My Top 10 Movies of 2017

2017 was quite a year for movies.
Many of the films that year were not just good, they were fantastic and are films I will find myself re-watching for years to come.
So, I thought it would be best if I did a top 10 list of my favourite films of the year.
However, keep in mind that some movies like Ladybird will not be on this list because I have not seen them.
As for other critically praised movies like The Shape of Water, I live in New Zealand and that came out in January here, instead of in December of last year, so I do not count it as a 2017 movie.
Also, this is my own personal opinion and if you do not like the movies I mention or disagree with my placings that is fine.
Be sure to let me know what your favourite films of 2017 were.
Now enough chit chat and let’s start with number 10.

10. Wind River

Wind River was written by Taylor Sheridan, the person who wrote Sicario and this clearly shows as you can see Sheridan’s personal input and feel in the movie.
Wind River is about U.S Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert, played by Jeremy Renner, who discovers the dead body of a teenage girl.
FBI agent Jane Banner, Elizabeth Olsen, is called in to assist on the murder investigation and the two work together to track down the killer.
Wind River has a dramatic sense of realism to it, making it all the more disturbing since things like this actually happen.
Renner gives the best performance I have seen him give as Lambert, who is struggling with his own past as he suffered a tragedy similar to the one of the murdered girl.
The other actors also give solid performances in a movie that really gets you thinking about the injustices in the world.
Wind River is the most realistic and disturbing murder investigation movie I have seen in a while.

9. The Big Sick

Romantic comedies are not my cup of tea so imagine my surprise when I found myself enjoying The Big Sick.
The movie is directed by Michael Showalter and stars Kumail Nanjiani as himself.
It is based on the story of how Nanjiani met his wife Emily, played by Zoe Kazan and the struggles they faced due to Nanjiani’s fear of his disappointing his family and a strange sickness that begins to affect Emily.
First of all, this movie is very funny.
There are many laugh out loud moments, like when Nanjiani suffers an emotional breakdown at a fast food drive-in.
Another highlight is Ray Romano who plays Emily’s dad, Terry Gardener.
Romano is just as funny as Nanjiani and the two share some great scenes together.
Above all else though, the movie is heartwarming and left me feeling good by the end of it.
The Big Sick is a really funny film that made me appreciate romantic comedies a little more.

8. The Disaster Artist

the disaster artist.jpg
Directed by and starring James Franco as Tommy Weisau, The Disaster Artist centers around the true story of the making of the greatest worst movie ever made, The Room.
Franco plays the mysterious Tommy (a person so larger than life you could swear he was made up just for this film) as he sets off with his friend Greg Sestero, played by David Franco, to make a movie and become famous.
I have grown to respect The Disaster Artist the more I think about it because, even though it is about the making of a terrible film, it is still oddly inspiring.
Franco is fantastic as Wiseau and it actually feels like you are watching the man himself when you see his performance.
This movie just gets more fascinating and funny as it goes along, due to the various outrageous things that are shown to have happened on set.
And just like The Big Sick, only more so, the ending of The Disaster Artist left me grinning from ear to ear.
It is a movie that any fan of The Room needs to see.

7. Dunkirk

dunkirk
Dunkirk is considered by many to be one the best films of 2017.
The reason it is not higher on my list is because I found it kind of hard to get into during the first half because of the lack of character growth or personality and the timeline of the movie was confusing.
However, despite this, Dunkirk is still a very well made and investing film.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk is about the true story of the evacuation of soldiers from Dunkirk during World War Two.
This film is artfully directed, with war scenes playing out like scenes from a thriller.
The visuals and the music are also stunning.
Hans Zimmer’s score for this film is the best one all year.
Dunkirk only gets better and better as it goes along, until it all ends in a climactic and thrilling finale that had me on the edge of my seat.
If I had not had a problem with Dunkirk’s characters or timeline then this would have easily been in the top five best movies of the year.

6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This movie left a lot of people divided on whether it was good or not and, I will admit, I do like it less than when I first saw it and can understand why some people hate it.
However, that being said, I still think The Last Jedi is a great film that continued on from The Force Awakens’ success.
Directed by Rian Johnson the film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver, among others.
It follows directly after The Force Awakens with Rey (Ridley) meeting Luke Skywalker (Hamill), only to learn he is not exactly the man she thought he was.
What follows is a film full of great and memorable moments that get an unexpected level of hate from some fans.
I can understand why a fan of Star Wars might find the choices in this movie to be stupid or underwhelming but I just do not see it that way.
I love the choices this movie made and it all works perfectly with the theme of letting the past die for a new generation.
If you did not like The Last Jedi then that is fine but I personally loved this movie and I cannot wait to see the next installment.

