Tokusatsu Review: Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever Part 1: Crisis of infinite migraines.

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Oh wowie the last of the Generations Movies! The first one was a great tie-in to one of my favorite Rider series and did the impossible by actually making Ghost look good.

Part 1: https://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2017/07/tokusatsu-review-kamen-rider-heisei.html

Part 2: https://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2017/08/tokusatsu-review-kamen-rider-heisei.html

 Heisei Generations Final once again fills in the blanks for Kamen Rider Build while getting some of the best Heisei Riders back while giving closure to some of those riders while showing Build as just as worthy to stand along side those heroes.

Part 1: https://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/08/tokusatsu-review-kamen-rider-heisei.html

Part 2: http://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/08/tokusatsu-review-kamen-rider-heisei_18.html

Part 3: http://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/09/tokusatsu-review-kamen-rider-heisei.html

 I mean considering how good the last two were there's no way they can screw it up right?

 You poor fools forgot that the last two movies were written and directed by people who actually knew what they were doing. Instead we have the crew of Kamen Rider Zi-O helming this turkey which means that Kento Shimoyama wrote this and the producer was the Japanese Dan Didio himself Shinichiro Shirakura. So in the words this is a Taisen movie in Generation movies' clothes. Oh and before I forget this movie involves time travel, pants to be darkened!!! So let's not put this off any longer; time for the Heisei era to end, not with a bang but with the disgusted sneers of an old bastard who hates this franchise and the people who love it with the intensity of a million Foreman grills!

 After the traditional Toei logo we get an actually cute and fitting little montage of a kid growing up with Kamen Rider, from a Kuuga figure in his delivery cradle to him getting a picture with Den-O ect our torture session opens in 2018 with Sougo walking back from school where Geiz and Tsukuyomi are chasing after him in their Time Mazine. Wait, by the emperor's toes the series is starting over again!

 Ahahahahahahha oh dear god no I can't do this all over again I can't!

 Ok, no no thankfully Shirakura felt somewhat generous that day and decided not to subject us to Zi-O all over again because once Geiz and Tsukuyomi corner Sougo an evil version of the Den-Liner makes a crash landing; knocking the Time Mazin out in the process. Then one of the only good things in Zi-O; an Another Rider jumps out of the wreck to kill Sougo. Of course since he has the year 2007 and the name Den-O on his body and came out of a twisted version of the Den-Liner it's clear that this is the Another Rider of Kamen Rider Black.

No it's obviously Another Den-O, Black already did some time travel but we don't like to talk about that.

 Before Another Den-O can kill this would be despot Geiz transforms and stops him from doing what he originally came back to 2018 to do in the first place. During the fight Geiz and Tsukuyomi know who Sougo is but he doesn't recognize them. It's only when Another Den-O knocks him around and Sougo sees the Zi-O Ridewatch does he remember who they are.

 While Another Den-O deals with Geiz and Zi-O a little kid escapes from the train. (Warning sign #1, a little kid in a modern Tokusatsu movie is a good sign that Shirakura was involved with the production and that it will be bad. Nobody likes it when guest child actors are involved in a Toku movie unless they're written well. As they often tend to steal focus from the main heroes, are not compelling to watch and are usually portrayed as bratty, annoying, moody or all three and refuse to advance the plot unless the threat is staring them in the face.) Anyway he escapes before getting swept up by a green cyclone and lands in front of Kiryu Sento and Banjo Ryuga.

Hallelujah!

 Before you ask, no these aren't the Sento and Banjo that Sougo met and got the Build and Cross-Z Ridewatchs from in the disastrous first two episodes. These are the Sento and Ryuga that landed on the main Toei Earth after Sento merged the Build Earth with the main Earth to stop Evolt. If you're asking how that makes any sense, then shut up the makers of the movie clearly don't care even though they wrote the damn show that these events spun off from. Ok it is kind of explained later but we'll get to that later. Anyway the kid runs and hides because "it" is coming.

You know I'd say that the design of Pennywise for It Chapter 2 jumped the shark but he is a shapeshifter so I don't know maybe the Turtle that holds the Earth or something from Dark Towers can explain it, because it's either one or the other.

 No this is Another W who attacks after Sento and Banjo transform into Build and Cross-Z. We then cut back to the wreck of the another Den-Liner to see the main villain of our story, the Time jacker who created Another W and Another Den-O.

