Me Time Review
By Paul Anthony
What happens when you have the funniest man currently alive as a co-lead and the other co-lead can make any comedy star even funnier, then you should have a comedy movie to die for! Well, that would be the plan at least. That’s right today we are reviewing the comedy film that is streaming only on Netflix. The stars Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, the cast also includes Regina Hall and a small role for Jimmy O. Yang, heck even Seal has a cameo role in this film. The film is about 1 hour and 41 minutes long. Now Let’s take a look at the plot.
The film opens when Sonny (Hart) and Huck (Wahlberg) are celebrating Huck’s 29th birthday by cliff diving though Sonny wants to back out because he is afraid but does it anyway when the force from the helicopter pushes him off the cliff. When then jump 15 years later and see Sonny has grown into a stay-at-home dad and living a predictable lifestyle. Huck keeps calling Sonny, but Sonny doesn’t pick up. We learn that Huck still lives the wild lifestyle, and we are approaching his 44th birthday. Things seemed to be going right though Sonny is bored, it’s his wife Maya (Hall) who convinces him that she needs more time with the kids that she barely knows anymore, and he needs some alone time, she even recommends that he joins Huck on his birthday celebration. The first few days that Sonny is alone he does enjoy the me time, heck at first the first thing he does is masturbates in his own bedroom though that was short lived. He finally agrees to join Huck’s birthday celebration and that where the fun begins. Right off the bat he sees a naked Huck, and Huck has ordered a big bus to take them into the middle of desert. The shenanigans begin. First with Sonny getting attacked by a Mountain lion then next we learn Huck’s lifestyle did catch up to him and he owes a loan shark 47k, which the loan shark breaks Sonny’s finger and burns down the camp that Huck made. On their way to Sonny’s house, they stop at Maya’s bosses house and run over his very old turtle, the party gets wild at Sonny’s house, and he even pays off Huck’s loan with the money he has been saving. Though he is happy at first this wild party weekend forces his wife to leave him, and Sonny goes a few weeks until he realizes he has to make things right which in the end he does. He and huck even opens their own business together.
Okay the plot sounds like this should be a blast of fun even if they didn’t have the star power that they had, right? Wrong, this was a big miss on their part. Hart’s humor fell flat, sure some jokes got a small giggle but that was about it. Wahlberg seemed like he was just in it because he was next to Hart which should have been a match made in heaven. The story was fine, and the slapstick comedy wasn’t over the top but maybe it should have been to be funnier. In the end I am giving this film a D for a rating. This was major let down for me and I do hope Hart and Wahlberg gets another chance to star in a film together for us to forget about this film.
Spiderhead Review
By Paul Anthony
Short stories can be so hard to turn into movies, how can you take something that takes just a few minutes to read into a movie that is nearly one hour 47 minutes long? Sure, stuff has to be added to fill the gaps, but does that make for a good movie? Todau we are reviewing the film Spiderhead that was released on Netflix on June 17th which stars Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett. The film was based on the short story written by George Saunders, which was released in 2010 in The New Yorker. Now going into this film, I never heard of these short stories, so it took me a moment to follow along to the point of the story. Now I know Netflix’s movies can be a hit or miss at times and both Chris and Miles are having a good year with Top Gun 2 and Thor: Love and Thunder. Let’s look in the plot like always first.
