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Dans-Den
I'm an Artist, Gamer, and memester who enjoys drawing, gaming and overall being a little wacky.

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Dans-Den's News

Posted by Dans-Den - June 25th, 2023


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Hey everyone how's it going? Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Demon Slayer season 3!


Spoiler Warning (if you wanna watch it, just do the free trial for two weeks on Crunchyroll)


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Now I've been looking forward to this season after season 2 which I thought was a near masterpiece thanks to the animation and the story as well as the characters. Season 3 has been hyped up for the last year and people have been frothing at the mouth (myself included honestly) waiting for this to drop. Though I will say I'm sure some people weren't happy it was exclusive to Crunchyroll only whereas Season 2 was on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Either way, people were ready to watch season 3 and I will say it's great but I think season 2 was slightly better.


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I love Tanjiros journey and how he's slowly becoming a stronger swordsman and demon slayer and how we got more background into his ancestors and how they knew Yoriichi as well as more background into the dance that was passed down to them. I also liked that we finally got Muzans backstory animated and how he became a demon. If you've read the manga you already know how it goes but even so I always enjoy when we get these scenes in the pages animated since I love the medium. Speaking of animation, I also want to point out how they used 3D animation as well and I'll admit it, it looks well done. Doesn't clash badly with the 2D style and it blends well enough to be a pleasant visual experience.


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Now the demon slayer cast this season was interesting. Instead of the main cast which consist of Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke, we get two Hashira's and someone from Tanjiros class Genya. Tanjiro and Nezuko are still the main protagonists and I did enjoy the Hashira's in this season. Mitsuri and Muichiro had great backstories but the one I think I liked most was Genyas backstory (though Muichiro was a close second) and explains why he is the way he is and why his brother Sanemi is the way he is as well. The upper moon demons this season were pretty insane. I thought the last seasons Upper moon was insane and to be honest, upper moon 6 was definitely better than the upper moon 5 demon. Upper moon 4 however, that was a complete unit themselves. Its a shame Muichiro spent almost all his fighting on Upper moon 5 who I thought was a bit underwhelming compared to upper moon 4 and definitely compared to upper moon 6. Though I will say the backstories for the Upper demons were near nonexistent. Upper moon 5 didn't get one and Upper moon 4 got a little bit of backstory but compared to last seasons Upper moon, it's not as significant but still decent.


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Now my main complaint here is the absence of Zenitsu and Inosuke. Inosuke is my favorite character of the demon slayer cast while Zenitsu is my least favorite. Even with that as the case, I still feel they should have been in the swordsmith village arc. To me, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke are a package deal. I enjoy seeing them train, go on adventures and battling demons together. They only appeared in the first episode and that's it, they made a little post credit cameo but that doesn't count in the main story. I'm sure they'll have a huge part in the next season but I felt it was the same without these two fighting along side Tanjiro and Nezuko continuing to get stronger as they battle upper ranked demons.


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Overall I enjoyed season 3 and the ending to it. Despite my nitpicks here and there, this is still a great anime and a great season. Now I'm excited to see how things go in Season 4 with Muzan plotting to take Nezuko to complete his goal of being the ultimate lifeform. I hear the Infinity Castle Arc will be the best Arc in the entire series and with what's suppose to go down, I am once again ready for it!


Rating this I will give it:


8.5/10


I like it just like I like the other seasons, each one has its strengths and weaknesses but overall its still a great anime series and I highly recommend watching season 3 as well as the other seasons and movies of Demon Slayer.


That's all I got for today.


See ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - June 11th, 2023


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Hey what's going on everyone? Dan here and today I'll be giving my review for the live action Little Mermaid.


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Now before we get into the review, let me reiterate what I've said before, I personally don't have an issue if a fictional characters skin or race is changed. My thing is that if it served a purpose like adding layers to the character or using it to bring up an issue in society in the story then I feel it is justified. In the little mermaid's case, her changing race doesn't serve a purpose, she is a mermaid therefore her species itself would create a big enough divide in the story between mermaids and humans. This once again feels like corporations trying to pander and seem "inclusive" by changing already established characters. If they wanted to make an African-American mermaid, they should just make a new character in the Little Mermaid universe and make the story around her. Honestly they didn't even need to do this to the little mermaid because they already had an African-American princess who I feel is underrated and is a strong princess herself.


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That's right, I'm talking about Tiana from Princess and the Frog. They tried to make Ariel pander to African-American community and give her this "empower women" checklist when in reality Disney had that type of princess already. One I feel gets overlooked because she came out in a time when Disney was transitioning away from 2D style to 3D so she basically got swept under the rug. This honestly should have been a live action Princess and the Frog movie, it would have been honestly more welcomed than this movie because Tiana is set in a more grounded setting where she has a real world job and deals with voodoo which wouldn't be hard to get VFX for. On top of that, she has defeated her main antagonist with her wits causing his plan to bite him back rather than how in this movie Ariel kills Ursula with a ship which by the way, Eric killed her in the original but I guess they wanted Ariel to be the one to kill her this time which feels like it goes against her character and is meant to check off the empower women checklist. All these things they did in this live action movie, they could have done all of that with Princess and the Frog, it would have made more sense and could have revitalized the Princess and the Frog to a new generation of children but they did not go that route, why? Because Ariel is a far more marketable character and her franchise is more marketable than Tiana and Princess and the Frog. This should show that Disney doesn't care about being inclusive or about social issues, they just care about pandering to social media and making money however they can.


