nickscheetz Reviews

Monsters at Work (2021– )

My expectations were too high for this

[5/10 · 6 December 2023]

When I first heard this was being made, I was excited, Monsters Inc is one of my top 10 favorite Pixar films and I've always wanted a sequel. When I heard it would be a series I was even more excited as there's so much you can expand upon, it sounded like The Office but animated (and I mean that in a good way). When I started watching it though, the rest of the series after the first 2 episodes made me feel betrayed.

It's actually pretty simple as to why this show could've been an easy win but sadly isn't, Mike and Sulley (AKA the main characters of this franchise) are reduced to playing secondary roles. Despite still being in every episode the show doesn't focus on them as much as it should and only pop up in a special end segment most of the time, but that in of itself isn't even the main issue, it's the characters the show does primarily focus on.

The show is instead about a scarer named Tylor who was invited to come work for Monsters Inc days before they switched from scream energy to laugh energy and is instead lodged to work with the Monsters Inc Facilities Team (or MIFT as the characters call it) and they're not likable characters.

Tylor himself is not only a generic straightman who lacks personality, but he is also a passive-aggressive and manipulative jerk who always lies his way into getting what he wants without caring about how it affects other people, and somehow he's still the most tolerable of the MIFT members.

Fritz and Val are a pair of socially handicapped cultists who pretend they know Tylor better than they actually do and are obsessed with making him happy to be in MIFT permanently even though he's only there until he's studied at Mike's Comedy Classes enough to qualify being on the laugh floor. This makes them come off as creepy weirdos who won't listen to Tylor and just want him in their club by force which I'll talk more about later.

Cutter's gimick of telling stories of how deceased employees died at the company overstays its welcome thus resulting her in being the most forgettable character with nothing to ride home about.

Duncan is basically a kid-friendly Dwight Schrute who sees Tylor as a threat to his goal of taking Fritz's job when he retires. Despite Tylor explaining to him multiple times he doesn't want Fritz's job Duncan continues to belittle, threaten, and initiate competitions with him thinking Tylor is lying. There's even an episode where he learns not to be a jerk and grows to see the value in Tylor only for the next episode to have him go back to acting like a jerk and that the previous episode never happened, which makes him look like a jerk who can't be reasoned with and will harass Tylor whether he has a reason to or not.

Every episode has MIFT given a task to complete, Tylor will then discover something that he sees as a shortcut to the laugh floor only to get accidentally exposed and emotionally manipulated by Fritz and Val, then Tylor does what the show interprets as the earnest thing to do after learning his lesson and then decides to be more content with being part of MIFT, ending on a quick lesson from Mike during his comedy class. It doesn't work because the folks at MIFT aren't able to make you sympathize with them what with how ignorant and creepy they are towards Tylor despite the show always wanting him to look like the bad guy and them to look like the victims.

I will say what keeps the show from being completely bad are whenever we focus on anything connected to the movies. Mike and Sulley unsurprisingly steal the show but whenever we get to see the other characters like Celia, the janitors, the comedy class segments, and even an episode that brings back the Adorable Snowman, that's when the show gets good. It expands upon small details from the movies in a clever way while also providing some nice closure here and there, which is exactly what the primary focus of the show should've been if not for however much money it would've cost for Billy Crystal and John Goodman to record more lines for the show.

There are also a couple new characters that are a nice addition: Roz's identical twin sister Rose takes her place which is just a nice way for them to still use Roz's signature humor despite her being needed as the head of the CDA and the jokes with her always land. Then there's Gary who's basically Mike but blue and is voiced by the always charismatic and hilarious Gabriel Inglecias, the rivalry between him and Mike is cutely entertaining and is also a nice throwback to Buzz Lightyear dealing with his utility belt counterpart in Toy Story 2.

If the show did primarily focus on Mike, Sulley, and other aspects that were connected to and expand upon the movies or at the very least either focus on characters who are worth caring for or fix the issues with Tylor and MIFT, I would recommend you watch it.

As it is, if you don't connect it to the movies, you're left with a problematic and uncomfortable version of The Office with a main cast that consists of characters who are either boring, creepy, or unlikable and get more screen time than the side and background characters who are unironically more likable and interesting but don't get as much focus. If you do connect it to the movies, it's a pointless sequel that's not worth your time outside of the few good moments that you'll wish it focused more on.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

I was really wanting to call this my favorite Marvel movie, but alas...

[9/10 · 29 June 2021]

It didn't.

Don't get me wrong this is one of the greatest movie-series finales of all time, it did everything in its power to earn what it brought to the table and concluded the story of the Avengers beautifully, but there's one very major thing that keeps me from giving it a 10/10 rating, that in question is the death of Black Widow.

Anybody I would bring this up to would tell me "that was the only way to get the soul stone," "sacrifices needed to be made," or "it wouldn't have had as great of an impact if anyone else did it." But after a while of complaining and wishing that it was handled differently I eventually did some research and have now come to a new conclusion about this whole thing.

Let's start off with why the filmmakers decided to kill her off, it turns out the film's visual-effects editor said "Black Widow shouldn't be robbed of this moment," while I understand where they were coming from in that sense and agree it left a large impact on the audience, it doesn't work within the context of the story. We live in a day and age where subverting people's expectations isn't always going to win them over, predictability isn't always a bad thing as long as it works for the context of your story.

Now to go into why it should've been "Hawkeye" who gets sacrificed for the stone. If you don't recall, Hawkeye's family gets wiped out by Thanos when the snap first occurred, that resulted in him losing his sanity and going on a killing spree. It's at this point we get to see Hawkeye become more interesting than he's ever been throughout the series, he deserves proper closure for how his arc in the film goes, but instead he spends the whole rest of the movie not facing any consequences for his actions, then goes back to his status-quo characterization once the snap has been reversed, and we're going to act like his psychotic escapades don't matter or that it even happened at all. The scene at Vormir could've justified his actions and we wouldn't be left with the fact that one of the best characters in this franchise had to be absent from the final battle at the end that we were all waiting for, and sure Black Widow may have had a dark past but she still had things in her life she needed to live for.

I'm not saying I hate or dislike the movie because of them excluding Black Widow from the rest of the last half and not handling Hawkeye properly from that point and onward. It's a true cinematic masterpiece that delivered what it promised spectacularly, there's no other way they could've pulled it off. I just feel that they shouldn't have to have felt so obligated to get a reaction out of the audience by the time we get to the middle act, especially by using a character that we all really love.

Kim Possible: Mind Games (2002) Season 1, Episode 8

It's a little too cliché for me

[6/10 · 8 June 2021]

A lot of cartoons have done body switch plots during this decade, and most of the time it's done between a guy and a girl. It's not necessarily awful but it doesn't really do much to stand out from any other episodes from shows that have done this trope. It's just mostly awkward and not that enjoyable, I'd skip it if I were you.

Kim Possible: October 31st (2002) Season 1, Episode 14

My least favorite so far

[6/10 · 8 June 2021]

Okay, I am just not a fan of lying stories. There was no need for Kim to lie about what she was doing on Halloween and this whole episode just really made her unlikable to me, something I hoped I wouldn't have to see. She could've just told them both she wanted to go to Monique's party and that could've been it. The stuff with the bracelet becoming more and more defensive was really engaging but other than that, this episode is what I'm calling one of the only duds in the show.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

The ultimate example of when not to judge a book by its cover

[10/10 · 25 February 2021]

Toy Story happens to be my #1 favorite movie franchise of all time, I've never for a second doubted the high standard the movies have set for so many years. I've even been collecting all the most screen-accurate representations of the characters I could find for the past 10 years. It's something that I've always held very close to my heart and never had a single complaint with.

