Thursday, December 13, 2012

My new show!

Sorry I didn't get the link up sooner, but here it is, the link to my new YouTube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9f3jU605yq84tJjP75XHQ

Anyways, I know you're probably wondering why I decided to start making videos instead of text reviews.  Well it all started in Spring this year, when a friend of mine, Neligahn, asked me to film a video for his show Sci-fi Showdown with him.  Being a budding actor, I naturally jumped at the opportunity, and as payment I got to go to a Star Trek convention with him.  This naturally led to me checking his show out on Blip for research, and I saw that he recommended a reviewer you might have heard of called The Nostalgia Critic.  Eventually I checked out his videos, and discovered that video reviewers are actually quite numerous on the Internet, as are talented ones.  After an entire summer of watching the That Guy With The Glasses team, I decided "Hey, why can't I do that?"  And the rest is Internet history.  Whether or not I'll be popular like them is for the masses to decide, but in the meantime, I'll keep making videos and posting them.  And rest assured, my blog will not be abandoned.  I'll still post text reviews, just not as often.  However, if I find something I can't get the footage I need for, but still want to review, it'll show up here.  Not sure why you'd want to red my blog with its numberous bad grammer and speling errors, but hey, it's yor choice.  Anyways, this is James Picard signing off!

P.S. the next review, in which I rank the Transformers cartoons, has finished filming, I just need to record the voice-overs and edit the footage.  In addition, it also features a new guest star!  Also, I've started writing the script for another surprise review, which I'll reveal when it comes out.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Elementary Review

Yep, I just finished watching the first episode.  What do I have to say?  Meh.

For those who don't know, Elementary is an American adaptation of Sherlock Holmes set in modern-day New York.  Holmes is a recovering drug-addict, and Watson is a female sober companion meant to ensure Holmes doesn't take up drugs again.  It also comes right off the heels of BBC's popular Sherlock miniseries. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a huge fan of it.  The writing is brilliant, the cast is amazing and the length gives them a good time to set out the mystery.  So naturally, I was going to be biased going into this.  I'll admit, I may not have entirely given it the chance it deserves, but I tried my best to think "Maybe it'll be good, I don't know."  And I was also a little tweaked about them clearly changing Watson's gender for the sake of a relationship with Holmes.  But, now it's time to start the review.

Warning!! SPOILERS!!!

Yeah, that probably wasn't neccessary, but whatever.  Anyways, the story starts off with Watson meeting Holmes watching several different shows at once.  He pauses the T.V. , and tells her he's in love with her.  He then unpauses one of the T.V.'s to reveal a character saying the exact same thing as him.  He then reveals that he's a consultant who hires himself out to the police for free.  He heads to the scene of a kidnapping, only to deduce that it was actually a murder.  Through the episode he discovers that the murderer was a flower delivery boy who also worked as a part-time serial killer.  However, the murderer commits suicide, implying the case is over.  But of course, nothing's that simple.  Sherlock discovers the killer had been going through therapy to get better, and his therapist was none other than the murder victim's husband, who secretly slipped him steroids instead of his prescribed medication.  This in turn caused him to go into a fit of rage and kill the woman the next time he delivered to her.  They apprehend the man, and Sherlock and Watson bond.

So, that's essentially the story.  There's some stuff exploring Holmes and Watson's relationship, but it doesn't feel like it does much for them.  Anyways, what did I think?  As I said earlier, Meh.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show by any means, it just seems so bland for a show about the most iconic detective in literature.  The story is fairly basic for a murder mystery, and almost feels padded.  Also, the police seem to be somewhat dumber than in real life, or even other shows.  Some of the stuff Sherlock points out should be fairly obvious, and yet he's the only one who notices.  But in the end it's okay, and nothing comes across as really glaring about it.  The acting is also fairly meh.  Lucy Liu is bland as Watson, and Jonny Lee Miller seems unsure if he should play the role as a distant and unfeeling person, or a genuinly caring man.  Honestly, the best actor was the villian, and that's not a good thing.  But at the very least, it's not a bad show, and if you like Sherlock Holmes, crime shows, or BBC's Sherlock, you should give it a chance. But if you want my advice, stick with Sherlock.  As I said before, it's got great actors, terriffic writers, good mysteries, and nail-biting season finales.  In the meantime, hopefully Elementary will learn how to surpass its name.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Asylum of the Daleks Review

Life's been kinda hectic, and without time or footage to do a video review, I'll just use text.

I've been a fan of Doctor Who for several months.  I've seen nearly every episode of the revived series, excluding the impossible-to-find "Planet of the Dead".  I've seen several serial by Tom Baker, and bits an pieces from others.  And I even liked "Love and Monsters"!  For those who understand that, let it sink in.  Because I'm about to tell you something very few people have actually said: I did NOT like this episode.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Daleks.  They're awesome.  But this . . . I don't know what to say.  Anyways, let's get going.  The episode starts with the Doctor getting kidnapped by a human/Dalek zombie.  Then we cut to Amy and Rory signing divorce papers.  Even though the last time we saw them, their marriage was fine.  And don't give me that Pond Life crap.  A miniseries online should not be essential viewing, and it didn't actually explain anything, it just showed them fighting.  But I digress.  Amy and Rory then get kidnapped as well, and they all meet at the Dalek Parliament.  Even though originally the Daleks had an Emperor.  This does not bode well.  Then we discover that a ship crashed on the Dalek asylum, where all the defective Daleks go.  In order to prevent them from escaping, the Daleks want the Doctor to go down to the planet and shut off the force field so that they can destroy it.  Even though the whole reason for having the Dalek asylum was because "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred".  Except for all the other times the Daleks killed each other.  It's official, we're in for a rough ride.  And the final twist in the gut?  The Daleks consider it beautiful even though "Daleks have no concept of elegance."  Yep.  And we aren't even ten minutes in.

