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stevesaywood
Reviews
Turtles Forever (2009)
Fun but disrespectful
I just watched this for the second time, and it was a fun little adventure, but it is very disrespectful to the 80s cartoon and everyone who grew up loving it. The 80s Turtles are so dumbed-down, to the point that even Donatello was portrayed as a simpleton who seemed to almost fluke his way to his genius inventions. Even the 80s Shredder seemed needlessly Flanderised! Though I will concede, the '03 Shredder did make a very good and genuinely threatening antagonist.
Loved the appearance of the '84 Turtles as well, even if they were slightly over-simplified, character-wise. I realise that was kind of the point, given the little Eastman and Laird not at the end, but again, the turtles all seemed to samey, whereas only the '03 Turtles seemed to have any differing personalities.
The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar at its very best
I must have seen The Incredibles a thousand times over the years, and it is still far and away my favourite of all Pixar films. The music is fantastic, the main cast have so much heart in their performances, especially the scene with the jet and the missiles, Samuel L Jackson is effortlessly cool as always, and Jason Lee's performance is brilliantly chilling. The animation hasn't aged especially well, as you might expect from a CGI film of this age, but everything else about this film holds up so well to this day that you'll barely even notice the graphics unless you're really looking out for them!
Sonic Origins (2022)
So nearly a 10
Love all the games included, these are a huge part of my teenage years, and I loved the opportunity to play them all again without resorting to emulators. I do have some issues though.
Firstly, the lack of polish on the presentation is questionable, there's so much more that I would have loved to have seen, like unlockable 8-bit games, some more game modes, comics, something like that. Secondly, Sega's tiered DLC system is deeply flawed and means you end up paying extra for the game and not getting anything that was truly worth it. Thirdly, and this is the big one, the missing music from Sonic 3 is a massive loss to the overall package. I'm well aware that it was due to copyright issues, but the beta versions of the music that was used instead is just not even close to the same level. I'm sure Sega could have resolved this somehow if they really wanted to.
It's a shame, because I love the cutscenes added, and for the games themselves, Origins almost deserves a 10, if only Sega had put a bit more love into it.
The Snail and the Whale (2019)
One of my favourites
To be honest, I wasn't overly fussed with this one on first viewing, but as I've watched it more and more with my kids, it's become one of my favourite of the Julia Donaldson specials. The animation is fantastic as always, the voice acting perfectly sets the tone, and the music is very tranquil.
Rob Brydon's performance as the whale, especially as he's describing the scenery around them as they go around the world is very relaxing, and the scene when he gets beached is gut-wrenching on an almost Pixar level. I must have read the book to my kids a thousand times by now, and I genuinely wondered if they were gonna deviate from the book completely when the villagers (and the snail) rescued him.
Chernobyl (2019)
Unsettling, but so captivating.
I didn't expect to enjoy this. Given the subject matter, I thought it would just be too bleak, and to be fair it is, but the acting was excellent throughout, the story was utterly engrossing (and something of an eye-opener), and it made me very intrigued to know more about the disaster, and nuclear power in general, something I've never given a great deal of thought to previously.
More importantly, it managed to present an engrossing story without ever cheapening the memory of those who died and suffered in real life. I'd definitely recommend it if you haven't already seen it.
Top Gear: Episode #27.1 (2019)
Not brilliant, but not bad!
Top Gear has been stinking ever since Clarkson et al left the show, but for the first time since then, they finally have some hosts that actually seem to connect with each other. I was as sceptical as anyone about Paddy McGuiness and Freddie Flintoff, since neither are actually journalists, but they made it work. Chris Harris still seems like a charisma black hole though.
Little Red Riding Hood (2006)
Truly awful
Not sure who wrote the synopsis, because this "film" is not a delight for children or adults! The animation is like cheap anime knock-off, the lip syncing was worse than Sonic 06, the sound effects were too loud compared to the rest of the volume, and the scene where the wolf devours the granny was so OTT that we had to stop watching because it scared my four-year-old daughter!