Thirteen years after the live action film, Netflix are releasing an anime based on ‘Scott Pilgrim vs The World’!
Based on the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ follows Scott as he falls in love with Ramona Flowers and finds himself having to battle her seven evil exes to win her heart.
While the film was able to portray the visuals in a colourful, wacky way, there was only so much that could be accomplished and, with animation, the restrictions on how a shot can be visualized is lifted. So, with the abstract visuals and scenarios the comics have, an animated show is perfect for ‘Scott Pilgrim’.
It looks colourful, vibrant and has perfectly replicated the art style of the source material. Plus, all the original cast of the live action film are returning to voice their respective characters. Not only is this amazing and exciting to see, but it also demonstrates how much fun the cast had working on the film that they’d all want to return.
Reading the comics throughout college was a fantastic experience and the anime has perfectly captured the visuals of the source material and movements of the characters. Plus, with director and co-writer Edgar Wright returning to executive produce this, as well as the original voice cast returning, ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ is going to be amazing and I cannot wait for it.
While Crunchyroll and Netflix have released various animated series’ based on Junji Ito’s work, Adult Swim’s latest adaptation will see one of his most famous works get a full singular adaptation.
From the Japanese horror visionary Junji Ito, ‘Uzumaki’ tells the story of the residents of the fictional town Kurouzu-cho as it becomes plagued by a supernatural curse involving spirals.
What makes this stand out from Ito’s previous adaptations is the way in which it’s been portrayed. While the previous shows were in colour, ‘Uzumaki’ is styled in the exact same way as its source material. The black and white manga style is not only impressive in how accurate it looks to the manga, but it also makes the imagery just as disturbing as the manga it’s adapting. The sound design is also terrifying; Junji Ito’s work can sometimes be lost in translation when adapting it to the small screen, so to see an accurate representation of the source material is extremely impressive.
‘Uzumaki’ not only looks terrifying, but it looks to be an extremely accurate adaptation due to the way it’s been drawn and styled. It looks like the images have been lifted off the manga pages and placed straight onto the screen and it looks gorgeous. Being a huge fan of Junji Ito’s work, I am really looking forward to this, and have hope that this will be just as creepy as the source material.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – The BRWC Review
While Netflix released the animated movie for ‘Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, the turtles’ big screen appearance hasn’t been seen since 2007 with the live action sequel ‘Out of the Shadows’. So, it’s refreshing to see a new animated film based on the Turtles with attitude and have it be on the big screen.
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ tells the origins of Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo as they crawl of the sewers and into New York City, on a mission to battle other mutant characters who want to see humanity crumble.
While I am a fan, I am not an expert in the adventures of the turtles. But, this was a film I was looking forward to and I’m happy to see that my expectations have been more than met because this was a delight.
‘Mutant Mayhem’ is yet another film that utilizes a unique art style, and this animation is just as beautiful as the previous films that have used a different art form. This time, ‘Mutant Mayhem’s animation resembles Claymation, similar to that of early Aardman shorts like ‘Wallace & Gromit’ and ‘Morph’. Just like those shorts, the animation here is just as gorgeous. Not only is the animation style unique but it further helps emphasize the characters’ facial expressions and movements. Throughout the film, the framerate of a shot will occasionally change, a technique that ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’ used during its fight scenes and one that ‘Mutant Mayhem’ implements during its fight and car chases. However, it doesn’t always work here: mixed with the vibrant colours and fast-moving characters, a few scenes were difficult to follow visually. But the overall experience was extremely entertaining and enjoyable.
Of course, the film can’t be discussed without talking about the main cast. In other iterations, they’ve always been friendly and fun characters to watch, and this is no exception. But what stands out is that the voice cast are actually young. While that may sound like a strange point to bring up, it’s rare for a teenage/young cast to voice the Turtles, so it’s wonderful to hear that the voices match the characters’ ages. And the voicework is brilliant. Raphael (Brady Noon – Good Boys), Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu – Skull Island), Donatello (Micah Abbey – Grey’s Anatomy) and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr. – The Chi) all have fantastic onscreen chemistry and are all convincing as brothers who long to be accepted. But they’re also teenagers, so get up to trouble and into ridiculous situations even before the main plot has started. It’s a fantastic portrayal of the mutant brothers. But they’re not the only mutants in this film.
The film’s villain is a human sized mutant fly called Superfly (Ice Cube – Ride Along, 21 Jump Street) and, while that sounds ridiculous, he is fantastically written as a threatening character. It’s clear that he’s inspired by the horror genre because there’s a few scenes that borrow horror elements either through his personality or his dialogue. And while, at first, he appears friendly towards the Turtles, he quickly becomes a threat to them, and he feels intimidating. Ice Cube is brilliant at voicing him; he gives the character a careless manner which further shows how evil he is; he only has one goal and is willing to see it through till the end.
