Monsters At Work: Welcome To Monsters, Incorporated

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A new character who has always dreamed of being a scarer, has to come to terms with the change in direction at Monsters Inc and try and find his place.

So this show is exactly what I was expecting it to be- needless. There is no reason for this show to exist at all, did we really need to see how the business would run once they switched over to laugh power instead of fear? The answers we get are boring and easily guessable.

Furthermore, the new characters, whose names I cannot even remember are also entirely pointless. Clearly they are being written to fill the whole in the show that comes as a result of Mike, Billy Crystal, and Sully, John Goodman, taking a reduced role. Can they even hope to be worthy replacements? If this first episode is anything to go by no.

Finally, I am left to wonder who is this for? If it is for long time fans who loved the film when it came out and have then grown up with it why only have Mike and Sully in such small roles, if this is to attract new people then why not just create a fresh idea altogether. As it stands this show is for no one.

Overall, the only reason it got a 2 is because the animation is good, and the score is suitably jazzy.

Pros.

The animation

The score

Cons.

The new characters are bland and uninteresting

Why does this exist?

It answers questions no one asked

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

America The Motion Picture: Free Bird

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A mash up origin story for The United States Of America.

I want to preface this review by saying I am a big fan of Archer the animated series. Though many who are involved in that series clearly lent their hand to this project, the charm, wit and nuance of that show is woefully abandoned to produce one of the dumbest films I have ever seen.

Netflix animation is clearly betting on some of the big name talent involved with this film to sell it, as their animation studio is far behind the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks. The animation itself is good, that is not the problem, the issue is the non-sensical, lets throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks approach to storytelling that makes this film feel like a fever dream.

The voice cast is made up of some talented people, sadly not one of them is given anything memorable or interesting to work with and instead they just spout garbage that almost makes being poorly informed and unintelligent seem like the preferred way to be, almost as if it is trying to bash people who will be smart enough to see this film is bad.

The one moment of the film that I enjoyed that I gave the film one whole bonus point from what I was going to give it was having Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd be America’s nation anthem: that scene was very enjoyable.

Overall, this film proves once again why Netflix shouldn’t let a machine green light its projects.

Pros.

Free Bird

I liked Benedict Arnold being a werewolf

Cons.

It is so dumb

None of it makes sense

The characters are unlikeable

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Boss Baby 2: My My Dreamworks Is On The Decline

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The brothers from the first film are now grown up and now there are new talking babies.

This film is only slightly better than the first. The only reason I have given it a half mark improvement is because they don’t go into the secret world of babies in as much tedious detail as the first film did. We are not subjected to exposition scene after exposition scene this time around.

However, what we do get here is not much better.

The film goes out of its way to show how after the first film, even though they were friends at the end of it, that the two boys have now grown apart as adults and have nothing to do with each other. As such the film spends a lot of it’s time showing them bonding, for some odd sense of sentimentality that never really comes together.

Moreover, the film never really justifies it’s own existence. That is probably because there is no reason for this film to exist. The new threat is laughably dull, and surely the secret baby organisation could have had any number of their agents deal with it, there is no reason why it has to be the boys from the first film.

Furthermore, the new female boss baby, voiced by Amy Sedaris, is totally needless as she adds nothing to the film and is really just there to be the new talking baby for the film. It is just gimmicky.

Overall, this film is entirely needless and is only very minorly better than the first film.

Pros.

Less exposition

Two funny jokes

Cons.

It is needless and doesn’t need to exist

It forces sentimentality for the sake of it

The new boss baby has nothing to do and no reason to be there

It is boring

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Tuca And Bertie: Kyle

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bertie manifests Kyle her inner bro in order to help her combat obnoxious men at work.

This episode certainly feels the most angry of the Tuca and Bertie series so far, and that is a great thing. Red on its surface this episode takes on toxic bro culture and also treads into MeToo and sexual harassment culture as well. I thought this was a powerful episode and one that was needed to address what Bertie went through with Pastry Pete.

I think this episode has a lot to say about society and our approach to powerful people who abuse those around them. It is right to point out how often all these figures need to do is say they are sorry or say they have changed, and then certain parts of the population will forgive them leaving the victims out in the cold. It is wrong, and I am glad this show has the balls to say it.

