A Celebration of 1800 Reviews

Below is a list of links to every review from 1701-1800, broken up every 25 links for easy navigation. Each review will also be color-coded as such: Movie, Video Game, Comic.

1-300. A Celebration of 300 Reviews

301-400. A Celebration of 400 Reviews

401-500. A Celebration of 500 Reviews

501-600. A Celebration of 600 Reviews

601-700. A Celebration of 700 Reviews

701-800. A Celebration of 800 Reviews

801-900. A Celebration of 900 Reviews

901-1000. A Celebration of 1000 Reviews

1001-1100. A Celebration of 1100 Reviews

1101-1200. A Celebration of 1200 Reviews

1201-1300. A Celebration of 1300 Reviews

1301-1400. A Celebration of 1400 Reviews

1401-1500. A Celebration of 1500 Reviews

1501-1600. A Celebration of 1600 Reviews
1601-1700. A Celebration of 1700 Reviews

1701. Lilo & Stitch (2025)
1702. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle
1703. Elio
1704. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
1705. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
1706. The Sound of Music
1707. Tron: Catalyst (PC)
1708. Tron: Ares
1709. Me & My Katamari
1710. Beautiful Katamari (+ DLC) (Second Look)
1711. Katamari Forever
1712. Touch My Katamari (Second Look)
1713. Frankenstein (2025)
1714. Little Nightmares III (PS5)
1715. Fobia Vol. 1
1716. Silent Hill f (PS5)
1717. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
1718. Odds Against Tomorrow
1719. Once Upon a Katamari (PS5)
1720. I Wake Up Screaming
1721. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution (GBA)
1722. The Big Steal
1723. Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: At a Confessional
1724. Dispatch (PC)
1725. Armored Car Robbery

 

1726. Sonic Heroes (Xbox)
1727. Larceny, Inc.
1728. Zootopia 2
1729. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (Film)
1730. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)
1731. Miracle on Main St.
1732. Tron RUN/r
1733. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) (PS3)
1734. O. Henry’s Full House
1735. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) (PS3)
1736. Blast of Science
1737. Blackmail (1929)
1738. One Battle After Another
1739. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
1740. Megadeth: Behind the Mask
1741. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
1742. Return to Silent Hill
1743. Iron Lung (Film)
1744. Samaritan
1745. They Call It Sin
1746. Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
1747. Mission: Impossible
1748. Mission: Impossible 2
1749. Star Fox
1750. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

1751. Mission: Impossible III
1752. Hoppers
1753. Star Fox 64 3D
1754. Star Fox: Assault
1755. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1756. Star Fox Command
1757. Star Fox Zero + Star Fox Guard
1758. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
1759. Starlink: Battle for Atlas (+ DLC) (Switch) (Second Look)
1760. TMNT (2007)
1761. Super Mario Galaxy (Switch)
1762. George of the Jungle
1763. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
1764. God of War: Sons of Sparta
1765. Exit 8 (Film)
1766. Mercy (2026)
1767. Le Ballet Mécanique
1768. Devil May Cry 2 (Second Look)
1769. The Devil Wears Prada
1770. The Devil Wears Prada 2
1771. The Sheep Detectives
1772. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1773. A Farewell to Arms
1774. Toy Story (Second Opinion)
1775. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (PC)
 

1776. Toy Story 2 (Second Look)
1777. Mortal Kombat II (Film)
1778. The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act 
1779. River City Girls 2 (PS5)
1780. Toy Story 3 (Film)
1781. Toy Story 3 (Game) (PS3)
1782. Toy Story 4
1783. Toy Story 5
1784. John Wick
1785. Supergirl
1786. 007 First Light
1787. John Wick: Chapter 2
1788. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
1789. Deltarune Chapter 5
1790. Moana (1926)
1791. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
1792. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland
1793. John Wick: Chapter 4
1794. Ballerina (2025)
1795. The Odyssey (2026)
1796. Mortal Kombat (1995)
1797. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
1798. Dr. Who and the Daleks
1799. Sonic Riders
1800. Citizen Kane (Second Look)

Movies: 67 (1,161 Total)
Video Games: 32 (562 Total)
Comic Books: 1 (29 Total)
DLC: 0 (26 Total)

Book: 0 (1 Total)

Stage: 0 (1 Total)

Stubs: Citizen Kane - A Second Screening

Citizen Kane (1941) Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Agnes Moorehead. Directed by Orson Welles. Screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles. Music by Bernard Hermann. Produced by Orson Welles. Run Time: 119 minutes. U.S. B&W Drama.

