Venom: Had Potential but the Pacing and Tone Ruin it.

When talking with people about Venom, most of them call it “a turd in the wind” a quote from the movie.
But is the film really that terrible?
Well, no… but it is still bad.
Venom never gets terrible, however, it does get pretty cringe-worthy at times and the pacing and tone really takes the film’s potential and throws it away.
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the Venom stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a washed up journalist who, after trying to get dirt on CEO of the Life Foundation Carlton Drake, played by Rhiz Ahmed, ends up with the symbiote Venom taking control of his body.
This results in Drake trying to retrieve his “property” and Eddie and Venom having to work together to survive.
For what is worth, the film does start off pretty promising with great set-up for the symbiotes and Eddie’s backstory.

venom opening scene — The opening scene sets *Venom* up well, with a gripping look at what certain symbiotes can do.

However, the problems of the film quickly become apparent with its tone and pacing.
The film sporadically changes from a comedic film to a horrifying film.
These two tones do not mix well at all and the jokes can get pretty cringe inducing.
One of these “jokes” provides probably the most uncomfortable kissing scene I have ever seen put to film.
But I will admit, even though the comedy sections do not work at all, the horror sections are actually done well and do a good job at creeping you out.
The real thing that brings this film down is its pacing issues.
Scenes go by way too fast, making it very hard to get any emotion out of them.
There were numerous instances where I saw a chance for an emotional moment only the scene went by so fast I did not feel anything.
It felt like scenes with certain characters should have been cut all together to make these scenes go longer.
Chief among these characters is Drake, who is the most boring and cliche villain since Steppenwolf from Justice League.
I will say though that some of the actions scenes, excluding the ending one, and the interactions between Venom and Eddie are good.
However, this is once again brought down by the pacing because, although their interactions were fun, Venom and Eddie’s friendship progresses way too fast and I never bought Venom’s reasoning for helping Eddie.

Venom and Eddie. — Venom and Eddie have great interactions but, given the fact that the main story of the film takes place in a little over two days, the progression of their friendship does not feel realistic or earned.

The thing that drove the nail in the coffin for deciding this was a bad movie and not an average one was the ending action sequence.
This was an absolute mess of a scene with horrible CGI and direction, resulting in me not being able to tell what was going on.
All of this is a real shame because I can definitely see the potential Venom has.
It starts off strong, the interactions between Venom and Eddie are fun and some of the action scenes are enjoyable.
However, numerous things like the pacing, tonal inconsistencies, terrible villain and ending action sequence drag this down.
At the end of the day Venom is a bad film but not the worst thing I have seen this year.

The Dragon Prince Season One: Enjoyable but also Frustrating.

Watching The Dragon Prince was a frustrating experience for me.
I find it disappointing whenever I watch a show that has the potential to be something great but there are just too many things holding it back from achieving that greatness.
This was how I felt when watching The Dragon Prince.
Created by Aaron Ehaz, one of the head writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Justin Richmond, the series is set in a fantasy world where elves and humans are at war, after humans were kicked out of elven lands for committing dark magic.
Years later, the humans have killed the Dragon King and supposedly the Dragon Prince, which results in moonshadow elf assassins being sent to kill king of the humans King Harrow (voiced by Luc Roderique) and his son Prince Ezran (Sasha Rojen).
However, one of these elves, Rayla (Paula Burrows), Ezran and his step-brother Callum (Jack De Sena) discover the Dragon Prince is still alive in its egg so set out on a quest to return it and stop the war.
I will get my positives out of the way first.
The strongest parts of The Dragon Prince were by far the world it sets up and its characters.
During the first two episodes the story does seem like the fantasy world it is set in is fairly generic, however, this quickly changes after these episodes.
From episode three onwards, the show develops a complex and interesting world of magic that I really appreciated.

Moonshadow Elf — In episode three we get our first look at what the moonshadow elves are capable of and its nothing short of amazing.

