Flaviaj1991 Reviews

Strange World (2022)

One of the weirdest animations I've ever seen , and not in a good way.

[4/10 · 2 January 2023]

First of all, the fact that Ethan Clade is gay is far from the problem in this movie or the explanation of why this movie floped. The reason why this movie is bad is because the writers didn't create a story that would justify the existence of an hour and a half animation. The genre of this animation is adventure and science fiction. But the central emotional conflict, "daddy issues", is weak and predictable, and didn't fit very well with the adventureus history that writers wanted to bring. All of this makes the film very weird, with a convoluted script, as if the pieces didn't fit together. To make matters worse, the characters are generic and without charisma, which is fatal in a Disney movie. The farmer father is insufferably boring, and his redemption at the end feels belated. The mascot that serves as comic relief is another poorly crafted character. The protagonist boy Ethan and the dog have their charm, but for a Disney animation, it lacked more character development. Strange World will be on that animation's lists that are too boring and complicated for children and at the same time too much predicable and silly for adults. Not pleasing any of the audiences, failure is certain.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

It could have been a perfect movie if it hadn't had Bruce Timm's nefarious sick fetish in the middle.

[1/10 · 22 August 2021]

The whole Batman fandom in the four corners of the earth summarily agree that Batman and Barbara have to be theoretically the worst superhero couple of all time. With them having such a close and well established uncle/niece relationship in the Batfamily, with her being the young daughter of Jim Gordon and even a important love interest of Batman's son (Dick), Batman and Babs shouldn't have romantic/sexual tensions to begin and any attempt to write them in some summer affair it would sound creepy and weird as hell.

The issues this brings to the Batman and Babs characterization are huge. It not only weakens Barbara's character, turning her in just another passing and disposable Batman's love interest (as if he didn't already have enough love interests), it ruins Batman's character by turning him into one of those creepy middle-aged uncles who eventually have a sex with the daughter of his middle-aged best friend. This sounds like a horny fanfic coming from a perverted male writer, not like a Batman story should be.

But Bruce Timm is "that guy". He not only loves it, not only thinks it's the coolest idea ever since Batman Beyond, but his horny dreams still stay alive being shoved in the audience's face now through the Brian Azarello's writing. This results in the first 30 minutes of The Killing Joke movie, which not only don't work and feel out of place from the main plot, but ruin the whole experience as a whole. You know, there are other ways for female and male characters to work without having to put romantic tension in between. As an dynamic between a father and daughter or an old man mentor and younger girl pupil. But apparently, Timm and Azarello are unable to imagine a female character like Batgirl interacting with Batman in a story without need to have some sex moment.

You see, even if Babs had had a sex with Dick in some Batman movie, I would can fully support it depending on the circunstance. If Batman ended up in some scene making love to Catwoman on some roof, I'd get up from my chair and clap my hands. But Batman and Babs? Timm and Azarello should just stop forcing their weird fetishes into major DC works and reserve it for their private fanfics.

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010 Video)

Still the best Batman movie to date

[10/10 · 21 August 2021]

Not even Nolan's movies could capture the essence of a good Batman story like Under the Red Hood did.

Batman always be in his best when show his feelings for the Robins, and they nailed Batman's personality here. A complicated and gridy man, but who still truly loves his adopted sons, something that has been forgotten in recent years by many writers.

The story of UTRH is other great point, is so much Batman, so dark, powerful, with a perfect rhythm and very well choreographed and fluid fights. The tough fight in the bathroom is one of the most remarkable I've seen in a superhero movie, it was so quick and simples, but very fun and memorable.

Other good thing is that this animation contributed a lot to the popularization of Jason Todd/Red Hood to new generation of Batman fans, which makes me glad since he's my all-time favorite Robin and favorite DC character ever.

Armageddon (1998)

The most underrated movie of all time

[10/10 · 29 April 2020]

This glorious movie has everything you can expect to enjoy: action, drama, comedy, romance, epic outbursts, emotional moments, great special effects that have aged almost nothing and a good soundtrack. I like movies that even with a serious premisse, don't take itselves too seriously, having scenes that allow us to smile and laugh a little. This is Armageddon. No, this isn't philosophical or the most deeper and realist plot, cause this is not the prupose.