There is a real difference between watching a film on home video and watching it in a theater. This recently happened to me with Citizen Kane, which recently was part of a Fathom Event, celebrating its 85th anniversary. I had previously reviewed the film for this blog, based on watching it on disc. I won’t go through the history of the film, or a detailed synopsis, please see the previous post for that.

Classic Hollywood films, of which this would definitely count, were made to be seen in theaters and that is really the only way to get the full experience filmmakers intended. While I had seen the film several times, I did get a different appreciation for it, seeing it in a theater.

We were treated before the film with an introduction by Leonard Maltin, the well-known film critic/historian. In his prologue, he lauded Citizen Kane as the greatest film ever made. That’s a high honor to lay on something and the only way to prove that is to watch the film.

Sonic Riders (PS2)

Since speed is a core part of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it was only natural that at some point it would enter the world of racing games. While not the first, one of the better-known attempts at this is Sonic Riders, which also features the first appearances of a trio of characters named Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross, collectively known as the Babylon Rogues. This was also one of a few Sonic games I engaged with as a kid, and the Babylon Rogues’ reintroduction to the franchise through the IDW comics and the more recent Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds led me to revisit their roots. For the purpose of this review, I mainly engaged with the Story Mode, though the game’s controls and difficulty unfortunately led me to not finish it, as much as I really wanted to.

Stubs - Dr. Who and The Daleks

Dr. Who and The Daleks (1965) starring Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden, Roberta Tovey. Directed by Gordon Flemyng. Screenplay by Milton Subotsky. Based on The Daleks by Terry Nation. Produced by Milton Subotsky, Max J. Rosenberg Run time: 82 minutes. Color. United Kingdom. Science Fiction

If you’re a devotee of Doctor Who, you’ve no doubt heard of the Daleks. They are almost as old as the franchise themselves. They made their first appearance in the second serial of the First Doctor (William Hartnell). In the serial, the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) land in an alien jungle and are captured by the Daleks, a race of mutated creatures who survive off the radiation that remains in the atmosphere after a nuclear war with their enemies. As the group attempt to escape the Daleks, they discover more about the planet and the ensuing war, and attempt to broker a peace.

Doctor Who, at this time, was still relatively new and many characteristics of the Doctor wouldn’t be recognizable to fans of the series today. The character hadn’t really been thoroughly established; not yet a Time Lord, as an example.

Amicus Productions bought an option to make the story and two sequels from Terry Nation, the writer of the story, and the BBC, which produced the series, for £500. With a budget of £180,000, the film went into production at Shepperton Studios in April 1965. It was released in the UK on August 23, 1965.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

It goes without saying that Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) proved very popular and successful, so much so that it spawned two follow-up series, The Legend of Korra (Korra) and the upcoming Seven Havens. In the interim, however, it has had two divisive live-action adaptations, M. Night Shyamalan’s infamous The Last Airbender film and the Avatar: The Last Airbender remake from Netflix. Creative differences regarding the latter would inspire the formation of Avatar Studios, with series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at the helm, to expand the world of ATLA, starting with what would become the film Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (Avatar Aang). This project would later receive more notoriety not just for a pivot from the original theatrical distribution to streaming directly on Paramount+, but also for someone leaking the entire finished film online months in advance.

Of course, release plans moved forward, with a premiere at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 (I attended the event, but didn’t go to the screening) and a limited run in only two theaters solely to qualify for the Oscars shortlist, despite protest from fans and members of the crew. Although I would have seen the film anyway as an ATLA fan, the increased awareness from the troubles surrounding the film’s production and release further piqued my curiosity. Although I found the film enjoyable, it did unfortunately fall short where it counted the most.

Mortal Kombat (1995)

When the fighting game Mortal Kombat debuted in arcades in 1992, its success led to a sequel, Mortal Kombat II, in 1993. As Mortal Kombat 3 (MK3) was being developed for a 1995 release, the games were expanded into a multimedia franchise, including a PG-13 live-action film, Mortal Kombat (MK95), released months after MK3. While I was aware of the franchise for the longest time before being formally introduced to it through the 2011 game, I became curious about MK95 film after seeing the 2021 reboot, but didn’t follow through on it until recently when I saw Mortal Kombat II (2026) in a theater. While I found it to be enjoyable in places, I found it to have a flawed execution and some missed opportunities.

