"We spent our lives afraid of change. But after many years, I realized the beauty of life IS the change. And through it all, I had such wonderful memories of you. So, I'm begging you, my dearest friend, don't close yourself off. Open your heart and follow it."
It is quite wild that Disney would greenlight and air two animated shows simultaneously with the premise of "isekai with consequences", but now the decision is starting to make sense to me. While The Owl House is a much more grim and dark story of mystery, Amphibia is on the lighter side while also hitting when it isn't afraid to do so. This is more of a successor to Star vs. the Forces of Evil (while The Owl House is more akin to that of Gravity Falls), so the type of humor at play here is going to be subjective.
That being said, I think Amphibia is one of the most coherent pieces of animated storytelling I've seen on television in quite a long time. In a way, which is apparent from the heart that this crew put into the show, it reminds me a lot of an RPG; something like a Kingdom Hearts or a Dragon Quest. Hell, one could even compare it to The Lord of the Rings. (I'll get to why, later on in the review.)
The story revolves around Anne Boonchuy, one of three friends who is transported to a world full of talking frogs, toads, newts, and other creatures. Without spoiling much, the story slowly unravels itself to reveal Anne's two other friends have also arrived in Amphibia; the friends trying to figure out why. What begins as a fun and cute show about talking frogs eventually turns into an epic, anime-inspired quest of friendship and power, one that actually tackles the topic of how family and friends would react when these three girls just magically vanish to another world. It not only goes into ideas of friendship toxicity and "family not by blood", but also learning to change around those around you. Everything that seems "filler" during the first season all comes full-circle by the time you hit that final episode, including a surprising amount of foreshadowing and parallels through things like backgrounds and even music compositions. And if you're looking for dark imagery, don't worry...you'll get plenty of it. Mutilation, possession, you name it.
My absolutely favorite thing about this series, like I mentioned earlier, is in its coherent storytelling structure. This is the first time I've ever seen something done like this in an animated show: the commitment to a 3-act structure. This isn't a story that gets cut before it reaches its peak (Gravity Falls) or a story that branches too far out to warrant a satisfying conclusion (Star vs. the Forces of Evil). It's just three seasons, three parts of one grand story, right down to the title cards at the end of each season indicating the end of a chapter. No tease for a future series, nor any major plot holes left open. It's a single journey, making it PERFECT for a binge or rewatch.
As for the rest of the show, mainly the writing, it's a fun time. Like I said, the world of Amphibia is cute and times, and so it compliments itself with its adorable characters and quirky humor. One moment you'll be watching Sasha struggle to lead an army or Sprig learning about his family, and another moment you'll be seeing Marcy acting like an adorkable mess or Polly being unreasonably violent for a little kid. Oh, and if you love video games and/or nerdy media, you will absolutely get a kick out of all the little easter eggs and references thrown throughout.
Amphibia is one of the best Disney original animated shows to come out since Gravity Falls, and I've gone through a few myself since. It manages to tackle dark and emotional topics in a fantasy world that seems incredibly cute on its surface, while also being a perfectly-structured adventure. An amazing mix of the grand and creative from the past decade, backed up by some wild animated sequences and setpieces. And to top it all off, it's one of the few shows that has made me cry during its finale.
I will be shocked if this show isn't binged by the mainstream within the next decade. It's just that incredible.
9.25/10
Part 8 (of 8) of my Spider-Man movie re-watch marathon in preparation for No Way Home. Generally I have not been updating my original scores during this marathon, even in cases when the films didn't hold up, but in this case it's a nonissue because my original score (8/10) still feels appropriate.
THE BAD: No big problems, just nitpicks. I'm not a big fan of Miles' non-traditional venom strike and invisibility powers. They just don't feel very Spider-Man to me (apologies in advance if they are actually comic book accurate powers, but I certainly wasn't aware of them beforehand). That said, I appreciate their importance from a narrative perspective and thought they were used well throughout the movie. While the over-the-top nature of this movie's premise is obviously very intentional and allows for extreme creativity, certain elements just weren't my speed. In particular, the Looney Tunes-esque Peter Porker was not a real value-add for me. There were also certain action sequences (e.g. the cemetery/dragged by train set piece) that were a bit more slapstick/cartoonish than I would like, especially given the darker tone/event that kicked off the plot.
THE GOOD: The most impressive thing about this movie is the fact that it successfully executes such a ridiculously ambitious premise. Interdimensional antics have been a mainstay of comic book storytelling for probably 50+ years, but this film might be the first real success in translating those antics to the big screen. The darker elements of the story are well executed, leading to some very effective emotional beats (including a great Stan Lee cameo, rest in peace). The animation is top tier, with maximum creativity on display in every scene. In particular, the comic book inspired elements (thought bubbles, multi-panel sequences, etc.) are perfect. The soundtrack is killer. The voice acting is top notch. The humor is plentiful, naturalistic, and meaningfully contributes to character development. Jake Johnson's Peter B. Parker is an impressive example of how lean storytelling combined with well known mythos can establish compelling new characters very quickly (this technique was also used to varying degrees of success in Marvel's recent animated What If...? show on Disney+).
And with that, my Spider-Man movie re-watch marathon is officially over. Luckily, with No Way Home coming out tomorrow, I won't have to wait long to get another dose of the web-slinger. It's really a testament to the character that even after watching 8 straight films, I'm still excited for more.
2023 TV Shows Ranked List --> https://trakt.tv/users/justinnumerick/lists/2023-tv-shows-ranked?sort=rank,asc
Season 1 Review:
This was a decent season of TV. This is a show where we pretty much just watch people doing things. Sure, the characters have motivations and things they're working towards or trying to do, but there is little in terms of a contained structure as things never really have a start of an end. In episode one we more or less just pick up with these characters in the middle of their lives and then watch them do their thing for 8+ hours, and as we leave them after the finale some storylines don't really come to a head or conclude. Maybe some will enjoy that structure, but for me I was left less satisfied or entertained than I wanted to be. The show takes on a very melodramatic tone and I think there are two ways to approach that. You can either play into the melodrama with self-awareness or you can take yourself very seriously, and this show is definitely the latter. I don't necessarily mind it, but man that tone is just relentless and it is such a slow-burn. You have to be really into the story to be drawn into a slow-burn like this, and it just didn't always capture my attention. It for sure did at times, but not enough for something this drawn out. I did quite enjoy the brutal and grounded take on the world, but there were some moments that clashed in tone, such as the Spencer and Alex storyline. I think Spencer is very charismatic and I enjoyed the globetrotting adventure with him and Alex, but their story was much less grounded than the rest and created a contrast within the show. And while I found their relationship charming at first, by the time the season ended I had gotten pretty sick of their over-the-top dialogue and they just ended up feeling very one-note. The production design and cinematography were standouts here, as they usually are with any Yellowstone show. And while I didn't love every performance, some of the acting was great (Helen Mirren). All-in-all, I think having multiple storylines really slowed this show down and by the end it felt like much more should have happened. I was pretty engaged with the season at the start, but my engagement diminished week after week and it started to feel more like a chore to watch this rather than something I was looking forward too. I'm not sure where I stand on the Yellowstone universe right now -- I think I've had too much exposure to it in such a short amount of time and I'm starting to get bored by it. But overall, I didn't have any major issues with the show, I just wasn't all that enthralled with it.
5.9 // Meh
Purple Hearts certainly is a movie. And I have thoughts. Very unstructured thoughts, so I apologize.
The movie is relatively comoetent acted I give it that. The leads don't have much chemistry though. It is also way too long for its own good and tries to cram way too many issues in instead of focusing one and doing it right.
The initial idea of making the whole scam about Cassie's diabetes and actually addressing the healthcare issue America is was interesting and should have been the main focus here, but no it also had to be about drug money. And sadly that tired cliche turned out to be a bigger issue than the actual interesting social commentary.
Then there's the issue about the war and military. The film tries some half-assed "war bad" commentary (in the most shallow way possible) before making a basic 180 and being more "yay 'Murica" as it goes on. Again, why not focus on the fucked up healthcare system that literally makes it impossible for people to get life saving medicine? Who knows.
I didn't know Nicholas Galitzine before and he was fine, if a little bit stiff but his character didn't offer much to go for anyways.
Then there's Sofia Carson, whom I enjoyed in other movies, but she was stuck with such an irritating character that even her charme did not work. And look, I know she can sing but girl, why choose this breathy style and swallow up most of the words? I'm sorry to say it, but I didn't enjoy one of the music performances in the film and it was si silly how she got literally everything she wanted without facing any consequences.
Now, here's the deal. Cassie had a valid reason for her scam, she literally needed it to survive but this should've been addressed in the court scene, not just Luke being the martyr and going to jail while she got a record deal.
Also, did they really have to kill off the most likeable character in the film for no reason?
So yeah ... didn't really like it.
