MovieWarfare

  I am not the biggest fan of musicals and it is the one genre in movies I rarely watch. I knew of the popularity of the Broadway show “Wicked” but I never brought myself to ever watch it. Now, there is finally a movie adaptation of the show. I did enjoy the legendary 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and a prequel about the Witch is an interesting idea hence why I gave it a shot. Does this movie defy gravity or is it wickedly bad? Firstly, the production of this film is phenomenal. The song and dance numbers are all incredibly choreographed. It is impressively visually seeing close to 100 people all dancing in unison. The songs and dance feel very flamboyant and campy but it works in the film. In terms of the actual songs, I liked a fair amount of them, especially “Defying Gravity” at the end. I also appreciate how this movie uses lots of actual practical set design. It makes the world of Oz feel more real and believable. There are some genuinely huge-looking sets in this...

  I am no League of Legends fan. I played it a long time ago but I wasn’t particularly into the lore or story or anything. When I first heard of an animated project based on the game, admittedly, I wasn’t that interested. Not until I saw the first trailer that my curiosity was peaked. Firstly, the animation is phenomenal! The style has this unique hand-painted look to it that makes every frame look stunning! The characters have incredible facial animation that easily allows us to see the nuance in their feelings. The excellent mix of 2D and 3D animation is done in a way that makes the animation here so incredibly unique. I also adore the steampunk meets fantasy world of Piltover and the grimy gloom of Zaun. The show is also elevated by the amazing soundtrack. Every song choice feels purposely chosen to illustrate and elevate a scene to even greater heights. There are many action scenes in the series that are exceedingly well-choreographed and just a blast to watch! W...

  The human characters have always been a disappointment in live-action movies. It got to the point that I would prefer a Transformer movie with just Transformers. We finally get it in the form of this animated prequel movie. Is this finally a worthy Transformers movie or another dud from Paramount? One of the greatest things that this has over the other Transformer movies, is having characters with actual depth and personality. Additionally, it is a story that is actually interesting to watch. Before they were called Optimus Prime and Megatron, they were Orion Pax and D-16. Seeing them have this very brother-like friendship was incredibly wholesome. Chris Hemsworth gives a great voice performance as Orion. He provides a fun, comedic performance initially which is fine being a young Prime and all. However, when serious moments occur, Chris gives a performance that feels respectful to that of Peter Cullen (the original Optimus voice actor). Likewise, Brian Tyree Henry...

  Look Back is a phenomenal adaptation of the manga One Shot by Tatsuki Fujimoto of Chainsaw Man fame. The animation and visuals are incredibly unique yet beautiful. There are so many scenes that are mesmerizing to look at. The music score by Haruka Nakamura is wonderful and helps elevate the emotional impact of every scene. What makes this stand out against other animated movies is the exceptionally grounded and genuine story. It is a bittersweet and emotionally provoking look at pursuing passion while being a coming-of-age story. Even with the short hour-long runtime, the story delivers a rollercoaster of emotions that will definitely stick with you even after it is over. This is a must-watch!

  This is easily the best-animated movie of 2024. The story and message are incredibly heartfelt and wonderfully done. The theme of family, communities coming together and accepting being different have been done hundreds of times before but The Wild Robot still executes this in such a masterful way that it will still be incredibly touching. The animation and art style are beautiful with many stunning shots. It is hard to believe that this film had a $78 million budget, especially when compared to the $200 million budget of Inside Out 2. Every voice actor does a phenomenal job as well and it doesn’t feel phoned in. This is a must-watch film and I hope Dreamwork continues to give more of this and less of Kung Fu Panda 4.

  This is an excellent drama set in 1600s Japan. The plot is incredibly engaging, and it exceptional explores political tension, religion, and Japanese culture. Hiroyuki Sanada gives a phenomenal performance as Lord Toranaga, and Anna Sawai is a surprising standout as Mariko. Cosmo Jarvis plays the white man outcast John Blackthorn, and he can come off a bit stiff in his performance, but I think overall, he does a great job as an outsider. My only gripe is the final episode, with the series not portraying what it built up in a more impactful way. Nevertheless, this is still one of the best TV shows in recent history, and I highly recommend it!

  It is genuinely impressive that Sony managed to make the most mediocre trilogy ever with such an iconic character. In terms of enjoyment, Eddie and Venom continue to be a delightfully fun duo. In this 3rd movie, they are basically on a road trip and that was relatively entertaining for the most part. The final act of the movie was also a pretty enjoyable CGI action fest with some emotional scenes. However, the story and script are still as flat as ever. The narrative feels very half baked with it feeling like a chain of things just randomly happening. Pointless characters that don’t add much. Jokes being thrown at you just to see which land. Rhys Ifans and Chiwetel Ejiofor characters could have been played by anyone but feels purposely done because they knew fans recognised them from other Marvel projects. The villain Knull looks cool but is just there to be teased for future projects. Overall, it is better than the second film but just on par with the first. It is a...