As I said, the characters were another standout.
The three leads are all very likeable, with my favourite of the bunch being Rayla who grew on me rather quickly.
Callum and Ezran are also very likeable and Ezran’s pet glow toad Bait is a fun character as well.
Even better, the side characters manage to stand out too.
My favourites of these side characters were definitley Claudia (Racquel Belmonte) and Amaya.
Claudia, although technically being a villain, was incredibly likeable and funny, and Amaya is a tough but easy to like character who is actually deaf.
The writers are clearly great at giving us empowered disabled characters.
First there was Toph in Avatar, now there is Amaya in The Dragon Prince.

Amaya is an example of how to do diversity right.

Another thing I loved about The Dragon Prince was how often it brought up more adult themes for an animated show aimed at a younger audience.
It really challenges its viewers and sets up interesting questions.
However, while this is all great, as I stated, there were numerous things that held this series back for me.
I will start with the problem everyone is talking about and that is the animation.
The animation style suits this show perfectly, in my opinion, but the problem is they clearly did not have the budget for it.
The frame rate in some of these scenes are abysmal, especially the moments where not much action is happening.
For the most part the action scenes were all animated well but, when it came to character interaction, I got pulled out of the moment so many times because of how choppy it all looked.
The first two episodes are especially awful when it comes to their animation, but, fortunately, the animation does get better as the show goes on and there is the rare case of a truly magnificent shot.
Despite The Dragon Prince’s animation problems, it does look like the creators want to fix this issue in future seasons, based off interviews, which is good.
But, I also had problems with the story as well.
The story could get pretty predictable with what was going to happen at times.
For example, there is a very obvious twist that has not been revealed yet but I am 99% sure I have already guessed.

Then there is the problem with the structure of certain narratives.
One episode consists of Callum wondering if he can trust Raylah but this should have been addressed much earlier because we had already seen them work together quite well, making the conflict pointless.
Finally, there were certain plot points in the final episode that rubbed me the wrong way.
One major plot is resolved in a deus ex machina that felt kind of lazy since it was never set-up and a character is revealed to have a certain ability that comes literally out of nowhere.
This all led to The Dragon Prince being a very enjoyable but highly frustrating first season for me.
There were so many amazing things about the show but there were also numerous problems with it.
I will say though that I am looking forward to the next season because I really like the characters and story.
Here’s to hoping they can fix the issues with the show when it gets its second season.

WARNING! Potential Spoilers: I think the obvious twist that was set-up is that King Harrow got turned into his bird. I may be wrong about this but, if I am not, I wish they had revealed it in the first season because it was very easy to guess.

BoJack Horseman Season One Presents an Unlikable yet Surprisingly Sympathetic Main Character.

I have heard a lot of good things about BoJack Horseman over the years in terms of its emotional power.
The main thing I hear people talking about when they reference this show is not its comedy or animation but its heart and, after watching season one, I can definitely see why.
Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, BoJack Horseman is set in a world where animals are just as evolved as humans and thus live side by side with them.
The titular protagonist of the series is BoJack Horseman (voiced by Will Arnett), a has-been actor who, after his popular sitcom Horsin’ Around, quickly descended into a spiral of narcissism, self hatred, and loneliness.
BoJack has been hoping for his big break into Hollywood again so is trying to write a book about himself but, when he proves to lazy to do so, the company publishing his book hires Diane (voiced by Alison Brie) to be his ghostwriter.
What follows is both a funny and very emotional story about the effects stardom can have on a person… or horse in this case.

Bojack drunk.jpg — Season one details the effects stardom has had on BoJack in a very interesting way.

What I especially liked about Bojack Horseman was how the main character himself was portrayed.
BoJack is an unlikable character because of his selfish and sometimes cruel actions but the thing is you are not supposed to like him.
So many shows like Family Guy present unlikable characters and expect you to root for them after their horrible actions.
BoJack Horseman, however, does not do this.
The audience is supposed to dislike BoJack and this allowed the writers to branch off from this unlikable nature to show BoJack’s vices is affecting.
This allowed BoJack to, once again not be likeable, but sympathetic, even after all he did throughout that first season.
The final two episodes of the season highlighted this very well, with the season finale leaving me feeling immensely reflective.
These episodes are by far the best of the season.

Bojack Horseman final episodes 1 — The endings to the last episodes of the season “Downer Ending” and “Later” really got to me on an emotional level.

