Back to Lombandicoot's Profile Lombandicoot's Profile

Super funny, super action, and super satisfying. Dragon Ball Super Super Hero hits on all fronts, delivering another fantastic entry to the Dragon Ball world. That world just becomes more charming and entertaining the more we see of it, and the 3D animation allows the action to include more movement and flow than traditional (Broly is still the best put to screen, though). The only nitpick I have is the Gohan-Cell nostalgia just crossing the line to feeling forced.

Here's just a list of things I loved about this movie:
- This is a Piccolo movie!
- Gohan gets involved
- Piccolo's home and cell phone
- Piccolo is on ... a first-name basis with Pan's teacher
- Pan is great
- Bulma continues her frivolous wishes
- Gamma 1 and 2 are fun, new characters
- We see Trunks and Goten as teens! And it gives an explanation for their prolonged shortness
- Broly check in
- Piccolo new form!
- Full of references and easter eggs
- Fresh animation
- Throw back to recon vibes of Android Saga
- Piccolo undercover is hilarious
- After credit scene
- Vegeta wins
- The credits scene, a fun little Nimbus adventure
- New members of the Z-crew
- This was amazing in 4D, so much so that some young kid was brought to tears twice by the commotion

Resident Evil Vendetta uses great animation, crazy action, and a fun plot to capture the essence of the games it is based on (that being RE 4, 5, and 6).

While I do think the more horror focused games are the superior batch (besides RE4, the greatest game of all time), I still unabashedly love the later games. And Vendetta manages to come off as an extension of that style of Resident Evil.

The story fits right into the universe. The arms dealers, evil organizations, etc. creative a global pandemic for their own gain is very familiar and the villain is as wacky an antagonist the ... series has seen since the Ashfords. Though, I think the villain's motivation could've just been revenge when the film takes it a step further in the cuckoo direction.

The movie also earns points on character usage. We get to see Chris and Leon team up. It's a treat anytime we get to characters we know encounter and interact with each other. We even get to see Rebecca Chambers again, who hasn't been too involved outside of two games.

Now, to easily the best part of this movie. The action is what carries this movie. There are several intense scenes that are a marvel to watch, from hand-to-hand fights to explosive motorcycle chases. Great choreography and over-the-top levels of action make this well worth a offers a somewhat funny premise.

Though I didn't expect it to blow me away, Demon Slayer still disappointed me. The first hour and 20 minutes drags on with a boring villain, annoying kids with stupid motivations, and the same issues I find with the series (mainly the annoying side characters, flat humor, and an aesthetic I don't personally care for). There is an awesome fight when another villain appears out of nowhere, but the satisfaction from that wanes with what feels like a cheap character death.

One last criticism to note is about the animation. Just like the show, it is average, consistent animation spruced up with interesting effects to make ... it look better than it is. I thought having a film budget would set it apart from the series, which looks good in it's own right, but it didn't look like much of a step up.

With a plot made interesting with kingdom politicking and themes of faith, loyalty, and service; Final Fantasy XV: Kingslaive stands as a solid movie on it's own while also filling in a huge hole for the game. My opinion is definitely shaped by the fact that I'm nearly finished with the game as of the time watching this, but outside of a bunch of proper nouns this movie didn't seem to hard to follow.

The only criticism I have is that it does drag a bit towards the end, going for a bit longer than it maybe should have. But, I also can't complain about ... extra screen time for the top notch computer animation and awesome action scenes.

I have to start by saying I absolutely adore Lupin III as a franchise, so my opinion of this film may be biased. With that said, I loved watching Lupin III: The First.

The biggest takeaway I had from watching this was how much I enjoyed the animation. The Pixaresque 3d art is combined with the physics and key poses of a 2d style that comes together to use the show's aesthetic to create an awesome look. It manages to keep the style of 2d animation while utilizing the flow and moment-to-moment life of 3d animation.

As for the narrative, the film is pretty much your ... classic Lupin III affair. Thieving, treasure, lies, betrayal, action...all the key elements are there. In fact, the emphasis on treasure and archaeological clues made it feel like an uncharted film starring the Lupin crew. There are some neat little mysteries to solve, concluding with an exhilarating hallway scene that uses the iconic theme song at a perfect moment.

The series' beloved side characters get some screen time as well, though it's not a lot. Fujiko, Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata are all there, and each gets a moment or two to show off, which is all you can really ask for in a single film.

Overall, Lupin III: The First is a really cool animation experiment and a pretty solid jumping on point for those who haven't seen anything else of the series.

