One Piece Season 1 (2023) Review

This show has been a worldwide phenomenon the last few weeks and I have now watched the live action version of One Piece. I have never watched the animated version of the show so I am going in blind and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees a group of pirates come together in order to attempt to look for a long lost treasure. 

Main Character

Inaki Godoy plays Monkey D Luffy and he is a great lead character here. He is a lot of fun and he is so energetic that you can't help yourself but become interested in him. Sometimes it can be a bit much but overall I really liked Luffy and felt like this was a genuine performance. There is some development here for sure and this is a fun lead performance. 

Supporting Characters

The best character on this show is Zoro played by Mackenyu. He is an awesome character and is easily the best part of the action sequences, his sword play is ridiculously entertaining and his deadpan comedy really worked for me. 

Emily Rudd plays Nami and she is a good character too, she is a focal point of the show and her character gets time to shine. There are flashbacks about her that explains the more mysterious parts of her character and along with Luffy & Zoro are a great trio of characters. 

Garp played by Vincent Regan is a great antagonist, he is the vice admiral of the marines and is trying to eradicate piracy, in particular Luffy. He is a nuanced character and there is more to him then some moustache twiddling bad guy. 

There are so many other great performances that I will just say that everybody is great and I had a fun time seeing them all do their thing and clearly care about their characters. 

Story

The story is great, it especially does a fantastic job in building up the main characters and building this whole universe up. It has the pirates story and the marines story and I thought both were great and linked to each other very well. It is also great at having individual stories in the episodes while having a larger narrative. The finale really delivers and sets up a bright future for live action One Piece. 

Script

This show delivers with some dramatic moments and some genuinely funny moments. The chemistry and delivery is pretty spot on by all the performers. However, this show does get a little too cheesy and ridiculous for me. The show thrives on being over the top but there are a few moments where it took me out of the show. 

Style

This show looks amazing. It is full of colour and brightness and I love some of the designs here, whether that be costumes, locations or weapons and it all nailed it. The pacing of the show is fantastic and each episode did a great job in introducing and developing multiple characters on this show. 

Overall

Overall, One Piece is a fantastic show, It looks amazing and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I recommend that everybody watches it, especially those who are fans of fantasy shows as this is one of the better ones of the last few years. 

Rating - 9/10

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) Trailer Review

Despite very little fanfare and very little promotional material, we finally have our first trailer for the upcoming film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. I am going to look through the trailer and take the biggest things from it. 

This film is set 4 years after the original film. 

Straight away in the trailer we find out that this film is set 4 years after the first film and that Aquaman has become a father. He has also been King of Atlantis the entire time, which is a job that clearly frustrates him. We have seen him in small cameos in recent DC films but I highly doubt any of them will be acknowledged here. 

Black Manta is back and is the main villain

Black Manta played by Yahya Abdul-Matten was an interesting side villain in the first Aquaman film but was ultimatley a small part of the film. He is back here and he is clearly taking a step up in terms of his role. He still holds a massive grudge against Arthur Curry and by having a new weapon he is trying to destroy the whole of Atlantis. 

Is Tom Curry killed off here?

Tom Curry played by the amazing Temuera Morrison is a nice addition to the cast and a good father to Arthur. But there is a shot in the trailer which shows his house burning, does this herald the death of Tom or is it just a red herring in the trailer. His death would make sense as Black Manta's grudge with Aquaman started with the death of his own father so would link well as a story. 

Atlanna is back but Vulko is not. 

The trailer confirms that Arthur's mother Atlanna played by Nicole Kidman reprises her role in this film. It has been pretty much confirmed that she will be Arthur's biggest ally and helping him run Atlantis. It is like she is taking the role of Willem Dafoe's Vulko from the first film, it has been confirmed he won't be back for this film which is a shame. 

Patrick Wilson is back as Orm

At the end of the first film Orm is arrested and loses the right of King of Atlantis. He is brought back here and it seems that he will be a reluctant ally of Aquaman as they look to stop Black Manta. It does seem a very Thor & Loki relationship and it will be interesting to see how Orm and Arthur's relationship is handled during this film. 

Amber Heard is back as Mera, but very shortly

In a fleeting moment in the trailer we see Amber Heard as Mera. It is clear that she is married to Arthur here and she gave birth to their child. However, after all the controversial events in her personal life it is likely her role will be significantly reduced here. Director James Wan has said it was always the plan for her to have a smaller role but I have no doubt the real life stuff has had an impact on the film. 

Overall

Overall, this looks like a fun film. DC have had some bad times recently and clearly have little faith in this film but this trailer got me a bit more excited and it will be nice to see this character one more time before the big DC reboot. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) Review

The original Red Dead Redemption has been remade for the PS4 and it is available for the PS5 so I do eventually want to play through it. So I decided to use this as an excuse to replay Red Dead Redemption 2 and give it a review so here it is. The premise of the game shows the origins of the Van Der Linde Gang and how the members are on the run from the government and from the world of industrialisation. 

Characters

There are so many characters in Red Dead Redemption 2, that I will not have a chance to go through them all but just know that everybody is fantastic. The main protagonist Arthur Morgan played by Roger Clark is one of the greatest characters I have ever seen in any medium and it is a true pleasure to play as him. Clark gives an amazing performance and records an insane amount of lines for the game. The character has true development and I got so invested in his character and it was a real joy to play as Arthur. 