This is Tid and his incredibly stupid plan is to destroy the Heisei era of Kamen Riders. Because I guess the Shōwa era riders just weren't worth his time I guess? But then again considering the last time Shirakura did anything with the Shōwa Riders, we don't want him to touch them ever again, Phrasing!

 After the tittle card we see the two pairs of Riders forcing their opponents to retreat. But in both instances there was a crowd of people watching and cheering the riders on like it was a live show. Hell even Build and Cross-Z get back up from Kamen Riders Grease and Rogue, who shouldn't be there since they were killed before the world merger. There wasn't even a chance to have them be like a Jay Garrick and Barry Allen Flash situation like after Crisis on Infinite Earths where since they were so radically different the new world decided to keep both versions of the Flash like with Sento and Banjo they're just here because the Kool-Aid man is red. During the Build Riders fight with Another W a high schooler is watching and recording the fight on his phone while the kid that Another W was after escapes into the crowd. We're then subjected to I kid you not, 8 minutes of pointless scenes that can basically be summed up with "things aren't what they're supposed to be!"

 Sento finally corners the kid and tries to ask why the Another Rider was after him but he refuses to trust and talk to him like the dumbass brat that he is. He does finally talk when Sento mentions that he's Kamen Rider Build and the kid thinks that he fights alongside Kuuga. But before Sougo can ask any more questions Tiddlywinks shows up to abduct the kid who he identifies as Shingo. Sento tells Shingo to run while he holds him off but Tiddlywinks uses his Timejacker powers to toy with and possibly molest him.

"slurp You have the taste of a Heisei Rider!"

 Seriously Sento looks legitimately uncomfortable, I can't help but think this was ad libbed, I'm starting to get a Jerod Leto's Joker vibe now, never go full Jerod Leto. So after, that Tiddlywinks wonders what Sento is even doing here since there apparently shouldn't be any Kamen Riders in this world. But he decides to make Lemonade from this lemon and uses some unexplained mind control powers on Sento. Speaking of Jojo references we catch up with the kid who was recording the fight talking to a voice in his head who tells him that Sougo is following him, who he recognizes as Zi-O and introduces himself as Ataru Hisanaga who claims to have the power to draw riders to him, despite the voice telling him to quit acting so cocky.

 Ataru decides to demonstrate this by taking Sougo out for Fumen at a stand in Futo. He says that this will lure out W, well he's half right (ha) as instead Shingo shows up being chased by Another W. Sougo begins to transform but Another W retreats before he can finish. When Sougo tires to talk with Shingo the stand owner hands him the W Ridewatch because apparently Shotaro told him to give it to Sougo when he recognized him, because he "protected the city". Wow not only does Futo have their won Kamen Rider but they also have their own plot convenience Fairy!

 Sougo and Ataru decide to bring Shingo back home. Along the way Shingo says that his mother's in the hospital because she's about to deliver his baby brother, he's happy about is since he has someone he can watch Kamen Rider Kuuga with. Ataru is impressed that a little kid knows about such an old Rider series since he himself was born one day before Kuuga aired, making today his birthday. After some antics about Sougo's home not being the same as he knows it and Geiz and Tsukuyomi's memories being rewritten as what happened to Banjo, Kazumi, Gentoku and Misora he decides to look for Shingo's house with the map app on his smart phone.

 And the fact that Shingo says that he's never seen a smart phone should have been a major tip off to him not being from the present day! Now, what a normal person would do in this situation would be to ask Shingo what year it was due to the two major oddities about him, but since this is an idiot plot neither Ataru nor Sougo do this. Even the two Persona Q games got this plot point out of the way faster then this pair of brain trusts!!! While we painfully wait for the characters to catch up with the audience for the solution to this obvious mystery Kazumi and Banjo show up asking Shingo where Sento went. After he tells them about his confrontation with Tiddlywinks Sento's bike shows up to take Banjo and Sougo to where he is keeping Sento, somehow!

 When Zi-O and Cross-Z find him he has the still mind controlled Sento transform into his TankTank form and attack the two. After more obvious foreshadowing Shingo gets taken by Another W and Another Den-O after they beat the ever loving tar out of Grease. But not before Another Den-O shows Ataru who he really is, Ataru, wait what?! Back to the Rider fight we learn that Sento actually wasn't under Tiddlywinks control and was just playing along until he can learn what his goal is. But he never learned what that was so he wasted his time and nearly killed his allies for no reason, our heroes everyone!

 But thanks to his two Another Riders his plans can get started with Shingo, how? Well that's what next time is for and oh dear lord is it convoluted and stupid. But before that, there's something that requires my attention in Kamihama city, toodles!