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Now for the movie itself, its okay. It wasn't the worst thing I've seen but honestly that is not saying much in a positive way. It does try to redo the original live action movie, but then it has moments where it tries to be its own thing or funny but just completely misses the mark in both ways. It's not as funny as the original and it does its own thing to where you wouldn't even know this was meant to be the little mermaid. The only times I laughed were when I saw the CGI sea creatures because they looked uncanny like Sebastian or Flounder (who is honestly adorable even with the uncanny CGI). The writers must have been out to lunch because the writing has no comedic timing and pacing can be all over the place at times. Like when Eric was trying to talk serious with Ariel about his upbringing and how he feels trapped, Grimsby comes in out of nowhere and ruins the moment which I think they wanted it to be funny but it felt unnecessary. Or the singing, Under the Sea is sung mainly by Sebastian and for some reason Ariel gets in on it when it doesn't make sense and it honestly made the song less enjoyable to me.


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The cast themselves did a good job for what they had to work with. Hailey Balle I don't think made a good Ariel, honestly I'm not a big fan of this girl especially after her disrespectful comments at last years Oscars about animation and it shows in this movie she does not respect animation in the slightest, she's a product of the industry in my eyes. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula was probably my favorite portrayal because she's actually a little funny and she actually stayed true to the characters source material. John Hauer-King as Prince Eric was good I liked his portrayal and his dramatic scenes and singing made me laugh because the shots done looked like a Calvin Klein commercial, a cologne commercial or a VEVO music video from YouTube. Besides those, I like Eric's story about him being adopted into Royalty and I wish they would have placed more emphasis on that part of the movie. I gotta give a shoutout to Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, he did a great job as Flounder. No matter what movie he is in, Tremblay gives a great performance like in Wonder, Luca, and Good Boys.


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Fun fact: Lin-Manuel Miranda helped produced this film which explains why I'm getting very Hamilton vibes from this film. Like it feels like a Broadway play being filmed if that makes any sense at all.


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Overall, this movie was another example of Disney making live action remakes of beloved animated films meant to be a cashgrab that panders to certain demographics and nothing else. It had some good elements in it but wasn't enough to save this movie. I still think a live action Princess and the Frog movie would have been a better concept and movie than this version of the little mermaid.


Rating this film I give it:


5/10


I do not recommend this film unless you need it for a family movie night or to go out on a date like I did but other than that, just watch the original animated movie its a better experience and the great quality of that film is what kicked off the Disney renaissance in the first place, a magic this movie wasn't able to recapture. That's all I have for today


see ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - May 29th, 2023


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Hey what's going on everyone?! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing The Machine Movie, The movie based on the incredible story...notice how it doesn't say true story.


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Now I've been a fan of Bert Kreischer these last few years. I remember first seeing him on the travel channel on his trip show, then I saw his machine story on YouTube, watched most of his Netflix specials and his Cabin show, and even saw him in person during the Super Bowl here in AZ with Guy Fieri. I honestly had no idea he was making an actual film this summer until over a month ago when I was watching an analysis video about Bert and how he's starting to become out of touch and egotistical, I'll leave a link to that video from Ghost Gum you guys should check it out.

(Ghost Gum video on Bert)

Now I've been watching several videos on YouTube about Bert and a lot of the issues are coming from his let's just say "exaggerated" stories and the authenticity of them as well as him being in denial about having an alcohol problem and overall health issues. His status has made him delusional about being better or above everyone else which is another factor of him losing respect from his fans. I feel this movie perfectly reflects all of these traits as well as justifying his behaviors and trying to poke fun at the criticism he sees. I was going into this movie thinking it would be so bad it's funny and I was partially right. Half the movie is so bad its funny while the other half is...just bad, it's boring and made to make Bert look cool or like he's the center of the world. I'll break down why I feel this way and what this movie could potentially do to Bert's reputation/fanbase.


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Now let's start with a positive first, Mark Hamill. I love Mark Hamill not just as Luke Skywalker or the Joker, I love his work and I feel he was truly carrying this movie. I was weirded out that they chose Mark to portray Bert's dad in this film. I've seen what Bert's dad looks like and Mark looks nothing like him (at least not currently) so I wonder if it's for a cool factor or Bert is a huge fan of Mark Hamill or both. Either way Mark as Bert's dad carried the movie to where it was enjoyable at times and genuinely funny. He was the best character in this movie, yes, better than Bert, better than the Russian Mafia characters, he was just the best one because he actually made me laugh the most. When he laughs you can hear that Joker laugh slip through and I loved it.


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Now with that positive out of the way, let's get to the negatives. The plot barely makes any sense, Bert's past with the Mafia comes back to haunt him and he has to go to Russia and find an Heirloom he stole from a crime family or else his eldest daughter (I think it's suppose to be Georgia) will be killed. Without getting into major spoilers, this plotline is so inconsistent in terms of characters, flow, and accuracy. So the Machine story setting was from Berts time at Florida State when he was 22. So Bert was born in 1972 and i'm guessing this was before his 23rd birthday, so that means the setting of the story should take place in 1995. Now the movie did not establish what year it currently was, but I have to assume it was 2023 or sometime in the 2020's. He said it was 23 years ago meaning the story happened in either the late 90's or the year 2000 since young Bert (played by Jimmy Tatro) is making Austin Powers and Beavis and Butthead references. That basically goes against the actually setting of the story which I understand movies aren't 100% accurate but normally the time period correlates with one another so this is either Bert forgetting or trying to appeal to the younger crowd like people my age or younger. The plot is this wild goose chase meant to make Bert look cool or go through this hero's journey which honestly just falls flat.


