Wreck-It Ralph - Spoiler-Free Movie Review

I was very fortunate to attend a special pre-screening of this movie thanks to my friend Adam! It was well worth it, as you'll see in the review.

Plot
The plot is simple - in the first half-hour or so, the film gushes in building up the arcade world and its inhabitants. You've seen the trailer, so you know the basic plotline of this first third of the movie: Ralph is unsatisfied with bad-guy life, he explores more games to find out what's out there, and finds a way to be accepted.
Even though the plot is simple at times, there are plenty of laughs and a few clever twists that keep the film interesting at all times. There may be some disappointed with the lack of cameos in the film, but there are still tons upon tons, most of which most people will not gather in the first viewing, particularly if you don't know the games of the era. Even still, the film does not pander to the gaming audience so much that there is a joke at famous games' expense every few minutes. No, that would make for a much different feeling movie likely made by another company. Instead, Wreck-It Ralph chooses to stick to its Disney roots after the main plot kicks into gear, a choice that is by all means the correct one.
Would it have been fun to see more game-jumping? Sure, but not at the expense of the characters and their stories. Speaking of which...

Music
You may have expected a soundtrack full of chiptunes and repetitive beats, but arcades and video games have fully advanced since then. Hero's Duty, one of the fictional games, has a fairly fitting dubstep song in particular. I was never annoyed with the music, and though it wasn't the most memorable of Disney's soundtracks, it was very good.

Characters
The main characters are all enjoyable, though some may feel that Vanellope (the little girl) grates a bit. For a 9-year old, this isn't so bad. Even though I did find her annoying at times, she is still a very strong foil to Ralph and without her, the movie would not have been nearly as interesting. Ralph himself is deadpan and fun, as well as given opportunities to revel in what he does best - wreck it! The film never falters on the main "programming" of its game heroes. Rounding out the rest of the cast is Sgt. Calhoun and Fix-It Felix. These two add dimension to the film and have their own unique stories, some moments of which are the best of the movie. In the end, they are all endearing and you'll be cheering for them. The primary villain of the movie is a treat as well, but experiencing him is for when you're in your theater seats. Many a gamer will love the references that he goes through.
The cameo appearances are fantastic, of course. Ken and Ryu have nice banter early on, and everyone's seen the "Bad-Anon" scene. Zangief isn't voiced by his VA in Street Fighter IV, but the rest of the characters that appear are, and that goes a long way into how Disney got the rights and times of all of these people to create such an enjoyable experience.
There aren't too many other fleshed-out characters in the film, but the rest of the citizens of the arcade are fun and wonderfully animated and voiced.

Overall
This movie does what Disney does best - makes you feel good - while in the creative and familiar setting of an arcade. That is no less than a winning formula. The characters are fun, the movie moves along smoothly, and oh yes, paperman, the short film before the movie proper, is a real treat that must be seen.
Disney gets it right again, but this time, with combos and quarters galore.

The Dark Knight Rises - No-Spoiler Movie Review

I know, I said I'd write about Pokemon. But I'm a film student and I just saw The Dark Knight Rises.

Bear with me, it's been a good few months since my last review and I expect this one to be more lengthy than my Avengers review despite the fact that I like that movie just a smidgen more. There will be for the most part no spoilers, just a few cast details and such.

The main thing I want to address since lots of people are either pro-Avengers or pro-DKR is that both movies try to do different things, and in my opinion both succeed. I also believe that most comic book fans prefer one company over the other, but are at least fans of the other. If you're not, you're missing out. On to the review! There will be no spoilers.

It's not a Mark Review without a picture.

Plot

The plot is a bit slow to pick up, but there are even more new characters in this movie than the previous in the trilogy. There are many establishing moments and the movie is well-paced. I was never too confused and even though there were plot twists, there were no moments where I wished the movie would backtrack to explain something. 

I was completely satisfied with the plot and it also served as a closing to the circle of the Dark Knight Trilogy, which Hollywood seems to be avoiding at the moment. That itself shows that Nolan knew how to handle these movies. As you may have guessed, the "Rises" in the title tells the audience that Batman has all but vanished from Gotham, and needs to come back one last time to set the city on the right path. The plot reflects that and there are many micro-stories that set up every big event that occurs in the movie, instead of big stories that build up bigger and bigger like in Spider-Man 3, to put it in perspective. 

The movie also doesn't drag too badly if you're already a fan of the series. If you aren't, it may suffer in that regard, but each character is given a spotlight and then some. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end...and a clear end to the trilogy as well. There could be room for questions but in the end it's not a big deal because - well, let's face it, he's Batman.

As far as comic accuracy, I personally don't feel there needs to be careful attention to detail in every single scene to a certain comic. When I go out to watch a movie, I go to enjoy it as a movie, and this film succeeds at that with no doubt in my mind. They are different forms of media and should be treated as such. I may be biased being a film student, though.

Music

This is a point I don't address well...it's in my nature. However, I enjoyed the score and nothing really stood out as bad. It picked up where it needed to, certain scenes that could have done without were accentuated with it, and overall it made the movie more enjoyable, which is what a film score should set out to do.

Characters

As I said before, there are many new characters introduced in this sequel. The mayor, the new cop, Catwoman, Bane, and many more. They all fit into the Nolan mythos well and hold up the movie on their own strengths. There are also recognizable faces such as someone Torchwood fans will see as Owen Harper. It was cool to see and like The Avengers before it, this film has an all-star cast consisting of only the best actors.

