Suicide Squad movie, Wonder Woman movie, Aquaman movie, Flash movie, and not one but TWO Justice League movies. However, despite most of those movies eventually getting made and making some sort of profit, they mostly didn’t turn out to be the success that Warner Bros wanted.

Even though it was a hit at the box office, Dawn of Justice got universally panned by critics and was divisive at best for mainstream audiences. The backlash was so strong that WB had to go back and do reshoots for upcoming features such Suicide Squad and Justice League to try to make it more “mainstream friendly” and try to make them more like Marvel movies, which results in mostly the same outcome as Batman v Superman in terms of reception. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t plan far ahead, the problem was that they planned TOO far ahead. Zack Snyder or anyone at Warner Bros never gave it a second thought of one of these movies could be underperformed or get panned by critics and audiences. They were so focused on Plan A that they never bothered to give much thought to a Plan B. A plan was there, it just ultimately fell apart.

As much as Marvel has gotten praise over the years for laying the foundation of their own cinematic universe, it was never as planned out ahead as many have claimed. For example, watch all four Thor movies back-to-back-to-back-to-back with the knowledge of Thor’s involvement in the Avengers movies for good measures. I dare anyone to tell me with a straight face that all of these movies were all planned out years in advance. Do you really buy that Thor’s friends who were set up and sideline in his first two movies where made to just be killed off abruptly by his sister in Ragnarok? Or how the ending of The Dark World teased at the notion of the next one being about Thor looking for his father that Loki might’ve done something with him only for that plotline to get wrapped up in the first 20 minutes of Ragnarok? Or how the way Jane Foster was shoehorn into the The Dark World, was cast aside in Ragnarok, and would eventually become Mighty Thor by Love and Thunder? I double dare you to say “Yes!” to any one of those. While there are certainly world building pieces that the movies introduces that would be payed off later, most notably the Tesseract, along with Thor’s arc of following in his father’s footsteps, the ways to get those things across was clearly changed and made up as each movie went on.

While Kevin Feige and the heads at Marvel have always had a solid road map in mind for each phase of the MCU, it’s the ways to get to each destination that change all the time. The difference here is that they go through each movie and show one at a time and allow themselves to build their foundation up before reaching it’s full destination. The key though is to make entries that feels like you have to see every single one of them but you really don’t. With a handful of exceptions, most content in the MCU is fairly self-contained and stand well on their own with what they are trying to do with only a handful of set-up and easter eggs scattered throughout each installment that gives a potential hint towards the future. Even if a certain way to get from Point A to Point B doesn’t work out, they can always find another way around it until they can reach their goal. Unless James Gunn and Peter Safran is able to understand that philosophy that Kevin Feige has implemented with Marvel since 2008, I could see this DC slate falling into the same trappings that the previous one did.

Granted, there are a few advantages to this DC slate working better compare to Snyder’s one. Firstly, it does seem like this won’t come across as rushed and abrupted as it did before since it seems like they will be taking their time instead of trying to chase Marvel’s tail. (Many tend to forget that Man of Steel was originally meant to be it’s own standalone movie and only became the building block to creating a cinematic universe for Warner Bros after the massive success of The Avengers.) Secondly, there does seem to at least be a back-up plan if this new DC slate doesn’t work out, particularly with the other form of continuity (or lack there of) with DC Elsewords, most notably Matt Reeves’s Batverse and Todd Phillips’s Jokerverse. And lastly, as I said before, Gunn does seem to know how to make superhero content that audience all around enjoyed in a way that Snyder couldn’t. (Regardless of what you think of Man of Steel, the fact that Warner Bros was trying to make their own cinematic universe based off a movie as polarizing as that was basically made it doomed from the start.) Because of those things, I have a hard time believing that this new cinematic universe will hit rock bottom as hard as the Snyderverse did but I still need more convincing to see if this will all work out in the end.

Despite my claims and speculations made throughout this article, I don’t think James Gunn and Peter Safran will do a bad job here. They clearly have a goal in mind that Warner Bros (despite not wanting to admit it publicly) has wanted for their DC properties for a long time. My main concern is of them trying to learn the wrong lessons of the past failings from WB. Giving themselves the notion of not to plan too far ahead but plan even more ahead even if that wasn’t really the fatal flaw last time out. Thinking you need to second guess what the audiences will react to each entry and the next one that they feel the need to change each movie or show from their previous intentions all together to make it more crowd pleasing or like Marvel. Trying to build a foundation that was basically doomed from the start because you never bother to keep it in check and see if your fans and audiences would have your back along the way. If Gunn and Safran are able to avoid these outcomes, then I can see this being WB’s true answer to Marvel. If not, then I imagine we will be right back where we started by 2027.

Regardless, let’s all hope for the best for our favorite DC superheroes. After all, we are all fans here.

Here’s a video of James Gunn explaining the new slate of DC movies.

Movies that come out in January always have a reputation as being a month of dumpster diving flicks and for good reason. It just seems like the most convenient time for studios to release whatever movie they don’t have fate in onto the big screen during this particular month so it can die a quiet, painless death and be forgotten about until critics have to do their worst-of-the-year lists. Dumping these ill-fated films in a time right after the end of the holiday season and kids are back in school just seems like the best time to do it as it’s likely to have the least amount of consequences. That way, they have no realistic expectations on how a picture does critically and just pray it does just enough financially to where they don’t lose a whole lot of money from it. However, now comes 2023, which decided to kick start the new year with at least six big new features that could qualify as not just being good to great for a January movie but just being good to great in general. The movies I’m talking about include M3GAN, Plane, A Man Called Otto, Skinamarink, Missing, and Infinity Pool.

M3GAN was a ridiculously fun and over-the-top horror flick with a fair amount of heart and commentary on A.I. and human relationships that it was able to deliver perfectly on the expectations that it set for itself. Plane was one of the few action-packed flicks that actually works for Gerard Butler. A Man Called Otto was able to use the charm and charisma of Tom Hanks and Mariana Trevino to tell a tale about an old man regaining his humanity again with his new neighbors after a tragic event so he may live his finals days in grace. Skinamarink, albeit divisive and obviously experimental, was at least interesting and different enough to warrant a viewing of a showcase about how scary being along in the middle of the night can be for a little kid. Missing, while playing like a lesser Searching, was an engaging thriller with enough creativity and inventive filmmaking about a young girl looking for her missing mother. Lastly, Infinity Pool, was a brand new horror flick that basically established Mia Goth as a new Scream queen for the ages. And these aren’t even including films that are basically carried over from limited screenings near the end of 2022 such as The Whale or Women Talking.

These were all competent made movies that never gave the notion of it being lazy or rushed, which are typical for movies that come out in January. Not only did these all seem like movies that the studios themselves actually have fate in despite it coming out in January, it seemed like something the filmmakers themselves had fate in as well and had visions of theirs behind the camera that felt genuine. These were all films that could have come out in any month but January and you would have a really hard time telling the difference.

