animals4 Reviews

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024– )

As good as anyone could hope for.

[9/10 · 24 February 2024]

Adapting a show like Avatar to live action, reliant on child characters and tons of visual effects, is a tall task (ask M. Night).

This show manages to pull it off as well as anyone could hope for.

It is a bit more serious/less silly, but still manages to capture much of the charm of the cartoon. All of the major themes are still conveyed, and no characters are butchered. The young actors are usually the downfall of shows like this, but the cast does a good job. The visual effects are downright impressive and the bending looks great. There is even a unique storyline addition that was brilliant.

Compared to the previous attempt to adapt this show, this is a 20/10. I will definitely tune in to a season 2.

Yu Yu Hakusho (2023)

Good fight scenes but missing what made YYH great

[6/10 · 15 December 2023]

The fight scenes and CGI are mostly great (Elder Toguro was very well executed), but the story is so rushed that the key moments from the manga/anime lose all impact in the live action. The musical score is downright bad. The music of the anime added so much emotion, but the live action includes nothing similar. "Smile Bomb", "Struggle of Sadness", and "Sad Song" all should have had at least an homage.

Story wise, they basically combined the first two arcs of YYH into one season. It's the Spirit Detective arc story in terms of the group forming and searching for Hiei's sister Yukina, but instead of fighting the Four Saint Beasts, they immediately fight Team Toguro like in the final round of the Dark Tournament saga.

I understand that they did this because they knew they probably would not get a season 2, but it's still a bit disappointing. A big part of why YYH is good is the character arcs and the gradual power ramping, and the live action just blows through it all immediately, leaving very little emotional response to the major moments of the story. Kurama goes to his Yoko form and Hiei summons the Dragon of Darkness Flame by EPISODE 4!

As a fan of the anime, it is still neat to see those moments adapted, but the live action fails to capture the heart and humor that made YYH the anime great.

The studio definitely showed its potential though. The fight scenes and CGI were better than I anticipated. It would have been great to see both the Spirit Detective Arc and Dark Tournament get the time they deserve. Those two arcs are probably the pinnacle of shonen anime.

Scavengers Reign (2023)

Unique ideas? In this day? Yes.

[9/10 · 1 November 2023]

This show is truly fascinating.

The world and ecosystem that they have created is beautiful, bewildering, scary, gross, ingenious, and most importantly the ideas are fresh.

The animation is top notch at times, but occasionally it seems like scenes were budgeted. (It's hard to tell these days, what some consider "style", others would consider "poor quality" or "lacking detail"). Overall though, the animation serves its purpose very well, and the world and creature design is some of the most creative I've ever seen.

Definitely a show worth checking out for any fans of the sci-fi genre. Truly a thought provoking, mesmerizing, unique piece of media.

Justice League: Warworld (2023)

Good stories, but DC?

[6/10 · 31 October 2023]

It feels like DC bought three adventure short stories and decided to plug their most popular characters into the main roles.

The animation is up and down. The lighting in the last black and white story in particular is great. At time we see the best of modern computer animation, but at times illustration and character animation itself is underwhelming and looked like an episode of Archer.

In the end, It feels like they just should have taken one of these stories and fleshed it out into an entire movie. Or better yet, just animated one of their established stories.

On their own, each short is fine, but in the grand scheme of DC, it just leaves you wondering why?

Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (1992–1995)

One of the best anime series of all time

[10/10 · 16 July 2023]

This show paved the way for modern anime like Naruto, Bleach, JiuJistu Kaisen, etc.

Some of the best character development and emotion in any show, from the very first episode. The music, the animation, the characters, the dialogue, the story, the fights, all hold up the this day despite being nearly 30 years old.

The popularity of anime has exploded recently, but sadly too few people have experienced this show.

I highly recommend it to anyone of the genre. The Dark Tournament arc is still the greatest fighting tournament in anime history. You can't call yourself an anime fan without having seen this show.

The Witcher: The Art of the Illusion (2023) Season 3, Episode 5

Tried too hard to be clever

[5/10 · 7 July 2023]

This episode felt like some sort attempt at a Knives Out mystery, but it just resulted in a tacky disjointed mess. Having to watch that dance 3 times drove me crazy.

It also feels like a terrible place to have a "mid season finale". This show was struggling to hold my interest as is, so to build tension, then have no more episode available for weeks just loses any momentum that it had established. I know Netflix does this to make sure customers have to subscribe for longer, but it makes for a terrible viewing experience.

I have no idea how this show will survive without Henry Cavill. Maybe return to gratuitous nudity like in season 1, and hope the allure of seeing Liam Hensworth and Anya Chalotra bare all together in sex scenes will draw viewers in. Otherwise, it's quickly losing appeal.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Helena Shaw and the Dial of Destiny

[5/10 · 7 July 2023]

Disappointingly, Indiana Jones is a side character and observer in his last appearance in the titular series.

After the first 20 minutes of the film, Phoebe Waller Bridge's Helena Shaw is the main character of this film, in every sense. Helena Shaw provides all pertinent information, creates and solves all problems, and even from a cinematography standpoint, is framed predominantly in every major moment of this film.

There is no reason why they couldn't have Indiana Jones, literal Professor of Archaeology, be the well seasoned and knowledgeable member of the team in this movie, but instead, Helena Shaw is both the brains and the brawn, routinely outsmarting, outrunning, and outfighting all foes and saving Indy, and its just too much..

The Last of Us: When We Are in Need (2023) Season 1, Episode 8

Let down compared to the game

[7/10 · 7 March 2023]

Had high hopes for this episode but it did not stack up to the game version.

The plot point from the game where infected attack and you discover that David had a pistol the entire time was badly missed from the show.

It gives credence to Ellie beginning to trust David and letting down her guard, as he earns her trust by showing that he could have shot her all along, fought infected with her, and he see's first hand how capable she is. It also makes the reveal that he knows about her and Joel a more surprising and tense moment. Even just a few clickers showing up would have been nice, responding to Ellie shooting the deer, to allow for that plot point to happen.

The Last of Us: Left Behind (2023) Season 1, Episode 7

Should have been released between Season 1 and 2

[6/10 · 2 March 2023]

This episode was faithful to the DLC content, but like the DLC, should have been released after the completion of season 1.

The previous episode ended on a high point of tension, and inserting this episode into the story at this point disrupted the flow of the season.

Like Euphoria has done releasing specials between seasons, The Last of Us should have also released this prior to Season 2 in order to deliver the relevant material, while allowing the Season 1 story to continue uninterrupted.

As for the episode quality itself, Bella Ramsey's acting struggled without Pedro Pascal, and did not effectively carry the episode. Likewise, Storm Reid struggled without the Euphoria cast. The story had also already established that Bella spent time in a mall and was with her friend when she was bitten, so the outcome of the episode was already known to the audience and provided little tension or drama.

Foundation (2021– )

Not great not terrible adaptation, has potential

[7/10 · 20 October 2022]

Massive departure from the source material that introduces a few interesting new ideas, but struggles with pacing issues. Visually great.

The first few episodes are driving, but halfway through the season, it seem like the writers could not figure out a way to build the world without exposition-dumping non-stop.

The "Empire" concept of cloning rulers is a clever way to cover the vast timespans of the story while keeping the lead actors, and adds a unique storyline.

Jared Harris and Lee Pace command the screen as you would expect, Laura Birn is also a stand out as Demerzel, and Lou Llobell carries her weight.

I'm not white, but even to me, the fact that all black women in the show are depicted as hardworking and even superpowered "mary sues", and that interracial marriages appear to be the default, felt a tiny bit heavy handed.