DB Reviews- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Image from ComingSoon.

Hello, all my fellow Marvel heroes and heroines! It's me, DB and I'm back to bring you my review of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 This review does contain spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled while reading this, please stop reading it and go see the movie first. Then, you can come back to read this to know what my take on the movie is.

First off, the Guardians are back in an all new adventure! After stealing some very important "batteries" from an alien race, the Guardians are saved by Peter Quill's father (played by Kurt Russell). There, Peter learns of his heritage...and he learned that his father killed his mother! Yeah, he didn't like that too much! That lead to a HUGE battle between the alien race who wanted their batteries back, the Guardians (along with a few others, including Peter's other father) and Peter's biological father.

To me, this movie didn't get off on the right foot. I think the jokes were bad here, even worse than mine! That was the big turnoff for me. THEY NEED BETTER JOKES!

Chris Pratt reprised his role as Peter Quill (aks Starlord). I think he's ok in the role, although this role is still not my favorite Marvel MCU character. I think he needs to "buff up" his game a little for this character.

Dave Bautista (who we WWE fans know as Bastista) returned as Drax. This character is a destroyer, but he needs more things to destroy! In this role, Bastista needs to unleash his Animal form like he did in the WWE! However, it seems like he's accepted his role as part of this team, or this family as he called it.

Zoe Saldana reprises her role as Gamora. I think Mrs. Saldana is still a good pick for this role. She's fierce when she needs to be and Zoe does a good job showcasing that fierceness in the character.

Bradley Cooper has returned as Rocket Raccon, the hero who stole the batteries in the first place. This raccoon definitely knows his stuff when it comes to weapons and he certainly shows it in this film! I liked the scene where Rocket made the enemies bounce up and down with a gravity defying weapon! Also, the darts in the trees was very clever! The stealing of the batteries, however, was not so much.

Kurt Russell played Ego, Peter's biological father and the main villain in this film. I don't see Mr. Russell as a villain type. He's more of a hero, like he was in Sky High and Escape From New York. That's why I don't think this role fits him very well.

My favorite character in the movie was Baby Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel (who voiced the older, original Groot in the first film). He was cute and he'll trip you up good if you get him mad! Diesel had his voice made to sound like one of the Chipmunks for this role.

Michael Rooker played Yondu, the person that took Peter away from Earth, but raised him like a son. I though he was OK. This movie was a role turn for mr. Rooker's character, turning from a bad pirate to a great father role saving his son from a planet exploding. I thought Mr. Rooker did OK in this role.

I'm a fan of Oldies music, and this movie had plenty of it! The best song that was chosen was Brandy (Such a Fine Girl) in my opinion. So if you're a fan of 70s music, then you may like this movie's soundtrack!

Overall, I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. At the end, the credits said The Guardians of the Galaxy will be back and they're right. Marvel is planning on making a 3rd film in this franchise. Will the Guardians meet up with the Avengers? Perhaps in Avengers: Infinity Wars. Thanks for reading!

DB Reviews- Assassin's Creed

Image from ComingSoon.net

A FILM TO WATCH! 

Hello everyone! It's me, DB and I welcome you to my review of Assassin's Creed, the hit film based off the video game series! This film stars Michael Fassbender of X-Men fame as Cal Lynch/Agular, the films main characters. This review does contain spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled yet, please stop reading and go see this movie. It's on iTunes now! Then you can go back to reading this review.

The film's story takes flight in two places, the Abstergo Foundation building (home of the Templars, the Assassin's rivals) and in 1492 Spain, during the Granada Wars. In this film, Fassbender plays two people, both connected by ancestry. He plays Cal Lynch, a convicted suspected murderer who is saved by the Foundation, who forces him to relive the action and adventure moments of his ancester, Agular, also played by Fassbender. Agular was once an Assassin, a part of a secret organization of skilled martial artists  that protected a young prince. They ran their organization by mottos, with the biggest one being "we work in the dark to serve the light". Kinda sounds like Batman, doesn't it?

Later, Cal finds out that the Foundation was part of the Templars, who were searching for a mystical item called the Apple of Eve. According to the movie, the Apple was to contain the code of free will. The Templars wished to use this to eliminate the Assassins once and for all. But, based on his experiences as Agular, Cal learned that he was also a member of the Creed (the Assassins) and, along with his fellow inmates (who were also Assassins members and relative to past Assassins themselves), managed to stop the Templars!

