The New Review Renewed - Cruella

Copyright for the logo belongs to Disney

The New Review

Cruella

Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Mark Strong

Directed by: Craig Gillespie

Concept: Explore the backstory of the Villainous Villainess of the timeless Disney animated classic, 101 Dalmatians.

Execution

Cast: Emma Stone IS Cruella. Emma Stone owns. Nearly EVERY role she takes on. Same can be said of the Uber-Villain played by Emma Thompson. You learn to hate them quickly. Support cast feels like they were pulled directly from the Animated movie. And... surprise Mark Strong is surprise Mark Strong(though, if I looked at the cast beforehand, I would've known). The only casting question isn't a question from me. They changed the races of Anita and Roger. And... it is a welcome change. Their races in 101 Dalmatians doesn't matter as much as the occupations and how they were connected to Cruella. And that...... is ever present. (Side notation at the end of the review)

Score: 20/20

Presentation: It's a live action representation of Disney's London. And it is drab... dreary... depressing. Like it came from a Tim Burton movie. For a more kid friendly "The Devil Wears Prada", the fashion choices were superb as well. Soundtrack was wonderful. Great covers backed by Disney doing Disney stuffs with their music. It's the Disney standard of Presentation.

Score: 20/20

Chronicle: This is the backstory of Cruella DeVil. Devilish Fashionista villain of 101 Dalmatians. Quite a few villain backstory tropes: surprise parental reveal, underdog kicked around story. But where it sets itself apart from the tropes is sympathy. Usually in these types of stories, they try to make you sympathetic to why the good person went bad...... that doesn't last long here. They didn't leave room for that. You genuinely dislike Stella/Cruella. And you're meant to. It's a story of how a bad kid becomes a worse adult. No redemption arc. At least in the traditional sense. The movie is smooth, but in places feels long. And while I give credit to how they weaved in the relationship between Stella with Jasper and Horace, they did that weaving too much with Anita and Roger, within them being major characters. They were always connected to Cruella... but this much? That is just another trope they hit. A couple of really good twists to traditional tropes... like the parent reveal. I thought they were going somewhere else. Glad I was wrong... but... might've untwisted that one. And it closes leading into what is the story for 101 Dalmatians... all the set up... for all the previous payoff. Too many Disney tropes... too many backstory tropes. But enough to set it apart. Immersion so well done, I almost forgot I was watching a SPECIFIC Disney movie... until the Extra Oomph...

Score: 25/30

Impact: Disney has had some hits AND some misses when it comes to adapting to live action. This one is on the hits side. Showing how to make a villain backstory... without adding sympathy into the mix(I'm looking at YOU, MCU). It doesn't break the mold. But it does make it's own. And... while it is really good thing, I'm afraid that Disney might run with it for villains we DON'T need the backstory for... does worry me.

Score: 17/20

Extra Oomph: So... the realization moment. No spoiler if you've seen 101 Dalmatians. Anyone remember WHY Cruella was a villain? What was her plan?....... if you said dognapping Dalmatians so she could make a fur coat out them, you would be correct. I... forgot. I legit... forgot. This movie MADE me forget. And then the impromptu fashion show in the park scene. The Baroness sees Cruella's coat... exposits the "did she kill my dogs(Dalmatians)?" And the scene... as it protrayed by FACIAL expressions alone(look at Jasper), the movie thinks Cruella did. I KNOW I felt my face go pale... "oh my god, did they actually do the dog murder in this Disney movie!?!?!?!" She didn't. Breathe easy. But dammit, I couldn't believe they pulled off this kind of bait and switch in a Disney movie. Animated... you wouldn't think about it. But live action made it feel so different. And THAT makes for a unique "Holy Shit" moment for the adults. Disney went there.

Score: 10/10

Final Score: 92/100

Final Grade: A-

Conclusion: This is a real dark, drab, wonderful movie. Some parts made me feel like Disney didn't make this movie. And while Disney is AMAZING at what it does, losing yourself in some of their movies is where they need to dive into more. Immersion win for the win.

