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.

Sonic Superstars (PS5)

Sonic Mania’s success in 2017 convinced Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team, that fans wanted more “Classic Sonic” content. However, he wanted another angle to help attract a wider audience rather than rehash Mania, a game created for hardcore fans, with a direct sequel. However, the idea of another 2D Sonic the Hedgehog game wouldn’t come to fruition until 2021, when Sonic Team would collaborate with Arzest, a studio created by Sonic co-creator Naoto Oshima. After about a year-and-a-half in development, the final product, Sonic Superstars (Superstars), would release to mixed reception from critics and fans.

Although the idea of another “Classic Sonic” game intrigued me, since I loved Mania in spite of its flaws, I didn’t play it on release for one reason or another (including a previously-mentioned medical condition). However, the hype for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (the movie), put me in the right mood for more Sonic content, which would include Frontiers and Superstars. Unfortunately, for every interesting and novel thing that Superstars does in exploring the potential of the 2D games, it does another that makes it an experience so infuriating that I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

Robot Dreams

When I first saw a trailer for the 2023 film Robot Dreams, based on the graphic novel by Sara Varon, I was intrigued enough by the animation and premise to read the source material as I waited for a US release date. Upon reading the graphic novel, which I enjoyed, I became more interested in seeing how the film would adapt the book, including what changes there might be in translation. When a release date finally came, it would be part of a very limited theatrical run, and so we made sure to get tickets for the earliest possible date we could due to the timeframe of screenings in our area. After finally getting to see it, I found it to be a faithful adaptation that was well worth the wait.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R (PS5)

Note: This review contains spoilers for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Ten years after the release of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (ASB), a PS3 fighting game based on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JJBA) by Hirohiko Araki, developer CyberConnect2 would release a remastered version for modern consoles, fittingly subtitled All-Star Battle R (ASBR). This release would not only commemorate the 35th anniversary of JJBA, but also the 10th anniversary of its anime adaptation, which at the time was in the middle of adapting Part 6: Stone Ocean (this is important for later). Although the game received positive reception from critics and fans, its online scene sadly decayed in the time between the game’s release and this review. Despite this, we still wanted to document our thoughts on ASBR as fans of JJBA and the original ASB, especially now that all of the DLC characters have released. In that regard, ASBR is definitely a great way to experience ASB, although its differences in presentation may affect your preference.

Spy x Family Code: White

If you’ve paid attention to the anime scene in any capacity with the last few years, it’s likely you’ve heard of Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Family, a highly successful manga and anime series about a spy who forms a false family for the sake of an important long-term mission without realizing that his adopted daughter is a telepath and that the woman he marries is an assassin. This success paved the way for not only a second season of the anime, but also a feature film, Code: White, which recently received a wide theatrical release in the US. As fans of Spy x Family, we leapt at the opportunity for more original content and saw a dubbed screening at the earliest opportunity. Needless to say, we had a blast, even with some small criticisms.

Stubs - American Fiction

American Fiction (2023) starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David. Directed by Cord Jefferson. Screenplay by Cord Jefferson. Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett. Produced by Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson. Run time: 117 minutes. Color. USA. Comedy, Drama

When the Academy Awards nominations are announced, sometimes the movies being nominated are no longer in the theaters and if they come back, not always at convenient times or places. Such is my excuse for not having watched American Fiction before the Academy Awards. I tried to rectify this by watching the film, on my cell, during a recent flight to Texas. I enjoyed the film so much, that the next week, I watched it again at home so that my entire family could watch.

Migration (2023)

Following the original Despicable Me, Illumination has had a very spotty track record in terms of story quality, with incredible highs with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and varying lows with films like The Secret Life of Pets and Minions. What they have consistently improved on, however is their animation quality, to the point where I had some interest in viewing their latest film, Migration, for that sole reason, preferably without spending too much money in the endeavor. Fortunately, I got the chance to watch it as an offering of free in-flight (heh) entertainment, even if the airline made me watch it on my phone (RIP phone battery). Unfortunately, while Migration is a visual step up from Illumination's usual output, the story holds it back from really spreading its wings.