Anne Hathaway played Selina Kyle really well, certainly much better than Halle Berry (not that it was hard, but you know). She plays off of Bruce like Catwoman should, and evokes an image of the character that is both deceptive and resourceful.

Speaking of which, Bane was also well-played. In the comics, Bane is very smart and resourceful, but he is generally a larger, burlesque villain. In the film that is smartly reduced to someone still powerful, but there is more emphasis on how intelligent Bane is and his plans to revolutionize Gotham. It's yet another version of the character that was written to fit in these three films and it shows. I would say I enjoyed Bane more than I did Joker in the previous film, though I do love TDK. 

The cop in the movie played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is good as well. He represents what Commissioner Gordon does but in a younger light, and that is important because of many of the actions he pulls off that Gordon would generally have trouble with - not that Gordon skips out on some awesome scenes, because he doesn't.

As for the other characters, there's not a lot I can say without giving away anything major, but they're all very good and the old non-deceased characters also come back with a bang. They all carry this movie with the magnitude it needed, and I wouldn't have replaced any of them.

Overall

That is one of the biggest themes of the movie, I feel. Magnitude. While watching the film, that was the major word in my mind. Everything is important, everything was important, and this was undoubtedly the film that carried the most weight in the trilogy. Is that to say I liked it more than TDK? ...Yeah, I'd say that. Every single move by the characters left me wondering what would happen next, what the repercussions of each action was, and what might happen should the heroes fail.

Of course, you expect the heroes to win. There's no other way to end the trilogy. But with the ultimate win, there are many penultimate losses. Failures. Souls breaking, bodies dying. That much was necessary, as without each one, the movie would have left with an unsatisfying ending. Not to say it wasn't happy, as indeed it was.

Overall, I'd say that The Dark Knight Rises succeeds at what it set out to do - tell an incredible Batman story, be heavy-handed without being anvilicious, and ending the trilogy on a very high note.

I still like the Avengers better, yes, but that movie was about fun and style. This movie was about the people of Gotham and what Bruce Wayne needed to do to be the real hero.

I can't give it a perfect score, but I haven't seen the perfect movie quite yet. However, this is one I will speak praise about, just the same as my other favorite movies.

I believe in Batman.

9/10

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Movie Review

I know what you're thinking, another one? Hey, I like movies. I can't help that fact, and I wanna major in film. Deal with it. Anyway, this was surprisingly pretty good. I wasn't expecting much, good or bad, and I would probably get this on DVD so I could watch it again.

Me Tarzan. You Jane. Wait, wrong movie.

Green Lantern - Movie Review

I will say that I have no bias towards GL, Hal, or sway either way towards DC or Marvel overall. In recent years, that's a little harder to judge. Hopefully that means a fair review. Just to make it clear, though, my favorite Earth Lantern is John Stewart, due 100% in part to the tv show Justice League Unlimited. Man, is that show awesome or what? But I'm not here to gush about it. Not this time, anyway. You know what to do!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Movie Review

I'm so laaaaaaaaaaaate. I'd rather be reviewing Winnie the Pooh anyway, but this was a good movie. Very nice way to end what is the most popular series of this generation. We'll get to that in just a second...

Captain America - Movie Review

LUCAS LEE LUCAS LEE LUCAS LEE.

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

...Okay, you got me. That is not all this review is going to be. But it was worth a shot.

So. The last Marvel movie before the event of the year, The Avengers. Am I excited? Oh heck yeah, you better believe it. But that is neither here nor there. Except it is. Because the trailer was at the end of this movie. And it was rad.

ANYWAY. Let's get this show on the road.

Old poster blibbity blah

Kamen Rider W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Eternal - Movie Review

Just got finished watching this movie, and it did not disappoint. All-around really cool and the W team along with Sakamoto prove again that they can make an action movie that is more than explosions and women. But don't worry, there's plenty of that! Without further ado...

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Movie Review

I'm not the biggest fan of the Pirates franchise, but I don't really have any personal beef with them. I just find them kinda average, and it was the same with this one. However, I did have fun watching it and if you want to know more, just hit the jump!

THOR - Movie Review

I'm definitely excited for The Avengers, though that didn't have too much of an impact in seeing this movie in particular. However, I'm glad I did and it worked how it needed to. It's not the best Marvel movie, but as a Thor movie, it's definitely not bad.

Ultraman Zero THE MOVIE: Super Deciding Battle, Belial's Galactic Empire - Movie Review

More movie reviews for your enjoyment! Yeah, yeah, I know, other stuff. But given that this year is also Ultraman's 45th Anniversary, of course there's going to be plenty of movies. I think there's another one coming later, as this movie is the second in a trilogy. But you don't care about that, you want the review!

Kamen Rider W FOREVER: A-Z - The GaiaMemories of Fate Spoiler-Free Movie Review

Let's do this.

Kamen Rider W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Accel - Spoiler-Free Movie Review

Wow, it's been a month already and nothing new on here. Thankfully, our grades are in so I'm pretty sure I can just do whatever with this. I will be copying stuff over and any new reviews, etc., will be on here from now on. If you're keeping up, thanks for reading!

I won't be giving a plot synopsis this time around, to avoid spoilers in general. Plus given I just watched it I think I can do pretty well. That does mean it won't be quite as thorough as it could be, but hopefully this review does the movie justice. So, it's time to take a look at the phenomenal V-Cinema, Kamen Rider Accel.