The main reason I've always had such a strong connection to the franchise was the star of the films, Woody, he was a character that I've always related to every time he was on screen. I was always on his side, I understood his motivations, and I've been through the same issues he's been through, whether it's no longer feeling loved, losing people I had a strong connection with, not being as important to people, you name it. This is also part of what makes the films so brilliant, they tackle different parts of struggling with life-altering changes and use Woody as a way to deal with issues like that.

Eventually came the fourth film, people had mixed reactions when news of the film was going around, some were excited and some were angry, I was one of the excited people unsurprisingly. Though I wasn't going in with high expectations, I mainly went in for the sake of nostalgia and seeing my favorite characters on the big screen again but assuming there wouldn't be anything too extreme happening, my expectations were unsurprisingly exceeded.

When it comes to Pixar's animation, they always do it beautifully. This movie happens to have the best-looking animation out of any other film they've done (even though it'll keep evolving as time goes on). The opening looks gorgeous with this photorealistic looking rain, splashes of mud, and natural lighting. Other details include floating dust particles, flying dirt effects, bushes and plants, and even a cat that looks as if it's not animated at all. All of that combined makes it look like we finally got to see Woody and the gang in full HD.

I admittedly was heartbroken when I heard Bo Peep was given away in Toy Story 3 (which is actually one of the reasons why it just so happens to be my least favorite of the series). I always loved the relationship between Woody and Bo, they had such adorable chemistry with each other and the way they interacted with each other felt so genuinely real despite there not being much focus on them together. So to see the day they got separated not only foreshadowed what would eventually come later in this film, but it also helped make the scene where they finally reunited with each other feel all the more rewarding.

When it comes to the new characters it's impossible to hate any of them. Forky is charming, funny, and adorable all at once. I love the bond he forms with Woody as well as how he gets along with Gabby Gabby and the dummies because it actually subverts the cliché "character is held hostage by a villain who tries to interrogate him" trope by showing Forky actually not being in danger and instead getting along with everyone. Ducky and Bunny are hilarious, not only are their voices provided by Key & Peele, they had these side-splitting one-liners and hysterical brief fantasies of attacking the humans that always left me dying of laughter. Duke Kaboom always stole the spotlight, he had charm similar to that of Ken from Toy Story 3, a very confident and passionate persona that was fun to listen to and had a satisfying arc of overcoming the grief of disappointing his owner who gave him away, the fact that Keanu Reeves provided the voice definitely helped a lot.

As for Gabby Gabby, the second and third films featured a villain who had an incorrect perception on how interactions between humans and toys are supposed to work and were punished for the evil things they did because of said perception (I don't count Sid from the first movie as a villain because he was just a regular kid who likes to experiment with toys, plus Scud was just a regular dog). At first, it seemed like Gabby would be like the other villains, but rather, she surprisingly was a new breakthrough when it came to the traditional Toy Story formula. She was instead a misunderstood toy who wanted nothing more than the opportunity to make a child named Harmony happy, that's where Woody comes in, she can't do it without a functional voice box and therefore has to trade Forky to use Woody as the key to earning Harmony's affection. Believe it or not, Woody's voice box was the only way he could establish a relationship with a child without scaring them, but now that he's already lived a full life of making both Andy and Bonnie happy, he decides to trade it for Forky. Sadly even with the new voice box, Harmony rejects Gabby, but that makes Woody realize that something that Bo was trying to convince him really was true, which was that you don't have to dedicate your entire existence and purpose in life to one thing, there are millions of other things you can do with the talents you were given. Thus Gabby finds a new child to make happy in a very touching scene that really tugs on your heartstrings, but not quite as much as the ending.

By the time we get to the end, and Woody has to leave Bo again, he doesn't know what to do until Buzz encourages him to follow his heart. Woody then finds a new purpose in life, helping lost toys find new owners alongside Bo. Thus saying goodbye to his friends and living the rest of his days as a lost toy. What makes the ending so powerful is the fact that Woody's entire character arc has been about dealing with the fear of being abandoned, lost, replaced, or forgotten, it's at this point he finally overcame that fear. He now knows he doesn't have to dedicate his entire existence to one person, he can make his own decisions, live his own life the way he wants to, thus being reunited with Bo after so many years of being separated as a reward.

The Simpsons: The Road to Cincinnati (2020) Season 32, Episode 8

I didn't think I'd be saying this, but this is the best episode of the show I've seen in a long time

[10/10 · 6 February 2021]

I'm just going to say it, Skinner and Chalmers are one of my all-time favorite parts of the show (mostly because of Steamed Hams). I've always loved the dynamic between these 2, it's an underrated character-duo in cartoons.

However, at the same time, I did find it frustrating whenever Skinner had to answer for bad things that happen at Springfield Elementary for so many years, because Chalmers (despite not often giving him any extreme punishments) still always treated Skinner horribly. It's at this specific point that what the staff has been building up for the last 25 years before this episode came out finally arrives and feels so rewarding.

To compensate for all the Springfield Elementary disasters, Skinner always tried his "hardest" to show that he's at least still loyal to Chalmers, he never gave up no matter how much Chalmers shot him down, yet very rarely has Chalmers ever shown any "genuine" appreciation for all Skinner has done for him. It's at this specific point, where Chalmers plans to promote another principal and then fire Skinner that actually drives Skinner himself to put his foot down and tell Chalmers off for years of intimidation and disrespect despite all Skinner has done for him.

The fist fight they get into and Skinner quitting afterward feels earned, because it was never until now that Skinner actually tried to stand his ground, he always just sat there and took every beating no matter how frustrating it might've been. Godspeed Skinner, Godspeed.

Even after the well-earned fight when Chalmers starts to realize the value in Skinner, it doesn't feel like the writers are hitting the reset button for the status-quo. It feels deeply genuine when Chalmers starts to see the errors of how he treats Skinner and that he was the only one who actually seemed to care about him. Them hugging it out and having lunch at a chili diner together by the end, was the cherry on top for this long-awaited day.

This was the act of character-development we all needed. Not only did Skinner overcome his fear of Chalmers' intimidating nature, but Chalmers finally saw the true value in Skinner, thus turning their once mutual relationship, into a genuine one.

Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020 Video)

It's good to see the franchise to return to its roots, except......

[3/10 · 12 November 2020]

I didn't really gain much from watching this. Again, it's great to see the franchise return to the original format after how much of a mess of that other movie that came out in May of 2020 was, but as is, it wasn't that good.

The first half of the film is promising, we see the characters are being played by their original actors again, the introduction of Elvira and Bill Nye was great, and the writing still had its traditional charm that it's been using for years. Soon the actual plot starts to happen when all the mutant pumpkins start reeking havoc on the city with Shaggy and Scooby being the first ones to actually witness what's coming (because, you know, they're always the first ones to see that something bad is about to happen). So Shaggy and Scooby go to warn the others what's about to happen and obviously they don't listen, instead Velma snaps at them, says a bunch of harsh things, and tells them to get lost.

Velma has always been the most unlikable member of the group to me, in fact, she just so happens to be one of the biggest problems with this movie. Her high intellect and long history of successfully solving mysteries gave her a massive ego that makes her think she can't make mistakes and is never wrong, even by the time she and the others do see the mutant pumpkins Shaggy and Scooby tried to warn them about, she doesn't apologize for ranting at them until 40 MINUTES IN. Shaggy and Scooby don't even say anything like "Do you still not believe us?" or "Scoob and I tried to tell you, but did you listen? NO!" as an implication of them telling the others they should've listened when they had the chance. The story primarily centering on Velma isn't what I would expect from the first actual Halloween-themed Scooby-Doo movie, if the writers want to make a story about Velma learning to accept the fact that everyone can make mistakes no matter how smart they are, they should've saved that for another movie. But what really bothers me is the fact that she hogs up nearly ALL OF THE FILM'S DIALOGUE, the majority of the movie is just Velma constantly yammering nonstop to the point where she's almost the only character in the film who actually says anything. It's really exhausting having to listen to her rambling ON AND ON AND ON AND ON for so long. Kate Micucci may be a very talented voice actress and was a perfect successor to Velma's previous actress (Mindy Cohn) but unfortunately this movie has shown that if you give a voice as nasally and high-pitched as hers too much dialogue, it'll become EXHAUSTING to listen to.

