NickMiller93 Reviews

Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie (2017 TV Movie)

The flawed but satisfying conclusion

[7/10 · 27 May 2023]

Jungle Movie sees our favorite characters leaving the city on a field trip to the jungle where Arnold seeks out his parents, picking up where the series left off. For the most part, this story is pretty far fetched when compared to the somewhat grounded plot lines we're used to with the show. Seeing these characters that we grew up with receive some closure on open plot lines and relationships that developed over the course of the series is reason enough to make this movie worth it. My only complaints, aside from the far fetched story is that we didn't get to see more of PS 118's many side characters.

Still, this movie is more than worth the watch, if anything for the destination more so than the journey that gets us there.

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

A great show that lasted too long

[5/10 · 20 October 2022]

At its peak, this was one of the best shows on television. When the show first dropped, it was a breath of fresh air to have a mature, story-driven, violent show on cable television. It was one of the last shows I can remember where everyone I knew was watching every Sunday night and we'd eagerly come into work/school on Monday to talk about it. It really was a cultural phenomenon that sparked an entire era of zombie shows, movies, and video games.

Season 1 was near perfect and while the show had its highs and lows, it had an overall quality to it that you couldn't find elsewhere. This show wasn't afraid to be a slow burner, making the payoff from those big emotional moments so much better. Who could forget the well zombie? The battle with the Governor? Or Merle cutting off his hand to escape zombies? Or the Terminus blood trough. This was sometimes to its detriment, for example, one season (season 4 IIRC) mostly comprised of the main group walking and it was honestly pretty boring, but even that made the payoff of the explosive season premiere at Terminus all that much better.

However, a good thing can only last so long. By about season 7 or 8 I started to lose interest because the storyline started spinning its wheels in the mud. The show seemed to lose track of where it was going and would drop hints at future plot without emotional payoffs that lived up to the hype (like the Wolves). The show started to fake-out major character deaths, which seemed unnecessary in a show where main characters would die graphically, suddenly, unapologetically, and often. The fake-outs felt cheap, like a ploy just to keep the audience interested another few episodes, and when those characters did eventually die, the emotional impact was softened by the fact that we had already experienced this before, and had come to terms with their passing.

Season 9 brought the show back to relevancy with the introduction of Negan and his intro was superb, but due to some unfortunate writing decisions and the removal of a key character over ridiculous budgeting issues (if you know, you know), the interest Negan brought to the table could only carry the show so far. By the end of the 9th season, the show fell out of relevancy and as I write this, I'm amazed the show is still running, with a few spin-offs planned as well. No one cares about The Walking Dead anymore. No one I know watches it or even cares. It's become a thing that we all remember as being amazing at one point but one that we never plan to revisit any time soon.

It's unfortunate that this show would be so much more respected and fondly remembered if AMC would have wrapped it up with a proper ending while it was still at its peak. Maybe then people would still be talking about it and singing it's praises instead of falling into obscurity.

Werewolf by Night (2022 TV Movie)

Great Idea, Poor Execution

[6/10 · 10 October 2022]

The idea of a group of monster hunters facing off against a werewolf in a dark, grainy, black and white homage to classic monster flicks is awesome and the trailer made Werewolf by Night look like just that. Unfortunately, the film kinda fell flat. Really, I was hoping for a toned down slasher film with a werewolf as the killer and the movie even set itself up to be like this in the first 20 minutes but once the hunt begins, it quickly changes course in an unsatisfying way. Many of the hunters are killed in a single action sequence and the fights are a bit over-the-top, lacking the intensity and brutality of a more personal encounter. Where these conflicts should have felt like a fight for life, they just played out like a more grounded super hero fight.

The visuals were great though and I liked the overall tone of the movie, especially in the setup prior to the hunt. There's also one scene in particular where blood splatters on the camera and I thought that was neat.

All in all this film wasn't bad but it definitely fell short of its potential, even within the "family friendly" standards of Disney+.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Thor: Jokes and Bad Writing

[2/10 · 10 September 2022]

I didn't hate this movie but I didn't love it either. Things I liked: the soundtrack, Christian Bale as the god butcher, the action sequences (particularly on the black and white planet). Things I didn't like: moments that should have emotional weight being undercut by jokes that mostly fall flat, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie has all the charisma of a door knob, killing a potentially significant character with little effort and no regard for consequences in a room full of people with the power to overwhelm our hero who for no explainable reason do nothing.