So, the Daleks shoot the Doctor down to the planet, and he 'meets' Oswin (played by Jenna-Louise Coleman), a survivor from the ship who's been holding off the Daleks for a year.  She's still holed up in her room, but she's managed to hack into the communication system, so she can talk to the Doctor.  She manages to guide them through the ship, and the Doctor leaves Amy and Rory behind to rescue Oswin.  And here, we learn why they're getting a divorce: Amy think she has to give Rory up because she's infertile after the events of Demon's Run, and apparently Rory REALLY wants a kid (So nice of them to tell us that now instead of earlier).  So let me get this straight, for the entire time it took them to get a divorce, she never ONCE thought to talk to him about this fact, or get the Doctor to help her?  And what's wrong with adoption?!  Yeah, this was just sad.  And then they make up after this revelation.  So that's all it takes to repair a relationship, apparently.  Meanwhile, the Doctor reaches Oswin but discovers she's actually a Dalek, who was converted from human.  So, why did she sound human on the intercomm?  And what happened to 'genetic purity'?  Shut up, that's what happened.  Anyways, the Doctor finds the force field (who thought it was a good idea to put the controls to a force field INSIDE THE PRISON?!  They could've escaped whenever they wanted to!)  and manages to get back to the Dalek ship, where it's revealed that when Oswin erased the Daleks memories of the Doctor (forgot to mention that part, sorry), she erased EVERY Daleks memory of the Doctor.  Thank you, Moffat, we Whovians think that's a lovely bird.  So Amy and Rory are dropped off back home and the Doctor continues traveling.

So that was Asylum of the Daleks.  Or, as I like to call it, Train-wreck of the Daleks.  Really, there's no defense for this episode.  The "Old Daleks" that were so hyped barely show up, the plot holes are the size of black holes, the Amy and Rory subplot was rediculous and unneccessary, and to top it all off, 49 years of stories have gone down the drain.  To be fair, the actors do a great job, and there are some genuinlly fuuny moments.  But it doesn't make up for the terrible script.  This episode was a terrible start, and I really hope some one realizes that Steven Moffat worked best on a leash.  This is really another one of those cases where an artist has enjoyed so much success, no one will tell him no anymore.  It's sad, really.  Moffat is a great writer, and I really wanted to enjoy this episode.  But it just wouldn't let me.  Hopefully Moffat will do better.  Oh, and look up 'Doctor Who Skit Asylum of the Daleks' on YouTube.  It's hilarious.  It's better than the episode, actually.  As for my next video review, I'm still working out what to use for it.  But as soon as I know, I'll get started on the script.  See you later!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Big Announcement!

Well, everyone, I've got some big news: I'm taking Confessions of a Geeky Son Live!  That's right, now I'll be on YouTube, reviewing through video.  This does not mean I'm abandoning my text blog, it just means it will receive very little attention while I make my videos.  Hopefully I'll be smart enough to remember not to set a deadline for myself, because that will be incredibly hectic.  Anyways, you can find my channel there now, and coming soon, I will be posting a review of the 1974 Doctor Who serial, The Ark in Space.

Monday, August 20, 2012

TV Show Review #2

Well, I thought long and hard about what TV show to review next.  For a while, I was planning on doing the new Doctor Who show, but it got so long, I realized that one needed to be split into chunks, if I was going to continue it at all.  I still don't know for certain if it will materialize, but it might.  Then, after I got home from a weeklong vacation, I figured it out.  It was a show I'd been watching for years, even after it ended.  A show that, no matter how many times I stop watching, manages to pull me back in again and again.  Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to review one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.

Kim Possible

Yep.  That one.  For those of you that don't know, Kim Possible is a Disney cartoon (red flag, I know, but bear with me) about a high school cheerleader who saves the world from supervillians.  Yes, you read that right.  It is an action show, but it also relies heavily on humor that makes fun on secret agent and action movies.  One of the high lights included an episode where Kim was forced to take her school rival on a mission, and the villian captured them and placed them in an obligatory over-the-top death trap.  Naturally, the rival asks why the villian needs a conviluted trap when he could find an easier way to kill them.  Both the villian and Kim look at her exasperatedly and shout "It's just the way it's done!"  That was one of the shows greatest strengths; it knew it was rediculous, and it reveled in it.

Anyway, onto the charecters.  Obviously, there's Kim (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano), your average crime-fighting teen.  She's confident, capable, and always able to find a way to defeat the bad guys.  However, she also deals with many of the same problems normal teens do, such as dating, school, and of course, friends.  Enter Ron Stoppable (voiced by Will Fredle), who's practically Kim's polar opposite.  What she stresses over, he shrugs off.  What he stresses over . . . I don't think anyone does.  He's also a bit of a geek which immediatly earns him points with me.  Tying up the action trio is Rufas, Ron's pet naked mole rat.  Yes, those are real animals, and no, they do not act anything like him.  Rufas is simaler to Ron in many ways, but doesn't hesitate to point out when he has a differing oppinion on something.  He also provides support to Ron when Kim is not, or simply not there to give it.  Then there's the rest of the Possible family.  Mr. Dr. Possible is a rocket scientist and Mrs. Dr. Possible is a brain surgeon.  And yes, it gets weirder.  Kim also has two ten-year-old twin brothers, Jim and Tim, also known as the "Tweebs" or twin dweebs.  They're geniuses like their father, and occasionly help Kim with equipment.  However, most of the time they're not needed, as she has a supergenius website manager and equipment creator, Wade, who is so smart he's already graduated college, and he's also ten.  The supporting cast doesn't get much coverage, so when I start covering the seasons, they'll probably be in the background.  Anyways, we've covered the heroes, now let's move on to the villians.

The most recurring villian of the show is Doctor Drakken.  He's a mad scientist with blue skin (don't ask, I don't know) who wants to take over the world.  And no, I'm not bother with the meme.  He has a sidekick named Shego, who can create harmful energy bursts around her hands.  When she's not busy fighting Kim, she's mocking Drakken's ineptitude.  However, Kim does have a larger rouges gallery than just these two.  There's also Monkey Fist, who has bio-engineered hands and feet so that he's part monkey, and he seeks ultimate mystic monkey power.  Then there's Senor Senior Sr. (voiced by the late Ricardo Montalban) and his son, Senor Senior Jr. , European millionaires who want to take over the world (in Sr.'s case) because they have nothing better to do with their free time.  In addition, there's Professor Dementor, a more competent Drakken, and finally, Duff Killigan, the "world's deadliest golfer".  Yeah, it's a lot to take in, but thankfully most of the episodes focus on one villian at a time.  Now, moving onto the seasons!

Season 1

Well, what can I say?  This one started the show and set up the basic premise.  Admittedly it was kind of weak compared to later on, but it is still really good, and at some times it really shined.  Other than that, it also set up plot threads that would be important later on, like Ron gaining mystical monkey powers.  Highlights from the season include "Bueno Nacho", "Tick-Tick-Tick" (the first episode, chronalogically), "Monkey Fist Strikes", and "Attack of the Killer Bebes".