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Superman Returns is owned by Dc Comics, Bryan Singer, Warner Bros Pictures, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Legendary Pictures and Peters Entertainment.
Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-mak is owned by Telltale Games and Chuck Jordan.
Aliens (Film) is owned by James Cameron, 20th Century Fox and Brandy Wine Productions Based off of characters by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Hellsing Ultimate is owned by Kouta Hirano, Studio Madhouse, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Geneon and Funimation.
Hellsing Ultimate Abridged is owned by Team Four Star.

Movie Review: Alita Battle Angel: Finally a good Hollywood manga adaptation! (Spoilers)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 It took them long enough, we actually have an adaptation of a Manga that captures the spirit of the source material, and is a good movie on it's own! Now let me just say that while I never read the original Manga and only saw Bennet the Sage's Anime Abandon episode of the two episode OVA that covers presumably the broad strokes of the first two volumes just like this movie I had a wonderful time watching. I admit that like everyone else I had trepidatious about this movie, hell I wasn't even interested in seeing it, my little bro was going to see it, I asked to tag along cause I had nothing else going on at the moment and bam! So when I found that the movie was not only a technical marvel but also got me interested in the source material I consider this to be a success in my eyes. But I know that that isn't the case for everyone but hey, different folks have different tastes and I know for a fact that not everything is going to appeal to everyone.

 My feelings for this is just as valid as yours and everyone else's so with that in mind while I can disagree with what a lot of professional critics say about Alita there are some things that I agree with. But let's get a basic premise of what we're in for from what the film is more than generous to give out. The year is 2563, three centuries after "The fall" the destruction of most of the mega cities of Earth after the Great War with their Mars colonies. But instead of Gundams the Mars army used cyborgs called Berserkers as their most powerful weapons; trained in the Cyborg Marital Arts known as Panzer Kunst. The last of these is discovered in a Junkyard by the cyborg scientist Dr Dyson Ido (played by Christoph Waltz), but with no memories or body she's taken in by Ido and is given not only a new body but a new name, Alita (played by Rosa Salazar).

 She's introduced to the trappings of Iron City, a veritable slum that serves the last of the great sky cities; Zalem, which is basically if Rapture swapped places with Columbia. While the people of Zalem live off of the work of those living in Iron City, the citizens below live under the thumb of not only Zalem but also in constant fear of deranged Cyborgs. The only ones willing to kill these demonic tinker toys are the redundantly named Hunter-Warriors, like Ido who after saving him from some marks Alita becomes one as well since she seems to start regaining her memories when she's in a life or death fight, which this and Motorball (the local sport where Cyborgs fight to the death for a chance to go to Zalem if they become grand champion) can give her and then some.

 Time for me to start listing what this flick got right before I address what could have been better implemented. Firstly the action sequences and the CGI is amazing! Though they can be summed up in a clip from Yugioh abridged, OH MELVIN!?

 Now I joke, but yeah this is some true blue insane late 80's; early 90's anime shit right here kids. If it wasn't for the fact that all of the most brutal parts of the movie involved robots with blue cooling fluid instead of blood this would be a hard R for sure. Not to give too much away but there's dismemberments, decapitations and even some guy getting his head pounded into a pile of gears and blueberry jam. It's basically what people would think of if you told them what a PG-13 Mortal Kombat movie would look like if the actual Mortal Kombat movies didn't exist. Also for one scene near the end I have the perfect clip for you to remember.

 But speaking of the Cyborgs they look fantastic with the CGI integration looking wonderful. While there is some small sense of them not really being there I just tend to treat them like how the toons were integrated into the real world in Who framed Rodger Rabbit. But then again just like with Alita and her "big googly anime eyes" it's just something that I got used to. Speaking of Alita the design of her and her various body look great. The first body that she got from Ido is wonderfully designed, especially with her fingers and arms, with intricate etchings that make them look almost like art in and of themselves.

 Alita herself is what makes this movie work in spite of my gripes with it. Rosa Salazar did a fantastic job bringing this girl to life with her delivery, motion capture and her interactions with and equal top tier supporting cast. From Waltz as Ido to Jeniffer Connelly as Ido's ex wife Chiren and even Keean Johnson as the F.R.I (forced romantic interest thanks Erod) Hugo. While yes the romance between Alita and Hugo is one of the weaker parts of the movie for me I couldn't care less about Hugo but I was invested in him because Alita was invested in him. Though you can tell that this was based off the earlier manga volumes because once Kishiro recognized that Hugo didn't work he made sure to fridge him in order to get Alita want to get to Zalem and confront Nova.