Bruce Willis is Harry Stamper, the father that every daughter in the earth wants and would be proud to have: a flawed but deeply heroic guy, tough on the outside with a soft heart on the inside, willing to die to save not only his daughter but all humanity. Liv Tyler lives Grace, at the height of her beauty, that even not participating in the action still brings us emotional moments with the interaction between her dad and her boyfriend. Ben Affleck is decent in the role of A.J., incarnating the typical reckless hero guy who is in love with the beautiful girl and that ries to win the trust of his jealous father-in-law, who at heart loves him and is like a father to him too.

Is it cliché? Yeah. But it's a cliché that manages to entertain me for almost 3 hours and still manages to pull tears at the end. The scene of Harry switching places with AJ and giving his final speech to Grace always makes me cry and if that part doesn't bring you any emotional reaction, you not have a soul or a heart... And I can't finish without to say the supporting cast is great too, especially Steve Buscemi, who is perfect on paper comic relief role.

Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo (1978)

Bizarre film

[5/10 · 16 January 2019]

The Castle of Cagliostro is much superior, whether in animation, art, script and history; it's a more familiar and enjoyable. In this film Lupin is more faithful to the manga, acting like a more malicious guy, different from the gentle and gentleman version of Miyazaki. Characters like Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko gain more prominence in this film. Lupin's dynamic with Fujiko is a lot of fun, with her always seducing him and always ending up being cheated on by her. There are very sexual scenes, with lots of heavy adult jokes, plus shootings and a dark and violent tone. The problem in The Secret of Mamo is in the plot, which mixed an action / espionage with a misplaced scientific fiction, becoming a complete mess as it advances, with Hitler pops up out nowhere and then culminating in the most bizarre and cringe ending I've ever seen with a giant brain floating in space.

Spy (2015)

What is the problem with all these 1 star reviews?

[9/10 · 14 January 2019]

You look at the reviews and they all give only 1 star. What the heck. In a movie that clearly never takes itself seriously, why are people taking it so seriously? I honestly loved this movie, and no, I'm not a teenager. It's a spy satire with great action scenes and a good rhythm. There were so many memorable moments in this movie for me, like Susan Cooper killing the guy unintentionally, Ford showing up in Cooper's hotel and bragging about all absurd things he's ever done, every scene that Ford appears, the airplane scene. And the Cooper's fight with the woman in the kitchen was totally badass.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Incredibly beautiful , terribly boring

[5/10 · 5 January 2019]

I'm a great fan of Miyazaki's movies. I really wanted to have loved this, I really wanted to. But I couldn't. The animation it´s high quality, as you would expect from Miyazaki movie: It's beautiful, criative, rich in detail and very well built. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same of the characters, which are not so memorable and fun. Here we don't have anthological creatures like Totoro or No-Face, nor do we have such charismatic characters like Mononoke, Chihiro, Haku, Lupin III, Nausicaa, Porco Rosso. The plot is confusing, tiring and boring. Miyazaki movies usually have crazy twists and crazy situations, but the Howl's Moving Castle is just too confusing in excess. The beginning, when Sophie is a young woman, is spectacular, but then the story becomes a mess as it moves on - the idea was good, but it was not well executed. THMC has probably the most beautiful sceneries I've ever seen in a Miyazaki movie, but in term of character, soul, life, story, plot, it falls far short of such classics as Spirited Away, The Castle of Cagliostro and Princess Mononoke.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

How the heck I never watched this before ? One of the best Miyazaki movies by far

[10/10 · 4 January 2019]

Yesterday, I just randomly found this movie on Netflix. I had not known anything about Lupin III before. How the animation is old, I didn't think would be great. What a surprise!! The movie caught me in the first few minutes and I didn't see the time pass. The story and plot is extremely entertaining, spirited and full of action scenes very well executed. It's the best action animation I've ever seen. The vibe reminded me Tintin of Hergé so much. I fell in love with all the characters. Lupin III is an unforgettable character and a very charismatic anti-hero. Surprises me that he not so known in the West, when he has a anti-hero archetype that the West usually like. CoC is already in my top 5 Miyazaki movies, easely. I will rewatch this movie many times.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

Forgettable and with the worst protagonist I've ever seen.

