Fumbled Reviews

Fairy Tail (2009–2019)

mediocre transition from the manga

[7/10 · 13 June 2010]

Having kept up with the manga Fairy Tail since the year it was released I was excited to watch this anime and a lot of people believed that this title would be competition for the big shounen anime One Piece, Naruto, Bleach.

So far, I'd say that this won't happen anytime soon. There are a few things lacking from the anime that just didn't capture the magic of the manga.

The story of the Fairy Tail is just about a world full of mages with unique magical abilities that collect into separate guilds. Within these guilds, the mages take on missions for their rewards. The better ranked the mage, the harder mission they can take on. This is pretty much the world of Naruto except instead of ninjas they're mages. Fairy Tail is actually a mage guild filled with lovable misfits that seem to cause trouble for the guild despite their good intentions.

Artwork-wise this anime is pretty well drawn out and I have no complaints with the artstyle used. The watercolor-like colors fit in with the original art of the manga. I have some problems with a few things though, such as those action shots where you just see a character and blue dashing lines behind them. I thought that only belonged in the likes of Pokemon. Also, in the manga there were no glyphs that would pop up in midair whenever someone summons a spell. I don't understand the addition of this and just throws in a whole lot of questions to the viewer. Are the mages doing some kind of alchemy (Full Metal Alchemist style?) Music-wise, I dislike it. Some of the bagpipe bgm is good but a lot of the music in the background feels pretty cheap. I didn't expect any GREAT music but I still thought they could get music at least within Bleach realm which wasn't even that great.

I think the biggest problem with the anime I have is the jokes and expressions. For one thing Natsu, the protagonist has a pretty obnoxious voice in my opinion. They made his character feel very childish like I'm watching a cartoon meant to pump up little children with its rad way of talking. I don't think the voice actor, Kakihara, really understood Natsu the way most manga readers do. He makes Natsu sound egotistical when in the manga he seemed to just have an optimistic personality. Also, some of the best jokes in the manga are missing from the anime or just delivered in a poor fashion. For instance when one of the mages, Lucy, summons the spirit of Sagittarius, they had a discussion in the manga about how Sagittarius is actually half horse half man (lower half being the horse), and when the spirit finally appears it's a man in a ridiculous horse costume with a horse head. In the anime, they don't even mention the joke at all and just continue on with the plot. I feel like the anime is just rushing through with the plot and doesn't focus on the comedy enough - which is a big reason why I became a fan of the manga in the first place.

Anyways, as of this review there have been 33 episodes and I feel like they are obtaining more budget. The animation is getting better and there are less of those Pokemon-esquire action shots with the blue line background. Hopefully, the quality improves and more attention is given to the comedy from the manga. The comedy of the manga is probably 1/2 of why I read it as the plot is pretty predictable and forms neat little arcs that barely tie in with one another.

Community (2009–2015)

Hilarious. Dan Harmon a genius.

[9/10 · 12 June 2010]

I saw bits of the pilot and at first didn't see anything that I liked. However, picked up the series in the middle and started getting more interested in it. Before I knew it, I watched 22 episodes in 3 days. This is probably my favorite comedy on TV at the moment. The Office has taken a backseat to my new favorite "Community." One thing that I've noticed is that this show is heavy on references. However, this doesn't seem too forced. There is actually a character that makes references to movies and TV in order to relate to people. However, this is not as annoying as it sounds as they have created him into the most funny and lovable persona I've seen on TV. The whole cast is actually great and you can tell that there is a good chemistry amongst the actors.

The whole thing takes place in a community college that is under the influence of a dean with issues on political correctness and status. They bring the insecurities of the school into play a lot by having lots of school events like Green week, STD fair, Merry Happy week, etc. It becomes an atmosphere of hilarity as the group of misfits plow their way through this school of abnormalities and oddness.

There is not one actor on set that I hate or think is doing a bad job. So far there has only been one season so we shall see how long this lasts before they potentially ruin some characters. However, I am optimistic about the future of this series and really think this show will catch on in a big way. This is how comedy should be done. I can't get over how many times I have laughed watching this show. Usually I don't laugh that much while watching TV.

Deadliest Warrior (2009– )

A sad excuse to play with swords and guns

[3/10 · 11 May 2009]

This show gives the viewer the impression that it breaks down warriors from the past in a scientific manner that shows which warrior, if they met face to face, would be superior in combat. They tell us they use "state of the art" programs to create such a scenario based on tests they take from experts and historians.

However, what we get it a lot of poorly choreographed and cheesy fight clips involving two LARPers, a bunch of "experts" that seem to have all sorts of superiority complexes, and a nerd on his Alienware laptop typing "complex code," which probably bears similarity to a pokemon game.

The best part for me was when they actually tested guns on a fake skull with fake brains in it. As expected, the bullet penetrated the skull and left a messy exit wound in the back. Then with these "findings" they declared the weapon "lethal." Wow. I didn't know bullets to the head could be lethal! Thanks "Deadliest Warrior." The worst part is, they will give one "side" an "edge" over another even if both weapons seem proficient at killing another human being based on damage done on their dummies. Never mind the fact that a 50 pound axe takes a lot of grunt force to lift and swing around sluggishly. It deals more damage than a regular 8 pound sword that allows a soldier to be more maneuverable and swing more times. "EDGE: BATTLE AXE!" In the end they "punch the numbers" basically dealing damage to each side to come up with a victor through 1000 or so battles. Oh and you get to see the LARPers face off.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Lucas and Steve: 'they no nuts! they crazy!'