Granted, one could possibly come up with a reason as to why these movies actually came out when they did other than the studios had no fate in them. It could be the fact that these came out after numerous of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It could be because some of these went through trouble in production and had an abundance of reshoots which caused it to be pushed back as far as it did. Heck, it could possibly even be that the studios just felt this was the right month to release these movies so they won’t get caught between the surprisingly amount of blockbusters that are set to come out in February and March such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Scream VI, Creed III, John Wick Chapter IV, and Shazam!: Fury of the Gods. Nevertheless, the fact that these amount of quality movies just happened to come out in January should be considered a blessing and not a curse and could possibly help set a standard for quality movies to come to start off every year.

No matter how one can interpret these movies releasing in January, perhaps 2023 including enough solid motion pictures to start off the year might be a sign. A sign that maybe studios now realize that it’s okay to start the New Year on a high note. A sign that a movie coming out in January is no longer is seeing as an excuse for poor quality. A sign that a movie coming out in January can just be good on it’s own merits and not just be good for a so-called “January” movie. Especially during a post-Covid era, you want to have as many quality movies released in theaters as possible so that many people will want to see and continue to support theaters. And what better way to get people to support seeing movies in theaters than living them actual good movies to see.

That’s not to say every movie that came out in January was a hit. You People was the newest Netflix comedy that surprisingly wasn’t very funny despite having great comedic talent in Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. There was also Shotgun Wedding which was basically proof that Jennifer Lopez should stop doing romantic comedies and stick to making films such as Hustler. Even on the perfect human face, you can always find some sort of blemish. However, there were plenty more good than bad that January had to offer that it’s worth overlooking that.

Every so often in recent memory, I could point to at least one or two January movies that stood out being legit good in their own rights in a sea of absolute garbage that got released in cinema or just outright guilty pleasures. 2016 had Kung Fu Panda 3. 2017 had Split. 2018 had Paddington 2 (at least in America). 2019 had The Kid Who Would Be King. 2022 had Scream. 2023 had at least five to six movies I can think off that could fit that category of any one of those movies and more. Which is why I shouldn’t hesitate in calling 2023 has perhaps the best year of January movies to date. Because I can’t recall a January in recent memory that treated it’s month of releases as equal to any other movie without needing the excuse of being a “January movie” to stand out well on it’s own.

2023 has gotten how to a good start with movies and hopefully Hollywood is able to continue that momentum as the highly anticipated blockbusters of the year starts to arrive. It’s then that we could be in for one darn good year for movies. If January 2023 is any indication, then we might be in for quite a ride.

Regardless of what you can say about M. Night Shyamalan over the past two and a half decades, you can’t deny there is no other director like them. The man is basically his own unique beast of a filmmaker, allowing himself to spend the quarter of his yearly salary to finance his own personal projects that give him permission to play in his own sandbox in front of the camera for the whole world to see. Whether the movie is good or bad, you always know you are watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Lately, however, it seems as if the infamous director is running out of unique ways to tell his stories on the big screen, almost as if he is letting his massive ego start to get the better of him and have that affect his decision making.

There’s Glass, a film despite being a clear, passionate project, ending up having a message at the end where it basically tells it’s audience they were wrong for ever wanting a sequel to Unbreakable and Split and that it would have been better off not existing. There’s Old, even if I like it more than others, which felt the need to throw everything but the kitchen sink in terms of metaphors and symbolism despite having a very simplistic and straight forward message about how fast life can be. Now we have Knock At The Cabin, where we see M. Night tackling themes involving religious beliefs, personal sacrifices, and lgbt rights but does so in a very basic, bare bone, and frankly uninteresting way. It’s not the worst thing to ever come out from Shyamalan but it’s far in a way his most tame and thematically flat movie to date, not even remotely worth a knock at the door.

Knock At The Cabin is based off the 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, from Paul Tremblay. While vacationing in a cabin in the woods (no pun intended) with her adopted fathers, a young girl named Wen (Kristen Cui) is approached by a mysterious muscular man named Leonardo (Dave Bautista) who tells her that he and his group are here to convince her family to make a certain big decision. Once back at the cabin, we see a queer couple of Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldrige) with their daughter as they get paid an unexpected visit from Leonardo and three other strangers. These other strangers include Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn), and Redmond (Rupert Grint). The four of them are individuals with obvious religious beliefs and have shared their own estranged vision of the world. The group states that the apocalypse is coming to end humanity for good and the only way it could be prevented in any way is for either Eric, Andrew, and Wen to sacrifice themselves for the good of mankind. They can’t commit suicide or have someone else do the dirty deed for them but must decide amongst themselves who shall take their own life to save the world. The family at first believes this to be a lie but as the events transpire, they realize that the group might have a point and must decide amongst themselves what to do before any potential inevitable disaster happens.

That sounds like a premise that could leave to a room of ambiguity and uses it’s own reflective imagery to tell it’s story and the message it wants to get across. However, save for a handful of awkwardly placed flashback scenes, Knock At The Cabin is about as functional in terms of plot as it comes and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Not just because the actual functions itself fall apart like a stack of cards once you give it a second thought but the actual point it tries to make comes off as very ill-conceived and even quite homophobic.

Near the beginning of the movie, the group declares themselves to not be homophobic and that they had no idea that Eric and Andrew was even gay until much later on when they discovered them. That seems like a good place to put that argument to rest and move on from there but it keeps going back to that and even introduces a plot connection with one of the members of the group that basically proves that point to be wrong. Which makes the movie at it’s center to either be about a same sex couple that is getting harassed by an overly religious group which we are just suppose to find entertaining or about this overly religious group trying to prove to the same sex couple that the Old Testament is right and the world would be better off without their kind on Earth. Neither one of those are even remarkably good outcomes but it’s the only ones that the movie itself provides. While I’m sure M. Night Shyamalan is not homophobic, Knock At The Cabin will sure make one want to raise some questions on that matter.

Even taken that aspect out of the picture, the movie itself is quite unengaging with the characters presented. Despite having a small cast and spending 99% of the entire movie in a cabin, hardly any character work or effective filmmaking is on display here. There’s too much explaining of backstory and motivations that we should be finding out through the actions of the characters, the twists are so obvious that I’m not even sure you can count them as actual twists, and even the actual “world ending” stakes presented feel about as inconsequential as that of a mission in a Grand Theft Auto game. By the time we get to the bleak and unceremonious end, you just wonder what exactly the movie itself is trying to accomplish other than those previous things that I’ve mentioned.

There’s just a general sense behind the picture of the movie pulling it’s own punches and not taking things one step further. We never see the characters themselves question their own mindset and beliefs or even try to provide a solution that doesn’t involve killing each other but instead, trying to hammer down the same repetitive on loop throughout the majority of it’s 105 minute long runtime. It makes you wish something as bizarre and crazy as the big shocking reveal in Wide Awake or Lady In The Water would occur at some point to tell us all it’s not what we think but it never really does. Everything that is happening on screen is real and because of that, none of that feels as real as the film would like it to be.