The series also does a great job of highlighting real world issues and topics that may not be as relevant anymore but were big problems in the old days of Hollywood.
The other characters, aside from BoJack, are handled just as well as him and serve to highlight the show’s themes and BoJack’s arc as well.
Another thing I liked about the show was its humor.
While I did find a few of the jokes to be hit or miss, whenever the show made a joke about the animals that live in this world as people it was often comedic gold.
The one big problem I have with the show is its first few episodes because this is before we are given insight into BoJack as a character so all we see of him is his selfish and cruel nature, which does not offer much investment.
Since so much of this show revolves around BoJack’s arc this makes these first few episodes kind of a drag to sit through but, once it starts getting into why BoJack is the way he is, the show gets a lot better.
Overall, the first season of BoJack Horseman was a great start that has me intrigued about the other seasons.
It turned an unlikable main character sympathetic and I love that because it is not an easy thing to do, but this show achieved it.

Spider-Man PS4: As Good a Movie as it is a Game.

Going into Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4, I did not expect to like the story as much or more than the gameplay but that is exactly what happened.
This is because Spider-Man is not only the best game about the titular web swinger but one of the best movies about him as well.
If you were to just watch the cut scenes and not play the game it would be just as satisfying with its gripping and emotional story.
Developed by Insomniac Games, The game has, in my opinion, the best portrayal of Peter Parker (Yuri Lowenthal) and Mary Jane Watson (Laura Bailey) ever put to screen.
Even better than the ones in all the movie adaptations.

parker and mj — Lowenthal and Bailey are both fantastic in their roles as Peter Parker and Mary Jane with great chemistry to boot.

The basic story sees an older Peter struggling to keep his life as Spider-Man and Peter Parker separate as he works as a scientist, while trying to save New York from a series of villains old, new and familiar.
One thing that really surprised me about the story was how emotionally investing it was.
I did not expect to cry in a Spider-Man game and yet I did here.
The gameplay is fantastic as well, with the swinging mechanics being the true standout.
The game gives you the option to fast travel but I can guarantee that you will barely use it based on how fun it is to swing around New York.
Speaking of, the Big Apple itself is a fully realised open world that really feels alive with its structure, NPCs and numerous side missions, most of which are pretty good.
The fighting mechanics are also very enjoyable, being reminiscent of the Batman Arkham games but with a few tweaks unique to Spider-Man.

gameplay spiderman — The fighting and stealth mechanics in *Spiderman* are great with the various webbing attacking being a standout.

The game gives you numerous gadgets and suits to help in these fights, which can be upgraded in a good use of the system.
This all leads to some fun boss fights, especially during the last act of the game.
There are a few quick time events here and there but these are spaced out and do not break the flow of the gameplay.
A few criticisms I have of the gameplay though is that sometimes the camera did not work too well in the fight sequences and there were a few minor glitches.
As for the story, the only problems I had with that was that the characters seemed to take things like their friends becoming super villains a little too well.
Otherwise, Spider-Man is an amazing game with both a fantastic story and gameplay.
It sets up a sequel as well and I hope we get it.

Attack on Titan’s Spoiler Fueled Community is a Problem.

This is a rant.
I love Attack on Titan but I really dislike the community that is its fandom.
This is because the Attack on Titan fandom is one of the most spoiler fueled I have ever seen.
Never before have I been spoiled again and again before a twist was revealed or a character died.
I have been thinking about making a post about this problem for a while but I always held back because I did not want to feel like I was unnecessarily complaining about a few bad eggs.
However, I just had a “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment today when I looked at a comment on my review of Attack on Titan season three, episode 10, “Friends”.
In my review, I spoke about my curiosity as to who the Beast Titan could be, however, when I looked at that comment the huge reveal surrounding his identity was spoiled for me.
The person who commented on my review was a troll who sought to spoil me and anyone who just so happened to read the review as they spoiled the Beast Titan’s identity.
This is not an isolated incident either because I have seen numerous instances of trolls trying to ruin future reveals and deaths in Attack on Titan by spoiling them for anime only fans.
One such case involved a troll posting a comment that contained major spoilers five times in the comment section of one YouTube video.
The reason I am so sick of this is because this is just one of many upcoming reveals I have been spoiled on.
This is the reason why I plan to read the manga after season three finishes.
To give you an idea on how bad this is, here is a list of all the major upcoming events in Attack on Titan I have been spoiled on.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

Bertholdt dies and Armin becomes the Colossal Titan.
Ymir dies.
There will be a four year time skip.
Sasha dies.
Historia gets pregnant.
And the straw that broke the camel’s back for me, the Beast Titan is actually Eren’s brother… thanks a lot elia for spoiling that for me.

