JCM Reviews Crap

[JCM]

I did movie and television reviews for a school blog last semester, and I really enjoyed it, so I'll be doing some more in-depth and hopefully entertaining reviews for this topic. Here's one of my reviews from the blog. Everything after this will be original.

 

The Iron Giant

 

 

I was six or seven when I first saw The Iron Giant on Cartoon Network. It had everything a little boy could love: a giant robot, a military action sequence, and even a bit of toilet humor. Safe to say, I immediately fell in love with it, watching it about ten more times on the cable channel over the next several years. Like most of my childhood fads, however, I eventually grew out of it, not seeing it again until ten years later, when I was able to better appreciate the movie’s social commentary, amazing visuals, and fluid animation. The Iron Giant was released in 1999, the last year of the best decade of traditionally animated movies ever, which was followed by its worst decade ever, when computer-generated successes like Shrek and Finding Nemo threatened to make 2D animation extinct.

 

The Iron Giant represented a shift towards the end of that decade towards serious, non-musical animated movies. Most of Disney’s 2D efforts after that shift under performed or outright bombed at the box office, and the other studios didn’t have much luck either, which is why The Iron Giant made only a little over half of its budget back during its theatrical run. But that’s far from an indication of its quality. It’s probably the best non-Disney animated film of the 90’s, and one of the best animated movies overall. It demonstrates just what traditional animation is capable of, with the hand-drawn elements giving the film a human touch, which adds emotional resonance to an already-emotional movie.

 

And emotionality is The Iron Giant’s greatest asset. A good example of that is early in the movie when it switches back and forth between violent images of the giant getting electrocuted and a scene at the protagonist Hogarth's house where his mother looks for him, not knowing that her son is on the verge of getting crushed by falling metal. It intensifies the effects that both scenes have for the viewer, as we get to watch the agony of a dying, sentient robot and of a mother worried about her child at the same time. While it pits the fantastical sci-fi elements against the more common domestic drama, it shows that the emotions underlying them are the same, which I believe fits into the message of the movie itself. Whether you're a giant, magical robot or a single mom trying to provide for your son, you go through hurt like anybody else, and you're just as deserving of society's compassion.

 

This movie takes place in the 1950s, at the height of cold war paranoia, so compassion is the last thing most people would expect to give a giant robot from outer space. How the giant earns their compassion makes for one of the most emotional moments of the film, and if you find yourself having you explain that you weren’t crying, you just had something in your eyes when its over, you won’t be alone.

[Clappy]

Looking forward to reading more. This was insightful.

[JCM]

Here's my first original review for this thread.

 

The Legend of Korra

 

 

10 years. It's been 10 years since Avatar: The Last Airbender gave us our first taste of a world that has now been explored through seven seasons, 113 episodes, and three graphic novels. There was also a movie by a guy who really loves twists, apparently? The less said about that, the better.

 

I had actually watched the series premiere of Avatar live, but I didn't think it was anything special, and I promptly forgot about it until three years later, when my cousins, who are Avatar fanatics, forced me to watch the last week of episodes, including the two-hour series finale, with them. It remains the best thing I've ever seen against my will, and it got me excited to watch the rest of Avatar, which I didn't actually do until 4 years later. Oops.

 

The first season of Korra did a good job at introducing the Avatar world to people like me who hadn't seen much of ATLA, and I enjoyed those 12 episodes so much that I was able to overcome my own laziness and binge-watch the original series from beginning to end that following summer. I'd definitely recommend watching the first series before watching this one, not only because it's amazing, but because it'll give you a greater appreciation for Korra and its universe.

 

I didn't like the second season as much as the first season, but I also didn't think it was the atrocity that some people made it out to be. The writing was off-kilter at times, and it does take a while for it to get to the action, but when the season picks up, it really picks up, taking full advantage of its concept in the last half. One thing that was complained about that I never noticed was the animation differences between Studio Mir, the company that animated Korra's first season, and Studio Pierrot, which animated part of the second season. There were differences, but they were negligible, and they didn't have nearly as much of an impact on my viewing experience as they seemed to have on others'.

 

I will agree with the consensus, however, that the third season of Korra was balls-awesome, bringing in a group of big bads that, together, are scarier and more powerful than every other villian on both shows combined. They test Korra and her group to their ultimate limits, and it just makes for a breathtaking season of television. It also improves on the pacing in the first two seasons, giving suffiecient buildup to the final battle between the Red Lotus and Korra while still remaining fun and exciting throughout. Something I wish it did more of, however, is develop Korra as a character, especially since the title of the season was "Change" and she didn't get a lot of development in the first two seasons.

