‘The Last’ is a Necessary ‘Naruto’ Shōjo Story

The Last could be the most well-made Naruto movie ever.  Though, to be fair, this is only the third Narutomovie I’ve seen – but it’s certainly the best among those three.  There aren’t any epic action scenes, and its story treads on many familiar tropes, but it was compelling enough at the right parts to make it an enjoyable watch.  Moreover, being set during the time lapse between the events of Chapter 699 (the end of the Infinite Tsukoyomi; aftermath of the Fourth Shinobi World War) and Chapter 700 (Naruto as the 7^th Hokage), The Last is officially part of the Narutocanon – thus, this elevates its importance above the other movies and making it more interesting.        

  

Personally, I’m just happy to see a story set during the time lapse.  And this is the thing about the movie I liked the most.  The time between Chapter 699 and 700 was a period I wish the manga chose to explore instead of immediately jumping towards Naruto being Hokage.  For me, it would have been the best opportunity to start afresh with the interesting characters and world of Naruto after its exposition-heavy, convoluted last arc ruined everything.

Plot synopsis: the antagonist Toneri seeks to destroy the world by sending the moon crashing towards it.  And, as to be expected, it is up to Naruto and his friends to stop him.  But this is just padding to what The Last is really about – the story of how Naruto and Hinata became a couple.  Which is fine since that is one of the intriguing questions that Chapter 700 has raised.  And the two do make a cute, engaging Shōjo story. 

Miscellaneous musings:

• Apparently, ninja can breathe on the moon.   
• 19-year old Naruto’s look is his coolest yet. 
• It is understood that Hinata is a meek, gentle character.  But she is much too fragile in this movie – something I didn’t like – as if she’s not a toughened, veteran shinobi of the Fourth Shinobi World War. 
• Nice to be reminded that Shikamaru is the smartest character in Naruto.  
• Seriously, I want to have more tales set in the period between Chapters 699 and 700.  And the anime series has the window of making this happen before it proceeds towards the “New Era” (Naruto as Hokage, and his son, Boruto, as main protagonist).  I remember how the Naruto anime series provided ample time for the manga to considerably pull ahead by doing 77 filler episodes before proceeding to Shippuden.  I suggest that the same thing be done this time around (but in a much, much better fashion than what transpired in that 77 episode-run, since that stretch has most of Naruto’s most mediocre, pointless, and awful episodes).  So, after covering the events of Chapter 699, the anime should do a lengthy run of filler episodes set during the period before Naruto become Hokage.  And let there be sensible character and plot developments that would appropriately set up the status quo of Chapter 700.  At least show me if Kakashi was any good as Hokage and how Naruto was chosen as his successor and how all those characters developed into couples. 

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The Plot of ‘The Voices’ Fell Short of Giving Justice to the Promise of Its Premise

Jerry is a factory worker suffering from psychological imbalance.  Whenever he doesn’t take his prescribed medication, he experiences hallucinations, which includes imagining that his pets – Mr. Whiskers (a cat) and Bosco (a dog) – can talk.  And he prefers it this way, as his world is brighter and more cheerful.  On the other hand, whenever he takes his pills, he becomes more in tune with reality; thus, he sees his world as it is – messy and bleak – and is haunted by nightmares of his abused childhood.  Struggling with his mental condition – with Mr. Whiskers and Bosco somewhat acting as his id and superego respectively – an unintended, accidental killing (or is it?) would propel him into becoming a serial killer.

I’m probably not the first one to notice (because it’s that obvious) that The Voices is like a twisted version of the comic strip, Garfield – a socially awkward adult that talks to his cynical cat and is adored by his blissful dog.  It’s the perfect premise for a dark comedy.  That’s why I was really looking forward to this film after I got to read its synopsis.

Unfortunately, the premise was not transformed into the adorable and smart plot that I was expecting.  Sure, the story is not really bad.  In fact, most critics liked it.  But I find it lacking.  I believe there was a lot more that can be accomplished with the available material.

Ryan Reynolds’ performance here has been one of his best yet.  He really thrives in playing deranged, funny characters.  And it’s the best thing that I can probably take from this movie – a reminder that Ryan Reynolds is born to play the loony Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool.  Now that’s one movie I would really hate to be disappointed about.

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Why 'Digimon' is Objectively Better than 'Pokemon'

I’ve grown up enjoying both Pokemon and Digimon.  But though Pokemon is the bigger and more popular franchise, I’ve always held the belief that – at least with regards to anime series – Digimon is better than Pokemon (but with regards to games and other products, I have no say on the matter since I’ve only got the chance to play Pokemon video games and card games and never with any Digimongames, though I’m familiar with the gameplay of Digimon World 2).