I am not saying that every single time I got spoiled here was because there was a troll trying to ruin the fun because sometimes it was due to a mistake or my own fault.
However, that being said, the number of trolls spoiling it for people is more numerous than any fandom I have come across.
I personally find it pretty pathetic that someone has to find fun in ruining the experience of the show for people but this is not going to stop me from enjoying the show.
Even though I have been spoiled on a lot of future reveals, I still do not know how these will play out and there are still many more reveals I have not been spoiled on.
I am going to enjoy Attack on Titan, spoilers be damned.
However, I would advise any fan of the anime, not currently caught up with the manga like me, to avoid the Attack on Titan community until they have done so because, with the state things are in, you will inevitably be spoiled.

Attack on Titan: Season 3, episode 10, Friends review – What a cliffhanger!

Spoiler Free Review:

Attack on Titan is killing it this season with the latest episode, “Friends”, being another in a long line of great episodes.
“Friends” details the backstory of Kenny in a way that makes his character much more interesting and goes even further by expanding the world of the Reiss family.
This flashback is easily one of the series’ best, delivering great emotional scenes and character development.
The friendship the episode is named for, between Kenny and another character, provides some excellent level of depth.
The animation especially helps expand these scenes, with the level of details in the eyes really standing out compared to animation of the previous seasons.
However, although I did love this this flashback sequence, I will admit it did raise a plot hole for me about what a certain character was trying to accomplish.
This did not ruin the flashback for me, as I stated it is one of the series’ best, but it was still very noticeable.
After this flashback the rest of the episode is just as good, with plenty of emotional and funny moments and one scene that had me literally applauding.
The best part of this episode though, is undoubtedly its ending, which delivers what I believe to be the best cliffhanger of the entire series so far.
It has me eagerly excited for what is coming in the upcoming Beast Titan arc.
Overall, Friends was another fantastic episode of Attack on Titan.
My only big problem with it was the plot hole it generated.
It is my third favourite episode of season three, behind “Wish” and “Pain”.

Spoiler Review:

If you are very quiet, you can hear Attack on Titan fans the world over shouting, “Oh my god! They killed Kenny!”
South Park references aside, I was saddened by the death of Kenny this episode.
He is a very entertaining character and I wish he had been given more.
I wanted to see him interact with other characters like Mikasa since they come from the same family.
However, even so, I still found his death to be rather poignant and was a great way for his arc to end.
The flashback that establishes his motives before his death was very well handled, especially when it came to his friendship with Uri Reiss.
Watching how Kenny went from trying to assassinate Uri to becoming close friends with him was very interesting to see and added a new level of depth to Kenny.
It was their friendship that led Kenny to want to try and obtain the Founding Titan’s powers, not just so he could be a king, but also out of interest of how it would change him.
Then there was his history with Levi, which was also explained.
Kenny rescued Levi from starving to death after his mother died and taught him how to survive, before abandoning him to fend for himself.
This is where I found a plot hole in the story because this does not explain why Kenny wanted to kill Levi so much.
He seemed eager to kill him in previous episodes and yet, after learning their entire history, this does not make sense.
Kenny clearly cared for Levi, otherwise he would not have given him the skills to survive, so it does not make sense for him to want to kill him.
This did not kill the flashback for me but it stuck out like a sore thumb.
However, although I did not like this plot hole I loved the scene where Kenny and Levi first meet.
Kenny learns that Kuchel did not give Levi the last name of Ackermann because she did not want him to be persecuted so Kenny continues her wish and does not reveal their last name or their connection.
It was another fantastic moment of development for him before his death.
Speaking of, as I stated his death was rather poignant and what I believe to be a perfect way for him to go out, with him and Levi almost having some form of reconciliation.
After this, Historia was finally crowned queen in a very powerful scene that had me clapping with joy.
My applause turned to laughter in the following scene where Historia tried to punch Levi, only for it to not even hurt him, which does not stop her friends from looking amazed anyway.
We even got a great moment from Levi here because he smiled for the first time in the series, if you do not count the OVAs that is.
But then we got the best scene of the episode, the cliffhanger.
And what a cliffhanger it was.
We see Reiner and Bertholdt in Shiganshina where it looks like Reiner was training with the Beast Titan for the coming battle.
This scene proved just how much of a threat the Beast Titan is because he managed to beat Reiner supposedly very easily.
Along with this we also got a pretty good look at the Beast Titan’s controller himself.
I do not know who he is but he looks to be a very intriguing villain and I cannot wait to see how he plays into the next arc.
This is, in my opinion, the best cliffhanger of the series because it sets up the next arc very well and also has me excited for what the Beast Titan will be doing in the future.
Along with this, it was good to see Reiner and Bertholdt again.
One of the big problems I have with Attack on Titan is disappearing characters.
So many characters have had to leave the story for plot reasons and some of these characters are gone way too long.
The worst offender by far is Annie, who has been gone so long I do not really care about her anymore.
I do not fault any of the episodes for this, this is just a problem I am having with the series overall.
Thankfully Reiner and Bertholdt have returned and hopefully Ymir will be back soon as well.
Friends was another amazing episode of Attack on Titan.
If it had not been for the plot hole it would have been perfect.