The biggest problem I have with this movie however is less to do with the movie itself and more to do with the journey Thor has taken over the course of the MCU. The first three movies were about Thor learning to be a righteous king and a wise ruler. He learns self-sacrifice and putting the needs of his people first. He learned in Ragnorak that Asgard is a people, not a place, and he had to make the hard decision to sacrifice his home to preserve his people (and even an incredibly emotional moment like that was undercut by jokes). Infinity War provided Thor with a great challenge to the character development he had thus far and ideally his failure to kill Thanos should have made him a more bitter and hardened king, making his people an isolated and battle-hardened nation, prepared to take on another cosmic threat like Thanos, with Thor rediscovering his mantle as righteous king being his character development going forward. But instead, he got lazy, depressed, and fat, making one of the MCU's most tragic characters the brunt of a joke and this movie continues that awful trend. Thor is dumb and constantly outwitted by his counterparts. Everything is a joke and nothing is treated with the seriousness that it ought to be. Characters carry no development from past films and only act in ways that are convenient to carry the script forward. None of the threats carried any weight because the characters never took them seriously. When the movie is so lighthearted, how can the audience be anything but that? Despite some new responsibility late in the film, Thor is just the same as he was when the movie started and it's a shame they didn't use Gorr to his full potential to test Thor and develop his character further.

Like I said, I don't hate this movie but it's taking Thor in the wrong direction. Could have been worse but could have been a lot better.

Resident Evil (2022– )

Idiotic Nonsense

[2/10 · 24 July 2022]

This show has no likable characters, no sensible plot, no reasonable motivations for characters, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Resident Evil. Like, this show is so dumb that I'm amazed anyone could have read this script and thought "yeah, that's a good idea". After watching this it's no wonder why Netflix is losing subscribers. It's a shame too because the Resident Evil franchise should be one of the easiest game series to adapt into film yet it keeps getting handed to no-talent hacks who do nothing but mangle the RE name. Like, I've seen fan-made films that are leagues better than this show.

I gave this shows 2 stars because Lance Reddick is awesome and he's way better than this show deserves.

Pocahontas (I) (1995)

A Fantastic Movie with a Wonderful Message

[8/10 · 13 May 2022]

People get so hung up on the historical inaccuracies of this movie that they miss the incredibly touching messages of this movie. The two that stood out to me the most were: 1) just because someone is different than you, it doesn't mean they're a threat, and 2) the earth is naturally beautiful and it is a gift that we must protect. It tackles the subjects of racism, xenophobia, and environmentalism in tasteful and meaningful way that even children can understand.

Many characters from both sides of the film's main conflict experience meaningful arches that ask moral questions of the viewer. Neither side is entirely right or wrong. Both lie in the moral grey which makes the conflict more thought provoking and can lead the viewer to forming wildly different opinions on it depending on their world view and feelings towards the themes of the film. It begs a few rewatches for that reason alone. Also the music is really good, some of the best Disney has ever done.

So yeah, the movie is historically inaccurate but the message and music is good. And if anything, it's inspired many people to study the history of the Virginia Company for themselves.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

Such a disappointment

[2/10 · 23 January 2022]

There's no rising tension. The conflict seems to have no weight. The action sequences feel cluttered and sloppy and never reach anything near the heights of those in the original trilogy. The few good concepts that this movie brought to the table were never explored enough to produce any sense of satisfaction. This movie was barely held together by shameless callbacks and fan service.

Now on to the nitpicks. So remember in the Reloaded when Neo stops the bullets with his hand? It was iconic because when he did it, it was our first time seeing it and he did it once. In the final conflict for this one, he did it 4 times (or at least that's what I counted). It made something that was initially great feel very cheap. Also, nobody dies. Not a single one. Not even the characters who could easily be used as fodder. They all come out okay. It took any sense of danger that the characters may be facing and threw it out the window.

All I can say more is that this movie was a disappointment and a wasted potential.

Disney Sing-Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Songs (1988 Video)

An excellent collection of Christmas carols

[10/10 · 25 July 2021]

The songs are wonderful and the animation to go along with it is just as good (except for Silent Night, that one scared me as a kid). I watch it every December, usually a few times, and it always gives me the warm fuzzies. I'd recommend watching the VHS version though as it starts with an original song by Jiminy Cricket and has better, simpler song transitions. The DVD version cut the intro, added additional songs that have a different tone and feel from the original, and it adds transitions of some guy talking over footage of a Christmas village. The DVD isn't necessarily bad but it isn't as consistent in quality and tone as the VHS version.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

Stupid fun in the best kind of way

[7/10 · 24 April 2021]

If you come into this film expecting "kung-fu", gore, and just a stupid good time, then you'll have fun. This is a movie that knows what it is and what it wanted to accomplish and did so admirably. It didn't take itself too seriously and put the bulk of its attention on the kombat, doing a decent job at referencing the source material without forcing it. I had a good time with this and I think you will too.