As far as premise is concerned, there is more substance in Digimon’s than Pokemon’s.  Both shows involve humans directing “monsters” to battle.  However, in Pokemon, the whole battling is primarily intended for human amusement.  It’s basically a reinvented form of cockfighting.  On the other hand, in Digimon, the battling has a nobler purpose – usually, to protect the world or humanity from evil threats.  Moreover, a Digimon acts more of a partner to the human in battle rather than just being a pawn as with the relationship of a Pokemon and its owner/trainer.  

Pokemon tells the story of a boy named Ash Ketchum who left home to travel the world to find and collect as much Pokemon as he can, then oblige them to battle with other people’s Pokemon, so that he can be the greatest Pokemon master ever.  The charm of Pokemon is hinged on the appeal of collecting, and as a collector of stuff myself (comics, books, toys, etc.), I understand the thrill of collecting things.  But, seriously, even if all these Pokemon don’t mind or even fancy being collected and used by humans for sport, there’s something selfish and petty about Ash’s motivation as well as the concept of Pokemon collecting and battling.   

Actually, I disdain Ash Ketchum.  Though he has some likable qualities, like genuinely loving his Pokemon and sincerity in offering friendship to everyone (even his antagonists), he is, nevertheless, an incompetent, dumb, bland, and annoying character.  It’s so frustrating how he is easily gullible and lacks some form of tactical talent as a Pokemon trainer (especially when you get to play his doppelganger, Red, in the games.  Red is a more interesting character and makes much smarter decision than Ash – primarily because Red is your virtual avatar.  Also, the characters in the manga – including Red, who happens to also star on a Pokemon manga series – have more personality and more interesting Pokemon lineups).  And there hasn’t been much character development with Ash either.  He’s basically what he is now as he was about eighteen year ago.            

And that’s another thing.  Ash – unappealing of a character that he is – has been the central character of Pokemonall this time.  That’s 18 seasons being stuck with this character.  And his characterization and purpose is basically intact all this time: travel the world, collect Pokemon, have mediocre adventures, battle with other trainers, so that he “can be the very best.”  Yada, yada. 

In Digimon, there are diverse protagonists, so you have the option of choosing which character you want to root for or relate to.  In the first series of Digimon, there were seven (which became eight later on) main protagonists.  And that’s just the first series, there have been more series after that, hence, more characters.  Moreover, actual character developments are happening with these characters.  They are not stagnant, but dynamic.  These characters grow up.  These characters change.  New characters are introduced.  It’s just like the character pool of Power Rangers. 

As what was already mentioned in the previous paragraph, Digimon also has the advantage of having different series like the Gundam franchise.  With each Digimon incarnation, there is a different set of characters and premises and rules.  Again, just like Gundam.  It keeps everything fresh and exciting.       

 

In terms of strorytelling, Pokemon is dumber, goofier, and more light-hearted, which is actually not a problem, but it makes the extent of its storytelling limited.  It doesn’t help either that the writing on Pokemon is just plain bad a significant amount of time.   On the other hand, Digimon’s storytelling is smarter and purposeful.  Yes, there is some amount of campiness on Digimon, of course, but that’s just for the sake of creating humor (it’s still a kid’s show after all).  Nonetheless, because of its more substantial premise, Digimonis able to have much more depth and stakes (i.e. death and tragedy happens) in its storytelling. 

And because there is more maturity in its storytelling, Digimon’s villains are often more interesting.  Digimon’s villains are more ambitious and ruthless.  Most Digimon villains are consistently in “global menace” level.  In Pokemon, though Ash encounters some serious threats once in a while (especially in the movies), the campy Team Rocket serves as the regular antagonists.  Now, I like their trademark chant and member Meowth (since I have an affinity to cats), but Team Rocket is just a pesky group of antagonists that we just can’t take seriously. 

Speaking of Meowth, he is one of the rare Pokemon that can communicate by human language.  Almost all other Pokemon merely utter their names (or syllables from their names).  But all Digimon can talk!  The ability to talk does not only give Digimon more personality and appearance of intelligence and independence, but also establishes better relationship between the Digimon and his human (again, they are partners).

The nature of evolution is also more interesting with Digimon than Pokemon.  A Pokemon evolves in a ladderized manner, and once it gets to the next level, it permanently stays at that form.   On the other hand, a Digimon’s evolution to a higher form isn’t permanent.  It can always go back to its status quo. Moreover, aside from evolving into a higher form, there are other varieties of Digimon evolution.  For example, Digimon can combine (temporarily, of course) with another Digimon to form a new Digimon form.  Also, humans can even (temporarily) combine with or transform into Digimon.  Evolution is definitely more exciting and complex in Digimon.   