Along with Superfly, there are a group of other mutants who are happy to help him which include Mondo the Gecko (Paul Rudd – Ant Man, Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Wingnut the Bat (Natasia Demetriou – What We Do In The Shadows), Ray Fillet (singer Post Malone) as well as Bebop (Seth Rogen – Invincible, The Super Mario Bros. Movie) and Rocksteady (John Cena – Fast X, Barbie). Just like Superfly, each mutant is very well written and has a distinct personality even if they all have the same goal. But, throughout the film, the focus shifts from giving each of Superfly’s henchmen an equal amount of screentime, to just focusing on Mondo, Bebop and Rocksteady. While the latter characters are well known, I would’ve liked it if the rest of the mutants had more focus placed on them. But, with the story the film is telling as well as its 1hr 40-minute runtime, it’s understandable as to why this couldn’t be done.
Overall, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ is a delightful film that feels like a love letter to the whole franchise. The Claymation-esque animation looks gorgeous on the big screen, even if it is a little hard to follow at times, and the four lead Turtles are wonderful. Plus, the villain felt like a non-sympathetic threat, something that is now rare in the superhero genre. Whether you’re a new fan or have loved the Turtles for years, ‘Mutant Mayhem’ is a fun and delightful film for both.
After Fox cancelled the show in 2017, it was assumed that the iconic ‘The Exorcist’ franchise would be laid to rest. But that’s not the case as horror powerhouse Blumhouse have gained the rights of yet another horror classic next to ‘Halloween’.
‘The Exorcist: Believer’ sees two girls become possessed after disappearing in the woods for three days. In a desperate attempt to save them, someone is recruited, who is all too familiar with this scenario: Chris McNeil (Ellen Burstyn), the mother of Regan (Linda Blair) from the 1973 film.
Just like the ‘Halloween’ trilogy from a few years ago, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ will ignore all the previous entries aside from the original. And, with this being directed and co-written by David Gordon Green (Blumhouse Halloween Trilogy), I have hopes that this entry will bring something new to the possession subgenre. But I also have concerns: with this being a sequel to an iconic horror film in a genre that has done all the cliches, I do fear that ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ won’t live up to any expectations that fans may have.
With this being 50 years after the original, the trailer for ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ has all the cliches and scares that is to be expected from the possession subgenre by now. While the original introduced those elements, they are utilized in nearly every film of this type now, so there is the worry that this will be buried and forgotten. But, with David Gordon Green directing and co-writing, there is hope for ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ yet.
Directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. (American Violence, The Call) and co-produced by Jeffrey Reddick (the Final Destination series), ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ sees a bride to-be fighting off her Groom and his killer groomsmen after bailing on her wedding.
In a similar vein to 2019’s ‘Ready or Not’, ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ looks to be following the concept of bride fighting for her life against her groom’s family/friends.
The acting is pretty good: the Bride (Natalie Burn – The Expendables 3, The Enforcer) and Groom (Ser’Darius Blain – Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, The Big Leap) have great chemistry as a strained couple who are under the rules of the situation they find themselves in. While the Groom still loves his bride, he also understands that these rules they live under must be obeyed so will go through this wedding no matter what. But, for the first hour of the film, he cares for her and doesn’t want to see her hurt, something that is very clear. Meanwhile, the Bride has already chosen to leave the life that they’ve struggled with together, leading to her fighting for her life. And she does a great job of acting like a calculating but potential victim to the groomsmen that are hunting her.
While the Groom is in love with Bride and doesn’t want to see her hurt, the Groomsmen see things differently. Talks of violence start to emerge soon enough and, thus, the fighting and killing sequences begin. And they’re the strongest aspect of the film; each sequence is unique and extremely enjoyable. Not only is each fight well-choreographed, but each one utilizes a different weapon, e.g.: one uses punches and kicks while another uses a knife, and a chainsaw is even used! But, despite the threat the Groomsmen should hold, most of them don’t get enough screentime until they’re killed. And, when they do get some screentime, it’s to talk outside about trying to find the Bride. And thus starts the issues that ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ has.
The biggest issues with the film is its editing and writing to an extent. The film, overall, is in need of another edit; a lot of the 1hr 50minute runtime is taken up by the Groomsmen discussing what to do with the Bride as well as flashbacks to how the story got to this point in time. With an idea like this, expectations would lead to believe that this would be a fast-paced action horror film, but it isn’t; it is, instead, a very slow paced film that could’ve taken that time to develop its characters sooner. But some scenes are wasted and could’ve easily been cut completely or shortened to make the pacing smoother. And, when the character development does start to appear, it’s far too late, leading to a vague/no idea of what the motivations are for the Groomsmen before the reveal happens. ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ should be a simple, straight forward story but, due to the vague dialogue, it’s instead complicated and, at times, difficult to follow.
‘Til Death Do Us Part’ is a fun concept, and much in the same territory as ‘Ready or Not’ but is in need of another edit. Not only is the dialogue extremely vague a lot of the time, but a lot of the scenes could easily be shortened to make this unnecessarily slow-paced film flow more smoothly. However, the fighting sequences are its strongest aspects and are the most enjoyable moments in the film. The cast also do a great job with the script that’s been given to them and are enjoyable to watch. While it is worth a watch, ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ would’ve benefited from another look in the editing room.
