DB Reviews- Mary Poppins Returns

Poster from DVD Release Date

Good day, everyone! It's me, DB, back for another PLEASANT review! This time, I give you my review of Mary Poppins Returns. WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS! This film was released in December of 2018! 

In this film, Mary Poppins, played this time by Emily Blount, returns to help the Banks family get out of debt, i.e. pay off a mortgage, in her own magicial way. Not only that, she also helps them find happiness after Michael Banks loses his wife by teaching them that although she's gone, she is never forgotten! This film is packed was fun songs that can be Disney hits. 

I thought that Blount must've seen the original Mary Poppins a lot, because she sounded like the original version of the character, played by Julie Andrews. Perhaps that's what she needed to do in order to learn about the character prior to filming. Is that a good thing to do? In her case, it is in my opinion, but you can decide that too if you've seen the film! 

Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, played Jack the lamplighter. He was the Bert in this film, from his accent all the way down to his shoes! I thought he brought a little of his Hamilton rap when he sang in a few of the songs. That accent fits him in this role! 

Ben Whishaw plays the adult Michael Banks in this film. The young Banks in the original film was played by Matthew Garber. His character was nervous and worried through most of the film, a natural reaction by a person who has to pay a mortgage before the bank forecloses on that person's house (which is a bad thing, btw). Although he wasn't my favorite actor, I can definitely see the expression he showed when on screen. 

The kids were played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson. I thought they were good in this film. I know it can be tough directing kids their age in a movie, but I think they did a good job performing these characters despite that. 

The thing that put this movie over the top for me was the songs! These songs were fantastic! I could hear Radio Disney play these songs over and over! My favorite was "Can You Imagine That". I also loved "A Cover Is Not The Book", "Trip A Little Light Fantastic" and "Nowhere To Go But Up". I felt that each song in this film played the same role as the songs in the original film. For example, "The Place Where Lost Things Go" (the Academy Award nominated song) was the slow song in this film, just like "Feed The Birds" was from the original film. Let me tell you I will definitely be buying this soundtrack, or at least a few songs from it! 

I like what they did with the Royal Doulton Bowl scene. That scene was definitely a nice tribute to the original film. The animation was solid and clear. Plus, it had a little action too! You can also tell how different the animation style is today from how it was when the original Mary Poppins first came out. 

So overall, this film isn't as "practically perfect in every way" in comparison to the original film, but it definitely is A MUST ADD TO YOUR DISNEY LIBRARY! I will definitely add it to mine! Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out my new Youtube channel. Just search DB Reviews in the search bar! Part of the DB Network! 

Oh, by the way, Angela Landsbury made a cameo at the end of the film. So did Bert himself, aka Dick Van Dyke, but he played a different role in this film. Plus, good news for those of you that loved Admiral Boom! This character is in this film too, played by David Warner. Although I think he got his "timing" mixed up! 

DB Reviews- Ralph Breaks The Internet

Image from IMP Awards

Hello, reader! It's me, DB and I'm back to give you another AWESOME review! This time, I review Disney's newest hit film Ralph Breaks The Internet! WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, PLEASE GO SEE THIS MOVIE FIRST BEFORE YOU READ! 

In this movie, BFF's Ralph and Vanellope must journey to The Internet to find a replacement steering wheel for the Sugar Rush game. There, they meet some new friends, interact with some characters from other Disney properities (including all the Princesses) and Vanellope finds a new game  called Slaughter Race, a racing adventure game that she becomes a part of at the end of the film. 

The story was definitely well written and easy to follow. I like that in movies. I think that if a writer wrote a script for a movie, that person should make the script easy to for the movie goer to understand what's going on in the film. I think that Josie Trinidad, the head writer for this film and her team did a great job at doing just that! 

John C. Reilly returned as Ralph, the "bad guy" that wasn't so bad in the original movie, Wreck-It Ralph. I think he does a good job in this role and I do hope Disney brings him back for a 3rd film if they make one. I like him in Chicago and I think his protraying Ralph is just as good. 

Sarah Silverman returns as Vanellope, the kid racer and "princess" from Sugar Rush who is Ralphs's BFF! I think she does a good job as this character, but her singing voice does need some work! Although, I won't be surprised if kids called Radio Disney to request the DJ to play her song " A Place Called Slaughter Race", which she did with Shank from said game. 

