Toon Closet Review: WildC.A.T.s

Hey everyone and welcome to my new segment called Toon Closet here on the Film Vindicator blog. This is where I review toons from American cartoons to Japanese anime whether good or god awful. So let's get started with the WildC.A.T.s, cartoons based on popular comic book characters have been the norm since the 40s. But the early 90s was the milestone for upstarted independent comic companies would get into comics to cartoons genre. One of which was Image Comics with one of comic series the WildC.A.T.s. The series came on the air in October 1, 1994, lasting only one season with only 13 episodes aired. The story goes that long when earth was still primitive two warring alien starships arrived that the orbit of Earth, the immortal humanoid Kherubims and the monstrous Daemonites. After sustaning heavy damage the two ships crashed on Earth, while the Daemonites went into hiding the Kherubims integrated with the naives. In present time a multi-millionaire and owner of the Halo Corporation Jacob Marlowe formed the Covert Action Team (C.A.Ts WildC.A.T.s) to fight the Daemonites after discovering Void the Kherubim starship's AI. Each member of the WildC.A.T.s is a human/Kherubim hybrid possessing genetic traits of Kherubim abilities. When the series went from comic to TV format there were a few chances to make the series family-friendly. BIG chances, such as the human character Jacob Marlowe is a Kherubim named Lord Emp in the comics. The character Voodoo was chance from an ex-stripper to an orphan ballet dancer, and Void is not a starship AI in the comics. Despite the big chances the series by itself is a good series, the plot is self-contain, there's tad of drama that doesn't oversaturate among the characters. And the overall voice-acting and animation is well standard, even though I never the comics back then I love this series. Looking back on it now to this day I still love it just the same as I love the Batman animated series or the X-Men animate series.

Final verdict if you grown up with comics that went to cartoons in the 90s this is the series for you. Don't even need to read the WildC.A.T.s comic to get in to it the series is self-explanatory. If you're lucky you can find the complete series on YouTube or you can buy it on DVD that was released by Funimation.

The Film Vindicator Review: Bug

Sorry for the delay couldn't be helped so on to Bug. The film stars Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, and Harry Connick Jr. and was released in 2006.

At first glimpse it may sound like another conspiracy theory movie but in all honesty it does tends to make you think is it a conspiracy or is the two lead characters are just straight up crazy. I mean you have Ashley's character Agnes who is a drug addict also has mysteriously lost her son and Michael's character Peter a discharged solider who turns out to be mentally ill. After Agnes and Peter made a one night stand everything went really bat-crap when Peter starts "seeing" a few bugs on him who starts to bother him and creeps out Agnes. As the audience you're thinking that it's probably nothing since the film never shows these bugs so you're not sure if there are any bug and that Peter's pretty weird. Later on you see Peter scratching himself then starts placing fly trappers all over the small motel room. At this point Peter explains to Agnes that he was part of biological experiment by the military. Agnes's reaction to this is about the same as the audience you're a bit skeptical to believe him or that he's absolutely crazy. These "delusions" continue to disturb Agnes until she is convinced that she too is part of the experiment involving the "bugs" and that her son's disappearance may be a part of it. The film ends with Peter and Agnes in the same motel room now covered with tin foil and bug zappers, believing that the government may come after them so they dowse themselves in gasoline and burned themselves alive.

Further thoughts on Bug: This film really gets in your head when watching, it makes you wonder is it a conspiracy or is this guy really out of his mind and Agnes is hopelessly drawn in. Usually in conspiracy theory movies they give hints that it's a conspiracy and the main characters have to figure out what it is. But in Bug it doesn't give you any hints the film leaves you to figure out what's going on. Well it gives you a few hints but doesn't spoil the movie. This direction does work if done right and honestly Bug does it right without being confusing. More or less this film breaks you to have two opposing thoughts. The first thought leads to believe that there's a conspiracy despite the film doesn't tell you it's a conspiracy not once does it show who's behind it nor it doesn't show the "bugs". While the second thought leads you to the obvious the Peter character is crazy he's mentally ill and that you really don't believe him despite his determination to prove that there's a conspiracy and the tiny bit of hints that there's a conspiracy. And there's the Agnes character who her life so deeply messed up that she finally breaks into his belief so convincingly that she believes she's a part of it. So you are really concern and scared for these characters as they trap in a convincing barrier between reality and delusion.