[2/10 · 4 December 2017]

If I had not seen the name Pixar in the title and credits for this movie, I would never believe that this movie belongs to the same studio that brought masterpieces like Wall-E!! Dude, Arlo is the worst protagonist I've ever seen in an animated movie!!!! He has no charisma, he's dull and boring and his design is generic. Cars and Brave are also considered the weakest Pixar movies but at least they had protagonists a little more interesting and striking! Spot is a better character but not extraordinary, and his cute presence is not able to save the movie from complete disgrace. The script is very uninspired and without identity, being simply a heap of situations already seen in other animations, which happen to have no connection with each other, which makes Arlo's journey tiresome and boring. The villains were one- dimensional and shallow. And what the heck was these cartoonish dinosaurs interacting in these overly realistic landscapes? This didn't match and was very strange !!

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

It's not an easy movie to watch. There are things I hate, others I love.

[5/10 · 26 November 2017]

Yes, there may be many meanings behind the Monolith and that bizarre ending. Yes, the visual and special effects is unquestionably dazzling and aged like wine. Yes, it's one of the most unique movies in the cinema. But let's talk frankly, the movie isn't fun to watch. The pace is painfully slow. Before even the "A Space Odyssey" title appears, we have to stand a nasty soundtrack playing for three minutes in the black screen. This is a warning to all the boredom that awaits us. Starting with a bunch of monkeys screaming and jumping, which is very annoying , or a bunch of generic, uninteresting people talking and eating while spacecrafts move like turtles in space. While the spacecraft descends on the moon, or when Dave is trying to rescue his mate, you could go to the kitchen to make a cup noodles, return to the screen and find that the spacecraft has not yet touched the lunar soil and Dave has not rescued Frank yet. But the third part is what saves this movie, because HAL 9000 is in it. HAL is the thing I love in this movie and I think that's what saved the movie, because all the moments that HAL is acting are fun, and all the times HAL isn't in scene are boring or bizarre like hell. The last part is the most WTF thing that I've ever seen. And is basically it.

Digimon: Digital Monsters (1999–2007)

Best anime of my childhood

[10/10 · 18 September 2017]

Today I'm 26 years old, and I still have a lot of fun watching Digimon Adventure. Honestly, I never understood the critiques about Digimon being a copy of Pokemon. Digimon Adventure has a beginning, middle and end, while Pokemon is an anime that never ends. The best of Digimon are the characters. My favorite was always Izzy, followed closely by Tai and Hikari.

Even though there have been many other seasons of Digimon, some also good, for me nothing beats the original. This anime is forever in my heart.

Batman & Robin (1997)

The hard truth, my friends, is that Batman & Robin is more closer to Batman comic books than all Nolan's movies.

[10/10 · 10 July 2017]

The Nolan trilogy , although loved by many, has a problem that bore me: takes itself too seriously. Guys, let's face it: Batman is a guy who dresses in bat clothes and walks around with a high- tech car through the alleys to fighting crime. Now imagine a guy doing it in real life. It would certainly be as funny and ridiculous as George Cloney or Adam West walking the streets. Schumacher's Batman & Robin is a movie that embraces this cartoonism with fervor and without shame. That's why this movie deserves a glorious ten stars. The universe and superhero concept, including our beloved Batman, is often ridiculous and eccentric - things that we, comic book lovers, pretend not to see, because after all we love and will always love all this s.h.i.t like eternal children. The fact that so many hate this movie is that it just rubs these inconvenient facts in our face. Then people turn to films that mask and hide these shameful aspects, like the films of Burton and Nolan. Each one with their preferences, but I definitely continue with the Burton movies, which were dark without losing the sense of humor and without wanting to sound like a pieces of Shakespeare. Meanwhile, Batman & Robin lights up my days making me laugh and The Dark Knight leaves me with depression.

Game of Thrones (2011–2019)

A show with ups and downs and definitely overrated.

[3/10 · 10 July 2017]

Let me tell you something. I've never read the books and I don't intend until GRRM finish all this damn books, If one day he will do it. I watched all the seasons up to now, and I intend to finish it, but even much I enjoy the show, I can't deny that the story taken certain directions that disappointed and displeased me.

