Flying Witch: Anime Overview

Summary

A new witch moves to town and gets lost frequently along the way.

I discovered this series as I was looking for a replacement after Way Of The Househusband and this fulfilled the same sort of wholesome and at times comedic sensibility. I would argue it is far more wholesome than comedic and more often than not it is just a good show to watch if you are feeling down as the relentless positivity will make you feel better.

I liked most of the characters though I would say the lead herself is quite bland. I think blandness on the whole is an issue for this show as though it is very wholesome and that is nice the problem arises from the fact that there are no real stakes or drama or threat of any kind and that doesn’t lead to the most interesting of stories.

However, something this series does well is its worldbuilding which feel unique and special in a way I have not seen from other animes. There is such a sense of wonder here as the supernatural crosses over with the regular that it is a shame the show didn’t get picked up for more seasons as there is far more exploring to be done in this world, ah well that’s what the manga is for.

Overall, wholesome and inoffensive but lacking enough punch to keep you engaged.

3/5

Pros.

It is wholesome and sweet

The wider cast of characters are quite entertaining

The worldbuilding is well done

Cons.

The lead is bland

There are no real stakes and that makes caring about things hard

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Kung Fu Panda 4: The Battle Against Irrelevance

Written by Luke Barnes

Po, voiced by Jack Black, is back and like every modern movie he needs to pass the torch onto a new dragon warrior.

So for the most part I thought this was fine, it was watchable enough and not particularly offensive in anyway. I think this was probably the worst written of the series and had the weakest plot and also emotional stakes, though I did like the moment Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane, gave Po his respect at the end of the film.

The successor narrative is one that Hollywood seems to be obsessed with recently, all of our beloved heroes need to pass the mantle to keep the franchise going as the creators don’t realise that there is a reason that Batman has stuck around for decades and hasn’t been retired just recast. My point is that rather than recast and move on they should keep Jack Black front and centre as he is who people are coming to see, people don’t want a new Dragon Warrior.

In terms of other narrative elements I thought Awkwafina’s new character was weak as hell, it was obvious she was a baddie who would turn it around and I didn’t buy the relationship between her and Po the film tries to set up. I understand that animation is often seen as for children but that doesn’t mean they can just serve dumb churned out slop. Moreover, the two dads, yes they do that joke a lot, b plot has some laughs but they mostly exist to kill time as the film quickly gets to its end point and then goes wait a minute we need to kill some more time what can we add.

The new villain is easily the worst of the series, for two key reason’s firstly she has no emotional backstory or personality you can engage with again she has a few jokes but that is it. Secondly, rather than have her own fighting style or anything like that they just have her use past villains moves, it is like creatively they are bankrupt so they decided to go instead of creating a new villain let’s just remix all the old ones within a bland new shell.

Also the lack of the Furious Five is a glaring omission.

Overall, a disappointing and unnecessary new entry.

2/5

Pros.

A few funny jokes

It has a good set piece battle on a cliff edge

Cons.

The villain is weak

The new Dragon Warrior is bland

The missing Furious Five

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Godzilla X Kong: I Miss The Time Before CGI

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

They still haven’t learn the lesson of, if you are making a monster-verse film ditch the humans.

So I think that to perfectly encapsulate this film I’ll describe the first 10-15 minutes of it for you, Kong is fighting some creatures and is hurt there is something happening in the hollow earth, there is practically no dialogue at all during this section instead it is just Kong making various noises.

If that sounds appealing to you then probably leave now as this review is from the point of view that found that tedious. I like monster movies where it is just them having a crazy battle and there isn’t much more to it then that, when Godzilla thinks he’s won there is Rodan and it all kicks up a notch. I don’t think we need the monsters to have emotional arcs, I don’t think we need Kong searching for a family. Personally I just want to see Kong smash not be broody but hey that’s me.

Moreover, the humans are dull, you have some bland chosen girl storyline and a mum, Rebecca Hall, whose only two defining characteristics are that she is smart and that she is worried about losing her child, she is nothing more than that and has no further personality. In many senses you could see this was written by men who struggle to write either female characters or meaningful ones at least as Hall is given nothing to work with here. Brian Tyree Henry comes back from King Of The Monsters which could have been good but they just make him the comedic support, which honestly feels a little racist. A prominent POC character who has no personality, again like Hall’s character, outside of oh he’s a podcast nerd, and they make him into a joke to be mocked by all the other characters.