The main thing keeping the experience from falling completely apart is the performances from the main cast. Despite Kristen Cui having a few awkward moments at the beginning with Dave Bautista (which YET again I ask M. Night to PLEASE movie the damn camera back), they mostly do strong work here. Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge make for a very believable pairing and do have some of the better actual moments of character that is presented in the movie. Kristen Cui has her inevitable moments of obvious “child acting” but is charming enough to where you can see her going places in the future. Abby Quinn makes for probably the most engaging of the main group and is even able to sell the moments of her character’s rather clunky backstory. Nikki Amuka-Birds shines well as a sympathetic but also realist women who also happens to be a doctor. Rupert Grint is kinda obnoxious but I guess that was suppose to be the case and his apperance is definitely more brief compare to the rest of the cast. The real star of the show here is obviously Dave Bautista. As he is slowly starting to grow into possibly the best wrestler turned actor to date (Eat your heart out, Dwyane!), he makes every moment matter and helps hold the picture from being a complete failure.

The actual production itself is also not half-bad either. Even if it’s guilty of Shyamalan’s most infamous tropes (close-up shots, oddly paced flashbacks, etc..), the picture itself is generally well made throughout. Jarin Blaschke and Lowell A. Meyer are able to fine that right mix of light and dark from both a literal and metaphorical standpoint to give the movie itself it’s own distinct feeling and at times it’s own character. Herdis Stefánsdóttir’s score is also generally okay as well even if nothing is able to stick out for better or worse in it’s own right.

In the end, I don’t think I can recall an M. Night Shyamalan production that just left me shrugging my shoulders like this one did. Even the negative points I’ve brought up aren’t ones that are worth thinking to deeply into because the movie itself doesn’t even try to do so. It just lacks it’s own value and substance which makes it’s brief runtime feel longer than it really is and as it left a big surface that it doesn’t even bother to scratch.

It’s as if M Night has finally met his match, being unable to shock the world any longer. It’s like his critics had finally gotten to him as he deep down might be just a man that has lost his mojo for a long time and can only rely on twists for the sake of twists and shock value for the sake of shock values to keep audiences engaged in his filmography. In that case, then Knock At The Cabin does at least make for a rather unique metaphor of it’s own, even if it’s a rather tame one.

Other comments:

• I almost wanted to not bother doing a review and just give my Letterboxd rating of it telling you to just watch Cabin in the Woods instead.

• Speaking of which, I should really get to updating my Letterboxd account once again.

• Kinda ironic how after the slew of January movies 2023 gave us, this is probably the one movie that feels like it belongs in January than almost any other movie that actually came out last month.

• Before my screening, a theater employee was telling me that the only M. Night Shayamalan movie he ever enjoyed was The Last Airbender. That was probably the biggest twist of the night for me.

Yesterday, there was some absolutely heartbreaking news that came from the people involved with the hit YouTube channel called Schaffrillas Productions. James Phyrillas, the head behind Schaffrillas, his friend Chris Schaffer, and his brother Patrick Phyrillas, were all involved in a car crash in Leigh County. While James survived and is in absolute critical condition, Chris and Patrick unfortunately passed away at the ages of 25 and 22. Chris and Patrick both played a big part in the success of Schaffrillas Productions and leaving a major impact in the YTP, Animation, and the overall YouTube community. This tragic news was first broken by Twitter account, @PerfectCutPoop.

I have some very sad, unfortunate news to deliver.

Yesterday, James Phyrillas aka Schaffrillas, his friend Chris Schaffer, and his brother Patrick Phyrillas, were all involved in a car crash in Leigh County.

Chris and Patrick have died, and James is in critical condition.

— Perfectly Cut YouTube Poop Moments (@PerfectCutPoop) January 30, 2023

Chris and Patrick were 25 and 22, and together they all formed the Schaffrillas name, leaving a major impact in the YTP, Animation, and overall YouTube community

— Perfectly Cut YouTube Poop Moments (@PerfectCutPoop) January 30, 2023

First off, I’ll say that I do not watch Schaffrillas Productions. I’ve seen a handful of clips of their reviews through Twitter and such but never took the time to watch a whole video of theirs. I was however well aware of their existence and the impact they have had on film criticism and animation. The only connection I had from them was when I reference James himself on Twitter in my Strange World piece. However, the main reason I wanted to write this doesn’t have to do with the content of Schaffrillas Productions as a whole but how what has happen is a giant wake-up call in life that should not be glossed over in the slightest.

First off, having your life being taken away at the ages of 22 and 25 is far too young. No good noble person deserves to lose their life at that age. That is an age before someone even has the chance to peak with their live, just when they about to scratch the surface of a very promising future that awaits them. It’s cruel, unfair, and shows this is no video game world we live in. This is in fact the real world!

Secondly, no matter if James is able to recover physically and mentally from this terrible accident, I really hope fans of his do NOT take the time to bug him about future channel content. Let the man take all the time he needs to heal from all of this! By not only losing members that help made his channel a success but also his own brother and dear friend, things will never be the same for him again. There may even be a big chance he might never get over it and may decide to stop making YouTube content all together because two people that help his channel grow is now gone. Regardless, even though all of this should be clearly obvious to anyone with a human brain, this is something that should be stated nevertheless.

Thirdly, let this be a reminder of how short life can be and never take the time you spend with the ones you love for granted. You NEVER know when someone you love will be gone. It could be today, it could be tomorrow, or even 20+ years from now. Everyone will had to die at some point in their lives, you just never know when. The next time you interact with someone you care deeply about, let them know how much they mean to you. Even if it may not seem like a big moment right now, it will surely last in the future when the unthinkable happens and they are now a part of history. Always treasure every moment with the people you love because you never know when it will be your very last spend with them.

To finish this off, I’ll end this by saying that I wish James Schaffrillas the most speedy recovery imaginable. What happened to his brother and friend is absolutely horrible and I surely hope that the too of them rest in peace! You should feel proud with what the three of you were able to achieve as content creators in YouTube and I only hope the impact that Schaffrillas Productions has had continues to grow and inspire others for the better. If James is able to make it through all of this and is still breathing, then I encourage him to take all the time that he needs to recover and do what he thinks is best for himself for the future. Don’t feel the need to force yourself to do something because you think you have to do! Do what you think is right for yourself! That’s the best that any of us could ask for!

Once again, RIP Chris Schaffer and Patrick Phyrillas!

Last week, the Academy listed the nominations for this spring’s upcoming Oscars. And just like every time that these award nominations gets announced, there is usually some controversy and debates about most of the movies nominated, warranted or not. However, I don’t think there has been two movies that have had the biggest form of controversy and debate surrounding it than that of two animated movies that have been nominated for Best Animated Picture with Turning Red and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.

With Turning Red, this was already a movie that had debates and discourses surrounding it basically since the very first trailer for it released. Even taken out the 9/11 memes, there was already discussions surrounding the film’s content, such as a girl going through puberty and having her “red panda” moment, along with the animation which many found was too expressive, obnoxious and just plain “in your face”. Despite the film’s overall positive reviews it received from critics, the audiences reactions were much more divided because of elements like that.

With Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, it got the complete opposite reactions from the majority of people that saw it. While it was mostly a movie that slip through many people’s radar before it’s release, as it was a sequel that no one was really asking for and coming from a franchise that hasn’t had a new installment in over a decade, it arrived to near universal claim from both critics and audiences alike. There might have been some discussions as to whether or not the film was appropriate for kids with the mild swearing and tackling more adult/mature themes, there really wasn’t much that folks took issue with the movie. It’s been a big success thus far that it has potentially breathed new life into the Shrek franchise, so much so that we might even seen a Shrek 5 sooner rather than later.