Speaking of Shank, Gal Gadot, aka Wonder Woman, provided her voice for this character. She did a good job! This was a different role for her, having previously played an Amazonian Princess! 

Bill Hader played J.P. Spamley and Alfred Molina, aka Doctor Octopus from the original Spider-Man trilogy, played Double Dan and his little brother. Both were good at their respective roles. Hader was uncredited and I think he should've received a credit! 

I thought the game Slaughter Race looked like a Disney version of Mad Max with a little Grand Theft Auto. The goal of the game is to steal Shank's car, which is a pretty valuable item in the video game world! If Disney teamed up with a video game developer, like Activison or Insomiac, to create an actual Slaughter Race video game, I would buy it! I think Disney should do the same with Sugar Rush. That would definitely challenge Mario Kart! (I like Mario Kart a lot and I'll probably like Sugar Rush at lot too!) I think Slaughter Race should get a T for Teen rating, while Sugar Rush gets an E for Everyone. Hey, I wouldn't even mind playing Fix-It Felix, Jr if they made that one! That could get an E too! 

I also thought that the Disney Princesses teaming up to save Ralph was a nice touch! All of them working together and using their abilities together was a very memorable scene and a good one too! All of the original voice actors/actresses (except for Snow White, for which I think her original actress passed away) reprised their roles in the film! Plus, Jacques and Gus Gus made a cameo, along with a whole ton of other Disney characters, like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy and Eeyore from Pooh! Even Grumpy of the Seven Dwarfs and Nick Wilde from Zootopia made appearances. 

The Stormtroopers and C-3PO from Star Wars also were in the film, with Anthony Daniels reprising his role as 3PO! I think that all the different characters from different Disney franchises added to the fun. 

Oh yeah, did I mention Sonic The Hedgehog? Yep, he's in this one too, with his voice actor, Roger Craig Smith, reprising the role. I guess Sonic must have a good agent cause he's done a gaming series with Mario and has a role with Wreck-It Ralph! 

Overall, the film was PURE DISNEY FUN! I give it 4 STARS! If they do a 3rd film (which they probably will in the future), I think they should take a look at console games, like ones for the PS4 or Switch. Then they could feature Mario (and his bro Luigi or Yoshi. Can't forget about them!). Thanks for reading! 

Felix and Calhoun were in this film too (with their voice actors, Jane Lynch of Glee fame and Jack McBriar, reprising the roles) but they mostly had their roles reduced a bit. This was more of a Ralph and Vanellope movie. 

DB Reviews- The Mule

Poster from IMDB

Hello everyone! Welcome to my review of The Mule, the newest film from director (and star of said film) Clint Eastwood! WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW! If you don't want to be spoiled, then please go see the film before you continue reading! 

This film is inspired by true events. In the film, Eastwood (of Dirty Harry and Unforgettable fame) plays a Korean War vet and horticulturist named Earl Stone. He's estranged from his family and desperate for money. So, he becomes a "mule" (a person that transports drugs from one location to another) for a cartel from Mexico. Hot on his heels is Colin Bates (played by Bradley Cooper), a DEA agent set out to bust the cartel for drug dealing! 

Clint Eastwood is a legend in Hollywood! Even though his character got mixed up with some bad people, I like him. I thought Eastwood did a great job handling the emotional scenes in the film, like the one where his character's wife dies from cancer. Also, I like his insult comebacks! Those were clever! Plus, his advice to Cooper's character was good and should be used in the real world! Will he get an Oscar nomination for Best Actor? We will have to see! He uses the money he gets in a Robin Hood way, by giving it to the people and places that need it most. In a way, he touched other people's lives, like George Bailey from "It's A Wonderful Life". 

Bradley Cooper plays Colin Bates, a DEA agent that was based off the real DEA agent in the true events that inspired this movie. I think he did an OK job in the role. I felt that the scene where he and Eastwood's character had the chat where Eastwood's character offered him advice was a good scene that helped us learn more about his character. We need more scenes like that in movies. 

I like Eastwood as a director too! He did a good job directing Sully. I think his work on Sully was better then this film, but he does know his stuff! 