Speaking of Shaggy and Scooby, it feels like they've been "dumbed down" in this. The problem there is that they were never meant to be "stupid," they just get scared really easily, so why would the movie make them stupid enough to think that hitting a random pumpkin they find with sticks is going to get them proof that mutant pumpkins are going to attack???

As soon as the mutant pumpkins break loose and chaos ensues, we get a car chase sequence that lasts 24 MINUTES STRAIGHT with Shaggy and Scooby riding with a random stranger named Mike and his daughter, Daphne in Elvira's car, and Fred and Velma in Bill Nye's Mystery Machine X. I'm not making up what I said earlier, a 24-minute car chase in a Scooby-Doo movie, the problem there is that it drags out the amount of time I have to spend waiting before Velma can admit she shouldn't have ignored Shaggy and Scooby when they were telling the truth about what was coming, that's far too much time for me to have to spend waiting to hear those words.

After the car chase finally stops and the gang starts setting up traps and fighting the pumpkins off, it starts to get better, only for it to get ruined again when this half repeats a joke it made in the first half where Velma was unmasking a criminal they were catching earlier (that being the Scarecrow). After Velma unmasks the crook she monologues about how she knew who it was, as she's monologuing, for some reason, in between her pauses Daphne will be filling in those pauses with saying random slangs that give me the impression these writers are trying to be hip and relevant, which is NEVER a good idea, saying slangs of a current year will make your movie age poorly with time. But if that wasn't enough, the ending is just a painful sting.

After Mike and his daughter are able to find help and the crook is arrested, the gang comes across a local Halloween party some random people are having at someone's house and are invited to join without the people not even having ever met them before (does that make any sense to you?), and right before the movie ends it decides to quickly traumatize me by implanting an image of Elvira bald into my brain when Daphne asks to borrow her wig. I really liked the stuff between Elvira and Daphne, I thought them switching outfits was hilarious, and when it's revealed the entire time Daphne was actually trying to steal Elvira's outfit so she can have a costume to wear. It's really funny at first (plus seeing Daphne wearing Elvira's whole outfit is a treat for the eyes), but as soon as she hands Daphne the wig (which technically was a trained monkey), that's when the joke dies, and we're forced to have to continue looking at Elvira bald until the credits roll.

It's a bit shocking that Fred doesn't seem to be affected by any of this trash the movie has thrown out, but that's only because if you removed him from it, it wouldn't change anything. Which is something I would never have expected to say about a Scooby-Doo movie.

So there you go, this movie is kind of a mess, Velma is more unbearable here than she is in other movies, the car chase drags on for too long, those slangs Daphne was saying are going to make the movie feel dated years later, Shaggy and Scooby despite never being idiots in any previous media are made to be idiots here and don't stand up for themselves when no one will listen to them, it has that TRAUMATIZING image of Elvira (one of the most beautiful women in the world and one of my newest idols) bald despite the fact that she's actually not in real life without her wig on, and worst of all, it's BORING.

I will however give this movie credit for still being a decent return to the original format the franchise is best known for after the CGI movie unnecessarily decided to change everything, having 2 perfect choices for new guest stars, and letting the original voice actors return to their roles. It may be a mess, but at least things are back to the way they should be.

Totally Spies! (2001–2014)

Totally Awesome!

[9/10 · 15 July 2020]

I love this show, that's all I can say, I absolutely love it. Back when it first came out I don't recall it being that big of a hit, but it eventually grew a cult following over the years and nowadays many people (myself included) consider it to be one of the most underrated cartoons of all time.

What makes the show so fun to watch is just how creative the missions the girls go on and the gadgets they use are, which opens the doors for so many creative opportunities. An example of missions would be stopping a former fashion model from kidnapping current models and turning them into Frankenstein-inspired abomination do get revenge for her career getting ruined. In terms of certain gadgets, you got a heat ray disguised as a hair dryer, a hair pin for picking locks, and jetpacks disguised as backpacks just to name a few

My thoughts on the characters is a bit complicated admittedly and some of them happen to be the only issues I have with the show. Sam is by far my favorite character in the entire show, I love how she's the most mature out of everyone and acts as the voice of logic, it's nice to have someone act as the straight person in the show and be the one who takes all the missions she and the others go on seriously, plus she's very beautiful to the point where I have a huge crush on her and she's played by one of my all-time favorite actresses Jennifer Hale, that's a pretty good deal if you ask me. Clover is someone I have mixed thoughts on, on the one hand, she's very cute and pretty and it's relatable seeing her struggling with trying to impress guys or pursue her passion of fashion and beauty, but on the other hand, there are times where she can be a bit too arrogant because of it and she's a bit too immature at other times, I don't necessarily hate her, I just kind of wish she would take a chill and act less overthetop. Alex I don't hate but I will say is the weakest of the 3, she's the naive one who usually never understands what's going on but there's not really anything that goes beyond that, plus her voice can get annoying to listen to at times, I don't hate her either but she and Clover aren't exactly as strong of a character as Sam. Jerry is basically the show's Charlie, summoning the girls at the most unexpected times in some of the most wacky ways imaginable and sending them on their missions. It's very funny whenever he outdoes himself with the crazy ways of summoning the girls into the WHOOP briefing room and all the insane modes of transportation he keeps sending them on whilst outdoing himself almost every episode. Mandy is honestly my biggest problem with the show. She's your typical self-absorbed over-achiever who's supposed to always be at odds whoever the main character is (in this case Sam, Alex, and especially Clover). The reason she's my biggest issue with the show is because she's the most pointless character in the entire series, she barely contributes anything to the story of any episode and exists solely to be a nuisance to the Sam, Clover and Alex, and on top of that almost every episode ends with her beating Clover at something she wanted to earn, which kind of makes a small portion of the show's formula frustrating, if you removed her from the show, I don't think it would really change anything.

Overall, this show is such an underrated gem. It's got a creative premise with limitless creativity, spot on animation, stellar voice acting, a catchy theme song, mostly likable characters, and fun action. I'd go as far as to say I think it deserves to make a comeback one of these days, there's only so much you can do with a show like this.

Blue's Clues: Blue's Sad Day (1998) Season 2, Episode 14

The worst episode in the entire series

[3/10 · 5 June 2020]

The way the episode ends is the main reason this is the worst episode. After we figure out Blue is upset because she got bullied by a green puppy at school who kept knocking down her tower of blocks, the very same green puppy somehow tracked Blue to where she lives and forces her to play with blocks with him again. The same thing that happened at school happens again here, Blue builds a tower and the green puppy knocks it down. Now the first half of the episode feels like what it wants to teach us is that we need to talk about our feelings when we're being hurt by people, that's a very important thing kids need to be aware of and it's very helpful. You're probably thinking that's what's going to happen at the end, well no. After the green puppy knocks the blocks down Blue tells the green puppy she doesn't like having the blocks knocked down and wants him to stop doing it, but guess what, the green puppy doesn't listen or care and continues to knock the blocks down anyways. Blue then has no choice but to swallow her pride and give up some of her blocks and suddenly everything is all better, now it suddenly feels like the episode is telling us to not stop hurting people until they give us what they want.

The only 2 good things about the episode is that it is important to talk about are feelings and this luckily is the only bad episode in the show. But unfortunately it doesn't stop here, because the remake actually managed to make it even worse.

Blue's Clues & You: Sad Day with Blue (2019) Season 1, Episode 6

Wait... They actually made Blue's Sad Day WORSE than the original series did????????

[1/10 · 4 June 2020]

Blue's Sad Day to me is the most miserable and unpleasant episode in the entire series, I cannot for the life of me STAND what they did with it, and now I see the remake actually managed to make it even worse!