In hindsight, I can see why certain folks would want to raise the pedestal with Puss In Boots: The Last Wish rather than Turning Red. After all, this is the award for Best Animated Picture, an award that over 90% of the time goes to a Disney or Pixar movie basically by default. Regardless if that film itself is any good or that other ones that go nominated were just overall better, that just seems like an award from the Academy that is made strictly for Disney and Pixar so they don’t always have to nominate them for the overall Best Picture every year. People being against Disney and Pixar winning an award for Best Animated Picture when other great animated films released that same year is nothing out of the ordinary. However, I still find this debate rather dumb because it involves two films that both deserve to win Best Animated Picture in their own rights.

Turning Red and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish are both two movies that while different from each other in a lot of ways, is able to achieve their goals in ways that are quite similar. Both films are animated features that dare to tackle more mature, grown-up-like subject matter that majority of “kids” films out there wouldn’t dare to tackle, dives into the inner turmoils of their main protagonists through animal-like figures, and uses a distinct and unique animation style that is absolutely “out there” for it to tell their multilayered stories. Both films are just as much as different as they are similar with each other. Which again makes me wonder why anyone would be opposed to either one of these winning for best animated pictures?

It’s not like if Turning Red wins for Best Animated Picture that it would be the worst example of the Academy showing bias towards Disney or Pixar. Need I remind you of the time that Brave won over Frankenweenie or ParaNorman and when Big Hero 6 won over The Boxtrolls, How To Train Your Dragon 2, and Song of the Sea (Not to mention, The L.E.G.O. Movie which didn’t even get nominated). Heck, you didn’t see me raging last year when Encanto won for Best Animated Picture over my favorite film of 2021, The Mitchells vs. the Machines. There’s been worse examples of this with much worse or at least lesser movies and there’s no need to act like if the inevitable happens, that Turning Red winning should act like some sort of exception.

The Academy Awards is just an awards show that is losing more and more credibility in each passing year. From constantly refusing to nominated horror feature films to always trying to change the formula with the way the show is run just to appeal to folks who will never like their show, it’s mostly become something to watch over the years just for the lols and memes rather than the thrills and anticipations of seeing the winners. Becoming more of a popularity contest than one that is actual rewarding the very best in film of it’s respective year. It’s like watching a car accident happening before your very eyes, it’s awful and terrible but you can’t help to look away and only see it through to the very end.

There is plenty of things wrong with the way the Academy is run and how they deal with the Oscars but whether or not Turning Red or Puss In Boots: The Last Wish wins for Best Animated Picture is not one of them. These are two great, wonderfully crafted animated pictures that both deserve a fair chance of taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Picture. Would it be nice for Puss In Boots: The Last Wish to win and let DreamWorks take home the Best Animated Picture for once (something which the company haven’t done since Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit)? Absolutely! Would it also be nice for Turning Red to take that award, a Disney/Pixar movie that is actually deserving of it? Absolutely as well! Regardless, I promise you either one of these two pictures winning won’t be the biggest “WTF” winner for this year! Especially when Austin Butler will likely win for Best Actor over Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser.

If you’re someone that likes to compare these two movies just to claim which one you like more and just for the fun of it all, then that’s fine. For anyone that saw my Best-Of-The-Year list, you would know that I ranked Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio over Turning Red. Even so, I still did really like all three of those animated films, so much so that I had all three of those movies on that list. That was because, animated or not, I thought those were three of the best movies I saw in 2022. However, when I made that list, that was never under the assumption that I believed at least two of these movies would be match together as to which one is better than the other. I put them both on the list because I felt both movies deserved some love. And even a month later, I still do.

You can like what you like and dislike what you dislike but there’s no need for silly debates like Turning Red vs Puss In Boots: The Last Wish because there’s really no need for it. The Academy has enough problems as it is with how they are run but there’s no need to make a certain problem of it that it really doesn’t have. There’s plenty to complain about with the nominations this year but with what is nominated for Best Animated Picture is not one of them. If anything, that was one of the things it got right. Which is why it’s best to turn our attentions to the ones they got wrong and leaves the ones they got right well enough alone. Hopefully then we can avoid another instance like say, Zack Snyder’s Justice League taking home an award based off some Twitter poll.

There are very few gaming franchises out there that is as interesting, complex, frustrating, and contains such an incredibly passionate fanbase than Kingdom Hearts. The mere idea behind the series sound as silly and awesome as you could imagine. Not only providing a new and unique spin on the traditional tale of good vs evil but it’s also basically the equivalent of someone’s own self-insert fanfiction of classic Disney movies and the Final Fantasy series. That might sound ridiculously cringe but trust me, that’s actually a big part of the appeal of this franchise and why I enjoy it.

At it’s heart (no pun intended), this is a series that can be seen through many different perspectives. There’s the fans who has been with this series from the very beginning when they were kids, the fans who got into this series around the time of it’s ultimate peak between the releases of II and III, and those like me who are relative newcomers to the series that have been able to play these games in any order they want without having to wait many years for long-awaited sequels and playing through multiple different side games along the way. That in of itself is why ranking these games is quite tricky. Not only because of how long someone has followed this franchise but also what they look for in a Kingdom Hearts game.

There are those that play Kingdom Hearts for the story, characters, and the lore. There are those that play Kingdom Hearts for the traditional combat gameplay and RPG elements. And there are even those that play Kingdom Hearts just because they want to play around in these Disney worlds with potential Final Fantasy characters thrown into the mix. For me personally, I look for just the right mix of all these elements and based my rankings on which ones were able to do it better than the others.

Regardless of what you think about Kingdom Hearts as a whole and the way that Square Enix has handled it over the years, there’s always a sense of warm, comfort, and even nostalgia whenever you visit this series. As we approach the four-year anniversary of Kingdom Hearts III (Can’t believe it’s already been four (!) years!) and await the inevitable Kingdom Hearts IV (Which hopefully doesn’t take another 13 years to make), time to take some time to rank all of these games from worst to best.

There are a few disclaimers. First off, I’m leaving off all the mobile games because I never played them and for what I understand, they have been shut down indefinitely. Secondly, with the exception of Re:Coded and 358/2 Days, I only played the version of all the pre-Kingdom Hearts III games that were included in the Kingdom Hearts: Story So Far Collection and I’m mostly going off my experience with that. Thirdly, this ranking is coming from someone who has just gotten into the series in recent years and have been able to play these games in a timely manner with not wait or anticipation between any of them. I know I’ve already brought that up but it’s important to notify this as you know where I’m coming from with this franchise. Lastly, I’m not including the Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover movie, but if I did, it would either be at or near the bottom of the list as I found it to be completely dull and forgettable, especially for a so-called “origin” movie.

All of that being said, let’s not waste any more time and get straight to the list!

10.) Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories

If I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t finish this game. As a matter of fact, I only played it for like an hour. That in of itself might make it unfair to rank on this list since I’ve never actually completed it or even played it for more than an hour. However, if I have no desire to continue playing a game, then I think that says more about the game itself than it does for me.

