savarinman Reviews

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024– )

Best Anime Adaptation since the Samurai X movies

[10/10 · 24 February 2024]

Proof once again, that it is possible to adapt anime into live action.

It just takes great casting, great costumes and set designs , and a time of writers who understand the show and know how to summarize a story to fit the time constraints of a live-action setting with real, actors that age in real time.

Just as how the Samurai X movies combined certain storylines from a 90episode cartoon into a successful trilogy.... so has this New Avatar series, successfully summarized a whole season 30min cartoon...into 8 live action episodes.

For example SPOILER: I am only going to include 1 spoiler. In the original cartoon, the start of the main conflict is explained in a flashback. However in this series, the start of the conflict is shown in the first episode. I feel this worked much better for the pacing...as it allowed new audiences to immediately understand the story.

This is just one example of a smart change.

I hope they can greenlight this quickly and finish up the rest of the show before the child actors age out of their roles.

We need to see this to the end.

Congratulations to the team !

A Day to Die (2022)

A quick, simple action flick

[6/10 · 15 January 2024]

I just caught this on Netflix.

Knowing what we know now about Bruce Willis... the scathing reviews seem particularly heartless.

Honestly I don't get it. By the time this movie was released... I think the rumors had already begun about his health. So I honestly I don't understand the perspective of these reviews.

It's like criticizing a person with a leg injury for his inability to run.

This movie is a quick time passer. The action is fun , the plot is simple.

The use of editing techniques to accomodate Mr Willis declining health is obvious. Even so; the stiffness of his movements was sad to see.

But I respect him greatly for doing this even with his declining health.

The title as well as the plot are both cheaky call-backs to Bruce Willis' series "Die Hard"

All in all. If you have a heart and compassion to understand that Bruce Willis was already of ill health when he made this movie; you will appreciate this last effort.

The other actors fulfilled their roles excellently.

The Little Mermaid (I) (2023)

My wife and I enjoyed this thoroughly ! SPOILERS

[10/10 · 27 December 2023]

SPOILERS!

Though I can't say that I've watched the animated movie recently, I've watched it often enough to remember most of the beats.

With all of the controversy around this movie I had to see it and I have to say; hands down this is the BEST LIVE ACTION REMAKE OF A DISNEY PRINCESS ANIMATED MOVIE !

Everything from Beauty and the beast to cinderalla pale in comparison to this.

(1) The visuals. I don't know what the naysayers are on about the colours. The "under the sea" was beautifully rendered with all sorts of colourful sea creatures, glowing jellyfish and all. It was beautiful.

Obviously something in live action will never look exactly like a cartoon, but I feel the underwater scenes were very colourful. I hope they do a rescreening in 3d one day.

(2) The songs. Halle Bailey shines here. From the very first time I heard her sing the signature song. I knew the casting was perfect.

The other character songs are also well placed and timed.

Some people say they don't appreciate Aquafina as the Seagull... but the seagull was always an annoying character to begin with. She pulled it off here.

(3) The casting.

The stars here are Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.

I was surprised by how well the comedienne Melissa pulled off Ursula. She's downright intimidating at some points. She looks straight out of the cartoon and it was awesome !

The other supporting casts are all ok too. The Prince is cool. The crab is funny.

(4) the story.

Despite all the hoopla online...the story is actually consistent with the cartoon. No childhoods were ruined here.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

SPOILER: If you understand the Tortoise and the Hare then you will understand this movie

[10/10 · 9 July 2023]

I think a problem with many of the negative reviews is people who simply do not have the imagination to imagine Antman fighting (and defeating) a major villain. So they simply dismiss the entire thing as a bad movie because "Antman shouldn't be able to defeat Kang." If this movie was any other big named character like Captain America or Ironman defeating Kang...audiences would swallow it up.

That bias is unfair to the writers and to Paul Rudd and his team.

A lot of the so-called plot holes are actually explained in the movie if you pay attention.

So let us go through the common criticisms.

(1) Ant man is too weak to defeat Kang.

First of all, let me correct this by saying, Antman does NOT defeat Kang. If you watched the movie tell the end, credit scenes included ...you will understand what I mean by that.

Even Antman himself wonders at the end of the movie if he actually defeated Kang or not.

They actually had the character of Antman thinking to himself " Did I really kill Kang or did I unleash something terrible" at the end of the movie. That's all the clue we need to know that he didn't actually kill Kang.

Hello people ! Everything doesn't have to be exactly spelled out

(2) Antman defeating Kang so early weakens Kang's character.