At first, I missed what Spiderhead actually was but quickly learned that it is a prison but a prison like no other. Here the prisoner’s roam the building freely and are here to help reducing their sentence. Now being here which was voluntary, they must take drugs that alter their emotions and their perception of their surroundings. The prison is controlled and ran by Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth) who seems like a very nice funny guy who is very understanding. Then we meet an inmate Jeff (Teller) who pretty much says yes to every drug hoping to make a difference from him drinking and driving and killing his best friend. Though we learn later that his best friend’s girlfriend was also in the car and sadly died as well. The first drug we see Jeff use is a love drug that makes him fall for another inmate though he doesn’t like her until the drug takes affect and they both have sex with each other, However Jeff has his eyes set on Lizzy another inmate at the prison which is played by Smollett. Lizzy claims that she is in there for armed robbery. Things start to turn for Jeff when Steve informs him the higher ups want him to pick between Lizzy and Heather to see who Gets the next drug which is called Darkenfloxx which Jeff doesn’t pick but it ends up being Heather and once the drug kicks in she sadly commits suicide and to jeff horror Steve blows it off as a failed experiment. Jeff starts digging around finds out the truth and that Steve has no higher-ups, it’s his company all long and a fight breaks out between them Steve reveals Lizzy’s true crime and that is she accidentally killed her nine-month-old child who she tells Jeff the whole truth, Steve also reveals that both Jeff and Lizzy have been free. Steve reveals also that his parents abandon him and hence why he’s inventing drugs for humans to do what they are told so crimes can go down. Soon the cops arrive to shut the place down, but Steve tries to escape but dies when he flies into a mountain and Jeff and Lizzy leave on the boat.
Okay let’s talk about the character development, I get it Jeff didn’t mean to commit his crime, but we don’t see enough of his back story to see what kind of person he truly was. Lizzy was the same thing; this was big thing to show us to feel sorry for her, but they didn’t do that. Sure, they made her feel sorrow and regret but not enough to feel sorry for her and want her to be a free person. Steve’s story could have been shown as well though, I did enjoy the idea of him being friendly despite his back story. Steve’s charm and Jeff’s reaction provides the laughs though I would have like it more if this was darker film because of the subjects that were in the film. The length was just fine, so was the pace. In the end I am giving this film a B or 80 percent. Though it was above average they could have done more.
Hustle Review
By Paul Anthony
I have to admit that I don’t watch many sports drama films and I have to admit at times I try to avoid anything with Adam Sandler in it. Because at times it seems like he keeps hanging on his style of comedy that people just grow up from, but he doesn’t grow from. But the trailers caught my attention for some odd reason, and I had to watch it. The film has a mix of real actors and NBA stars either playing themselves or playing characters. Besides starring Adam Sandler and Queen Latifah, the film also stars Ben Foster, Robert Duvall and Jaleel White. Now with the NBA players in this film you have Juancho Hernangomez as the lead Bo Cruz, Anthony Edwards as Kermit Wilts. The film was released on June 8th and was 117 minutes long and it was released on Netflix.
The plot of the film shows Sandler as Stanley Sugerman a scout for the 76ers who travels the road to scout out fresh talent for the 76ers but the road life takes a toll not only on him but his family as well, until finally he is promoted to assistant coach which will have him home more with his family, but owner dies, and the team is taken over his son who puts Stanley back on the road as a scout. There he sent back on the road to search for talent and when that fails another door opens and he meets Bo Cruz a young man who is a construction worker but hustles on the basketball court for extra money to help his mom and daughter live. Vincent denies Bo basically so it up to Stanely to get this kid over to America and Play ball. This dispute ends up costing Stanley his job, but he made a promise to Bo’s family, and he is determined to keep that promise though it takes a toll on him financially. Though he doesn’t tell Bo that. But Bo has competition in the draft and that comes from Kermit Wilts who is determined to prove he’s the number one overall pick and he wins the battles by getting under Bo’s skin after a number of public games it’s a private game that he gets the Upper hand and proves his skills. Its then reveals that Vincent is fire and his sister is taken over who Stanley has a great relationship with, and she rehires him as a coach and it’s revealed that Bo did make a team and that Team is Boston though Bo and Stanley remained close friends.
Wow let me start off by saying the story alone was a powering one which involves redemption and the power to thrive and overcome anything and everything that you face. This film did delver a good message and Adam Sandler now this is the Adam Sandler that I want to see more often in movies because he did in fact put on a great performance that will be remembered for years to come. I don’t know where in this this film ranks among the best sports films but I will say this and that is this film was a pretty damn good film. In the end I am saying this film was a good A or 90 percent for me and I will say that this was a must watch film.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Review
By Paul Anthony
Well this is my first blog back in a while and the last few months have been crazy with marriage than buying a new home, but today we are back to getting on track and no other way around it and that is doing a review on a film that I was actually excited to see, that’s right I was excited to see this film. Now This was the 9th overall film in the franchise and the first since the film Leatherface from 2017, now I will say I have yet to watch that film and look forward to seeing how that film truly is. When I had heard about this film I was looking forward to it because the last film I actually saw from this franchise was Texas Chainsaw which focused on a older Leatherface. This film continues that trend. Lionsgate who had the rights before was suppose to produce five more films after Leatherface but lost the right due to the time limit and the rights go to Legendary Pictures and was released on Netflix. Filming had it’s issues including having to find a new director during production. Filming had wrapped up in the March of 2021 than just 11 months later here we are.
