Streaming Reviews

Ultraman Rising may not be the first American Ultraman production, nor the first animated Ultraman production, nor the first English language Ultraman production, but it is on track to become its most successful in all 3 categories. It boasts a surprisingly emotional narrative full of heartfelt moments and a story that would be relatable to a wide spectrum of audiences.  Ken Sato is a famous devil-may-care baseball player who moves back to native Japan. He has to juggle leading a new team with being the superhero Ultraman, a role he inherited from his father. Unfortunately Ken is estranged from his father and reporter Ami Wakita hopes to dig more into his suspected unresolved family issues.  Following some disastrous matches, run ins with the Japanese Kaiju Defence Force and battles with giant monsters, Ken comes into possession of a baby giant monster. What follows is a heartwarming exploration of responsibility, maturity, and personal healing for Ken as this quirky father/c...

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that I am compelled to watch in cinema instead of waiting for it to come to streaming. FURIOSA, the prequel to 2015’s surprise hit MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (which i absolutely adored) is just such a movie. It was supposed to be the tale about Fury Road’s co-protagonist Furiosa; her tragic childhood, her violent upbringing under the cruel thumb of wannabe warlord Dementus, and her eventual rise to the rank of Praetor in the army of Immortan Joe.  What I expected was an intimate character driven piece showing the rise of a warrior, a journey from frightened little child to a hardened rebel fighter. What I beheld instead was less of a Furiosa focused story and more of a story of the Post Apocalyptic Wasteland as a character; a world building story instead of a character story.   Simply put, Furiosa as a character came across as rather bland. We do not really get into her head much. Her motivations are simple, straightforward, and she bar...

Up front I will say that Madam Web ain’t as bad as I was led to believe. Sure it is tame compared to epics like Zack Snyder’s Justice League or Avengers infinity War, and also lacks the established familiarity from sequels like Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, but compared alongside similar superhero origin movies of recent years such as Blue Beetle and Shang Chi, Madame Web really isn’t that bad.  Madame Web re-envisions the mysterious marvel comics character into a more contemporary superhero while also serving as an origin story for her as well as three other characters who will eventually become Spiderwoman,  another Spiderwoman  and Arana from the comics.   It is 2003 and Cassandra Web is a paramedic who unlocks a special precognitive super power after a fatal accident. This power was seemingly granted through a mysterious ritual by an indigenous Peruvian tribe after her pregnant mother was shot by a man named Ezekiel Sims. The rit...