Season 2

This is the season that really made the show.  While they had an idea of where they were going in Season 1, Season 2 is where they found their path and stuck to it.  Good thing too, because this season is a whopper.  It clocks out at 28 episodes long, 31 if you count the tv movie, "A Sitch in Time".  I'll cover that breifly, because while it was their first movie, it wasn't really important to the show.  It was a lot of fun, and very clever.  Michael Dorn was a phenomanal casting choice, and the fact that we got to see several of the villians teaming up did try to give the feeling that this was a threat worthy of feature length coverage.  The very ending is kind of meh, but I guess it's all right.  Anyways, this season continues on the arcs started in the last season, and expands upon them.  Ron's status as a warrior with mystic monkey power shows up again when he's breifly transfered to a secret ninja school.  The season also starts to develop Kim and Ron's relationship, giving little hints that they might become a couple later on.  This is shown most prominantly in "A Sitch in Time" when Ron moves to Norway, and both of them have to figure out how to move on with their lives.  However, it doesn't really develop too much here, it's more like little hints at things to come.  Highlights include "Exchange", "The Fearless Ferret" (which had a great guest appearance by Adam West and a nice nod to Will Fredle's role as Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond), "The Golden Years", "A Very Possible Christmas" (even after the Doctor Who christmas specials, it's still the weirdest one I've ever seen), "Oh Boyz" and "Go Team Go" (which had some nice reveals on Shego's past).  Overall, this season was very good, and set things up great for the show's final year.  But they didn't count on Disney's interference.

Season 3

This season got a little weird.  Whereas the last one had aroung thirty episodes, this one only had about fourteen.  Add to that the fact that it took them two years to air all the episodes, and the finale aired before most of the season had finished, and you had a bit of a mess behind the scenes.  However, let's tak a look the season itself.  The best description I've heard given to it is short but sweet.  It has plenty of great and few good episodes, and none of them were unentertaining.  One of the biggest things they writers did in this season was push forward the idea that Kim and Ron were going to begin dating.  It was clear right from the first episode that they were growing closer, and all throughout the season it kep happening.  There was even a joke in one of the episodes about a show that would "end" if the two main charecters got together, a feeling much of the fanbase shared with the real show.  At least, until "Emotion Sickness", in which a mood-altering device causes Kim to fall in love with Ron.  This episode ended up being quite popular, and that was all the writers needed.  Then they made "So The Drama".  And that's a whole other animal.  Whereas the last movie was definetly made for TV, and felt more like an extended episode, this one could've been released theatrically.  It's that good.  The stakes were high, the charecters were given the epitomy of development, and the animation was superb.  Everything that the show was was dialed up to 12 in this movie.  It's that good.  And, it finally did what the writers had been planning all along: it got Kim and Ron together.  And it worked.  Their progression was totally believable.  Anyways, that was the show's finale, and it was everything we could want and more.  Other highlights include "Rappin' Drakken", "Emotion Sickness", "Bad Boy" and "Dimension Twist".  All in all, the content of the season at least was a great send-off, even if Disney did screw them over with the airing schedule.

Season 4

Psych, there really was another season.  While only three had originally been planned, positive viewership and fans who would not be denied convinced Disney to give the show one more shot.  Somehow, they managed to get almost everyone back (the Tweebs voice noticably changed, I swear it was the voice of Dash from "The Incredibles"), and start up again.  But, there was one question on every nearly fan's mind: could they pull it off?  Post-script seasons rarely work, and this one had a huge change with Kim and Ron being in a romantic relationship.  However, I'm happy to say that they succeded.  Yes, there were some major changes, but the core of the show was still the same and it still worked.  The writers clearly cared about making sure that this season lived up to the standards of the past, and they succeded.  Although I will say I think Kim's old uniform looked better than the new one.  It was less flashy.  But, Disney wanted to keep up with fashion I guess.  Anyways, this season Definetly kept going strong.  And then we had the finale.  In "Graduation" Kim and Ron face what could possibly be the biggest threat they've ever tackled: a full-on alien invasion.  Thankfully, the race had been introduced early in the season, so we knew who they were.  And, surprisingly, it was really good.  "So The Drama" may have been a little better, but everybody gave their all for this two-parter (the first in KP's history), and it shows.  The only bad thing I have to say about it is why did they put Drakken and Shego together?  Not only is that incredibly out of left field, it's just wrong for the charecters.  The humor came from Shego's disdain for Drakken, and removing it was not a good choice.  But, other than that, it was a solid ending and it left the show on a high note.  Other highlights include "Odds Man In", "The Cupid Effect", "Stop Team Go", "Mathter and Fervant" (which as a plus, aired on my birthday) and "Grande Size Me".

Overall, this show was great.  It had decent animation that got better as the show went on, great charecters, great humor, and just a great sense of fun.  Really, it's hard to imagine someone not liking the show.  I can't reccomend it strongly enough, it is one of the best animated shows I've ever seen, if not THE best.  If you find it on youtube or somewhere else, give it a look.  You won't be dissapointed.

Monday, July 16, 2012

My thoughts on Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles

First off, I'd like to settle something.  I do know that my mom moved to WordPress with her blog, but I will not.  I'm staying right here, and nothing is changing.  That said, let's talk about the new TMNT movie.

I randmly looked it up a while ago, and saw Michael Bay's name attached.  When I saw that I just went "Well that's going down the toilet" and promptly forgot it existed.  I think I should pause here and give everybody a little bit of background.  I've been a TMNT fan ever since I was six.  I've seen the first two movies and the animated one, MANY episodes of the 4Kids show, and a few episodes of the old cartoon.  Yeah. I'll admit, I like the new one more.  It was darker, more grown-up, and it was closer to the comics.  Whereas the 80's show had a little pink brain in a robot suit and Shredder's ultimate weapon was a golf ball with wheels and an eye.  I'm sorry, but mutant bannanas are too rediculous for me.  And yes, they were in the show, not just the other movie I forgot to mention, Turtles Forever (SPOILERS: It was Awesome!).  No. I don't know exactly where, but it was pointed out by some poular review on YouTube, you can look it up.  If I'm wrong, don't hesitate to call me out though.  Anyways, I'm a big fan of this, just like I'm a big fan or Transformers.  So I already know what Michael Bay is capable of.