Finally when you get to the moment you were looking forward too, after looking at your phone at least 3 times to see if it was almost over, there is no soul. When Godzilla and Kong team up to fight the Monkey with the whip, again very little development or backstory, and Godzilla in a white camo, even less development and backstory, it just descends into a bland CGI fest that makes you fondly remember the older Japanese Godzilla films and think does CGI actually make third acts better.

Overall, bland and mostly in offensive with one or two good moments.

2/5

Pros.

Mothra gets proper attention

One or two moments where you care

Cons.

It is bland for the most part particularly the third act

The human characters shouldn’t be there

There are a lot of caricatures and not a lot of characters

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The Mandalorian: The Foundling

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Grogu trains and a giant bird attacks.

I don’t know what it was about this episode but something just felt off with it for me. I think after the first two episodes of the new season were so good the third and now this one have just failed to get me to the same level. I think what bothered me about this episode was that it felt like filler, the story didn’t advance much, beyond the one area that I will get to, and the giant bird rescue felt very needless and forced in to pad for time.

However, that said I did really quite enjoy learning Grogu’s back story and getting to see more of what went down when the Jedi temple fell. Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, played by Ahmed Best was a cool addition and I will be interested to see where his and Grogu’s story goes. I hope the show doesn’t just kill him off to give Grogu some more trauma to deal with.

I also thought that once again Katee Sackoff’s Bo-Katan was a scene stealer. The final scene at the end of the episode where she is talking about the mythical Mandalorian beast was super interesting and it will be fascinating to see if she tries to capture it later in the season.

Overall, a good episode if somewhat lacking.

4/5

Pros.

Bo-Katan

Grogu’s development

The teases for the future

Learning more about Mandalorian culture

Cons.

It feels like it is missing something

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People Places Things: Fantasy And Reality Crashing Together To Create Life

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film is entirely carried by the likeable offbeat charm of Jemaine Clement. I have been a fan of Clement’s for a long time now, probably dating back to my younger years watching Flight Of The Concords, and one thing has stayed consistently the same since then and that is the likeability of this man; he can do no wrong.

That is very true here, as Clement is front and centre and has to do a lot of the heavy lifting of this film. The plot is focused on the idea of Clement’s character having to deal with and move on from his ex: highlighting the messy road he faces, with pit falls aplenty. I think this translates very well, and I thought it was the right move to not have Clement’s character be in another relationship by the end of the film; the man finally has it all together.

In terms of humour I didn’t find this film funny particularly, more charming perhaps. I was not laughing but I was smiling throughout. There are a number of scenes that are incredibly cringey to get through, I assume this is a purposeful decision on the part of the film to highlight the issues in the characters life, but they were so painful to watch I almost had to turn away.

Overall, if Clement had not been involved this film would not have been even half as good.

Pros.

Clement

The ending

The character growth

Cons.

It is not funny

A few of the scenes are quite cringe

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The Prophecy 2: Always Ask If Someone Is An Angel Before Sleeping With Them

The Prophecy II is a fantasy action thriller film directed by Greg Spense. The plot again follows Gabriel (Christopher Walken), now freshly back from Hell and on the hunt for a Nephilim. Gabriel wants to kill this human angel hybrid as it might be the humans can fight back against their own extinction. The angles opposed to Gabriel and his genocidal ways, are of course helping to protect this person/ Nephilim/ unborn baby; the war wages onward.

This is a step back from the first film in terms of quality, you can see the cheaper production values and it is clear that this was rushed out to capitalise on the success of the first film. However, there is still a lot of merit to the film and I enjoyed my time with it.

The majority of my enjoyment comes from further exploring this universe. As I said in my review of the first film in this series, the universe and the lore are deep and rich and there is a lot going on to sink your teeth into. It is nice to see some more familiar Angels like Michael (Eric Roberts), join the fray this time around.

Walken is still quite easily menacing, though he is somewhat softer here then he was in the first film; you can see where they are taking his character.

Overall, though it is not as good as the first film there is still a lot of value here and it is still entertaining to explore this world.

Pros.

Walken

The lore

Other familiar angles joining the fray

The 90s feel

Cons.

