njdimic Reviews

Kamen Rider Den-O (2007–2008)

Weird but funny and exciting!

[8/10 · 18 April 2008]

I just recently became a Kamen Rider fan, and at first I thought it's just like sentai/power rangers with nothing but flashy costumes and monster fights. But the truth is that even though the point still is in monsters and fights (and toy selling (sigh)) KR always had better stories and more defined characters than any sentai show! And with that said, Den-O is no exception. It's about a guy called Ryotarou - wimpy little guy who's always been pushed around. Until he finds (or being found by) Den-Liner - the train of time. It's passenger Hana reveals to him that he's Den-O - the hero who must fight the Imagins - monsters of this show who wants to destroy the past (Why - I have no idea even though I watched it 'till the end. Motives aren't' a strong side of Japanese villains, are they?) But the problem is that Ryotaro is too weak to fight them alone. That is, until being possessed by 4 Imagins who realized that destroying past is not so fun as it's cracked up to be, so now they're the good guys. What I liked especially about this show is character development - at first I wasn't really OK with the fact that Ryotaroo is so helpless, but soon he actually learned to fight on his own. The Imagins are also very likable and amusing. We got Momotaros - the grumpy one who loves to fight Imagins and argue with everyone, Urataros - the smooth-talker and womanizer, Kintaros - the muscle guy, and Ryutaros - the little brat whom at first I found very annoying but soon he also got mature and more serious. The chemistry between these five characters is pure gold. Imagine (pardon the pun ;)) these 4 monsters full of themselves, trying to be subdued by a kid who is weak and clumsy - believe me the results are hilarious! And it even gets better with the arrival of Sakurai Yuuto aka Zeronos and his Imagine Deneb who are complete the opposite - while Yuuto is full of ego and all about fighting, Deneb is clumsy, polite and trying to make friends with everyone. Pure gold! And not just them, most of the other backup characters are also very funny and charming with their own little stuffs - Naomi with her weird coffee, Owner with his flag game, etc...

The costumes are also incredible. Many people see these kind of shows as cheap, but really all the costumes here were really good. Thumbs up for the designers!

And one more thing I just have to mention is the music - it's catchy, and really defines every character. Double Action and Action Zero are the catchiest songs I have heard recently. Awesome!

Great show! As I said, I haven't seen much of the other KR shows, but I really love this one! And I think you will too! Watch it!

Madô kingu Granzort (1989–1990)

Granzort kicks ass!

[8/10 · 2 October 2007]

If you're looking for a cartoon with mecha fights, cool flashy transformation scenes, and a good story, Mado King Granzort is the cartoon for you. Shore, the story is not exactly Evangelion, but it's appropriate for kids, and adults can also watch it, cuz it's not cheesy at all. The plot is simple - a group of kids is traveling to fight the evil wizard empire that wants to take over the world. Not very original, but it gets the job done. The thing is that these kids have the power to summon giant robot heads that can transform into robots to fight evil monsters sent to destroy them. The scenes when kids are summoning robots are little long (they are about two minutes long), but they are beautiful to watch and listen since the music is also very cool (special credits goes for Henji Suzuki who made awesome soundtrack). And finally when it all comes to an end, we get a beautiful story about friendship and family love.

Good humor, sharp battles and great music...if you haven't watch Granzort yet, and you have the opportunity for it, do it! You won't be sorry!

Hercules (1997)

One of the last Disney's great movies

[7/10 · 7 August 2007]

I think that no one wants to admit that this is a good movie because of it's unseriousness, and because of the fact that Hercules here is depicted more as a super-hero rather then a classic mythical hero.

Don't listen to those who curse the movie because it doesn't stick to original myths. Does anyone really want to see Zeus as he is depicted in myths - as a horny geezer who f***ed everyone BUT Hera? Who really cares about the accuracy? The movie is fun, hilarious, and has a nice love story. Megara (or Meg if you want) is a great character. Nice change after all those fair princesses like Jasmin and Pocahontas (don't get me wrong, I like them). Hades is also a great villain (thanks to James Woods), and I also liked his two stooges ("Thirsty?" -best scene).

The movie's downfall was the music. I expected more from Menken. None of the songs are memorable like ''A Whole New World'' or ''Colors of The Wind''. While the songs sung by the Muses sound nice thanks to the singing voices and the song ''Go the distance'' has a catchy tune, the words are a crying shame. Lyrics in ''Go the distance'' are so shallow, obvious and soulless, and repetitive. It makes the song boring after certain time of listening. The only song I liked was Meg's "I won't say I'm in love".

And to wrap it up - one of Disney's different projects, but fun nonetheless. It's got nice story, good humor all the way, and a teensy weensy bit of a tearful ending. So there's something for everyone.

Oh, yeah! And watch it at least three times, to see it's full quality.

He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (1985 TV Movie)

It's worth watching the first 30 minutes of stupidity just to see Skeletor's actions at the end.

