In 1972, a plane flying a rugby team from Uruguay to Chile crashed in the Andes Mountains. The survivors hoped for a quick rescue but, as days turned into weeks, they began to realize a rescue would not be coming. Stuck in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, with freezing temperatures and a quickly dwindling food supply, the survivors had to do the unthinkable to survive. Directed by J. A. Bayona, Society of the Snow tells the true story of this tragic event, resulting in a film that is both haunting and somehow inspiring.
The fact that this is a true story makes the events of the film even more impactful.
When a film is based around real life tragedies, it is important to honor the real people involved, and Society of the Snow does this better than any other film I have seen. The actual survivors who saw and, in some cases, actually had small roles in the movie, have praised it for its mostly accurate take on the events. It is easy to see why because it is not just the survivors who are honored in Society of the Snow, but also those who tragically passed in the disaster. This led to an unexpected subversion in the film, which caught me completely off guard, even though I had already heard the true story of the Andes crash before. What helped sell the respect being paid to both the survivors and the victims were the fantastic performances.
Everyone in Society of the Snow does an excellent job.
The ones who truly shined for me were Enzo Vogrincic as Numa Turcatti, Augustín Pardella as Nando Parrado, Matías Recalt, as Roberto Canessa, and Esteban Bigliardi as Javier Methol. The performances were so great that it left me tearing up at two specific points. Many of the actors were newcomers as well, making their performances all the more impressive. Along with the acting, what also sells the harrowing events of this true story is the fantastic cinematography. The extreme wide shots of the landscape help convey just how cut off from the rest of the world the survivors of the crash were.
Shots like these really show how dire the survivors’ situation was.
The depictions of what they endured and had to do to survive is haunting, yet also inspiring when we see the camaraderie between the survivors and their heroic actions towards the end of the film. From beginning to end, Society of the Snow is a fantastic movie, which I would claim is one of the greatest depictions of a real-life tragedy ever put to film. It left me feeling haunted, inspired, but also feeling like the movie had honored both the survivors and the victims perfectly. Check it out on Netflix if you have not seen it yet.
David Fincher is just one of those directors you have to pay attention to. He has made some downright incredible films like Seven, Zodiac and The Social Network. Despite his notoriety, I somehow did not hear about his latest film, The Killer, until I learned it was streaming on Netflix. Once I learned about it, though, I immediately sat down to watch it and was rewarded with a film more methodical than its titular killer.
The Killer is another solid film from Fincher.
Starring Michael Fassbender as an unnamed assassin, the movie follows him after a mistake during a hit throws his life into chaos. When this mistake puts the lives of those the Killer cares about in danger, he sets out on a mission of revenge. Fassbender is fantastic as the Killer, with his inner thoughts reminding me a lot of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. However, just like Bateman, it is all to apparent how the Killer differs from his own opinion of himself, breaking his own rules multiple times and making his situation more complicated. This crafts a character who is absolutely a terrible person but still fascinating to follow.
It is interesting to see how ths killer’s mind works.
The rest of the cast also do a great job, with Tilda Swinton standing out as the Expert. The way the film is shot and edited also adds to the feel of the movie, with the sound mixing being especially impressive whenever the Killer is listening to music. Another thing which often gets brought up in reviews about this movie is one fight scene which, I will admit, is terrifically shot. Although, while I did enjoy this action scene, it does feel a bit at odds with the rest of the movie. Throughout its runtime, The Killer feels like it is a story which could actually happen in the real world so, when you get this big choreographed fight, it admittedly creates a bit of a disconnect.
It’s still a great fight though.
This is only a minor criticism, anyway. Other criticisms I have heard are that the film is too slow-paced and that the ending is pretty anticlimactic. I was not surprised to see these takes after watching The Killer. It is simply a movie, which will not be for everyone due to its pacing and structure. Even I thought the ending could have had more of a punch, though I do understand why it ended the way it did.
Although the way the movie ends is in line with the story Fincher is telling, it does feel like a bit of a let-down, compared to what came before.
Overall, I would say that The Killer is a solid film. Even if it is not for everyone, it has a compelling main character and a great style, as expected of a David Fincher film.