So just like the original Blue is upset because she got bullied at school by getting her blocks repeatedly knocked down everytime she built them up, but this time instead of a green puppy being the one doing it, it was MAGENTA, AKA Blue's BEST FRIEND. That was literally the one and only change that was made here, it still has Blue try to say how she feels and that she doesn't want her blocks knocked down only for the culprit to continue knocking them down anyways leaving Blue no choice but to swallow her pride and give up some of her blocks which somehow manages to fix everything.

The original episode already made me angry enough by screwing up the ending and making it seem like what it was trying to tell us to do towards the beginning is useless. But having Magenta being the one bullying Blue, that is a new low for the episode itself. I would've hoped they'd learn from the mistake they made 20 years ago and fix the ending by having Magenta apologize for knocking down Blue's blocks and agreeing to stop doing it, but they didn't! They kept everything exactly the same except for having Magenta be the culprit instead of the green puppy. I may love the remake of the show but this is the one episode that I beg and plead everyone to just stay as far away from as possible.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

A sequel to one of my favorite movies? Sweet! Oh wait.....

[1/10 · 10 May 2020]

Ugh.......... Why did you do this to me Disney? What went wrong in the studio when you were working on it?

Now Wreck-It-Ralph is one my absolute favorite Disney movies, it really spoke to me with its message on how to cope with what your role in the world is and how you can deal with the hardships of the negative feedback you get from people. It had a creative setting, likable characters, cool video game references, and just an overall good story. 6 years later I hear they're finally making a sequel, I was hyped for it, then when I sat down and watched it I felt disappointed, but as time went by, the more I thought about it, the more I started to see the film as a disaster.

The references to all the brands Disney owns are completely in your face, the motivations of the characters contradicts their motivations in the first movie, the premise felt like it came out of nowhere, and it showcases the fact that Disney simply doesn't care anymore. Sure they're still making good movies these days, but for the most part they're showing off the fact that they can make as many bad movies as they want and they'll still be the most profitable company in the world, they are simply too big to fail.

Max & Ruby (2002–2021)

This show literally makes absolutely no sense whatsoever...... But I did enjoy it as a kid

[5/10 · 24 April 2020]

Okay, so I watched this show a lot growing up, but looking back on it there's a lot of confusing elements in it. Where were Max and Ruby's parents up until the show's 5th or 6th season? How was Ruby paying all the bills if she doesn't have a job? Where does Ruby get money? Why would there exist normal animals in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic bunnies? Nothing about this show makes a lick of sense!

But regardless of its lack of logic it's still pretty harmless, the animation is cute, I like all the innocent scenarios the characters get into. Though there are times where the characters tend to act a little annoying, Ruby is very bossy and controlling of Max which even then she's not very good at while Max on the other hand is just a walking pile of obnoxiousness who can't be disciplined and is always stuck with saying one word again and again and again throughout every episode.

There's not really much else for me to say because while I did watch the show a lot I don't know it as well as Blue's Clues or any of the other shows I grew up watching.

Blue's Clues (1996–2007)

(ding ding ding ding) We're gonna review Blue's Clues, because it's a really great show! Yeah!

[10/10 · 23 April 2020]

*Zoom in on house with music until camera reaches the door* *opens*

Oh, hi! Come on in, I'm so glad you're here! You're just in time for hearing me talk about one of my favorite shows, Blue's Clues!

Created by Angela Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson the show centered on a kind, innocent, cheerful, and caring man named Steve and his lovable, intelligent, sweet, and adorable dog Blue.

Every episode goes like this: Steve opens the door to the house in the intro once the camera zooms in on it and greets us as if we were an old friend visiting for the day. After some interactions with Blue Steve would notice that Blue is trying to tell us something, but because she can't talk we don't know what she's saying, so she has us play a game of "Blue's Clues" to figure out what she's telling us when she puts a pawprint on the camera lens. To play Blue's Clues we need to find 3 paw prints which are the clues, each time we find a clue we draw it in our Handy Dandy Notebook, when we find all 3 clues we have to go to the Thinking Chair and piece the clues together to see what they have in common. But wandering around the house to look for paw prints wasn't all they did, during the journeys to find the clues we would have to go on side quests with other characters to learn something extra about what the episode is teaching us, get a letter from a young audience member tying into whatever the episode is about delivered to us by Mailbox during a segment known as Mailtime, and we would enter pocket dimensions in a picture, book, or diorama by "skidooing" (which in actuality is just jumping) into it, which would be places like the jungle, the farm, Recycle Town, the city, the beach, the ocean, and even the entire galaxy sometimes.

The formula of the show was a stellar formula, while I can understand people being annoyed by its repetitiveness, it's actually for the best if it's like this so that children can memorize how everything works and be able to learn what they're being taught quick enough. The 2 most common skills the show taught us was problem solving and creativity, the problem solving came in being able to identify patterns in the side quests you would have to go on and the creativity came from all the potential ways that any of the clues could be used.

The show also featured a variety of other characters for Steve and Blue to interact with. As mentioned earlier Mailbox shows up whenever it's "Mailtime" to give Steve a letter, he was very funny and cheerful and it's clear he loves sharing mail as much as we love receiving it. Side Table Drawer sits right next to the Thinking Chair and holds the Handy Dandy Notebook for Steve whenever he's not holding it, she always says she's excited for when we're playing Blue's Clues but overtime she started to say other things and have more interactions with Steve as the show progressed. Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper were French diplomats that would teach the audience about healthy eating and nutrition. Shovel and Pail were friends who played outside a lot and would show kids how to use a magnifying glass, build a sand castle, and do other fun things outside. Tickety Tock was an alarm clock who lived in the bedroom of the house and loved to count and tell time. Slippery was a bar of soap who said "woah" a lot. Magenta was Blue's best friend and one of her nextdoor neighbors. Periwinkle was another nextdoor neighbor who loved to perform magic tricks. All these characters made the show feel very 3-dimensional and were very distinct from one another, and they inspire lots of creative potential for all the fun things they can teach us.

I didn't however touch upon the best element of the show, Steve. Steve was the main reason I was so obsessed with the show. His childlike innocence, excitable behavior, and caring affection make him feel so enjoyable to spend time with, he feels like a real person that's actually interacting with us directly. Whenever he spoke through the camera it felt like he could actually hear us which is what made the connection we had with him so effective. To this day people still recognize him even though it's been 18 years since he last hosted the show and has expressed countless times how grateful he is for having been part of the show and all the love he's gotten over the years. But unfortunately nothing is set to last forever, Steve began to go through an identity crisis as the show kept getting more popular while at the same time feeling he was beginning to mature which he felt interfered with his childlike mentality he was supposed to embody. So in 2002, everything changed.................

Season 4 ended with a 3 part TV special, it starts off with Steve getting a call from his younger brother Joe, claiming he was coming to the house. At first viewers assumed that Joe was just visiting for the day, at the time other human characters appeared on the show so we weren't too uncomfortable with it. It was interesting to meet one of Steve's relatives so we were thinking "oh that's cool, nice to meet you Joe." So we assumed it was just a regular episode with a special guest and that was about it. But then things started to defy our expectations as we didn't even know we were watching a 3 part special. In the next episode that came after Joe was still at the house......... Except this time Steve is actually teaching him how to play Blue's Clues, Blue reveals she wants to give Joe a gift, the clues were paper, a crayon, and a spiral, and it turned out Blue wanted to give Joe his own Handy Dandy Notebook............ Wait....... What?..................... What's going on here?.....................

Before we get to part 3 of this special I should address what makes watching this special so hard; When you spend years and years and years of watching the show like I did, you start to get used to how everything works. Whenever it does something new like introduce a new character or have another human performer appear on screen, they only do it once, so you never have to feel uncomfortable with whatever it is they're doing. But when Joe showed up that's when things started to feel nerve-racking. As you're watching the special, it keeps getting more and more unsettling and you start to feel more and more anxiety as it keeps going. Why is Joe still at the house? Why is Steve teaching him how to play Blue's Clues? Why does Blue want to give him his own notebook? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??????