Antman doesn't fight Kang alone. Antman enlists two entire civilizations plus his entire Antman family to fight ONE PERSON in Kang...and Kang still nearly kills them all.

Two say that Kang is not presented to the audience as a "threatening enough villain" when he near wipes out two civilizations whilst he is depowered ...is simply disingenuous.

(3) Ants shouldn't be able to defeat Kang.

This is such a superficial criticism, and shows that people are criticizing the movie based more on their preconceived notion of Antman being lame; than on the movie's content.

Because the narrative of the movie clearly states that the ant colony shown in the final battle, have access to technology on parr with Kang's and are super strong, because they have had 1000s of years relatively to evolve and advance.

In fact, the colony of ants is forshadowed from the start of the movie when they are shown to have created advanced electronics, long before reaching the quantum realm.

If an amy of Thanos sized super-ants had appeared in Endgame, they would have overrun Thanos as well.

(4) The movie is called Antman. The main hero is called Antman.

If you don't want to see the use of ants in a superhero movie, then don't watch Antman.

(5) Kang loses because he never takes Antman seriously.

Just like the audience who believed that Antman can never defeat Kang; so too does Kang never take Scot Lang seriously.

This actually is what allows Antman to defeat Kang in the first place.

In this sense the story works great as an updated version of the Tortoise and the Hare.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always (2023)

Nostalgia Bait done right ! Once a Ranger Always a Ranger!

[10/10 · 30 April 2023]

I was born in the 90s but thankfully before Power Rangers in Space came out... the Mighty Morphin series etc were all played on repeat by our local TV Network. So I grew up on this just as much as someone who was born in the late80s.

And I got to say. I loved it !

This is one of those few specials that really ticks all the boxes to please the original fans.

(1) It understands its audience are adults who watched power rangers. Thus it doesn't shy away from "death" and has a mature and measured take on the issue... much as Black Panther 2 pays respectful homage to its actor.

(2) even if some more adult issues are added; the adult issues never weigh down the general campiness that we enjoyed from the original show.

(3) the original actors don't pretend to be younger than they are ...and I LOVED THAT. Some of them have children, some of them have careers, they don't all look as trim as 30 yrs ago...and you know what. That's great. I'm glad they didn't throw all these actors into some rushed chaotic fitness program to set unrealistic fitness goals form someone pushing 50 !

Overall I enjoyed it. It felt like a class reunion. And like all class reunions, some people can't make it, and some people may have died. But nevertheless it's still good to take a trip down memory lane.

As an added bonus....at the end of the series...a touching tribute is payed to the fallen actors.

If you've lost anyone recently...that last part may be hard to watch. But I appreciated it. That was just another way that this special respects its more mature audience.

It really felt like how you would expect a more mature power rangers setting to look.

"Mature" doesn't have to mean sex and bloody violence.

The show is mature in that it shows responsibility and serious consequences...things adults have to deal with.

SPOILER: Billy tries to resurrect Zordon but instead ends up resurrecting Rita Repulsa who then kills Trini. That's a mistake he can never walk back.

The Batman (2022)

SPOILERS AHEAD Admittedly on parr with the Nolan Christian Bale series

[10/10 · 14 March 2022]

When I first heard of this movie.... I thought...."another Batman again?"

In my mind the Christian Bale series was perfect, Ben Affleck was ok with what he got....and the TV series had just finished. Why recast Batman so soon ?

But boy was I wrong !

Despite being weary of so many cinematic takes on Batman....this movie was SO DIFFERENT....it just stands out from all the recent Batman depictions.

As many have stated, this is the first time a movie has properly depicted Batman as a "detective"

In this movie we saw Batman as: vengeance, detective, ruthless, merciful, his no-gun, no-killing policy, and even Batman as a (SPOILER) fireman/rescue worker.

Understandably to show all these facets of Batman the film had to be long.....but it was worth it....there's a scene at the end of the movie, where it seems like its just gonna be Batman fighting bad guys until the finale....but then Batman does something truly heroic/ordinary....something anyone brave enough could do really....and it was so awe inspiring to watch.

All of the cast are excellent. None of them are "superman-perfect" and I liked that.

All of the other cast members are perfect.

Oh and...a minor gripe but....as awesome as Christian Bale's performance was.... Pattinson has a better Batman voice.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

The writer tells you that she hates the movie within the first half hour

[1/10 · 6 March 2022]

SPOILERS AHEAD.

There is a scene very early in the movie where the write explicitly tells you that the movie is going to be a soulless cash grab. Like its so obvious you don't need literature skills to pick up the metaphor.