Hells uses a visually interesting artstyle and great animation to tell a fun story. About halfway through the film, the story and characters become a lot weightier, which reinvigorated my interest right when I was getting a little bored of the quirky Hell antics. Overall, the mix of biblical mythology and anime sensibilities made for a touching, universally inspiring story.

Also, I watched the English dub, which I thought was pretty good. So, shout out to Team Four Star on the good work. A smile was brought to my face everytime I heard Nick Landis deliver a line as Helvis.

Tokyo Godfathers is one of the best Christmas movies out there.

The film follows three homeless characters as they try to return a lost baby to its mother, and manages to expand on each of their personal stories throughout one miraculous night. By the end of the film, I was rooting for our "bum, queer, and runaway" as they explored the city, stumbled through a series of crazy coincidences, and rediscovered what their families mean to them.

Every Satoshi Kon film i have seen has made me wonder why I hadn't gotten around to them yet. His films ooze humanity, with well developed characters and fleshed out ... worlds brought to life through great writing and fantastic animation/art.

Despite hating everything I've seen from Studio Trigger up to this point, I'm not sure why I expected Promare to even be passably decent. But, for whatever reason, I at least expected a competent film. And.... yeah, that didn't happen.

Promare fails on every level.

The writing is horrendous. Characters are hardly fleshed out and all of the ones that matter to the story feel like hollow shells that borrow what little traits they have from other stories. Then you get into the plot, a mess of bored tropes and uber-predictable twists and turns. You also have some of the stupidest exchanges I've seen in a long ... time.

- "We're leaving the planet because it's going to be destroyed." "Hey, did you know your ship is going to destroy the planet?" "Oh no, I guess I can't do that then."
- "Hey you should feel sorry for us, all we do is destroy people's homes and lives. But we always give them a chance to escape with nothing but their lives. So why do they hate us?" "Can't you just stop destroying everything?" "No, we aren't going to stop. We just want people to accept us."

There are so many stupid logics and even contradictions on display throughout the entire movie. For the most part, the main "villain" Kray is the smartest character in the whole thing.

But, this is Trigger we're talking about. We know their writing isn't going to be good. We're really here for great animation and action (even though they don't usually provide that either). Well, even with a movie budget the animation is lazy and wholly unimpressive. In typical Trigger fashion, scenes constantly skip frames of movement or just cycle between a few poses to emulate real movement. Add a muted neon color palette to that and you get a poor excuse of an animated feature.

The one thing Trigger knows how to do right is the key poses and storyboard moments, but those are hampered by the ugly art style.

Overall, Promare manages to drop well below the very low expectations I had going into it.

Whoever thought to bring anime yakuza sensibilities into the world of Altered Carbon... Thank you. Resleeved was an awesome little addition to the series.

The story is interesting, mixing the detective plot of the first half of the first season with a yakuza power struggle. Then they decide to throw an interesting twist in there that capitalizes on the world it is set in.

Visually, this is a magnificent feat. CG-anime animation that actually looks good throughout the whole thing and manages to flow like real movement? How did they pull that off? Netflix has been doing a lot of that style lately, and they really hit ... their stride with Resleeved. It looks great.

That fluid 3D animation tells right into some really well-choreographed fights that feel ripped straight out of Sega's Yakuza videogame series. The fights are intense and hit heavy, but still show off skilled and intricate fighting.

Overall, Altered Carbon: Resleeved is a successful venture for the series into a new medium that expertly uses that move to create something worth adding to the universe.

Akira, a timeless classic. Parts of this film definitely stand the test of time, but it's not a perfect movie or anything.

The plot is very demanding and maybe even a bit convoluted. There's just so much context or information the movie expects its audience to pick up on, which actually works fairly well. It's able to convey the separate factions in conflict with each other, the background of Kaneda and Tetsuo, and most of what's going on with the secret project, all without explicitly spelling everything out for you.

However, I can't help but feel like the plot is a bit crammed. Maybe a series ... format would better convey all of the needed information at a more natural pace.

Other than the bit of confusion or maybe feeling of missing something, and the lack of interest I had for all but the two main characters, this movie is damn good.

The plot is interesting. It's fascinating to watch Tetsuo become consumed by his newfound power, both mentally and later physically, and it's fun to watch Kaneda trying to save/deal with his best friend.

The presentation is also fantastic. The animation looks fantastic, especially considering how old this movie is. And there are plenty of interesting shots that make some live action films to shame. The soundtrack is distinct and effective at pulling your mental state where it wants, whether it gets your heart pumping, or puts you in frightful awe.

Overall, Akira is a good movie and worth a watch, especially if you like either anime or films, or even both.