Then, on April 22, 2002, that's when suddenly everything clicks, that's when you see what parts 1 and 2 were building up to, that's when you immediately understand what's going on................................................................

STEVE WAS LEAVING THE SHOW, AND JOE WAS HIS REPLACEMENT...............................................................................................



When I was a kid, and I watched this episode for the very first time............ I was honestly never the same again.............. I felt that I lost someone that I cherished for so long, someone that always made every day worth experiencing, someone who helped me get through the toughest times in my life, someone that I could look up to whenever I needed them. But that's just how reality is sometimes. When you meet someone like Steve, who's kind, caring, and supportive, there will be times where your time with them might have to come to an end. (to quote Quinton Reviews) Maybe they change, maybe you change, maybe you both stay the same, either way there's bound to be something to pull you apart, and that can hurt, that can hurt a lot. But it goes to show that the only way you can deal with it, is to move on and find new people who are like Steve, because not letting people progress or move on with their lives can hurt just as much sometimes................



Joe hosted the last 2 seasons of the series and he did do a pretty good job, but unfortunately, most other people couldn't really stand him. Everyone else only remember him as "the replacement," and even then the show started to experience other changes (aside from child actor replacements for the side characters because of puberty). The songs began to change, the clues started to draw themselves and sing, and in season 6 a new gimmick was added to the show.

Every episode would end with a segment in the show called "Blue's Room" where Blue enters a pocket dimension where she's a puppet and can talk. I didn't have a problem with it but I never really understood why it was even added in the first place.

Sadly people stopped tuning in and the ratings for the show began to decline drastically. I guess people figured "without Steve running the bandwagon, what's the point?" So the show was cancelled without having a chance to say goodbye in 2007. Steve's departure might as well have been the series finale, because when Joe was around, it honestly felt like watching a completely different show altogether. Much like when the Wiggles would eventually go through the complication of having to find new replacement members in 2006 and 2012.

But despite the unnecessary changes the show eventually went through, I still hold Blue's Clues very close to my heart. Steve really helped shape me into the person I am today inspiring me to embrace my optimism and kindness toward my loved ones. It pushes children to be creative, teaches us problem solving, has very good messages, a likable cast of characters, and best of all, it gave us our best friend Steve. As for the reboot that just came out recently, I absolutely love it, Josh is a great new host (who was actually handpicked by Steve himself), Steve made a cameo in the series pilot, and all the updates made to have the show translate into the year 2020 feels very natural. I can guarantee that what I and lots of other 2000's kids grew up with is going to make a new generation of kids very happy.

Now it's time for so long.

Blue's Clues & You (2019– )

MY CHILDHOOD IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[9/10 · 14 February 2020]

I was a such a fanboy for the original Blue's Clues while I was growing up, and seeing Nickelodeon bring it back is one of the absolute best things they've ever done. This is a HUGE step forward for Nickelodeon, especially given its previous phase of lackluster projects.

The new host Josh, specifically hand-picked by Steve from the original series, is a perfect new host for the show and has the exact same energy and pleasant charisma that Steve had. He really manages to connect with us when he talks to the camera and retains a very genuine child-like innocence that makes him easy to enjoy spending time with. It always feels like he genuinely believes he exists in the world the show takes place in and is talking to these real existing creatures that he interacts with.

The changes and updates made to the world the characters live in do make the show feel up to date with current times but still stay true to the tone and nature of the original series such as Josh having his phone on the backside of his Handy Dandy Notebook and even getting emails during the mailtime segments. I can imagine some may have been skeptical and concerned because they might've thought the writers might be desperately trying to make the show hip and with the times, but I can assure whoever felt that way that the changes instead feel very natural.

The animation looks absolutely gorgeous with the vibrant colors and blend between CGI and Flash animation, bringing the characters into High-Definition while retaining the classic motion and style they originally had.

Steve and Joe actually play roles in the show as well, they may not be hosting it anymore but they stick around to be easter eggs that fans like me can get hyped to see whenever they pop up as well as occasionally giving Josh tips on how to adapt to what they did when they were the hosts, technically Steve has only made one appearance on the show but he is one of its consulting producers so hopefully he'll show up again in another episode at some point.

Overall I think I only have one problem with the show, I can't make out whether it wants to be a sequel to the original series or a remake of it. Even though there's always indications that it takes place after the events of the original series, every episode is a beat-for-beat remake of one of the original episodes. Snack Time, Blue's Story Time, Blue's Favorite Song, Magenta Comes Over, Blue's Sad Day, Blue's News, Blue's ABC's, Blue's Birthday (why would she want another turtle named Turquoise?), Math, Magenta Gets Glasses (why would she need to get glasses again?), What's So Funny?, The Grow Show, and Superfriends. I literally just named every episode they've redone up to this point, I guess if they're trying to introduce those episodes to our current generation of children I can understand that, but if you're not going to have Josh look for any original clues then don't have all these implications around telling us that we're in a setting that takes place years after the original series, heck, don't even have Steve and Joe even exist within the show. A better way this could've been handled is that Steve and Joe should've made cameos as different characters so that even if they aren't playing themselves people will still get the reference and you also should have Josh already be experienced on how to do everything. You need to either go all the way with making this feel like a sequel or not at all, there's no in between, I don't see how it's possible to be a remake and a sequel at the same time.

But despite my gripe with the show not having original episodes even though it takes place after the events of the original series, I still think it's both a great show, and a fantastic comeback for the franchise. Josh is still a great host, I like how Steve and Joe still play a part despite not being main characters, the updates to the settings still translate well, and it's just so pleasant to watch even ignoring the nostalgia factor. But I would advise you skip Blue's Sad Day, I consider it to be the weakest episode of the original series and unfortunately it was made to be even worse here. Either way, I still recommend you check this show out if you haven't already, because when you use your minds and take a step at a time, we can do anything that we want to do.

Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009–2014)

Underrated gem

[7/10 · 8 December 2019]

Seriously people? You hate it that much? I loved it when I was a kid and while it's not perfect I still think the good outweighs the bad. I personally think this show gets too much criticism and it's hard not to call it a guilty pleasure of mine.

Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights (1994 TV Movie)

Scam

[2/10 · 29 November 2019]

When I first came across this movie I was admittedly intrigued. I assumed that Scooby Doo was dead in the 90's because of Scrappy Doo, seeing a movie that premiered in 1994 made me curious. Being a huge Scooby Doo fan I decided to check it out, it has a promising start with Shaggy and Scooby going to Arabia to apply for jobs as royal food tasters, but after they eat a prince's royal feast not knowing the point of their jobs was to make sure nothing was poisoned they get in trouble. You would probably think this is what the movie's about, Shag and Scoob getting into whacky antics in Arabia and trying to make everything better at the end, but no, instead after disguising himself as a woman whom the prince without his glasses assumes is supposed to be his bride Shaggy decides to tell him a story to make him fall asleep so him and Scooby can escape. The rest of the movie is 2 different cartoons that might as well be their own specials, the first being a gender-bent parody of Aladdin with Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo as the genie and the second being the story of Sinbad with Magilla Gorilla as the title character, you see the problem yet? Shaggy and Scooby are barely in the movie outside of the opening and the ending even though they're both on the cover of the VHS case and the title is "Scooby Doo in Arabia Nights." The movie is just a big fat lie, it should've been called "Hannah-Barbera in Arabian Nights" which is probably why when the title appears in the movie it just says "Arabian Nights", perhaps it wasn't supposed to be a Scooby Doo movie. But as is it's a scam, I would've really liked this movie if the focus was primarily on Shaggy and Scooby instead of an hour of filler with 2 pointless cartoons that should've been their own specials which is the only solution to fixing the movie that I can think of at this rate.