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The characters were alright I guess. Like I said Mark Hamill as Berts dad is my favorite character, The Russian Mafia characters while a bit stereotypical were also funny at times, Bert had some moments I'll admit but those were few and far in between. I just didn't like the portrayal of him and his family or family friends they all seemed like they hated each others guts. Felt bad for the therapist character in all honesty, sad part is there are people like that in this world that try to act like nothings wrong and try to force their loved ones to see thigs their way even though that is certainly not the case. The family really didn't go through any major developments to warrant that ending, especially the daughter she just suddenly had a change of heart without really being in the story which is ironic considering the plot was also about Bert needing to know it's not always about him. That should tell you the mindset of Bert in real life. Once again, this was all meant to make Bert look cool, like he's life of the party, like everything he's doing is fine and how he is bigger than life.


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Now let's get to the important part, the comedy. Wow...it is near nonexistent. The type of comedy in here is literally lowbrow, meant to look "Progressive", having Russian stereotypes, some physical humor, and overall just meh. Don't get me wrong I still laugh at these types of comedy but it depends how it's done. Some people do it tastefully and genuinely funny like a actual Comedian then there are others who do it without any set up or punchline like a middle schooler...can you guess which way The Machine movie does it? That's right, the humor is stuff I would have said or done when I was like 14 and I'm not gonna say I dislike immature humor, there are times where I still get a good laugh out of it and I laughed a couple times in this movie but again those moments are far and few in between. The issue I have with it is Bert's style of comedy doesn't work well, great storyteller, but horrible at setting up jokes or delivering punchlines. I'm just glad he didn't do that fake Hyena laugh too much in this movie.


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Overall, this movie was meant to just inflate Bert's ego, I was genuinely hoping this movie would be hilarious but honestly I'm starting to see why people are slowly losing interest in Bert I mean he is a 50 year old man with a wife and two kids who actively gets drunk as a "career" because he can't do actual standup. It is a real fall from grace because the reason everyone liked him was because he was just being himself. But now he's become a complete try hard for laughs and clout and I don't find him as funny as he use to be. Bert if you by some chance see this, you need to get some actual help. Stop drinking and spend more time with your family because you're on a slippery slope to alcoholism and a short life span.


Rating this movie I'm giving it:


4/10


I do not recommend this movie, maybe I'll watch it again when it comes out on redbox and get drunk or high, maybe then I'll find it funnier but as it stands it's a bit underwhelming for a comedy film.


That's all I have to say.


See ya!


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1

Posted by Dans-Den - May 15th, 2023


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Hey what's what going on everyone?! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!


Now this is the last MCU movie directed by James Gunn and people were curious wondering how this movie would do since lately the MCU movies and shows have been...lackluster to say the least. I'm also told this was the first MCU movie to drop the F bomb which upset numerous parents but then again they should have known that a PG-13 movie is not suitable for kids. Then again, these are the same parents who buy M rated games for their 10 year old kids. Now with those tangents out of the way, lets dive into the movie review.


Spoilers Warning: it has been a week since it's been out but I'll still give warnings


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The plot is one last ride for the OG Guardians, however you once again won't fully understand unless you watch the other two Guardian movies, along with Infinity War and Endgame. Besides that oversight, the plot itself was great, there was personal stakes to save Rockets life after he was severely injured and the Guardians will have to face a being with a god superiority complex and a warlock named Adam. At first the movie was kinda fast with the plot but as the movie progressed it flowed better. Now people have been critical about the MCU formula where the characters are all quirky or "funny" and honestly it is annoying. However, the Guardians were the true quirky characters of the MCU, they popularized that formula and they have been the ones to make it work. Characters like Thor or Captain America can't be quirky the same way since they were established to be honorable and morally grounded characters whereas the Guardians have always been the Misfits of the MCU. This formula works best for them and that's why I didn't mind the quirkiness here because it works for the Guardians, it's hilarious especially for characters like Drax.


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My favorite and I think everyone's favorite in this film was the backstory of Rocket Racoon. If you've been paying attention to the Guardians and other MCU films he's been in, you'll notice he has been the main focus for the Guardians team. His story was hinted in the first Guardians movie and from then on his story has been subtly been revealing itself each installment and his character growth has been subtly developing just as much. This movie has amped it up by revealing his backstory and including his former love interest Lylla Otter and his tragic loss of her along with his other friends. I'm glad we finally got to see his backstory and it explains plenty about him that we already had a feeling about but this film confirmed it all and it was emotional and hard to watch with the animal cruelty moments. They did Rocket justice here and I'm happy.


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I will say the weakness part of this film is definitely Adam Warlock. I remember when they revealed him at the post credit scene in Vol. 2 and was hyped AF! If you've read the comics, you'll see Adam did play a role against Thanos and had the Infinity Gauntlet ready at his side. I was speculating he was being saved for Infinity War but unfortunately he never came to be and that was a let down. So I figured he would show up in Vol. 3 and he did but he had no real purpose in this film. He was just there to further the plot and wasn't necessary. We thought he would be the main bad guy here but no he was just a henchmen to some other bad guy (who I enjoyed since he was just unapologetically evil and that's refreshing to see). He had only one real moment and that was towards the end saving one of the Guardians from dying (even though he almost killed one to begin with). Adam warlock was disappointing in this film but hopefully we'll get a better story with him in the future or perhaps a mini series involving him on Disney plus.