I have been excited for the Avatar: The Last Airbender live action adaptation ever since it was announced in 2018. This was in large part because it seemed like everything required to make a good adaptation was there, namely the original show’s creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, being involved. However, my excitement for the show dimmed slightly when the creators announced that they were leaving the adaptation. Still, I remained optimistic, since it seemed like those behind the adaptation were at least getting the casting right, with actors being hired who looked the part. Seriously, we did not need another The Last Airbender situation where the main characters were changed to be white when the story is set primarily in Asian culture.
The actors look much closer to their animated counterparts this time aroumd.
After seeing the teaser for the show released today, I can say with absolute certainty that this show is going to better than the notoriously awful first adaptation. The teaser begins by showing something we have never seen before, the Fire Nation’s attack on the Southern Air Temple at the beginning of the Hundred Years War. This attack was only something we saw the aftermath of in the original show so it is exciting to know we will see a flashback of the attack. After this, we see the scene from the very first episode, where Aang is discovered in the iceberg. We hear the ice cracking as Katara and Sokka look on and, I have got to say, both Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley look great as the characters. Along with them, the environments also look fantastic, with the next shot of Omashu having excellent CGI, which really brings the city to life from its animated counterpart.
Let’s hope the rest of the show’s CGI looks as good as what the teaser shows
The teaser then reveals Dallus Liu as Zuko, whose scar is thankfully visible in this adaptation, and Paul Sung-Hyung Lee as Iroh. They seem to be boarding their ship, with the Fire Nation soldiers giving Zuko a salute which I am pretty sure is show original. Although I have liked how all of the characters have looked so far in the teaser, it is the next two characters who are shown whom I think look the best. The first of these characters is Ozai, played by Daniel Dae Kim. Not only does Kim look exactly like Ozai but he also appears intimidating, a complete contrast to his lackluster version in the Shyamalan movie where he was just… a regular guy. Ozai’s angry expression in the shot makes me wonder if this is when Zuko criticizes the Fire Nation general, leading to his scarring. The second character who I think looks the best in the teaser is Suki, played by Maria Zhang. The makeup for her Kyoshi Warrior attire is absolutely spot on, and the brief shot we get of her with Sokka makes it appear that the two have good chemistry, which will be important.
Props to the makeup department for making the Kyoshi Warrios look this good.
We then get another great CGI shot, this time of Aang heading to Crescent Island. This is most likely so he can meet with Avatar Roku to learn about Sozen’s Comet, which we also see at the beginning of the trailer. Throughout all of these shots, there has been narration over the teaser stating, “Time… time is a funny thing. The past, the future, it all gets mixed up. There’s only one way to keep it straight. Always remember who you are.” I am pretty sure that this line is adaptation original, and I have heard some people speculate that it is Monk Gyatso saying this. It would make sense for him to be telling Aang this because the Avatar does have a lot of past lives and an uncertain future, making time “mixed up.” Another thing which supports the theory that Gyatso is saying this line to Aang is that our hero is in the next shot, with Gordon Cormier finally being revealed as Aang. Just like every other actor in this teaser, he certainly looks the part. The teaser then gives us a series of shots showing Aang in the burnt forest, Zuko and Ozai’s duel, Aang entering the Avatar State, and even Azula. Azula is played by Elizabeth Yu, and I hope the way she appears in this trailer stops all of the weird criticism she was getting because of one still image released a while back.
I really like the way the fire reflects off Azula’s eyes in this shot.
The final big moment of the teaser, shows Aang, Katara and Sokka taking off on Appa. The CGI for Appa and Momo appears excellent, as the GAang head for Kyoshi Island, which is made evident by the statue of Kyoshi in the distance. And so the teaser comes to an end by showing off the symbols for different forms of bending, followed by the show’s title. Overall, this was a great teaser that did its job of hyping us up for the show. The actors look the part and the CGI looks great. I am already looking forward to seeing more trailers before the show’s release on Netflix on Febuary 22nd.
A few days ago, I went on Netflix to rewatch a show that I wanted to get back into. The first thing I saw when I opened Netflix was an ad for the movie Nimona. I had never heard of Nimona but I decided to give the ad a shot rather than ignoring it and was pleasantly surprised by the brief scene I was shown. The animation looked solid and the dynamic between the two main characters Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Ballister (Riz Ahmed) had me chuckling. So I decided to give it a watch and was not let down.
Nimona is, as the titular character would say, “metal.”
Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, and based off the webcomic and graphic novel by ND Stevenson, Nimona is set in a futuristic version of a medieval kingdom, 1000 years after the kingdom’s hero, Gloreth, defeated an evil monster that threatened it. A young man named Ballister Boldheart is set to become the first commoner to be accepted into the Elite Knights who protect the kingdom. However, on the day of his ascension, he is framed for the Queen’s murder and has to go on the run. This is where Nimona comes in. A shapeshifting, anarchy loving, hell raiser, Nimona joins Ballister, first to be his villainous sidekick and then to help him clear his name when she learns of his innocence. Back when I watched the ad for this movie, the dynamic between Nimona and Ballister was the thing that drew me in, and their growing bond is definitely the highlight of the movie. Nimona is often darkly hilarious and Ballister plays off on this perfectly with his often horrified reactions to her chaotic actions.
Ballister’s constant concerned reactions to Nimona’s morbid statements will never not be funny.
There is also a lot of heart between these two characters, as they bond over their experiences, which leads to some pretty tragic and dark places for Nimona’s character. Speaking of heart, Ballister is actually in for a heartbreak as his boyfriend Ambrosius (Eugene Lee Yang), the descendant of Gloreth, is chosen by the Director of the Elite Knights (Frances Conroy) to hunt Ballister and Nimona down. The relationship between Ballister and Ambrosius is also well done with a lot of interesting tension between the two since they stand on opposite sides after the inciting incident of the Queen’s murder. Disney, however, were apparently not impressed by this. From what I have heard, Disney almost cancelled the film entirely, all because of a scene where Ballister and Ambrosius kiss. Well, the joke’s on Disney in the end because of how many of their recent films have flopped, while Nimona is soaring.
If the rumor about Disney almost cancelling Nimona due to homophoia is true then it’s disappointing, although not unsurprising.
I will not say that the film is entirely perfect though, as there are a few criticisms I do have. For one thing, although Ballister’s status as a commoner is important to the beginning of the story, the divide between commoners and nobles isn’t really focused on that much afterwards, which felt like a missed opportunity to expand the world building. This could have helped further cement the motive behind the villain of the movie, which also felt quite lacking. They are pretty much just a standard surprise twist villain, a trope which has been especially common in animated movies over the years. Not to mention the identity of this villain was incredibly predictable. The rest of the movie, however, was far from predictable, with quite a few surprises, especially concerning Nimona’s powers, which the writers get really creative with, allowing for many excellently animated scenes.
Nimona transforming into a whale is just the first of many surprises.
The animation honestly reminded me a lot of Arcane at times, and given how much I love Arcane that is strong praise from me. All in all, Nimona is a great animated movie with a charming and funny friendship between its two lead characters. I would highly recommend checking it out.
Knives Out was one of my favourite films of 2019, with director Rian Johnson delivering a smart mystery with an all-star cast. When I heard news that he would be returning to direct more films revolving around the eccentric detective Benoit Blanc, played magnificently by Daniel Craig, I was all for it. Well, now the sequel Glass Onion has released widely on Netflix and I can say that it definitely lived up to expectations. I do prefer the first film but Glass Onion is a more than worthy sequel with plenty of exciting twists and turns, along with great comedy to keep viewers entertained.
Glass Onion has a great mixture of drama and comedy to its mystery.
The film follows Blanc as he is invited to the private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) for a murder mystery game. Joining him are all of Bron’s scummy friends, including scientists Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), governor Claire DeBella (Kathryn Hahn), men’s rights YouTuber Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), and dim-witted fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson). The one invited guest who is not scummy is Cassandra “Andy” Brand, Bron’s former business associate, who had a falling out with Bron and the rest of his so-called Destructor friends. She is played excellently by Janelle Monáe and ends up being the most interesting character in the film, playing a similar role to that of Ana de Armas’ character in Knives Out.
Monáe does a fantastic job playing Andy, a character whose motives you are interested in from the first moment she appears.
Once all these characters, both scummy and not, arrive at the titular Glass Onion, the murder mystery begins but it is far from a game, delivering a fun, compelling mystery with plenty of interesting twists that make subsequent viewings more fun when you notice all the foreshadowing. Even the commentary brought about by the story is interesting, given how much Miles Bron’s character resembles real tech billionaires, like Elon Musk with the whole Twitter fiasco (although this happened after the making of the film), making Glass Onion humorously relevant.
It’s funny how Bron resembles many tech billionares, putting up the persona of a genius while actually being a complete imbecile.