The original Chain of Memories was already considered an oddball of the franchise. It was the first spin-off game in the series, taking place between the events of I and II, that was originally for the Game Boy Advance and later ported to the PlayStation 2 and then again to other next-gen systems. It wasn’t very well received by fans in it’s original form and was even more panned with it’s ports. When playing the game for just an half and hour, it’s easy to see why.

It’s not just that Re:Chain of Memories has multiple different problems (which is still does) but it mostly comes down to one big flaw that brings the whole game down, the convoluted card system. It’s awkwardly implemented, confusing to control, poor to handle, constantly gets in the way of the combat, and is just an absolute mess all around. It also didn’t help of having to know the exact card to open the exact correct door with in order to advance in the story despite having multiple different cards to choose from and it being hard to tell which one is suppose to go where. This is a game you could clearly tell was made for handheld devices and absolutely NOT for main consoles. Re:Chain of Memories is easily the low point of the series and one I have no intention of going back to try to beat anytime soon.

9.) Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

The first of the Kingdom Hearts series to be on the Nintendo DS and put a major focus on not strictly Sora but his “nobody” in Roxas. This would also be the final game to feature the late great Wayne Allwine as Mickey, who passed away just before the game’s release in Japan. It’s just a shame that the game itself doesn’t rise anything above “meh”.

It attempts to introduce new elements to the core formula that Kingdom Hearts is known for, particularly a mission system that feels rip straight out of Monster Hunter, but in so doing so leads to very middling results. The moment-to-moment can be a slog that is plagued with rather clunky controls that makes the game a bit of a chore to play through. This is also when the series would fall into the storytelling trappings that it would later become infamous for. There is a HUGE emphasis on the lore and the in-and-outs of the Kingdom Hearts universe that it’s difficult to get invested in this suppose tragedy that the characters are going through because of how convoluted the plot itself is. And even if you are able to keep up with what is happening here, you will likely have a hard time caring.

There are a handful of interesting ideas here, most notably putting an emphasis on the main antagonists of the series Organization XII and another main character other than Sora, but this is when the franchise still hadn’t cracked the code on how to make it stand out outside of the traditional big three that carries the main installments. A notable effort but not one worth getting to deep into.

8.) Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded

Here’s another port of a game that I played in it’s remastered version. The original Coded began as a mobile game released split into episodes until it go re-released on the Nintendo DS, making the second KH game released on that device. If anything, it’s certainly a better port in Re:Chain of Memories and works better as a DS game than 358/2 Days.

The gameplay works much more smoothly this time around with better controls and elements that work quite well for an Nintendo DS. The story itself is also much more scale back and straight forward despite it certainly feeling like one of the more inconsequential tales ever told in the series, even if it does take place almost entirely in a parallel data world. Even then, there’s not much about this game that stands out as it’s own. Most of it feels like a retread of prior games with not much new things to offer or features that are improved on. It’s just kinda there.

You can do a coin flip between which is the better of the two DS games in the series but I go with Re:Coded because of the more fluent gameplay and I did at least feel more invested in the story this time around as oppose to 358/2 Days. Even so, you’re better off just watching the cutscenes of both DS games in the PS4 collection if you really need to know how the story progresses.

7.) Kingdom Hearts (3D): Dream Drop Distance

The first one in the series I had any experience playing with it, mostly from the demo that was available on the 3DS e-shop. On paper, Dream Drop Distance feels like it should be the most interesting side game of Kingdom Hearts. It puts a focus on Sora and Riku’s early days where they work their way to become keyblade masters as they must pass their Mark of Mystery exam under Yen Sid in the wake of Xehanort’s return. This is also one that puts the most focus on Riku as a side main character and give him the most playing time out of any of the games thus far. And then there’s the dream drop mechanic that’s introduced.

It’s definitely at it’s most engaging when it puts the focus strictly on Sora and Riku’s journey as we get more exploration of their friendship and how they work to achieve goals to become one with the Keyblade. The gameplay at it’s core is also about as good as the main series installments with the right mix of combat, upgrades, RPG elements, and Disney worlds that make these games as fun as they are. It’s just unfortunate that the main Dream Drop gimmick itself, or strictly known as Dream Eaters in the game, doesn’t really offer that much to the experience and can honestly take away from it. The whole “one character sleeps and then the other character wakes up” element is rather redundant and gets old very quick.

The main core problem of Dream Drop Distance is that of the actual dream mechanic itself. It doesn’t feel needed and mostly only exists to provide a different “spin” to the series. An enjoyable experience overall and one that was (surprisingly) quite well translated from the 3DS to the PS4 but it could have reached greatness if they just ditch its useless gimmick entirely or at least made better use of it.

6.) Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep- A Fragmentary Passage

The one that has the most confusing title and placement in the entire series. This is as the point where the series got so ridiculous with it’s lore, universe building and going back-and-forth between the timelines of each new game that it has almost become a self-parody. This was also the one that mostly became part of the collection titled, 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. However, putting all of that baggage aside and looking at it as it’s own thing, A Fragmentary Passage is actually pretty damn good.

This put a major focus on the fan-favorite character known as Aqua as we basically check in on her after the secret ending of Birth By Sleep. It’s able to provide more depth to Aqua than before and give you even more reasons to care about her. It also gave a taste of the kind of gameplay that we would get later on in III that is absolutely fun and fluid. Even so, it’s a very brief installment that can be beaten around two to three hours tops. So much so that it’s mostly comes across as a tech demo for Kingdom Hearts III rather than it’s own game.

A Fragmentary Passage was when Square Enix was fairly cut and dry of their intent to milk this franchise as much as possible until they were finally caring enough to give us the next big chapter. From a cynical standpoint, this should be much lower. However from an objective standpoint of the game, I couldn’t help but enjoy getting to spend more time with Aqua. I guess I’m part of the problem.

5.) Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

The music has always been a strength of Kingdom Hearts. Whether it’s a remix of a well-known Disney track or it’s own original sound, these games tend to have absolutely beautiful music that is always a treat to the ears. Because of that, why not create a rhythm game that acts as a nice trip down memory lane and showing off the franchise’s most iconic piece of music?

It’s here we see a re-telling of the story of the Dark Seeker Saga through the eyes of Kairi. Because of that, we go through just about every notable level through every Kingdom Hearts game to date and get reminded along the way of what an outstanding soundtrack this franchise has tended to have. Every notable character from the Kingdom Hearts series is playable and divided into four main party grouping with Team Classic, Team Days, Team 3D, and Team BBS, along with playable Disney characters that are a part of their respective worlds/franchises. Think of this as the Sonic Heroes of Kingdom Hearts except less clunky and repetitive.

There’s not much here that pushes the series forward in any way except for the final cutscenes that give a potential hint towards the future, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a blast revisiting the ups and downs of this franchise to date in song form. Melody of Memory doesn’t try to sell itself as anything but what it is. Because of that, it’s able to succeed perfectly on it’s own distinct merits.

4.) Kingdom Hearts III

The first ever Kingdom Hearts game that I played all the way through involves the follow-up that was 13 years in the making. The long-awaited mainline sequel that is Kingdom Hearts III finally arrived in 2019, proving that Square Enix is not afraid of the number three. Everyone has an opinion on it but I think everyone would agreed that this certainly was an experience.