Stubs - The Odyssey (2026)

The Odyssey (2026) starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron Directed by Christopher Nolan. Screenplay by Christoper Nolan. Based on Homer's Odyssey. Produced by Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas. Run time: 173 minutes. Color. USA/UK Epic, Action, Fantasy, IMAX

As a follow up to his Academy Award winning Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan chose a text that dates back to the 8^th century B.C. attributed to Homer, a Greek poet. It is a sort of sequel to The Iliad, which centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. It’s follow-up, The Odyssey, chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy.

It seems a little surprising that such a film based on a 2,800-year-old poem would arrive with such anticipation. Most tickets for its opening weekend sold out months in advance. But that is the pull of Christopher Nolan, the director behind Oppenheimer but also such films as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), and Tenet (2020). He has a following few modern directors have, save, perhaps, Steven Spielberg.

Ballerina (2025)

The John Wick franchise has proven lucrative enough to spawn a franchise in its own right, and following John Wick: Chapter 4 (Chapter 4), now includes spin-off films. The first of these, Ballerina (full title From the World of John Wick: Ballerina), was released earlier this year and seeing a trailer for it was what got me started on going through the John Wick franchise in the first place. Now that I’ve circled back to it, I found it somewhat decent, but the timeline as presented in the movie makes its placement within its parent series confusing.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Note: This review contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 3.

Before John Wick: Chapter 3 (Chapter 3) had even released, development went underway for two sequels, Chapter 4 and 5, with the original intent to film both back-to-back. As production went on, however, notably without the involvement of series creator Derek Kolstad, the hypothetical fifth film was dropped in favor of just Chapter 4. Although it would miss its original 2021 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would see the light of day in 2023 to critical acclaim and the highest box office for the series at $447.3 million (against a budget of $100 million). As this film would conclude John Wick’s story, at least at the time, it’s good to know that it ended with a bang. However, Chapter 4’s sheer length, clocking in at about 169 minutes (almost 3 hours), only highlights the issues I had with Chapter 3 even more.

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland

From the perspective of someone who has only watched
The Rise of Red.

As an outsider to the Descendants IP, my first formal experience was with the 2024 film The Rise of Red, which I felt had some neat ideas but an uneven execution. Unsure if I would invest any further into it, the opportunity came with the recent sequel film, Wicked Wonderland, which, as a testament to traditional advertising, I learned about through a bus stop ad while running errands. Like the previous film, my interest was piqued at the prospect of seeing more of Wonderland after getting a taste of it in The Rise of Red. Unlike the previous film, Wicked Wonderland did see a premiere on Disney Channel, but I waited for it to be on Disney+ the following day before watching it, and found it to be an improvement over its predecessor in many respects.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Note: This review contains spoilers for John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2.

When a popular film like John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chapter 2) ends on a cliffhanger, a sequel will surely follow. Audiences would wait two years for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Chapter 3), which started production even before Chapter 2 had released and came with high critical praise. At the time, it had also become the highest-grossing film in the franchise, making $327.7 million against a budget of $75 million, in only 10 days. Of course, it’s difficult to maintain a high level of quality throughout a trilogy and while Chapter 3 does do that where it counts, it unfortunately feels lacking in story.

Stubs - Moana (1926)

Moana. A Romance of the Golden Age (1926) starring Ta’avale Uni, Fa’amgase Súa-Filo, Pe’a Taulealea, Tu’ungaita. Directed by Robert J. Flaherty and Frances Hubbard Flaherty. Produced by Robert J. and Frances Hubbard Flaherty. Written by Robert J. and Frances Hubbard Flaherty. Black and White. Run time: 98 minutes. USA. Silent with sound, Documentary

If you ever wondered where the term "documentary" comes from, you need look no further than a contemporary review of this film. Scottish filmmaker, film theorist, and critic John Grierson, writing for The New York Sun under the name “The Moviegoer”, coined the term in his review on February 8, 1926, the day after Moana opened. Grierson is considered by many to be the father of British and Canadian documentary film. Despite that, many view the film as more docufiction.

Deltarune Chapter 5

Note: This review contains spoilers for Deltarune Chapters 1-4.

As promised at the end of Deltarune Chapter 4, Toby Fox has released Chapter 5 about a year later (and as a free update, as advertised). Naturally, as with Chapters 3 & 4, I played it as soon as I could and did my best to dodge spoilers throughout my run, keeping in mind that Toby Fox had stated in the newsletter that Chapter 5 would be lighter than the others before the game really gets heavy. Although I enjoyed the Chapter and am still excited to see what comes next, there were issues that I hope the remaining Chapters iron out.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

The first time I had heard of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (GLHFDD) was a trailer for it in front of my theatrical screening of Return to Silent Hill. Its concept and style of humor immediately piqued my interest, and my own familiarity with some of director Gore Verbinski’s previous work certainly helped. Although I didn’t end up seeing it in a theater, I was able to eventually watch it through streaming, however I had to rent it through Amazon Prime due to the Hulu/Disney+ option hitching up only on the device I intended to watch it on. Not only was I thoroughly entertained by the execution of its premise, it also provided some interesting commentary on the state of technology that made me think about my own usage of it.

