[Reviews] Movie Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

A darker mood makes this threequel tonally and structurally uneven; it's still grandly ambitious and a strong recommendation.

dracosummoner @December 20th, 2024 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

“This may terrify children,” I repeatedly thought to myself, sitting through a bolder but much grimmer installment in a series that’s often been content to be mostly lighthearted fare for families and young audiences. The first Sonic the Hedgehog film felt like a standard but sometimes poignant fish-out-of-water story with some grandly ambitious set pieces […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Fall (2022)

Good stunts don't make up for an ugly and oftentimes intentionally poor script.

dracosummoner @March 19th, 2024 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review | No Comments »

“Fall” is a minimalist hour and a half of compelling stunts tethered to a problematic and frequently unlikable script. Most of the characters are unsympathetic, the acting frequently fails during critical moments, and the resolution isn’t satisfying.

[Reviews] Movie Review: Sonic the Hedgehog

The blue blur transitions from video game to silver screen with excitement, uneven charactizeration, and inappropriate humor

dracosummoner @February 14th, 2020 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

Sonic the Hedgehog is the sort of “children’s movie” that earnestly suggests that a valid way for a kid to learn to make friends is to spend an hour in a bar, and indeed a noticeable chunk of the film takes place there. Despite some infrequent but severe pacing issues, that huge non sequitur being […]

[Happy New Year!] Movie Review: Knives Out

Rian Johnson's storytelling and eye for aesthetics has improved sharply from some of his previous works.

dracosummoner @January 1st, 2020 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

Director and writer Rian Johnson returns to the suspense-thriller genre with a quirky, modern murder mystery filled with gorgeous settings and plenty of humor. I had my doubts upon learning Johnson was involved, especially in light of this film’s incredibly high amount of critical praise—Star Wars: The Last Jedi was exciting but felt unfocused, and […]

Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky Review

Jacob Kellogg @June 14th, 2019 | Categories: Anime, Featured Posts, Music, review | No Comments »

Not long ago, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the film Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky. I by no means am a fan of Mecha or the Gundam franchise, so I went in expecting very little. I am happy to say, my expectations where blown away. Visuals If I had to describe the […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Pokémon — Detective Pikachu

dracosummoner @May 12th, 2019 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review | No Comments »

A children’s live-action comedy-mystery starring a talking mouse with a caffeine addiction, a searing wit that narrowly remains age-appropriate, and a heavy case of amnesia shouldn’t be such a successful combination, but it works well. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is first and foremost a tech-demonstration movie whose splendid special effects take precedence above story complexity or […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Avengers – Endgame

dracosummoner @April 27th, 2019 | Categories: Comics, Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

Avengers: Endgame, while remaining worth a watch, is not Marvel’s best work. It’s not the series’ funniest installment, despite devoting a remarkable fraction of its unnecessary running time to jokes and gags; it’s not the most thought-provoking, with story decisions and contrivances that undermine its “move-on” message on multiple occasions; it’s not even the most […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Captain Marvel

dracosummoner @March 9th, 2019 | Categories: Comics, Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | 1 Comment »

“Thank you, Stan.” Captain Marvel’s opening montage, a collection of Stan Lee portraits set against the Marvel Studios logo, is a poignant and meaningful dedication to an iconic personality who was partly responsible for giving popular culture a bevy of iconic characters with abilities as diverse as their backgrounds. They’re joined by Carol Danvers, an […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Incredibles 2

Pixar's latest is a big-hearted follow-up to a beloved film. PHOTOSENSITIVITY WARNING.

dracosummoner @June 15th, 2018 | Categories: Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

Despite feeling remarkably familiar for being such a long-awaited sequel, Incredibles 2 adeptly balances exciting action alongside thought-provoking and humorous family relations and is an easy recommendation for viewers seeking heroic adventures that don’t limit themselves to a teenage-and-above audience. Please note: If you or your loved ones have symptoms of epilepsy or photosensitivity, be […]

[Reviews] Movie Review: Solo – A Star Wars Story

Sometimes simpler is better, as Ron Howard's impressive contribution to the series proves.

dracosummoner @May 25th, 2018 | Categories: Entertainment, Film, review, SideArc | No Comments »

Han Solo’s origin story is a genuinely fun action movie that recalls the lighthearted tone of the original Star Wars films without blatantly mimicking their structure or leaning too hard on nostalgia. The new characters are fun to watch, the old ones are given genuine reasons to appear instead of simply being thrown in, and […]