My verdict don't pass this film as another conspiracy theory movie I deeply recommend it hands down to watch this film. Tune in next time as I review...sigh Jennifer's Body, ugh.

The Film Vindicator Double Feature Review

Best of the Best: So not long ago I did a double feature of Best of the Best and Best of the Best 2 so why not do a double feature review. Best of the Best is one of those films of the late 80's that most people consider it as a Rocky/Karate Kid-ploitation The film stars Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, and Darth Vader himself James Earl Jones. The plot goes that five American fighters are handpicked to participate in a invitational match against Korea's five handpicked fighters. The film does tend to drag a bit because most of the time we see these fighters training but we do see character development from Roberts character Alex and Rhee's character Tommy. Alex is exactly what you think he's more of the Rocky Balboa of the film. Getting back into fighting despite in the film he has a plastic shoulder. Hell there's even a "Cut me Mick" moment when his shoulder gets dislocated during the invitational match. As for Tommy it's revealed that his older brother was killed in a match against one of the Korean fighters years ago. In all Rocky clichés the film ends with the Americans lost the invitational match due to Tommy hesitating to put the final blow on the same fighter who killed his brother. However there's a sentimental moment when the Korean fighters complimented the American fighters.

Best of the Best 2: This is the 1993 sequel with Eric Roberts and Phillip Rhee returning as the main characters Alex and Tommy sorry no Darth Vader this time. Along with one of the Americans fighter from the first film but he dies ten minutes in by this films villain Brakus who is this GIANT MAN MOUNTAIN MOTHERFUCKER! In this film Brakus runs a underground fighting arena where he's the undefeated champion. When he's challenged by Alex and Tommy's friend Travis from the first film; Travis is immediately defeated and killed by Brakus. So now it's up to Alex and Tommy to infiltrate the underground arena and defeat Brakus. Unlike Best of the Best this film has more stuff going on but there are a few things that you fine awkward. For example when Alex and Tommy found out that Travis is dead/missing they went out looking for him. By that I mean Tommy goes looking for Travis while Alex just lingers around his home during absolutely nothing...seriously. Long story short they meet up with Brakus at a casino where the fighting arena is being held and there a small fight breaks out leading to Tommy scarring Brakus's face which made him extremely pissed. Brakus decides to send his gunmen to fine and retrieve Tommy to fight him in the arena. Alex and Tommy decided to hideout at Tommy's relatives who Native Americans...yeah that's another awkward moment in the film. In the first film it's established that Tommy is Asian Americans with Asian parents, how exactly does an Asian American have Native American relatives is anybody’s guess. But hey at least we get to see the actor who played Billy from Predator who is Tommy's...brother...uncle...father...they never explained except that he fought Brakus once before. So the film pads out as "Billy" trains Alex and Tommy until Brakus's men found them and brought Tommy to Brakus. The last twenty minutes of the film takes place at the arena where Tommy has to fight three other fighter before facing Brakus. While that's going on we get to see Alex infiltrate the arena along with one of the Korean fighters from the previous film. Well at least it's nice to see Eric Roberts being a bad ass which is pretty impressive. Now of course it's obvious that Tommy defeats Brakus and then unintentionally kills Brakus. With only a few minutes left we get to see something that's pretty funny, Wayne Newton getting punched in the face by Eric Roberts.