The story was OK. I don't know much about what actually happened, so I can't say if the writing was on point or not. The film was a bit slow and I do think Eastwood needed to add some sort of scene where his character shoots the bad guys. He is known for doing that in his westerns. 

So, overall, I'd give this film 3 AND 1/2 STARS! I also like the song choices in the film, especially "I've Been Everywhere, Man!" from Johnny Cash! I think that song definitely suits Eastwood's character well, since he's been almost everywhere around the USA! Thanks for reading! 

If you want to use any of what I say in this review for any trailers or TV ads for this movie, you may do so! By the way, Laurence Fishburn was in this movie too as the lead DEA agent in charge! 

DB Reviews- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Poster from IMDB

Hello, my fellow wizards! It's me, DB and after a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGG time, I'm back with another movie review! This time, I review the newest Wizarding World flick Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald! WARNING! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! SO, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, THEN PLEASE SEE THIS MOVIE BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW!

In the movie, Newt and his friends must deal with Gellert Grindelwald, who has escaped custody to offer "freedom" to the Wizarding World! Newt also tries to rekindle his relationship with Tina, while Tina looks for a boy named Credence, who is essantial to Grindelwald's plans!

Eddie Redmayne returns as Newt. I think he was a good choice for the role. He portrayed the characters actions and emotions very well. We could easily tell what he was doing in each scene thanks to his acting.

Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of rocker Lenny Kravitz, reprises her role as Leta Lastrange. She was a cameo in the previous film, but she got much more screen time this time around. She's the Bellatrix to Grindelwald! As far as the acting, I think Ms. Kravitz could use a bit more work.

Jude Law protrays Albus Dumbledore, a younger version of the headmaster we're accustomed too in the Potter films. I thought he was OK in this role, but he wasn't quite as good as Michael Gambon was in the Potter films.

Johnny Depp protrayed Gellert Grindelwald in this film. I am definitly a Depp fan! To me, he's one of those not so many actors that can really adapt to his role in any movie! This role was definitely a darker one for him compared to his Capt. Jack Sparrow role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I thought he made a great villain in this film! Could he get a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar? Possibly! Grindelwald was previously mentioned in the Potter series, but I think Depp did a great job in bringing this villain to the silver screen!

I liked the story, but what I really liked was all the nods to the Potter franchise! Nicolas Flemel, the creator of The Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone, made an appearance (played by Brontis Jodorowsky), as well as the stone itself! I thought the set where Grindelwald and his followers met also appeared in one of the Potter films. Also, we made a return trip to Hogwarts, a place we haven't seen since Deathly Hollows Part 2! The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom made a return, albeit with Dumbledore teaching (since this movie took place prior to the events of the Potter films). I think the Potions classroom returned too, along with The Great Hall!

The special effects were FANTASTIC, definitely up to par with the Potter films and the 1st film in this franchise!

Like I said, I liked the story. It expanded the Wizarding World to Paris, France (which got an earlier release date for the movie, November 8th). J.K. Rowling, you are a fantastic storyteller!

Overall, I give this film 5 OUT OF 5 WANDS! I will definitely be buying it when it comes to digital or Blu-Ray, whichever I choose! Thanks for reading!

DB Reviews- The Incredibles 2!

Image copyrighted by Disney Movies

Hello everybody! It's me, DB! I know, it's been a LONGGGGGGGG time since I uploaded a movie review, but I'M BACK BABY! This time, I give you my review of the long awaited sequel to the The Incredibles, Incredibles 2! WARNING: SPOILERS ARE IN THIS POST! So, if you don't want to be spoiled, please stop reading and go see this film! Then, you can come back and read on!

The Incredibles 2 picks up where the Incredibles left off...about 14 years ago! After stopped The Underminer (I know, great villain name, right?), The Incredibles STILL have to lead a normal life without using their powers! They do just that until Elastigirl, Mr. Incredible and Frozone are invited to a secret meeting with the head of a communications company and his sister. They are invited to perform a publicity stunt to help gain trust and support in Supers. Elastigirl is chozen to carry out super hero like missions while Mr. Incredible is babysitting the kids.