Now this story takes place nearly 50 years after the killing spree of 1973, so in other terms 50 years after the events of the first film. Here We meet the main cast as they travel to abandoned Texas town of Harlow. There is Melody, Dante, Dante’s girlfriend Ruth and Melody’s younger sister Lila. We learn Melody and Dante are investors and they want other investors to join them to buy properties in Harlow to basically bring it back to life in this new age. Things go as planned at first until Melody and Dante go into a old orphanage and meet the owner Ginny who says she still owns the building which than provokes an argument, at that point when meet a very large man who she claims to be one of the longest students there. Because of the argument Ginny has a heart attack and Ruth and the large man rides with the sheriffs as they rush her to a hospital. Sadly she passes away and the large man snaps and kills everyone in the van and even cuts Ginny’s face and that is when we learn that the large man was really a unmask Leatherface. and that is when the killing spree happens again and basically killing everyone in his way. At this point we learn Sally, who survived the events of the first film, became a Texas Ranger to find Leatherface and get her revenge. I guess she couldn’t find a large man in a small town that had basically no one living there, though the film makes it clear you can find anyone that wears a mask. Anyway we get to the point where Sally arrives to save Melody and Lila but this time Sally feels the wrath of Leatherface when he kills her. We have a back and forth battle with the girls and Leatherface. Its clear that the girls won until the end when they are driving away from Harlow and Leatherface rips Melody out of car and chops her head off and dances in the street and Lila is stuck in the self driving car. Now there is a post credit scene and that is Leatherface returning to his old house which is the house from the first film.
Now I have some issues with the film and those issues are, why and how did a grown man like Leatherface end up in a orphanage, they failed to explain that part. next thing is the investors wanting buy this old town, that seems like a weak idea because who would find value in a ghost town. Next the main cast mostly with Dante and Melody, they basically had them look like the villains so when they got killed you didn’t feel sorry for them. Having Lila being a school shooting survivor felt random and rushed, Basically this film had no character development and no plot to truly stay interested in. Now the film does live on its gore and basically that is what saved the film from being a complete failure. You had Leatherface snap a cop’s wrist and stab him in the throat with it and throwing a spinning chainsaw, sort of like a Darth Vader throwing his light saber. In the end that gore pushes a failure to a C rating and sure if you are fan of the franchise give it a watch but the truth be told you won’t miss anything if you did.
My Top 10 Movies of 2021
By: Justin Hopkins
Another trip back down the road. A calendar years worth of movies to weigh with invisible qualities that, only the one putting their list together can see. What movies made them feel something. Happiness, sadness, suspense and thrills. Fan favorites being taken off from the list cause of little tick. Making space for an unpopular one. Making a list that is uniquely your own. Which is what makes them so much fun. To see why they chose they way they did and pick up some that you may have overlooked or missed, because it was easy to do in 2021. So, with all of that said, let’s dive in shall we.
10. Malignant
Style and creativity helps lock down the tenth spot on my list. Despite the fact I gave it a bit of a mediocre grade. Annabelle Wallis did a really good job as Madison. Which went a long way in paying off a climax that stays with you long after the movie is over.
9. Psych 3: This is Gus
I had to. I love this group so much and every time they put out a movie it is such a delight. James Rodriguez and Dulé Hill never fail to entertain. The fight in the bathroom was over the top in the best possible ways and Timothy Omundson can pull on the heart strings with almost ease. A must if you were a fan of the show and check out the show if you haven’t so you can enjoy this one.
