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Hazbin Hotel (2019)
Good Concept, Messy Outcome...
(This is a re-review of this title, I initially reviewed it 2019, but have since taken down the review.)
I remember initially hating this pilot, but after having rewatched it, well...it's not as bad as I remembered...but its still not that good.
What really brings the pilot down for me is a combination of the predictable story beats, the juvenile humor, and the mostly one-note characters. Other issues include the overuse of sound effects at points, alongside Angel Dust's character as a whole. I find Angel Dust a harmful homosexual stereotype, and this comes from the same show that has the man characters (Charlie & Vaggie) in a relationship! I personally don't think that a show taking place in hell excuses harmful stereotypes about a heavily marginalized community. I personally wouldn't complain about the story if it weren't for how juvenile the humor is. The show really feels the need to hammer in that it's an "adult show", which in hindsight actually helps the show... A predictable story isn't inherently bad, as long as things are executed decently and tweaked with, but I didn't really see that done here. Something I don't like seeing in shows are characters that you can list with one trait and nothing else, and unfortunately that is the case here, for example: Charlie is the oddball experiencing imposter syndrome, Alastor is a con-artist looking for personal gain (in this case being power), and Angel Dust is...a horny homosexual, like that's it. Speaking of which, I can't STAND Angel Dust's character, as I find it to be a harmful stereotype of actual homosexuals, which I have seen done a LOT in media.
I did like a couple of things here that I partially feel make up for some of the cons, especially things like the animation execution and the use of color in the visuals. All of the movements look smooth and flow together really nicely! I also think that the voice acting was on-point, but I do feel it could've been improved in some areas, like the sexual tone of Angel Dust being toned down, and Sir Pentious (one of the antagonists in the pilot) having a more conniving voice, highlighting him as a threat. It honestly sucks to hear the voice actors got replaced for the actual show, as they all have a good amount of talent here! I thought the songs were fine too, nice to listen to musically, but a bit too crammed in terms of lyrics. The ending also left me somewhat curious too I guess
I, REALLY wanted to like Hazbin Hotel, but I just couldn't, as I think the negatives outweigh the positives pretty considerably, mainly since the weakest parts are the CORE elements of the show, which is really disappointing. I'm really hoping that the main show fixes these issues throughout its run, I legitimately want to see it improve as it has a good concept, but honestly, I found this to be disappointingly average.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Leaves a LOT to be Desired
Disney Animation's output of films has been rough recently, with wonder blunders Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen II, each of which getting lukewarm, mixed reception. 2021 was the first year seeing two Disney Animation films in a while, and I really liked Encanto, but looked over this film for a while. Well, I finally decided to see this widely forgotten film for the heck of it...it's not very good. Not terrible by any means, but this film really did not sell for me.
Just to get them out of the way, negatives. I think that the writing, while structurally decent, seemed to feel the need to cram in as much as possible across a 90-minute runtime, we really did not get to see much of the tribes and what they were like, and more importantly their significance outside of being tied in for the purpose of progressing the plot. Considering the darker, more serious tone of this film, I don't think it would have been too hard to extend the length of the film somewhat? I don't see a problem with animated films being longer than the 90-minute quota, and I think this film would have GREATLY benefitted from a bit of a longer, more fleshed out story. Two other things that get me about the writing are the screenplay and character dynamics. Was the screenplay at points written by twitter users? Because that's kinda what some of the dialogue reeked of. I think that one character is especially egregious of this, but I'll get to them later. I don't see how talks about being "dragon nerds" fits in a film that takes place...supposedly closer to medieval times?? I don't know, I think the screenplay really should have been looked over, just because it's a kids movie doesn't mean it should have dialogue that stoops and panders to them, and I feel it's especially bad here given the tone of the film. I also feel as if characters throughout the movie have such quick changes in dynamics to the point where it...actually becomes distracting. Speaking of which...