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Now I did watch the post credit scenes and to be honest they're nothing special and I am just gonna leave it at that. The first one is basically an epilogue to the film and callback to Vol. 1 music while the other scene is just a little callback to the recent Christmas special, nothing you need to stay after the movie for where you can just look them up on YouTube. This is why post credit scenes aren't really worth staying for anymore at least to me, they're not like before where they connect and amount to anything major in the future.


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Overall, Vol. 3 was a great sendoff for James Gunn in the MCU and it is clear he wanted this to be his swansong before his departure. He pulled out all the stops here and were grateful for it. I feel this is definitely one of the better MCU movies in recent years next to Spiderman: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I doubt we'll get great quality like this in the MCU for a while but I'm glad we have this.


Rating this film I am giving it:


9/10


This was a fun time and emotional roller coaster thinking this could have been the last we see of any of these guys and James Gunn gave us a truly lovely sendoff from the MCU. I highly recommend watching this film and that is about it.


See ya!


Tags:

1

Posted by Dans-Den - May 4th, 2023


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Hey what's going on everyone? Dan here and today I'll be reviewing The Mandalorian season 3 on this May the 4th be with you day!


Even though the season has ended weeks ago, I'll give spoiler warnings for those who do not have Disney Plus because these streaming services add up.


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Now I love The Mandalorian, I've watched all three seasons and Star Wars content is the only reason I wanted Disney Plus in the first place. The Mandalorian is indeed Disney Plus's number 1 show and there is a reason for it. I enjoy the series greatly and in my opinion, season 2 is the best of the three. Season 3 I'd say is on par with season 1, it's rough in some areas, but overall still enjoyable story and entertaining to watch. I'll be going through what I liked and what I dislike about season 3.


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One major complaint that I and several others have is that they intertwined the Mandalorian with the Book of Boba Fett show. They're doing what Marvel is known for and connecting everything in a universe but the issue here is that Book of Boba Fett happens between season 2 and 3, meaning that if you're new and trying to watch The Mandalorian then you're gonna be confused about what happened between seasons 2 and 3. A newcomer wouldn't know to go to Book of Boba Fett for context so it loses points off the bat just for doing that. Book of Boba Fett was decent imo, but everyone else doesn't find it entertaining and find it redeemable because of Mando so a newcomer would likely stay away from that show. It's not good when you have to intertwine two shows to get the full context of one or the other, it's inconvenient and just unnecessary to me unless it's meant to lead to a universe which if they plan to cool, if not, unnecessary.


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Now with the Book of Boba Fett stuff aside, I do enjoy the continued story of Din Djarin and Grogu on their adventures, this time around we actually get to see them amongst the Mandalorian tribes and culture. I love the lore of Mandalorians and this is a great addition to the series and the lore. I especially like Bo Katan, I think of all her varients, this version of her is by far my favorite only matched by her Clone Wars version. Din Djarin played by Pedro Pascal is great and his character continues to get fleshed out with each season. Grogu, I can't say much because it's puppetry and effects and it's done well enough, it's adorable as well. I also like how we get the return of Moff Gideon as the Antagonist, is he finally gone? we'll see.


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Now the episodes this season were a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, most of Season 3 episodes are fun and action packed, but I'd say there were two episodes in the entire season that were just filler for the most part. Episode 3 was kinda boring to follow because it was literal filler about reformed villains because it barely served any connection to the plot. Episode 6 filler was Mando and Bo on a wild goose chase of a mystery finding defective droids for Lizzo and Jack Black (I love Jack Black but this is definitely one of his weaker roles) and the villain turned out to be Christopher Lloyd and makes it like we care but it felt so rushed and phoned in. These two episodes are definitely lackluster compared to the rest but at least the other episodes make up for these two so I won't hold it too hard against season 3.


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I loved the last two episodes where the Mandalorians all band together to take back Mandalore from Moff Gideon and his Beskar Stormtroopers. It did Kill off one of the Mandalorian characters we came to know and respect but at least he went out in true Mandalorian fashion fighting till the end. Gideon got wrecked the third time around and Mandalore was taken back and Mando himself has settled on his land with Grogu as his new adopted son/apprentice where they're gonna go on many more adventures together. This makes me excited for a Season 4 and hopefully we will get a season 4. Though if we do get one, maybe if should be the last one but also the best one yet. Though this is Disney, so it is possible they will try to milk the Mandalorian until its dry but maybe I'm wrong there, who knows?


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Overall, season 3 was pretty good and while I still think season 2 was better, season 3 still added to the lore and world of the Mandalorian culture. I would like a season 4 but we will see what happens in the not so distant future. Jon Favreau, you busted out another banger of a season here!


rating this season I'm giving it:


8/10


While I don't think it's the best season, I still think it's great and adds plenty to the story of Din Djarin. I would recommend this season just as much as 1 and 2 and you'll definitely need to watch the last few episodes of Book of Boba Fett to figure out what happens between seasons 2 and 3. Here's to hoping for a season 4 and make it the best and last one.


May the Fourth be with you all


See ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - April 12th, 2023


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Hey everyone Dan here and today I'll be reviewing the very much hyped and anticipated Super Mario Bros. Movie!


Warning!: may contain spoilers!


This movie has been hyped to hell and back as everyone thinks this is the second coming of Jesus, that may sound like an exaggeration but people were extremely excited to see this film thinking this would be like movie of the year, to which I say "cool your jets" because this movie might be great but it's definitely got its flaws. I'll be going over the Mario movies strengths and weaknesses and how they can improve if they go through with a sequel.


