yamipegasus Reviews

The Emperor's New School (2006–2008)

The people who don't like it just don't get it.

[10/10 · 27 June 2008]

In some ways, The Emperor's New School is nothing like the movie it was based on. In other ways, it's almost identical. This seems to irritate some of the people who reviewed it. The thing is, this show isn't supposed to be as serious as the movie. In creating it, it's apparent that Disney's goal was nothing more than a bit of zany fun. To that extent, it succeeds.

The cast is excellent. JP Manoux may not sound a whole lot like David Spade, but he perfectly captures what they've done to the character. The rest of the cast is all either original characters, from the movie, or fairly good impersonations, so no problem there.

I'll be the first to admit that this show isn't for everybody. It's for people who can tell the difference between a running gag and simple repetition, and really appreciate that difference. It's for people who don't mind that it really doesn't take itself seriously, because at least it's INTENTIONALLY silly, as opposed to other things which try to be serious and come across as campy due to incompetent writing or acting. It's for people who like a break from the traditional protagonist: a character who isn't the smartest, the most likable, the best looking, or even really sympathetic, but you like him anyway.

All in all, this is a great show. If you don't like it, you simply don't understand it.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

This is not the book.

[10/10 · 17 July 2007]

First, I'd like to start by saying that I haven't read the book. I refuse to read any of the books until I have finished seeing all the movies, so that I don't waste time picking apart minor detail inconsistencies. I am judging this movie by its value as a movie, not its accuracy to the book.

Everything about this movie was great: the acting was top notch, the music was more than fitting, the set design was stellar, the lighting was top notch... I could go on and on about what was done right during production, but the writing (something typically done during preproduction) was better than everything else that this movie did right combined. Though I don't know how closely this movie sticks to Rowling's original story, I do know that many of the "haters" are wrong.

I've heard from people who have read the book that the plot doesn't flow well in the movie. This is not true at all; the flow may have been different but it was very good. I've heard that certain scenes which were omitted from the book make the movie difficult to understand. This is also incorrect; even though I haven't been exposed to these missing scenes, I understood the movie perfectly. I've heard that mistakes were made in the writing of the movie which cause large continuity errors. I did not notice any continuity errors either within the movie or to previous movies in the series.

This is the first (maybe not last, but probably) time I've ever walked out of a movie at the theater thinking to myself "This is the best movie I've ever seen." Purists can feel free to complain all they want, but this remains an excellent movie. Not having read the book, I can neither confirm or deny that the book was better than the movie, but I can say without a doubt that this film is a must see for anybody who is old enough to handle it and is familiar (or is willing to become familiar) with the previous Harry Potter stories.

Pokémon Puzzle League (2000 Video Game)

One of the best games I've ever played

[9/10 · 17 June 2006]

This game is, put simply, fun. The goal of the game is to swap pieces on the screen with each other to line up sets of three or more pieces of the same color to remove them. It sounds simple, but it really isn't. The only way to do well is to master either combos (clearing sets of more than 3) or chains (clearing one set such that gravity pulls down another set immediately after), or both. This, combined with the constant lines of new pieces rising from the bottom can create a peaceful low speed game, or a frantic high speed game, depending on what level you're playing at. What's more, there is a cylindrical "3D mode" which gives the player more playing area to work with, and more tiles to keep from rising to the top of the screen. Also, there is a VS mode where the player can make combos and chains to drop "garbage" on their opponent's play area so that his pieces rise to the top first.

One thing that makes this game unique is the anime cut-scene intro. Even though I'm not a fan of the Pokémon TV series that this intro is based on, it's a pretty cool trick on the N64, considering that the cartridge didn't have nearly as much room for movies as a CD based format such as the Playstation.

The graphics in this game are nice to look at, for the most part, and the game doesn't suffer from any noticeable slowdown unless it is being played in 3D mode VS with a lot going on at once on the screen. The sound effects exist, but won't grate on your nerves, except for the voice-overs, which will probably convince you to mute your TV. The music is mostly variants on songs from the TV show, and are kind of a mixed bag. Some songs will drive you bonkers, while other songs can be nice to listen to while playing the game.

Overall, this game is a pretty cool game, and only loses points in my opinion because of the Pokémon theme to it. If you don't already have Tetris Attack or Panel de Pon for the SNES, or the themeless Puzzle League for the GBA, I'd suggest you give it a go. Since it's the only version with a 3D mode, you might want to try it anyway.

9/10

George of the Jungle 2 (2003 Video)

Good acting, bad storyline

[6/10 · 11 March 2006]

I must say, this movie was almost great. The jokes were pretty funny, and the acting (except for Beatrice) was pretty good, despite the replacement of most of the cast. Even the music was fun and fitting. Where this movie really fell apart was the storyline. I won't get into details, but let's just say it was lacking, at best. Many things were poorly explained, or unreasonable. Another problem, though minor and only slightly annoying, was the way George's elephant, Shep, was portrayed. In the first movie, he blended well with the rest of the set and characters. In this one, he is obviously done with relatively weak CGI that will damage the mood of the scene.

It really is a pity that it had a few major glaring flaws... It could have been really good otherwise.