Fassbender plays a double role in this movie. He plays Cal, the suspected murderer who relives the past as Agular (through an item called the Animus, which was a chair in the original games, but a mechanical arm in the movie) who then relied on his Assassins blood to save the day! I thought he was good. A little crazy at times, but still good. I think fans of the video games might like Fassbender as Agular! I won't be surprised if he gets asked to use his voice for the character in future games.

Jeremy Irons was the main Templar villain in this film. His character in this movie was definitely dark, even more darker then his role as Scar in the Lion King. I think the role of the villain definitely suits Mr. Irons well in movies. It definitely suited him in this one! Could we see a future villain in a future Assassin's Creed game? Only fans can decide that!

Marion Cotillard played Sofia. I thought her role was ok. I think that she should not return in a future game.

Brandon Gleeson was in this film, too! He didn't get much screen time. He played Cal's father, a man who needed to kill his wife per the cause of the Creed. You might remember Mr. Gleeson as Alister "Mad Eye" Moody from the Harry Potter series.

I thought the action scenes were great! The stunts were performed very well! I even liked the "Leap of Faith" jump, which was a 125 foot freefall, one of the highest performed by a stunt person in at most 35 years!

The only negative of this film was that a few scenes, to me at least, made the film a little bit of a psychological thriller. I'm not into those kinds of movies because of their style (which is horror), something I don't like at all!

But, overall, I give this film 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, or blades! This is why I called it A FILM TO WATCH! Thanks for reading!

By the way, this film does make references to the original games. Like I mentioned before, it has the Animus, which is originally a chair used in the games. They also added a bunch of weapons that were used in the video game series, like the pistol's from Black Flag and the Bow from Assassin's Creed III.

Does this movie make me want to play the games? Probably not, since I'm not into games that are usually rated M for mature. The same thing goes for Mortal Kombat, though I liked the live-action movie based off that game too!

DB Reviews- Beauty and the Beast 2017

Image from Trailer Addict

BEST FILM I'VE SEEN IN YEARS! 

Disney's classic tale as old as time gets a live action remake! It's me, DB and I welcome you to my review of Disney's Beauty and the Beast! Set in a small village outside of Paris, this movie tells the tale of how a prince turned into a beast, how he had to earn the love of a beautiful girl who loves books and how a curse was broken. This beast had to learn to love this girl and earn her love in return before the last petal of an enchanted rose fell. 

I loved the animated version when I was a kid and the live action version, to me, was just as AWESOME! The effects were really great, the story was on point with a few new things added to the mix, the actors were good and even the music was good too! 

Emma Watson did a good job portraying Belle, the beautiful Disney Princess that loves books. I think Mrs. Watson does very well in movies that involve enchanted things (remember her role as Hermoine in Harry Potter?). Her singing voice wasn't that great, but her acting was! 

Dan Stevens did a good job too as the Beast! The Beast needed to have emotions throughout the film and I thought Mr. Stevens did a good job portraying those emotions as the movie progressed. The Beast, at first, was a frightening thing, but as the movie played through, he was supposed to start feeling love and happiness and I thought Mr. Stevens did a good job acting all those emotions out on screen. I even like his song "Evermore", one of the new songs featured in the film. 

Luke Evans was Gaston in this film. He did a good job because he brought a darker version of the Disney Villain to the live action scene, something that some of you might think was needed for this character. I liked that too, though I have to say my favorite dark Disney villain is Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. 

Josh Gad, of Frozen fame, played LaFou. LaFou is Gaston's sidekick. I've heard the news about Gad's character being being gay in this film.  I don't mind it at all! I can see it all through out the film when Gad was on screen. His singing voice is ok, given the fact that he already has a few Disney songs under his belt in Frozen. 

Kevin Kline was even in this! He played Maurice, Belles eccentric father. I liked it. I learned that he's known for his eccentric roles, so this fits him perfectly! 

Ewan McGregor did a good Lumiere, the living candelabra. He had a higher pitched French accent, which was different then his animated counterpart. I liked that. His version of "Be Our Guest" was more spoken then sung. I didn't like that as much, but the special effects during the song was amazing! 

Sir Ian McKellen was the voice of Cogsworth, the clock. His performance of this character was definitely different then the animated counterpart. He gave him a deeper voice in the live action remake. I thought it was good. 

Emma Thompson protrayed Mrs. Potts. I thought she was the best of all. Her voice sounded great for the character. Not quite Angela Lansbury (who boycotted the film because she thought it was not a good idea), but still great! 

I definitely liked that Disney added some new things to this film that were not in the original film. They gave us a new character (Maestro, played by Stanley Tucci), a few new songs and more story that we didn't see in the original. I think that some of those new parts were definitely needed! 