Two characters are talking to each other about the Matrix as a videogame, they even mention Warner Brothers as the parent company and then go on to practically tell you the movie is going to be a cheap rehash.

I don't know why so many writers/directors think breaking the 4th wall is so innovative. It's not. It just shows a lack of creativity.

News flash, just because you break the 4th wall and complain about Hollywood in your movie...it doesn't make your movie any better, or excuse you from being apart of the same hollywood faults that you mention in your movie.

After that scene, half of the rest of the runtime is made up of flashbacks.... I kid you not. The flashbacks happen so often, there is even a scene where the characters are about to re-enact a scene from the 1st movie WHILST THEY ARE WATCHING IT ON A BIG SCREEN....that's not being creatively meta....that's just lazy writing.

If the original writer was that unmotivated to make the film, then she should have done the honorable thing and left.

The Guilty (2021)

The Pandemic has hit Hollywood too.

[5/10 · 4 October 2021]

About 20 mins into the movie it slowly dawned on me that the entire movie would only show Jake in one room, speaking on the phone. This might as well have been a radio show.

The one scene where they show you the outside is so quick that you will miss it if you blink.

I know that we are in the middle of the Pandemic, but I was hoping for a nice action thriller ala Halle Berry's "the call" ....instead I got a 90min reminder that we are in a Pandemic and are all locked in.

The entire movie consists of Jake acting over a phone call. He is a good actor... but this gets boring after a while.

Instant Family (2018)

This movie deserves 11/10

[10/10 · 6 July 2021]

This movie is smart. The jokes land home not because they are particularly funny, but because they are REAL.

Like this one scene where the foster father asks if they won't be stigmatized as a white couple adopting latino kids. Its told in joke,yet it also expresses a real concern....that scene made me sit up and gasp....this movie is SMART, this movie has nuance.

The movie is nuanced and balanced in a way that so many movies miss. It covers real people and real concerns of real people in their daily life, without ever becoming overly preachy for any one group.

It tackles the stereotype of the bored white parent who wants to adopt coloured children, both from the perspective of the child and of the parent. The cover the awkwardness as well as the insecurities a man may feel raising kids who don't look like him.

They cover the issue of infertility, and how to overcome the grief of infertility, accept it and adopt !

They touched on gay adoption.

They touched on single parenthood.

From the male perspective, I was very impressed of how much the movie demonstrated good fatherhood through mark Wahlberg's character. Its refreshing to see an onscreen father actually fathering. Kudos to the writers !

I also love the fact that the movie shows the husband and wife, very imperfect people, working through problems but ultimately staying together and cheering each other on.

It is a 10/10 from me.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

2 points off for not giving SPOILER a SPOILER otherwise perfect adaptation

[9/10 · 25 April 2021]

SPOILERS AHEAD.

The movie begins with a flashback that shows the origin of the rivalry between scorpion and subzero. Its nice to see scorpion in his human form played and choreographed masterfully.

Then the movie fast forwards to contemporary times and is focused on scorpion's descendent named Cole.

Towards the end of the movie as Cole gains his confidence...a suit begins to form on his upper torso...and I got so psyched, hoping that the full Scorpion suit would form around him; but that doesn't happen ...but then that's as far as the suit got...a really shiny muscle shirt. I kept waiting for the rest of the suit to form, and for him to become SCORPION incarnate...but it never happens.

That's my only gripe, I just wish that Cole was shown becoming Scorpion ...maybe they are saving that for the sequel ??

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Loved it, perfect monster movie ! Godzilla is a bully, and Kong is a chill guy.

[10/10 · 12 April 2021]

This is a monster movie. The writers know this and keep the camera on the monsters for the majority of the film. As it should be. The human component is the minimum necessary to explain the fights and then its back to the action.

Kong is the main character, and the story is basically told from his perspective.

The cgi in this is amazing. I think they blew the budget on the faces of Godzilla and Kong respectively. And its totally worth it.

A combination of gestures, facial expressions and downright sign language is used by Kong to express himself to the audience.

Kong is not a rage monster like the Hulk. Kong is just a guy who likes his peace and quiet, and there is this other guy, Godzilla who just keeps following him around just to beat him up.. for kicks. (There are many times when you can clearly see Godzilla taunting Kong, even smirking).

I like the fact that the movie shows us that Kong himself comes from an actual civilization, with their own langauge and basic technology (the battle axe).

If anyone had any doubt how smart Kong is... the movie doesn't disappoint. Kong is as smart as any human.... Godzilla is just...stronger.