Predictions:

Kenny gave Levi the Titan serum in his final moments and I am certain that this will come back in some important way. Maybe in the next arc.
It looks like we will be learning more about Grisha next episode, which should be exciting. We see a younger version of himself in the preview.
The preview explicitly states that Grisha’s story will come from somebody else and I am pretty sure it will be Keith Shadis, the instructor of the 104th Cadet Corps from season one, because the first shot of the preview is of him and you can see him briefly when Eren experiences Grisha’s memories in Sin.

Avatar: The Last Airbender getting live-action Netflix adaptation. Yip-yip-YIPEE!

Around 10 months ago, I created a post titled “11 ways to make a good Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation.”
In that post I detailed everything I felt 2010’s The Last Airbender did wrong, in comparison with the fantastic Nickelodeon cartoon it was based on, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and how to fix these problems in a new adaptation.
I stated my hope that one day the series would get another live-action adaptation but found it to be highly unlikely, based on the tremendous disaster that was M. Night Shyamalan’s adaptation.
However, today I learned, much to my shock and excitement, that I was 100% wrong in that statement.
This is because it has been revealed that Netflix will be adapting Avatar: The Last Airbender in live action with the original show’s creators, Michael DiMartino and Brian Konietzko, at the helm as executive producers.
When I heard this I was literally cheering because not only does it appear that Avatar: The Last Airbender may finally get the treatment it deserves in live-action, but it also appears that DiMartino and Konietzko are aiming to fix the numerous problems we all had with The Last Airbender.
Many of the things I mentioned that had to be fixed in my “11 ways to make a good Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation” post seem to be top priorities for the creators as well.
Three of the big points I raised in that post about what a new adaptation would need in order to be good were that it had to be a series and not a movie, had to be helmed by people who respect the original series and the adaptation had to stay true to the character’s races and cultures.
Well, not only is the adaption going to be a series on Netflix that is being made by the original creators who obviously respect the show, but it also looks like they will fix the whitewashing seen in Shyamalan’s adaptation.
The pair addressed this head on stating, “we can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building.”
This quote from the pair has very positive implications towards where this new adaption is heading.
Not only will it aim to represent the characters accurately but it also aims to build upon the show, hopefully in ways that do not contradict the original in a negative way.
It has also been revealed that the show will begin production in 2019 and when it will actually air on Netflix is anyone’s guess.
While some people are skeptical about this, I for one remain hopeful and very optimistic towards its quality.
That is not to say that I wholeheartedly believe this show will be good because its release date is very far off and a lot could go wrong between now and then.
But it will be a series, the right people are behind the project and they are aiming to fix the mistakes of the past.
I cannot wait to see the adventures of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Iroh and all the others, in live-action.