If we are talking STRICTLY in terms of gameplay, this might ranked even higher on the list. The gameplay itself is INCREDIBLY fun (at least once I actually know what I was doing) as it has never been more of a pleasure to fight enemies, collect items, and upgrade your weapons to be as powerful as you and your amigos, Donald and Goofy, can possibly be. The Disney worlds, while have less than the first two main games, are much bigger, brander, wider in scope, and perfectly resembles the original worlds from which movie it came from that is a treat to explore. It also very gorgeous to look at with great music throughout and hysterical banter between the characters. It’s just unfortunate that the story and pacing get in the way quite a bit. Certain cutscenes drag on for way too long, the Disney worlds themselves don’t impact the core story, there’s not much progression until the last third of the game, and has an ending while bittersweet, leaves quite a bit of loose ends solely designed to set up the next main saga of the series. I also could have gone without hearing Let It Go for the 900th time. While the gameplay is as fun as it has ever been, it’s elements of the story that dragged it down.

I believe your reaction to Kingdom Hearts III will likely depend on how long you have been a fan of the franchise and what you look for in a Kingdom Hearts game. For those that come for the core gameplay and playing through Disney worlds, they will probably be more than satisfied. For those heavily invested in the story and lore, then they may feel that the game left a bit to be desired. Even then, I don’t think it would be a true Kingdom Hearts game without some imperfections. Can this game be described as a mess? Perhaps. But does it remain a fun, engaging, and lovable mess that I really enjoyed playing. Absolutely!

3.) Kingdom Hearts

The one that started it all and launched one of the most iconic franchises in gaming history. Providing a unique spin on the good vs evil tale with the main conflict of the series between the heart and the heartless while also introducing characters from the Disney and Final Fantasy series along with being able to explore many of their worlds. If you ever imagine yourself wanting to fight alongside the likes of Hercules or Aladdin and play a part in their stories with your own avatar character, this is basically what you get.

Sora himself is a very likable and interesting protagonist that is more than convincing to be fighting alongside Donald and Goofy. His relationship with Riku and Kairi is engaging, giving him the perfect motivation that anyone can get behind and relate too. The gameplay itself, while clunky at times, is able to find that rare combination between action and role-playing that would become a staple of the series. The Disney worlds themselves are a pleasure to explore and mix well with the Square elements thrown into the mix. And who could ever desire to diss the pitch-perfect score from the great Shimomura? I could have done without the gummi ships though. At least for this game.

While there are features that are undeniably dated and did introduces flaws that would become carry over to other games (the parry attack is absolute garbage), but it also introduces plenty of strengths that would be expanded and even improved upon in latter games that help make Kingdom Hearts stand the test of time. With a game that has a concept so bizarre and silly, it’s quite astounding how simple and clean the whole experience is.

2.) Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

This was Square Enix’s second attempt to make a game that took the focus away from Sora and put three new characters in the spotlight, with the former only showing in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo at some point in the secret ending. Unlike with 358/2 Days, it actually succeeds this time out and making it one of the very best games in the franchise.

Story aside, this is probably the best of the entire franchise and possibly the most personal. Terra, Ventus, and Aqua are all very engaging characters with stories and conflicts that are very easy to get invested in. Unlike with 358/2 Days, it never goes too overboard with the lore and complexity of it’s story that it ruins the investment. You are able to plays as all three characters in any way you want and see a unique perspective of each one of their stories. So much so that I enjoy following these characters just as much as I do with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. The gameplay is still as fun and air tight as the best installments in the franchise are, even if it can become repetitive with playing similar stories three times over but just done in different orders, with Aqua in particular standing out as one of my personal favorite characters to play in any of the games. The only downside is that the Disney worlds themselves, while not bad, don’t stick out as much or is as fun to go through as some of the other entries.

Before Birth By Sleep, it was hard to imagine caring about a Kingdom Hearts game that didn’t focus strictly on Sora and his pals. Now, if by some chance, Square Enix decided to take the main focus away from Sora and apply to any one of these main characters in this game, then I might be quite on board with it. I guess anything is truly possible.

1.) Kingdom Hearts II

And the one that stands proudly above all is no other than Kingdom Hearts II itself. Okay, yes, it does have an admittedly overlong prologue that take too long to get to the point despite having some of my favorite moments in the game. Yes, it sucked you basically had to suffer through Chain of Memories, in a time where you couldn’t just look up the cutscenes on YouTube, to even have a clue of how this game starts. Once you get those two issues out of the way, KH II stands as the best Kingdom Hearts game, one of the best RPGs, and even one of the best gaming sequels of all time.

This has the right mix of everything I look for in a Kingdom Hearts game and has the best versions of many of the things I’ve come to love about the series. The story is darker and more engaging, the characters are all fun and worth investing in, the controls and gameplay are even better than the first game, the combat and RPG elements work wonders, the Disney worlds (save for Atlantica) are more properly implemented and serve even more purpose to the story, and the soundtrack is one of my absolute favorites in any game (The House of Dragon being the main stand out for me!). Heck, even the Gummi Ships are actually tolerable this time out. Even the prologue I mention at the beginning which most folks like to complain about, has it’s moments (Twilight Town is just magical!).

When it comes to which Kingdom Hearts game is the best one, I feel is all about the one that has the proper balance. The game that is able to blend it’s story, characters, world, universe, and of course, gameplay together beautifully without any end of the spectrum that gets left out. There are certain games in the series I feel suffer from that but Kingdom Hearts II absolutely does not. If you have ever wanted to understand the appeal of Kingdom Hearts and why it resonates with so many people, all you have to do is play through this game and you can totally see why.

And there you have it! As Square Enix has stated, there are more Kingdom Hearts content in the works, with Kingdom Hearts IV on the rise. And whatever comes next will be the first chapter to a brand new saga for the series. Will it work out? Who knows but for those that are still around, it will surely be intriguing to find out together. Let’s hope for the best!

Also, Mickey is the worst king ever! Just saying!

Last weekend saw the very first episode of the brand new series, The Last of Us, dropped on HBO Max. A series premiere that fans and critics have fell in love with. It has gotten strong reviews all around and was watched by 4.7 million viewers on it’s first day, the second-biggest viewership for HBO since 2010. While I still haven’t seen it myself since I don’t own HBO Max anymore and I’m not gonna pirate it, that looks to be the general consensus as far as I’m aware. However, when there’s an adaption of a video game that is transition into a show or movie, the big looming questions is always asked from articles everywhere. The kind of questions that have honestly become redundant because of how inaccurate it is.

Those questions being whether this certain adaption will finally be the one that breaks the so- called video game adaption curse and whether this will be the first actual “good” video game adaption? Even when an adaption gets positively received by fans or critics, this question always tend to get asked every time, almost as if the previous ones that people were raving about never existed at all? It’s a never ending repetitive cycle that constantly rewrites history. It also doesn’t help that Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann utter that exact same phrase when promoting the series.