 Which brings me to my problems with the film. While I will go up to bat for Alita Battle Angel there are still some flaws. My main one is that the the first quarter is mostly just exposition where Ido and Hugo explain to Alita the ins and out of Iron City, Zalem and basically just the world building. Now while I can understand since Alita as the audience surrogate she would have more then a few questions about her new environment and how it all works I just felt that it was a little too much packed in at the first quarter and wasn't as naturally implemented as it could have. It's nowhere near as bad as the exposition in the Last Airbender but perhaps if they handled they gave just a little less exposition and perhaps was introduced more organically like during one of Alita's flashbacks it might have helped a bit. Second is the villains, while I loved the sadistic personalities and creative designs of the Cyborgs and crooked Hunter-Warriors that Alita went up against the main antagonist Nova (played by Edward Norton) doesn't even show up in person until the very end of the movie to act as obvious sequel bait.

 Now I know that Nova isn't the only threat that Alita has to deal with but four the three main baddies are just lackeys for him so their menace is completely overshadowed. I'm guessing that Nova wasn't introduced at this point of the manga and his presence is just a symptom of compressed adaptation where they added in later parts of the story to the adaptation to try and set up more lore and hooks for sequels. But I can tell that if Nova was left as a background detail and the film just focused on Chiren, Mahershala Ali's Vector and Jackie Earle Haley's Grewishka the film might have worked out better. The last is that while Hugo and Alita's relationship was a key part of both character's story arcs a little less time and less cringy dialogue might have help not only the flow of the film but also the running time. It doesn't over stay its welcome but perhaps if they cut down on the romantic stuff and perhaps worked on Alita interacting with some of the lesser characters like Hugo's other friends, her talking with Ido's assistant and maybe more time confronting Vector could have done wonders.

 But that's mostly just nitpicks after the fact, and let's face it, nobody likes Captain Hindsight. While I do agree with some of what other critics say I don't consider this movie to be a cliche mess as some of them say. Most of them are just tropes of Manga storytelling and as someone whose seen more anime and read more manga then just Dragonball Z I can say that I give Alita Battle Angel a wholesale recommendation. While it's not flawless it is what most Anime fans have been waiting for for far too long, a faithful live action Hollywood adaptation that shows the proper respect for the source material. If I had to guess I'd say that Alita Battle Angel did for Manga Adaptations what the First Mortal Kombat did for Video Game movies, it's far from perfect but it can be entertaining in it's own right and you don't need to be a hardcore fan of the source material to enjoy it.

 It also has me interested in the source material which I consider to be a great mark of a good adaptation, it makes the source look good as well as being a good story all on its own and it shows proper respect. Hopefully this movie can be the first of future good adaptations of Japanese properties without the need to change too much while still showing the proper respect the material deserves, maybe after this we'll get an adaptation of Baccano, Black Lagoon, Black Butler or even Lupin the 3rd, only time will tell.


Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Alita Battle Angel is owned by 20th Century Fox, Lightstorm Entertainment, Troublemaker Studios, TSG Entertainment, Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron. Based off the manga Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro.

Yugioh is owned by Konami, Kazuki Takahashi, Toei Animation, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. (#FucKonami)

Yugioh Abridged is owned by Little Kuriboh (Martin Piers Billany)

Cabin Fever (2002) is owned by Eli Roth, Lionsgate Films and Black Sky Entertainment.

Tokusatsu Review: Toku Summer Recap: Kamen Rider Build: FOR SCIENCE!!! (Spoilers)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.

 Now I know that I'm waaaaay behind schedule with discussing 2018's Sentai; Kamen Rider pair but there's a good reason. I usually do this in conjunction with the spring crossover special between the two shows as a teaser for the the upcoming spring movie. But since the spring Taisen movies are discontinued due to Toei's executives putting pressure on the Japanese Dan Didio/ Joe Quesada; Shinichiro Shirakura to can them due to the combination of these movies being financial, critical and just all around horrible products that damages the reputation of their two biggest franchises there's no spring crossovers for me to give brief synopsis of the currently running series. I'm of two minds on this, one I'm grateful that this happened and it honestly should have happened much sooner since the Taisen movies were flaming pieces of rat feces that should have died sooner. On the other hand I'm now out of free easy review material as my previous reviews of Kamen Rider Taisen (aka the worst of the worst) the crossover of Ninninger and Drive and last year's Cho Super Hero Taisen can attest.

 But now that they're done with they seem to be moving on the Space Squad crossover movies, where the current Space Sherif Gavan and the Dekarangers pair up with either a metal hero or a space/dimension themed Sentai or Rider to deal with a syndicate composed of the remnants of the Metal Heroes' enemy organizations. Or at least that's what I gathered, I'll be covering the first one and Girls in Trouble later to make sure everyone is on the same level when I take yet another shot at Dumbluck and his band of morons. Now on to the main event; the two current series. Now I know why aside from the lack of spring movie thing they didn't have a crossover, Build takes place in an alternate universe, separate from the main Toei earth. That's not speculation they clearly establish that in Heisei Generations Final that Build is on another earth, as if the Skywall stuff wasn't enough of a giveaway, now once again there will be massive spoilers for Build since unlike Ghost or Ex-Aid there's actually quite a bit of backstory for Build that I need to cover so don't say I didn't warn you, I repeat this is your final spoiler warning.

 Now for the main story as of right now, back in 2007 an astronaut named Soichi Isurugi discovered an artifact on Mars called Pandora's box and became possessed by an alien being called Evolt, who was the one who destroyed all life on Mars utilizing the power of the box. Returning to Earth Evolt tried to activate the box again to destroy the planet. However the queen of Mars, Vernage possessed Soichi's daughter Misora and drained the main power source for the Box, 60 small tubes referred to as Fullbottles which contains the essence of something native to the planet, 30 organic; 30 inorganic. Because of her tampering; when Evolt tried to activate the box it only erected a large wall that divided Japan into three (all still Japan but in the chaos of the Skywall's creation several governments were created to seize control).

The three new countries are Touto (green) Hokuto (Blue) and Seito (red).

 Those present when the Sky Wall was erected were also subjected to a light that caused their desires to overcloud their sense of morality, basically everyone there was brainwashed into being unhinged, power-hungry nut jobs that shouldn't be near any position of power, and yet they were and now we're in this mess. One of the people present was a scientist named Takumi Katsuragi who later earned the nickname of the Demon Scientist for his extensive research on Pandora's box as well as his human experiments with Nebula Gas, a byproduct of the Sky Wall that turned people into monsters called Smash when concentrated into a liquid form. His experiments were uncovered but was recruited by the son of Touto's prime minister; Gentoku Himiro to continue his research under his new organization Faust.

 Under Faust Takumi continued his research, resulting in Project Build which would utilize the concentrated and distilled Nebula Gas to fill the FullBottles which would be utilized by the Build Driver and similar devices to become what was deemed a Kamen Rider to be weapons of war. However the Build driver had requirements to reach as well as an unexpected side effect. To use the Build Driver the user had to have a Hazard level of 3.0 (which is a tolerance and resistance to Nebula Gas, any lower levels would have the user just become a Smash or die). Also if someone who was exposed to the light of Pandora's box used the driver and had the Hazard level requirements would have the psychological effects removed.

 Which when Katusragi completed and used realized how far he'd fallen and remembered the true purpose of Project Build, kill Evolt by reverse engineering the Evolt Driver to create the Build Driver. Eventually Takumi would confront Evolt but he was defeated, had his memories erased by over exposure to the Nebula Gas, his face swapped with a recently murdered clinical trial subject and used by Evolt to use the Build Driver to stop Faust and the Smash as Kamen Rider Build, hijinks ensued. Now that the main back story (leaving out a few minor details) is out of the way time to discus our main characters and where the show is now.

First off is the titular Kamen Rider Build. After Takumi's mind was erased and face changed Evolt (while posing as Tsurugi) takes the amnesiac young man into his care eventually giving him the name of Sento Kiryu and setting up the scenario of refilling the Fullbottles. Eventually Sento discovered the truth behind his amnesia and has sworn to right the wrongs that his previous self did. That is until recently where Takumi's memories came back leaving the fate of the false persona Sento in question.

Next is the secondary Rider, Banjo Ryuga Kamen Rider Cross Z. Originally a boxer whose girlfriend was turned into a Smash and died due to the strain of the transformation process on top of her pre existing condition. Her extracted Nebula Gas was refined into the Dragon FullBottle which Banjo uses to become Cross Z. It was later revealed that he's actually a fragment of Evolt that possessed the fetus in his mother resulting in the split off Evolt losing his powers and memories. The main Evolt eventually reclaimed the splinter from within Banjo resulting in him losing his ability to transform, but regained it by stealing the Dragon Evoltbottle resulting in his new current default form. Though over the course of the series Banjo's had four (technically six) different forms throughout the show, excessive much?

