action – Griffin's Nest

Apparently, I’m a sucker for subtitles no matter what language the movie is in. This one is in Japanese – I think. I have only caught bits and pieces of the anime this movie is based on, but I know my sons enjoyed it – might still enjoy it; I’ll have to ask.

Anyway, this is a live action film from Netflix based on the anime by the same name. The site doesn’t give much information about the film such as who plays whom and whatnot so, I’m going to guess. Ryosuke Yamada must play Edward while Dean Fujioka is Alphonse, his brother. That’s all I’m going to guess at because I’m not sure which are female names and which are male names.

In this film which is full of lots of fun action and some great special effects, is about two brothers living in something like a Communist country. The uniforms are reminiscent of Communist Russian uniforms with some slight modification and the color is blue. The state controls who is allowed to practive alchemy and who is not based on how “useful” their abilities are.

The movie opens with the two brothers as little boys, Their mom is killed, and the boys are wrecked, Alphonse more than Edward. They were already training to be alchemists like their absent father so they decide to bring Mom back with alchemy. Something goes horribly wrong, and the movie fast forwards. You learn fairly quickly that Al’s spirit is stuck inside a suit of armor while Ed is missing an arm and a leg – he has metal prosthesis instead.

The main plot of the movie is the pair finding the Philosopher’s Stone so Ed can get Al’s body back. It ends up not being as simple as it sounds.

I enjoyed this movie, most likely because I’ve not really scene the anime. People who have panned the movie just because. I’m more of a realist – nobody is going to do an anime just in live action. The animes are full of things you can’t do with live actors and cameras – not even with CGI. I like the movie just as it stands, no comparison to the anime.

I do wish they’d done more with Al but the interaction with him and Ed as well as others in the show was still good.

See the movie, or don’t see the movie. I believe everyone should do as they like instead of what the critics say. Me, I’m not a critic, I just like movies, and I like telling people about them. I’ve enjoyed movies that movie critics said were not worth wasting my time on – who are they to know what I like or don’t like. Whom am I to know what you do, or don’t like. Have fun and have a great time doing whatever you like!

See you on the flipside movie watchers and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!

This is a Netflix created and produced movie starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. I read all the bad reviews about the movie from the news stories, they even went so far as to say it was the worst film of 2017. How did they come to this conclusion – money. It didn’t make a lot of money from people wanting to see it before it came out and from other factors I know nothing about. These stories said it was Will’s worst movie to date even. Thing was, none of these reporters thought to ask what people thought – real people like you and me.

On Facebook, not long after the show aired in December 2017, lots of people were posting about how good it was. They liked the revamping of the Orc story as well as the great way Elves were portrayed. With the good and the bad reviews in mind, I decided to watch the show myself – I’ve always hated to be told what to do.

Will Smith is Officer Daryl Ward, a father and a husband. He’s also just recovered from being shot by a gang member because his partner didn’t have his back. It’s something he’s still having issues with.

Joel Edgerton is Officer Nick Jakoby, an unblooded Orc, and the partner whose mistake got Officer Ward shot.

This movie addresses racism in a roundabout way as well as being pretty tongue-in-cheek about a lot of other issues our society is dealing with now.

The story is about the partners coming upon the scene of a horrendous attack, finding a girl mounted on a wall, still alive and *gasp* a magic wand.

In this world, a magic wand is a weapon of mass destruction – only a Bright, a mage, can handle it, and they are considered criminals who are usually terminated on the spot. If anyone besides a Bright handles the wand, it goes off like a massive energy wave killing anyone in its path – vaporizes them.

Anyway, Will reports the finding of the wand and then, he and his partner find themselves running from the law, from gang members, from demented Elves and from this world’s version of the FBI, all with the injured girl who is an Elf and a Bright.

I think people should see this movie if only so they can thumb their noses at the critics. In my humble opinion this was not one of Will Smith’s worst movies, it’s not one of his best either but hey, it’s paying his bills. 🙂 I enjoyed the movie itself though some parts were just plain silly – the rest made up for it.

See you on the flipside my friends and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!