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is MY opinion, you can either agree with me or not. I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clears throat" that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... I'ts just my justification behind MY recommendation... Which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT...

FINAL JUDGMENT: WATCH THIS MOVIE! Watch it. Go see it. Pay for it. Go see it. For the string of live action adaptation style movies from Disney, this one is one of the best. Top 2. Easily. Unlike Raya and the Last Dragon, this is a movie for movie watchers too.

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Cruella. It was a great movie. Disney strikes. Goes for blood. And it feels good. It gets a 92.

Side note: Emma Stone is an A lister. One of the best in Hollywood. Very talented. One of my favorites. Emma Thompson is an absolute legend. There is this feeling of allegory in this movie. Almost a passing of the torch. See the movie. Get it... understand it.

Tell me what you think. Leave a comment. Share the post. I wanna know what you all think!

Disney went for blood. It got it. BETTER Disney strikes again!!!!

Again!!!!

Again......

The New Review Renewed - Raya and the Last Dragon

Copyright for the logo goes to Disney

The New Review

Raya and The Last Dragon

Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan

Directed by: 4 of them

Concept: Asian themed Post apocalyptic story about a Girl trying to save her world with the help of the last living dragon.

Execution

Cast: Kelly Marie Tran needs to do voice acting. She really does. I didn't realize it was her. Disney did a great job of casting Asian actors to voice Asian characters. And let me go on record saying I'm NOT an Awkwafina fan. She annoys me. But her turn as the Dragon Sisu was quite impressive. The usual Disney side humor cannon fodder was present, but Awkwafina was NOT one of them. Awkwafina is an Asian stereotype come to life... but she DEFIED that in this movie. But that is where is ends. None of the other characters were memorable. Funny. Interesting. But NOT memorable. And Disney is famous for memorable characters.

Score: 14/20

Presentation: It's a Disney movie. Disney movies are animated masterpieces. That is what it is. The score. The difference in visuals in the difference regions. Flashy. Beautiful. This is what Disney does. And... that is all anyone needed to say.

Score: 20/20

Chronicle: So... this is the downer. The story is good. It really is. Girl gets responsibility to protect world. Dad trusts wrong people. World gets destroyed. Dad "dies". Girl finds way to save world. Meets ragtag friends along the way. Um... it's a Disney movie. Cookie cutter is cookie cutting. Even though it feels different... it doesn't as much. The story arc that wins is the evolution of Sisu and the different powers she gets along the way. Each time she gets one, she exclaims that "this power is this sibling's power". That is the REAL story building in this movie. And the Closing of the movie reflects that. Raya doesn't save the world. She passes the responsibility to someone else(NOT Sisu... no spoiling here). And once the world is saved, you get closure for Sisu... but while Raya gets hers, it doesn't feel as important. It is a smooth story, but not fully supported. Not like it should've been. Like a beautiful crystal ball held up by twigs. The story is nice... but the focus feels half-baked.

Score: 21/30

Impact: Asian representation for the win! Disney really does do it's work. Researching lore, casting for their roles for these types of movies. It is on point. But even with this... it still FEELS like the others. That is a good thing for the kids. As it should be. The Disney formula. It works. But overall, it still doesn't feel like it fits among the top Disney stories.

Score: 15/20

Extra Oomph: 100%... Awkwafina. I know I stressed on it so much already, but it DOES make that much of a difference. Of the handful of roles I've seen of hers, this one is the best, at least... my favorite. If I were her, voice acting may be for her. Awkwafina is a living Asian Stereotype Caricature. And so have been her live action roles. But this one broke that mold for her.

Score: 10/10

Final Score: 80/100

Final Grade: B-/C+

Conclusion: I did like this movie. I really did. But... I was also a bit bored with it. I might have to watch it again. And I WANT to watch it again. But it was too cookie cutter for Disney. I get it... I really do. But I was able to predict how the movie was going to end within the first 30 mins. And... that isn't MY idea for a fun time. Regardless... Awkwafina.