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I want to start off by giving props to Nintendo, specifically Shigeru Miyamoto who made sure the movie was of good quality rather than a shameless cash grab. Let's be real, if Illumination was left to their own devices, they would have made this movie like the Lorax or the Minions which would have sucked for the brand. I'm glad the Nintendo team worked directly with Illumination to make sure we get the best Mario movie experience we can get. Nintendo seems to have learned from the old Mario movie from the 90's making sure this one is fully animated which I think looks great and has kept faithful to the source material the best they can in this medium. Miyamoto has been busy these last couple years in collaboration with Universal bringing Nintendo to the theme parks and to the big screen. I understand because of this he hasn't been involved with the Nintendo games as much but honestly that's not too bad considering the new products we've gotten now. I'm glad he was directly involved with this movie making it as great as it is and I do hope this leads to future Nintendo movie endeavors for stuff like Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Captain Falcon, etc. Who knows? maybe this is the start of the Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe.


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Now this is the biggest criticism I've seen about this movie and that is, the plot. Now the plot isn't anything complex or story driven to the max, it's a simple story about two bros discovering a new world and fighting an evil threat. This movie is taking the Sonic Movie approach where they're not trying to make it exactly like the games in terms of story, they're just treading the waters and seeing how it goes. Sonic did this and did this well enough to get a sequel where they were able to expand on the lore and bring out more characters from the Sonic universe. Mario has its atmosphere, but hasn't gone deep into its stories and lore just yet. I think the story is good for what it is, though it does seem messy at times like its about rescuing Luigi then its about rescuing the Mushroom Kingdom/Peach, it's like they couldn't decide on a plot so they merge two plots together. It's not even done like a plot A and plot B, it is done like merging two plots as one which can get messy at times. Now my major complaint with the story/plot is its pacing. Everything happens so fast that I can't really take it all in or process what's happening. I felt the movie was (much like the games) rushed to meet a deadline and the pacing is barely done well enough to make it comprehendible. Now I see why the movie came out so soon, the pacing is just too fast like this was made for kids with ADHD (though I also have that too but even I could barely follow). I felt they should have made the movie at least a solid 2 hours so that the pacing would be better and we can take it all in better.


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The cast was another concern for this film was the cast, specifically Chris Pratt as Mario. I was also concerned about it and after seeing his performance, he actually didn't do too bad of a job. His Mario reminds me of the Super Mario show accent where they sound like they're Italians from Brooklyn rather than just straight up Italians like in the games. I was afraid it would be Chris Pratt being himself as a character but he did manage to give his Mario personality which is good. the weakest performance came from Seth Rogens Donkey Kong. That one was just Seth phoning it in and did not give enough personality to Donkey Kong which is a shame since I love Donkey Kong. Everyone else did a good job at playing the characters especially Jack Black as Bowser. Jack Black killed it as Bowser and I'm here for it! Peaches is a hilarious song and I expected no less for the Tenacious one himself.


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I will say, the Mario movie did one thing well above all and that's the references/cameos. The movie did an excellent job paying homage to the Mario games as well as other beloved Nintendo games such as Donkey Kong and even the Jump Man game that Mario originated from. My personal favorite is the DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64, I played that game all the time when I was little on my cousins N 64 back in the day and I couldn't help but sing along a bit. I know Nintendo tries to tap in on your nostalgia, but there is a reason it works. Nintendo is a powerful brand and even though I'm not a fan of the current stuff they're doing in the gaming industry, but I still enjoy the Nintendo history especially as someone who has owned the SNES, N64, GameCube, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS/DSi, Nintendo Wii and even the Switch (that I rarely use). I've had a lot of good memories with their games and systems and I felt all those memories when I saw the references and cameos in this film.


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Overall it was a fun movie and definitely a great video game adaptation of our favorite plumbing duo. I will say that I do think this is one of the better video game movies in recent memory. I hope we get more animated video game movies like this from Nintendo and this can be another gold standard when adapting a video game into a movie or even a television show.


Rating this I'd give it:


8/10


I do think this is better than the first sonic movie or detective pikachu, but not quite up there with something like Sonic 2 and that's only because Sonic 2 had a chance to explore the lore of the Sonic universe. Hopefully the Mario movie gets a sequel to do the same thing which may be even better than Sonic 2 along with ironing out the kinks in terms of pacing and story telling. That's all I got for you guys.


See ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - April 8th, 2023


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Hey what's going on everyone? Dan here and today I'll be reviewing the Air movie.


Warning!: May contain spoilers


Now this is the success story of how Nike not only sign arguably the best player in Basketball history, but became the most dominant sports brand in history. This is also Ben Affleck's first movie he's directed in a long time, the movie is alright but I do have some critiques on how it could have been done better.


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The cast itself is quite literally an A-list cast in Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Viola Davis. Funny enough, Jordan himself wanted Viola Davis to portray his mother specifically because his mother loves Davis which I think is nice. The cast did a good job portraying the people of Nike and the Jordan family. I think the acting turns into over acting at times where it gets overly dramatic with some lines. I understand it's a dramatization of what happened, but I still think it should have stuck more to the true events for that realism. I forgot to mention that Marlon Wayans is in this film too but his role only lasts like five minutes somewhere in the beginning and never appears in the movie again except a brief mention about the person Wayans portrays.