We get more emotional development for Tuca as well here, considering she was fairly side-lined in the last episode. We further the idea of loneliness and aimlessness that has come to encapsulate her character, as she drifts around trying to make a connection and achieve something, but even when she does she still isn’t happy.

I think this show is communicating a lot of hard and often uncomfortable topics through the means of animation, these things need talking about and that is why this show is so important as no one else is.

Overall, a strong episode and one that furthers the emotional growth of our leads.

Pros

Talking about difficult subjects

Bertie’s inner bro

Strong character development

Bringing back the Pastry Pete storyline

Cons.

It is not funny

It is quite saddening

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Bad Batch: Bounty Lost

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

The episode starts out by ditching Crosshair once again and instead focusing entirely on Omega, a very bad decision. The reason why this is bad is because it loses all the tension and excitement from the previous episode and immediately makes the situation easier for the heroes as now they are just free to track Omega down no bother- which makes it less interesting.

We spend most of the episode with Omega as we find out more about her origins and watch her try and escape from Cad Bane. None of this makes you warm any further to the character, and the point still stands that without Omega the Bad Batch as a show would be much more interesting.

The best thing that comes out of the kidnapped Omega storyline is the bounty hunter fight between Bane and Fennec Shand, which is entertaining to watch as each tries to out do the other with some nice set pieces thrown in for good measure.

The series still seems directionless, yes we know that Omega is wanted and is valuable as she is a perfect clone of Jango Fett, but other than that we have no idea where the series is heading. Are we going back to more villain of the week episodes now that Crosshair has been sent back into the ignored void? Or are we going to get more origin story for Omega? Both prospects seem equally bleak.

Overall, Omega has easily become the worst part of the show and it needs to ditch her as soon as it can- she is no Grogu.

Pros.

The bounty hunter fight

The ending tease of intrigue

Cons.

Omega is a weak character and worse still annoying

They forget about Crosshair once again

The tension and build up from the previous episode is lost almost immediately

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Ice Age: Thawing Our Hearts

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I fondly remember the first few Ice Age films from my younger years, and though they are still watchable and entertaining enough, they are nowhere near as good as I remember them being.

Firstly, the voice John Leguizamo does for Sid the sloth feels vaguely offensive and more than a little reminiscent of the voice than accompanies certain Adam Sandler characters. I found the voice to be noticeably jarring throughout.

Secondly, despite not being on for very long this film suffers from pacing issues, particularly in the first half, with their being little of interest beside the Saber-Toothed Tiger attack. Things get better as the trio assemble however.

Once we get all of the main character together and the journey truly begins then the film starts to work. Though I would not say the film soars to the emotional heights of say a Pixar film, it does get close. You feel the bond the characters have with one another and with the little human baby they are protecting, as such when it comes time to see the child reunited with his family and leave the company of our main characters it is deeply effecting.

I think it is in this emotional dimension that this film shines.

Overall, one of the better entries in the series but perhaps not as strong as you remember it being.

Pros.

The emotion

The ending

Our main trio of characters

Cons.

A very slow assembly

Sid’s voice

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Rick And Morty: Mortyplicity

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode was a big step back from last weeks’.

Though this episode had a few highlights, it certainly had the most on-screen deaths of the Smith family, it also reflected what I would say is the worst sensibility of the show, the gimmicky intellectual. A few of the weaker episodes of Rick and Morty across its run are not so much bothered about telling a fun story as they are with exploring a deep scientific concept and showing their audience just how intelligent their writers think they are. This is one of those episodes to a tee.

The concept of duplicates and clones of the family being killed off, and then later killing each other off, could work on paper, but as the episode progresses it quickly becomes apparent that their simply isn’t legs to the idea. It is vaguely intriguing for about the first five minutes then it becomes increasingly annoying as it continues.

Though that is not to say the idea is entirely flawed, it did show some imagination and I enjoyed seeing all the various different duplicates, some of which look noticeably different, that was a fun little distraction within the episode itself.

Furthermore, something else I noticed increasingly throughout the episode was how hostile Beth was towards Rick. Now, for the sake of series context, yes I can see why Beth would be upset in this situation as it mirrors something she went through last season and the point of the episode is to have the characters work through these issues seemingly. However, it makes no sense to have this episode be the second episode of the series considering Clone Beth was the previous season finale, it should have been the first. As it stands now, you have the Clone Beth episode, then an episode where Beth is fine to Rick and everything is forgotten about, and then an episode where it is all brought back up and clearly is a festering point of tension between the two, it is out of sequence.