Catscratch (2005–2007)

An underrated classic worthy of a revival

[10/10 · 20 June 2019]

With it's fast-paced animation, sharp as a butcher knife voice cast, hilarious jokes, spot on dialogue, and likable characters, what more could you ask for? It's a shame that this show only lasted 2 seasons because from what I've seen, this show is hilarious. It's like the 3 stooges they were rich and made by Nickelodeon, Blik is the competitive, short-tempered, successor who tries to act better than everyone like Moe, Waffle is the dim-witted stooge who uses lots of big vocabulary despite being stupid like Curly (Patrick from SpongeBob did this a lot too), and Gordon basically does what Larry does. It's quite interesting how 3 cats own their own multi million dollar life of luxury. I guess their deceased owners handed their investments to them when no one else would. But I guess it wouldn't be worth inserting logic into a show where cats are billionaires whilst humans still exist around them.

Batman: The Animated Series: Two-Face: Part I (1992) Season 1, Episode 17

This and part 2 are BY FAR the best episodes in the show

[10/10 · 23 April 2019]

I've never seen a more perfect depiction of Harvey outside of this show and the Dark Knight. This is how you do the character correctly, unlike most of the other episodes in the first season this story arc tackles a subject that you wouldn't expect any other show to tackle at the time. This isn't just some generic "oh he acts mean and dangerous when he's not himself" shtick no no no no, you actually DO feel how dangerous and spine-chilling his other self can be, I don't think there's any other version of Two-Face that tried this and it works perfectly here. Plus they managed to make Harvey likable enough to make himself still seem like a great character, so when half his face gets blown off and he becomes his inner-demon, you can't help but feel sorry for him. This and part 2 of this story arc are perfect examples of what makes Batman: The Animated Series such a special show, the day the show and these episodes were formed was the dawn of a new day, where Batman proves that he's not just cheesy nonsense from the 60's.

The Fairly OddParents (2001–2017)

I wish this show never existed

[3/10 · 27 February 2019]

I know I know, a lot of people including myself grew up with this show and it started the career for some very talented voice actors and actresses, but, it's continuously kept getting worse and worse as time has went on! The first 5 seasons for many seem to be the golden age of the show, other highlights are the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour specials, the Channel Chasers episode, and the Wishology trilogy. This was also Butch Hartman's first attempt at a show that he had full control over, in the past he's worked on shows such as Johnny Bravo and Dexter's Laboratory, but this was the first show he himself created and when it comes to his iconic writing style, it definitely shows here. The best part of the show in my opinion was who I thought was best character, Timmy's teacher, Mr. Crocker, constantly obsessing over capturing every fairy in existence to take over the world and going insane when he says the words "FAIRY GOD PARENTS!!!!!", what makes him the best character for me is the fact that nobody else ever believed him and thought he was crazy for believing in fairies, so he vows to rule the world to get revenge on those who constantly mock him for his beliefs, in that sense I can't help but feel sorry for him and can see where he's coming from with that, so in that sense he's probably the most sympathetic of them all, but as for everyone else, they're just a bunch of ignorant, selfish, and oblivious dimwits. So what caused the show to decline? Well the one thing everyone points to is the premiere of season 6, where we get introduced to Poof, I don't know what the problem with him or her was (the characters don't really know what the gender is either), but I honestly think there was a much bigger problem than that, the concept. I can sum up the entire story/formula for every episode in one sentence, don't believe me? I'll prove it, "Timmy is annoyed with something, he wishes he didn't have to deal with it, it seems to go okay at first until suddenly it backfires on him, thus he has to wish everything was back to the way they were." There, can't you see why this concept isn't as good as we used to think it was? Even from the start I know that it would go downhill, the concept of Timmy wishing away his problems only to backfire on him later can get old extremely fast resulting in episodes becoming formulaic, repetitive, and frustrating, I'll get more into the frustration later. This may have caused the writing team to become more and more disinterested as time went on and a lot of the characters became either constantly annoying or as selfish as Mr. Krabs, Timmy himself isn't that interesting of a character if all we're given is him hating life how it is and then seeing how much worse it would be if he didn't have to put up with what he did and that was all what's so good about that? Not to mention that ear-piercing voice of his! Geez it's annoying! We also had to end up seeing one of the worst cartoon episodes of all time "It's a Wishful Life" where we see how much better off people's lives would be if he was never born! That's another horrible concept that shouldn't be tackled. But for me, the worst part of the show is none other than Timmy's parents, constantly leaving him at home with the world's worst babysitter Vicky to go somewhere stupid, not taking any interest in spending time with him unless it's to his inconvenience, valuing other things above him, and being too stupid to do anything right, and the worst part of it all, is that despite Timmy's constant suffering, his parents either remained completely oblivious or simply do not even care, this is why Timmy even had Cosmo and Wanda in the first place, that's what I was referring to when mentioning the frustration factor and what keeps me from watching the show. How does Nickelodeon make the decision to cancel Danny Phantom, a show that had far more potential, maturing character development, a much better concept, and much more endless possibilities which didn't even last as long as it should have, and continue production for a show that's irritating, repetitive, and formulaic! What was Nickelodeon thinking?! The repetitive formula, frustration overload with the cruelty of Timmy's parents is unbelievable, this show should not have been made. But you know what the good news is? In 2017, they cancelled it, thank goodness for that......... While on the subject of Danny Phantom that show ought to make a comeback! Butch has even drawn up his own concept art for a 10 year later story arc so he would obviously enjoy doing it, so why not make that happen? Maybe that's why the writers were becoming so disinterested, they were probably so devastated by Danny Phantom's cancellation that they pretty much gave up on Nickelodeon and didn't want Fairly OddParents to last any longer than they originally wanted it to last, they probably knew that it would experience seasonal rot if it kept going, so I honestly can't say I blame them if that's the case. Since Nickelodeon has been struggling to keep high audience numbers, I bet the one thing they could use is a revival of one of their best shows, if they give us more Danny Phantom, I can guarantee that many of us will tune in.

The Adventures of Superpup (1958 TV Movie)

I shut this off after the first 5 minutes

[1/10 · 1 December 2018]

How could anyone have let this happen? From what I've heard, when George Reeves was reported dead The Adventures Of Superman was cancelled despite all the years of success it had and this was meant to be its replacement. So as a follow up to the successful non animal show that came before it, many kids were severely disappointed and their parents couldn't explain to them that it was because the actor who played Superman died. Even for its time, this is awful, the names for the characters are dumb, the jokes are cheap, the dialogue is nauseating, the characters look terrifying, and worst of all, it actually can't make up its mind on whether or not it wants to be in black and white or color, the first half is in color and the rest of it is black and white and it's even hard to tell what's going on, that's like filming a movie without realizing your camera isn't recording until after you're finished. To think that the first few years of Superman's success would be followed by one of his best TV shows getting cancelled after the legendary George Reeves who played him either committed suicide or was murdered and then gets replaced by one of the stupidest, most lame-brained, ideas for children's entertainment imaginable. This makes the Happy Days episode where Fonzie jumps the shark look like the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld and deserves to be forgotten and to fade into obscurity.