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

 

With the continuing success of Spin Master’s PAW Patrol multimedia franchise, the logical conclusion was the theatrically-released PAW Patrol: The Movie in 2021. This proved successful enough to warrant a sequel in 2023, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which revisits the Mighty Pups subline of the series. Having seen the original PAW Patrol film on Paramount+ and actually enjoyed it, I became curious about The Mighty Movie with cautious optimism for a similar level of quality, but opted to wait for its Paramount+ release since I didn’t feel strongly enough about seeing it in the theater. Upon getting the chance to watch it, I still found myself enjoying it even as a non-fan.

Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition

As most Transformers fans are familiar with, the franchise goes through a refresh every three years in an effort to attract new fans. 2022 saw the launch of the most recent incarnation, Transformers: EarthSpark, on Paramount+, which follows the batch release format and completed its first Season last year, with a second on the way as of this writing. As someone who has been watching it in an effort to stay current with the TV side of the franchise as much as possible, I so far don’t find it to be on the same level as Prime or Animated in terms of story, but I think it has some great animation and interesting ideas, such as the concept of the Terrans and the Season 1 antagonist Mandroid, and I’m at least curious to see what the second season will bring (that said, the Season 1 ending was a little rough).

Last year, a video game based on the cartoon was also announced called Transformers: EarthSpark – Expedition (Expedition), which caught my interest due to being what seemed more like the sort of Transformers console gaming experience I been wanting since Fall of Cybertron, though I had already tempered my expectations due to it being a family-oriented game published by Outright Games. Said expectations were met just by glancing at gameplay on display at Comic-Con that year, but I still wanted to experience it myself, eventually getting it on sale for Black Friday after it came out later in the year. Despite a PS5 version having been announced, I could not find any evidence of its availability in the US, which led me to get the PS4 version with a free PS5 upgrade. While the game did meet my already tempered expectations, I feel like it could still have been better.

Stubs - The Holdovers

The Holdovers (2023) starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa. Directed by Alexander Payne. Screenplay by David Hemingson Produced by Mark Johnson, Bill Block, David Hemingson. Run time: 133 minutes. Color. USA Comedy, Drama, Christmas

After six years between projects, Alexander Payne returns to the screen, and re-teamed with Sideways star, Paul Giamatti, with The Holdovers (2023), a comedy drama set at Christmas vacation in 1970 at a private boys school. The result has been nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Best Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), and Best Film Editing (Kevin Tent).

The Boy and the Heron

I don’t think I need to explain who Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli are. For decades, Miyazaki has built up a reputation as one of Japan’s greatest anime film directors, starting all the way back in 1979 with The Castle of Cagliostro and continuing through Studio Ghibli with such classics as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away (also the highest-grossing Japanese film ever made until Mugen Train), to name a few. Following The Wind Rises in 2013, Miyazaki would announce his retirement from producing feature films due to his age, though this would be short-lived, as only three years later, after creating the short Boro the Caterpillar, he started work on his twelfth film, The Boy and the Heron (JP: Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, lit. How Do You Live?). Notably, the film took seven years to produce and didn’t have a robust marketing campaign ahead of its Japanese premiere, opting instead for a single poster image.

The poster in question.

While I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore Miyazaki fan, as I haven’t seen all of his films yet, I have seen enough that I understand his talent as a director and why his works are so beloved to this day. In fact, what grabbed our attention with seeing The Boy and the Heron while we could still catch it in a theater was that it received animation awards despite competing against the boundary-pushing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like The Boy and the Heron, considering the director’s track record, I found it lacking where it mattered most: the story.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

For the longest time, I had never read any literature aimed at girls, as I had grown up towards the end of an era where boys rigidly consumed media aimed at their demographic, at least out in the open (before the “Brony” phenomenon challenged this idea in the 2010s). As an adult, I would finally do so as part of an exploration of middle grade material, which would include Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., Judy Blume’s 1970 novel famous for its frank discussion of female puberty and religious topics, after learning of its 2023 film adaptation of the same name. Despite reading it as a grown man, I found the novel engaging and understood its cultural significance, which made me more curious about the film, although I sadly didn’t get the opportunity to see it during its original theatrical run. Nevertheless, I did finally get the chance near the end of the year and found that on top of its high quality, it did the source material proper justice and it’s a shame that not enough people saw it.