The movie sets up Kong as a guy being bullied who has to overcome his bully (Godzilla).

EuroTrip (2004)

Entitlement at its finest

[5/10 · 23 March 2021]

Don't get me wrong, the movie is really funny at various moments.

Unfortunately its portrayal of how American's world view (or lack of it) is painfully true.

In the opening of the movie, when the main character discovers that he mistakenly blows off a hot girl in Europe, thinking she was an internet stalker, his friend immediately responds with "well just go to Europe" like its the simplest thing in the World, like travelling accross the pacific, to tour the European continent is something the average person can do. That is so stupid its not even funny.

The whole movie is about a bunch of rich, spoilt, American teenagers, flaunting their unawareness of the struggles of real life, onto everyone else, and over dramatisations of "first world problems"

Captain Marvel (2019)

A complete misfire. A hero who never struggles makes a boring story.

[2/10 · 8 March 2021]

A basic tenet of the hero's journey is that you have to see the hero struggle. But at no point in the movie does it feel like Carol Denvers is ever in any real danger. You never feel like she is genuinely in danger for her life or can get hurt.

The movie is structured in such a way that the audience knows more than the main character at all times. This is a terrible direction as it removes all suspense.

Secondly, from the start of the movie, the character is already super powerful, and by the end she gets a power boost that makes her invincible.

The final battle was about as entertaining as watching Michael Jordan playing 1 on 1 against an unskilled rookie.

Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury is purposefully made goofy and silly just to make Carol Denvers appear more intimidating.. and its CRINGELY obvious.

When will Hollywood learn, that you don't have to make all the men in a movie stupid, sexist and incompetent just to make the female protagonist look good.

WonderWoman always looks great in both her movies...and they didn't make her boyfriend an idiot just to make her look smarter.

Back to Captain Marvel. I believe a movie should have a message....but there is beauty in being subtle and ugliness in being overt.

When Carol Denvers finally goes Super Saiyan the movie flashbacks to her childhood which...you guessed it is filled with comicly exaggerated sexist experiences.

In comparison, this flashback would be like if a black superhero were to flash back to his childhood and all you saw were incidences of him being called "n word" by everyone from his preschool teacher, to his boss at work.

And the main character is EMOTIONLESS !! At first the movie plays it off as Carol Denvers having her human memories wiped....yet even when she begins to remember where she came from...she still shows no attachment to her Earth-life ....and this continues into the Avengers Endgame...Carol Denvers acts like she doesn't care about human suffering at all, her emotional detachment is like Dr Manhattan

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Brilliant parody

[10/10 · 8 February 2021]

After many years I have found this film. Its such a brilliant parody ! I love how its Ben Stiller's movie but he lets RDJ and the other cast take over the jokes ....especially Tom Cruise.

I cannot say enough about how funny Tom Cruise character was !!!

Luke Cage (2016–2018)

Seried ending killed it for me SPOILERS

[6/10 · 5 February 2021]

I took down 4 stars for the conclusion.

SPOILERS How is it that an immature man-child, like Iron Fist can figure out how to fight crime without, becoming a criminal himself; yet Luke Cage who is MUCH stronger, and arguably more mature than Iron Fist, comes to the idiotic conclusion that the only way is for him to become a crime boss himself ?

At the End of Luke Cage, after dispelling both major villains, one of the villains wills her criminal enterprise to Luke Cage, in the form of a Night Club, and a bunch of other crime Lords begin to scramble to take over the neighbourhood.

So apparently since Luke cage is a black man in poor a black neighborhood, this means there is absolutely no way to slow down crime, so Luke decides to become the next criminal Kingpin of Harlem ....which is completely at odds with what he was fighting for the series.

Yes, Luke Cage who is physically indestructible ....cannot think of any other way to fight crime.

Like seriously...he could have just sold the property to the state and build a school in its place, he could have used the inheritance to make a scholarship for black boys...he could have joined the police and continue busting criminals.

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Finally ! Realistic fighting with a female hero !

[10/10 · 2 February 2021]

Just watched this on Netflix....and I gotta say....wow ! I am a man and I enjoyed this. Firstly, the two actresses, the adult and female actresses who played the respective sibblings as a child and as an adult, are truly gifted actresses.

Playing 7 individual characters in one film is no easy feat !!!

Next is the action. The action directing was FANTASTIC !! Finally a movie with an average sized woman, where she doesn't unrealistically beat men twice her size. Here we actually see the women struggle as they try to escape the highly trained mercenary men sent to eliminate then. They get tossed around, beat up, injured, and you can see the sheer fight for survival and teamwork keeping them alive.