The characters here are a mixed bag, we've got some good character here like Raya, Boun, and Tong, but then there are others like Nammari and Raya's Ba that just feel really messy, and then there's Sisu. Throughout the film, I found Sisu REALLY annoying, ESPECIALLY with the choices of dialogue they gave her to work with. Consider that she's one of the PROTAGONISTS of the film...yeah, that's not a good sign, at least Raya is okay character-wise. One thing that really bothers me about the characters is just how quickly Raya is able to trust some of them, despite their conniving nature at first. Tong and Noi (the con-baby) are the biggest offenders in this category, turning around really quickly with Raya then trusting them, even though it is emphasized that she has trust issues. Unlike the former characters mentioned, Nammari's turn around is the worst of the bunch, especially when you consider her actions towards Raya and crew, and the ending just kinda disappointed me when you consider everyone accepted her even after her actions just MINUTES ago in the movie. I really think that the dynamics between characters should have been refined. It's nice that Raya's crew turned out to be good people, but I really think that Raya's turnarounds towards them off first impressions were too sudden.
This is going to be brief since many have touched upon this but, I feel the message of trust was botched to a degree, and they REALLY hammered in that Raya has trust issues, Sisu is especially guilty of this, essentially being the writer's surrogate. I think executing the message in a more subtle and suiting manner would have helped greatly, considering that trust in itself is ANYTHING but a simple concept.
Now onto positives! The animation is this film is absolutely STUNNING, and the animators really put in their A-game here, and everything looks beautifully done! (Well, maybe except the design of Sisu, she just looks wonky in my opinion) I especially love the execution of the effects, and the design of backgrounds too, they all really help to immerse you in the wide, divided scope of Kumandra. I think that more could have been done with things like the lighting and the tone of certain scenes, but I think overall the animation and visuals were excellent!
The score of this film is MAGNIFICENT, and the composers really went off with this film, and everything suited what was shown throughout the film! Certain scenes also stood out more when considering the execution of the music in them, and they really hit a home run throughout! I definitely would be for another Disney film having a soundtrack like this! The voice acting, for how it turned out, was also pretty damn good! I think that all of the characters performed their parts well (yes, even Awkwafina as Sisu.), with just the occasional bad takes here and there, though Nammari seemed to have the most badly performed lines here, which I find fascinating considering she's the antagonist...eh, best not to dwell on it.
While this film had a lot of potential behind it, I feel the overall execution left a lot to be desired, and I feel it was just kind of a mess overall. While it may have stunning animation, good voice acting, and an EXCELLENT soundtrack, I feel as if the execution of the writing and the quality of the screenplay really just bring this film down several points. If this movie had more time to bake in the oven, I think it could have been good, but alas, what we got was what I though to have been a half-baked, cluttered film with some really bad screenplay and middling execution of its packed-with-potential story. I wanted to like this film, even with big critiques aside, but I really feel that the execution just kind of ruined this film for me. It's not terrible, It's not great, It's just...not really that good of a movie, and sits around the middle for me.
Super Mario Logan (2007)
An immature, boring, annoying piece of garbage.
I'm gonna make this review short,
This series of web-videos used to be fine for a few years, but starting in 2014, this batch of videos became a dreadful, boring, annoying, immature pile of trash that only 10 year olds would enjoy. To this day, I don't understand why this series of videos and its creator still get so much support with how trashy the videos are, considering that fact that every video that Logan puts out is annoying trash.
screw this channel and this series of web-videos. fight me all you want, i don't care.
Just gonna also put this out here, Jeffy is the most irritating thing ever and is not funny in the slightest.
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (2014)
Off to a promising start!
Well, this show just came out of the blue to blow people away.
Mao Mao has shown itself to be a standout show among Cartoon Network's lineup this year, and shows that the corporation still has a lot of bright ideas coming out that make people surprised. This is probably the best show CN has put out since OK K.O, back in 2017.