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is MY opinion, you can either agree with me or not. I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clears throat" that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... I'ts just my justification behind MY recommendation... Which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT...

FINAL JUDGMENT: If you are a huge Disney Stan or have some kiddos, then I recommend buying this movie. There is potential for enjoyment here for repeat viewings for Stans and Kiddos. But if you do not fall into those categories, I would still recommend a rental. But would not be hurt if I found out you didn't see it. Disney written all over it...... and sometimes, it is TOO Disney. And here we are.

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And there is it. My first review in years. I missed this, but just couldn't get it going. But hopefully I got this.

Raya and the Last Dragon gets an 80. Not mind-blowing, but safe. And that is what matters.

Tell me what you think. Share this post... I wanna see what others think about it.

Stay tuned. A review for Cruella is incoming. Look! It's Disney again!!!

Again...

The New Review Revisited

If we are going to get new reviews, I wanted to explain the slightly streamlined format... as compared to the old format.

So... this is what to look forward to.

Cast: This will be taking the places of Cast and Characters from the old format. Why have two separate categories and scores? I focused on the who and the who they played. But separate. Now they will be combined. Because I want to have a similar scoring system, combining these two also combines their weight. So Cast will have a score out of 20.

Presentation: This will be taking the places of Visual and Sound. These two are just as important to my opinion as anything else. A good soundtrack or lack thereof. A beautiful visual presence or too dark to see anything. Audio and visual ARE the Presentation. It will also have a score out of 20.

Chronicle: This will be the combination of three previous categories: Story, Flow. Closure. The story is what the movie is trying to say, the... story. Closure is how the story ends, how the movie ends, any tied up loose ends. And Flow is how the story gets from beginning to end. This category is the most important, and as it is the amalgamation of THREE previous ones, Chronicle will have a score out of 30.

Impact: This will be taking the place of Substance and Legacy. In the old format, Substance was whether or not the movie was what it was supposed to be. If it was advertised as a scary horror flick, but I laughed through the whole thing instead... that missed the mark. But... as compared to what? That was what Legacy was. Either the movie compared to others in the same genre or compared to the original version(in the case of a reboot/remake) or compared to the source material(if based on books/comics/etc). And that Legacy is WHAT would be the benchmark for Substance. Score will be out of 20.

Extra Oomph: This category is staying. This would be that little necessary or unnecessary thing that might set the movie a part from the rest. Or maybe it DOESN'T need this. For example, how X-Men First Class was also a decent period piece or how Drax is basically Autistic, and some kids indentified with him. As always, this will be out of 10.

That is the new format.

Now... let's get this going!!!

Wish me luck. I need some support! See a post... comment... share it. Let's go!

Renewed Bottom 10 - Bottom 20(!) WORST Video Game Movies

Here is Part 3 of the Video Game movie series. And this one is the Bottom 20.

Video Game movies have a reputation being bad. Very bad. So I presented the good lists first. But this needed a bigger list. And since this is such a special list, it won't be an actual list, aside from 3. You'll see...

So here we go...

The Bottom 20 WORST Video Game Movies

Dishonorable Mention: Monster Hunter: I haven't seen this movie. Honestly, I didn't like the game franchise. It wasn't... fun. Looking at the trailers for this movie, it doesn't interest me at all. If you've seen it, please leave a comment. If it's bad enough, I make it part of the official list.

20: Super Mario Bros: Yes, this appeared on my Top 10 list. But purely from the nostalgia. But Super Mario Bros was a shitty movie. Back when it was released... and it has gotten worse over time. I love this movie, because so far, it is the only SMB movie... but this is hot Garbage.

19: Street Fighter: Raul Julia. That's it. This was also on the Top 10. Raul Julia is the only real positive. The animated Series was better. The animated SF2 movie was better. This...... it was a bad movie. But... Raul Julia.