[22 November 2006]

A friend, recently, gave me a tape with this flick, and while he gave it to me he also gave me a look that said "Be afraid! Be very, very afraid!" And he has a point! Stupidity is in fact a word that can describe the first 30 minutes of this film. But then again, this is He-Man we're talking about, and THIS IS a Christmas special. Two sh*ts not a gold make, but another sh*t. But - the main thing about this cartoon that you shouldn't miss at all is somewhere at the end, when Skeletor fights the Christmass spirit and tries to remain good, and eventually he saves the day, which makes him say the immortal line " I'm glad that Christmass comes only once in a year." (or did She-Ra said that?). Trust me, if you're a true He-Man fan, and especially Skeletor fan, you should watch this cartoon just for that one scene. Overall, it's got a basic dose of stupidity for a Christmass cartoon but it still have that old He-Man charm that will make your Christmass great.(well, if you're in that kind of stuff)

The Raccoons (1985–1992)

A true classic!

[4 November 2006]

Many people today when they see this show say - "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHHH! HAPPY CUTE RACCOONS! TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF" Well, let me tell you, the Raccoons are way more then just bunch of goofy animals whose sole purpose was to sell toys. The characters are very well described. Particularly Bert who was in the first 3 movies just a comic relief character without some big purpose, and now he's the star character, while the original main characters, Ralph and Melisa gone into shadow. I'm only disappointed with Cyril Sneer who was a great villain at the beginning, and throughout the show, they gave him "Ebenezer Scrooge Treatment" and eventually he became good. I liked him way more as a bad guy. I also think that the later episodes were not so great as the old ones. The cartoon had transformation from a story of Raccoons as rebels who fought Sneer the evil tyrant, to an entire city made out of forest animals with not very mature and funny stories like it had at the beginning. I liked it more at the beginning. But even with lack of quality through time, this is very great cartoon which totally describes the expression - family TV. The other thing I just have to mention is great music and especially the main themes (the opening one, and "Run With Us" song at the end). If you like classic cartoons, this is for you! Watch it, believe me, you won't disappointed!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003–2010)

It'll never be such classic as the old cartoon!

[4 November 2006]

He-Man got it, Transformers got it, so it would be quite natural for Ninja Turtles to have a modern remake too. I must admit that this show does have some cool moments, cool fights, and character designs, but it doesn't have that same charm that the old cartoon had. I mean despite the fact that the old cartoon was loosely based on comic, it was very different from the comic, and at the end, the cartoon itself became more popular then the comic, so they changed the comic. What other cartoon could do that? The old cartoon was popular because it was so goofy and harmless, and don't tell me I said that just because of nostalgia, I watch old cartoon almost every day on old tapes rather then watching this new show. I liked the cartoon mostly because of the things that weren't in the comics (and therefore they weren't in the new cartoon) - Krang was one of the greatest villains I ever saw, and reason why I dig the old show, and where is he now? The old Shredder was sarcastic and funny, and this one? Boring, fanatical maniac who is saying "I'll chop your head off!" at least 10 times per episode. Where are Bebop and Rockstaedy? Where is evil Leaderhead? Where are Vernon and Irma? AND WHY THE HELL IS CASEY JONES HERE? You see, all those stuffs because of which we loved the old cartoon are now gone in this new cartoon. And it can have badass action as long as it wants, it will never be great and memorable as the old cartoon. Deal with it!

Codename: Kids Next Door (2002–2008)

It was nice idea, but they didn't use it properly

[3/10 · 10 October 2006]

I watched the show since it appeared for the first time, and I liked the basic concept - 5 vigilante kids fighting evil grownups. But that's where the creativity stopped. It was mostly a parody of spy movies. We saw thousands of other spy parodies (Austin Powers, Jonny English, Spy Dogs, Totally spies....) plus, the humor wasn't original at all and therefore it wasn't very good. But it was somehow OK and cute in the 1st season, but then in the 2nd season, things got slightly (or very much) got of hand. I realized that as soon as I saw an angry guy who can throw fire. That's not exactly a proper villain for this kind of cartoon. It appears that the writers after the 1st season already ran out of ideas so they use whatever they came up with just to keep the show float. In other words, the show went way downhill; and one of the reasons is that they changed the concept of 5 vigilante kids into ENTIRE FREAKIN' ARMY and turn it into Star Wars parody. The other thing is #4's little brother Tommy. He appeared in a 1st season episode as that typical "boring little brother" stereotype. Then some "genius" realized that he could be a good recurring character. Big mistake! Anyway, to put this to an end, I'm disappointed with what have they done with this concept which promised a lot, and I hope that they will spare it (and us) troubles and cancel it soon.

The Christmas Raccoons (1980 TV Movie)

Not exactly bad. Just give it a chance!

[5/10 · 13 September 2006]

The last time I watched the Raccoons was 10 years ago (I was a kid then). And I liked them. And I recently found couple of episodes and I worried if it's going to be stupid now to watch it when I'm at the top of my rebellion and sarcasm age. Anyway, I waited to be alone in the house, locked the door, shut the window, gulped, prayed and played this thing. And it wasn't exactly that bad. Shore there are plenty of mushy and sappy dialogues, but it's not so...what's the word...disgusting! Shore, the plot was rather poor, but who cares about the plot, when you got a pink anteater with the chainsaw for the main villain. I usually hate Christmass specials but I don't exactly hate this one. Because usually Christmass specials are to me very insipid and ridiculous. This isn't that insipid as some CSes I remember. But I think kids would like this, and that's probably the only thing important. If you don't like this, OK, I don't blame you. But I like it, even though it's not exactly that I would watch it every day. The characters are acceptable and funny (I repeat, this is mostly for kids!). Overall, good. Far from perfect, but I would always gladly choose this instead of Pokemon or YuGiOh.

Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993–1995)

My childhood heroes! And they still are!

[10/10 · 26 July 2006]

This show is so awesome, that I don't even know where to start! The animation is pure perfection (Mook did a great job in the 2nd season)The music in combination with the action on screen will leave you breathless and stunned. The characters are cool, they can be serious and they can be funny, depending on situation, and they are all lovable. The storyline is just great. Come on! Masked vigilante pilots! And for the piece de resistance, THEY ARE CATS! Tremblays, you're geniuses! The sad part, of course, is it's short on screen life. This show deserved place right next to all the other beloved classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, He-Man...Somebody will have to bring them back to life. I just hope that somebody in CN will finally quit doing s**ts like Juniper Lee, Puffyamiyumi...and resurrect this jewel in the dust.

Slozna braca (1995–1996)

One of the best Serbian shows ever!

[9/10 · 12 July 2006]

I like this show a lot. It had a lot of originality, and a very good acting crew. There are lot of new talents shown here. For instance, Vladimir Savcic and Nele Karajlic who are, basically, the singers, have shown here great acting talent. The plot is excellent. It happens right after the war between Serbs, Croats and Muslims is over. The only thing left is a piece of no man's land for which they couldn't deal about sharing. The only object on this land is a café called Slozna Braca (Friendly Brothers) owned by Fiko Halimic and his brother Mute. The café serves for all three sides as a place for spying each other and making illegal deals. The main characters are actually two persons of every side - Zoran and Kecman the Serbs, Manjina and Miljenko the Croats and Fiko and Cenga the Muslims. The main plot is that in the café soon needs to arrive a secret package which is so important that it's the reason for the war, so whoever possess that thing will be one step ahead of everybody (irronicaly, it was never revealed what it was). So, all three sides are racing to discover what is it, when will it come, and who is going to bring it. The humor is great, because it's mocking the relationship between all three sides. It also mocks Serbian life and those around them, their speech, their religion...I think that the jokes can be understood even by someone who isn't Serb, which is a rarity for Serbian shows. The main flaw is the number of episodes. Only six of'em? Damn! Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted!

Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939)

Probably the weakest in "Popeye in Arabian Nights" trilogy ,but still got enough Popeye charm to keep the audience at seats.

[6/10 · 26 June 2006]

Of the three "Popeye in the Arabian Nights" cartoons, this is my least favorite. One of the reasons are probably that I watched this more than the other two ,and the other is next... In the first two cartoons (Popeye meets Sindbad ,Popeye meets 40 thieves) ,Popeye just encounters the villains from those story lines (who are performed bu Bluto), but this is just classic hundred times seen before Aladdin story. Only in this version ,Aladdin impersonates Popeye (it supposed to be the the other way around ,I know ,but that's the truth) ,and the princess impersonates Olive. The villain is ,as known by anyone who heard the Aladdin story for just once ,the evil wizard who wants to take the magic lamp away from Aladdin and marry the princess. Unfortunately he wasn't very interesting ,he wasn't performed by Bluto ,and he didn't came up with some memorable gags or jokes. However ,Popeye and Olive still didn't lose their charm and they still managed to come up with some classic Popeye and Olive jokes. It's worth to watch this classic just for that. You like Aladdin? You love Popeye? Watch this cartoon!

Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937)

Exactly why Popeye is my childhood hero!

[10/10 · 22 June 2006]

Popeye goes to capture Abu Hassan and his 40 thieves ,along with Olive and Wimpy. Their plain (which was originally a boat which transformed into plane) crashes into desert ,and they arrive at the town ,which is about to be attacked by 40 thieves. The inhabitants are scared and they run for their lives ,accept for Popeye who stayed to deal with the thieves. He confronts Abu Hassan and after some hilarious gages ,Popeye end up stocked on a ceiling (don't ask how),while the 40 thieves are escaping with Olive and Wimpy and prisoners (my ,what a surprise!) ,Popeye manages to follow the thieves on a fully charged camill and infiltrates their cave. He fights the thieves ,then eats his spinach and beat the hell out of them. Everybody are celebrating ,and Popeye is a hero. The End.

One of three Popeye 16 minutes cartoons in which he is in some Arabian Nights story. This time he have to deal with 40 thieves and their leader Abu Hassan (who ,of course ,looks like Bluto). The entire cartoon is full of things because of which Popeye is a favorite character to one entire generation. Despite the fact that it has been made 70 years ago ,it never lost it's touch. No matter how much you're old ,you can always laugh yourself to death watching this cartoon which is a masterpiece (animation ,storyline ,everything). It's a classic ,no doubt about that.