Now when I found out about this, I had the same reaction as many people: I was outraged.  I know this isn't entirely Bay's fault, given that he's just a producer, but it sounds like he had a strong hand in this.  But looking back on it, I realized something: I should be ecstatic!  Why?  Because it's so stupid!  Honestly, that is the only way you could make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles any more rediculous.  And that ain't easy!  What we finally have is a film that is already getting a bad reception before it even comes out!  But why is this good?  The reason is very simple.  We are now a step closer to bringing Bay down.  In fact, production on the movie has shut down.  It's a little unclear if it's permanent or not, but if it is, it's a step in the right direction.  If not, that just means we need to simply act like the film doesn't exist, and avoid seeing it at any cost.  This alien thing will help with that.  Michael Bay has already proven he can't really make a good movie, (except the first Transformers, which was alright, but it wasn't a really great film), so maybe this will jolt everyone into realizing this as well.  My hope is that this terrible idea will wake people up, and convince them to stop giving Bay their money.  Besides, they already made the best Turtles movie they could make: Turtles Forever.  That was an epic film!  It was even going to be given a short run in theaters!  Yeah, that's how awesome it was.  So Turtles fans, watch that if you want a difinitive TMNT movie.  And whatever we do, we have to boycott Bay's film.  It may not have much of an impact (I STILL haven't seen Dark of the Moon, and look what happened), but we have to try.  We have to get Bay out of there, and ensure he's kicked out of Hollywood.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

My Star Trek Movie Ranking

That's right, I'm taking a break from the usual review posts, as those are not going to be EVERYTHING I do, just some thing I do fairly often, because it gives me a reason to have a blog.  I'm not kidding, the only interesting things that happen un my life are covered by my Mom's blog.  Don't believe me?  Read it.  You'd be surprised how interesting our lives can get.  So, moving on, this is my ranking of all 11 Star Trek movies.  From the race to stop V'Ger, to the Battle of Earth, I'll be ranking them all, from least favorite to most.  So let's start with number 11!

#11: Star Trek

This is the part where everyone but Nel and mama Jae go "What?!  How can he do that?  How can he rank such a great movie so low?"  My answer would be "Like that."  Anyways, JJTrek is at the bottom because of all the Star Trek movies, it's the one that feels the least like Star Trek.  Are the acting and crew relations there?  Yeah, for the most part.  Are the special effects good?  Y. E. S.  Is the plot as pourous as a sponge?  Absolutely.  Let's start with my biggest peeve: black hole time portals.  Really, black holes are time portals.  Normally this wouldn't be an issue, since sci-fi does this all the time ("Reduce the polarity of the neutron flow!" comes to mind), except for the fact that Star Trek has NEVER VIOLATED REAL SCIENCE BEFORE!  As far as I know.  Whenever they needed some thing done, they invented there own mineral, or ray, or whatever.  But then they go and make black holes time portals.  And then add the fact that they're not even consistint on whether it is one or isn't.  Seriously, FIGURE IT OUT!  This has the stench of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the duo who wrote the totally terriffic (hint: NOT) film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, most likely because they DID write it.  Then there's the action scenes.  They were too Star Wars-esque.  And I;m not saying that there's anything wrong with those. I actually rather enjoy Star Wars.  But I watch a Star Trek movie to see Star Trek, not current day, poorly written sci-fi trying to pretend to be Star Trek with Star Wars action scenes.  And then there's Nero.  Not only was he played poorly (which I partially attribute to the script), but HOW DUMB COULD HE BE?!  Really, how stupid can he be to not think to save his homeworld BEFORE going on a clearly suicidal attack on core Federation worlds.  Really, even if he did destroy Earth, it's on;y a matter of time before he got defeated anyways.  Even a madman would've considered actually saving Romulus from the 'immediate' danger first.  And finally, why the heck did Spock Prime bring THAT much Red Matter?  How much did the Romulon star need?  Oh wait, he DID stop it.  So he had extra because...  Yeah, it's an Orci and Kurtzman story all right.  And while they obviously can write summer blockbusters, it's also obvious they can't write genuine Star Trek.

#10: The Final Frontier

Yes, the traditional 'FF at the bottom of the list' trope.  But here's the kicker: I actually liked this movie.  It's not perfect, though it's obviously directed by Shatner, but it still had some decent parts.  But Nel, I'm really sorry, but I have to say this: the scene where Uhura does her strip thing was just disturbing.  She's a beautiful women, but she's too classy to strip.  Anyways, I liked the idea behind the scene where Kirk says he needs his pain because it defines him.  It may not have been acted as smoothly as it could've been, but it was still an interesting concept.  Overall, it was okay, but it could've been a LOT better.

#9: The Motion Picture

Also known as The Slow-Motion Picture, this movie would've been pretty good if it weren't so darn long.  It had an interesting sci-fi concept, a brand-new Enterprise, the same crew we came to know and love, and some good FX for the time, I'm guessing.  Is they had just managed to get past the length, it would've been a really good film.

#8: Generations

While it was an okay movie, I'll always view it a little negatively for the destruction of the Enterprise-D.  It wasn't just the fact that it was destroyed simply for the sake of making a new one for the next film, it was the fact that the Klingons simply got a few lucky shots in that killed it.  Seriously, no one thought to check Geordi's visor?  With the amount of times he's been kidnapped, you'd think this would be standard procedure by now.  So the ship gets blown up.  You know, if you're gonna kill off the Enterprise, at least make its death meaningfull, like in Star Trek 3.  Here, it meant nothing.  It just happened.  Kirk's death, I'm surprisingly okay with.  I honestly can't think of any way they could kill Kirk off that WOULDN'T tick off the Trekkie community.  If I'm wrong, feel free to post the method, below, I'd like to see it.  Anyways, it was an alright movie, better than the last three, but still not quite what it could've been.

#7: Innsurrection

Actually, this is the first Star Trek movie I ever saw, and it did convince me to start watching.  So why did I rate it so low?  Well, while I will always hold some nostalgia for it, I just don't think it was as good as it could've been.  I do like the fact that Picard's fighting to preserve the Federation's philosophy, bu it's a pretty average movie.  It's not terriffic, it's not horrible.  It just is.

#6: The Undiscovered Country

Kind of ironic that Star Trek 6 ranks #6, but I digress.  The movie was pretty darn good.  I still have yet to forget the antigrav blood scene, which left me disgusted, shocked, and just a little bit awed by the audacity to put that in a movie.  Overall, it was pretty good, and it's nice to see Kirk come to terms with the Klingons after the death of his son.  A pretty decent movie through and through.