8. Spiral
I know, I am shocked to. Had given up on the Saw movies after 3, and was disappointed in that one. This movie was more then just look at the elaborate traps that the series had seemed to fall into. Presenting us with an intriguing story and mystery around it, and while there were a lot of solid performances, Chris Rock is the one that sealed it for me. He excelled in his performance and should stick to the genre for a while.
7. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
This felt like the sequel that should have come out a long time ago. Cast, setting everything was spot on and future looks bright for them moving on.
6. Kate
I love this movie so much. This was such a fun movie. From the fight sequences, colors, music. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was spectacular, by making you care about a character that you know is doomed.. I actually thought it would be higher on the list, but it’s been that kind of year.
5. Cruella
They made fashion war entertaining. Took a character as vile as Cruella and made her a sympathetic hero. Not a small feat, but they managed to pull it off. Of course, having Emma Stone as Cruella, makes it so much easier for them.
4. Resident Evil: Welcome To Racoon City
The fanboy in me had an absolute blast with this. Loved the changes they made to keep those who know the story off kilter and had they not made Leon a joke. This could have been number 1.
3. The Suicide Squad
Hey look, a dark, mature Comic Book Movie that is actually fun to watch. Margot is still excels as Harley. Idris Elba and Daniela Malchior were amazing additions and can’t believe it took this long to get villain John Cena. Even Joel Kinnaman made us care about the death of Rick Flag and he was awful in the first go around.
2. Spider-Man No Way Home
What can I say that hasn’t been beaten to death the last few weeks. It has everything. Nostalgia, emotional thrill ride, excellent moments and scenes. They took you on a ride throughout and ended on a bittersweet moment. An excellent movie that nearly knocked off the number one movie.. or well movies.
1.Fear Street Trilogy
Is it a cheat putting all three of them together; maybe, but the three work so well together that I can’t ignore them. Had me on the edge of my seat and emotions swinging wildly. Characters that I couldn’t stand and swung wildly the other way and was pulling for them to make it. Cliffhangers that had escalated everything perfectly, and a reveal that was a hundred percent the opposite of what I thought I was expecting. Had me hooked and engaged and they even had great and gruesome kills. 1994, 1978, and 1666 came together and fit together seamlessly and made for a stunning story, and claims the number one spot on my list.
As always, I hope you enjoyed and….
Thank You For Reading!
Army of Thieves Review
By Paul Anthony
2021 is a very interesting because not too many years have a film that is released and then its prequel just a few months later but that is exactly what happen. We had Army of the Dead but now we have it’s prequel Army of Thieves. Now much like the first film, this film was a Netflix film. Now this film wasn’t directed by Zach Snyder which to me made it seem like it would be a improvement. This film was directed and starred Matthias Schweighofer who reprises his role as Ludwig Dieter, now in this film it is revealed that his real name is Sebastian Schlencht- Wohnert. Filming took place in Germany and the Czech Republic from October of 2020 to December 2020. Which two months seems a bit short for a movie that is just over 2 hours long. Like always let’s talk about the plot.
The film begins with Sebastian and we learn that he lives a boring life as a bank teller. But before he starts his days at the bank, he makes YouTube videos on how to crack safes. However he doesn’t get a lot of views or comments. One day, he notices that he has one comment and that comment tells him about a meet up point which he goes to and learns that it is a safe cracking challenge. At first he seems over whelmed but by the end of the night he’s very cocky but wins the challenges and learns it was a scouting mission to join a team and the teams goals are to crack the three safes that are at three different banks that were created by the Legendary Locksmith Hans Wagner. As the movie goes on Ludwig does show off his skills and begins to fall in love with the leader Gwendoline who does fall for him as well but once the mission starts to fall apart Ludwig learns that the goal of the team was once they open all three safes, they were suppose to drop him from the team. After Ludwig out runs the police and learning of the betrayal he goes home but Gwendoline reveals she doesn’t want the money but the fame of finding the missing safe was more important than the money but also as the movie goes on Ludwig start to see zombies that aren’t there, however just as things seem to be right, they get caught but Gwendoline makes sure Ludwig escapes which he does and goes to California and the rest is history.