Simply put, Digimon has the superiority in plot, premise, characters, and even in some other small details – like, Digivices and tags and crests are aesthetically cooler, more personalized, and has much more utility than Pokedexes and gym badges.  So those who say that Digimon is just an inferior imitation of Pokemon don’t really know what they are saying – either they haven’t watched enough episodes of both shows or they simply lack good taste.  Pokemon might have come first, but Digimon is objectively better. 

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‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is Awesomely Epic, But Fails to Up the Ante

For the record, I do love Avengers: Age of Ultron.  It is even my most favorite movie I’ve seen this year so far.  However, I was expecting something more out of it.  I was hoping it would surpass the previous Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy, as the greatest Marvel film ever just as GotG surpassed the Marvel film prior it, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Also, I was hoping that it would provide a massive game-changing effect on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  However, though AoU (I will be referring to Avengers: Age of Ultron as such from here on) has some status quo changes at the conclusion of its high-stake narrative, there aren’t any Winter Soldier-level shakeups at all.

AoU has been extremely spectacular (especially the climactic battle sequence), and watching all those superheroes assembling together and just be superheroes is exciting enough.  However, the experience I had with the first Avengers movie wherein I was blown away by the culmination of Phase One’s years of build-up – all those superheroes standing together for the first time – has not been replicated when I watched AoU.  I still had a terrific time with AoU, but just not at the same level as the first one.     

AoU noticeably wobbles a bit with its story, and treads on a couple of plot elements that we have already seen in the first Avengers movie.  It has a good amount of humor despite of having a darker tone, but it’s not as clever and funny as the first one.  However, it does have a better distribution of important character moments, more thematic depth, and more eye-popping action sequences.       

       

In conclusion, Avengers: Age of Ultron might not be as insightful or game-changing as Captain America: Winter Soldier, and not as fun as Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was still a very enjoyable epic movie.    

May 1 in the US, but April 22 in the Philippines. Yeah!

Miscellaneous musings:

• I find it funny that, in a likely attempt to subtly tie up the Rage of Ultron graphic novel with the movie, Marvel was willing to give us a glimpse of how the new Marvel Universe will turn out post-Secret Wars.  Rage of Ultron was earlier released this month and is obviously set after Secret Wars. 
• I was expecting an Ant-Man reference.  Maybe as minor as a mention of Dr. Hank Pym (Ultron’s original creator in the comics).  There was none.
• It was interesting in that one scene where Ultron leans his head sideways as if he’s Raymond Reddington.
• The take on Hawkeye’s character here is a bit similar to the down-to-earth theme of Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye comic book series.  
• The Hulkbuster vs. Hulk sequence was pretty badass as expected.  But I’m not satisfied with how it concluded.   
• I was annoyed that Joss Whedon employed his trademark “kill a beloved character” plot element once again, but only because it was done as a gratuitous attempt to create a dramatic effect (on the contrary, the “death” of Phil Coulson in the first movie served a purpose).  The death of that Avenger really felt unnecessary at that point.  It didn’t really improve nor push the story forward.
• AoU has the weakest mid/post-credit scene in a Marvel movie ever. 
• That fake bootlegged Spider-Man post-credit scene could have ruined AoU’s mid-credit scene for me.  That one really makes scenes.  It has a Whedonian touch and a perfect Spider-Man characterization.  It’s frustrating that that was a fake.   Why didn’t Marvel do something of the same effect?   
• Or, maybe… Just maybe…Hmmmm…. Okay.  I’m calling this.  Maybe that Spider-Man post-credit scene is legit after all, but reserved for the American audiences on May 1, just as it was with the shawarma scene in Avengers.  I might just be delusional here (because I want a Spider-Man cameo so bad), but I’m still calling it. 
• Here’s an exciting thought: Joss Whedon directing and co-writing the next Spider-Man movie!  With Whedon’s knack for writing funny one-liners and Spider-Man’s reputation as a wisecracker – it’s a perfect match.

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The '12 Monkeys' TV Series Turned Out to Be Just as Interesting as the Movie It Was Based On

When I learned that a 12 Monkeys TV series was being developed by Syfy, I was doubtful that it’s going to be any good.  The 12 Monkeys movie is one of the most brilliant time travel tales ever.  The story has already been told.  Retelling it in TV format – even if there will be some reinventions – would not only seem redundant and unnecessary, but, it felt like, that no matter what, the TV series will always look like a cheap knock-off in comparison to the movie.  So I didn’t immediately jump into the show once it started back in January. 