For example, I think that the story of what happened to Belles mother was needed! However, this involved a very dark and very real part of France's history. This took place during the period of time that the film was based in. This is called the Black Plague (or Black Death, according to Wikipedia), which took place during the 1330s. Belle's mom, unfortunately, caught the deadly disease and passed away.   

For the music, I would say the best new song is "Days in the Sun", which replaced "Human Again" in this film. The best song performed from the original film that was featured in the remake was "The Mob Song". I thought Mr. Evans had the good chops for this song! I would nominate "Days in the Sun" and "Evermore" for best original song adapted for visual media! "Gaston" was not too bad. Thompson's version of the title song wasn't bad either, though I still like Lansbury's version better. 

The story was brilliant! Is was definitely on par with the animated version! The costumes were good as well as the sets! 

Overall, and I repeat, BEST FILM I'VE SEEN IN YEARS! I can't wait till it comes out on Blu-Ray and Digital! I definitely recommend that you bring your family to see it! You could even see it twice, three times, or a million times! 

Should this film get a nomination for Best Picture? I say, a million time, YES! Best Actress for Emma Watson? I would say OK! 

Thanks for reading! 

UPDATE: This film was NOT the first to feature both Watson and Thompson. They co-starred together as Professor Trelawney and Hermoine Granger in the Harry Potter films. 

DB Reviews- Captain America: Civil War

Image from JoBlo.com

Hello everyone! It's me, DB, and after many months, I'm finally able to bring you my review of Captain America: Civil War! WARNING: This review does contain spoilers! So, if you don't want to be spoiled yet, stop reading this and go see the movie. Then you can come back to read this. 

I gotta say, I LOVED THIS FILM! The story was great! I know Marvel did not intend to use any parts of the original Civil War comic book story line, but I noticed references to it during the film. For example, the Slovakia Accords are the MCU (that's Marvel Ciinematic Universe) version of the Superhero Registration Act. Also, the Scarlet Witch destroying a building is reference to the school exploding at the beginning of the Civil War story in the comics. I thought that the writers of this film did a great job taking the Civil War comic story and making it their own in the film.  

The acting was good too. Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr reprised their roles as Captain America and Iron Man. I felt that they were good choices when they were chosen to play the roles in their hero's respective franchises. In fact, everyone in this film did a good job! Almost everyone that had roles already in the MCU came back to play them again in this film! Plus, I can't wait to see Tom Holland's Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming later this year! 

The action was great! With a Marvel movie, you have to have fantastic action/special effects scenes and lots of them! This movie did not disappoint in either! It had tons of action! 

I know this review was short, but I didn't have much time to make it. 

Overall, I give this film 5 out of 5 stars! The story was great, the action was fantastic and the actors did well. 

On a side note, I do like how Marvel intertwines their movies with their TV series. What I mean is, Marvel adds elements of their latest movie into episodes of their hit TV shows, like Agents of SHIELD, which I'm a HUGE fan of! I even met Elizabeth Henstrige and Brett Daulton once! I like that! 

Anyway, thanks for reading! 

DB Reviews- Hidden Figures

Image from winnipegmovies

Hello there! It's me, DB and I'm back to bring you another review! This time, I give you my review of Hidden Figures, the movie that stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae as three colored women who changed NASA for the better! This review does contain spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading and go see the film. Then, you can read on to see what I have to say about the film.

This film got a nod for Best Picture at this year's Oscars. I can definitely see why! The film is about 3 women who work for NASA as mathematicians working to get an American into space before the Russians in 1961. This film revolves around the lives of those women.

First off, I liked the story a lot, especially since it was based off a book that in turn was based off actual people and events. The story was long, as was the movie, but it was good. You could understand what was happening during each scene thanks to the story. I thought it was well written!

Secondly, I thought Taraji P. Henson did an AWESOME job portraying Kathrine Johnson, a woman who helped calculate the launch and landing trajectories for the mission that was flown by late astronaut John Glenn. She was powerful! Her portrayal of Mrs. Johnson was excellent! She was loud when she needed to be. Her emotions were on cue and perfect! Also, I thought she worked well with her fellow coworkers in the film, especially Spencer and Monae and even Kevin Costner. She also believes in the Lord!

Speaking of Spencer, I thought she was good in this film. She has a calm voice, so she didn't raise it too much in this movie. Her emotions were on time too, which means she could portray those emotions well during a certain scene. I thought she did well handling the IBM machine too!