Okay, if your going go away from a zombie heist movie to just a heist movie then you are going to have to bring more to the table which this film does not. The comedy part was a bust as well because the jokes fell flat. Not every character should have a spin off and a character that barely had lines in the first film shouldn’t have gotten their own film. We had very little character development in my eyes, so in the end I am giving it just 60 percent or a D for rating, even if you did like the first film you wouldn’t like this film.
The Ice Road Review
By Paul Anthony
As many of you guys know that me and Justin was once truck drivers and even though we aren’t truckers anymore but I can speak for myself when I say this my passion for trucks will never go away. So When I heard about The Ice Road, I just had to give it a look but then I saw the trailer and saw Liam Neeson in it, I knew I had to bump this up to the top of my list. The Ice Road is a action thriller that was written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh who also directed such films as 2004’s The Punisher and Kill the Irishman. So We know Liam Neeson is in it but he wasn’t the only big time star in this film another big name was Laurence Fishburne. The film was released on Netflix for the United States and Amazon Prime for the United Kingdom. When the film debut on Netflix it became their highest streamed movie for its opening weekend. The film was 108 minutes long. Now most critics who review the film gave it mixed reviews, well let’s take a look for ourselves!
The film basically starts with a mining accident, that leaves 26 miners trapped but time is against them because if they don’t get out they will all run out of oxygen and the carbon will kill them. At first we seethe company rush to get the help they need which will require tractor-trailers to bring part up to the mine to free the miners. This where we meet Mike(Neeson) who keeps getting fired from one job to another because he defends his brother who has PTSD and Aphasia. Now Jim Goldenrod gets handed the job to find truckers to deliver the parts which includes himself, Mike and another driver who goes by the name of Tantoo, also joining the team is Mike’s brother and a guy name Varnay who is a insurance risk assessment. As the film goes on we begin to learn that the company that owns the mine cut safety guidelines to save money which caused the explosion and they hope that the miners do in fact die because if they live they will reveal the truth and as for Varnay, he begins to mess up the trucks to prevent the team from making it to the mine. Jim is the first to die while he is trying to hook up his rig as the ice road begins to crack and Tantoo basically gets kidnapped by Varnay who turns out to be a pretty bad ass in his own right because every time Mike tries to stop him, he just gets back up for more . Finally with just one truck they get up to the mine and saves day and exposes the truth!!
Now it’s time to talk about the movie and let’s start with the plot. There wasn’t really any turns that you didn’t see coming even with Varnay. Killing Fishburne off early in the film when it seems like he would have an bigger role was a mistake in my eyes. Neeson being himself was just fine. The graphics were on the cheaper end and I expected a little better but not this. Neeson isn’t who he once was so the action was very little. In the end I am giving this movie a C or 70 percent as a review!
Fatherhood review
By Paul Anthony
When we hear Kevin Hart’s name, we know one thing and that one thing is, that the movie going to make you laugh. That statement seems to be true now for only 99 percent of his films. Over the weekend, we came across this movie fatherhood and watched it during our Father’s day weekend get away. Well we were expecting a funny movie but what we got was drama that Kevin Hart got to shine in and I must say he shine pretty damn good in. Like many films that were suppose to happen during the pandemic, this film was suppose to be released in early April of 2020 got pushed to April 2021 however it was delayed again but this time Netflix bought the rights and released it in time for Father’s Day which was perfect timing. Now the film itself was based on the 2011 memoir Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Mathew Logelin, which in the film was played by Hart. The film also stars Alfre Woodard, Frankie R Faison, Lil Rey Howery, Dewanda Wise. Now this was suppose to be a Sony release until Netflix bought the rights. Now let’s take a look at the plot of the film.