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The writing itself reminds me of Winning Time from HBO MAX, the Lakers series. This movie is rated R only because of the profanity used, it's almost the same as Winning Time where they use the words "Fuck" a lot. It reminds me of the 2022 Saint Rows game dialogue where they cuss a lot and it feels written by a 14 year old. I don't have a problem with profanity because this is likely how they actually talked or reacted, but when it's overused like in these shows or movies, it gets dull real quick and loses the comedic factor. Alex Convey is the writer of this film and Apparently this is his first piece of major work according to IMDb. Alex if you see this, this is decent writing, but I feel if you focus more on clever writing rather than heavy profanity use, you'll do great. Don't know where Affleck found this guy but not bad.


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The story of Nike and Jordan is as old as time itself, I like to think that Jordan himself had some involvement besides wanting Davis as his mother since this movie is based around his big deal with Nike that changed the industry of sponsorships and sports players. I do wish they had mention other things like how Nike pursued Magic Johnson for Nike and he turned it down (they referenced this in Winning Time and Magic has gone on record saying he regrets not taking the Nike deal) or how Adidas said they couldn't make a shoe for Jordan (this was referenced in The Last Dance and The Company Man Video on Nike. Link: Company Man: Nike ).


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The movie is good, but I feel like this would have done better as like mini-series. I say this because I feel we didn't really get enough time to soak in all the movie pieces and effort it took to get Jordan signed. If this was broken off into like a 5 or 6 part mini-series, we'd get e better idea on how it crucial it was and what was at stake to get Jordan signed and how this revolutionized the industry in terms of sponsorships and deals. The movie got the cliff notes down and managed to stuff just enough into the movie but at times admitting felt rushed.


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Overall, the movie was fun to watch but I felt they could have added more details to it on all the moving pieces. acting was good, the writing was decent enough for an R rated film and it was a fun watch. I may have my critiques about it but it is serviceable and gives people a better idea on how the Jordan/Nike deal came to be.


Rating this film, I give it:


7/10


I recommend this film to watch with friends or if you're a basketball or shoe guy, this is definitely your movie. That's all I've got for today.


See ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - April 3rd, 2023


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Hey what’s going on everyone?! It’s Dan here and today I’ll be reviewing Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! 


Warning!: May contain some spoilers!


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I’m not gonna lie to you guys, March has been Medieval March Madness for me. March is my birthday month and I’ve been going to the Medieval Renaissance Festival, then I saw a Jousting show and now I'm watching D&D movies. I even bought a mug at the Jousting show. I enjoyed all of it, now I just need to play actual D&D and it’ll all come full circle. Honestly this movie looked dope when I saw the trailers and seeing the actual movie, the trailers are different from the actual movie, but in a good way. 


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When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was under the impression that it would be about taking something from the Red witch lady or stealing something from her. I was under the impression she would be the main focus of this film but it turned out that was only half the battle. Turns out the main focus of this film is Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) breaking out of prison and reuniting with his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman). However, she’s been manipulated by Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant)  into thinking her father abandoned her and now Edgin has to gather a group of misfits like an amateur wizard, a warrior lady banished from her tribe, and a shapeshifter to go and save his daughter all while taking Fitzwilliam and the witch down. You’d think that would be an average movie premise but the way they executed it, is awesome. This movie is better than I would have expected and it does go above and beyond in terms of VFX, witty writing for the characters, the action, even the acting flowed well bringing these characters to life. 


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Let’s start with the VFX, I think these effects are better than what Marvel is pumping out nowadays on Disney+ or even the Modok memery. I loved the effects in this movie and they did an excellent job bringing the fantasy world creatures to the big screen. The magic was done well too, it didn’t look cheaply done and it was all smooth transitions. The VFX doesn’t really have any bad moments or times where it looks janky. I know the budget is like 150 million but that’s money well spent on the visual effects.


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The cast of this film did a phenomenal job with their roles. Each character had their chance to shine in one way shape or form. I will say the least amount of character development I saw was from Doric, but even she came to her own conclusion about humans and how she originally felt about them. Though I will say that one of my nitpicks about this film is the relationship between Simon and Doric, they do have a history together and at the end where they consider revisiting that, felt a bit underwhelming despite this being from the amazing growth from Simon. One of my favorite characters in this film is Xenk Yendar who is a Harper but also a Paladin. He’s someone who takes everything literal and it's funny shit, he’s like the Knuckles of the group (he’s with them for a single mission which is a shame).


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I will say that for the writing, it’s hilarious, witty, charming, and above all fun. The writing pokes fun at certain movie cliches as well as narration to sum up the plot or situation. The writing works especially with Forge since he’s more of a comical villain. He does have his ruthless moments but I feel he was written to be more of a comedic relief villain, kind of like Modok but actually funny and written to be a real threat. There are times where I feel the movie’s writing is a bit meh but honestly those are blink and you miss it moments that I can forgive. I did feel the final battle was rushed a little but like I said it doesn’t bother me that much though I did wish there was more build up to that final battle. 


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Overall the movie itself was definitely one of the better movies I’ve seen by far this year. While Paramount shows can suck major cheeks at times, I will say their films are bangers. D&D is a fun game and the fact that they brought it to the big screen in the best way is great. I know there are other D&D movies dating back to the 2000’s and I heard those weren’t as great but I am glad that this one was done so with fun writing and great effects in mind.


Rating this film I’d give it:


8.5/10


I highly recommend seeing this film, it’s a fun time for everyone even if you’re not into D&D or fantasy. I hope more fantasy or D&D related stuff takes notes from this movie while improving on the weaker areas. That’s all I got for today


See ya!