Monae was good as the 3rd Hidden Figure. She spoke with a southern accent, which I thought fit her role well, especially since her character is in Virginia.

Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst also made appearances in the film. I felt that Costner did ok in this. Is this my favorite Costner film? No, Field of Dreams is. But, Costner did pretty good in this one. He was tough, but fair. Dunst didn't have much screen time as the others did, but she did good. Still, I liked her better as MJ from the Spidey movies.

Jim Parsons was in this too, but he didn't get much screen time. He definitely sounded and acted like Sheldon, his character from the Big Bang Theory, in this film.

I also liked the nostalgia in this film. This film was set in 1961, so the set designers had to make sets relevant to that time period. There were a lot of classic style cars in this film, which was needed.

The film also revolves around segregation, which was a HUGE thing back in the 60s. This film was set 2 years before Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr's epic "I Have A Dream" speech. Back then, they had different bathrooms, different restaurant entrances, even different schools for both white and African American people. They portrayed that here in this movie because these 3 women lived during that time. These 3 women changed the course of NASA in that period!

My favorite scene from the film was when Costner's character broke down a Colored bathroom entrance sign, thus allowing the women of both races to enter that bathroom at the same time whenever they needed to or want to.

Overall, I'm glad the Academy chose this film as a nomination for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress. 4 STARS! The story was long, but I felt that this story needed to be told. The acting was good, the sets were good. Everything was good about this film!

Before I close this post, I wanted to talk about segregation. Like I said, this was a big thing in the 60s. This was a tough time in America. This was the time where colored people and white people treated each other differently, rather then equals. You could easily see that in this movie, especially during the scene where Spencer's character and her kids sat in the bus. She and her kids sat at the back of the bus since this movie took place before Rosa Parks, who sat at the front of the bus and gain big attention doing so. During this time, important people, like Mrs. Parks, took a stand! In his Dream speech in 1963, Dr. King reminded the people that when our country was discovered and created, it was created with equality in mind. He reminded us that we are supposed to treat each other equally, no matter what the color of our skin was. During his speech, he said, and I quote, "I have a dream that my four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the conflict of their character. I have a dream today!"

I proudly salute Mrs. Parks, Dr. King and the 3 genius women that this movie was focused on. Where would the USA be without them and the hard work that they did?

DB Reviews- Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions

Image from yugioh-world.com

Hello there! It’s me, DB and today, I bring you my review of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions! WARNING: This post contains spoilers, so if you want to see the film, but you don’t want to be spoiled yet, then please stop reading this post and go see it! Then you can come back to read what I thought of the film.

So, first of all, the story takes place after the Ceremonial Duel between Yugi and the Pharaoh Atem. Seto Kaiba sets his sites on reassembling the Millennium Puzzle. He wants to duel Atem one more time to settle their 3,000 year old score! The puzzle isn’t completed because 2 pieces are missing and Kaiba knows who holds those pieces, Yugi and the new character Aiyami.

So, Kaiba hosts a tournament to retrieve those missing pieces. He invited only Yugi and Aiyami to compete and he introduces his new Dimension Dueling system, which includes a new Duel Disk.

Aiyami has a story too. He, along with his sister Sarah and a bunch of other orphan kids, are rescued by Shadi from a man that did not treat them kindly! Shadi then tells the kids of the Millennium Items, but he was interrupted when Bakura’s father entered the chamber where the items were supposed to be, the same location that was used in the Ceremonial Duel. Bakura’s dad sought out the Millennium Ring, one of the Items that had dark powers in it. Bakura’s father and Shadi were killed, but the kids, including Bakura, were spared, with the ring choosing Bakura as it’s host body.



Fast forward to the future, where Yugi and his friends discussed what they wanted to do after they graduated. This was their senior year at Domino High School. Teia wanted to be a dancer in New York, Joey wants to be a pro duelist and Yugi wants to create his own game while helping his grampa at the shop.

Aiyami has other plans. He wants to destroy the world and recreate it as he sees fit, which sets off one last grand adventure in the original series!



Ok, now that that’s all out of the way, here’s my review. I LOVED THIS FILM! Here’s why:



First off, the animation was on point! It was smooth and colorful! I felt that the animation department should get a BIG thumbs up for their work! I also liked the detail, especially when they did the cards. I liked that when the animators put in the cards, they did them based on the region that the movie was playing in. Since this movie is playing all around the world, the animators decided to draw the cards in the form of how they were used in a region. For example, since I live in the US, they designed the cards in the form of the TCG which English names and texts for effects. I liked that a lot! That’s what they did in the US, but I believe that they did it in different ways around the world. It depends on which country you see this film in. They could’ve made the cards in Korean OCG style in Korea, etc.