The film first starts Matt (Hart) at a funeral and then a gathering at his place and you see clearly someone died that is affecting him but we don’t who just yet. Then it flashes back and we learn that Liz, his wife was the one who had passed away. She had to have an early C-section which then was followed by pulmonary embolism. The scene of them removing Matt is a heart breaking one because all he wants to do is to be by his wife’s side and then just as her parents come to celebrate the birth of their granddaughter, Matt has to tell them about the death of their daughter, which leaves everyone heart broken and now leaves Matt as a single father. At first the family wants him to move back home because they feel it would be good for the both of them but also they don’t think Matt is mature enough to raise a daughter on his own and so the adventure begins. We see at first he struggles with it, when she cries and he tries everything to make her stop. Even with changing her, he struggles with it and during her first appointment, he learns his hard work is paying off and he is doing right. 5 years go by and it time for Maddy to go to school and of course Matt raised her to be a Tom boy of sorts. So new challenges start with that and after so many years of being single Matt then starts to date again and falls for a woman named Liz who goes by the nickname Lizzie. Things are going great for them but Matt feels he can’t do both and realize he misses Liz even more. Not to mention his job wants him to travel, which means Maddy has to go live with her grandparents for awhile. Just when he is about to leave he realizes that he can’t leave his daughter and goes and gets her and even takes her over to see lizzie so they can all be reunited again.
Some of the best parts of this film was one the story seeing the struggle of being a single father in a way that was no fault of your own and most likely not being ready because you just lost your wife as well. The story was touching though, I would love to see more of the downs to drive the point of how hard it has to be as being a single parent. Kevin Hart is the star here and going away from his comedy style of acting was a risk but a risk that paid off big time for because now it’s clear as day that he can act in more serious roles and that is great for his career. I’m not saying this movie was perfect but it came close to it. The acting was on point, no one felt out of place, the plot was a tearjerker and a reality that a lot of people face. In the end I am giving this film an A or 95 percent because this film really did touch all the soft spots.
Castlevania Season 4 Review
By: Justin Hopkins
**SPOILER WARNING**
Well, I am certainly not ready to say goodbye. As much as I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Supernatural last year. It is even more so now. It doesn’t feel like we have had enough time to have this show. Feels like not that long ago, when it clawed its way into my heart in blood soaked monsters and excellent character work. So, much more I want to see. Adventures I want to see them go on, but time to stop putting it off. With a heavy heart, lets talk about the final season.
Synopsis
Normally, I would break down the start of the show and trail off, but with so many parts, we will stick to what everyone is doing throughout and it makes all the sense in the world to start with Belmont and Sypha. Who kicks things off with a time lapse of the past six weeks. Showing them having constant fights with monsters, some of which are trying to resurrect Dracula or appease Death itself to bring him back. Worn out and taking its toil on them. Their trail leading them back to where it all began, Targoviste. A place where survivors are struggling to survive, a Royal Guard named Zamfir, who claims that the Royal Family is still alive, in an underground stronghold, but won’t take them back till she trusts them. Leaving them to wonder what is going on and why the monsters are still gathering in the ruined village. Who are being lead by Varney and Ratko. Varney, a loud mouth, who was an original member of Dracula’s Court, who will not let you forget about how important he is. Wanting to bring back Dracula, and is working with several others, such as Saint Germain. Who returned six weeks prior, after failing to find his love in the Infinite Corridor. Due to not being able to control the flow. Running into an Alchemist. Who tells him what to do. He needs to make something called a Rebis. Something that requires him to combine two souls into one, which requires sacrifice, and he chooses that to be the people of Danesti A town that has reached out to Alucard for help tp fend off the monsters. Who has been busy adding bodies to his collection in his front yard. Who agrees after a speech from the headwoman, Greta. Agreeing it would be safer to defend them at his castle, after a suggestion from Saint Germain. Being told he needed the exact spot he died, from his other partner, Hector. Who is still ensnared by Lenore, but can’t build them a night creature army, till he crafts a new hammer which he is stalling on. Which builds up tension between Carmilla who sees through this, but Lenore believes in her spell, but also, is becoming disillusioned by this plan. Seeing her rule as a Diplomat being wiped out by where this all leads, and it isn’t just her, but Morana and Striga, who are out in the battlefield, are feeling it too. Especially after a group of villagers tried in vain to fight back. Striga deals with it, but sees it first hand. That this will never be over. She would be constantly fighting and never see Morana. Little did they know, Carmilla has been working on a plan far greater than they thought. She is making plans to take the world. Then, there is Isaac. Who is starting to go through a change. Still wanting to lead the charge against Carmilla, but thinking about what kind of world he will leave behind. Having his night creatures rebuilding the village and burying the deceased he can’t reanimate as he thinks it over and that is where I will leave it for now.