Reprising his role from the first game Benjamin Byron Davis plays Dutch Van Der Linde and this is also an amazing performance. If you have played the first game then you know where he goes but that doesn't make it engaging to watch this characters development over the stage of the game. Davis voice acting here is phenomenal and makes this one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. 

Rob Wiethoff also reprises his role as John Marston from the first game and even though he plays a smaller role then he does in that game, the use of his character is great. The relationships between John & Arthur and Dutch & John really drives this game and is the cornerstone on things that are great for this game. 

This game also has one of the most despicable characters ever created in Micah Bell played by Peter Blomquist, this character is sneaky, violent and untrustworthy but I can't help but love the delivery of his character and how Blomquist delivers his lines to really make you love to hate Micah and it is amazing. 

As I said at the top, all the characters are fantastic. Sadie, Charles & Hosea are some that really shine but I really mean that everybody is great and gives really strong performances. 

Story

The story is brilliant. There are these group of outlaws that do bad things but you can't help but care about their goals and wanting to see them succeed. The main characters have fantastic development and there is so many good things here with a great ending. There is an epilogue for the game and I actually enjoyed playing it, it isn't as great as the main story but it bridges the gap between the two games really well and I am glad it was there. 

Side Content

There is so much content here that it is insane. Arthur meets many interesting people as he ventures to different parts of America in this game and the majority always want some help and they are pretty much all interesting and fun people. They are fun and provide many different activities to do and some actually contribute to the main story and the character of Arthur. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is brilliant, the gunplay is very exciting. You get access to different types of weapons during different missions and it is very fun to choose what you want to use. The Dead Eye Mechanic is brought back from the previous game and it can change your situation so fast if you are struggling in combat. The hunting and fishing mechanics are also fun and makes things that could be tedious be pretty fun. 

Graphics

The graphics for this game is amazing. The cutscenes seem lifelike and despite being a previous gen game it looks brilliant. There is so much attention to detail for the characters, locations and weapons and it just raises everything up a bit. 

Overall

Overall, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic game and one of my favourite games of all time. I have put almost 400 hours into this game in my life and it deserves every minute. It is a true open world experience and one that can't be missed by gamers anywhere. 

Rating - 10/10

Hatton (2023) Review

A documentary about famous British Boxer Ricky Hatton has been marketed heavily by Sky and has been released. I sat down today and decided to watch it and here is my review for the documentary. The premise of the documentary looks at the long career of Ricky Hatton as he faces the highs and lows that came out of his career. 

This documentary should receive praise for the fact that it doesn't really hide back from the dark times that Hatton has gone through and makes it clear that at least in his eyes he kind of sees himself as a bit of a failure despite the fact that he was a World Champion in Boxing. But seeing his drinking and drug abuse issues brings it into the light just how tough being this figure can be. 

It does a good job in showing the rise of Ricky Hatton from an amateur to being the world champion. We see the relationships he builds up such as with his trainer, his parents and his ex fiance and how they are all affected by things that happen in his life. 

Though my biggest criticism of this documentary is that it is a bit short, with the adverts it only clocks in at 90 minutes. This means that they try and go through so much but the majority of it just feels a bit undercooked and like we only get the minimal of information from it. 

Overall, Hatton is a pretty simple and short review because it is an above average documentary that is a quick watch. It deals with some pretty dark stuff and shows how Hatton's life was affected by big events but it needed to be longer or even turned into a 3 or 4 episode series to really give you more depth on certain factors. 

Rating - 6/10

 The Equalizer 3 (2023) Review

I have enjoyed the previous Equalizer films and finally we have a third film in this franchise and possibly the final film of the trilogy and here is my review for The Equalizer 3. The premise of the film sees McCall end up in Southern Italy where he becomes a part of the community, it ends up this community is run by the mafia which springs him into action. 

Main Character

Denzel Washington once again reprises his role as Robert McCall and he is fantastic. I feel like there are few true movie stars left and Denzel is one of them and oozes charisma in this role. He is believable in both the nice guy and as this menacing killing machine. This film is truly elevated by the performance of Denzel Washington and I am glad he agreed to do this film. 

Supporting Characters

Dakota Fanning plays a CIA agent and she is good in the role, she has good chemistry with Washington and it is nice to once again see her acting. Her role and character aren't particularly interesting but Fanning is good here. 

The rest of the cast suffer a bit though, everyone just feels incredibly generic with no character. All the people, protagonists and antagonists in Italy are by the numbers and they offer very little to this film, though everyone is really trying their best. 

Story 

The story is okay, I do like the story that involves the development of Robert McCall and it is always fun seeing Denzel Washington taking down bad guys in the pursuit of justice. It is just a bit like we go through the motions here and don't get much that is new here. Plus they have a story involving terrorists and it brings Dakota Fanning's character into the film and it doesn't need to be here, it doesn't really affect the film and I wonder what the whole point of it was. 

Script

The script is functional, there are some alright dramatic scenes and humour, though I think it was raised by Denzel Washington's performance. There isn't much meat here and it dulls it down to your pretty generic action film. 

Style

This film is easily the most violent of the trilogy and when the action is taking place it is very cool and seeing Washington take down these mobsters is very fun. But the pacing of the film is a bit all over the place, after the first action sequence there is a big lull and it really took me out of the film. 

Overall

Overall, The Equalizer 3 is an above average film. It is one of those generic action films that works well for the fans of the franchise but isn't one that you need to rush out and see. 

Rating - 6/10