Speaking of the humor, Glass Onion has plenty of hilarious moments that made me pause the movie so I did not miss anything because I was laughing so hard. Another thing that really stuck out to me about this film was the costuming, which says a lot because that is not usually something that catches my eye, yet the outfits were so fantastic in this film that I could not help but notice.
There are a lot of great costumes in this film.
As for issues, I do think there are some minor plot holes holding the film back when it comes to the backstory of the Destructors. This is only minor though and it hardly matters when Glass Onion builds to a highly satisfying conclusion. So, despite not being as good as the original Knives Out, Glass Onion is still a worthy follow up with great twists and turns, plenty of fun comedy, and surprisingly relevant commentary about how we should stop worshipping dumb tech billionaires like Elon Mus-I mean Miles Bron. I look forward to seeing more Knives Out films in the detective work of Benoit Blanc.
The Addams Family are pop culture icons who have been around since the 1930s, appearing in sketch cartoons, movies and TV series. Despite knowing of them, I have never had any previous exposure to their stories before, at least not to my knowledge. All I knew about them was what I had heard, which was that they are a macabre family with quite a few deathly interests that creep out everyone else around them. Having never personally seen anything Addams Family related before, this put me in an interesting position when watching the new Netflix series Wednesday, since I had no idea what to expect going in, apart from what the trailers had shown. Having finished the show, I can say that this I believe this be a good introduction to the Addams Family, if you have not seen any of their movies or shows before, like me.
The show does a good job of highlighting each member of The Addams Family’s crazy personalities.
With the first four episodes directed by Tim Burton, Wednesday follows the titular daughter of the Addams Family who, after being expelled from her school for quite literally neutering a school bully using piranha, is sent to Nevermore Academy, a school for supernatural teenagers. However, upon arriving, Wednesday quickly learns that the school is being haunted by a murderous monster, and by that I don’t mean Wednesday herself. The series then follows Wednesday’s journey to uncover the mystery of Nevermore Academy, a mystery which is pretty predictable, to be honest, although I will get to that later. For now, just like pretty much every person who has reviewed this show, I want to heap praise on Jenna Ortega for her fantastic performance as Wednesday. She is delightfully morbid, with plenty of excellent instances of deadpan humor. Even her movements match the character, with one dance scene she has being the best scene in the show, in my opinion.
Wednesday’s dance is a lot of fun, as the dance alone tells you pretty much everything you need to know about her character without dialogue.
The rest of the Addams Family are also quite likeable, with Gomez (Luiz Guzman) being the center of his own mystery, and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) constantly being at odds with Wednesday. It is also pretty endearing to see how protective Wednesday is of her brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) as his sole tormentor, and how one of the few times she genuinely smiles in this show (other than when she attempts murder) is when she greets her Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen). The award for best bond Wednesday has with a family member definitley goes to her interactions with Thing. Thing is a sentient severed hand who Wednesday uses as a servant and sometimes reluctant advisor and it is often morbidly humorous to see her talking with him. What is less fun is the love triangle Wendesday goes through this season. Two characters, Xavier (Percy Hynes White) and Tyler (Hunter Doohan), are after her affections, yet I never felt like Wednesday was truly interested in either of them romantically. To be honest, I was much more invested in Wednesday’s friendships with Enid (Emma Myers), her roommate and polar opposite in every capacity, and Eugune (Moosa Mostafa), a confident bee keeper.
This excellent shot alone tells you how different Wednesday and Enid are.
The rest of the cast, including Gwendoline Christie, Joy Sunday, and Christina Ricci, who has also played Wendesday in the past, are very good in their roles, as well. It is Jenna Ortega who really steals the show, however, as she is clearly giving everything she has to absolutely murder this role. If they had not got Wednesday right, the show would have faltered because, honestly, the whole mystery is really not that mysterious, or at least for me it was not. It is here where I will get into my biggest issue with Wednesday, but this does come with a slight spoiler warning because, while I do not say what exactly happens, my wording does indicate it. So if you have not watched the show and don’t want to be spoiled then I would stop reading this review and just go watch it because it is really good. Now, for my big problem with Wednesday, which is the red herrings. I honestly cannot remember the last time I encountered such obvious and frustrating ones. The red herrings in Wednesday are such apparent distractions, yet the writing keeps beating you over the head with them, trying to convince you that they are the culprits, when the real ones are so blindingly obvious.
The red herring characters are clearly that right from the get-go. Never once did I believe they were actually guilty.