While I can say that Mao Mao isn't the best show since there's only 10 episodes of this show out, I can certainly say that it blew away my expectations. I found it kind of funny how CN initially kept this show under the rug for a while until all of a sudden announcing it in May of 2019 out of the blue and unleashing an episode.
This show has a lot of strengths going for it, for one, the characters in the show are ones I find very like-able and ones that can give me multiple laughs an episode, while some of the characters are a bit formulaic, like Mao Mao himself coming off as a bit egocentric and irritating at times, but otherwise the main trio of characters are charming and show that they have actual character. I also like how the animation style of this show is unique, as this show is animated by a different corporation in collaboration with CN Studios. Everything about the animation and art style of this show is unique, sure the animation may look a bit stiff at first, Titmouse did a really great job animating and choreographing the action scenes, as they have power and really stand out in each episode. Not to mention that the backgrounds and characters look very uniquely stylized, and this show gives me a bit of a Japanese-anime vibe in the designs, sure they're simple, but they look great.
Not everything about this show is perfect though, as sometimes the pacing of some episodes feel rushed, how some of the side characters are very uninteresting, and how some of the voice acting could use work. every other problem I have with this show are mainly nitpicks.
Besides the minor issues, I think Mao Mao is a show that is off to a pretty great start and seems to have a bright future ahead of it. It disappoints me how not many people know about this show as of now, as this show deserves a lot more support. I'd definitely give this show a watch and i would support the crew of this show as much as you can, as they deserve praise for what they've put out so far. You is good, Mao Mao.
Victor & Valentino (2019)
Lots of Potential, Weak Execution
When I first saw the pilot for Victor and Valentino, I was engaged by the dark latino-themes and the intriguing plot-line it had, with admittedly characters that needed some work, it had felt like somewhat of a successor to Gravity Falls with latin and mexican folk-lore added to it, I was excited when I heard this show had gotten picked up.
As of the time I am writing this, its been nearly 2 months since this show premiered, having 14 episodes that have premiered. I think this show has been off to a pretty weak start. Now, the show is nowhere near bad at all, as a matter of fact, from the assortment of episodes we currently have, the show's been pretty decent so far. My biggest problem with Victor and Valentino is the execution of the episodes, I think the ideas behind the episodes are great and have lots of potential, but the execution of some of the episodes have been very weak and in some cases pretty bad.
Take for example the episode "The Dark Room", where Val wants to join a photography club but is rejected, so he goes out to take a picture of the legendary chupacabra. the idea for the episode sounds great, but after seeing the episode, I feel it was executed in a pretty bad way. Spoilers for the episode but, it turns out the chupacabra is just a misunderstood creature who likes animals and hates having pictures taken of him, and is instead interested in making sculptures of the animals he admires. This had me utterly disappointed with how things turned out, not to mention that the trope of "a scary creature is actually a misunderstood loner who's actually nice" is very redundant and just came off to me as a half-assed way to wrap up the episode.
Some other minor problems I have with the show are the fact that the some of the characters we're supposed to know are very underdeveloped, like how Valentino just feels like an overly protective guy who comes off as a bit of a prick sometimes. Also, the animation of the show feels cheap, like it had the budget of the PPG 2016 reboot, where the movements look stiff and there are shots that just look awful, as another example, in "Folk Art Foes" when HueHue jumps onto the table of someone's quinceañera, the movement of HueHue just looks wrong and the shot looks bad. I think that some of the issues I previously mentioned could be fixed if the characters were given more time to develop in episodes, and if the show received a higher budget animation-wise. I feel as if this show would work better in a 22-minute format, where they could devote more time to developing the characters and making the stories better executed.
That doesn't mean this show is without it's pros though, some of the ideas that have worked have been pretty well done, the voice-work is pretty top-notch, and I think that some of the more recent episodes have been better than the first few. I think that if this show takes a more story-driven direction and works on how each episode is executed, I think this could become a great show. Bur alas, with the amount of problems the show has right now, I think that Victor and Valentino is just a decent show. The show does do things right, but the ideas for the stories are just executed in a very weak manner, the characters need more development, and they focus a bit too much on comedic aspects that just fall flat at times. This show needs work in order for people to have a good time with this show.
