fj_cruz1 Reviews

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Masks (2024) Season 1, Episode 6

The 'heart' of the cartoon show.

[9/10 · 24 February 2024]

It's been so long since i watched the cartoon TV series, but one thing i do remember from the show was the 'heart' aspect of it, and I believe this episode fully captures that portion, especially that of Zuko's story.

While many seem to criticise the acting in this series all the time which I've personally had no complaints about, I would say the acting improves mid way into the season, with this episode being a highlight, especially for Dallas Liu which allows him to shine, as well as from support actors such as Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as the Uncle Iroh we know, Daniel Dae Kim pulling off more and more the Fire Lord Ozai in him, and even Ruy Iskander as the main Lieutenant of Zuko's crew.

Backed with the series' engaging and heartfelt soundtrack, I think this episode is a good example of what this Netflix show is capable of achieving. Solid 9/10 from me.

Æon Flux (2005)

Pretty Good Flick

[5/10 · 17 March 2006]

OK, if you're not a fan of Aeon Flux, then this is a movie for you. Clearly its the fans that are degrading this film. Yes it's not true to the cartoon series, yes its not 'original' as some say, but hey, this is a good action film. I am one of those that used to watch the Aeon Flux television series in the early-mid 90's and after seeing this film, there's seriously nothing wrong about it, I thought the 'twist' was pretty clever also. The only downside I thought was that the director didn't express the storyline effectively. With that story there could've been more emotion. The way it was directed just didn't make you 'feel' for the characters and didn't leave an impression that it should have. To sum up, its an enjoyable action flick using the 'Aeon Flux' title and characters, watch it without any expectations, it's a much better film then first expected.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

Utter Nonsense (1 spoiler)

[1/10 · 6 February 2006]

OK when this movie first came out i was only 12, i so wanted to watch it as I was a big Mortal Kombat fan back then. I didn't get to watch it in the cinemas and never got to watch it even when it came out on video. One of my elder sisters managed to watch it and she said it was just hilariously crap. I was thinking she only said that because she was a girl. I'm 20 now and i just managed to watch it on TV. It was aired at 12:40 midnight and for a good reason. This movie has got to be the biggest load of nonsense i've ever seen! The fact that it was shown in cinemas would have seriously degraded the Mortal Kombat franchise. The first movie actually made Paul Anderson look like a good director compared to this rubbish. It looked like a straight to video-type of a film. Lets see why I'm giving this film a 1/10, a 0/10 would have been more like it but IMDb doesn't allow for a 0. 1) It had HORRIBLE acting, everyone looked so stiff and the fight scenes where so badly choreographed. 2) The Special FX has got to be the funniest thing anyone must've seen in any film made from 1990 onwards. (SPOILER) The part where Liu Kang and Shao Kahn turn into dragons was so fake, it seemed like the producers thought of it just in the last minute to extract the most out of the Mortal Kombat series. In general, the CGI looked exactly like the ones in Mortal Kombat Conquest.....a TV series. 3) The backdrops (inner rooms of most scenes) just looked like a studio. The directing and camera work didn't help it hide the fact that it was a studio. Overall, this is such a bad film, I'm glad i wasn't one of those who watched it in the cinema and ended up leaving embarrassed for wasting some hours on a film like this. Mortal Kombat: devastation (Mortal Kombat 3) looks as if its going to go on... lets just pray that it isn't as tacky as this film was.

Elektra (2005)

Above average film

[5/10 · 14 January 2005]

Watched this last night here in Sydney Australia, and what can i say? It's an alright movie, but the TV commercials makes it look as if there's gonna be A lot of action and fighting, when there really isn't much. Personally, Natassia Malthe looked so much better than Jennifer Garner, plus she actually looked more like the Elektra character from the comics. The directing was also alright. Some scenes just seemed dead, others just to fill up time, though funnily it seemed to go by quickly. The final fight just came like that. I was there thinking "dont tell me the climax is coming already", did the climax fight deliver? No, not really, but was still amusing to watch though. Overall this is an above average film except from those minor issues i addressed, and is a better movie than Catwoman, but, what isn't? 6/10