Following up is Kamen Rider Grease Kazumi Sawatari. (heh heh that's a girls name) He was originally a farmer from Hokuto but when the land became infertile after the Skywall was created and thus unable to pay his workers he volunteered to become a Faust Test subject for their newest driver, the Sclash Driver to ensure their survival. The SclashDriver utilized packets of refined Fullbottle liquid that was processed into Gel to transform into a far more powerful Rider but at the cost of higher Hazard level requirements and promoting more aggressive behavior from the user. Initially a solder for Hokuto he joined Touto after Hokuto was taken over by Seito and his three comrades were killed by Seito's forces. 

Speaking of Grease's friends, the guy who killed the last of them, Gentoku Himiro as Kamen Rider Rogue. As mentioned before, he was the head of Faust, Night Rogue. Gentoku was exposed, defeated by Build and exiled by his father. He escaped and fled to Seito for revenge, so after he was tortured and experimented on by Evolt he was able to use a Sclash Driver with a special Crocodile Cracked Fullbottle to become Kamen Rider Rogue. This freed him from the influence of Pandora's box but was under Seito's thumb by way of a chip in his body that could kill him with a press of a button. But that was fixed and now fights with Build to stop Evolt as his atonement for all he's done.

This leads to the main world destroyer Kamen Rider Evolt. His personal driver was repaired by the Katsuragis but needed the Evol Trigger to completely regain his lost power. This was accomplished by possessing Banjo and Sento, slowly regaining his previous Hazard levels and finally absorbing the attacks of Grease, Rogue and Cross Z Magma to restore the Evol Trigger and regain his true form Evolt Black Hole. Not only does he still have the powers of his previous forms he can also generate Black Holes (name on the tin) and can destroy planets by utilizing Pandoras Box along with this power.

Last is the newest Rider; Kamen Rider Mad Rogue Nariaki Utsumi. He was the second Night Rogue and second in command for Namba Heavy Industries under Juzaburo Namba. He and several other children were brainwashed to become scientists, spies and solders for Namba with undying loyalty. Basically he's Albert Wesker, only he didn't kill the old geezer himself. Nope that was Evolt who finally decided he was done with his toy and snapped it before tossing him in the garbage. With his master dead Utsumi went insane and accepted the second Evol Driver that Evolt gave him as payment for all he and Namba Industries did to ensure the destruction of Earth. He was an average villain but he was a brilliant scientist being not only the one to reverse engineered Katsuragi's design for the Sclash Driver but also the Kaiser system used by the villain in Heisei Generations Final to create the Hell Bros.

 So that's where we are as of this article, Evolt has almost all of the Fullbottles, Pandora's box and a brand new lunatic on his side ready to destroy Earth or nearly conquer it since he finds humans to be so damn entertaining. While our heroes are up against the wall with the reawakened Katsuragi unable to keep up with the tech of Builds latest forms. So they're up the creak without a paddle or as American Dad so eloquently put it.

 Good thing there's always the final form ready to go as we prepare for the debut of Builds' final form, Genius form. But that's a while away we still need to rank and discuss Ex-Aids Muteki Gamer. But for now we have this year's new Sentai to cover, Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger vs Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger. Now despite what you may think of the show, it's definitely a better Persona 5 adaptation then Persona 5 the animation.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
American Dad is owned by 20th Century Fox Television, Seth McFarland, Fuzzy DoorProductions, Underdog Production and Fox television Animation.

Movie Review: Deadpool 2: Check out those Double D's! (No Spoilers)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.

Domino and Dick bag, what'd you think I meant by that? You pervs.

 Ah, nothing short of a masterpiece. Why is it a masterpiece, because like all of the greats it starts with a bang! IE starting the story In media res, again. You remember when I said that life is a series of train-wrecks with only brief commercial like breaks of happiness? Well apparently the jack-off screen writer did and boy did they have a doozy waiting for me. 