 

The fourth season makes up for that lack of development in spades, though. The second episode of that season, "Korra Alone", is not only the season's best episode but one of the best episodes of the series as a whole. It examines that effect that Korra's brush with death in the previous season's finale on her, and the big takeaway is that it left her broken, scared and, hence the name, alone. It reminded me of a quote from the very first season, spoken by Aang himself: "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." Korra doesn't get any lower than she is at the start of the fourth season, and true to Aang's proverb, it allows her to look deep inside herself and make the changes she needs to become a better avatar. Sometimes you have to take something apart before you can fix it, and that's what this season does for Korra. We get to see her at her lowest point in Korra Alone, and we get to see her slowly rebuild herself throughout the rest of the season. There was also stuff with a warlord, and a beloved character from the original series comes back and actually gets to do something!!

 

Overall, The Legend of Korra is a significant step forward for the Avatar franchise, and while its creators say they're mostly done with it, I do hope they change their minds revisit it someday.

[Fat Lenny]

Do you review on request?

[JCM]

Do you review on request?

I can.

[WhoBibbles]

I finally finished Korra and IMO season 1-2 were great and underrated, though lack of development and love-triangle thing was bothersome, we can all agree that season 3 was awesome, season 4 was great too but it has a lack of action in some parts. I enjoyed it overall. I hope you keep up with reviews. If you don't mind, can you also review Steven Universe?

[JCM]

I finally finished Korra and IMO season 1-2 were great and underrated, though lack of development and love-triangle thing was bothersome, we can all agree that season 3 was awesome, season 4 was great too but it has a lack of action in some parts. I enjoyed it overall. I hope you keep up with reviews. If you don't mind, can you also review Steven Universe?

Sure. I've just got to watch it first. [emoji14]

[Fat Lenny]

Can you review Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul?

[JCM]

Can you review Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul?

 

I actually did a BCS review several weeks ago. Here it is:

 

Better Call Saul

 

 

No show in the last few years has had loftier expectations than Better Call Saul. Following the greatest season of one of cable’s greatest dramas, it wouldn't have taken a lot for Better Call Saul to disappoint, but miraculously, it doesn't. I won’t claim that it’s as good as peak Breaking Bad just yet, but it’s not even ten episodes in, and it’s already perfected the balancing act of accommodating fans of the old show while branching out and being its own unique entity. Not even Breaking Bad was as confident in itself at this point in its run, which is a testament to how much the people behind the show have matured since then, and it only bodes well for BCS's future.

 

The show takes place seven years before the original series and stars Bob Odenkirk as James McGill, a younger, more innocent version of Saul Goodman, Walter White’s crooked lawyer. McGill comes into contact with some familiar and not-so-familiar faces during the first third of the show. One of the familiar faces is Mike Ehrmantraut, who worked with Saul in “Breaking Bad” and who displays the same no-nonsense attitude as a parking attendant McGill often clashes with. A non-familiar face is Chuck, McGill’s brother, who was once a big time lawyer but is now holed up in his house due to (and I had to look this up) electromagnetic hypersensitivity, which basically means he’s allergic to cell phones. This is the first time I learned about a disease I didn't know about from a drama that wasn't House, so BCS is reaching new milestones every day.

 

Like Breaking Bad, this show chronicles a man’s moral decline, but unlike Breaking Bad, we know what that moral decline will do to him from the start, diminishing the effect of the how-far-will-he-go suspense that Breaking Bad relied on. However, Goodman was always more likable than White, even though he had already given up his soul for the spoils of criminal enterprise by the time White met him. Saul was just a fun guy to watch, and his sarcasm and laid-back personality made him a comforting presence in the original series, which it needed as it got darker and darker. Thankfully, Saul is still fun to watch, and that aspect of his character keeps this show entertaining. Though Breaking Bad viewers already know where he’ll end up, seeing him get there is worth the journey alone, and if anyone can carry his own spin-off, it is Saul, who has enough unexplored backstory to make a decent prequel and an ending in the old show that was ambiguous enough to make a pretty good sequel.

 

Better Call Saul will be both prequel and sequel, according to the creators, and true to their word, we do get a little flash-forward of him at the beginning of the pilot. Centering the show on Saul gives it a great opportunity to answer various questions left unanswered by Breaking Bad, like how he became Saul, how Mike became his lackey, and where the heck Huell is. Those questions will hopefully be answered by the end of this season, but if they aren't, we still have several more seasons to go.