Stubs - Wonka

Wonka (2023) starring Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant Directed by Paul King. Screenplay by Simon Farnaby, Paul King. Based on Characters created by Roald Dahl. Produced by David Heyman, Alexandra Derbyshire, Luke Kelly Color. Run time: 116 minutes. UK/USA.Musical, Fantasy

A sort of prequel to the modern classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Wonka hit theaters on December 15 in the U.S. The film attempts, and for the most part succeeds, in telling the Willy Wanka origin story, though it does not seamlessly fit into the 1971 film, the way Rogue One (2016) flowed into Star Wars (1977).

God of War: Ragnarök - Valhalla (DLC)

Note: This review contains spoilers for the God of War series.

In celebration of the anniversary of God of War: Ragnarök (Ragnarök­), a piece of free DLC, known as Valhalla, was announced at The Game Awards 2023, for release later in the month. Not only does this DLC contain new story content, it also provides a unique gameplay experience different from the base game, constructed more like a rougelite and with a separate menu option so you can freely jump into it. Having overall enjoyed the base game, I downloaded and played the DLC as soon as I could, finding the story direction intriguing and the gameplay loop well-executed.

Good Burger 2

Although the original 1997 Good Burger film, itself based on a popular sketch from the Nickelodeon series All That, saw commercial success, it would only receive a sequel in the form of a book, Good Burger 2 Go, the following year. 25 years later, however, this book would become non-canon with the formal announcement of Good Burger 2, set for a direct-to-streaming release on Paramount+. Even though I had never watched All That, nor had I seen the original “Good Burger” sketch until very recently, I was still a fan of the original film, and so was curious to see the sequel after it received a big promotional push at San Diego Comic-Con, including a building wrap-around ad and an interactive Good Burger section of the larger Nickelodeon booth. After managing to watch the sequel through Paramount+ on its release day, in the midst of preparing for a Thanksgiving trip the next day, while it did induce a few laughs from me, it wasn’t quite as good or funny as the original.

TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns

In the midst of remastering the original TY the Tasmanian Tiger trilogy, with the Kickstarter for the second currently still in the fulfillment process, Krome Studios still announced a new TY project for the series’ 20^th anniversary. More specifically, said announcement was a remaster of TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4, originally released on PC, for the Nintendo Switch with a new subtitle, Bush Rescue Returns. While I had played the original release, I was curious about the remaster due to the promise of extra content, including full voice acting and extended cutscenes, and so pre-purchased the game digitally (as the game still lacks a physical release) to take advantage of the limited-time discount. Although the experience remains much the same as the original, the new additions really do a lot to enhance it.

Rohan at the Louvre

Even if you’ve never heard of mangaka Hirohiko Araki, chances are you’ve at least heard of his best-known and longest-running work, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, a multigenerational epic about the Joestar family and their battle against evil (currently at Part 9 in Japan as of this writing). Following the publication of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable, Araki made the one-shot “At a Confessional,” the first in what would become a series of one-shots in the spin-off series Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (TSKR), centered around the character Rohan Kishibe from Diamond is Unbreakable. During the run of the Diamond is Unbreakable anime, a handful of these one-shots were adapted into a series of OVAs, later followed by an unrelated live-action drama adaptation with the same name that currently runs at 3 Seasons. When I first heard about the drama series, I assumed it would remain exclusive to Japan, which I also assumed of the related live-action film, Rohan at the Louvre (JP: Rohan au Louvre, Kishibe Rohan Rūvuru e Iku), itself based on the similarly-named one-shot, when it was first announced. Once I heard that Amazon would bring the film overseas via Prime Video, I also learned that the drama was also available on the same platform, sub-only and free for Prime members, so I finally got to watch the drama in preparation for watching the film.