(Numbering ends until the end)

Pixels: Adam Sandler is a living legend. But... even legends can have ruts. And for Adam Sandler, this humans vs Video Games movie was... horrid. What makes it worse, Futurama did this almost exact premise YEARS before this movie was out... and did it better.

DOOM: Starring The Rock and Karl Urban, someone thought it was a great idea to make a horror movie based on the original FPS. But it was missing real horror. There is one shining moment. The protagonist ends up with a full on FPS scene... about 6 mins. And it's the only good 6 mins of the whole movie. See if you can find it as a clip on YouTube.

BloodRayne: So, I'm gonna mention two names. Remember them. Kristanna Loken and Uwe Boll. Hot kickass female vampire... that is what the game series was. How can the movie be worse? Uwe Boll.

In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: Did amyone else know this was based on a video game? I didn't. But I tried it out. Jason Statham... one of the best modern day action stars... can't act. He can't. But how can we make this one worse? Kristanna Loken... directed by Uwe Boll.

Alone In The Dark: The game series changed the business. The first ever 3D survival horror game filled with non-linear gameplay and puzzles galore. The movie... had Christian Slater!!! What could go wrong? Uwe Boll could. A lifeless movie. And not the zombie kind.

House of the Dead: A horror rail shooting that made a name for itself when rail shooters were cool. How did the movie work? Well... see Alone in the Dark but without a good cast... but yes, still Uwe Boll.

Double Dragon: This was a very cartoony movie, without having animation. More corny than Street Fighter, but without out the standout performance. That includes a very hot Alyssa Milano AND Robert Patrick who you could tell was trying to take his role seriously, but he just... couldn't.

Prince of Persia The Sands Of Time: Disney tried to tackle this one. Spectacular cast, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Sir Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and Gemma Arterton. It looked amazing. So what happened? The story...... it make you sleepy. It is boring, fruitless, lifeless. And a plot full of holes. But dammit... Parkour!!!

Need for Speed: Okay... so... on my Top 10 Based list, I mentioned Mortal Kombat(1995), and the issue of a PG13 movie based on R/M material. This... is that amplified. Need for Speed is a series where you are street racing(or the cops). That... that is it. Adding the human element hasn't worked for the game series. Focusing on it ruined the movie. You can't have a Character driven movie based on a series with no memorable characters.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation: Sequel to the original movie... this doubled down on the problem. The first movie was PG13 based on M rated material. This poor excuse for a sequel barely even followed the first movie and magnified the campiness. The great casting for the first movie, even it was gone... Tagawa's character was dead, but no Wilson... no Ashby... no Lambert. All replaced. James Remar... irritated the hell out of me. Only high spot was Shao Kahn, and even his lines were so damn stupid... it made the whole thing worse.

Max Payne: Mark Wahlberg is NOT a serious actor. He is a great comic actor. But... I can't take him seriously. But someone thought to put him in a noir driven psychological action film. That could've been more if it had picked a direction. Multi-faceted movie that shouldn't have been.

Silent Hill Revelation: Don't have much to say about this one. The first one was a pretty decent horror flick. But much like the Silent Hill games, this franchise is already dead... and maybe it should've been beforehand.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider(2 movies): I'm not a fan of these 2 movies. This was not a Tomb Raider series. It was an "Angelina Jolie in Tight Shirts" series. Let's make the shirt tighter. The games had a decent story. What happened?

Assassin's Creed: I'm not a fan of the games. I can't do stealth. But the lore. The stories. They are all pretty damn good. What happened here? This was so broken, no amount of Fassbender could patch it up.

Warcraft: So... a soul sucking franchise with vast lore. Let's turn it into a movie. This is one that proves why most games shouldn't be movies. The most appealing part of Warcraft and WOW is the gameplay. You CAN'T play a movie like a game. No interaction. And... Hollywood doesn't seem to understand this. As for Warcraft, it was half assed... and then someone decided to half ass that. Call it Quarter-Assed.

Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li: Kristen Kruek is not a good actress. I loved Smallville. Loooooved Smallville. But she wasn't all that great. So... let's make her one of the most recognizable female fighting game characters. The acting was disingenuous. The fight scenes were TOO choreographed. It just wasn't good.

DOA Dead Or Alive: So... this gaming franchise was campy with jiggly boob physics. They had a beach bikini volleyball spinoff. That explains everything. This movie was absolutely that. Too campy. Too cheesy. But... bonus points for Devon Aoki doing her badassery thing...... minus points for dragging poor Kevin Nash into this.

And the Number One for WORST Video Game Movies......

1. The Resident Evil Franchise: The best selling horror video game franchise. Good characters, solid story. And was able to reinvent itself with the last 2 installments. And the movies tried to reinvent as they went along. But... that is where the similarities end. The entire movie franchise focused on a character that was even in the games. Cool idea... but it introduced most of the game characters anyway. So... that character, Alice... played by Milla Jovovich... made a name for herself as an actress who did her own stunts. Awesome. And the franchise forced the idea. It quickly stopped being a horror movie franchise, and a "hey, look at this" franchise. Including a 3D movie that was pretty much a 3D stunt film. All of that... they aren't the reasons why the Resident Evil franchise is the worst on this list. The reason... is the law of averages. This franchise has 7 or 8 movies... and ZERO good ones. None of these movies are good. With so many, you would think they made one decent one. None... NONE. Not only the worst video game movie franchise... but a candidate for one of the worst movie franchises overall. Avoid... these... movies. And if some reason you like any of these movies, well... good for you. They suck.

There is the "list". Video game movies generally suck. This post could be MUCH MUCH bigger. But I tried to keep it shorter. Have any you think suck and should be on this list? Say so in the comments. Share this. And check out the 2 Top Ten lists that go with it.

Part 3 of 3. Have any suggestions for Top Ten, Bottom Ten, or Partnered lists for movies... please leave a comment. I will churn these out as often as I can.

Renewed Top 10 - Movies Inspired By Video Games

Time for Part 2 of the Video Game Movie Series

Top 10 Movies Inspired By Video Game

The criteria for this list is simple. The movie in question must be directly or indirectly inspired by video games... or be based around a video game element or trope. Example of indirect would be a movie based on a book inspired by video games. Now... the rules are set.

Here we go...

Honorable Mention: Free Guy: Now... this movie has been released to the public due to delays. I have NOT seen it. But, it is going here. Why? Ryan Reynolds in a movie about a video game NPC who discovers he might be a protagonist. The premise alone sounds great. And we know Ryan will make it entertaining. That is enough for me.

10: The Wizard: Growing up, I felt like... what would happen if you could actually put your gaming skillz to the test and make money off of it. That is what this movie is. The precursor to esports. Fred Savage is in this movie. And it's great. But... it starts the list because it was also a blatant ad piece for Nintendo. It featured one of my top 3 games of all time, Super Mario Bros 3, before it was released in the US. That... is advertising.

9: Jumanji The Next Level: So, I can't explain this one with reference another on this list.(See #4). This one is a twist on the formula. Sequel games... players selecting different characters in this one. Better explanation with the predecessor.

8: Ready Player One: Based off the Book of the same name(with a second book out now), this was just pure 80s/90s nostalgia married to modern gaming enhancements. Everyone living as their avatars. Playing a virtual contest. And you can't have 80s/90s nostalgia without the Dawn of Video games.

7: The Lawnmower Man: A 1992 Horror film focusing on a Doctor experimenting on a mentalling disabled man, using meds and computer based training in hopes that it will increase his intelligence. It's a success. Computer... based... training. Virtual Reality. It goes too far. Jobe ends up being about to take control of other through the VR simulation and develops psychic powers to use outside the VR Sim.

6: WarGames: Ever wonder what it would be like to play video games on a computer exponentially more powerful that yours? That is this movie. A guy breaks into a military facility just to play video games on their computers, and inadvertently starts a war.

5: The Last Starfighter: What if you played a game so well, you got recruited to play for real? That is the idea here. A gamer so good at a game... it wasn't really a game. It was training to help fight in an intergalactic war.

4: Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle: A sequel to a classic Robin Williams movie about a board game coming to life. This time, it's an old video game based on the board game. Teenagers chose their characters, and get sucked into the video game. All the way down to Rhys Darby being the intro NPC that has canned dialogue. The details in this were spot on for games of the era. Casting on point(even Nick Jonas). This would've made Robin proud(and had a great reference to him).

3: TRON: Disney had a very different approach to Virtual Reality. While Lawnmower Man is a horror film about bringing VR into the real world, TRON is a film about what if you were physically sucked into the VR world. Amazing visual effects. Top  notch for the time.

2: Wreck It Ralph: Pixar makes really heartwarming stories. This one is about a villain in a video game who doesn't want to be villain. So he explores outside of his game to find his purpose. Brings up the idea of a glitch being a mistake to society. Heavy movie. Entertaining. And... weird observation... Wreck It Ralph is an even more family friendly take on Ready Player One. Look at the styles of games they both tackle.......

And the Number One for Movies Inspired By Video Games......

1: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Based on a series of graphic novels about a dude who has to navigate fighting his new Girlfriends Evil Exes. This movie is a video game. Announcer yelling "FIGHT!". Scoring points for victories. Getting currency for defeating the enemies. A Subspace area. Power-ups. Boss fights. And Rescuing the princess from the final boss. And the overall presentation screams VIDEO GAME. But... there is one more aspect that pushes it over. I read the books. The movie follows the story pretty well...... except the final fight. The movie was filmed before the author had finished the last book. So the fight with Gideon is VERY different...... and it gives it extra character! It is a BETTER ending than the books......... oh... and Bonus Bill Hader as the fight announcer.

There is the list. Tell me what you think. Have one that you think should or shouldn't be on this list? Say so in the comments. Share this list with others. I wanna know what they think too.

This was Part 2 of the 3 Part series. Check back soon. The last one is the expected one.

Renewed Top 10 - Movies Based On Video Games

One of the new things I'm going to do on my site to make it fresh for me is to start doing categorized Top 10 and Bottom 10 lists. You can agree... you can disagree. I'm not saying these Lists are for the Best... I'm saying these are for my FAVORITES. If you have your own, please comment. And if you are so inclined, share this post. I wanna see your input.

Now... time for the first of many.

Top 10 Movies Based On Video Games

I know. Video game movies usually suck. But even some bad ones can spark joy. Be it nostalgia. Be it childhood memories. Be it share them with your own children. And there are even some diamonds in the genre, if you can believe it.

Well here are some of my favorites. If you've seen them, comment your memories. If there are some you haven't, considering them recommendations.

Let's start... with...

Honorable Mention: Tomb Raider(2018): So... there have been THREE Tomb Raider movies. And 2 of them were... bad. Angelina Jolie is a legend, and not always for good acting jobs. Alicia Vikander took the helm of this one. It had the feel of the reboot games and wasn't just a shameless prop job for its star(*cough* like Jolie). Adventurous and fun. It's a good movie.

10: Rampage: Based on the Arcade Kaiju series from the now defunct Midway, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and 3 CGI monsters. Though it put a bit too much focus on the humans(of course... it's The Rock), it was a great mindless... brainless... monster bash fest. And that is what the games were all about.

9: Hitman: Based on the acclaimed stealth game, was it accurate to the game series? Not really. But Timothy Olyphant pulled off a very fun and stylish action based around... a... Hitman... even if his character was devoid of actual character.

8: Silent Hill: The Silent Hill game franchise looks to be dead. And the sequel to this movie was hot garbage. But this one... wasn't bad. A decent horror film. But that is why it is on this list. ALL other horror movies based on horror games are bullshit. And one had to make this list...... so... it is Silent Hill. I'm not saying it is bad. It isn't. If you can do horror, this movie will at least be satisfying. Don't... watch the sequel. You've been warned.