Attack on Titan: Season three, episode nine, Ruler of the Walls review – Prepare to vomit.

Spoiler Free Review:

Another day, another fantastic Attack on Titan episode.
Season three has been killing it so far with numerous great episodes and the latest one “Ruler of the Walls” is no exception.
It had intense action, great character moments and by far the most disgusting scene of the entire series so far.
Seriously, do not watch this episode after eating lunch or prepare to vomit.
As for the intense action it was truly great to see the characters go up against Rod Reiss’ massive Titan.
This intensity was helped exponentially with the fantastic blend of CGI and hand drawn animation.
Not only this but the fantastic character moments also helped to improve the action, with Eren and Historia once again being the standouts.
Eren sure has grown a lot in season one and I am loving it.
I actually hated his character in that first season but looking at how he has grown I can see how his portrayal there really worked to build up his arc for the past two seasons.
Historia also had another great scene where she proved her worth both as a soldier and queen.
She is officially in my top five favourite characters now.
Then there was the music, which as per usual was amazing.
One particular score that was of note was a revamped version of “Barricades”, which stood out in a great way.
As for the ending, “Ruler of the Walls” ends on a typical Attack on Titan cliffhanger but one that has me intrigued for what has to come, especially with the preview for the next episode.
“Ruler of the Walls” was an almost perfect episode, but there were a few things that held it back for me.
There was one scene that did feel a bit out of place as it should have been shown earlier.
Along with this, during the climactic action sequence it felt like some of the characters were lacking urgency and too calm about things, which given the situation is pretty ridiculous.
But this does not change the fact that “Ruler of the Walls” is another fantastic episode for the series.

Spoiler Review:

“Ruler of the Walls” kicks off with Erwin and Hange’s plan to stop Rod’s massive Titan form from destroying Orvud District.
From there the story exploded into absolute insanity as the climactic final battle between Rod and the army began.
The extremely disgusting imagery that might cause people to vomit I mentioned in the spoiler free review came with the way Rod’s Titan form looked.
Due to this Titan being so massive, it could only drag itself along the ground causing it to rip its face off and belly open, exposing its brain and intestines.
While, this was incredibly disgusting, it also led to a great call back to the first episode of the series, “To you in 2000 Years”.
This was where three kids watched in horror as Rod’s Titan appeared, just like Eren, Mikasa and Armin did when the Colossal Titan first showed up.
However, as Eren pointed out, this was completely different because this time they had soldiers to protect them.
Speaking of Eren, I loved his growth this episode.
I particularly liked how he brought up that he had no problem realizing he could become a Titan in the first season.
This was one of the big problems I had with Eren in that season because he had no problem being a Titan, despite hating them.
However, this episode resolved that with Eren explaining he did not question it because he felt he was special but has since grown from that and accepted his true role.
This showed the extent to Eren’s growth from that first episode and I loved it.
Then there was Historia, who delivered the final blow to Rod, killing her own father.
This moment was not only beautifully shot but really showed who Rod was because Historia seemed to temporarily view some of his memories.
I really liked this because it shows that Rod was not a bad person, he was just doing what he thought was right… even though what he was doing was the complete opposite.
The episode ends with Levi confronting the fatally injured Kenny, who has stolen some Titan serum.
I really hope Kenny does not die because he is already such an intriguing character and very entertaining.
As for the negative aspect of the episode, I felt like the flashback where Eren tried to control Rod with his Coordinate power should have come in the previous episode rather than this one.
Still, “Ruler of the Walls” was a fantastic episode and potentially in the top ten best.

Predictions:

Next episode it looks like we will finally get into the backstory of Levi and Kenny’s connection, which I have wanted to see when Kenny was introduced.
It looks like the main focus though, will be on the friendship between Kenny and Uri Reiss, Rod’s brother. Based on Kenny’s flashback in this episode this looks to be very interesting because it looks like Kenny was trying to kill Uri because he had a knife in his hand.

The Predator: Good one minute, atrocious the next.