Teen Titans GO! To the Movies (2018)

You'll be surprised

[9/10 · 3 August 2018]

Let's take a look at the Teen Titans Go! track record, episode after episode after episode was nothing but utter garbage with only occasional good moments making itself my #1 most hated show so far, especially considering the creators decided to purposely make fun of the original Teen Titans series that TTG was based off of, so when the trailers for this film came out I as well as everyone else was expecting this to be one of the worst films of all time. But when we had another trailer premiere it was a little better but we were still a bit skeptical about it, when I heard the film had good reviews I decided to see it, when I saw it I could not believe how entertaining it was. If this were an episode of the show I'd declare it the best because this is Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath at their absolute best writing I've ever seen since the point where the Titans met their voice actors, this is the first time in a while when they've given us something that I can actually appreciate for once. What made this so enjoyably hilarious was its references to other media how it was able to make fun of other films, superheroes, and even common tropes in most other films, it also manages to feel like the original Teen Titans with some serious action scenes and even some genuine emotion, the soundtrack is one of the catchiest soundtracks I've ever heard with songs like "Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life" and "It's My Superhero Movie" just to name a few, and casting Nicolas Cage as Superman is really interesting being that he was originally intended to play Superman in Tim Burton's Superman Lives which was unfortunately cancelled so now we can say he finally got to be him! The only problems I have with the film is that first of all it's weird that Slade was voiced by Will Arnett instead of Ron Perlman when all the other characters are played by their original voices but that's not to say he wasn't absolutely hilarious which he was being that he himself produced the film and second of all one of the things I hate most about TTG came into this which are when the Titans do really nasty things to others just for the sake of making young viewers laugh and annoying people like me and whenever the Titans disobey Robin and cause a bunch of trouble on purpose which always annoyed me so much but thankfully it only happens once in the film. So overall for those of you who were still expecting this film to be garbage I think you would actually have a great time with it and if you have kids who are fans of TTG they'll love it as well. However I didn't mention what I consider the best part of the film and that's its mid-credits scene I will not DARE say what happens in it, the kids won't get it or be interested but for us mature viewers I dare you to see it in theaters.

A Bug's Life (1998)

The fourth and final act is phenomenal but the rest of it is a bit...... uh............

[7/10 · 2 July 2018]

I loved this film as a kid but nowadays it's not really as good as I thought it was. Not to say that it's bad but honestly it's really really hard for me to decide whether I like this movie or not. Let's talk about the good stuff first, the animation, colors, settings, and character designs are all beautiful, it definitely matches up with the cheerful tone that the film is supposed to match up with. A lot of the voices are really good ranging from Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Denis Leary, Richard Kind, Jonathan Harris, David Hyde Pierce, Brad Garret, Madeline Kahn, and even some of the main Pixar guys voiced a few characters. The most memorable part of the film is the circus bugs, they are the film's biggest highlight, Denis Leary is Francis the Ladybug who's constantly mistaken for a woman, David Hyde Pierce is Slim the Stick-Bug who's always used as a prop, Brad Garret is Dim the Beetle who looks dangerous and tough but is actually a gigantic baby that's supervised by Rosy the Black Widow who's voiced by Bonnie Hunt, a pair of acrobats named Tuck and Roll who don't speak English and are my favorite characters, Jonathan Harris is Manny the Prey-Mantis who is a blind fortune-teller and is married to a gorgeous butterfly named Gypsy who's voiced by Madeline Kahn, every scene they're in is constantly hilarious, there's never a single moment involving where I would say "that's not funny...." or "what was the point of that?" Finally as mentioned in the headline for this review, the best part of the film is the fourth and final act, starting from when the last leaf falls, the grasshoppers have moved into the ant-hill and are forcing the ants to get every last drop of food on the island making them their slaves, Dot being the only ant who believes in Flik tries to convince him and the circus bugs to come back to make things right but Flik doesn't want to because the amount backlash he received from the colony after the truth about the circus bugs was revealed finally convinced him that what the colony thought of him was true, that he was a guaranteed failure who tries to make things better for people but instead always made things worse, Dot convinces Flik that it doesn't matter what people think of you, you can always achieve your goals if you just believe in yourself, thus Flik agrees to make things right by using the bird that he and the others built, at first it starts off really well but then it accidentally gets sabotaged, Hopper then forces Thumper to beat him half to death in front of everyone to teach them a lesson saying that ants were put on Earth to serve grasshoppers, but Flik convinces everyone otherwise by saying the best line in the movie, "Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers. I've seen these ants do great things, and year after year they somehow manage to pick food for themselves and you. So who is the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's you who need us! We're a lot stronger than you say we are... And you know it, don't you?" Hopper fed up with Flik decides to kill him himself but right when he's about to Princess Atta and the other ants become convinced that they were wrong and stand up for themselves giving us that triumphant feeling that lots of epic climaxes give us, the battle between ants and grasshoppers begins with the all the grasshoppers getting scared away and Hopper about to get shot out of a cannon, but suddenly it starts to rain, which gives Hopper the advantage of grabbing Flik to finish him off, Atta comes to the rescue and Flik thinks up a plan, he gets cornered by Hopper and right when he's about to choke him to death, a bird appears and Hopper gets fed to its babies, the film then ends with the ants saying goodbye to the circus bugs, Atta becoming queen, and Flik is declared being a true hero. But unfortunately what causes the film to go downhill really causes it to go downhill, the adviser ants, Princess Atta, and the Queen are so unbelievably obnoxious, always talking down to Flik and Dot going on about how they'll never achieve anything and this isn't just occasional insults, it happens constantly throughout most of the film, they get on my nerves to the point where it's unwatchable, they even tried to get rid of Flik by saying they'll agree to let him look for warriors when really they're just trying to get rid of him, which is why my least favorite scene is when it's revealed that the circus bugs aren't warriors, therefore the colony has to call Flik a disgrace and kick him out because they apparently would rather be slaves than listen to someone who's just misunderstood, what were they thinking? So this film is nowhere near terrible, as mentioned before the fourth act starting from when the last leaf falls is spectacular, but I just feel that the ants having to be so mean-spirited and cruel towards Flik was just way too much for me.

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

It definitely has hilarious jokes and a good message but there are some complaints I have

[6/10 · 10 June 2018]

While I did definitely have a great time watching this there are 2 major things about this film that really bother me, with that said let's talk about the awesome stuff. This is obviously made by the creators of The Lego Movie therefore we have really cool animation, creative designs for all the beloved characters of the DC universe as well as the unknowns, and a very clever childish tone. The voice acting really works to, consisting of Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, Zach Galifianakis as the Joker, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, Michael Cera as Robin, and of course the best casting choice of them all, Will Arnett as Batman (I'll talk about him more in a moment), there are even tones of cameos from other celebrities and it's impossible to name them all. The hate-relationship between Batman and the Joker is a very unique and clever concept that's never been done before in a Batman movie alluding to the self-awareness that the film loves to poke fun at which can result in a lot of funny break-up and get-back-together moments. Robin's adorable innocence is always a welcoming highlight whenever he's onscreen making it very obvious that he's a child who can do literally anything you tell him, even in reverse. The film is also filled with lots of references to other DC properties, such examples include Alfred discussing the different phases Batman went through for the past 50 decades while shots from different movies that came each decade made with Legos appear (as shown in the trailer) which is talked about again by Batgirl showing the other famous shots from the previous media Batman has been in, the collection of Batmobiles Batman has in the Batcave, Billy Dee Williams voicing Two-Face after only being able to play Harvey Dent in Tim Burton's Batman, mentioning the Suicide Squad, and of course Batman having the famous Shark-Repellent Spray. Batman's portrayal in this film is one of my all-time favorite portrayals of him thus far, the writers are basically making fun of him by having him as a greedy, egotistical, narcissist who can't handle anybody but himself winning in everything which is exactly how I see him, I dare say he's making all other famous and beloved franchises out there look bad because it doesn't seem like anybody cares about anything other than him, and this film almost perfectly represents that. But if I were to say what the best part of the film is, it has got to be none other than the opening, the film opens up with Batman narrating and addressing lots of cliches we get in all movies such as company logos appearing, dramatic music, and films opening with a black screen, then it builds up a scheme all Batman's villains are plotting, while quoting and mentioning scenes from The Dark Knight and Tim Burton's Batman, Batman arrives in a disguise and as soon as he reveals himself he ends up defeating every single one of his villains all at the exact same time while singing a song he wrote that talks about how awesome he is, this scene is a perfect way to represent how much you love a certain property or character, sometimes I imagine watching this but with Spider-Man beating up his villains, I dare say that this scene almost as good as the opening title sequence of X-Men: The Animated Series. Although now it's time for me to address what ruins the movie for me which are 2 different things, 1. Batgirl, she's so unlikable and such a Debbie-Downer in this, constantly getting after Batman for every little thing he does, talking about being supervised and following the law, and complaining, this is the exact same reason why I hate Lois Griffin and Donna Tubbs. 2. The constant insults thrown at Superman in this, Superman is my favorite DC superhero and I even say he's the best superhero in the world and yet hardly anybody else in the world seems to agree with me, people seem to have forgotten that Superman was the first superhero ever created in history thus he pioneered the trend of superheroes, and yet in this film he's constantly made to look bad in this, aside from Batman making jokes about how he can beat Superman, saying he's better than him, and blowing a raspberry at him when he sees him on the news, what happens is Batman breaks into the Fortress of Solitude and destroys the crystals containing memories of Superman's family on Krypton as a means to steal the Phantom Zone Projector to prove to Batgirl he can put his villains away for good, and when he learns his lesson in the end, he doesn't bother returning it to him, it gets destroyed and he doesn't even care, WHAT A JERK! He destroyed the only remaining memories of Superman's beloved parents Jor-El and Lara, stole a dangerous device Superman couldn't allow to get into the wrong hands and got away with it, that is one of the coldest thing I've ever seen Batman do. So overall this film does a fantastic job parodying some of many of our fond memories of what we grew up with, is able to reference stuff we love to talk about in a very clever and enjoyable way, have very cool visuals and animation, great voice acting, hilarious jokes, and one of the best openings to a film ever, but Batgirl's constant nagging and buzzkilling and the insults toward Superman make it impossible for me to say this is a "great film" or anywhere near as good as The Lego Movie.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