Elasigirl saves the day on many occasions, including saving a train that went crazy on the track from crashing! She also had to find out who was behind all the events she was saving people from! That who is a new Disney Supervillain called the Screenslayer!

While she's out saving the day, Mr. Incredible has a pretty hard time with the kids. He tries helping Dash with math, tries to fix things up with Violet (after an incident where she reveals her identity to a boy she was supposed to go to a movie with) and finds out that Jack-Jack has powers! So, he asks Edna Mode (who was disgusted that Elasigirl's suit was made by a competitor) to take care of Jack-Jack. Eventually, he (plus the kids and Frozone) joined Elastigirl on a ship where Supers were to gain legal status! They find and stop the Screenslayer!

First off, I liked this movie a lot! It definitely had the action that the 1st one had! I'm glad Elastigirl got her chance to shine in the spotlight in this one! Perhaps for the 3rd, the story writers will give the kids their chance!

I'm glad the folks at Disney brought back the original voice cast. I thought they were good choices for each character. I know a lot of you will know who voices Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) because you know him from the hit TV series Coach! Holly Hunter, the voice of Elastigirl? She actually had a role in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice! Plus, Samuel L. Jackson, aka Nick Fury, returns!

I think the Screenslayer was a WAYYYY better villain then Syndrome! He (or should I say She) had the fake voice down and this villain also used something that's very common in today's society, the screens on our TV's and smartphones, to take over peoples minds! That, to me, is perfect crazy supervillain stuff right there! She looked like a darker female version of Iron Man. Speaking of which, I think Screenslayer could've given The Avengers a run for their money! I compared her to Iron Man because she was a genius with tech, just like him!

This film also introduced a group of new Supers, including Voyd, who's powers reminds me of that weapon from the Portal series of video games. Perhaps Disney could do some spinoffs with these new heroes!

The story was good. It was easy to understand what was going on during each scene. All the voices were clearly heard with each character. I liked the writing and I thought the music was good too.

So overall, I thought this movie was one to go see! Was it better than the original, no but it made it to par with the original! My review: This movie was INCREDIBLE! I'm definitely getting it when it hits the stores on Blu-Ray with digital copy! Plus, I think Disney should do an Incredibles crossover with The Avengers! Now that would be fun! Thanks for reading!

Plus, if you work for a newspaper and you want to print this, you have my permission! Also, I liked the scene where Frozone's wife didn't hide his costume!

Also, Edna Mode resembles Hetty from NCIS: Los Angeles, doesn't she? 

DB Reviews- Ready Player One

Image from Ain't It Cool News. 

Hello! It's me, DB and I'm back to bring you my review of Ready Player One, the newest Steven Spielberg movie that's in theaters as of this post! WARNING: SPOILERS ARE HERE! 

This film's plot is centered in 2045, where people from around the globe are leaving reality and heading into the OASIS, a multi-player world where people can escape and be whoever they want! There, 3 challenges have been made by one of the creators of OAISIS (who has passed on). The first was a race, the 2nd was to play through the movie The Shining (even with the blood gush and the twins) and the 3rd was to play Adventure on the Atari 2600. 

One kid, Wade Watts (aka Parzival in the game), had to play all those challenges and get the secret gold easter egg before the company Innovative Online Industries (aka IOI, though it looked like 101 in the film). He forms the High Five clan with a few other players, all of which he meets both online and in the real world and he falls in love with them. 

I liked the story because it was simple. Hero goes on a grand adventure, falls in love and defeats the bad guys. Simple and easy to follow was this story! BTW, this movie was based off a story itself (a book). 

Tye Sheridan (from The Tree Of Life) played Wade. I thought he did a good job as the hero of this massive online world! His character seemed to have a lot of pop culture knowledge and I thought he brought that knowledge to the big screen well! 

Olivia Cooke played Samatha Cook, aka Art3mus. I could see her doing more love interest roles like the one she did in this movie. She did a good job in this role. 

Simon Pegg (of Mission: Impossible fame) played Ogden Morrow, aka The Curator. His role as Curator certainly fooled me, because he used a different voice. 

The special effects were off the chart! My favorite challenge was the race, the 1st challenge. That race had all sorts of special effects going on! I think that could be made into a for real 3D ride at any theme park, even Universal! The only problem I had with it was (and this is me personally) there was no Mario character to use a Mario Kart in the race! There wasn't even a Mario character at all in the movie, just the mention of MarioKart! 

