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Abigail (2024)
A Good Horror Film Held Back by an Underwhelming Conclusive Chapter
This is a good film that could've been great if its second half lived up to its amazing first half. I don't think people realize how much a slasher film like this is carried by its characters and their dynamics. The characters make these films engaging throughout, as the plot is run-of-the-mill almost all the time.
Abigail has an amazing cast; they are all well-performed and stand out on their own as all of them have their unique quirks. Also, most of the jokes in the film land, like I don't recall many scenes where I wasn't, at least, chuckling. The actors do a great job making all these characters likable. I sincerely haven't encountered such a good main cast in a modern horror film in quite a while. This leads me to talk about what I didn't like about the film.
My singular main complaint regarding the film is that for this cast; They should've gone a different route in the concluding chapter of the film instead of going the generic slasher horror movie route where you just waste all of their potential. To be more precise, my lament lies in the film's final act. With such a well-established cast, one yearns for a satisfactory ending for all of them. From the beginning to most of its runtime, it feels like this film is a bit out of the norms of this subgenre and is trying something new and that something new was so good until, sadly, the filmmakers opted for the familiar path of the slasher horror trope and then it just goes the generic route. With its potential squandered, the climax lacks the impact it deserves, which, in my opinion, significantly hurts this film's overall quality. I was about to drop an 8.5 or 9 score before that.
Still, "Abigail" remains a commendable entry in modern horror. Its atmospheric setting, a mansion cloaked in shadows, while underutilized, does what it is there to do. The practical effects, especially the visceral gore, are well done. Lastly, and most importantly, the cast is always entertaining until the final act does injustice to all of them. 7.5/10.
Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka (2023)
A Visual Spectacle That Brings Forth A Tale of Loss that is full of Symbolism.
I have eagerly anticipated this film's release ever since the day it was announced way back then and now it is at last here.
The Boy & The Heron is a visual spectacle, akin to most Ghibli films a single frame from this can be used as a solid wallpaper. They went overboard with some of the stuff here; even "minor" stuff like the flame animations and the cloth physics are sure to fill up oddly satisfying boards online when this drops on digital. If I were to make comparisons to previous Ghibli films and their artistic direction, I'd say this feels like an amalgamation of The Wind Rises and Howl's Moving Castle.
Joe Hisaishi's score is, as usual, magical, and it perfectly complements the movie. Kenshi Yonezu's Spinning Globe is also a beautiful vocal track that hits hard when it graces your ears as the credits roll.
The narrative is filled with a lot of symbolism, and while it presents a story that I do believe is better than its contemporaries, imo it could've been so much better.
I do think the story feels better after another viewing as there is symbolism to practically every single scene and every little mundane thing, but the characters themselves feel weirdly one-dimensional.
There are plenty of amazing scenes in the film that hit hard. It's just that I harbor a strong love and admiration for Miyazaki's old way of writing and I believe a narrative about a boy overwhelmed by his grief who's stuck between the cruel real world and an ideal fantastical one could gain a lot from that.
Ultimately, I can't complain much about this, as the film is lowkey a semi-autobiography and once you do learn a bit about Miyazaki's past a lot of the symbolism and character writing from the film clicks into place. I'd say the writing is a bit intentionally "messy" just like life. Some things don't get proper resolution and there just isn't enough time and in most cases, no second chances. I wish they kept the original Japanese title of the film, "How Do You Live?," As that would set a far more accurate depiction of what the film's all about. Also, Miyazaki made this film for his grandson, so this is pretty much his gift to the next generation. The film took home every major award and once again I can't help but lament that if Hollywood treated animation as a proper part of cinema Studio Ghibli would have like a dozen Oscars at this point. Now that Hayao Miyazaki is back full-time, I am once again patiently looking forward to his next project.
Gokseong (2016)
A Brilliant Thriller That Has You Second Guessing Everything Till the Very End.
The Wailing is a brilliant thriller horror film. It carefully constructs a straightforward demonic possession plot, executing it with remarkable finesse. When the film picks up its pace, its every scene starts to brim with palpable tension, giving not a single breathing minute to the viewers. The audience is kept on their toes, reassessing every assumption they have made thus far, and this keeps up until the very last minute. The performances from the cast are good. Lastly, the direction is also pleasantly executed and goes very well with the movie's setting.
The Wailing was a very memorable experience that I won't forget anytime soon. This is an instant classic, that has earned its place among the best thrillers ever. I watched it a while back and still regularly think about its genius horror execution. This is horror cinema; Do yourself a favor and watch it.
