Change Your Image
jedekai
Reviews
Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (2008)
It's actually pretty good... Sort of.
I was 16 when this project was announced, and waited over eight years to see it out. I am no fan-boy. I paid my $6.75 to see the D&D movie and swore that there was more anachronisms to the game than any semblance of plot, then I played 3rd edition and realized the movie was a commercial.
They had scammed their fans.
When this was said to come to the theaters, I got all happy. Then I started to see the final product coming together and got worried, then I saw the movie: All of the essential visual bits are in there, but the animation resembles something that would be on Cartoon Network, not very high quality. Not counting the fact that there are some actors that are definitely rooted in the Anime style of screaming every ten seconds.
But when you watch a movie like this, it's for the story, and everything in there is correct. Raistlin's withered speech and dark humor, Riverwind's stoicism and fierce determination, Sturm's incredible strength of courage and honor, Tanis' leadership constantly straining and putting his grace in front of his anger.
Although it makes itself known as a good story, and a geek-cult will form, I will wait and see the next movie before I start drinking the foul-smelling tea.
Aliens (1986)
One of my favorite movies of all time, and the greatest film of the past 20 years.
"Aliens" is one of the greatest movies that has ever been made. Whereas "Alien" was a foray into the decay of sanity and the crushing sense of doom and the oppression of fear; "Aliens" is one of the most obvious statements made on what is the difference between man and monster? The Marines in the film are not there to dawdle and wait in fear. They are there to do what Marines, or any elite fighting force is intended to do; kill. Ripley returns from the original and her actions and decisions ask the question, "Which is it you want: Redemption for yourself or revenge for those the creatures have killed?" The businessman from "The Company" is only there to care about two things; himself and The Bottom Line.
The story is phenomenal, almost a Sergio Leone's revenge yarn crossed with the sense of claustrophobia and dread of an H.P. Lovecraft or Robert Bloch story, finally given a healthy dose of the eye-candy and action filmography and dialog that made James Cameron a legend. But the greatest aspect of this film is what makes it come alive and makes it unlike any other science fiction movie you will ever see; the details look real. The scuffs on the floor. The marred and used look of all the machinery, the fact that life on other planets is not glass domes and synthetic lawns, but a hard-pressed lifestyle. But above all else, the fact that everything looks pretty much the same. The uniforms on the Marines look like equipment that is in use today, no "uber-soldat" mechanized war suits or Anime-esquire giant robots with massive arsenals - just people with armor and weaponry sent less as Marines and more as an insect extermination force.
All through it, the viewer will have shock and horror and, especially in the hallway scene, (and that's all I'll say about it) a sense of pure and undeniable hatred and revenge and then you question: "Which is worse? Us or them?" "Aliens" belongs on the shelf of anyone who loves movies, primarily due to it's accomplishment that no other action movie can state; the story is better than the stunts and battles. In this movie, that is a legendary achievement.
Shin kidô senki Gundam W (1995)
Giant robots... With souls.
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is the Fourth series in the continuing Gundam chronicles. Unlike the previous entries which focused on massive wars, this one is a little different; instead of having an army-vs.-army situation, this one is led by five teenage boys (due to their ability to blend in more readily than normal adults) and their machines called "Gundams" because of the metal alloy used in their construction. Which leads to problems, since gundams are supposed to be destroyed, replaced by "Mobile Suits", which are piloted less-destructive weapon platforms and "Dolls" which are ran on A.I. and are used as grunt infantry.
The whole point of the series is a metaphysical question that gives Gundam Wing an edge over a greater portion of the Anime that makes it's way here. Especially since most anime is adapted from popular magazines, such as Naruto, DragonBall, One Piece, DragonBall Z and InuYasha which are all from Shonen Jump, which is now available in America.
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing sets itself apart from most anime in the fact that instead of over-the-top battles between mortals who more resemble gods, Gundam is very humanistic and seems to revel in the fact that it is dramatic instead of melodramatic and events seem to unfold across the series gracefully. Normally in anime there are more than few series that think that the best way to go about having a "small" battle is to have it take a half-hour - something that would never happen in real life. Gundam tops this by making sure that everyone knows that characters will die, machines will be destroyed and rebuilt, battles will be lost and won, and it never seems as though it makes the actions themselves satirical.
But the magic of Gundam Wing is in the details, and what this series has that more anime would be grateful for having. Emotion. Instead of mythic prophecies, magic, or overblown martial arts, Gundam Wing is hard-line science fiction from a country that hates hard-line science fiction. (NOTE: The author would like to state that Neon Genesis Evangelion is not hard-line-plausible-in-real-life science fiction due to the religious subject matter that is the core of its series) they love Star Wars, but hate A.I. (the movie). Henceforth why Gundam Wing was and Gundam SeeD is now in production for both Japanese and U.S. releases at the same time with two voice teams. American audiences only have to wait two or three weeks after the end of the Japanese season to catch the dubbed or subtitled versions or even the edited SeeD episodes that air on Cartoon Network.
The emotion is that these two sides that are fighting a war are technically backwards. The heroes are those who defend the rights of the more wealthy and aristocratic citizens of Earth from the band of terrorists bent on victory at any and all costs that make up the protagonists of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. This is not war, this is "total war". Every person, every building, every street is a target for attack, both on Earth and off.
My only complaint, and the reason it didn't get the score of ten, is that at about three-fourths of the way through, it just kind of goes dead for a few episodes, and no one really seems to change. Kind of like a present-time flashback, which is fine due to what it reveals about the characters, but at the same time it drags down what should be the brewing between Project: Meteor and OZ. But the final two episodes and the overplayed-on-Cartoon-Network (back in 2001-2003) Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz movie more than make up for the slack.
Akira (1988)
The savior of SF in America
It took someone who had enough stones to make a film like this in ANY country to understand, and ultimately save, science-fiction from the rut of sequels, useless plots and way too expensive special effects budgets. If there was ever a movie that earned it's place in the hallowed halls of SF perfection, this would be ahead of Star Wars. The film is far from flawless, though, even people who have read the entire foundation series from Asimov would still get confused at the ending, and someone who got sucked into the first watching would rub the tape clear at the last 15 minutes. Nevertheless, it is still a masterpiece and should be held as such. Another point to add: the people who say it either sucks or rocks probably never understood the ending, otherwise they would feel as I do: it is a mediocre cop-out of an ending.