You can tell that less thought went into this one, it feels rushed.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Shaun The Sheep The Movie: A Return To The Silent Era

Shaun The Sheep The Movie is a British animated film directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak; the film serves as a continuation of the animated series Shaun The Sheep. The plot follows Shaun (Justin Fletcher), as he and his fellow sheep head to the big city after their owner (John Sparkes), goes missing.

My big issue with this film is the fact that none of the characters talk, they make strange noises, mumble, but they don’t talk. Now, I want to preface this point and this review by saying that I have not seen the series before, maybe the odd five minutes here and there. So, with that said when I put this film on, I was expecting the characters to talk just like in Aardman’s other features and of course they didn’t. This bothered me as I often didn’t really understand what was happening and a lot of the time it felt like one random scene after another.

This also becomes an issue with characterization, as I didn’t end up caring about Shaun and co so their journey and struggle had little effect on me and I lose interest quickly.

Overall, I would say this is probably the least accessible of Aardman’s catalogue and if you aren’t either a little kid or a previous fan of the show you probably won’t like this.

Pros.

Some interesting scenes and moments

It is watchable

Cons.

You don’t care about the characters

The lack of talking serves to hurt the film

It has pacing issues that result in you losing interest

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hellraiser: The Devil Is An S&M Freak

Hellraiser is a British supernatural horror film directed by Clive Barker. Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), opens a portal to hell when he unlocks the secrets of an ancient puzzle box, he is then seemingly killed. However, he returns from the beyond and convinces his brother’s wife Julia (Claire Higgins), to bring him men to kill so he can consume then and gain a new body. Also for some reason Frank’s family, his brother, the brother’s wife, and their daughter, have moved into the house where he ‘died’.

So, in cult circles this might be one of the most important, most beloved slasher films ever made. I had watched this once before when I was young, and I didn’t like it, but watching it again now with fresh eyes I have realised that everyone was right this film is great.

Firstly, it has a very distinct visual flair which is both very 80s and very S and M inspired. I enjoyed the look of this film to a great extent, I thought it screamed of a dark sense of creativity and I loved when the film showed us glimpses of its version of hell.

I thought the makeup and costumes for this film might be some of the best I have ever seen. Though they look a little dated by today’s standards they really achieve a very grisly, very real look that I think is impressive. Frank’s skinless body looks frighteningly real and I will give the film props for that. Like wise the look of Pin Head (Doug Bradley), and his fellow cenobites will make you stand up and take notice.

Overall, this may be one of the best slasher films I have ever seen.

Pros

The makeup/ costumes

The visual aesthetic

Pin Head and his fellow Cenobites

The world and the lore

The creepy sense of threat that never goes away and makes your skin crawl

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Ratatouille: There’s A Rat In My Kitchen What Am I Gonna Do?

Ratatouille is an animated family film directed by Brad Bird. The plot follows Remy (Patton Oswald), a rat who dreams of becoming a chief, as he teams up with out of his depth cook Linguini (Lou Romano), to become the ultimate cooking duo and change the face of the French culinary scene.

This had been on my list for a long time, I have seen most other Pixar films, but for one reason or another I just hadn’t gotten round to seeing this. Now after having seen it, I can say it is solidly middle ground for the studio.

I feel the film repeats a lot of plot beats from other Pixar films, the themes feel a bit too familiar. However, it is worse than that because not only do these themes and plot points feel done before, but they also feel like they have been done worse here.

The film didn’t really connect with me emotionally, and that is what makes or breaks a Pixar film. Though it has a few good cheer worthy moments, it seems to lack any kind of heart as a whole. Neither of the two main characters have any real charm or likeability, by the end I didn’t even care slightly about Linguini.

Another thing I noticed was the stark lack of any real kind of female representation. Yes there is one other female cook, who has all the personality of a brick, but she is basically just turned into a love interest for Linguini and has no kind of agency; also when her and Linguini are forced to kiss by Remy it is more than a little icky.

Overall, a very middling Pixar film that lacks any kind of heart and that is probably the least emotive of all of Pixar’s work, seriously Onward is better and that is saying something.

Pros.

A few cheery worthy moments

I liked how they developed the food critic character

It has a very distinct sense of personality

Cons.

It feels all too familiar

The two main characters aren’t very likeable or even interesting

Turning the only female character into a love interest

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke