Cookie's Corner Y4 - Spark 3 ending explained on page 14

[cookie]

5 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

BTW what did you think about the credit scenes?

I found it kinda weird that you were teasing two movies at once but as individual pieces they were fine.

[cookie]

Going to do two reviews tonight (One Piece and American Dragon) and then Odyssey will be my last review for Round 1 since nobody else seems to want to request anything.

 

'Voltron' round will begin after the second half of the year closes and Round 2 requests are open until that is finished.

[YM!]

1 minute ago, cookie said:

Going to do two reviews tonight (One Piece and American Dragon) and then Odyssey will be my last review for Round 1 since nobody else seems to want to request anything.

 

'Voltron' round will begin after the second half of the year closes and Round 2 requests are open until that is finished.

How many requests do we get anyways?

[cookie]

2 minutes ago, YourMother the Edgelord said:

How many requests do we get anyways?

I said you got one for each round and only one of them can be a movie you made, but depending on how I feel I may expand Round 2 to two.

[Xillix]

seriously tho someone request Earthsong

[cookie]

13 minutes ago, Xillix said:

seriously tho someone request Earthsong

I might do it for the bonus round if I feel like it.

[YM!]

13 minutes ago, cookie said:

I might do it for the bonus round if I feel like it.

If possibly for bonus round requests can Can You Imagine? possibly get one.

[cookie]

One Piece: The Journey Begins

 

Lots of franchise starters this year. This one makes it more apparent than most, all the way up to its title. Being the first release from a new studio puts a lot of pressure on the film to perform well, but since I've been giving an out to both Mass Effect and Pillars of Eternity - reserving my judgment on developments that are likely to pay off down the line - I see no reason why I should make this an exception either.

 

So how is it? Coming from someone who only has a passing familiarity with the source material but never engaged in it... It's fine.

 

It's colorful, it's breezy, it's suitable for most ages even with the PG-13 rating... Its episodic nature is probably going to get on some older audiences nerves and anyone looking for anything more engaging than basic pirate adventure stuff (the off-beat character designs and Luffy's powers are probably the most inventive aspects the movie has to offer) is likely going to be disappointed, but like I said, it's fine while it lasts.

 

6.1/10

 

Spoiler

I think a few more passes at the screenplay fixing grammar and sentence issues would've helped a lot, though. Plus more generous paragraph breaks are never a bad thing.

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by cookie

[cookie]

25 minutes ago, YourMother the Edgelord said:

If possibly for bonus round requests can Can You Imagine? possibly get one.

I don't take requests during the bonus round. It's meant for whatever I feel like reviewing once I've read everything that hasn't been requested, usually if there's something I feel is worth bringing up.

Edited October 7, 2018 by cookie

[cookie]

American Dragon: Darkness Rising

 

I remember the first film being a solid family adventure on its own even if it fell short of its overall potential. With the sequel sporting a higher budget and a title that pretty much invites higher stakes, you'd want to see what the makers did to improve some of the original's shortcomings.

 

For a family action movie, it surprisingly takes its time (up to a point), which in itself is fine. There's no law saying family movies have to move at a hundred miles per hour and be straight to the point.

 

Although its two halves feel like they operate at different speeds. The early half of the movie builds itself up rather solidly with some character development, a bit of back and forth between Jake, his grandpa and the Great Dragons, followed by Jake performing a series of tests laid out for him and developing a rivalry with another student (more on him later)...

 

But from the point where the Dark Dragon reveals itself (somewhat spontaneously) things start escalating pretty fast, leading up to a second (and final) encounter with the Dark Dragon. For something that took its careful time at first it feels a bit weird to suddenly turn around and go "wait, we're here already?", but it's not a deal breaker.

 

The Rose subplot half works and half doesn't. The baggy aspect is that most of it is she and Jake's (in this movie) superfluous friends standing around waiting for Jake to show back up (in a plot sense. They try to go look for him but for obvious reasons they turn up nothing). Feeling the need to atone for the sins of her past is interesting but could've used more development, plus I would've wished she and Jake had more screen time together in general.

 

The first film wasn't perfect, but I remember it built up its world and the conflict(s) more solidly than this did. This one feels kinda less consequential in comparison despite the promise it had at the start, and I think it's because most of it is just a setup for the villain to show up again in future movies. The Dark Dragon being a flip on the Huntsclan (magical being that wants to rule over non-magical people instead of non-magical beings that want to destroy that of which is magical) is a neat idea in of itself but aside from one "join me and together we can rule the galaxy" moment in the third act not too much is made out of it either. Somewhat troublingly, Fred exits the film entirely shortly after the initial encounter with the Dark Dragon and so his rivalry with Jake feels ultimately extraneous.

 

There's nothing really wrong with the movie otherwise so I'm kind of put in a weird position. It does try to make things more personal, which is one of two things a sequel should do, but the end result could've woven its pieces together a bit more.

 

7/10

[4815162342]

If you created a random sequel subtitle generator, "Darkness Rising" would be one of the most common results

[Rorschach]

When can we expect a review for Odyssey 3?

[Xillix]

1 minute ago, Rorschach said:

When can we expect a review for Odyssey 3?

He said his reviews were on hold for the time being.

[Rorschach]

Just now, Xillix said:

He said his reviews were on hold for the time being.

Must’ve missed it. My bad.

[cookie]

Gonna resume this Saturday. Y'all have until then to send in Round 2 requests.

[YM!]

🅱y The 🅱alls

[Ezen Baklattan]

The movie that will trick families into thinking it’s their kids new favorite video game only to become a history lesson.

 

Fortnight.

[cookie]

1 minute ago, Spagheditary said:

The movie that will trick families into thinking it’s their kids new favorite video game only to become a history lesson.

 

 

  Hide contents

Fortnight.

 

Ahem.

 

Quote

The following movies cannot be requested and will be reviewed whether you like it or not:

Blue & Gold

Kingdom of the Sun

Starlit Highway

Fortnight

 

[Ezen Baklattan]

Then let’s do Celestial Haven Honey III.

[cookie]

2 minutes ago, Spagheditary said:

Then let’s do Celestial Haven Honey III.

Had Spark come out next year it'd be included in a Scavenger Wars round because Alex.