I was literally shouting at the screen whenever Wednesday kept insisting she had solved the mystery, while it was so evident that she had not. Despite this, and a few other issues, like the love triangle, Wednesday is a good show that has a lot of good morbid humor and a standout performance form Jenna Ortega. I would definitley watch a second season and, if it gets the green light, hopefully it will have a better mystery.
The Dragon Prince has been an interesting show for me. I first started watching it because one of its creators was Aaron Ehaz, a writer from Avatar: The Last Airbender. While the first season was a bit rocky, it still showed promise, and every season since then has been better the last. Season Three was especially great with a lot of excellent character development and the cliffhanger it ended on was an intriguing one. After this third season, there was a three-year-wait for the fourth one.
We had to wait three years to see what would happen in The Dragon Prince Season Four.
During the wait, there were plenty of positive signs for the future of the series, like the announcement that there are many seasons coming down the line. Well, after the three-year-wait, we finally have Season Four, The Mystery of Aaravos. Was the wait worth it? In my opinion, unfortunately no. Season Four is quite messy with a lot of issues, one of the big ones being how it picks up from Season Three. Sometime in the three years since that season, a comic was released which showed how Callum (Jack DeSana) and Rayla (Paula Burrows) broke up when Rayla went looking for Viren (Jason Simpson). If, like me, you did not read this comic before watching Season Four then good luck on understanding all of the tension in Callum and Rayla’s relationship.
I was completley lost on why we did not see Callum and Rayla break up until I learned there was a comic.
The story of The Mystery of Aaravos picks up two years after Season Three where Claudia (Raquel Belmonte) has resurrected Viren in Xadia. With Claudia’s new boyfriend Terry (Benjamin Callins), the trio search for the location of Aaravos’ prison so they can free him and keep Viren alive, since his resurrection is limited. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Catolis, lead by King Ezran (Sasha Rojen), is preparing for the arrival of the Dragon Queen and the Dragon Prince Zym. However, word of Aaravos plans to escape interrupts the celebrations and sets our heroes up on their next journey. Oh, and Amaya and Janai (Rena Anakwe) get engaged and have to deal with a whole lot of racial tension between the Sun Elves and humans. If that last storyline sounds way too different just from my description then I have done a good job of articulating just how much this third storyline feels out of place with the other two. Don’t get me wrong, it does have good messages and I liked the way it resolves by the end. However, like I said, it just does not match well with either of the other stories, and the way this story begins is written ludicrously badly, in what is probably the worst scene in all of The Dragon Prince.
This scene and this character in particular are so illogically stupid that it broke my immersion.
The other two storylines are much stronger than the third, although filled with humor that is very hit or miss, and characters doing things that often don’t make sense. Along with this, there is the whole title of the season these storylines revolve around: The Mystery of Aaravos. If you ask me, the season really should have been called The Mysterous of Where Aaravos is because the location of Aaravos’ prison is the only mystery surrounding the character this season. Aaravos’ identity and past is explained pretty soundly in one big exposition dump early on and the mystery of why he is doing all this is not touched upon. Credit where it is due, though, Aaravos is definitely the best part of Season Four. He may only have one scene but it is an excellent one, which perfectly portrays the danger he poses, with voice actor Erik Todd Dellums bringing so much menace to the character.
Aaravos remains a charasmatic antagonist, as always.
Aaravos is not the only standout, though, because Soren (Jesse Inocalla) is another. I did not care for Soren much in the first two seasons but Season Three made him my favourite and Season Four continues this, with him having quite a few funny and heroic moments. Anther positive trait of the season includes the animation, which is once again very good, especially in the fight scenes. Although, there were a few animation issues, here and there, like Rayla’s tattoos going missing at one point but this was only minor. In the end, all of the positives of Seasons Four were not enough to save it from its many negatives. One storyline feels very out of place and has an awful inciting incident, understanding the state of Callum and Rayla’s relationship relies on reading a tie in comic, and for a season named The Mystery of Aaravos there is very little mystery actually focused on with him. I just hope that season five will be better.
Like many people, I was highly anticipating Cyberpunk 2077 before it was released. I think it is fair to say that it was one of the most anticipated video games of all time, what with how hyped up the marketing was. This made it all the more crushing when the game released practically broken at launch, especially on consoles. I reviewed Cyberpunk 2077 shortly after release and I gave it a positive review, despite admitting that it caused my PlayStation to crash five times on my first play through. Looking back, I think I was too lenient. However, at the same time, I can also see why I gave the game a positive review because of how much the story, characters and world building gripped me. Such features made me excited when it was announced that Studio Trigger would be releasing their own anime set in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Despite the game’s many many faults, the anime had the chance to be something special.