5. IT

As a fan on the novel by Stephen King, I think that It is one of the best adaptations we have had in years.
Directed by Andy Muschietti and based off King’s book, It is about a shape shifting entity known as It, which preys on children in the town of Derry, Maine.
It’s favourite form is that of the killer clown Pennywise, played brilliantly by Bill Skasgard.
After a boy named Georgie is taken by It, his brother Bill, played by Jaeden Lieberher, leads his friends of The Losers’ Club to take down It and save his brother.
It is an absolutely terrifying film, filled with killer clowns, creepy adults and stellar acting from its mostly child cast.
There are many memorable scares and so many subtle ones as well, making it the second best horror movie of the year, we will get to the best horror movie later.
Hopefully It Chapter 2 will be just as good, when it comes out in 2019.

4. Blade Runner 2049

I am among the small minority who do not think the first Blade Runner is a masterpiece but the new one definitely is (every movie from this point forward could be considered a masterpiece in my opinion).
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling, as replicant police officer K and Ana De Armas, as his simulated girlfriend Joi.
After a shocking discovering, K hunts for the truth surrounding his past, which could spark a civil war between replicants and humans and seeks answers from Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard.
Blade Runner 2049 is visually spectacular, with many stunning shots that are enhanced by the sci-fi music.
Not only that, but the story is engrossing with its unraveling mystery and well developed characters.
Coming in at around two hours and forty five minutes, some may find this movie a bit hard to get through, due to its slow pace but I think the movie definitely earns that slow pace.
It really is a shame that Blade Runner 2049 was one of 2017’s biggest box office bombs because it is a really good film that should not be overlooked.

3. War for the Planet of the Apes

Directed by Matt Reeves and the final part of the new Planet of The Apes trilogy, War was a fantastic way to end Caesar’s story.
Taking place years after the second movie Dawn, War follows Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, on a journey to get revenge on an insane Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson.
Both Serkis and Harrelson give fantastic performances, especially Serkis, who sadly may never be recognized for it because of the use of motion capture.
Oddly enough, there is barely any war in this film, despite the title but this does not change the fact that War is an intense ride from start to finish.
There are various haunting scenes that will leave you shocked and tearing up at what you saw.
War is the first film in the trilogy to have a primarily ape perspective and it works brilliantly.
This is enhanced by the fantastic motion capture CGI that makes the apes look incredibly lifelike.
Gripping and haunting, War for the Planet of the Apes is a real emotional ride.

2. Get Out

Get Out is the first film Jordan Peele directed but you would not know that watching it because of how great it is.
Get Out is a very confronting film about the nature of racism in America and how it did not change post Barak Obama, only it has various horror elements in it.
What puts this movie at number two though is how it only gets better every time I watch it.
There is so much excellent use of subtly and foreshadowing throughout the movie that hint at what is really going on and it is great how, even after watching it three times, I am still noticing new hints.
Then there are the characters, which are the best in a horror movie for a while.
First there is Chris, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who is a very smart protagonist and easy to root for.
Then there is his friend Rod, played by Lil Rey Howery, who literally feels like a member of the film’s audience stumbled into the movie’s story.
Rod picks on and calls out things that usual movie goers do when watching horror movies and it is incredibly funny to watch him constantly wonder why Chris is staying in this creepy house.
Get Out has a good mix of both horror and comedy and an intriguing story that left me guessing what was going on right until the climax.
It is the best horror movie of the year and the second best movie on 2017.

1. Logan

Honestly, what else was it going to be?
If you read my Logan review then you would know how much I adore this movie.
It is my favourite super hero movie, I even think it is better than The Dark Knight (unpopular opinion, I know).
Hugh Jackman stars for the final time as Logan, the battered down former hero who is caring for a very sick Charles Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart.
Logan’s plan for the two just dying changes however, when a young girl named Laura, played by Dafne Keen, crosses their path and the two have to escort her to a safe place known as Eden.
Logan is not only a fantastic super hero movie but a fantastic western as well.
In fact, it is more western than super hero movie because the themes do feel more in line with a western.
Jackman, Stewart and Keen all give fantastic performances in this film and they are not alone.
Boyd Holbrook is very charismatic as the film’s villain Donald Pierce and Stephen Merchant is sympathetic as Caliban.
The fact that these characters are all so great makes it all the more gut wrenching when bad things happen to them.
I still tear up when I watch this movie because it really does get to me.
But, even though I know this movie will hit me hard emotionally, I still find myself watching it.
Logan is a brutal, gut wrenching film that takes a close look at family, death and change.
It is without a doubt, in my mind, the best movie of 2017.

