Fresh Take - Captain America Brave New World (Spoiler-Free Thoughts)

 Available in Theaters

Synopsis (from IMDB):

Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.

Thoughts

I am just going to get this out of the way right now; if you have not watched the movie but instead listened/read other peoples negative thoughts that start with Woke and DEI you're doing yourself a disservice. Comic book fans have known for a while now that Sam makes a pretty good Captain America. The torch was passed and I think this movie reflects that, much like the Falcon and Winter Soldier show. Do you need to have watched the show before going into this movie? Not really, but it would help with a few characters and a plot thread that made its way from the show. There is also a thread from the 2008 Incredible Hulk film that makes its way into this movie as well. This movie like the other Capt. movies is your basic spy thriller in tone. There is a political theme to it as well but not like some people may think. The action is shot well and the CG is well done too. If you have seen the trailer then you should know that the Red Hulk is in the movie and that fight as well as the CG was done well in my opinion. I think the cast is great and did an awesome job. The soundtrack is well done too. For the most part the movie flows well and I did enjoy a couple of the cameos that did show up in the movie. 

The main problem I see with the movie is that there are parts where it does feel rushed and there are maybe some scenes that are on the cutting room floor that maybe shouldn't be. While I do like some of the setups they do here I think that this movie suffers from everything being thrown off by the pandemic. When you watch the movie you will understand what I am talking about. 

For Parents

This movie is a little under two hours and is rated PG-13 for action and superhero violence. The film is paced well even if it does feel rushed at times. They do a good job with the cat-and-mouse game with the villain. Like the Captain America movies I think this will be a good time at the theater for everyone. 

Final Thoughts

This movie gets a MATINEE from me. I think its perfect for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The movie is paced well, Anthony Mackie is pretty much perfect casting for Sam. Another standout performance is from Giancarlo Esposito, the man is just a cool actor and an even cooler villain. In my opinion its a fun action movie that does not deserve the hate it gets. Have you seen Captain America Brave New World? What did you think? Please leave a comment and let's talk about it. As always thanks for reading, please consider sharing out the blog.

Trailer

Impressions - Tales of Graces f Remastered

 Available on Switch, PS4|5, XBox Series S|X, PC

Thoughts on the Story & Gameplay

This is one of my favorite games in the Tales of series from Bandai Namco. The story revolves around Asbel Lhant and his friends as they try to save their world and their friend from an impending crisis. That's the very short version. The story begins with Asbel and his friends as children. The opening is about a couple hours and serves as a decent tutorial. The game really gets going once the time skip happens and everyone meets up again. I found this story to be one of the more emotional entries in the Tales series. The themes of duty, loss, and friendship are heavy in this one. 

As for the gameplay, it is very well done. Combat is broken up into A Artes and B Artes. The best way for me to describe it is A Artes are your combo starters and B Artes are your special moves. The way your character gains new moves and buffs are via Titles. Every Tales game has titles in them but this game made the title system have an actual use. Their are a lot of titles in this game so its a good idea to play around with them to see which ones fit your gameplay style best. One thing I love about this game is that they made the Mystic Artes/Hi-Ougis easier to do, once you unlock them just hold L in the middle of a combo and voila. The combat is very intuitive and easy to master. That doesn't mean that the game is easy, there are some fights that will be challenging if you aren't prepared for them.

Thoughts on the Good

What do I like about this game? The combat in this game is my jam. Its still one of my favorite Tales combat systems. I enjoy it way more than Abyss or even Symphonia. I also think that they improved upon some of the issues with Vesperia's combat system just by using the Titles for movesets and making Mystic Artes easier to pull off. The voice acting is well done and the soundtrack is great as well. The game comes with all the DLC so its the complete package. Also, the quality of life improvements they made are great. For example, having the destination marker is a huge help as there is a lot of backtracking in this game. Another improvement is giving a run mechanic in the open world areas which helps cut down on time. 

Thoughts on the Bad

The main thing I didn't like was what I didn't like when it originally released and that is all the backtracking. There comes a point in the game where I wish there was just a fast travel option. Also, some of the anime cutscenes in my opinion, could have used a little bit of a touch up. Its not the best in that department I still think the best anime cutscenes in the Tales series belong to Vesperia and Breseria. 

For Parents

This game is rated T for Teen. Its your basic Japanese RPG but like most Tales series games leans heavy on the anime style and themes. This game does have some heavy themes in it but its nothing to adult in my opinion. Its a good sized game length wise between 40 - 60 hours and there are a lot of side quests and things to find as well as getting all the titles for every character. There is a lot to do and there is couch co-op so the kids can play together.