Feminists need to realize that, whilst it may be empowering to show a woman with no powers somehow defeating trained soldiers....its totally unrealistic and fake, it makes the movie stupid.

But when you make the fight realistic, showing the actual strength difference between men and women, and show how your female hero accomodates for it....then....that makes for great action.

I wish all 7 sibblings survived the film. That's to show you how much the actress made me feel I was watching 7 different people (even if I knew it was one actress)....but she gets in little nuances that shows the individuality so flawlessly, she makes the audience believe that she is 7 people.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)

WHAT A PERFECT TRILOGY ADAPTATION

[10/10 · 11 January 2021]

I watched this series growing up, and I have watched it over probably a dozen times by now.

This movie series is a crowning acheivement. I Wish I could shake the hands of the directors and writers of the movie series.

Here are the pros: 1) the casting and costumes are perfect. Every single character is easily identifiable, through a combination of impeccable casting a superb costume design. They managed to take the eccentric anime character design and portray it just realistic enough that they look like how you would expect people to dress in feudal Japan, yet are recognizable.

Eg Cho the swordsman with the broom-like hair do is seen here. The hair is obviously more realistic, but the characterv is still easily recognizable.

(2) perfect selection of story arc. This is a mastery of editing. The writers chose all the best story arcs from the series and melded them together. What is shown in the 3 movies is actually 50 episodes long in the series.

They even included a flashback, which while not part of the main cartoon, was included in an OVA....this flashback is important to the main character and I am glad they put it.

(3) perfect plot changes. Obviously to condense 50+ episodes into 3 movies, certain plot changes had to be made ...and the changes worked here perfectly.

For example, one of samurai X best friends is a policeman, who introduces the main villain MUCH later in the show.

The movie circumvents this, by having the policeman involved in the investigation of the first crook that samurai X defeats, so that they can quickly introduce the main villain of the trilogy....expertly skipping past "filler plotlines"

the writers of "the last airbender" could take notes from this.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

The haters are lying ! The movie is NOT sexist. The movie is great

[10/10 · 21 December 2020]

I am a heterosexual man. I hate movies that preach girl power and make all hetero men look bad..eg Captain Marvel, the female Ghost Busters, the new Charlies Angels, the old guard etc.

Wonder Woman is not one of those movies. The movie never diminishes the men.

Wonder Woman is a straight up fun superhero movie with a hero who just happens to be female.

Honestly when watching it, I felt just as comfortable is if I were watching spiderman or any other male superhero.

SPOILERS AHEAD ************ This the 2nd wonder woman movie as such, she had already become accustomed to living in Man's world, so there are literally NO AWKWARD SEXIST CONVERSATIONS in the entire movie.

Gal Gadot shines. This character is her crowning achievement much like Christopher Reeve's superman. No matter how powerful she is in a fight scene, she always remains feminine. As seen from the trailer, through some SPOILER her boyfriend is resurrected, and he helps her a lot throughout the movie. He is THE man, and when Wonder Woman is around him, she completely melts and lets him take over....even if she is the superhero (How is that sexist against men ?)

Also did I mention that they kept the story feminine? I like seeing feminine women. Wonder Woman is supposed to be the ultimate woman and it is embodied here, when you realize what motivates her to fight.

Also for fans of the character of Wonder Woman, the movie does some nice fan-service including some other well known Wonder Woman powers such as SPOILER: -the invisible jet

• her ability to fly
• using her tiarra as boomerang

-using the lasso of truth to its full capability.

By the end of the Movie Wonder Woman's powers are fully realized and she looks friggin awesome.

Again, I cannot stress enough. This movie is the full package, do not listen to the naysayers. It is perfectly enjoyable from a male perspective. And of course women will enjoy seeing an awesome *feminine* Wonder Woman

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015–2017)

Very, very slow start

[5/10 · 6 December 2020]

I watched Gundam Wing as a kid. That show was awesome. This show however is EXTREMELY SLOW ! There is a lot of time spent with characters talking and making dramatic speeches in the typical anime fashion of "this is the most important thing ever" There are literally entire episodes when the characters are just chilling in space doing nothing...there is way too much filler.

PS maybe, I've grown out of the whole "children magically being more competent than trained adults" nonsense, or the "Princess who has never suffered in her life who keeps making passionate speeches about war."

The above tropes are ever present, which is expected in anime, and I wouldn't mind it so much...if the plot didn't grind to a complete halt between gundam battles.

Plus I am only halfway through...but is there literally just ONE gundam in the entire show ??