#5: The Voyage Home

If The Search For Spock was the answer to how you make a film after The Wrath of Khan. then The Voyage Home was the answer to how you make a movie after having made both of those: yopu make a light-hearted comedy.  And it worked.  My favorite part was the "nuclear wessals".  That was priceless.  So yes, it was a pretty good movie.

#4: Nemesis

I know, most people wouldn't have it anywhere near this high.  I'll be honest, it is insanely underated.  What most people fail to understand about this movie is that it's very esscence is a story of nature vs. nurture.  Had Picard lived Shinzon's life, would he be doing the same thing?  Had Shinzon lived Picard's life, would he act the same?  It's an interesting debate, one that makes us question a hero we've known and loved for years.  Too many people fail to see that.  Does it have its flaws?  Yes.  It's a little too action-heavy, and the Reman 'mind-violation' scene was somewhat disturbing.  But then you get Data's sacrifice at the end.  And don't pull the whole, "We have B-4, he could come back!" argument on me.  Data wouldn't assert his memories over b-4, he'd be essentially killing B-4.  It's unethical.  Data would not commit an action like that.  He's gone for good, at least in my book.

#3: The Search for Spock

Widely regarded as the best odd-numbered Star Trek movie (can't believe it took me till now to finaly reference that cliche), and rightfully so, Star Trek 3 is a great movie.  It really demonstrates Roddenberry's vision of people in the future really caring about one another, so much so that they'd be willing to sacrifice their carees, their ship, and their lives, all for the sake of saving their friends.  To get the ending where Spock says "Jim.  Your name is Jim." after the ending of Star Trek 2 is a great reward, and it really reminds you how easy it is to get attached to these characters.  It is, in a way, the film that really shows Roddenberry's ultimate vision for humanity.  And it's a vision that mankind needs to acheive.

#2: The Wrath of Khan

Yep, now I've really gone and done it.  I rated JJTrek at the bottom, Nemesis pretty high, and WOK #2?!  You're probably wondering what kind of Trekkie I am.  Anyways, as many have already said, WOK is an amazing movie.  It's so universal, that I'm not going to bother elaborating.  You can look up other reviews if you want to know what's so good about it, assuming you're one of three people who hasn't seen it.  And now, for the number 1 film in all of Star Trek, drumbroll please!  (Dun, dun-dun-dun-dun!)

#1: First Contact

That's right, I just did that.  I rated FC above WOK.  Anyways, FC is an incredible movie.  It's got Picard at one of his most complex points, a great villian, an interesting subplot, and lots of great sci-fi drama.  Really, it's a perfect film for new inductees or seasoned veterans.  It simply is the best of all the Star Trek films, hands down.  Any resistance is futile.  (Couldn't help myself.)

So that's my ranking.  Is it conventional?  Somewhat yes, somewhat no.  Is it geeky?  Absolutely.  Is it likely to raise outrage in the geek community?  That depends on how many people read my blog.  But anyways, that's what my thoughts were, and no one but me can change them.  Ensign, set a course for Rigel IV.  Engage.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

TV Show Review #1

That's right everyone, in another first, I'm reviewing a TV Show!  So I'm sure what you're asking yourself is "Why am I reading a blog by a geeky teenager who thinks he's incredibly funny but isn't at all?"  That question, I can't really answer.  But I can answer the question on why I chose to review a TV show: I wanted to try something new.  So this time I'm reviewing a classic show that is beloved by cult members everywhere.

Beast Wars: Transformers

Never heard of it?  Then you are clearly not a geek.  I shun you for coming here without being a geek.  Not really, but if you're a geek, then odds are you know Beast Wars (or "Beasties" as the Canadians called it [Don't ask]) is the best Transformers show there is., And no, I don't care about all you nostalgics saying the original cartoon was better, this show had CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT and PLOT.  Can you claim that?  No?  Then stop complaining and read the darn review.

Anyways, the backstory of Beast Wars is that the Autobots did manage to eventually defeat the Decepticons, and semi-unify Cybertron.  Eventually, both sides underwent a process known as the Great Upgrade, through which all of them shrank to human size, the Autobots became Maximals, and the Decepticons became Predacons.  Yes, I know that's the name of a combiner group from the old show, but moving on!  The Predacons are treated like second-class citizens (so much for the Autobots being accepting and friendly), and some are tired of this.  The few five who bother to take a stand unite under a Predacon named Megatron.  Yes, it's cheesy, but he actually chose this name, instead of just having it like his G1 counterpart did.  Anyways, they steal a sacred item (the Golden Disk, and no, there is no chocalate inside), a spaceship (apropriatly named the Darksyde [subtle, I know]), and make for quardinets leading to a massive Energon deposit on a planet.  The only ship able to respond to their escape in time is an exploration cruiser, the Axalon.  They chase their quarry through a transwarp portal, and after a fight sequence, both ships crash on the planet below.  Neither side is sure where or when this planet is, due to the fact that many of the readings they get were unexpected.  They discover that the planet has so much Energon, it will damage their systems if they have sustained exposure to it.  To counter this problem, they adopt semi-organic form based off of animals, and proceed to fight each other.  One of the Oredacons defects, making the sides even, and the Beast Wars begin!  Admittedly, it's not the greatest opening, but it sets up the story well enough.  It gets more interesting when they discover that a strange alien race has plans for the planet, and they did not involve all-out robotic warfare.  Eventually the planet is revealed to be none other than prehistoric Earth, which means they're fighting at the time when Optimus and the others aboard the Ark are in stasis-lock, which is near-death for Transformers.  This means that if Megatron finds the Ark, then, well, you get the idea.  Time flux!  So that's Beast Wars.  It's not Shakesphere, but it works, and some of the writing can be genuinly amazing.  The most often cited example of this is Code of Hero.  I won't lie, I agree completely with the sentament there.  That episode was amazing, and a fitting farewell to a beloved character.  And if you remember back to my review of Survivor's Quest, (remember, the Timothy Zahn book that didn't feel like it was written by Timothy Zahn) you'll know that the great Simon Furman wrote the final episode, and man did it show.  Characters died (he's very bloodthirsty), stands against evil were made, last-ditch attempts to stop the villians were successful, and overall, it ended the show on a great note.  And then, they made Beast Machines (shudders).  In one sentence, don't watch it unless you're a die-hard fan.  That's the only way you'll like it.  But anyways, Beast Wars was a teriffic show that deserves a lot more attention then it gets.  Sure the CGI is dated, (especially Season 1) and yeah, they made some mistakes early on, but it was still a great show, and definetly the best of all Transformers shows.  I still don't know why only a relativly small number have seen this show, because for a children's cartoon, it's not only got a lot of adult themes in it, it's just plain brilliant.  Check it out on Netflix if you have it, but be warned that there streaming is currently missing Season 3.  We'll work on correcting that.  And once it finally is, things will be just Prime.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Movie Review #11

Ladies and Gentlereaders, we have reached a historic occasion: I have now published more than ten movie reviews!  So, here we are, review #11, and the question on everyone's lips is: "Will The Dark Knight Rises be as good as its predecessor?".  However, that is NOT the question I've come to answer.  Instead, I'm giving a bit of a late answer to "Can Marvel pull off an Avengers movie?"  That's right folks, today I'm reviewing the smash-hit (box-office at least) film, The Avengers!

The Avengers

Now, anyone who stayed for the credits of "Captain America: The First Avenger" saw the clip where Nick Fury approaches Cap with a mission that will apparently involve saving the world.  "The Avengers" expands on that, and let's just say Fury does not lie about that subject.  Our story starts at a S.H.E.I.L.D. base where the Tesseract (a.k.a. Cosmic Cube for you Marvel buffs out there) has activated, but no one has done anything that would cause this.  Clint Barton, a.k.a. "Hawkeye" notes that since the Tesseract acts like a doorway, the change may not have been caused at their end of the door.  Then a portal opens, and who should pop out but Loki!  Evidently he's been busy, as he is trying to lead an alien army through to take over Earth.  He proceeds to take over the minds of several people, including Barton and a physicist friend of Thor's.  The unstable portal then collapses, and the S.H.E.I.L.D. base is leveled, but not before an action scene that results in the cube getting snatched by Loki and minions.  Fury decides that the only way to stop him is to form a response team to find and retreive the Cube.  So, he pulls together all the superheroes we've seen in the past movies (minus Thor, S.H.E.I.L.D. doesn't have a means of interdimensional communication.  Yet.) to stop Loki's plan.  They manage to find him, and while Hawkeye acquires a stabilizing agent for the portal, Cap and Loki do battle, and they are evntually joined by Iron Man.  Amazingly, they manage to capture him and after a breif spring and duel with Thor, they head back to the Hellicarrier, and begin tracking the Cube, with help form Bruce Banner, a.k.a. "Hulk".  Why is he here?  Because the Cube emits small traces of Gamma Radiation of course!  They need someone who is able to track it, so they call Banner.  I haven't mentioned this yet, but Edward Norton, who played Banner in "The Incredible Hulk", does not return for this movie, and the role of Bruce goes to Mark Ruffalo (who's from Kenosha, Wisconsin, my hometown! [At least, that's what I call it.  When you live in a place for ten years, it starts to feel like home.  Go figure.]).  Don't worry, no one else is replaced.  Even Clark Gregg shows up again.  Anyways, they search for the Cube, and it's evident that these people may not be the best team there is.  Arguments frequently break out, and Loki sits in his cell, waiting for the inevitable clash.  This happens when Hawkeye attacks the Hellicarrier, blowing up a huge section of the behemoth with an explosive arrow.  S.H.E.I.L.D. tech is hardcore.  This injures Banner, unleashing the Hulk.  Hawkeye and crew take the prison area, free Loki, and easily trick Thor into the same cage Loki was in, which happens to be suspended above a giant airlock.  Thor's cage is released (Spoilers: he survives), Hulk is knocked off by the Black Widow, who also frees Hawkeye, Shellhead (Tony for you laymen) reactivates the engines, and the bad guys escape.  The tracking system is also destroyed, but since Tony is a "genuis billionaire playboy phillanthropist", he figures out that Loki's divaness means he wants to show the world just how beaten they are by moving the portal device to the newly commisioned Stark Tower.  The heroes regroup in NYC, and Loki opens the portal.  However, with The Avengers finally assembled (pun fully inteneded), can he ultimatly win?  (Spoilers: He can't)

So that's the plot of the movie.  It's not neccessarily big, but with a movie like this, a somewhat thin plot is needed to develop the characters.  And developed they are.  Each has their own distinct mannerisms and quirks, and all are played by great actors.  RDJ, however, gets special kudos from me for totally pulling off every single one off Tony's fantastic one-liners.  ("That man is playing Galaga!  He tought we wouldn't notice, but we did.")  Props also have to be given to Mark Ruffalo for easily assuming the role of both Banner and Hulk, especially given the fact that he was not in TIH.  And then of course, there's Stan Lee in his funniest cameo yet (the entire theater died when they saw his part).  But the real hero of the day never even showed up on the screen.  Joss Whedon, (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) co-writer and director, is the one who really made this movie a fantastic joy-ride.  From incredibly witty humor ("Puny God!), to effective character managing, he made a masterpiece.  In fact, looking back, this film shouldn't have worked.  It's an incredibly ambitious move to get six superheroes all teaming up on the silver screen.  Add to that the fact that you have to throw in a villian, this movie normally would've collapsed under its own weight.  But Joss Whedon, with his effective directing, smart dialogue, and clear understanding of the charecters, managed to pull it all together.  In my eyes, no one else could've pulled it off the way he did, and he deserves a lot of credit.  And the action finale was amazing.  All the characters were totally kicking alien butt, and looking awesome while doing it.  This movie not only lived up to my expectations, it surpassed them by a large margin.  This is the best sperhero movie I've seen since "The Incredibles", and you do not want to miss this amazing work of genius.  And now, I shall end this review the only way one could.  Excelsior!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Book Review #6

Well, it's taken some time, but here's my new book review!  I'm sure many who call themselves Star Wars geeks have heard of Timothy Zahn's classic Heir to the Empire.  In fact, most of you have probably read it.  This review is not about that book, nor is it about its terrific sequels (Yes, I just said that) Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.  It also is not about either of the books in Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology.  No friends, this is about the first Zahn Star Wars novel to be published by Del Rey, Survivor's Quest.