You may have heard the buzz surrounding this anime as one of the best of the year and, after watching all ten episodes, I can add my voice to this buzz. Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is set in Night City, a corporation-run hell hole, where the only way to make a name for yourself is to cybernetically enhance your body, often to the point of cyberpsychosis. It is this bleak city where we meet our main character David Martinez (Kenn) who, after a tragic turn of events, decides to have a military grade piece of technology, known as the Sandevistan, implanted into his body. This leads to David meeting a netrunner named Lucy (Aoi Yuki), introducing him to the world of Edgerunners, which he excels in, due to his new implant. The growing bond between David and Lucy is great to see play out as they have such excellent chemistry.
David and Lucy work well togethor right from the start.
It is not only them, though, because the other wacky characters among the Edgerunners are also very compelling. There is the tough as nails leader Maine (Hiroki Toshi), his also tough as nails girlfriend Dorio (Michiki Kaiden), experienced netrunner Kiwi (Takako Honda), getaway driver Falco (Yasuyuki Kase), and, of course, Rebecca (Tomoyo Kurosawa). I saved Rebecca for last because she was definitely my favourite character in the show. She is crazy and wild but also extremely loyal to those she cares for, creating a complex character who was entertaining to watch.
Every scene with Rebecca is a blast.
With so many great characters, it is made all the more tragic when some of them bite the dust. This is Night City, after all, where happy endings are rare and bloody endings are all too common. Speaking of blood, wow, was this show gory. Studio Trigger really committed to the violence of the game.
People explode into bloody messes a lot in this anime.
Along with this, the animation for the action scenes and the soundtrack in these moments are stellar. Such features all come together to create a spectacular anime that has convinced many people to replay Cyberpunk 2077, or play it for the first time. For these new players, they will see a few familiar faces from Edgerunners, as some characters from the game are incorporated here, mostly as cameos. However, there is one character from the game who has a big role. I will not spoil who it is but, in my opinion, this character was portrayed much better in Edgerunners than in Cyberpunk 2077. I would be open to see more characters from the game pop up in the Cyberpunk Universe, if Studio Trigger wants to continue this series, maybe as an anthology where we focus on different Night City characters each season.
We can see how new characters from Night City are “remembered” if this show continues.
This is how much I enjoyed this anime. I liked it so much that I am now wishing for a second season that we probably will not get. If Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a one time thing, however, then it is certainly worth it. Studio Trigger delivered a fantastic anime here. Along with other amazing video game adaptations, like Arcane, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners makes it seem like animated series are the way to go for such adaptations.
In my review for the first volume for Stranger Things’ Fourth Season, I called it “one hell of a return,” and even stated that it “may be the best season of the show so far.” Well, after watching Volume 2, I can now state that Season Four is definitely the best season of the show so far, at least in my opinion. The final two episodes of the season, “Papa” and “The Piggyback”, made for an intense first-time watch, with “The Piggyback” making me grip the chair arm I was sitting by tightly for the entirety of its two and a half-hour runtime.
“Papa” and “The Piggyback” are both nerve wracking episodes with plenty of highlights.
Picking up from Episode Seven’s cliffhanger, Volume Two sees our various groups of characters preparing to take the fight to Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). In California, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) decides to engage in this fight prematuely to save her friends, which Dr Brenner (Mathew Modine) is against, unaware that Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Argyle (Eduardo Franco) are on their way to rescue her. Back in Hawkins, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), Dustin (Gaten Mazzaro), Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Erica (Priah Ferguson) prepare for their own fight with Vecna, initiating a complicated plan in the hopes of killing the monster. Meanwhile, Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) attempt to escape Russia, before realizing they may have to deal with the Demogorgons connected to the Mind Flayer’s Hive Mind.
Almost every character has a part to play in Season Four’s epic conclusion.
These three storylines intersect as the plan to kill Vecna is put into action, with various excellent cases of editing connecting the characters in different locations together. Speaking of these characters, there are so many standout moments from all of them, from Eleven confronting Brenner for his horrific actions, to Will’s confession to Mike through taking about Eleven, and Eddie and Dustin’s epic distraction that was teased so often in trailers. The best scene by far, however, is the one I’ll call the “Running UpThat Hill” scene and leave it at that. Just as Volume One’s best scene centered around the Kate Bush song, so does Volume 2’s.