 Not saying what (cause I'm just such a nice guy) though all I'll say is that I had my Uncle Ben moment. Hey Tom Holland, just me taking one right up the turd launcher for the team, see you when I see you once the whole X-Men, Fox buy out whatever gets resolved! Also you better bring in Bronson Pinchot he was the best part of your debut work! Back to the category 5 shit tornado that is my life, now that I had my own Green Lantern reboot I did the intro then Captain Titanium Twinkletits pulls me out of the wreckage both figuratively and literally and drafts me into the Super-powered Heavens Gate resort staff with my old pal Starlight Glimmer and her girlfriend Pinkie-Pie. (Still BFFS BTW, LOL #Deathbattlerules #DPstillbetterthenDS)

 I told him this was a bad idea and like Cassandra I was sooooo right but did anyone care to listen? Well the movie goes on for an hour and a half so what do you think? So we get a job to take care of this kid Russel who was dumped into a real shithole run by some westboro baptist pedo types so I popped the one who looked like Jared Leto from Suicide Squad which got me and the kid sent to the Ice Box, basically Git-Mo for mutants. But if that wasn't enough, now some John Conner looking tool called Cable went back in time to blow Russels brains out because according to him he's the Rainmaker and now I have to be the Joseph Gordon Levet to his Bruce Willis. Welp, I guess I need to start learning Chinese then. (hindsight might help with the opening, so on my to do list along side Betty White, Al, Domino and especially sticking it sideways to Logan)

 But I'm not doing this alone, no no if I'm going down I'm taking as many assholes as I can with me. So me and Weasel put out some flyers and we wound up with X-Force. Its members are of course me, king Deathbringer and love machine DP. Next is Shatter-star, some jackass alien who's power is being better then everyone else. We also recruited Ceaser from the Expendables, Pennywise, the easiest casting choice ever, my sugar bear Peter and last but most certainly not least Domino. What's her deal? She has literal luck powers.

Also, if any of you try to compare my fat stack to this limp dick? Then you'll be bumped right to the top of my to do list!

 So as for Cable, you know when you see a guy who carries that many guns as well as a burnt teddy bear with him wherever he goes, you just have to know he's fucked in the head. As if him trying to kill a kid wasn't enough to convey that notion. But you just look at this guy and you'll get the feeling that this wasn't the most messed up decision he's gone through with, much less the most recent one. But I'm not gonna say anymore here cause, again, nice guy underneath the Freddy Krueger cosplay. So nice that maybe I'll treat him to a nice big grape soda once this is over, maybe watch a sunset on a farm somewhere and see where it goes from there, (all the homo, no shame). 

 With all that said go see my movie, do it, seriously stop reading and go. Ok fine, the fights are even more kickass then the first movie. You get to hear all of the jokes you loved the first time around and even some pay off to some from the first movie. Also yes we get a much better third act, mostly due to me having more dill weeds to play off of. Now see ya'll in the MCU I cannot WAIT to see how that's all gonna shape up, either way it'll still be better then DC that's for sure.  


In memory of Joi "SJ" Harris 

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Deadpool 2 is owned by 20th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment and The Donners' Company Based on Characters created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Lefeld (Kinda sorta)
Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.

Movie Review: War for the Planet of the Apes: Apes, strong, together.

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.

 Wow-we is it time for another Planet of the Apes Movie? It seems like forever since the last movie and also seems forever since my text review of it. Wait how long was it again? Oh right three years, three whole years since my review of the second movie. Such memories, why don't we take a look at my review of the last one shall we?  

http://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2014/07/dawn-of-planet-of-apes-hail-caesar.html

 Yeah I was pretty crap wasn't I? Judging by my view count between then and now I might still be crap but at least I'm better smelling crap. Though speaking of crap this movie definitely didn't have me flinging mine at the screen mostly due to it being pretty good. Now for those who never saw the first two movies the third does give a very short and sweet text recap of what happened previously. Which is a good way to solve the "haven't seen the first two movies so I'm not sure if I should see the third one" problem. I perfectly understand that not everyone has a whole wealth of time to movies and not wanting to feel left out when the third and a beloved trilogy comes out. 

 Moving on it's been a few years since the events of the last movie and Ceaser and his tribe are continuing their search for a permanent settlement away from the remaining humans who understandably are a little peeved that most of their species were killed by the Simian Virus and are a little trigger happy toward the new dominant species of the earth. Ceaser learns from his oldest Son that there is a place that could serve their needs beyond the boarder of California. But before Ceaser can act his wife and oldest son are killed by a Colonel played by Woody Harrelson so he and a small group of his most loyal apes decide to launch an attack on the Colonel and his unit as revenge. Along the way Ceaser is plagued by doubts set in from the last movie, primarily centered around the actions of Koba. I won't say how exactly but for those who played Arkham Knight (and not Blacklisted Warner Brothers games after playing the PC Version) they should have a pretty good idea how.