I once stated in my Uncharted movie review last year that there’s basically two ways which an adaption of a video game can work well. 1.) It has to be a medium that is not exclusively based off a video game but it’s ultimately ABOUT video games. 2.) It has to be a medium based around a certain genre or sub-genre that the games are based off of instead of being strictly a faithful adaption of the games. However, there is one more way I forgot to add that is arguably the most important one. 3.) They have to work as more than just games but also as compelling stories in their own right. These are reasons why prior video game adaptations has failed and why more recent adaptions have worked as of late. So much so that I think it’s time to stop implying about this video game adaptation curse saying and see that these can work with the right property and right material to back it up with.

As much as there are plenty of folks that are gonna praised The Last of Us series as being the Batman Begins or Iron Man of video game adaptions, as in the one that will kick the doors open for plenty other video game studios to try to give their successful IPs a try on the big screen or on a streaming service, I would argue this is when they will reach their peak. A peak that is actually been building up for a few years now that I think it’s fair to take notice of and give credit where it’s due. What exactly has been that build up do you ask? I said you have to go back to six to seven years ago.

I would argue that 2016-2017 was the last truly bad time for video game adaptions with the releases of Angry Birds, Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, and especially Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Although it was arguably the time where studios were trying to take their video game adaptions a little more seriously and make them work in movie form, all four of these failed to even come close to meeting a single one of the three definitions I previously mentioned of what makes a good video game adaption. They either went too far in one direction or too far in the other to completely failed as adaptions or even just stand-alone pictures. What might have been seen as the nail on the coffin for video game adaptions, it honestly was more of the beginning of the end of lackluster video game adaptions.

2018 saw the releases of Tomb Raider and Rampage, two adaptions that were FAR from perfect but was mostly a step in the right direction for video game adaptions. Even if it suffer from trying to pull too much from the source material, they were entertaining enough where it work as simple popcorn entertainment. It shows a glimmer of how video game adaptions these can work. Mostly if you just play in the right sandbox of other successful genres/sub-genres and carry enough material from the games, then that might just enough to carry a feature film. This ended up being just a glimmer to a much birther picture ahead.

2019 was even better with the likes of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and Angry Birds 2, the first two video game movies to be given a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. These were 100% proof that these adaption can work outside of it’s core fanbase or being necessarily “critic” proof, they can work (somewhat) as critical darling or as mainstream audience entertainment as well. You don’t have to sacrifice one end or the other. They were sweet, funny, heartfelt, and was able to take elements of the source material that is able to work in movie form while (mostly) leaving out things that didn’t work. Not slam dunks but another step in the right direction. Of course, this wave of success would only continue the next year or even the next few years after that, mostly thanks to a little blue hedgehog and his furry friends.

After being delayed due to backlash over the character designs, Sonic the Hedgehog finally made his way onto the big screen in 2020. It made just enough money and warrant enough praise from fans and critics that a sequel got greenlighted, which would come out just two years later. A sequel which many would argue that not only was it better than the first one but possibly the best video game movie ever made. One that was able to add in fan-favorite characters such as Tails and Knuckles along with corporating more elements from the game such as the Chaos Emeralds and still have it work as it’s own things that both fans and mainstream audiences could enjoy.

This had to be a sign that the video game adaption curse is now a myth. Sure, other adaptions that came out recently such as Monster Hunter, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and Uncharted might have been met with a middled to negative response but even then, 1.) those were all either in development hell for years or was rushed out so quickly that they had a very slim chance of working and 2.) the success of the Sonic movies was so big for video game adaptions that it ultimately didn’t matter. However, there is one more adaption that it’s worth mentioning. A series on Netflix that has been so well acclaimed from just about anyone that has watched it. A show which as of right now, has a perfect 100% approval critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score right around the mid to high 90s.

While Netflix also has had another successful video game adaption series with Cuphead, there hasn’t been one great than that of Arcane. A series that even at the time it came out in 2021, was automatically declared to be the best adaption for a video game to date. It was able to bring the things that fans loved about the games such as the character, lore, and world building and make it worth not only as a faithful adaption but also one that can work greatly for those who are unfamiliar with it’s source material. A series which set the record as Netflix’s highest-rated series at the time within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and ranked second on the chart in the United States. It also became the first ever streaming series to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program and even won an Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated Television Broadcast Production.

That right there is good enough to declare this curse for video game adaptions over. While there have been bad ones along the way and more will come our way, the ones that are good will stand strong and should not be overlooked for how successful they are. In recent years, with the amount of quality video game adaptions we are receiving, it might be time to stop doubting and instead give these kind of adaptions the benefit of the doubt. It didn’t start with The Last of Us series, it has been working it’s way for the past few years and at long last, has been finally able to climb to the very top of the mountain.

Don’t take this piece as me trying to devalue the success that The Last of Us series will clearly have along with it’s impact that it will have on future video game adaptions. What I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to admit that an adaption of a video game in movie or show form can actually be good. It’s okay to give credit where it’s due to the good ones of these and not just bluntly ignore them because of the inevitable bad ones that has and will come along the way. Let’s not just give all the credit to The Last Of Us or Arcane while giving zero to all the others that came before them because it’s top tier in these forms of adaption.

The point I’m trying to make in all of this is that I think it’s time to admit that this so-called video game adaption curse is broken and we shouldn’t have needed The Last Of Us to confirm that. The proof was right in front of us the whole time. Perhaps now the discussion isn’t shouldn’t be on whether or not that the video game adaption curse is broken but more on whether or not it has fully reached it’s peak thanks to The Last of Us. That is a discussion about video game adaption that is well worth having.

Now, bring on the Super Mario Bros movie!

My very first Cinema Sins video I ever watched was not actually from Cinema Sins itself. That video came from a review of the video game, Sonic Adventure 2. During that review, there was a section that the reviewer went into great details of the plot of that game and counted the number of bugs, plot holes, inconsistences, convivences, etc. that the story itself contained. This was not meant to be a rip off of Cinema Sins itself. As a matter of fact, that review actually got uploaded on YouTube just ONE day AFTER Cinema Sins released their first ever video. Unless that reviewer was able to crave up an entire half-an-hour long review overnight after watching Cinema Sin’s first video and being able to submit it through YouTube just one day later, that was strictly meant to be it’s own thing that the reviewer just came up with without any influence involved. Little did I know that video would ultimately be a foreshadow has to not just the rise of Cinema Sins but also the fall of it as well, at least when it comes to losing their appeal to me.

Cinema Sins has been going on for ten years now, just coming off their ten-year anniversary last month with they released their first video titled Everything Wrong With The Amazing Spider-Man, which was uploaded on YouTube on December 11, 2012. Since then, I think it’s fairly safe to say that they have had a big impact on the way that people on social media critiques feature films. While I’m sure that was not the intention from the beginning and the folks behind those videos just wanted to have some fun, their influence has become clear the more time passes and each new video that they uploaded. The kind of critiquing that goes beyond simply cherry picking certain things you didn’t like or notice about a movie initially but more of opening the flood gates to the most insane nitpicking and grasping through straws imaginable. Creating these one-note mindsets to always trying to find some sort of overarching flaw that makes the movie one is critiquing as “objectively bad”. Two words I am sick and tired of seeing come together for just about everything.