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1

Posted by Dans-Den - March 22nd, 2023


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What's going on everyone! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Shazam! Fury of the Gods!


I'll try to not give as much spoilers as possible but there will be some, you've been warned.


First off I'd like to say, I loved the first Shazam! movie from 2019. I thought it was the best DC hero movie made in the 2010's even beating out movies like Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Rises. So when I heard Shazam! was getting a sequel, I was excited and looking forward to it thinking it'll be as good as the original, maybe even better. Unfortunately that was not the case as this movie was a bit messier than the original in terms of plot and some character development issues. This movie was horrible, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping either. I'll be going over the strengths and weaknesses of this film.


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Now this is where the real problems start, Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. As we all know, Johnson wanted the role of the Black Adam character and years later as he is now one of the top A list actors in the business, he got his wish. However, He would only do the role if he got his own stand alone Black Adam movie which he did, I have a full review of The Black Adam movie and mentioned this in that review but didn't go into how it would hurt the Shazam! franchise. At the cost of giving Black Adam his own solo film, it crippled the sequel for Shazam! especially given that Black Adam is the most iconic villain Captain Marvel himself has in his rogue's gallery. I'm sure this sequel was meant to have these two meet but unfortunately Dwayne got his way and pretty much left the Shazam crew scrambling. It's a similar situation to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever where they had the plot ready but due to the death of Chadwick Boseman they had to rewrite the script which had a very mixed reception to say the least. I find it to be a real shame we didn't get the battle of Captain Marvel vs Black Adam on the big screen, that would have been epic. Who knows? maybe they'll work something out to where they'll meet and fight, maybe Superman can get in on this too like Superman/Shazam: Return of Black Adam (which is honestly great). Though I highly doubt that as Zachery Levi and Dwayne Johnson are going through some beef due to this issue. But as it stands, they had to rewrite the script and salvage what they could.


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The plot now is there are three daughters of a god named Atlas, these gods were sealed away and because of the events of the last movie, the seal is broken and they are free. Now they're after the Marvel family deeming that mortals should not have powers of the gods. They try to take those powers away all while trying to get the gold apple to plant the tree of life back at their home to restore it to its former beauty. The villains here were more or less made for the movie and aren't really Captain Marvel villains, they fit more as Wonder Woman villains if I'm being honest. The villains aren't bad and I do like the actresses who portrayed them. The sisters provided three different sides/views such as Anthea (Rachael Zegler) being the good side of the sisters, Hespera (Helen Mirren) being the neutral side of the sisters, and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) being the evil side of the sisters. They all did a great job in their role, their powers are cool but I feel are underutilized from their full potential against the Marvel Family. Hespera controlling elements she should basically be the Avatar and use all the elements to greater degrees but is mostly used as like a power puncher, Kalypso has the power to whisper in your ear and make you do as she commands and even spread it like a plague but its only used in the first half of the movie and is pretty much forgotten about later on when she has her dragon to destroy everything. Anthea has the power of accessibility where she can pull a Doctor Strange and can warp the room and areas around which is honestly cool VFX. The fighting and VFX were not bad honestly, definitely better than what Marvel has been churning out lately. As I said, they did good and served their purpose, but I would have preferred Black Adam or even another Captain Marvel villain like say Chain Lightning, she would probably be better to add to the story than random gods.

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The main cast did a great job again like in the first one, Zachery Levi as Captain Marvel did great, I enjoy his humor and him as a boy in a grown mans body just like the rest of the cast being kids in adult bodies. I love the dialogue and humor with the Marvel family. I will say that there is a bit of development for Billy with having abandonment issues which makes him hold on too tight to everyone around him and Freddy especially gets sick and tired of it which causes some issues within the Marvel Family. Freddy was basically the B plot of this movie with him wanting to do his own thing whether it be as a hero or just his personal life in general but Billy is just reluctant to the idea of anyone in his family going off and doing their own thing. I wish these aspects of character development was more prevalent through out the film but it was sprinkled in here and there. at the end, Billy realizes that his family will always be there for him and this helps him realize that the wizard chose right with him. There is a cameo towards the end of a familiar hero and they'll be crucial towards the end after the final battle.


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Post credit scenes are a bit jarring but reflects what plans they have for the Shazam franchise (if they can get any backing behind it now). There are two post credit scenes this movie has and both I think are meant to set up another Shazam! movie in the near future. Though after the mixed to somewhat negative reception of the Shazam! sequel, odds of there being another Shazam! movie is a bit slimmer than before. I honestly wouldn't mind another Shazam! movie but right now DC is just a complete mess with projects being cancelled out of nowhere, The Flash still going forward as planned despite the Ezra Miller controversies, and with Warner Bros just being a complete fiasco right now. Things are uncertain but hopefully things will be better from here on out or at least after The Flash movie.


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Overall, the sequel wasn't as good as the original. I felt that Dwayne Johnson really threw this franchise under the bus and left them to pick up the pieces. As I said I like the Shazam! movie, I like Zachery Levi and I wanted to like this sequel but so many problems plagued this production. I wish they could have taken more time to make it better but I guess it is what it is. It's not terrible, just underwhelming compared tot he original. Hopefully DC/WB can get it together and churn out bangers in the future.


Rating this movie I'd give it:


6.5/10


Despite the problems it suffered in production, it is still a fun movie to watch and if you're looking for a fun movie with kids or family then this is definitely serviceable. I'm hoping The Flash and the upcoming Blue Beetle movie will be better but we'll see. That's all I have to say.


See ya!