Fallout (2024)
Good Adaptation that Mishandles Some Important Lore
As someone who has spent countless hours across all the Fallout games, I was very nervous when they announced this project. Videogame adaptations tend to be extremely disrespectful to their source material and try to do their own thing which, almost all of the time, turns out for the worse. So I am very thankful that the Fallout show carefully crafts its original narrative with proper admiration for the source material. Being canon does hurt the overall lore, and depending on how much you liked the stuff it poorly handles, you might loathe the show.
The show opens with Cooper Howard, with this one short scene done right before the bombs fell and destroyed the world, it's a very effective scene that gets you invested early on. Right after that they have a short scene introducing Lucy which is a nod to all the skills of the series. A bit after that, they show different vault dwellers interacting, I won't disclose much here as these interactions show how different the residents of every vault can be, which is another thing nicely adapted from the games. I do find the marriage subplot of the opening to be a bit too cringe-worthy for my taste, but hey it is something that feels straight out of Fallout 2. Lastly, they introduce the brotherhood character of the show, Maximus, and they do a really good job with him as well. I think fans of Fallout 1, 2, and 3 would really dig Lucy as the lead. I, myself do find her good but her "romantic" side only comes across as cringey to me, plus as much as they try to make her a multi-dimensional character, she remains very plain throughout the story.
The production quality always looked immaculate, I was just nervous that they would mess up the narrative, and my concerns only got bigger when we found out that the show was going to be canon to the games. The casting is well done and plenty of the characters, just like the sets in the show, ooze that good old fallout feel; the visuals are the stars of the show for me, It just looks completely immersive and top-notch, they have so many tiny details right, it's unbelievable at times that such care was put into it and, once again, it is, by far, the best aspect of the show.
Naturally, the show can't put every single great thing about Fallout in one season but it does a decent enough job and treats the source material with utmost respect while telling its own story in this universe. Once again, I just wish they didn't mishandle what they did, as these are some of the most essential aspects of the games. This show has plenty of potential, so, I hope this keeps improving as we get more and more seasons.
Furthermore, the story has some clear pacing issues, and the characters aren't that great either, but it all ends very fittingly and if they can straighten these few sore bumps then we might have an incredible show on our hands by season 2. How it all comes together in the end is quite well done, I wish it happened sooner though, as for most of the show there is no captivating main driving force, the initial ones only work for the first 4 episodes. The writers could've just had Lucy meet some more intriguing characters throughout her journey this could've fleshed out her character far more and kept the overall show far more engaging than it is.
Moreover, I believe people will like all three leads, Lucy is a good character who serves as a decent character for the slow introduction of the series to those who have never touched a Fallout game. The Ghoul, Cooper Howard, is a very morally corrupt character who leads most of the action sequences of the show. The Brotherhood newbie, Maximus is also a very likable addition; weirdly enough, to me, he comes across as Finn from Star Wars but is better written. This will bring in so many new fans and I am very much looking forward to their impressions on the games.
Onimusha (2023)
The Only Faithful Capcom IP Adaptation.
I am beyond surprised that Capcom actually gave Onimusha to a team that cares about the source material that they are adapting. This, in my opinion, is an amazing adaptation with superbly choreographed fight scenes and plenty of likable character moments.
The only shred of hope I had for this adaptation came from the fact that Takashi Miike was at the helm of the production as director and he is most likely the reason why action scenes look as amazing as they do. I think on its own, the show is still good, but as an adaptation of Onimusha, it is great.
Animation:
To start it off I don't think a lot of people will be fond of the CGI. I had no problem with it because the hand-drawn backgrounds looked amazing and so did all of the fights. There are so many genuinely epic shots and camera angles used here, both in and out of action sequences.
Also, the art style is just super on point, there are some areas where the color grading straight made me feel like I was watching a video of one of the games, especially when it comes to the backgrounds. If they were given a bigger budget I am sure the animation quality would've been 10/10, but it is still great imo.
Story:
The story is fairly basic, it just follows Musashi and his companions while they go on an adventure and face various foes along the way. I think many people would rather love to see an adaptation focusing on Samanosuke or Jubei, but what we have here is genuinely good and can be treated as its own "game" because it perfectly fits into the Onimusha franchise.