Review
I am going to miss how well they treat characters. From how good they are at building up new characters like, Zamfir, who you feel so much for. That she couldn’t handle the pain of what happened. Scarred by what she saw that day and couldn’t face the fact that the Royals were gone and was grasping at whatever straws she had and was sad to see her die. Varney was built perfectly. Loudmouth that you wanted to see get their comeuppance. Hiding the twist perfectly. Had characters like Morana and Striga getting fulfilling story, along with an awesome fight scene with Striga sporting Day Armor. Had characters like Isaac, whop had a compelling story of him growing as an individual. Letting go of his rage and finding purpose in his life. Alucard finding a place in his world, and even the villagers are doing stuff in the background. Fighting back, being more than just cannon fodder. Warren Elis and all the writers did a fantastic job on the show, and the final season was no exception.
Titus Welliver did wonderful as the menacing, powerhouse Ratko. Toks Olagundoye breathed so much life into Zamfir. Marsha Thomason and Christine Adams were spot on as Greta and The Alchemist, and of course Malcom McDowell as both Varney and Death. Who did them both justice. Made Varney the despicable worm that you wanted to see smashed and the gravity and boss level threat Death is. It goes without saying that they likes of Richard Armitage. Alejandra Reynoso, and James Callis killed it as the voice acting for Belmont, Sypha and Alucard. Adetokumboh M’Cormack id great as Isaac. Along with the likes of Bill Nighy, Jessica Brown Findlay, Yasmine Al Massri, Ivana Milicevic and Jaime Murray all returning as Saint Germain, Lenore, Morana, Striga and Carmilla who knocked it out of the park and so many more who made this show awesome.
The art style and animation all looked great. From beautiful shots of scenery and backdrops, to the bloody and gore. The fights scenes were tremendous and well done. Especially, toward the end. When the fighting started and the gradual intensity of all of all of the fights, until the gorgeous fight between the fight between Belmont and Death.
Now, lets talk about the ending and what a wild ending it was. It was a twist when Varney revealed himself as the Alchemist and mind blowing when they revealed to be Death all this time. Just throwing everything about what I thought was happening up in the air and I loved it. Played to perfection and came out of nowhere. Just perfect. I didn’t mind the fact they kept Belmont alive. Wanted to see a happy ending for them, and if they weren’t killing Hector, they can’t take Belmont. Having the scene outside the castle, where they were going to build a new village felt like the right end. Where people can rebuild and move on from here.
A bit of a mixed one, is that I think we could have got a bit more with Carmilla. I liked the story they got, but feel they could have had a bit more love to it. Even just a scene of two with Carmilla, Lenore, and Hector to help build the tension between them.
One negative, the last few minutes should not have been with the resurrected Dracula and Lisa. First, they really didn’t need to be brought back and really didn’t do anything for me that they were. They should have cut to black with the main group outside of the castle.
And that brings us to the end of the review. Still not ready to say goodbye. Season 4, the final season, delivered an amazing finale for a show that I love. They gave each character a fitting ending, from major to minor, and had some great animations, performances. Carnage candy and fun fight scenes. Everything one would think when going into a show called Castlevania. Final Grade – S
As always, I hope you enjoyed and….
Thank You For Reading.
Disenchantment Season 3 Review
By: Justin Hopkins
**SPOILERS**
This season actually caught me off guard. Just everything going on, missed it till it debuted, which is good thing actually. Avoided any potential spoilers and trailers, which I normally despise anyways. They tend to give away to much information, and with a show like Disenchantment, that I have thoroughly enjoyed since the debut in 2018. Going in blind is the best way to go in my eyes. and now that I have, lets dive in an discuss the newest chapter in Disenchantments.