[5/10 · 29 May 2008]

What is this? Come on guys. This just seems like abuse to fans everywhere. If you want to see the Phantom Menace of Indiana Jones, here it is. Low and behold, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls.

Let's start out by saying, I couldn't care less or more for CGI effects. I think they're fine. I don't think it detracts from anything here, however fake looking some of it maybe. I guess that's part of the charm in a production. To see some of the ingenuity (good or bad) that they come up with to make this film, which makes us feel closer to the movie making process.

What I do have a problem with is the bad plot and the flat characters followed by terrible pacing. I will tell you there will be two, possibly 3, characters you definitely won't care about. That would be Mac, Spalko and possibly Oxley. Mac's motivations seem cliché and his character is hardly developed. We know what he's going to do, no one loves or hates him during the whole film. He serves as the frustrating character. That guy who might be funny because he's round and apparently British. But no. If you thought he'd be the Sallah or Marcus, you were wrong. He's a bore. Spalko on the other hand, the main villain, is also quite nonthreatening and weak. I know they intentionally made her a cliché strong Russian/dominatrix type woman. However, she seems incapable of harming anything more than a fly (or ant) as much as she threatens. It's really a pity since I wanted her to really show everyone she meant business and at first when she was introduced I really thought she was going to do some evil ass kicking. Oxley is more of a plot device so I'll just skip over him.

Then there's the transition of these sequences. They're bad. The first 45 minutes or so I feel like Indy's back! This isn't bad! They reintroduced our hero, gave him a sidekick, fought the baddies already, etc. everything feels right.

But then they actually travel to the archaeological site and it's over from there. About halfway, we are revealed the whole plot and secret of the film (which most of us already could have guessed from the first sequence) but now they lay it out on the table for us wide and clear. "This is the secret to the artifact, this is why we want it!" As you could've guessed by the casting list, they even bring Karen Allen (Marion) back. She is bad. She makes the atmosphere even more nonthreatening when she fills the screen with her happy smiles, even at gunpoint, even when a loved one is at gunpoint. Smile smile happy happy. After a few explosive sequences (which weren't bad, except for a few very cheesy scenes involving Mutt), they find where they want to go, and we see a very predictable ending that most of us saw coming around the corner halfway through the film.

I did like seeing Indiana again. Seeing Harrison Ford put on that fedora back on for the first time in this film really got me, and the whole audience excited. It struck a nostalgic chord deep in our hearts. He has the same sarcastic and humorous lines as the previous films. The only thing missing here is his ability to outwit the enemy. If you are looking for scenes like in the Last Crusade where he turns on the Nazi motorboat, let's it coast down the river, then while the Nazi soldiers are getting in a second boat to follow the dummy boat, Indiana busts out of a nearby crate in a motorcycle giving him a head start advantage, you will be disappointed. There are no such scenes where you see Indiana use his ingenuity to defeat or outsmart his enemies in this one. Rather just lots of swinging around and punching some Soviet faces. This time also they make him take a slight backseat. Instead of him taking the lead, it's Mutt and Marion who drive the motorcycle or drive the car fearlessly into danger, while passenger Indiana says "no, that's dangerous" or "too fast."

The payoff when seeing this movie is seeing Indiana Jones the character. The simple and straightforward plot however leaves you feeling empty. You'll know what is going to happen and how it's going to end and when it does you won't be impressed.

Initial D (2005)

Bad for Initial D fans!

[3/10 · 10 April 2008]

Of course I had to watch this movie since I was a big Initial D fan. I had high hopes when watching the opening scene where Jay Chou's character is effortlessly gliding down the mountain pass in his Trueno. That was the best part of the movie unfortunately.

Let's talk about the good first. The car scenes are pretty fun to watch sometimes. In many of the scenes they'll hug a turn on the inside and let the rear slide out and overtake the opponent. It's pretty fun to watch and you just have to wonder who the stunt men are or if they brought in Japanese drift legend, Tsuchiya on to the set for some of these shots.

Unfortunately that's the only thing that is good about this movie. Let's talk about the bad now. The characters are two dimensional. If you are a fan of the anime you will not find your beloved characters here. Jay Chou does a pretty bad job as the protagonist. I feel like he's always mumbling out his lines or is just wondering why he isn't doing the music video yet. Also, let's talk about his friends. They're morons. His best friend Itsuki is more of a raving idiot than his anime counterpart would ever hope to be. In the anime, this character talks about trying to get better and having Takumi as his inspiration. In the movie, this character talks about how he's a racing god and when he loses and wrecks he asks his poor father to buy him an even faster car (GTR) so that he can rematch and wreck that one too. Takumi's father is also a drunk and a bum. Also he is abusive. He beats his son and Jay Chou has scars on his back from all the beatings. I don't know what they were thinking by making him an abusive drunkard since obviously from the original material he was never one. Obviously, you can tell from what I'm writing here that the director probably never watched an episode of Initial D in his life.

I find the camera work to be also crappy and low budget. There are lots of scenes where they freeze the frame and you are left thinking "did something happen to my DVD player?" Nope. That's their creative take on racing. To freeze the scene even when it's a person's face talking. Then there's the music. Nothing in the movie was good except for Jay Chou's song. The racing scenes have music that sounds like a background track for a rap battle without the rapping. If you're a fan of the anime don't expect to hear your favorite eurobeat tracks or Move songs.

Overall I was bored, only paid attention during the races and got utterly perplexed by the ridiculous ending sequence where the people are celebrating. The other team and even his abusive father who has his arms around two young girls start cheering. Also I'd like to point out that not only is a 3 car race unfair, I've never seen a race with 3 cars in Initial D or any mountain race scene in any movie!

Next time try not to squeeze so much crap in.