So those are my top 10 favourite films of 2017. Do you agree with me or not? What would you have chosen? Please let me know because I would be interested to see if people share my opinions or what movies they consider to be better.

Jumaji: Welcome to the Jungle is an enjoyable comedy… just don’t watch the trailers.

Jumaji: Welcome to the Jungle was a film I was looking forward to seeing since I first saw the trailers.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, The film looked funny and inventive and I wanted to see how good it was.
However, because of how busy I have been over the Holidays, I did not go to see it until very recently.
Still, were my expectations meet?
Yes… I just wish I had not watched the trailers.
If you want to watch Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, please, do not watch the trailers because 90% of the jokes from the first half of the movie are in those trailers.
I knew what I was watching was funny but it was certainly much less enjoyable because I knew the jokes were coming.
My viewing experience would have been so much better if I had not watched them.
But, aside from that, the film is pretty enjoyable.
The plot of the film is that, 20 years after the first movie, four teenagers stumble across Jumanji, which has transformed into a video game.
They start playing but are sent into the game into the bodies of the characters they were playing as, Dr Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Shelly Oberon, (Jack Black) Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart) and Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan).
They must then complete the game if they want to escape Jumanji, without losing all three lives or it is game over.
The film definitely has fun with its concept, with so many inside jokes for video gamers, but it the funniest parts of the movie are the characters themselves.
Watching a teenage nerd inside the body of Dwayne Johnson is very funny.

OOOOOOOOO — Dwayne Johnson is funny as a teenage boy stuck in a heroic adventurer’s body.

Best of all though is Bethany in the body of Jack Black’s Shelly Oberon.
Watching a beautiful, popular girl in an “overweight middle aged man’s” body led to some very funny scenarios.
The ending of the film, for me, was a highlight because of how the characters had grown through the story and the results of that.
It is not all good though because the film does have its problems.
There were some interesting areas of conflict that the film did not really go in depth with when they could have.
Also, up until the characters are transported into Jumanji, the film was not very funny and the jokes fell flat.
Then there is the villain.
He is one dimensional, boring and, since we know he is just a video game character and not a real person, he does not hold much investment.
This could be an inside joke about how one dimensional a lot of video game villains are but if it is, once again, they do not go all the way with this idea.

RusselVanPelt — Bobby Cannavale as Russel Van Pelt, the villain of the movie.

Honestly, I do not think the film needed a villain.
They could have just had the characters be attacked by random animals and bad guys and it would have played out pretty much the same.
But, even with these problems, the film is still enjoyable.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a fun time that will leave you laughing… if you have not watched the trailers.

Attack on Titan Season Two: An incredible season that fixes all of season one’s problems.

After four years of waiting, season two of Attack on Titan was released on April 1st, 2017.
I am incredibly thankful that I only got into Attack on Titan recently because I do not think I could have waited four years for season two to come along.
But if I had would the wait had been worth it?
Definitely.
Season two of Attack on Titan is absolutely incredible and easily tops the first season.
This is pretty surprising, considering season two is only 12 episodes when the previous one had 25 but somehow they did it.
I loved every minute of this season, from the first to last episode.
It takes place immediately after the season one finale, with Titans supposedly breaking through Wall Rose, lead by a Titan labelled The Beast Titan, with the characters having to figure out how to stop them.

the beast titan — The Beast Titan, one of the new threats of the show, is able to do things most Titans cannot.

This season had me sad, shocked and even disgusted at what I was seeing on multiple occasions.
The gruesome imagery is seriously expanded upon this season, which left me actually feeling sick after watching some of it.
There were also many shocking reveals that left my jaw on the floor.
Probably the best one was a twist that was revealed very offhandedly and made me wonder if I had heard it correctly.
I also came close to crying when watching this season, especially during the season finale.
These three things combined with the more streamlined pacing made for an incredibly gripping season two that had me on the edge of my seat, most of all with episode six, which was mind blowing.
Another thing I really liked was how season two flat out removed all of the problems I had with season one, that being with its characters.
In the first season I thought some of the characters like Ymir, Krista and Bertholdt were pretty forgettable and if they died I would not have cared much.
Not this season however, because all of the characters who were forgettable last season were given plenty of depth and stuff to do this season, especially Ymir.
I loved what they did with Ymir this season, with us getting to know her through her borderline romantic friendship with Krista and her backstory, which opens up some enthralling questions for the show to answer next season.
She was easily my favourite character this season, which surprised me because of how forgettable she was in the first.

I was surprised by how amazing Ymir was compared to last season. She is now one of my favourite characters.