Overall Thoughts/Is the Game FUN?

Yes this game is FUN. I highly recommend it. I have the Switch version but the game is available everywhere and I have had no issues with this game at all. Unlike the Symphonia release this game is running well. Have you played Tales of Graces f Remastered? What's your favorite Tales of game? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. 

Trailer/GamePlay

Gameplay

Trailer

Fresh Take - Love Hurts Spoiler Free Thoughts

 In Theaters

Synopsis (from IMDB):

A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.

Thoughts

This movie reminds me of those 90s era dark action comedies i.e. The Big Hit. This film is short and to the point. It actually makes me nostalgic for those days when action movies were an hour and half. Good times. This movie has a very good cast and the action is very well done. The fights are done with clarity and what I mean by that is, you can see everything and there isn't a lot of shaky cam. I hate when there is a lot of shaky cam in fight scenes. The comedy was pretty good here too. The standouts in my opinion being Marshawn Lynch and Andre Eriksen as King and Otis respectively. They were just a lot of fun every time they were on screen. They had a couple cameos in here that I thought was pretty good too. Drew Scott as the rival realtor was pretty good. The cinematography wasn't bad either I liked a lot of the shots in the movie. There are even a couple of shots of Ke Huy Quan where he looks like Jackie Chan from the 90s. Mustafa Shakir was also very good as The Raven, he didn't have the most screen time but I found his character to be very interesting. 

The only thing I really didn't like about the movie is the crazy ex-girlfriend trope. Ariana Debose is great as Rose but to be fair she probably wouldn't have survived. That being said her character was kind of annoying but I understood the motivation. Once again, if the movie was longer it would have been problematic.

For Parents

The movie is rated R for violence and language. The movie has a runtime of an hour and thirty minutes and is paced well. There are a couple of gorey scenes but other than that its just martial arts violence and shoot outs. 

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this movie. The comedy was very good and the jokes didn't drag on. The movie was paced very well and the movie flowed perfectly in my opinion. Marshawn Lynch is great and I hope he gets to do more. Have you seen Love Hurts? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. Thanks for reading. 

Trailer

Fresh Take - HAMMER Vol 5 Thoughts

 Available Now Where Books are sold

Thoughts On The Story

In this volume Stud travels to the Bird Kingdom, still trying to find his way back home and make a few friends along the way. In the Bird Kingdom he meets with the Prince Kamaal and learns that in this country prejudice is at an all time high between those deemed 'true birds' and those that are 'defeathered'. Basically, birds who have human faces. This volume is heavy on the theme of belonging and not hiding who you are. In my opinion, I think its handled very well and I liked the surprises that were in store in this volume. As always the action and art is very well done. I like the fact that in this volume we finally get to see Tool and Stud meet. We also, get a little more background on the Genies and what Tool has been doing while he is away from Stud. This brings me to the one thing I didn't like about this volume. This is going to sound like a little bit of a rant but its not, its just something I am tired of seeing in all forms of media. That is the absentee dad/dad that doesn't care/dad that thinks leaving his child(ren) by themselves is a good idea for whatever reason. We all laugh when its Goku being negligent. I think a lot of people genuinely wonder what is Ging Freecs issue. Endeavor was just plain abusive. I am just tired of seeing that from Fathers. I have no idea how the author plans on addressing this but it sucks how Stud and Tool's dynamic is and I don't really see a way to redeem Tool. To me he's just a bad dad that's using his wife as an excuse at this point. That being said I still love the volume overall, especially with the cliffhanger we were left with, I have a whole lot more questions. 

Thoughts On The Artwork

The artwork is clean and the action is very well done. Stud pulled out a new move. I love how Stud pulls stuff out on the fly. We even got a cool flashback scene and a present day scene with Tool that I thought was well done showing how good he is at using Z energy. I also like how Stud is doing all this without being properly trained. Just makes me think what will happen once he gets trained. Before I forget this volume has some pretty cool colored pages. One of my favorite things about the SaturdayAM graphic novels.

For Parents

The themes can get a little heavy in this volume but I think they are done in a way that is easy to understand. Its not "preachy" per se but I do think its relevant very much to the world we live in today. 

Overall Thoughts

Outside of the story elements with Tool and Stud, I very much enjoyed this

volume. The Bird Kingdom was very well done and I like how Stud is making

an impact in the lives of every new friend he makes. Makes me want to see

him meet up with everybody again as he does have it pretty rough in the

friend department. I have all 5 Volumes of HAMMER and I can't recommend

this title enough. Have you read HAMMER Volume 5? What do you think?

Leave a comment and let's talk about it. As always thanks for reading the

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