I’ll admit during their early years, mostly between 2012-2015, I was actually a big fan of them. I thought it was a neat idea to finding the most pointless nitpicks just for shits and giggles while seeing how much “sins” they could actually find in the shortest span of time possible. I found it to be nothing more than pure entertainment with discovering the kind of extras or random things that I didn’t recognize before on a first viewing and mostly getting a chuckle out of it without it changing my overall opinion on each film in a big way. I would never recommend their videos to anyone who wanted to hear in-depth arguments as to why a certain film is bad or flawed but more to those that want to pass their time by watching someone point out random or pointless things they didn’t notice when they first watch said movie. Sure, some of the puns and jokes can be a bit tasteless and even at times, misogynist (*scene does not contain lap dance*), but it’s a fun idea involving movie discourse that is not meant to be taken that seriously. However, as time went on, it seems as though that those involved with Cinema Sins didn’t seem well aware of this and have gone WAY overboard with the thing that they created. So overboard that they have become the thing that they likely did not attend to be.

Even taken out the awful impact that Cinema Sins itself created, their videos now are such an absolute drag to sit through. The videos are now longer, more tedious, less self aware, extra nitpicky, and seems to miss the point of their original intention they hard when they first made their videos. It’s now gotten to the point where it’s the little things that take you out of their videos. Things such as the sins they find mostly don’t make any sense, their jokes are forced, constantly drawn out, and aren’t very funny, and even key features such as the movie sin timer feel pointless as they don’t seem to add to the pace and length of each video. Instead of keeping things short, sweet, and simple like they did in the beginning, it’s now long, sour, and overly complicated.

I’ve been thinking for months just how I can find the perfect example as to what I’m talking about and how Cinema Sins itself has changed for the worse for the better part of a decade. It was then I found out that they have not begun to go back and “re-sin” the films that they did when they first started. These mostly consists of big movies that came out in 2012 such as The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Hunger Games, and Prometheus along with other big movies that were highly requested for them at the time by their viewers. I don’t think there is a better example to see how far that Cinema Sins itself has fallen in terms of quality or entertainment value than comparing two sinful videos they did of the same movie. The example I’m gonna use is the previously mentioned The Amazing Spider-Man.

First, here is the original video that they did of it back in 2012.

Now, this is the kind of videos that I enjoyed from Cinema Sins. The ones that were quick, snappy, funny, and got straight to the point. Not only does it perfectly display the clear intent of just poking fun and finding things I imagine most folks didn’t notice the first time around, but it move at just the right pace where it doesn’t feel like a chore to sit through. Regardless of what you actual feel about the movie itself, the creators of Cinema Sins were showing that this is clearly being made for entertainment purposes and not to show the world how smart and clever they are with critiquing films.

The best part about it all is how each one of the features that they included here actually serves a purpose. There’s the sin counter which is to help keep track of how many sins they could find within the movie. There’s the timer which is to show how much time it took to find as many sins in the movie as they could find. Then there’s the sentence which is basically to give the verdict on each movie largely depending on how many sins it actually contained. This is all basically like the equivalent of a game show where there comes the part where each team is trying to score as much points as possible in the limited amount of time that they have. It’s that exact pace and intensity that made their earlier videos more enjoyable to watch. It wasn’t trying to too hard or doing too much in too little time. It was just there to be entertainment and show off things no one else was mentioning with whatever film they are discussing.

Now, let’s get to the one that they recently uploaded of the same film. The one which they “re-sinned” that is pretty much the exact opposite of the true intentions as the original video.

I’m not going to go into every little detail as to why this sins video is flawed as hell but you can definitely see there is a clear difference between their original one and this one. Where as the original video was quick, quippy, snappy, and movie at a fast clip, this one feels much slower, more tedious, very forced, and constantly drags. It’s the things pointed out in the first minute that take you out of it such as referencing Ready or Not, a movie that came literally SEVEN years after this movie did, or sinning the movie because it (or any other Spider-Man movie) didn’t have Chameleon. Or how there are sins being made mostly because it didn’t make the narrator’s fan theories for the movie come into fruition and not really actuals sins of the movie itself. That’s not even mentioning how the original was able to find 53 sins in the span of just two minutes, but here only EIGHT of them are found in the first two minutes and takes almost 10 minutes before even getting to 53 this time around. All of this is and more is a perfect example of the absolute downgrade in quality that Cinema Sins itself has had as time moves on.

What makes it stand out more is how pointless some of the key features are now, most notably the movie sin timer. What’s even the point of keeping track the certain amount of time it takes you to find the number of sins? Especially since you are now in no rush and you simple take your sweet ass time critiquing and finding the most bizarre nitpick you can think off that you think can qualify as a sin. You might as well get rid of it altogether as it doesn’t seem to matter to the amount of sins you find over it’s overall verdict that it receives.

The funniest thing of all is that I’m not even a fan of The Amazing Spider-Man or every single movie that they sin but even I know, that most of it is just completely nonsensical nitpicking that doesn’t really make any sense. All of this could be fine if it was funnier, moved faster, or was at least more self aware that it’s not meant to be taken seriously. But, that doesn’t seem like the intention here.

It comes off more as one of those obnoxious youtubers who make 10+ hour long reviews that are somehow much longer than the actual films they are critiquing. Just constantly finding the most random little things to get upset about and act as if they are smarter than the people who made the movies. The ones that loves to use the term “objectively bad”. I’m not saying that is the actual intent from the creators of Cinema Sins nowadays but it just comes across as that with these newer videos.

Instead of feeling like a race against time, it now feels as slow as a tortoise. Instead of being funny, it’s being cringe. Instead of getting to the point, it’s now feels the need to drag itself before getting to the point. Instead of laughing at the random things pointing out, you know are just puzzled and wonder why those things were even pointed out in the first place. Instead of feeling like entertainment, it now feels like a waste of time. Instead of finding a way, it has now lost it’s way.

I do want to make something clear that all of this is NOT meant to take a hit on the creators of Cinema Sins themselves. I’m sure they are all nice people that are just happy to be able to do this as their main job. If they still enjoy providing their own form of entertainment to their millions of subscribers, then good for them and I hope they continue to enjoy that in the near future. This is more on why I can’t stand to watch them anymore and how far they fell when it came to what I believe was their true intent when they first started their YouTube channel.

Perhaps this might have to do with the folks at Cinema Sins fallen to the same trappings that most big YouTubers tend to suffer them once they become more famous. Things such as feeling that they are bigger than they first thought they were, believing they have to live up to a specific ego, or seeing the inspiration they caused and now have the mindset to be just like them because that’s what they think they actually are now. I don’t know if any of that is true but I wouldn’t be surprised if any of that was the case.

When thinking about the run of Cinema Sins thus far, I go back to that one line that Tony Stark said at the end of Iron Man 3, “You start with something pour, something exciting. Then comes the mistakes. The compromises. We created our own demons.”

I imagine that might be the reputation that most sees Cinema Sins as and even the one that even the folks behind Cinema Sins might agree on one day if they haven’t already. Inspiring to be a positive force to movie discourse only to end up being a negative force of it. You start off with a fun idea that becomes successful which only aspires multiple copycats that ultimately took the wrong idea of what you originally intended to do. I don’t know if any of that is the case but that’s just the way I see it and why I believe Cinema Sins has feel hard and completely lost it’s way.

And just for the heck of it, here’s that Sonic Adventure 2 review that I mentioned at the beginning of the video.