I would personally check out at least 4 episodes of this show to see what you think, they can be any 4 since the show is currently episodic, but remember that this show isn't going to be the most amazing thing ever, as the problems i mentioned are pretty noticeable in some of the episodes. The show honestly needs as much support as it can get so it can improve, because I honestly do not want to see this show shafted off with only 1 season behind its belt. Give V&V a watch, just don't expect it to be the most revolutionary thing ever.
Total Dramarama (2018)
The Straw that broke this Franchise's back.
I personally find this show to be, very annoying and unnecessary. This also fully ruined the Total Drama franchise for me.
This show has a lot of problems under its belt. Starting off, I don't see the actual purpose to this show existing other than to profit off the younger demographic that prefers loud, colorful shows like this, no wonder this show has been so god damn successful so far.
Next off, all of the characters have been reduced to a singular stereotype, while some characters may break out of character occasionally, they've all been reduced to those common stereotypes you'd find in a poorly managed show produced by Viacom. While I will admit that the animation is smooth and all, its been the same quality its been since the inception of the Total Drama Franchise. Also, did I mention how annoying the show's music is? the music is basically just sound effects of chanting toddlers making annoying sounds mixed with a beat, and I personally cannot stand it.
The show's humor also needs a lot of work, the humor is low-brow and juvenile to the highest possible degree, while I can admit that show sometimes makes a funny joke, it's usually rare and it only makes me let out a little chuckle.
Overall, I don't like Total Dramarama, and I don't really see it going anywhere far, even if the short-term success the show has had is pulling off, it's going to eventually backfire. I suggest skipping the show. (also how the hell did this already get greenlight a second season?)
Steven Universe: Change Your Mind (2019)
An Absolute Masterpiece.
This episode has officially raised the bar for animation TV episodes, along-side many others. Everything about this episode is incredible. From how the story was handled, to how much effort was put into this episode. The Crew behind this show truly put all they could into this episode, and it really shows.
Not only did this episode showcase things i've been dreaming of since the very beginning of this show, but this episode practically resolved almost everything the show had unanswered. My heart was pounding throughout the course of this, because this was mind-blowing in how good it was. If you have not seen the episode for yourself, please watch it as soon as you can. it's THAT GOOD.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Squirrel Jelly/The String (2018)
A Great way to wrap up a Good season!
I think that both of these episodes had nice qualities to them, and I think they make a good way to wrap up this season. I especially like "The String" for how intriguing it was for a 6-minute episode.
Squirrel Jelly was also good, I just think that there were some parts that dragged it down a bit for me. otherwise, this is a good pairing to end of Season 11!
(I didn't have too much to say about these two, that's why this review is short and simple.)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Nitwitting/The Ballad of Filthy Muck (2019)
The Nitwitting is something only Nitwits would enjoy.
Season 12 of Spongebob has already been off to a pretty weak start, and this episode just dropped the ball for me.
In my humble opinion, I really did not like the Nitwitting. The episode revolves around Patrick inducting Spongebob into joining a club of nitwits he is a part of. The concept of this episode is pretty dull already, and set my expectations low. For terms of the episode's overall quality, it was very lacking, with various amounts of jumps from one plot point to another, it was just all over the place, not to mention the shoe-horning of Sandy into the plot at the very end of the episode, that was completely unnecessary. While this episode did have some nice touches to it, like the cameos of some characters and the detail work put into the backgrounds, I still think this episode is a mess.
I wouldn't call this episode as bad as episodes like Bunny Hunt or Ink Lemonade, its still a really bad episode overall, and a very lackluster addition to the series' most recent season. I suggest skipping this episode if you can.