Further thoughts on Best of the Best 2: This may gonna sound weird but I really need say this to get the point across; looking back to this film I keep thinking to myself. Why couldn't this film be a Street Fighter movie? Seriously this film has the applications of being a Street Fighter movie; an underground tournament, an overly powerful antagonist, and well-choreographed fight scenes. It has almost everything that would be deemed passable as a Street Fighter film. Hell the guy who played Brakus (Ralf Möller) makes a much better chose to play Bison than Raúl Juliá I bet he can easily dwarfs Raúl Juliá by ten feet in scale. But I guess he never got the role for Bison due to thick German accent. The plot in the Best of the Best 2 is a bit more coherent from games than both of the Street Fighter films put together. This film was made in 1993 a whole year before the Street Fighter movie, they could have easily written off as a Street Fighter movie. Hell I might as well take the script open it in Microsoft Word replaced the film characters names with the Street Fighter characters and then BAM there's your goddamn Street Fighter movie. You know what I count Best of the Best 2 as the official Street Fighter movie, in fact it replaces both of the Street Fighter films altogether. So what do you think of that?

My verdict while the first film is average but bearable if you're in to Rockyploitation films, the sequel is a tad bit better and much more intentional of being a Street Fighter film. So I recommend giving these films a browse if really bored or just to kill time. Stay tuned next time when I review Bug.

The Film Vindicator Review: Skyline

So I watched this film the another day and I'm not gonna lie. As much it's a nice eye candy for action, destruction, and alien invasions the logic in this film is a bit of a mess.

Why do I say that? Well to start the aliens are pretty dumb when it comes to abducting people just to take their brains. I mean the film established that they could suck up everybody from the streets and buildings with no problems. And yet when the film is focusing on the main characters in the hotel it seems the aliens can't tell if there's anybody in the building unless they see the people in plain sight. I guess these aliens don't have the technology to look through walls or scan for life signs so they only have that blue light thing and hope that the humans are incredibly stupid to stare right at the light and walk towards the aliens. Hey here's an idea just suck up the entire city and move on. The continuity of the blue light is silly in one scene the light is coming through the blinds and the people in the room are perfectly fine. Not to mention one of the characters complained not to turn the T.V. on in case the blue light is coming through the T.V. I fail to see how this character was able to come up with that conclusion since they've not exactly test out that theory. The military don't seem to care or notice that there could be survivors and just go ahead and nuke the alien ship with any possible survivors inside the blast zone, good job. I'm going into spoiler territory here so feel free to stop reading. So during through movie the male lead was repeatedly exposed to the blue light to a point that his body starts changing at some point with some kind of explanation that repeating exposure would have random side effects. After the aliens abducted the two leads and the male lead's brain gets absorbed by one of the aliens that looks like the creatures from Half-Life. For some reason his brain takes over and now he has an alien body. I guess that entire expose made his brain immune to be absorbed. Then the film ends with alien male lead protecting his pregnant girlfriend from the other aliens obviously a sequel bate but I doubt there will be a sequel.

My verdict this film is a little bit worth watching if you enjoy those over the top alien mass destruction films these days, just don't expect this film to make any logically sense as soon as you start watching it. Next time I'm doing a double feature review, Best of the Best and Best of the Best 2.

The Film Vindicator Reviews

King of Fighters (SHORT Review): Yeah so I watched the this film for about 5 minutes...and then I stopped. Honestly what's there to talk about it's bad enough that it's a rip off from Mortal Kombat (a much better film to watch). But to have to the opening title sequence ripped off from Avatar the Last Airbender, that is down right beyond pathetic. So instead I watched this clip on YouTube that basically shows...somewhat the important parts. The keyword being "important" and that's saying very likely for this film. The costuming on the characters are horrendously bad, Mai Shiranui looks like a flat-chested prostitute. Seriously the costume looks like it just swallowed her upper body. Ray Park's character seems to be Canadian judging by silly jerseys he wears through the film. And lastly Terry Bogard looks like a soap opera actor while his costume makes him look like a redneck Marty McFly. Oh and don't get me started on the whitewash of Kyo Kusanagi I mean I can't see how two Japanese parents gave birth to the whitest motherfucker in the world. But apparently the film has him as a Japanese-American which I still call bullshit.

Tekken: So as instead of having my brain strangling me for watching King of Fighters I immediately watched Tekken. This film ether you're a gamer or not it's a watchable film. The plot itself is not quite accurate from the games but it's passable to understand at certain points. While the same time there are a few things that may confuse most fans of the Tekken series. For instance, the main plot in the early series was that Heihachi Mishima wanting to control the world through his corporation and the tournament. While the same time molding his son Kazuya Mishima into the perfect figher. The film really changes almost most it to the that Heihachi is already in charge and his son is more of the Lee Chaolan character from the series who is more of a sneaky backstabber than a fighter. Basically this change made Heihachi an almost misunderstood villain that wants to control everything for the good of mankind which kinda works and kinda doesn't for a character like Heihachi. just want to create a world in his image, not caring for the sake of others. While Kazuya is just sneaky backstabber who wants to out over his father's corporation which really doesn't fit for a character like Kazuya. Mainly because Kazuya trained himself into a strong fighter to take vengeance upon his father. Having Lee Chaolan in that sneaky backstabber role would may more sense. The characters in the film look exactly from the game which is not that hard to do unless you're retarded. The costumes are well represented from the Tekken series instead of a mishmash of clothes brought from a near by Goodwill store like King of Fighters. Best I can say if you can't watch it for the plot at least watch it for the fighting. The fight scenes to me look more realistic than King of Fighters and better choreographed to add. I mean it surpasses Legend of Chun-Li style of fight choreography and the same time on the same level of Mortal Kombat fight choreography.

So my verdict, if you've been giving the chance to watch both of these films watch Tekken instead. The plot may be a little loopy but it does hold up on its own with the source material. Now if you're really curious about King of Fighter do yourself a favor just go back watching Mortal Kombat again. Seriously they're practically the SAME DAMN film only the difference is Mortal Kombat was done over 9,000 times better than King of Fighters, and was more subtle.

New Year Eve Review 2010

So to bring in the new year here's a end of the year film and anime review. I haven't seen that many films this year and believe me I should have so here are the films I have seen.

Predators: This film may not be as epic than the first Predator but it does get a thumbs up in my book. To me Predators is one of the few films that's made by fans for fans, it's that perfect back to basics film that the AVP films have FAILED to do so. Seriously this film surpasses both of the Alien vs Predator films for what it is and that is Predators is a kinetic grindhouse sci-fi action film.

Iron Man 2: Well what can I say about this film it's a fun roller coaster ride of a sequel and really worth the watch. Oh yeah own it on DVD or Blu Ray.

Scott Pilgrim: It's one of those films that doesn't need any logic to get it. Just that it's so over the top in acting, plot, and action it does keep you laughing and entertain from beginning to end.

Splice: My only complaint is that I didn't see it in theaters. This film is right up there with my personal holy guilty pleasure trilogy of Lifeforce, Innocent Blood, and Species. Splice is really subtle film with plot, character, and delivery. In no way it doesn't feel like those cheesy b-movie you watch on the Sci-Fi channel. And the creature designs of Dren let me tell you...THANK YOU GUILLERMO DEL TORO! But seriously this film is amazing.

Black Swan: HOLY GOD...this film is just borderline hardcore film. It's just so tactile of what goes on and how it gets you cling to your seat to watch more. The performance from Natalie Portman is by far the most impressive acting she has ever done in her career. And to be honest the performance from Mila Kunis was surprisingly impressive her skills really does shine through unlike in other films she starred in. An A+++ performance from Mila in my book. At some scenes this film goes into David Cronenberg territory at a really subtle pace.

Now here some animes I've watched in 2010 some of them I've already reviewed.

Comic Party: I must say it was quite entertaining to watch. Now me as a starting comic creator this series has really touched a special place in my heart. The main characters are interesting and hilarious to watch from beginning to end and each have a distinct personalities. The whole of the series was all about first-person experience of creating comics and the difficult steps of achieving that goal of creating and selling comics. The way I see it for most up start comic creators can learn how to capture readers attention and what to expect at a comic convention.

Comic Party Revolution: The thirteen episode sequel of Comic Party, the story starts off as the main characters from the first series return as full fledged comic creators. And as just as hilarious as the first series with additional characters.

Project Blue Earth SOS: Far by a deeply compelling series with unique story and characters. Taking place in a futuristic version of the late 90s early 2000 where earth is being invaded by foreign lifeforms. It might sound cliche but trust me the revelation at the end of the series is surprising epic. The series itself has only six episodes but that seems to be a unique way of exposition the story in a 45 minute time frame in each episode. It doesn't feel too short and the series gets deeply intense with its action and driven character development.

Red Garden: Basically an anime equivalent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with deep tense drama that carries the series from beginning to end. The series revolves around four high school girls whom somehow can't recall what happen at the night when they were killed. Until a mysterious woman approach these girls and explained that they're already dead and they're resurrected in special borrowed bodies. The exposition of this transaction is later on through the series putting the girls at a crossroad of harsh understanding and acceptance. After the series ends there's a 45 minute epilogue episode where it's 300 years in the future and the girls from the series are still around as urban legend bounty hunters while having normal lives in school. The acting is a bit melodramatic but it's still worth to watch.

SHUFFLE!: I must it was quite entertaining. The last six episodes were all around insane but in a amazing way. I mean through the first 18 episodes were all cheeky hilarious comedy and then just before you know it gets emotionally dark. A complete 180 of crazy fucked up drama that'll make most soap operas look like chicken-shit. I deeply recommend watching SHUFFLE!

Dragonaut Resonance: Now this series is something else not sure on how to describe this series except that it's intense and the same time heartfelt. The story goes that earth is being invading by alien dragons which are from a nearby planetoid that's actually a dragon. To add these space dragons can take on human form. There's so much going I can't go into details but trust me it's worth watching. Just like Red Garden, Dragonaut Resonance has a bonus episode that's not quite in continuity of the series with all of its main characters. This bonus episode was meant to be hilarious therefore you'll might get a laugh out of it.

Ghost Hunt: Unlike those other paranormal reality shows, things are actually going on in Ghost Hunt. The series is about a group with different backgrounds investigating paranormal activities. Sure it sounds cliche but trust me this series got some standards that stands out from most paranormal animes. For one the main characters have certain set of skills to encounter and fend off spiritual forces. The interactions among the main characters differ between intense to down right hilarious.

Anime Reviews

For this blog entry here's my four anime reviews.

1. Comic Party: I've recently discovered this series last month and it was quite entertaining to watch. Now me as a starting comic creator this series has really touched a special place in my heart. The main characters are interesting and hilarious to watch from beginning to end and each have a distinct personalities. The whole of the series was all about first-person experience of creating comics and the difficult steps of achieving that goal of creating and selling comics. The I see it for up start comic creators can learn how to capture readers attention and what to expect at a comic convention.

2. Comic Party Revolution: The thirteen episode sequel of Comic Party, the story starts off as the main characters from the first series return as full fledged comic creators. And as just as hilarious as the first series with additional characters.

3. Project Blue Earth SOS: Far by a deeply compelling series with unique story and characters. Taking place in a futuristic version of the late 90s early 2000 where earth is being invaded by foreign lifeforms. It might sound cliche but trust me the revelation at the end of the series is surprising epic. The series itself has only six episodes but that seems to be a unique way of exposition the story in a 45 minute time frame in each episode. It doesn't feel too short and the series gets deeply intense with its action and driven character development.

4. Red Garden: Basically an anime equivalent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with deep tense drama that carries the series from beginning to end. The series revolves around four high school girls whom somehow can't recall what happen at the night when they were killed. Until a mysterious woman approach these girls and explained that they're already dead and they're resurrected in special borrowed bodies. The exposition of this transaction is later on through the series putting the girls at a crossroad of harsh understanding and acceptance. After the series ends there's a 45 minute epilogue episode where it's 300 years in the future and the girls from the series are still around as urban legend bounty hunters while having normal lives in school. The acting is a bit melodramatic but it's still worth to watch.