Predator is a fantastic 80s action film and its two follow ups, while nothing spectacular, were solid and enjoyable for what they were.
2018’s The Predator, however, not so much.
The film stars Boyd Holbrook as Quinn McKenna, a soldier who encounters a Predator, which results in him and his family being targeted by both the Predators and shady government organization.
He then enlists a ragtag team of crazed soldiers to save his family and stop the Predators.
You would think since this film was directed by Shane Black, who played Hawkins in the first film and thus has knowledge of how a Predator movie should be, that The Predator would be in good hands.
Well, based on the first half hour of the film, it would seem so.
I was genuinely enjoying The Predator for what it is, a cheesy action flick, during this time.
However, when the huge Predator is introduced, the film quickly goes downhill and never recovers.

CG Predator — As soon as the big Predator appears with his terrible CGI the film goes from enjoyable to awful.

Everything from that point onwards was atrocious.
The only good thing about the movie were a few jokes that got a chuckle out of me and the audience but, otherwise, this movie was a mess.
The film goes at an incredibly fast pace giving you no time to care about the characters, and the CGI for the large Predator and its dogs were awful.
Worst of all is how undeniably bad the story gets.
It goes from the good kind of cheesy with the first half hour of the film, to facepalming levels of bad.
The portrayal of the Predator dogs were new levels of embarrassing.

terrible predator dudes.jpg — the Predator dogs not only looks awful but are terribly integrated into the story.

Then there was the way the Predators themselves are treated, which is especially bad because it over complicates them.
The thing that made the Predators scary in the older movies was that they hunted humans for sport, which showed how little we were to them.
The Predator, however, changes their reasoning, demystifying them.
Characters motivations are vague at best, the action has no tension because we do not care about anyone, and the heights this movie goes to are borderline ridiculous.
This all culminates in an absolutely awful ending, reminiscent of Independence Day: Resurgence, an ending that should never be strived for.
If there were any good things about The Predator, it would once again be that first half hour.
It is nothing special, but is enjoyable and delivers some interesting action and a few laughs.
Everything after that fails on every level.
This is one reboot that should have been deactivated.

The Walking Dead deals with real world politics in Issue 183.

WARNING: Major spoilers for the issue.

The Walking Dead goes to interesting places both figuratively and literally in the latest Issue 183, titled “And Michonne Without her Sword”.
The issue sees Michonne witness police brutality at the hands of the Commonwealth soldiers, which results in the death of a civilian.
The Walking Dead has been going for a political storyline since the Commonwealth was introduced but this is the first time it has brought up a current, real world, political issue.
I cannot claim to know much about the subject but from the news I have seen police brutality is a very controversial subject in America so to see this being implemented into The Walking Dead is certainly interesting.
It makes this most recent issue all the more relevant, although I do feel like some of the events went by too fast.
It went from witnessing the police brutality, to a peaceful protest, to a riot in just a few pages, which was very abrupt.
I wish this had been established in previous issues and this one just built off that but that does not mean what we got was not good.
I think Robert Kirkman handled the subject very well and it offered even more insight into the flawed political system of The Commonwealth.
Lance orders Michonne to defend the soldiers because he does not want their system to be undermined.
In a real world scenario, this would be a rather disgusting thing to order, considering a man died but since this is the apocalypse and the collapse of The Commonwealth’s political system could be disastrous it makes the situation more complex.
The other interesting event of the issue saw Michonne and Elodie go to the community of Greenville.
There they met its leader Cloris, who definitely looks to be on Pamela’s side when it comes to political ideas because she criticizes Michonne for giving expensive food to poorer people.
The discussion of political topics in this issue was very well done and it being current certainly made it more interesting than previous issues.
One criticism I do have is the scene where Michonne and Elodie are on their way to Greenville with the soldier Jerome, the one who would later beat the man, Anthony Keith, to death.
In this scene, Jerome is surrounded by zombies, forcing Michonne to save him.
My problem here lies in how Jerome got surrounded as it seemed very contrived and just another way to put in some pointless action.
Otherwise though, “And Michonne Without her Sword” was a really good issue that looks to have some interesting implications for the future because it ends with Rick arriving at the Commonwealth just as the riot begins.
I cannot wait to see what his reaction will be.