 The advertising for this one may be a little disingenuous about what the actual "war" in this movie is. No it's not the obvious Ape vs Human war but a more personal one for Ceaser, now I won't say what it is but those who've seen the last two movies and read what the driving motivation for him and the Arkham Knight reference can probably guess what the "war" is. Once again the special effects in this movie have gone up, still convincing me that I am indeed watching a group of super intelligent apes and not CGI puppets being moved by the brilliant motion capture work of Andy Serkis. What helps with this is in the characterization, you can truly see some great and captivating performances and emotions in the facial movements of Ceaser and the other apes. Though the human characters aren't slouches in this case either, especially Woody Harrelson's Colonel but I won't give away why since this is truly something you need to see for yourself.

 Now as of writing this I still haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes movies but I know enough to know what are the seeds for those movies that are planted in this movie. Now we can all just definitively agree that the Tim Burton remake never happened, right? Right good, moving on because seriously screw Tim Burtons remakes, we may like the guy or at least not have gotten sick of him but everyone can admit his adaptations and remakes are just; as the brits describe complete and utter pants. Again since I do want you all to see this I won't give them away but be on the lookout. But for now all I can say is get your tribe, get some popcorn and definitely be sure to swing on by and catch this when you legally can. Speaking of swinging when I come back to looking at movies either I'll be swinging to music or swinging around NYC, depends on which I get to first, either way I'll definitely be in for a good time so keep an eye out for that.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is owned by 20^th Century Fox Based on Characters Created by Pierre Boulle

Movie Review Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Hail Caesar

Wow, just wow. Me and my Mom and Brother just got back from watching Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and all I can say is, why haven’t you watched this yet?

.............Really?

Okay, fine I do have a bit more to say then that. Besides, I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I didn’t at least try to show some semblance of professionalism. Now before going into this I have to say that I have not seen any of the Planet of the Apes movies before this. (You may start throwing stones, flaming barrels, poop, and homophobic slander at me.) Nevertheless, this movie gets into my good books already by being one of the rare sequels that you do not need to see the prequel first to fully get what is going on. That to me is one of the key tricks of a great movie for me, one that you can get into without having extensive knowledge of the franchise to enjoy it. Now to monkey business, the movie takes place after Rise of the Planet of the Apes and thanks to the “Simian Virus” unleashed by Caesar in the last movie, most of humanity is whipped out save for several pockets of resistance that were immune to the virus. Now Caesar and his tribe are living out in the Muir Woods of California and are trying to create their own civilization. In the ten years since the aperising Caesar and the rest of the primates have progressed enough to develop a large fortress, spears, speak sign language and have a small grasp of English. However there is a small band of humans lead by Future John Conner (He'll play John in the upcoming Terminator Genesis in 2015) and Commissioner Gordon that are hiding in the ruins of a city that are trying to restore power to their city, the catch is that the dam that could provide power is in Caesar’s territory. From there, the movie goes into themes of diplomacy, leadership, trust, and what it means to be a man or a beast. Now, I can barely remember most of the human characters that aren’t Malcolm and Dreyfus, no the real stars are of course the apes themselves, there’s very little dialogue between them but through their actions and facial expressions you can grasp more about their relationship and their place in the tribe more than any dialogue could. (Though the subtitles during their sign language conversations does help :3) This is thanks to incredible CGI technology but mostly though the motion capture of the actors portraying the apes, top dollar in this case of course goes to Andy Serkis as Caesar. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a guy that will always prefer practical effects over CGI especially in this 3D dependent, CGI infested era of film making, so that should say something when I say that the CGI for the apes is amazing, you could honestly tell that these could be living, breathing creatures. Though again, the acting is what drives it home for me, not the graphics, take note David Cage this is what you should be trying to do. On that note I do highly recommend seeing this in 2D, not only because it is cheaper and I desperately want this new 3D craze to go away, but also some of the action scenes work just fine without the overblown gimmick. Of course, it does have its moments of fun without the action scenes; I do not want to spoil anything concerning characters however so I am not going to. Yet I sense that most people aren't convinced yet, so I will just show this image.

I am a monkey with Machine Guns on horseback, your argument is invalid!

 

Now go see this movie to get the context for this hopefully iconic image.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is owned by 20^th Century Fox

Based on Characters Created by Pierre Boulle

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released on July 11^th 2014.