Reviews

The epic vision and ambition that went into Season 1 is, I dare say, uncanny. Juggling a team of 9 characters, season 1 had 3-5 plotlines per episode, several of which extended the whole season or into season 2.

The first episode is a classic where Jubilee meets the X-Men and a Sentinel at the mall. This early 90s fun vibe quickly meets adult situations when around Episode 3 or so one of the team members dies in battle. This death then spawns several plotlines as the characters react to the death differently. (And of course, being comics, no one can truly stay dead. But they did a nice job of merging the Apocalypse plotline with the Morph plotline.)

Season 1 covers Sentinels, including Master Mold, 2 of the island sagas (Muir Island and some slave island.) Days of Future Past. Apocalyse and his 4 angels of death. Plus feature villains such as Magneto, Juggernaut, and Mystique. My favorite plotline was when everyone was pursuing a doctor not knowing that the doctor was really Mystique.

It's pretty crazy that the Beast storyline takes the whole season with limited payoff. He just sits in jail the whole time lol. Also, Cable's appearance makes no sense in season 1 but they do get around to explaining it season 2.

Season 2 introduces some standalone episodes which are hit and miss. The Savage Land plotline is fairly interesting, though they slow walk it.

Season 3 has the Phoenix Saga, which is a drudge for me to get through. Way too much exposition and confusing self-sacrifice. After that it feels like the.writers changed the the energy dropped.

My biggest gripe is that the heroes are so overpowered it's hard to believe they ever lose. Cyclops can one-shot any Sentinel, but for some reason doesn't just take them all out in a minute.

Still need to watch the later seasons, but not sure I can make it through season 3.

From a writing perspective this story and plot are incredibly by the book. Everything is set up and the main character experiences hardships and growth at exactly the right time.

At the same time, a lot of creativity went it. Especially the world-building for things to make (a little bit of) sense. It mixes adult humor and kid humor fairly well (though some jokes fall flat). It's immediately relatable to anyone that has ever been to an arcade.

Where this movie falls short, and makes it hard to rewatch, is Vanellope. Perfect from start to finish she has no character growth. Compare to lesser characters Fixit and Bug-Killer Lady, who both grow and learn. Vanellope was always a princess. Vanellope always had superpowers (why she never used them, to say, escape prison, is never explained, because that might accidentally create character development for her.) She's a selfish brat outcast in the beginning and she's a selfish brat princess in the end. It doesn't help that they they draw her as a 5 year old kid while doing all these feats. The icing on the cake is when she appoints herself as president with no votes and calls it a democracy - the condescension from this character is incredible.

Overall the writing was good. The character motivations and backstories were slowly dripped and in Act 1 it really looked like the movie was setting up some good payoffs.

Unfortunately, the moral dilemmas that were formed in Act 1 quickly disappeared in Act 2 when it became all about the money. Resolved was the mystery of each character's motivation. Resolved was the tension between the characters' competing interests.

Act 2 was a simple find the money plot with the characters making very poor choices. Why would you have the money mailed from the post office deposit box instead of driving there? It puts you at way too much risk. Why would you divulge your entire scheme to the real wife?

Act 3 consisted of some plot twists that got the action and drama going again. However, wrapped up too tidy for me.

Overall a fun little B movie that has some good parts to it.

You've got the cousin thing going on. George feels neglected by his parents so he tries to get attention by dating his cousin. Only his cousin is into it.

You've got frisky parents of adult children. Then their adult child George accidentally finds and sees them having sex in a van.

You've got the obnoxious car (or van in this case) that is an embarrassment and a pain to drive in the city.

All in all it's an okay episode. I like how they're juggling 4 plot lines and like 11 characters, though the Kramer plot line is not funny and is painful on rewatches. Also makes no sense for George to want to be with his parents, but it's funny enough how he approaches it.

Not the best in terms of plot - DJ never had to make a choice and Jesse/Joey never really ask the Beach Boys to listen to their music sample (though Joey does sneak the sample tape to one of the members.)

But this memorializes The Beach Boys - both in a house setting and in concert. Wish they would have said who's who though.

It may be my imagination but Joey seemed a little intimidated by the band in the house scene, especially when singing. Or perhaps he was directed not to steal the scene. The other cast members really got into it, especially and obviously Jesse.

In short, would've liked more plot but you can't go wrong with 10 minutes of beach boys singing and playing.

The basic plotline is great. Could have been a memorable film that people still talk about today, instead of largely forgotten.

First, the pacing is awful. We have a fairly interesting opening sequence from the past, setting up the big secret. Then we have what feels like a 20 minute courtship between Van Heflin and Lizbeth Scott that does nothing for the plot other than more set-up. The movie doesn't seem to start until the 40 minute mark or so.

Then when the plot finally kicks off, to me it was a big let down. Others seem to appreciate the lies and deceit. I was scratching my head wondering why a district attorney would ever behave that way.

First, why doesn't the DA just let the girl go and see if there is further blackmail? He ends up letting her go anyways.

Second, what did he need the girl for in order to beat up Van Heflin? To trick him into going into a dark alley? Seems like a pretty involved scheme which unnecessarily adds a wild card to it - there were easier ways to beat him up.

Third, if Van Heflin was blackmailing him, how would beating him and and leaving him on the highway going to solve anything? Nothing stopping Van Heflin from reporting the murder, even if just out of annoyance at that point.

That said, good premise. Plus an interesting love square going on that was well played by all the leads.

One movie was the plot - the scary things happening to the characters.

The second movie was the characters - who for almost the entire movie were unfazed by any of the strange occurrences in the house.

Attempted murder? Why I think I'll explore the house by myself. Found a severed head? I think I'll explore the house by myself. Hear a strange noise coming from the cellar? Better go explore it by myself.

Make a pact to murder anyone who leaves his room? Why bother telling the lady who wasn't at the meeting.

Sure there were screams. But almost no other action or decision seemed to make any sense.

Not sure where I got the idea that this was going to be a comedy. Multiple people at or near retirement age losing all their money. 1 suicide and 1 terminal illness.

The movie spent so much time building up this dinner. 2 separate love triangles. Comedy of errors set up with desperate people depending on others who they mistakenly think can help them. Everyone with a secret or a lie.

Then absolutely no payoffs in the end. Kill off one of the lovers so there's no conflict. Don't even address the other live triangle. No drama or comedy in the ending at all.

I don't laugh out loud at a lot of movies. But when grandpa tapped the jaw of the gangster in the courtroom, I laughed louder than I have in years (watching movies.) It was so in character and so surprising at the same time.

Plus, I love me a good old classic patriotic speech.

SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Saw this film about 20 years ago and didn't laugh once. Thought I'd give it another chance. The first half was actually okay - I really enjoyed these power actors portraying middle america nobodies, even if things were a little slow moving. Then out of a sudden at the halfway mark the plot smacks into a wall and scatters and the actors don't seem to have noticed.

Once we "know" where the money is, all the tension disappears and we have no idea why Bridges and Goodman are still wandering around LA instead of getting the money back. Bridges and Goodman didn't do anything illegal, why can't they get the police involved at this point? Why go tell a murderous thug that his money is at a high school kid's house? Why did the murderous thug let Bridges off so easy, after previously sending him a toe? There are no stakes for the rest of the movie.

The bowling plot was okay, but talk about anti-climactic. I've never seen a movie build up a tournament and then not show the tournament. It could've been a bold move, except for one detail: the film killed off one of his bowling teammates and nobody even comments on a replacement. How are Bridges and Goodman even going to participate in this tournament without a third? And we know they have no friends to ask.