But, then, I found myself marathoning it this April.  Was just compelled to try it.  And I was immensely entertained.  It’s not as smart and fresh as the movie.  But it was just as interesting.  The core premise of the movie – a guy named James Cole from a post-apocalyptic future is sent back in time (our present) to stop the enigmatic “Army of the 12 Monkeys” from releasing a plague that will put humanity at the verge of extinction – is the same with the TV series.  But there are much more complicated details involved with the TV series as well as well-done diversions from the source material.       

The rules of time travel set by its premise was not particularly innovative or mindblowing, and even have some shades of outlandishness at some details.  But the narrative consistently adhered to those rules, so there’s not much distraction from inconsistencies – unsatisfying those rules may be.  And it did result to some enjoyable storytelling. 

The writing isn’t perfect.  There’s always the nagging feeling that there’s something dumb and incoherent regarding plot details and character motivations.  Nonetheless, I’m just too entertained to even care.  Also, there is the fact that the story isn’t finished yet.  There’s still a lot of mystery.  Maybe everything will only perfectly make sense once the story ends.      

 

A couple of things already went full circle by the time the season concluded, but there are still plenty of intriguing questions left unanswered as well as room for thrilling storytelling opportunities set up by the game-changing events of the season finale that I am legitimately excited for season 2.  Not bad for a “cheap knock-off” of a classic 90’s film.

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‘The Man with the Iron Fists 2’ is a Disappointing, Dull Sequel

The first The Man with the Iron Fists movie (released back in 2012) had a stupid, mess of a story.  However, it did feature a good amount of ludicrous, “themed” characters that delightfully made the movie look like an adaptation of an old-school fighting game like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.  Thus, despite its bad script and direction, it still resulted to a fun watch.  Unfortunately, the sequel doesn’t have the advantage of having a bunch of oddball warriors battling among themselves, which made this movie unremarkable and not as fun.

The Man with the Iron Fists 2 employs a familiar plot and a couple of clichéd tropes from old Hong Kong martial arts movies.  At the early part of the narrative, I was still finding it enjoyable because of the nostalgic appeal provided by its hackneyed tone (I adored Hong Kong martial arts flicks when I was a kid).  But as the movie goes on, I found myself getting tired of being able to predict every plot development and twist that unfolds.  By the time it gets to its last third, I couldn’t care less of the story. 

For a martial arts film, the fight choreography was impressive – if we’re still in the 80’s or 90’s.  By today’s standard (set by films like The Raid), the action was pretty lacking and lackluster.  It was as uncreative and unimaginative as its plot. 

The Man with the Iron Fists 2 is, simply speaking, a bad movie.  Even if you enjoyed the first movie – or, rather – especially if you enjoyed the first movie, you will find The Man with the Iron Fists 2 a disappointing and dull sequel.

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'Wyrmwood' is an Atypical, Insanely Funny Zombie Flick

The Australian-produced Wyrmwood: Road of the Damned – also known as simply Wyrmwood – tells of a zombie apocalypse that seemingly ensued after a meteor shower (it was unrevealed, however, whether there’s a direct connection between the meteor shower and the zombie apocalypse) and follows a mechanic named Barry taking a Mad Max-style road trip amidst it to get to his sister, Brooke, who, unbeknownst to him, has been taken captive by a shady military unit so that she can be a lab rat for a mad scientist’s experiment on zombies.          

What’s unique about this movie is how the specifics of this particular zombie apocalypse is shrouded in mystery and weirdness – People with blood type “A-” are unaffected; liquid fuel ceased to be inflammable (hence, became useless) when the zombie apocalypse started;  the breath of zombies are discovered to be efficient substitutes for liquid fuel, but this stops working when dusk arrives, as the zombies apparently use the “fuel” generated by their breath to move quicker during night-time; and, most interesting of all, Brooke gained the power to control zombies after getting experimented on.  The movie ends without actually providing clear explanations regarding these bizarre happenings.  Thus, by not attempting to make sense of it all, it only enhanced Wyrmwood’s insanity.  Which is a good thing, actually.  This is the kind of movie that doesn’t need to be strong with its logic, but in fact proportionately increases in entertainment value by how ridiculous and insane it gets.  

What I like most about this movie is how it was able to make me genuinely laugh aloud.  There are no gags involved here (like the classic zombie movie Shaun of the Dead); the mood is straight-up dire and deadpan.  However, hilarity is successfully generated by ludicrous situations and screw-ups that the narrative fabulously sets up.

Wyrmwood doesn’t have the makings of a classic, and it does use a couple of the clichés of the zombie genre, but it tells a sufficiently creative and amusing spin to an otherwise worn-out premise.

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