Speaking of famous video game character, there were a lot of them and a lot of pop culture characters in this movie too! Also, it wasn't just the characters that were used. It was cars, spaceships, anything used to travel in any series that became a pop culture hit. I know Steven Spielberg must have friends in high places because he needed the rights to probably most of these characters to use them. Batman, The Iron Giant, Mobile Suit Gundam and even Marvin The Martian had cameos as playable avatars in this film! 

Plus, there was a good amount of nostalga in this film! When someone ordered pizza at the beginning, the pizza came in a metal box containing the old school Pizza Hut logo! Now that was cool! Also, the Atari 2600 video game system was featured in this film! The only way to see those nowadays is to buy one at a yard sale or have someone show you theirs! 

The game Adventure, the 3rd challenge, featured a secret that players had to find in order to complete the challenge. That secret is a REAL secret, or was a real secret when the game first came out for the Atari 2600. I studied that online. Not only was it a real egg, it was the 1st easter egg ever in a video game! (Thanks, mom). 

Mr. Spielberg did a good job directing this film. I would put this film up on the top tier of his all time greats, like JAWS or Jurassic Park. He good the pop culture down to a science! 

Overall, this was a well made movie! The action was fantastic and the special effects put this movie over the top in a good way! My review: This movie is BETTER THAN "JAWS"! Nice work, Mr. Spielberg! Now that's saying something! 

Thanks for reading! BTW, the Delorean from Back to the Future and the Batmobile from the 1966 Batman series (that starred Adam West and Burt Ward) were both in this movie! 

DB Reviews- The Greatest Showman

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Ladies and gentlemen, kids of all ages, welcome to my latest review! It's me, DB and I'm happy to bring you my review of The Greatest Showman, starring Marvel Cinamatic Universe legend Huge Jackman! WARNING: SPOILERS! If you haven't seen this film yet and you don't want to be spoiled, then please go see the film before you continue reading this post! 

The movie is a story of how Phineas Barnum (aka P.T. Barnum) went from rags to riches. He was mistreated as a boy, but fell in love and ultimate became The Greatest Showman on Earth!

Huge Jackman was fantastic as P. T. himself! This isn't his first Hollywood movie musical gig (that honor belongs to Les Miserables), but he definitely nailed it in this one! I thought his singing voice was pretty good too! Grammy nom? Idk, but we'll see! He traded in his adamantium claws for a singing voice!

Zac Efron was good in this film too, playing Barnum's partner Carlyle, a composite character who is based off of Barnum's real life partner, Bailey (hence the name of the circus). I'm happy to see Efron back in a musical. I think Efron is better in musicals then in adult comedies. The musical film is Efron's genre, I think. Did he do better in this musical then he did in Disney's High School Musical? Not much. I think he was a little better in HSM, but this role was really close!

Efron isn't the only Disney graduate to appear in this film! Zendaya, of Shake it Up fame, was in this too! I like her voice. Her acting was good, but her voice is one that teen girls and boys will eat up, if they haven't already! I think Efron and Zendaya's duet "Rewrite The Stars" will be played on every teen radio station for years to come. I think it will definitely be heard on Radio Disney too! I like that song! I thought it was well done! It was different to see Efron singing a duet with someone other then his HSM sweetheart!

Speaking of songs, the music was phenomenal! I liked "Rewrite The Stars" and "This is Me". This version of "This Is Me" is a different, more serious song! I say that because "This Is Me" was a song title that was used in the Camp Rock series. But this version was far different! I hope the song wins at the Oscars!

The actors who portrayed the circus acts (along with Zendaya) were good. The bearded woman had a great voice!

I also liked Loren Allred's (who played the singing voice for Jenny Lynn, played by Rebecca Ferguson) "Never Enough" was good!

The sets were great, the costumes were great and even Paul Sparks, who played the guy from the Herald (the New York one, not the Boston one) was a great criticizer in the film!

Overall, I give this film a 5 STAR PERFORMANCE! I think, wait, I know you all should go see this film! You will love it!

Thanks for reading!