Character:
As I briefly mentioned earlier, the anime focuses on Musashi traveling with a bunch of other characters as they go on an adventure. All of these characters get a lot of time to shine and akin to most of the games all of these are very memorable; I would argue that the show even has some of the best characters in the series.
Conclusion:
Amazing action sequences, really likable characters, respect for the source material, & stellar choreography all make this an easy 8/10 for me and as a Capcom adaptation this is like a 9/10 lol, because they never give their IPs to people who care. I hope that this means we might be getting another Onimusha game sometimes in the future.
Pluto (2023)
Pluto, The Triumphant Return of Astro Boy
Pluto is a mature adaption of one of the most iconic arcs of Astro Boy. The manga, by the same name, is widely considered a masterpiece and is a deep passion project for the writer. I want to keep this mostly spoiler-free.
Every single character from the original arc in Astro Boy has been given justice in this remake. Atom (Astro Boy Himself) and Gesicht are the main leads of this show and both of them never fail to keep me engaged. The suspense is all very well done and the conclusion to it all is personally among my favorite endings in fiction.
I would highly recommend going into this blind, and if you love Seinen anime/manga, you will have an absolute blast here. Pluto comprises some of the most well-written and heartfelt characters whose story reaches a perfect end. Pluto isn't just another humans & robots centred story, it is THE humans and robots centred story.
Going into Pluto I knew we would get a brilliant adaption because the project was led by Masao Maruyama. He founded Madhouse and MAPPA, who specifically founded this new studio to adapt extremely well-deserving and overlooked mangas akin to Pluto.
Moreover, some of the other masterpieces he produced are Monster, Perfect Blue, Death Note, Hunter x Hunter (2011), Nana, Trigun, Hellsing Ultimate, Paprika, Kids on the Slope, and Tokyo Godfathers, among many others, the guy has been the driving force for masterpieces left and right. Also, the music composition is being done by Yuugo Kanno, who is well known for his extremely popular JoJo opening themes.
The Mangaka Naoki Urasawa is well known for his genius in developing murder mysteries or suspenseful tales that get increasingly interesting as you read. He has genuinely created some of the most masterful stuff in modern entertainment, and to finally see this manga by him get such a phenomenal and passionate adaption feels so good; I waited for so long to get one. I hope that Pluto is successful enough that we get an adaption of 20th Century Boys, which is another manga by Urasawa.
Biohazard: Death Island (2023)
The Resident Evil crossover everyone has been waiting for.
It is an excellent film with amazing action scenes that will leave any fan satisfied. I say any fan because that is indeed true. After all, this time around the movie features every single one of the main characters of this legendary franchise. I'm glad to inform you that it does justice to all of them too other than Jill being a bit extra at times (in her behavior not the awesome crazy action) and Rebecca's introduction scene with Chris being a bit meh.
Action:
The animation is great and all of the characters look superb. I do wish they kept Leon's jacket all the way through and that Jill had a new outfit but those are minor grievances as everything else looks on point. The film does justice to all of these superhuman characters by showcasing their amazing survivalist and acrobatic abilities. Resident Evil has always had the strongest characters in the genre and their strengths are on maximum display here. All the characters get their time to shine and they look really badass too, sadly Leon Kennedy who is my favorite gets little time to shine in the later half but I still loved to see him back.
Characters:
Let's be real, the characters are the reason we are watching this movie. This is the first time many of them have interacted with each other for the first time and their interactions are great, I only wish there were more of them. As mentioned earlier all of them get to shine and share the screen with each other. This is basically an Avengers film for RE fans.
I am very happy to announce that Leon is finally over his depressed arc from RE Damnation, RE6 onwards, and is now back to his full charming non-depressed goofy self from RE4.
For all of them other than Chris Redfield, this is the latest version we are seeing of them as the movie takes place after RE6 and Rev 2. I loved to see them all return, it made me feel like a child finally reuniting with his favorites in the continuity. Thank God, the movie is canon.
Story:
The main story is meh, it literally only exists to get the characters to come across each other and present us with many spectacular showdowns. I don't mind the story being ignorable cause it was never intended to be anything special, all of us are here for the interactions and action sequences, but most of all to see our favorites finally return. I am well aware most people will cut scores due to this but it honestly doesnt bother me one bit due to everything else being great.
Conclusion:
In the end, I highly recommend it, I had a blast with it, its the sequel to RE Vendetta and is fully canon, I loved seeing all of these characters back and together and the movie does all of these legendary videogame characters a lot of justice. 9/10.