John Wick: Chapter 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 2.

While the original John Wick film (Chapter 1) was a box office success in 2014, enough to warrant ancillary media, it wouldn’t be until 2017 that there would be a formal theatrical sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chapter 2), with the same writer and director returning. After finally seeing Chapter 1, I was interested enough in its setting and characters to watch Chapter 2 soon after. Although many sequels tend to have a decline in quality after the first installment, Chapter 2 manages to raise the stakes without going overboard, all while maintaining the same level of quality, even with some nitpicks.

007 First Light (PS5)

As a fan of the Hitman games, the idea of IO Interactive tackling a James Bond game sounded like a match made in heaven. Although Bond himself isn’t a mercenary, his status as a secret agent lends itself well to a gameplay style emphasizing infiltration and stealth without undercutting his license to kill. Although IOI made it clear that such a game wouldn’t play exactly like the World of Assassination trilogy, I still felt excited for what they could do with the property, currently under the ownership of Amazon MGM (there’s even an exclusive skin for buying the game through Amazon, naturally). The final game, 007 First Light (First Light), managed to live up to my expectations, capturing the world of James Bond in a new and exciting way. Its cinematic direction, however, is a double-edged sword in places.

Stubs - Supergirl

Supergirl (2026) starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa. Directed by Craig Gillespie. Screenplay by Ana Nogueira, Based on Characters from DC. Produced by Peter Safran, James Gunn. Run time: 108 minutes. Color. USA. Superhero

Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) with her best friend, Krypto.

 

Something that Supergirl has in common with John Wick is that nobody hurts her dog. Just like Wick slayed a whole hell of a lot of people because someone killed his dog, Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) goes on a revenge tour when her dog Krypto is left incapacitated by Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaert), the leader of the Brigands, a rowdy group of space pirates. Along the way, she picks up Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridle), a youing woman who has witnessed Krem kill her father, mother and brother, and is out for her own revenge. Add to that Kara has just three days to find Krem, who has stolen her spaceship, and return with the antidote to save Krypto, a daunting task.

Supergirl is based on DC comics and utilizes characters that would be well-known to longtime readers. How accurate it is to the comics themselves is not something I'm equipped to answer.

The film has not opened as well as had previously expected, but some of the blame on that can be the rather lackluster intro Superman (2025), which is supposed to have kicked off a revival of the DC Universe under the leadership of James Gunn. But some of it has to do with the film itself.

John Wick

Note: This review contains spoilers for John Wick.

Before 2014, Keanu Reeves was best known for The Matrix and Bill & Ted franchises, outside of which his acting was often the subject of mockery. This reputation would do a 180 shortly after the release of John Wick, in which he plays the titular character, to the point where it felt like people, especially online, were overcompensating for his previous treatment. As for the film itself, I had been kind of avoiding watching it, possibly because of how hyped up it was, with my knowledge of the general plot coming from memes. After seeing a trailer for the spinoff movie Ballerina, however, we decided we should actually watch the John Wick movies, beginning with the original 2014 film. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from it, but I ended up liking it far more than I expected.

Stubs - Toy Story 5

Toy Story 5 (2026) voices Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Craig Robinson, Frank Welker. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris Produced by Lindsey Collins, Jessica Choi Run Time: 102 minutes. Color. USA Animated, Adventure, Comedy

The toys are back in town and it’s good to see them.

Honestly, I was a little nervous about this film, based on fears that the Toy Story franchise would eventually run out of steam. But after 31 years, I’m happy to say that it can still make me cry.

Second Opinion - Toy Story 4

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story 4.

Toy Story 3 had arguably the perfect sendoff to the original Toy Story trilogy, ending it on a very emotional high note. The enduring popularity of the Toy Story brand, however, would ensure this would not last long, as a fourth entry, Toy Story 4, was released nine years later in 2019. While this movie is arguably a good example of an unnecessary sequel - I remember liking it when I first saw it, even importing a 3D Blu-ray copy - I hadn’t actually watched it again until recently when revisiting the series for the next unnecessary sequel, Toy Story 5. I still liked it on a second viewing, but still felt it didn't quite reach the same emotional high as the third film.