Synopsys
The season starts where we left off. with Bean, Luci, and Elfo at the bottom of the pit, surrounded by creatures being lead by her Mother, Dagmar, who claims that she doesn’t have anything diabolical planned and wants to start over. Bean isn’t buying it, but has to play along for the time. Meanwhile, back in Dreamland, believing she is dead, and Zog on his deathbed. Odval and Archdiocese, are using Derek to flip the Kingdom into what they want it to be, through Derek who is just doing what they wanted. Zog , isn’t dying though. Just going to give himself up to Pendergrast, who can’t kill him. Agrees to help him escape in a coffin, but Pendergrast is killed by the Archdruidess and buries Zog alive. While, Bean discovers that Dagmar is lying to her. Is captured trying to escape and locked away with Leavo. They make it out, without Leavo and she tries to tick the Trogs by dressing like Dagmar and almost gets away with it, but Zog who was incidentally saved by the burrowing Trogs. Before they get their hands on them, they run in front of crystals and is uncovered to be their Saviors. Forcing Dagmar to retreat and they got out. Returning to Dreamland, where Zog was reinstalled as the King, but he is slowly losing his mind due to his time spent buried alive. Doesn’t even remember what Odval and the Archdruidess did to him, but Tiabeanie has some suspicions, which are heightened by finding Pendergrast’s body. Finds a gun in Ordval’s office, but at the wedding, The Archdruidess is ousted as the murderer, and escapes. Leaving Bean and Elfo to chase her down. Leaving Luci to stay behind to take care of Zog, and where I will leave it for now.
REVIEW
This show just keeps getting better. The story moves quick and keeps you hooked throughout. Building up questions and suspense throughout. What is with the Secret Society, Family Curse, The Archdruidess and Steamland the constant threat that is Dagmar, while creatively bringing back things from the past, like Big Joe and The Ogres from the first episode and their grudge with Elfo. Weaving jokes throughout that had me laughing from the jump, with episodes packed with emotions, like you would come to find from a Groening project and all done perfectly.
The characters are still just a blast. Whether, it’s going back and forth with her Mom, opening up with Mora or trying to be there for her Dad and Dreamland, Tia remains the best part of the show, which is impressive with the likes of Luci around. Love seeing Bean continue to grow as a character while maintaining what makes her fun. Way she takes charge and takes on the world head on, but when the pressure is on, still suffers from Self-Doubt. Still seeking her place in the world. What started out as amusing descent into madness with Zog turns sad as it becomes clear that he isn’t just going to shake it off.
They got so many questions and situations building almost have to treat them as a topic of their own and we got to start with Dagmar, who is turning into a fantastic antagonist. The end of bringing Bean to be married to what appears to be a demon may have come across as a massive shock, but she mentioned a Demon Debt that was overdue in Season two’s opener. Always feels like a legit threat when she appears and wonder if she is hoping from one prophecy to another or if she keeps circling back to the same one and keeps manipulating Bean back to where she needs her to be, in a long con? What happened in Dreamland and the elves and the curse on the family? Everything about Odval and we still haven’t learned who is Elfo’s Mom, but have a feeling by the end that we are about to find out and got Luci in heaven and Bean being able to utilize magic and who is the broom woman? It seems like a lot, but they have done a great job in building up all of them and am in anticipation of where they are going.
The voice acting is incredible as always. Abbi Jacobson is fantastic as Bean and could listen to her and Sharon Horgan’s Dagmar argue with each other for an entire season and not get tired of it. Meredith Hagner was a fun addition of Mora and hope that she comes back at some point. Just everyone involved though, knocks it out of the park. You got Nat Faxon and Eric Andre who know there characters so well and capture them so well. You got legends in the form of Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche and the Queen Tress MacNeille and so many others all just did great work. Round of applause to everyone involved.
I don’t really have much in the way of negative things to say. My complaints from season 2 were jokes that went to long and Elfo, but neither of them were problems here. Jokes were great and Elfo was fun and character had a lot of depth here. Small complaints might be that it would have been nice to see a bit of a good ending, since it’s the third bad ending for the trio and wouldn’t have complained about something being answered, but it definitely got me hooked for a fourth season.
This is getting an A Plus from me. This was a great addition to a what has been an overall great show and one that I could easily recommend to anyone. Just checks all the boxes for a show I want and can’t ask for anything more.
As always, I hope you enjoyed and…
Thank You For Reading.
SmashWriting 
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