For those of you who don't know much about the behind-the-scenes history of the Star Wars EU (Expanded Universe), let me give you a short crash-course.  Back when the original movies were coming out, novelizations were published by Del Rey (Also the original publishers of the Belgariad, the book series I reviewed several months ago), along with a few spin-off books of their own.  Then Bantam Spectra aquired the license, and 1991 they published Heir to the Empire, to massive acclaim.  This was followed by the rest of Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, and soon many authors were publishing the continuing adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Lando (ever notice that three out of the four core human names start with L?), Chewie, C-3P0, R2-D2, and new additions from Zahn, Mara Jade and Talon Karrde.  This went on until December of 1999, when the last Bantam Star wars book was published, and the license was given back to Del Rey.  According to my friend N'eligahn, the first question they asked when they got the license back was "Who can we kill?".  To be fair, Simon Furman asked the same thing when he was offered the chance to write the series finale of the classic cartoon "Beast Wars: Transformers", but he was an acclaimed writer from the comics, and it was understood that here, the story would actually be GOOD.  Then Lucas established that the only non-killable charecters were Luke and Leia.  And sure enough, the first new novel by them kills off Chewbacca.  Yep, it's fairly obvious what their stance on the books is.  Anyways, onto the review.

Survivor's Quest

Our story starts three years after Luke and Mara got married (Thank you Zahn!  That was a godsend!), and they've been contacted by Admiral Parck (from the Empire of the Hand) who tells them the Chiss (Grand Admiral Thrawn's species) want them to join a ship they're sending to the ruins of the Outbound Flight, which was destroyed by Thrawn just before Revenge of the Sith.  The Chiss, feeling guilty about the whole thing, want to make amends and pay their respects.  Some other noteworthy passengers include Parck's son, who is now in command of the famed 501st, a man posing as a New Republic ambassador, and member's of a species that seem to think Outbound Flight saved them from the dreaded Vagaari (whom we've never heard of untill now.)  This is where my first two problems with the story lie: how the heck did Outbound Flight crash (with most of the ships INTACT) when it was established in an earlier Zahn book that it was UTTERLY DESTROYED, and only ONE ship BARELY survived.   Thank you for giving continuity the bird, Del Rey.  Another thing I need to mention, it's also established that even though Luke and Mara have been married for three years, they still, haven't been able to spend much time with each other, given all the problems in the galaxy that we don't know about.  And still, we hardly touch on that.  Anyone else noticing a distinct decline in quality from Zahn's original works?  Anyways, the ship is repeatedly sabotoged on the trip there, and suspicions arise, and whatnot.  They finally reach their destination and discover their are survivors from the crash.  Huge plot twist, right?  I haven't mentioned this yet, but we're about halfway through the book already, and very little charecter development has happened.  Then we discover that the 'gentle' aliens were really the Vagaari all along, and they want Outbound Flight for some reason that isn't really explained.  It's also established that the survivors of the OF hate Jedi for yet another reason the book doesn't explain.  Again, I'm wondering just how much of a hand Zahn had in the overall story of the book, because it certainly seems he was just hired to put the pre-written outline onto paper.  Anyways, the aliens are stopped, the good guys win, blah blah blah, you know the drill.  So that's Survivor's Quest.  A Timothy Zahn book that feels nothing like it.  Nice job, Del Rey.  You produced yet another crappy book, and worst of all, you got one of my favorite authors involved.  Seriously people, stick to Bantam's books and leave the rest to rot.  You'll thank me later.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Movie Review #9-10

Well, I decided that two movies I've seen recently have been deemed worthy enough to review on this blog, so here we go.  The first one's based off a classic (well, not yet, but it will be, mark my words) cartoon.  The other took six years to make, is the second-most expensive film ever made, and for you Trekkies, Trekkers, and Niners out there, stars Donna Murphy, who played Anji in Innsurrection.  So with out further ado, I will begin.

Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension in Fabulous 2D

Hey, it's a movie involving interdimensional travel, what do you expect from me?  That movie about the rubberbands (shudders)?  Anyways, for those of you who havn't heard or don't understand Phineas and Ferb, I'll give you a backdrop: Phineas and Ferb are two roughly ten-year-old step-brothers who decide to make the most of their summer vacation by building and doing fun things like making rollercoasters, time machines, giant robot dogs, machines that defy gravity, portals to Mars, and other cool stuff, along with their friends Isabella (who almost-secretly [everyone but her crush knows] harbors a crush on Phineas), Baljeet (an immagrant from India with a strange obsession with math), and Buford (a "bully" whose most frequent victim is Baljeet).  They have a very nosy sister named Candace (the annoying attempt to inject teen melodrama into the show, yes we never get enough of that), who constantly tries to "bust" (unfortunatly, Disney never bothers to stray from that word, so it's practically a catchphrase) them to her Mom, with little success.  The secret to this is that their pet platypus (yes, you read that right), Perry, is actually a secret agent who goes off to battle an inept evil scientist named Dr. Doofenshmirtz.  Inadvertently, their battles cause Phineas and Ferb's inventions to be transported elsewhere, or destroyed.  That is the series in a nutshell (though it probably would be easier and more fun to just watch the show to get an idea of how it works), although I did forget to mention that in almost every episode, a short song is sung, sometimes multiple.  But, that's about it.  On to the movie!

Our story begins with Phineas and Ferb celebrating the anniversary of their adopting Perry, and deciding to make platypus-like catupaults to play a giant version of bagdmitton.  Meanwhile, Perry is being breifed by his superior, Major Monogram, on his mission of the day.  He is also reminded that if his owners were ever to find out his identity, he would have to be relocated, as the situation would become much too dangerous for them.  Then an unpaid intern (whose been working for them for 5 years and has somehow been below even that rank), Carl, meets with Agent P (for Perry) to give him tools he might need in the field in a sequence that James Bond fans will love.  One of these tools is a new rocket car, which has a very touchy accelerator, launching Agent P right through the roof of his lair, just as Phineas and Ferb have launched their giant shuttlecock.  The car and 'cock collide, crashing the car, and causing the 'cock, containing Phineas and Ferb, to be sent to the worst place possible: Dr. Doofenshmirtz's building.  They crash into the doctors inator of the day (yes, almost all of them are called something-inator), and, not knowing the doctor is evil, offer to help fix his machine, and Other-dimensionator.  Perry eventually arrives, but is unable to do much with the boys there.  Despite his best efforts, the machine is completed and they all cross over into the 2nd Dimension.  There, they discover that this universe's Doof has already accomplished the 1st Dimension's one dream: to be the undisputed overlord and master of the entire Tri-State Area.  They all meet with Doof-2, who reveals that he has defeated Perry-2 and made him a cyborg leader of his robot army.  Doof-2 then exposes regular Perry as secret agent, much to Phineas' shock and anger, and they narrowly escape a group of robots and the Platyborg.  After discovering the remote they invented for the Other-Dimensionator is malfunctioning, they decide to find their counterparts, while Doof-2 decides to invade the 1st dimension, and tries to capture the regular Perry.  That is the plot of the movie without giving away most of the middle, and the end.