Second was the voice acting. You can’t have a Yu-Gi-Oh movie without the original voice actors!

Third was the introduction of the Dimension Duel. I liked that concept more then the Solid Vision in Arc V. I liked it because you could use your imagination a bit. You can determine how strong your monster is as long as it doesn’t exceed it’s original ATK points. For example, if you had a Blue-Eyes White Dragon and your opponent has a weak monster and only 500 LP left, you can then make your Blue-Eyes 500 points stronger then your opponents monster. Also, you don’t need any sacrifices to summon monsters, just like Duelist Kingdom.



I thought the story was a good, basic Yu-Gi-Oh story. I know there’s lots to it when I described it earlier in the post. However, I do recommend that you see the first few episodes of the original series to at least try to understand what is going on in the movie.



If you were able to see the film in theaters, then you should’ve gotten a promo card! This time, it’s Obelisk the Tormentor, the Egyptian God card that Kaiba used in the Battle City arc. I think he also used in the Shadow Realm arc too. Let me say this card is SCARY AWESOME! The image is cool! I think you should keep it in case it’s value goes up!



To me, Aiyami made a good villain, though I thought he wasn’t as good as Marik. Put Aiyami with the Millennium Ring and you got something scary, but not as scary as Marik was with the Millennium Rod! Now that was Joker scary! Aiyami’s deck contained the new Cubic cards. I could see this deck doing well at a major event like a Regional tourney or maybe even WCQ events (that’s World Championship Qualifier). How he used the Seeds to create more powerful Cubic monsters is a good strategy.



Overall, I give this film 5 out of 5 stars! I deem this film to be a good finale to the original series! The story was good, the acting was good, the animation was excellent and the cards printed as if they were printed in different OCG/TCG styles was awesome! GO SEE THIS FILM! Thank’s for reading!



BTW, I thought the Bakura back story was good. It answered some questions that Yu-Gi-Oh fans, like myself, wanted to ask!



If you want to see a video version of this review, please click here: https://youtu.be/mdcliaTulfI

DB Choice Awards

Hello all! It's me, DB! Welcome to my very first annual DB Choice Awards post! In this post, I will be awarding a DB Choice Award to movies, sports, video games and TV shows that I think should get one!

Part 1: Movies. This area will contain the movies and stars that I liked the most throughout the 2016-17 movie year. I'll just name off the winners and you can agree or disagree with me in the comments

Best Picture- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Best Picture- Drama: Sully

Best Actor: Tom Hanks - Sully

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence - Passengers

Best Superhero Film: Captain America: Civil War

Best Superhero Actor: TIE: Chris Evans (Civil War) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange)

Best Superhero Actress: Scarlett Johnson, Civil War

Best Director: Clint Eastwood - Sully

Best Animated Picture- Zootopia

Best Disney Live Action- The Jungle Book

Sports:

Best Play: Brady to Hogan Flee Flicker (vs Steelers Jan 22)

Best Moment: Big Papi's final home game pre game ceremonies (Oct, 2016)

MVP: Tom Brady, Patriots

MVP - Celtics: Avery Bradley

MVP - Red Sox: David Ortiz

MVP - Patriots: Tom Brady

MVP - Bruins: Tuukka Rask

MVP - Other: Aaron Rodgers (QB - Green Bay)

Fantasy Sleeper: Iasiah Crowell (RB- Cleveland)

Video games:

Best game: WWE 2K16

Best character: Mario

Best level/fight: Champion battle vs Stephan (Pokémon ORAS)

Best boss: Stephan

Best Mario Maker level: Mario Ninja Warrior by Dave

TV Shows:

Best show: Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC)

Best actor: Mark Harmon, NCIS and Clark Gregg, SHIELD

Best supporting actor: Michael Weatherly, NCIS

Best actress: Ming Na Wen, SHIELD

Best supporting actress: TIE: Pauley Perrette and Emily Wickersham, NCIS

Best new star: Wilmer Valderrama, NCIS

Best show on CBS: NCIS

Best show on ABC: SHIELD

Best show on Fox: The Simpsons

Best show on NBC: American Ninja Warrior

Best new show: Bull (CBS)

Best animated show: Pokémon XY and Pokémon XYZ

Best Netflix show: Animaniacs

Best kids show: Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V


That's all, folks! Don't forget to post in the comments whether you agree or disagree with my choices. Thanks for reading!