No matter how hard Sam Raimi tried, it was he and those who suffered who paid the price

[6/10 · 25 April 2018]

Ugh......... This is the worst Spider-Man movie ladies and gentlemen. Because there's more bad than good let's get the good stuff out of the way; Best effects, more J. Jonah Jameson as always, awesome cameos from Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell, and I measure Sandman on the same level as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. OK let the suffering begin. There are far too many subplots being squeezed in to focus on the main plot of the story, Sandman is Uncle Ben's real killer, and Harry has become the New Goblin and wants to kill Peter as a means to avenge his father and has temporary amnesia after hitting his head, and Peter and MJ are having relationship problems again when we should be focusing on what the trailers promised us, the birth and introduction of Venom, we'll get into that a little later....... *sigh*.......... And while on the subject of Harry, TEMPORARY AMNESIA??? Is that really the best they could come up with? Amnesia I don't think is temporary disease (we'll talk more about Harry later). Gwen Stacey if you ask me is the most pointless character in the movie aside from being there so that Peter can have someone to cheat on MJ with, and they had Bryce Dallas Howard playing her for crying out loud, how could they just flat out waste her like that? Venom is horribly misused in this, we all are familiar with his origin so no need to go over that but here's what these people did, when Peter gets attached to the symbiote it makes him an emo and it's used for more of a comedic tone and what made it so good in the comics was that it's supposed to torment Peter the same way an addict or Gollum was, plus the dream sequence never appears, and then comes the fact that Topher Grace was completely inaccurate with what the character should've been like and Venom gets only 10 minutes of screen time and then gets blown up in the end, and even then most of the time his face is peeled back, we don't want to sit through Topher Grace with fangs, we want to sit through Venom for crying out loud! Finally the romance, more complication between Peter and MJ as always but this is when it gets to the dropping point of how bad it is, in which Peter cheats on MJ with Gwen as mentioned before but after the dramatic dinner argument MJ realizes they need to forgive each other and they make up with one other. BUT WAIT!!! Harry suddenly gets his memory back and forces MJ to break up with Peter otherwise he'll kill him, thus they break up, has MJ forgotten Peter is Spider-Man? When Peter arrived she could've said "Harry's got his memory back and is right over there! Deal with him!" And Peter could've just defeated him and we can continue focusing on the stuff with the symbiote. BUT NO! She breaks up with him! And she never explains to Peter why she did it! Honestly, THOSE 2 NEED COUNSELING!! Finally I must address the worst thing about the movie........ *drum roll*......... *dramatic silence*.......... The jazz club scene................... *BUM BUM BUM!!!!* Peter and Gwen go to a jazz club, MJ is working there, Peter decides to make things right by dancing around, does that sound like a scene from a Spider-Man movie to you? It's so silly and over the top it feels like it's from a Chicago musical, but that's not what makes it fall flat, it's what follows that really kills the movie, after Gwen leaves feeling like something's wrong with Peter he gets into a fight with some of the employees and accidentally hits MJ and is then shown crouching over a church tower while it's raining, THESE ARE 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCENE TONES THAT DON'T GO TOGETHER!!!!! THIS is what killed the movie. So overall, don't let the advertising of Venom fool you, because this is just a waste. Don't get me wrong, there are movies that are far worse than this, but as a Spider-Man movie, it's just ridiculous. What they should've done is have the story only be focused on Peter and Harry. The truth is revealed in Spider-Man 2 about Peter being Spider-Man and Harry accusing him of killing his father, Spider-Man 3 should've expanded upon that. THAT is what could've made the movie better.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

The best Spider-Man movie before Spider-Man Homecoming hit the scene

[9/10 · 25 October 2017]

Ah yes, the best of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies. What I like: The special effects have improved so much after 2 years, they're not perfect but the cg is way less rubbery and the action is more convincing, also the effects on Dr. Octopus's arms are cool to look at. All the cast members from the first movie do even better performances, especially J.K Simmons as Jameson because he's always hilarious in every scene he's in. Dr. Octopus's portrayal in this movie is one of the best comic book villain portrayal's in a movie there has ever been and Alfred Molina was a pitch perfect casting choice for the role. Because the movie centers around Peter Parker going through a phase of bad luck it's very easy to relate with him in what he's going through, he can't keep his job, his grades are failing, he's hardly making enough money, Harry blames Spider-Man for killing his father and thinks Peter is defending him even though he himself is Spider-Man, Mary Jane starts to hate him for not showing up for his 8 o'clock curtain and is getting married to Jameson's son who is an astronaut, there's even conflict set between him and Aunt May when he confesses to her that he was responsible for Uncle Ben's death, which pushes and pushes and pushes him to the point where he nearly quits being Spider-Man, but that's impossible to do because there will always be new villains to fight that he needs to protect the city from. The best scene in the movie is the fight between Spidey and Doc Ock on top of a train, the choreography, the constant motion, and the escalating danger, this is the Spider-Man trilogy at it's best point, I only wish it was saved for the end but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. What I don't like: 1. I think Mary Jane was being way too harsh on Peter for not showing up to her play, she is dealing with some emotional turmoil which we can understand, but that doesn't mean she has to say she hates his guts and make him feel guilty. 2. Doc Ock's arms having A.I does seem pretty silly to me, and also he claims that he made the arms so that he can control fusion reaction and everyone seems more impressed by the fusion reaction stuff than with the arms, shouldn't the arms also be a mind-blowing device? 3. There is nothing memorable about the astronaut Mary Jane was about to marry, you would think he would be a really important character with a large impact he could leave, but no, there's nothing about him that stands out or adds any important value to the plot. 5. The final and biggest problem with this and the other 2 movies, the romance is HORRIBLE, Mary Jane constantly being captured and rejecting Peter in these movies is so complicated that she at times seems more like a plot device than an actual character. So overall, regardless of all the complaints I have Spider-Man 2 is the best movie in the trilogy of Spider-Man movies directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man Homecoming may top both these and the Amazing Spider-Man movies Spider-Man is still a huge achievement not just for Spider-Man's legacy but for superhero movie legacies in general, so give this a watch and you'll be satisfied.