The animation is regular Phineas and Ferb stuff, with a little CGI for the robots.  The story is very good, and you can really see how betrayed Phineas felt that Perry kept a secret like this from them.  That's really the heart of the film: Phineas and Ferb's relationship with Perry.  The worst part is, Perry can't even tell them why he had to keep his identity a secret, because, well, he's a platypus.  But it's very clear that they all love each other very dearly, and are willing to go to any length to protect each other.  The only thing that upset me was the ending, but that was a fan moment, and I can let it pass, because the rest of it makes me forget that part entirely.  Well, almost.  It was at the end, and any Phineas and Ferb fan whose seen the episode "I was a Middle-Aged Robot" will possibly understand.  And no, I'm not going to spoil it.  Go watch the movie yourself, instead of being lazy and reading a completely unproffessional, unwarrented, and probably unwanted, review.  Anyways, now onto one of the biggest parts of Phineas and Ferb: the music.  This movie was no slouch when it came to songs, with a total of nine, rivaling the amount of only "Rollercoaster: The Musical!".  Thankfully, they're all good as well.  "Robot Riot" was a lot of fun, and "Summer (Where Do We Begin?)" is a perfect song to describe exactly what Phineas and Ferb is all about.  And the regular Phineas and Ferb humour is here, including (of course) the reference to Meap.  And yes, my knowledge of this show nearly rivals my Star Trek trivia, if not surpassing it.  In conclusion, this is the best DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie for you laymen) in years, and I would heavily reccomend it to anyone who bothers to read this long, dull, and geeky blog (Have I bored you to sleep yet?  If so, don't say anything.).

Tangled

I'm beggining to see a pattern here.  All right, I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Disney movies.  I won't apologise for that.  I can like whatever I want.  And let's be honest, who is there alive that hasn't watched a Disney movie and enjoyed it?  That can only be fifty people at most, and that's not very much.  I will say, however, that Disney isn't infallible.  Their T.V. channel proves that much.  But I digress.  I can honestly say that when I saw this, I was there because of Flynn and Maximus.  I've never been that into Disney's Princess movies.  Why, I defy you to guess, but some tend to think it's my gender.  However that might be, I still wasn't a fan.  I may have enjoyed Mulan (Which really isn't a Princess movie anyways), The Princess and the Frog (I think the music had something to do with that), and Beauty and the Beast (Because anyone who doesn't like this movie obviously only likes really violent movies or really raunchy ones), but I couldn't watch the rest (of the princesses, at least, in movies where they were the main protaganist.  I can enjoy plenty of other Disney movies.).  They just weren't for me.  Then we saw this movie.  And I'm still astonished to this day that it was as good as it was.  I'll admit I was suprised that Rapunzel was as prominent as she was, but it didn't detract.  Rather, I think I've gained a new appreciation for these kinds of movies, and I'm totally okay with that.  Anyways, Tangled is about (be aware, this is a pretty long backstory, and I'm still suprised it went by so quick in the movie) how an old women uses a magic flower created from a sundrop to regain her youth.  However, a nearby King uproots the flower to save his dying wife, who's currently preganent.  The magic works, and a baby girl with blond hair (her parents have brown, so this is probably an effect of the flower) is born.  The old women, Mother Gothel, sneaks in, and after discovering that the babies hair loses its power when cut, takes the child, and flees to a secluded tower in the forest, where she raises the child, Rapunzel, as her own, and imprisons the young Princess.  However, the King and Queen launch thousands of floating lanterns into the sky every year on Rapunzel's birthday, in an effort to guide her home.  Years later, Rapunzel is about to turn eightteen, and has still never left her tower.  However, to keep her company, she keeps a chameleon as a pet, named Pascal.  Try as she might, she still cannot convince Gothel to let her out to see the lights in person.  Meanwhile, swashbuckling rogue Flynn Rider has just stolen the Princess' crown and is fleeing for his life in the very forest Gothel has taken refuge in.  Upon seeing the tower, he climbs in, and Rapunzel, believing him to be a thug after her hair, knocks him out with a frying pan.  Deciding that she needs someone to guide her to the lights and back, tells Flynn that she will not give him his satchel containing the crown unless he does so.  Although reluctant, he agrees, and they set of on a journey involving singing pub thugs, a fight sequence at a dam, and a very overzalous palace horse named Maximus.  Along the way, the usual things happen, and Rapunzel and Flynn begin to fall in love.  But can they escape Mother Gothel's sinister plans?  And do I sound too much like the blurb of a book?

Anyways, that's the plot of the movie.  Nothing astounding, but it's there at least.  I can think of a few movies right now that barely had a plot at all (I'm looking at you, Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny [You'd be suprised what you can get off RiffTrax]) The charecters are all very well-constructed, making them seem like living, breathing people.  Gothel in paticular is very interesting as a villian, as she's either a very good actress, or does slightly somewhere care about Rapunzel (that just gets destroyed once Rapunzel leaves).  And Flynn of course is a hilarious addition, masterfully voiced by Chuck's Zachery Levi.  However, two of the most memorable charecters actually had no voice actor: Pascal and Maximus, who clearly steal every scene they're in.  The humor of the movie is spot-on, and never feeling out of place, or resorting to the DreamWorks method of pop-culture parody that they have so clearly defined.  Instead they rely on the situation itself, or the charecters ability to deal out one-liners.  I'm not saying DreamWorks humor is bad, rather it's just their expertise, not Disney's.  Disney can't do their type, and when they try to, it falls pretty flat.  Thankfully, they avoid this, and make a much better film in the process.  I especially loved Flynn's reply to Rapunzel correcting him on whether Pascal was a frog or a chameleon.  "Nuance!"  And the visuals were quite a sight to behold.  While some films were made for traditional hand-drawn animation, this movie clearly knew it was CGI and used every chance it had to make use of that fact.  The lanterns would absitively posilutely not been as amazing hand-drawn.  All-in-all, it was definetley a film worhty to be Disney's fiftieth animated feature, and I daresay Walter himself would have been proud, if he were alive today.  But the torch has been passed.  BTW, all Disney fans and Phineas and Ferb fans should be on the lookout for news about an upcoming theatrical Phineas and Ferb movie.  No gurantees it will be in Fabulous 2D though!