In the first half of show, the story had great twists and episodes really memorable and awesome as Ned's death, the battle of BlackWater, the Red Wedding and all the exciting fourth season. Unfortunately, there was a decline of certain characters in lasts seasons. Daenerys was an incredible character in beginning as a conqueror, but after she took power in Meeren, she's simply annoying now. All plot in Meereen was boring.

And what about Tyrion? After he fled from Casterly Rock, his story seems to have lost its charm. The hard truth is that he's now just the shadow of the man he was. He was terribly wasted in the last seasons having been reduced to a mere comic relief. Arya, in particular, what the hell she did in the last two seasons, I cannot say. Her excellent and entertaining interaction with The Hound gave way to a boring and wtf training in Braavos, and the show lost a lot with that. About Dorne, I don't even need to comment. Was ridiculously ridiculous.As for the end of Stannis, I don't know what to comment either. The character had one of the worst plot outcomes I've ever seen. And Rickon Stark? He died as he lived: being totally useless.

And even when the show was at its best, there have always been some freaking stupid and bizarre things that sound too exaggerated and out of place in story, which has a more crude and realistic tone in itself. I can easely accept the dragons and the "mediumistic" Bran Stark abilities why they fit into a medieval universe. But I can't stand Melisandre giving birth a freaking shadow that killed a Guy and then disappears like smoke. What? And there are the Zumbies and the arrival of the white walkers, that I never give a damn.This army of Ice Zumbies often feels shifted from realistic political universe in GoT. Seriously, this plot sucks.

The positive points is that stories of Jon Snow, Sansa and Bran became much more interesting in the last seasons by far. It's cool to see Jon Snow standing in his rightful position and Sansa finally standing up for herself. Bran's character, by the way, has finally gained some meaning for me now. I hated him until season six, now I really like him. Hodor's death was touching and surprising. The Battle of the Bastards was epic. So, not everything displeased me.

I don't know if season seven and eight will be able to lift the fun and surprises that were the first half of Game Of Thrones. The show feels somewhat lost amid so many changes, and seems to feel the weight of having lost so many interesting characters along the way.

Son of Batman (2014)

The main problem is that Damian is so overly powerful that it makes the story predictable and boring.

[3/10 · 10 July 2017]

Where do I start? I must say that, in theory, I really like the character of Damian. The problem is his execution within the story. The writers make Damian so invincible and so powerful that it's annoying as hell. I mean, OK, we know he was raised by the League of Assassins and we know that a universe of super-heroes is not usually realistic, but ... for God's sake, he's still a f.u.c.k.i.n.g 10- year-old boy. Did it cost something for the writers to give a Damian some REAL vulnerability and fragility ? Watching this boy fighting on the same level of Nightwing it's painful. Watching Slade Wilson having his ass kicked by a brat was painful. What the hell was that final fight? The brat literally had both his arms severely injured and stuck by two swords, and yet he was able to free himself. More than freeing himself, he continued to fight as if NOTHING had happened. More than continue fighting, he defeated Slade, a high- profile assassin twice his age, with no help!!! Seriously DC? Give me a break!

The Dark Knight (2008)

Boring, pretentious and far from the Batman comic book

[2/10 · 8 July 2017]

As a fan of Batman, this is undoubtedly the most unpopular opinion of my entire life. But I cannot stand this movie. For me this is the most pretentious and overrated movie in the history of cinema. Heath Ledger's Joker was charismatic, but taking it away ... What do we have? We have a movie that makes Batman a mere supporting character in his own film. A Batman with no balls and no detective soul. Confused, messy, uninspired fights. Boring, lifeless, uninspired scenarios. A Gotham turned into some another generic and commom American city. An overly dramatic, heavy, humorless and violent tone. Batman is usually dark, yes, but one thing is to be dark, another is to want to sound like a play by Shakespeare. TDK takes itself very seriously and this sucks. Oh for God's sake, at the end we are talking just about a guy who dresses in bat and walks around town for fighting crime. It doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't have to be too complex, it doesn't have to be very philosophical. I just want to look at the movie and think, "This is a Super-Hero movie!" Exactly the same feeling that Spiderman 1, 2 and Burton movies always makes me feel every time I watch. The Dark Knight is not a genuine Super-Hero movie. It's simply a police story that happens in a generic city by chance called Gotham where by chance Batman and the Joker are inserted, with Batman being only a supporting character.