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Posted by Dans-Den - March 14th, 2023


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Hey what's going on everyone?! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Creed 3!


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Now I do want to say one thing, I love the Rocky franchise, in turn I enjoy the Creed franchise. I grew up watching the Rocky movies with my dad and he loved Rocky 1-4, we'd watch Rocky 4 specifically together a lot and meme on Drago a lot when he was alive. We both loved boxing as well, I still do to this very day. The Rocky franchise holds a special place in my heart and we were both excited for the Creed movies release back in 2015, but unfortunately he passed away months before it released so he didn't get to experience the successor of the Rocky franchise with me.


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I do think the Creed movies hold up well on their own, I loved Creed and especially Creed 2. Creed 3 I was a little apprehensive about it, especially when I heard Sly himself was going to be taking a step back from the production and giving Michael B Jordan himself pretty much full control of the film settling with Co-producing. However, I then learned that the main reason he stepped back was because of the direction of the film. I didn't like the direction it was going and apparently had some major beef for a long time with Producer Irwin Winkler for the way he's been handling the Rocky franchise. Sly stated after Creed 2 he was retiring his role as Rocky and he meant it since Rocky is no where in this film. This meant that this is solely focusing on Adonis's story, Rocky plays no part in this what so ever. Fans (including myself) were obviously nervous about this film not having Rocky since he is the main character of this entire franchise. Although, I feel this is the right direction especially when you have Michael B Jordan directing, he's the face of this franchise and the fact that the Creed franchise is its own thing now. Rockys story is done, now this is Adonis's time. So the questions are, Can Michael B Jordan Direct a good film? can he live up to Rocky Franchise while also establishing the Creed franchise as its own? Can he flesh out Adonis our main protagonist and his story?


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Now the plot itself isn't bad, in fact it's giving us more backstory and lore on Adonis's early life from his childhood. The plot revolves around Adonis being retired from boxing for a couple years and being successful in his retirement helping train/promote the next generation of fighters. During this time, his old friend Damian gets released from jail and is trying to start up his boxing career despite being older than Adonis, even aiming for a title fight. Adonis manages to get him a title shot with one of his champions. Dame beats the champion but in a disrespectful way with cheap shots and being full on vicious without remorse. This upsets Adonis and eventually comes to the conclusion that he needs to come out of retirement and beat Dame in the ring himself.

Now the plot is very much the same guidelines as Rocky movie, follows almost the same formula which isn't a bad thing but shows that the Creed franchise hasn't quite become its own identity yet. It is still arising from the shadows of the Rocky franchise at a slow pace which is fine, if they make another movie in the Creed franchise then they would have to make a big push to stand on its own but as of now it's fine. I will say, Michael B Jordan did give this movie his own personal touch. Jordan himself is an anime fan which is cool because I noticed a lot of anime references such as Naruto and DBZ which is awesome.

I also want to note as a boxing fan, a lot of things that happen in the Rocky and Creed movies boxing scenes would not happen in a real professional boxing match. I do understand that a lot of the fights are greatly exaggerated for the sake of drama in these movies so this is more of a nitpick from a boxing fan.


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The cast did a great job with their performances as the characters in Creed 3. Michael B Jordan did a phenomenal job as Adonis Creed once again fleshing out the raw emotions of the character just as he did in the first two films. I feel this his best performance in the Creed franchise since we saw the character mature and showing his strong emotions when dealing with his past along with guilt, shame and his love for his family. I'll admit there was some over the top overacting at times but it was very little so it's forgivable. Tessa Thompson, while I may not like her presence outside of her acting career, she did a good job as Bianca. Her character does a great job of being the support system for Adonis helping him cope with his issues. Mila Davis-Kent did a phenomenal job as Adonis's daughter, Amara. I do like the inclusion of sign language in this film, I think it's cool when we can include different languages like Spanish or sign language in a film or show. Jonathan Majors is on a real good villain streaks lately with the third Antman movie and third Creed movie, guess the number three is his lucky number. His role as Dame is pretty good though I do wish they just made Dame an unapologetic villain, not on the level of Jack Horner per say, but just let him be evil without giving him a redemption ending or sad backstory. They set him up as being someone who will do anything to get what he wants, literally sabotaging others plans to further his own goals. But in the end its kind of tainted by him being a sad sack, jut let him be evil man. Lastly, I wanna give a shoutout to Phylicia Rashad for her role as Mary Anne. Without her, Adonis wouldn't have that strong foundation of love and trust that helps him let others in and it is especially sad when her character passed in this film since she was a major character in the Creed franchise. It reminded me of Mickeys death in Rocky 3, he was a major character in Rockys life and in the first three films and to lose him was a real gut punch for us all. I felt that it should have been Mary Annes voice that motivated Adonis to beat Dame in the end rather than Bianca but it's fine I guess.


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Overall, I felt that Michael B Jordan did an excellent job directing this film and continuing the story of Adonis Creed. I don't think the franchise is quite able to stand on its own two feet just yet, but I will say that it is slowly coming out of Rockys shadow and if they do one more Creed film, they gotta make a big push to establish the franchise as its own. I had fun watching this film and while I may have some nitpicks here and there, I felt this was well done.


Rating this film I'd give it:


8/10


I recommend giving this film a watch along with the other Creed movies as well as the Rocky movies (the 5th and 6th movies are optional honestly). I look forward to Michael B Jordans hand in directing in the future as well as Jonathan Majors acting in his next projects. That's all I have to say, for now I bid y'all a doo.


See ya!


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