7: Super Mario Bros: This... is... a horrible movie. But it belongs on this list. It was bad when it released... and it hasn't held up over the years. But, I still love it. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo hamming it up. Samantha Mathis being hot as hell. And Dennis Hopper trying to take it serious. Oh... and a Random Fisher Stevens!!! Most of the movie, the actors act like they don't wanna be in this movie. But the references will make you laugh, the CinemaSins will make you scratch your head, and the song the Goombas dance to will get stuck in your head. A classic. For both the right and wrong reasons.

6: Street Fighter: This is another HORRIBLE movie. But it is fun. It really is. Campy. For the kids. A family movie. But... takes a big old dump on the game franchise. Don't watch this for the game connection. Watch this for Raul Julia. The legend that is Raul Julia. The rest of this movie can piss me off. But... Raul Julia OWNED his role as M. Bison AND OWNED this movie. Watch it for that.

5: Mortal Kombat(1995)/Mortal Kombat(2021): These 2 movies share the spot because I love them both for different reasons. The 1995 is a classic. The casting was spot on, and they did a decent job following the story. But it pains me whenever a PG-13 movie is made on R/M rated content(see Ghost in the Shell). And I believe it ties their hands. The practical effects don't hold up now, but still nostalgia. The 2021 is a reboot. The story doesn't follow the games... might even follow itself. But the presentation was great. A Rated R movie that was promoted(by the cast) with all the blood, guts, and gore from the games. A movie doesn't always need the best story. As advertised craziness works too(see The Expendables).

4: Tekken: For the fighting game movies, this one is the best. Under the radar(I don't even think it was released in theaters), not enough people know it exists. The story is decent, the fights are crisp, the presentation is eye catchingly flashy, and... it actually shows a tournament(MK1995, I'm looking at you)...... and this one even has Cary Tagawa in it!!!(MK1995, still looking at you... thanks)

3: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children: This one is special on this list. It isn't live action... but it isn't a cartoon. It is all CGI. Which to me counts as a version of live action(animated to look life like). What else makes this one special is that it isn't just based off a game, it is an official sequel. What started off as cutscenes for Final Fantasy VII 2, they were so good... Square Enix decided to make a movie instead. Beautiful scenery. Wonderful story. Great voice acting. And... quotable lines! Advent Children has it all for me.

2: Sonic the Hedgehog: Fast paced, family friendly, and the movie that gave us the old Jim Carrey back! So many noteworthy moments in this movie... great references and some wonderful tongue-in-cheek humor. This movie is good enough to be on ANYONE'S shelf, regardless if you liked the games or not. Sonic deserves the #2 spot, not only because it is a great movie, but it is also a testament to what can happen if you listen to your fans. They hated the original design so much... the studio decided to have Sonic completely redone. Made him look like his game and animated counterparts. And... dammit... looks great. Sad that James Marsden had to work with yet another anthropomorphic animated animal. But... Sonic is WAAAAAAY better than HOP.

And the Number One for Movies Based on Video Games!!!!!

1: Detective Pikachu: For the longest time, I didn't realize this was based on an actual game. I forget the games existed. I just thought they made a movie set in the Pokemon Universe. Which... one it's own... this is STILL a nearly perfect movie. But... directly adapted from the game with the same name, this movie just works. It IS the new standard for Video Game Movie. The best, simple story. Brilliant performances for a family movie. Visually Astonishing. And... Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu.

There is the list. Tell me what you think. Have one that you think should or shouldn't be on this list? Say so in the comments. Share this list with others. I wanna know what they think too.

This is Part 1 of a Special 3 Part List series. Look for Part 2 and Part 3 soon!

A Return To Some Form

The New Review Renewed is making a comeback. With a New format... and NEW movie related posts. Sorry it has been so long... but we are going to make this work.

It's time to return to form