Then there is Eren.
If you read my season one review, you know I thought Eren was a terrible main character.
He was a massive jerk to everyone and had almost no character development but here I was shocked to find they really turned his character around.
Eren was not only likeable this season but relatable as well and I hope they keep this up with him in the following seasons.
However, just because they fixed the issues the show had this season does not mean a new one did not open up.
There was one thing about this season I took issue with and that is how characters, who were important last season, did not get much screen time this season.
Jean, who was my favourite character last season, and Levi, who is a fan favourite, both found themselves shoved into the background.
They still do things, though their involvement in the story is lessened.
Besides, I do not think this issue is great enough to deduct any points from this season because of how fantastic it still was.

Attack on Titan poster — Part of the poster for Attack on Titan season two.

Season two of Attack on Titan was incredible.
It was a step up from the first season that left me wanting more.
Thankfully, we will not have to wait four years for the next season because it comes out this July and I cannot wait to see it.
If season three is anything like season two it is sure to be a blast.

Attack on Titan, Season One: A fantastic first season that falters with its main character.

Recently, I got into watching Anime.
I have seen shows like Death Note and seen The Cowboy Bebop Movie and am planning to later watch the series.
One anime I constantly heard good things about was Attack on Titan, based off the manga of the same name.
After hearing so many good things, I had to check it out and wow, this anime is great.
It is intense, exhilarating, heartbreaking and just fun to watch.
Attack on Titan is set in a dystopian future, where large humanoid monsters called Titans have appeared and driven humanity to almost extinction, with their constant hunger for human flesh.
The remaining humans have taken refuge behind three large walls, which keep the Titans at bay.
However, when a Colossal Titan arrives and smashes the outer wall, it starts a chain of events that may lead to either humanity’s salvation or extinction.
The show’s story is thrilling and dark.
It is definitely the Game of Thrones of anime.
Characters constantly die, which is a shame because these characters are so fantastic, for the most part.
I became attached to so many of them.
There are the central characters like Armin, the lovable genius, Mikasa, who is incredibly awesome and Jean, who in my opinion had the best character arc of the entire first season.

Jean is probably one of the best characters in the first season.

Then there are the side characters who are just as amazing.
Sasha, Connie, Levi, Commander Erwin, I could go on naming these characters because they are all so amazing.
However, although these characters are amazing, it is with them the problems of the show lie.
One of the biggest problems with the characters is there is way too many of them.
There were quite a few times when a character died and it was a really emotional scene but I could not get into it because I could not remember who the character was.
This did not happen constantly and there were more times when I remembered who a character was when they died but this still happened too many times.
Another problem I have is that I did not like one of the characters.
Ordinarily, this would not have been a problem.
Attack on Titan has so many characters that it would be weird if I did not like at least one of them.
But it is a problem because the character I do not like is the main character, Eren.
Eren is an incredibly one dimensional character, which is unacceptable for the main character, especially when all the other characters are so well developed.
His entire character is based on his hatred for the Titans.
This should be Eren’s motivation not his entire character.
Almost every line of dialogue that came out of Eren’s mouth was either saying that he wants to kill all the Titans or berating people for not fighting them.
If you were to remove his hatred of Titans then Eren would have absolutely no character.
It makes him incredibly boring.
What makes it worse is that there were clearly times when they could have given him development but they passed over it.
Yes, Eren does get some development in the final five episodes but this is in the back half of the season.
Other characters have been given 20 episodes to develop before Eren so are a 100 times more interesting than him by that point.
I just wish that Armin or Mikasa had been the main character because they are much more interesting and relatable characters.

Then there is Eren’s voice.
I started off watching Attack on Titan with the English dub but I changed halfway through to Japanese.
I did this because I could not stand Eren’s voice.
It made him sound like a whiny brat and it really got on my nerves.
The rest of the English voice cast was good but Eren’s voice stuck out like a sore thumb.
This may be nitpicking but it was really off-putting for me.
But, even though I did have problems with the characters, it is still them that make the show work.
Apart from Eren and the characters I forgot about, the other characters were so fantastic that they drew you into the whole story.
It is through them that you really feel what is at stake, which is what makes the story grab you.
This is all helped by the shows fantastic animation, action and music.
The action scenes alone are so thrilling and paired up with the great characters, who are constantly in danger of death, it left me on the edge of my seat.

Attack on Titan attack — The action in Attack on Titan is very gripping and only enhanced by its Game of Thrones like quality, with the characters’ constant deaths.

Attack on Titan is a really great anime.
Its first season had a very gripping story and characters.
Hopefully the problems I had with it will be fixed when I watch the second season.
If you are a fan of anime, I would highly recommend you watch this show.

The Walking Dead delivers a shocking twist with its latest Issue.

Warning: Contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Issue 175.

Well, that just happened.
After much anticipation, in Issue 175 of The Walking Dead, we finally got to meet the members of the Commonwealth community.
Naturally, everything did not go according to plan, with the group being held at gunpoint at the end of Issue 173.
Two Issues later we see how these events play out with the group meeting representative of The Commonwealth Lance Hornsby, Negan’s skinny twin brother (I am kidding about that last part).
Lance seems like an interesting character and is not afraid to threaten violence, although this comes across more as being cautious than anything else.
Watching the confrontation between Lance and Eugene was very interesting because both had valid reasons for mistrusting each other.
Lance did not trust Eugene’s group because of the danger they posed and Eugene did not trust Lance because Stephanie was mysteriously absent from the meeting.
It will be interesting to see how this mistrust plays out in future Issues, especially with the huge twist we just got.
I think this may be the best twist The Walking Dead has given us because it is revealed at the end of the Issue that one of Michonne’s daughters is alive and living in The Commonwealth.

Michonne reveal — Michonne sees a note from her daughter, revealing she is alive.

Michonne mentioned her daughters all the way back in Issue 139 so to see it come up again like this was great.
I can only imagine what the future holds for Michonne and the Commonwealth storyline.
And, what’s more, I actually think we may have already seen what a member of Michonne’s family looks like.
In Issue 139 Michonne says her children were in the care of her ex-husband.
What if her ex-husband is alive and is the Officer Mercer we see on the recently released cover of Issue 177?

Officer Mercer on the cover of Issue 177. Could he be Michonne’s ex-husband?

That would also be an interesting twist and give Michonne even bigger involvement in the story going forward.
Issue 175 was a great issue that did a good job of introducing us to some of the people of The Commonwealth.
I cannot wait to see what happens next, especially after that great twist.

Book Four of The Legend of Korra ends the show well, despite Nickelodeon’s interference.

After the fantastic Book Three, which followed two great but flawed seasons, I was interested to see where The Legend of Korra would go with its final season, Book Four: Balance.
The story picks up three years after the last season with Korra on a journey of self discovering, while suffering from severe PTSD from the events of Venom of The Red Lotus.
Meanwhile, a dictator named Kuvira rises in The Earth Kingdom, giving those in Republic City grave concerns about what she wants.
Book Four is a great season in my eyes but overall it does not live up to Book Three.
However, although I think this, the season still has numerous fantastic things to talk about.
I really loved the character arcs this season, especially those of Korra, Varrick and Bolin.
This surprised me, considering how annoying I found Bolin to be in the previous two seasons but, in this one, they brought back the likability he had in Book One.
Another thing I really enjoyed about the characters was how they put the spotlight on some who had not had their time to shine before, most notably Zhu Li.
Zhu Li was a very minor character in previous seasons but she really shined here and her storyline with Varrick was just perfect.

Zhu Li and Varrick — Varrick and Zhu Li during the final episodes of the series.

Kuvira also continued the tradition of great villains in this series, by bringing a realistic portrayal of a dictator.
The only problem I had with Kuvira was the resolution to her story seemed very rushed.
Sadly though, the problems with characters do not end with her.
Many of the characters who were important in previous series are conformed to side characters here and, since this is the last season, that is pretty sad.
Tenzin and Mako are the main offenders, with Mako only really being important in the finale and Tenzin being given basically nothing to do, despite his importance to the story.
There was also a similar problem to Book One with this season.
In Book One there was an episode entirely dedicated to a love triangle, which dragged the season down.
Here, the episode that did this was the eighth, a clip show episode called Remembrances.
This was a pretty poor episode in my opinion, especially since we have seen how creative the series can be with recap episodes, like with The Ember Island Players in Avatar: The Last Airbender, while this clip show just did not feel that creative.
But I cannot exactly fault the writers for doing it because they were forced to either do a clip show episode or fire half of their animation staff by Nickelodeon so it was not their fault.

remembrances — Remembrances reminded me of a lot of things about the show, including some things I wanted to forget like the love triangle in the first two seasons.

However, aside from these problems Book Four was great.
The animation and music were once again great, although you could tell that their budget for animation had been cut at times.
Aside from episode eight, the story flowed very naturally and was exciting to see play out.
The final three episodes were thrilling and had me engaged from beginning to end.
Then there is the show’s ending.
This ending was very progressive but those I have talked some who seem split on the idea.
Some love it because they feel it was well hinted at and some do not because they feel it came out of nowhere.
Personally, I agree with both.
This ending was hinted at very well in previous episodes but there was never really a scene of them establishing this thing or talking about it so when it happens it does not feel particularly well developed.
Again though, I do not think this is the creators’ fault.
Brian Konietzko, one of the show’s creators, has said that while Nickelodeon was supportive of the ending, “there was a limit to how far we could go with it.”
So the creators were not allowed to go all the way with this ending, like they ended it with Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Because they were not allowed by the network to have scenes that built this ending up they had to hint at it.
And, even though they could only hint at it, I thought they did a great job of bringing it across to the audience.
It is just a shame that Nickelodeon limited the show runners’ creative freedom, instead of letting their ideas run wild, and I am not just talking about the ending.
Most of the problems I had with The Legend of Korra appear to be due to Nickelodeon’s interference, like the shaky start to Book Two.
It really is sad how they treated the show but the fact that The Legend of Korra still managed to be a great show with this interference speaks volumes about how good it is.
Overall, Book Four was a great season to end The Legend of Korra.
It is just as good as Book One, although not as good as Book Three.
I highly recommend the series.
I am just sad now that I have finished both Avatar and Korra now.
What am I supposed to watch now?
I hope there are more follow ups to this series in the future and, if there are, I will be tuning in immediately.

The Legend of Korra finds its groove with Book Three: Change.

Finally, Book Three of The Legend of Korra has lived up to the show’s potential.
When watching the first two seasons of The Legend of Korra, although I liked it for the most part, I felt like the show was missing something that would make it truly great.
But Book Three finally cracked that code because this season is just as good as Avatar: The Last Airbender.
After the mixed bag that was Book Two, this was an immensely welcome change of pace for the series.
Book Three centers around Korra, Tenzin and their friends searching the world for Air Benders after Korra’s actions during Harmonic Convergence at the end of Book Two jump-started the Air Bender population.
However, while this is happening, a man named Zaheer escapes from prison after gaining Air Bending and, after freeing three of his allies P’Li, Ming-Hua and Ghazan, sets out to capture Korra.
The story for this season is certainly much more thrilling than the previous one by introducing the concept of more Air Benders.

We have not really seen that many Air Benders throughout the series, only Aang and his family so having a new resurgence of them was a good idea.
What helps this story is how the characters are utilized.
Thankfully, most of the problems I had with the characters last season were removed.
Korra and Mako were reverted to their usual, likable selves.
The one exception to this was Bolin, who I still found to be quite annoying but the rest of the characters are done so well that they make up for it.
Asami and Lin were also vastly improved from the last season.
In Book Two we did not see enough of them, especially Lin but here they get the screen time they deserve.
Lin not only had a point this season but her background was also explored through her half-sister Suyin, which was very interesting to watch play out.
I also loved how the show expanded on Korra and Asami’s friendship.
We get a lot of scenes with them bonding and helping one another out of tough situations.
And guess what?
There is no love triangle anymore, rejoice!
The love triangle was by far the biggest problem I had with the previous seasons so having it not featured definitely improved the story, for me.
We also got to meet various interesting new characters as well, like Suyin and her family.
But by far the best additions were Zaheer and his gang.

These four characters are the best villains the Avatar series has had since Azula.
Zaheer is a really complex villain with interesting motivations and a curious outlook on life, and his fellow villains are just as interesting and entertaining.
As for the animation and music, it is just as great as it was in the last two seasons.
Another thing I really liked about this season was how a lot of the events mirrored what happened in Avatar: The Last Airbender in a respectful manner.
The events in Ba Sing Se felt like an homage to what happened in Book Two of Avatar and the final battle between Korra and Zaheer felt very similar to the final battle between Aang and Ozai at the end of the series but in a good way.
Speaking of the final battle, the final episode of this season, Venom of The Red Lotus, was incredible.
The ending left me feeling both happy and sad at the same time.
It is a very bitter sweet ending that left me tearing up, something that has not happened when watching the Avatar series since the original show.

korra is a wheelchair — The ending of Book Three is the saddest moment The Legend of Korra has given us.

Book Three of The Legend of Korra is just fantastic.
It is by far the best season so far with a great story and character development and a fantastic ending that left me eager to see what would happen in the final season Book 4.

The Legend of Korra, Book Two: Just as bad as it is good.

Book One of the Legend of Korra was a great start to the show.
The only big problem I had with it was the annoying love triangle but I felt if the show dropped this then it could actually turn out to be good as Avatar: The Last Airbender.
However, after watching Book Two, I do have some doubts about the show going forward.
Book Two really showed me why people do not like The Legend of Korra because this season was a mixed bag in its entirety.
I found there was as much stuff I did not like as I did.
This season picks up six months after the previous and angry spirits are coming into the world and attacking people so it is up to Korra and her friends to figure out why.
To see why this season was a mixed bag you need only look at the structure of the story.
The first six episodes of this season are rather slow and disjointed.
It was hard to get invested in what is happening in these first six episodes.
However, from episode seven onwards, the show takes a massive step in the right direction.
This is especially apparent with episode seven and eight, titled Beginnings: Part One and Two.
These two episodes delve into the story of the first Avatar, named Wan, and are just fantastic.

Avatar Wan, the first Avatar, from the episodes Beginnings Part One and Two.

They are some of the best episodes in the entire Avatar series.
However, although I did think the second half of Book Two was far better than the first, it still had its problems, most notably in the finale.
Because, even though I was enjoying what was happening in the finale, a lot of it made absolutely no sense to me.
On top of that, it did feel pretty ridiculous at times.
It really did feel like the show had jumped the shark with the finale.
Another thing I did not like about Book Two was how it treated its characters.
For example, Korra was my favourite character in Book One but for the first six episodes of the season she is completely unlikable.
Bolin is annoying for most of the season and Mako’s treatment towards Korra and Asami in the back half of the season left me hating him by the end.
The only one of the four main characters who came out still completely likable was Asami but she does not get enough screen time.
Speaking of which, there are so many characters who were important in the first season and yet are barely in this one.
The worst offender of this is easily Lin.
She was my second favourite character next to Korra in Book One, yet here you could remove her from the story entirely and nothing would change.
But, although I did not like what they did with a lot of the old characters I did really like the new characters they introduced this season.
Korra’s parents were really likable and her cousins Eska and Desna were also a welcome addition.
Watching Tenzin’s connection with his newly introduced siblings Kya and Bumi also helped improve things.
But my favourite of the new characters would have to be Varrick.
He stole the show in every scene he was in and I cannot wait to see what they do with him in Book Three.

Varrick is the best character introduced in Book Two and I cannot wait to see what he will do next.

But, there are still other issues I have with Book Two.
There are two main villains this season, Unalaq and Vaatu, and Unalaq is really forgettable, despite being Korra’s uncle.
And remember how I said that the love triangle was the worst part of Book One?
Well, it is back, unfortunately.
Thankfully it is nowhere near as prevalent as it was in Book One so it is less aggravating.
Still, they really need to drop the love triangle because it drags down the show every time it pops up.
However, there are still things that the show has maintained from Book One that were great, specifically, the animation and music.
Both of these are still incredible and help to draw me into many intense scenes.
The music was so good I even found myself humming along to it.
So for every bad thing there was this season, there was a good thing to counter it.
Book Two has as many good moments as bad moments.
It is definitely not as good as Book One but it is still enjoyable.
You just have to sit through a few annoying things to get to the good stuff.
Hopefully, Book Three will be more fulfilling.

The Legend of Korra Book One: A great start, which is almost ruined by an atrocious love triangle.

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the show Avatar: The Last Airbender.
What I originally thought was a show just for kids turned out to be a fun, inventive and thought provoking show that is now one of my favourites.
So, naturally after loving it so much, I had to check out the follow up series The Legend of Korra’s fist season, Book One: Air.
Book One follows the new Avatar, the titular Korra, on her adventure to bring balance to the world.
When I talk to people about both shows most people agree that Avatar: The Last Airbender is fantastic.
However, opinions on The Legend of Korra are rather mixed.
Some love it, some hate it and some just think it is okay.
Personally, I really enjoyed Book One of The Legend of Korra.
It is certainly no Avatar: The Last Airbender but, as long as you go in expecting that, you will have a really great time with it.
Over 12 episodes we are given a very real world scenario, instead of the basic save the world plot from the previous show.
I was amazed with how far the show went to talk about real world issues like bigotry, terrorism and radicalization.
It made it a very relatable story, since this stuff happens so often in our real world.
Another thing I really liked about the story was when it is set.
The Legend of Korra is set 70 years after the previous show and since then the world has entered an Industrial Revolution and is now in the timeline somewhere around the late 1800s to early 1900s.
This allowed the audience to get reintroduced into the world through its new technology, which lead to some very interesting concepts.

Republic City, where the story takes place.

Then there are the characters who, although not having the depth or layers that the characters of Avatar had, are very likable.
We not only got new characters like Mako, Bolin and Asami but we also got to see what the old characters were doing in the 70 years we missed.
We even got to see some of these characters’ descendants, like Tenzin, the son of Aang, and Lin, the daughter of Toph, both of which are very relatable.
My favourite of the news characters though, would have to be Korra.
Korra is essentially the mirror opposite of Aang and actually wants to be the Avatar.
She is confident and relishes in her identity.
Her first line in the series is literally ‘I’m the Avatar, you gotta deal with it!”
However, even though she loves her position as the Avatar, she is a flawed character, which makes her all the more relatable.
She has fears, weaknesses and the pressures of being the Avatar sometimes get to her.
Korra was definitely the most developed character.

Korra, the new Avatar, is my favourite character in the show so far.

I also really liked the villain Amon, who creates a terrorist organisation to get equal rights for those who do not have bending.
Amon’s goals are good and do seem like he has the people’s best interests at heart but it is the lengths he takes to achieve his goals that make him a villain.
This makes him a very interesting villain because we have not seen one in the Avatar series that wanted to make the world better yet, instead of just wanting to take over the world.
Now although I do think a lot of this content was great but could not surpass Avatar, there are two elements added to The Legend of Korra that most certainly did.
These elements are the animation and the music.
The animation has only got better since Avatar and it draws you in to every fight scene.
Even better is the music.
I could not count how many times I found myself in awe of this music because it was so good.
It fit the tone and style of the show perfectly.
However, not everything was done perfectly because there was one element of the show that almost ruined it for me.
What was this?
The love triangle.
I am going to be completely honest, I cannot stand love triangles.
I usually find them to be just a really contrived way to create drama.
That being said, I could have accepted it and pushed it aside to enjoy a lot of the show… if the love triangle had not driven the plot at times.
The story constantly stops dead so it can beat you over the head with this love triangle and it is aggravating every time.

Asami looks at Korra and Mako jealously, another aggravating moment in this needless love triangle.

Worst of all, one episode is entirely driven by this love triangle and somehow expands it by turning it into a love square briefly.
This was episode five The Spirit of Competition, which is now the worst episode I have seen so far in the entire Avatar series.
Yes, it is even worse than The Great Divide from Book One of Avatar.
At least that episode had some enjoyable moments.
Here, I was unable to enjoy anything because it was all driven by the stupid love triangle.
It drove me nuts.
It is such a shame because if this love triangle had not been in the show then it would have been almost just as good as Avatar, but with it in there it it falls short.
Thankfully though, they seem to have wrapped up the love triangle by the end of Book One so, hopefully, I will not see it again when I watch Book One.
Overall, The Legend of Korra Book One was a great way to start the show.
It had a great story and setting, relatable characters and fantastic animation and music.
If it was not for the love triangle this would have been a fantastic start.

Bright: a fun yet flawed film.

Netflix’s most expensive film yet, Bright has one of the most unique plots I have seen in a while.
It is set in a world where fantasy creatures like Orcs and Elves co-exist with humans but live in different social classes.
The Elves are the upper class, the human the middle and Orc the lower.
The film centers around human LAPD officer Daryl Ward (Will Smith) and his partner Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), the first Orc police officer, who discover a magic wand, which they must protect from evil forces.
Since this movie is directed by David Ayer, who directed Suicide Squad and the movie seemed to have a similar feel by looking at the trailers, I expected the movie to be nothing more than fun garbage.
And it was… only without the garbage.
The best thing about Bright is the chemistry between Smith and Edgerton.
Will Smith in this movie is, well, Will Smith.
I honestly have not been able to differentiate between Smith and his characters for many of his films but Smith’s charisma makes up for it.
Then there’s Edgerton, who is the standout character of this film.
He is by far the most relatable and I could not help but root for him.

joel edgerton — Joel Edgerton’s Jakoby is the best character in the movie.

Also the make up effects to have Edgerton look like an Orc was very well done.
Seeing these two characters grow, especially Edgerton’s, throughout the film was great to watch.
The action is also pretty good and it will keep you entertained.
There was a really good slow motion sequence that was one of my favourite moments.
However, this is where my positives with the film end.
While I did love the concept of a modern day fantasy world, the ideas this world presented are half baked.
Then there are the characters who, aside from Ward and Jakoby, are incredibly one dimensional.
I cannot event remember the name of the elf character who Ward and Jakoby bring with them because she was so forgettable.
Then there is the villain who is right up there with Steppenwolf from Justice League in levels of a weak villain.
The only two other characters who were remotely interesting were a disabled gangster and the government agent elf sent to retrieve the wand but these two do not get enough screen time to flourish.

elf fbi — Edgar Ramirez as Kandomere, one of the few interesting characters in the film.

Also the climax of the movie is incredibly predictable.
I knew it was coming a full half hour before it happened.
So overall, this movie is a mixed bag.
Smith and Edgerton are great and the action is enjoyable.
But, on the other hand, the rest of the characters are completely forgettable, the idea and themes are half baked and do not come across well and the climax is predictable.
If they do make a sequel, which I find unlikely now since the movie is being slammed by critics, I hope they follow through on the ideas set up here a lot better.
Still, the movie is fun and I would encourage you to watch it.
Just do not expect anything special and you will have fun.