As someone who has read the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan one-shots currently available in English, after watching the drama and seeing some of the liberties taken with it to form a more cohesive narrative across each Season, as well as to wholly disconnect it from the original context of Diamond is Unbreakable to make it more accessible to those unfamiliar with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, I would say that they did a fantastic job in this regard and that it’s the perfect way for someone to dip their toe in the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure without having to commit to starting from Phantom Blood. As someone who has also read the English translation of the Rohan at the Louvre one-shot, I felt it worked as both a faithful adaptation of the source material and an enjoyable movie in its own right.

Five Nights at Freddy's (Film)

Back in 2014, the original Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) caught the internet by storm and, within a year, became a series that exploded in popularity as fans obsessively dissected the ever-expanding lore. In April 2015, this popularity led to the announcement of a film adaptation from Warner Bros. While the franchise continued its reign as a cultural juggernaut, however, the film itself had unfortunately entered a development hell that saw a change in studios, from Warner Bros. to Blumhouse Productions, multiple director changes, from Gil Kenan to Chris Columbus to Emma Tammi, and several scrapped scripts (some fans have suspected that Warner Bros. retooled one of these scripts into The Banana Splits Movie, which, if true, wouldn’t surprise us). Only in 2023 did the film finally enter production, as series creator Scott Cawthon, who had a very hands-on role from the beginning, had finally approved a script he loved.

As a fan of the series (even if I had only watched Markiplier play the games until I played Security Breach and its DLC for myself), I had experienced the emotional highs and lows from following the production for years, ending with excitement as news from the final production slowly trickled in. With final details of the story mostly shrouded in mystery until the official trailers rolled in, I had no idea what to expect, but still remained optimistic and got tickets for a screening on opening day, where I watched with someone who didn’t know anything about the games or expanded universe. As a fan, I can happily say that while the final film likely won’t go down as a classic of the genre, it’s a very enjoyable love letter to the series and its fandom that even newcomers (who the marketing doesn’t do much to entice) can still get into.

Resident Evil 4 - Separate Ways (DLC)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 4 (2023)

In May 2023, Resident Evil 4 (2023) (RE4R), the modern remake of Resident Evil 4 (2005) (RE4), released to critical and commercial success, though with some criticism aimed at some of the cut content, including the lack of the original Separate Ways campaign. After nearly six months with no official word on any additional content apart from the free The Mercenaries DLC, Capcom would finally announce, and subsequently release, RE4R’s version of Separate Ways as DLC in late September 2023 for $10. While one could reasonably question the idea of holding this content back for later, I nonetheless bought the DLC on release and ended up loving the experience.

Resident Evil 4 (2023) (PS5)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 4 (2005) and Resident Evil 4 (2023)

Since 2019, Capcom has released remakes of the Resident Evil games, going beyond the remake of the original Resident Evil from 2002 (RE1), which had until then been the only game in the series with a substantial update. While this has produced some mixed results so far, with critical praise towards Resident Evil 2 (2019) (RE2) and mixed response towards Resident Evil 3 (2020) (RE3), it was inevitable that they would apply the same treatment to 2005’s Resident Evil 4 (RE4), which gradually gained (and earned) a reputation as one of the series’ best games. Although fans naturally had their reservations with the announcement of Resident Evil 4 (2023) (RE4R), it released to critical acclaim and became one of the fastest-selling games in the series.

Due to the timing of RE4R’s release, I had the unique opportunity to play both the original and the remake back-to-back, which I did for the sake of an easier comparison between the two in terms of both gameplay and story. Although that inevitably leads to the question of “Which one is better?”, I would instead say that although not perfect, RE4R manages to improve on many aspects of the original to the point that it’s overall a fantastic game in its own right.