It’s crazy how Stranger Things revitalized the song through using it in epic scenes twice for Season Four.
The aftermath of this scene even has some of the best acting of the entire series, with Caleb McLaughlin’s performance being so gut wrenching it brought me to tears. This was not the only moment in Volume 2 to do this because there is another scene with Dustin that also had a similar effect on me.
There are a few scenes in the final episode that are tear inducing but McLaughlin’s scene takes the cake.
However, this is where my my one criticism of Volume 2 comes in and that is the character fates, some of them anyway. A few of the saves characters get do feel a little too deus ex machina, though I do understand the Duffer Brother’s reasoning for making the saves happen. I just think such moments could have been written a little better. Otherwise, I would say that Volume 2 is excellently written, with so many scenes that made me feel tense, fearful, gut punched, overjoyed and extremely excited for what is to come in Season Five, which I think it has been said is the final season. If it is indeed the last we get of Stranger Things, then I’m looking forward to it even more than I was previously because Iam now pretty confident that the Duffer Brothers can end this story right, after the greatness that was Season Four.
I still remember searching for upcoming anime a few months ago and being interested by the description for Vampire in the Garden. Developed by Wit Studio, released on Netflix and directed by Ryōtarō Makihara, the story is set in a winter wasteland where vampires and humans have been at war for an unknown period of time. Some of the remaining remnants of humanity have fled to a city, protected by a tower that generates UV Light to ward off the vampires. Living inside this city is a young girl named Momo (Megumi Han), the daughter of one of the city’s generals. She is tired of the fighting and wants to learn music, something which was outlawed because of its connection to the vampires. Then, during an attack on the city, Momo has a chance encounter with the Vampire Queen Fine (Yu Kobayashi), someone who is also tired of the fighting and treasures music. Together, the two decide to try and find a supposed paradise where humans and vampires live in harmony and make music together.
Momo and Fine’s chance encounter begins their journey.
This premise intrigued me when I first read it and I decided to give the anime a shot, thinking that it would probably have a similar episode count to Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, another anime that Wit Studio produced which I loved. So, I was quite surprised when I saw that there were only five episodes released by Netflix. At first, I thought it must be some kind of error and that Netflix would release the other episodes once they realized the mistake. But, no, Vampire in the Garden really is only five episodes long and this is its biggest fault. Now, I still really enjoyed my time with this anime but I feel like it had the potential for so much more, if only it had been given more episodes.
I wish Wit Studio had given Vampire in the Garden the ten to thirteen episode treatment.
There are just too many characters and ideas here for the vision of this anime to be fully realized in such a short amount of time. That said, I do think that Vampire in the Garden did the best it could have done with only five episodes, which is a testament to the writing quality. For one thing, I liked all of the characters in this anime. Momo and Fine’s growing bond is interesting throughout, I quite enjoyed the resolution to Momo’s relationship with her mother (Rika Fukami), and the vague way that the anime filled in the backstory of Kubo (Hiroki Toshi), giving us just enough information to put the pieces together, felt like the writers were respecting the audience. Another feature of the anime I have to give props to is the world building. Momo and Fine visit various different kinds of communities, all of which have different ways that humans and vampires interact with each other, which are interesting to compare.
The exploration of the different dynamics between humans and vampires in various dystopian cities was excellent world building.
The animation and music are also quite good, something to be expected of an anime made by Wit Studio. I will also admit that, despite me being critical of there only being five episodes, this short run time does mean you can finish Vampire in the Garden rather quickly, as if it were a movie rather than a show, so that is an advantage it has. As for other criticisms, there are a few moments in the anime that broke my suspension of disbelief temporarily by being too convenient or having a character survive something that should have been impossible to.
It’s strange moments like this one that temporarily broke my immersion.
Also, I did find the story to be a bit predictable at times, especially with one character’s ending, although it being predictable did not make it bad. These are just minor criticisms. The only major one I have is, again, the episode count. The animehad the potential to be fantastic but the short runtime limits it. I’m actually hoping we get a manga adaptation at some point because that could extend the story, thus expanding upon the characters, world and themes, allowing Vampire in the Garden to reach its potential. As it stands, though, I would still recommend the show. It’s a short watch and delivers some pretty interesting character work and world building.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 