Overall, Rick and Morty is better when it is trying to entertain us rather than prove how smart it’s writers are, sadly that lesson is ignored here.

Pros.

It is nice to see Rick get called out

Jerry has a few funny lines; my favourite was the one about his lemon bars

The imaginative duplicates

Cons.

It is trying too hard to prove how smart it is

The premise becomes tiresome very early on

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Tuca And Bertie: Planteau

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

At this point I am starting to question whether the writers of Tuca And Bertie are deliberately drawing from my own life experiences. It is just too specific.

I am of course talking about the depiction of Bertie’s social anxiety and her need to drink on a night out to be able to feel comfortable and accepted. Many, many people feel this way, not just me, but it is nice to see this form of social anxiety be represented and shown on screen. I really do think that this is the biggest pro the show has going for it, it is not afraid to cover and highlight mental illness and in doing so it normalises it and helps to ease the stigma and for that I will always be grateful.

The episode itself takes the duo outside of their usual haunts and to a plant land, yes we see far more plant people in this episode and are also treated to a beautifully animated trip sequence that really works not just in a character arc sense but also visually too.

I would not say I found this episode funny at all, it almost feels more like an animated dramady, in a similar vein to something like F Is For Family, where the goal of the show is to make you feel rather than just to bombard you with jokes. This is nice to see as it shows that adult animation is moving away from simply being edgy humour for teens and is trying to be something more.

Tuca is very much pushed to the side this episode, so there is not much to talk about with her.

Overall, effecting and nicely representation but not funny and also a little uncomfortable to watch at times.

Pros.

The mental health representation

It is very effecting

I enjoyed seeing a new local explored

Cons.

It is not funny

It is hard to watch at times

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Tuca And Bertie: Bird Mechanics

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I am glad to see that Tuca And Bertie survived being cancelled and has found new life elsewhere. I appreciated this show when it was on Netflix, as though it was not another Bojack as many had expected it to be it was deep and funny in its own way.

I enjoy that the characters in the show feel true, yes in one respect they are larger than life cartoon characters but in another they are deeply flawed individuals just trying to get through. I always found this show to be very relatable when it came to its depiction of anxiety and other mental health conditions. I think it is important for the medium to talk about this topic and to analyse it both to spread awareness as well as to take apart harmful or misguided stereotypes.

In this particular episode I found the scenes with Bertie being unable to cope with and then having a panic attack at the romantic meal with her boyfriend particularly powerful. As someone with anxiety disorder myself I can see how it would get to that level.

Moreover, the Tuca storyline has her surround herself with people in a dating show format, but then just ends up with her pushing them all away because she can’t commit, yet fundamentally she is lonely. The show is as deep if not deeper than anything Bojack ever was, not to belabor the comparison. The nuance of the characters and the emotions really speak to the level of the writing. Additionally it is also quite funny, so it is firing on both barrels.

Overall, it is nice to see the series back.

Pros.

The mental health representation

Bertie’s panic attack storyline

The emotional nuance

A few funny jokes.

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

Tuca needs more exploration

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Bad Batch: Reunion

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode finally brought back Crosshair. Finally.

I thought this was easily the best of the recent batch of Bad Batch episodes, we finally got the tense standoff between the inhibitor chip free clones and the possessed evil Crosshair that the series has been building towards. Luckily for all, this confrontation feels meaty and well-paced, neither can truly best the other and both sides are hurt. The only way I think this could have been made better is if Crosshair killed one of the Bad Batch or at least gravely wounded them, this would have added to the impact of the episode.

I thought the re-emergence of Cad Bane was both a pro and a con to the episode. It is a pro in that the character is cool and it is nice to see him return and carry on his storyline, but at the same time it is a con as it feels very random and there was little to no build up to him returning. With him taking Omega at the end of the episode I hope she stays out of commission for a while so the Bad Batch can properly deal with their defeat and really rally to the cause.

Overall, a high point for the series so far I can only hope the next lot of episodes keep the same pace and tone.

Pros.

Finally bringing back Crosshair in a meaningful way

The tense cat and mouse elements

The action

The ending

Cons.

Cad Bane’s return feels a little random and unplanned

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer