Tag: spectacle

Lightyear: Pixar’s Simplest Movie

by macksamson, posted in Disney Stuff, Western Media

Well, aren’t we lucky this year? Pixar didn’t just give one movie; they gave us two! While Turning Red was great, all the hype was put into the in-universe first installment of the Buzz Lightyear franchise that spawned the popular Toy Story character whom we know and love: Lightyear. It sure looked like a departure from the formula, and those departures tend to be really something. Let’s hope this one meets the company’s high standards.

In Lightyear, the titular character crash lands his ship full of science crew on a hostile alien world. Traumatized from his eff-up, he insists on testing each attempt at reproducing hyperdrive technology. However, each time he does it, time on the planet passes several years because science. By the time he succeeds, everyone he knows and loves is dead, and there are killer robots running around. I feel like the latter is more pertinent.

Before talking about the movie itself, I kind of want to bring up something funny. The visuals, as always with Pixar, are stunning. It looks cartoony, yet photorealistic, as usual. However, keep in mind that in the Toy Story universe, this came out in the early 1990s. That means that CG movies looked better than reality itself, in that universe. I don’t know if that’s supposed to mean something for any Pixar theorists, but I’m just throwing it out there.

In terms of the movie itself, I’m going to be perfectly honest: I’m actually having a hard time trying to find an abundance of positives with Lightyear. For the record, I saw it in theaters, and I’m sure I made it clear how I feel about those. Also, the pre-show had a politically charged climate crisis commercial in it, which put my anxiety on edge for a lot of the beginning of the movie. 

Lastly, I—for some reason—expected something with more nuance. Lightyear is not meant to be like Pixar’s usual introspective stuff; it’s a popcorn flick. I generally don’t do popcorn flicks at all, and I have only seen Disney and Pixar movies lately because I know they aren’t popcorn flicks. I’m just annoyed that I had to go through all the usual theater crap just to see a popcorn flick. I get that most people watch movies just like this all the time, and it’s a customary experience for them. Me being disappointed at Lightyear being overall very mindless and driven entirely by sensory-overloading spectacle is entirely my fault.

With all that being said, I’m going to try to discuss the story—without spoilers—in a scholarly way even though it’s simplistic enough to be described in one sentence. The story is, well, not too remarkable, and this is coming from a Disney fan, which is saying something. Although most of the company’s films are straightforward, there’s some kind of takeaway that only adults can really appreciate. The Incredibles, for example, is definitely a popcorn flick, but it’s one of Pixar’s best movies. In addition to pulse-pounding spectacle, we get the complexities such as Syndrome’s character arc, and clever interactions that I never noticed as a kid, such as when Helen and Bob are arguing about which directions to take to pursue the Omnidroid during the climax. Lightyear, as I’ve implied, has none of that. It’s a mindless action romp where Buzz and a ragtag team of textbook underdogs fight the evil emperor Zurg. The cherry on top is that time travel is involved; that rarely leads to a coherent narrative, and this is not one of those times.

I also found the cast to be among the lamest in a long time. Buzz is perhaps the worst of them all; when a toy version is better than the real thing, you know something is wrong. His obsession with getting everything done himself, and completing the mission, is the catalyst for the entire conflict of the movie. The epic, badass space ranger, whose toy counterpart has won the hearts of millions for decades, is a simple case of “you gotta rely on your friends” straight out of a Disney Junior program. 

There are only four other protagonists who play a major role in the movie, three of which are those aforementioned underdogs, and I only caught one of their names: Izzy Hawthorne. She’s the granddaughter of Buzz’s idol, but she’s not as competent. There’s some skinny guy who’s scared of everything, and a mad convict grandma. Of these three, I only liked the mad convict grandma. She was the best. Everyone else felt like typical characters, whose arcs most people could predict in their sleep. The other character I enjoyed was a robot cat named Socks (or is it Sox?). He’s basically the comic relief, but he has some utility, such as vomiting tranquilizers. 

Zurg in this movie is… er… well, he’s something. I can’t even discuss him without spoiling the movie. Basically, there’s a BS twist that is implied—in context with the universe—Andy, and even Toy Buzz, have known all this time. Since it’s Pixar, I can only assume that the reveal with him has been foreshadowed way back in Toy Story 1, and even the old Buzz Lightyear cartoon that I only remember because it had the voice actress of Shego from Kim Possible in it (MatPat will probably have a video about it if he hasn’t done so already). However, foreshadowing or not, the twist itself approaches Kingdom Hearts levels of nonsensical, and some of the important details are glossed over.

I’m really giving it some flack, so I should highlight some positives. Lightyear is, for all intents and purposes, a sci-fi spectacle drama whose main protagonist is named Buzz Lightyear. However, Pixar manages to really make it believable that it is a Buzz Lightyear movie. All the details are there in the right places, including each line that would inspire the toy’s iconic phrases. They at least did something right.

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Final Verdict: 8.25/10

When Disney and Pixar travel off the beaten path, they tend to put out some of their best and weirdest stuff. Lightyear was not one of those times. In fact, this is the most disappointing Pixar movie I’ve seen in years, even if most of those feelings are on me. Regardless, it’s at least an enjoyable movie, especially considering the kind of “cinema” that most audiences have grown accustomed to by now. As long as you enjoy spectacle movies, Lightyear should be right up your alley.

Levius/est First Impressions (Volumes 1-3)

by macksamson, posted in First Impressions, Manga

PREFACE: This manga is a sequel series. As such, there will be unmarked spoilers of vanilla Levius in this review. Click this link to read my review of Levius if you are interested in this franchise.

The sci-fi boxing manga, Levius, proved to be a hidden gem. With its cyberpunk themes, and phenomenal art, I was hooked from start to finish. But the story’s only just getting started. In Levius/est (published in English by Viz), we get into the real meat and potatoes of Levius. 

Set a year after the titular character’s battle with A.J., both people are hospitalized. But that’s the least of their issues; the return of Amethyst has caused a huge change in the world at large. War is on the verge of breaking out, and as a result, steam technology is banned… except in the Mechanical Martial Arts Ring. As such, whoever wins the Grade 1 bracket that Levius is now in… gets to decide the fate of mankind.

Right off the bat, Levius/est gives us much more context for, well, everything than the original series ever did. In addition to starting off with a more detailed flashback of Levius’ tragic backstory, we also get an explanation of how the steam technology actually works, as well as more information about the war. It helps flesh out the world of Levius a lot, and it’s very appreciated.

But as far as boxing goes, the first couple volumes of Levius/est are in the designated “drama” segment that comes before a lot of the fighting. Fortunately, this gives us a big chance for some major character development on Levius’ part. But sadly, this doesn’t really help offset his trope-ish, “dark and disturbed” personality. 

Sadly, the other characters aren’t so great. Zack is still the same old drunkard. Meanwhile, A.J. ends up becoming a classic amnesiac (which, thankfully gets resolved pretty quickly). There are some new additions, one of which is arguably the worst character in the series: Natalia Cromwell. I don’t remember if they foreshadowed her, but she’s apparently Levius’ childhood friend, who gets taken in by Zack, and wants to become an M.M.A. fighter like Levius. If you couldn’t tell, she loves him, and gets friendzoned. While she’s cute as all heck, her personality adds a lot of out-of-placed humor to Levius/est, and also forms a rather annoying love triangle between herself, Levius, and A.J. 

Another new face is Oliver G. Kingsley, the current champion of the M.M.A. Since he’s the champ, he’s incredibly important in the overarching narrative of Levius as a whole. But as far as personality is concerned, he’s a pretty typical “boxing champion”, i.e. a jerk. The real clincher, however, is that we finally get to see A.J.’s brother in action. And as you can expect, this helps launch the story into high gear.

As to be expected, the art of Levius/est is fantastic. The fights are spectacular, and the closeups are wrought with sheer emotion. The panel flow makes it fun and engaging to read as always, despite the reverse order of the pages. 

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Current Verdict: 9/10

I sounded like I was complaining a lot, but honestly, in terms of sheer entertainment value, Levius/est is looking to be the best cyberpunk manga since Battle Angel Alita. Sure, it’s edgy, and has some bland characters, but the series as a whole oozes a unique personality that makes it stand out. I recommend it to any boxing and cyberpunk fans.

Last Round Arthurs Volume 1 Review

by macksamson, posted in Last Round Arthurs, Light Novels

Pulling inspiration from the legend of King Arthur, and battle royales… these are two things that have been done A LOT in entertainment media. But what happens if you combine the two? The result is a light novel series called Last Round Arthurs: Scum Arthur & Heretic Merlin (published in English by Yen Press)… and one that I’m very late to reading.

In Last Round Arthurs, there is a magical, man-made island called Avalonia. Hidden here are four relics that have the power to revive King Arthur himself. One out of eleven of his descendants-called Kings- must fight and obtain the four relics in order to become the next Once and Future King. A boy named Rintaro Magami transfers to Camelot International High School to serve the weakest and most… morally incorrect King, Luna Artur. Together, they just might win this thing.

Right off the bat, Last Round Arthurs seriously commits to the King Arthur theme. The Kings’ swords are called Excaliburs (except that Luna sold hers off for money). Additionally, each King has a Jack assigned to them. Jacks are basically the spirits of actual Round Table Knights, and can be summoned at will (except Luna sells her Jack’s body for money). Even the writing of the novel is inspired off of the pretent- I mean- poetic Old English style from ye old days of Yore and Yesteryear.

The main purpose of this volume is to familiarize us with the rules of the succession battle, as well as the lore of the world itself. Last Round Arthurs is relatively sparing with exposition dumps, and does a good job of easing readers into the story. The fights are fast-paced and intense, but lean a lot more towards spectacle than, well, actual thought. It’s typical battle shounen stuff, which can be a deal breaker to some people.

But the most divisive deal breaker is in the cast. For some reason, critics seem to want this impossible Goldilocks Zone of morality in protagonists; if they’re too good, then they’re a Mary/Gary Sue self-insert character (like Tanjiro from Kimetsu no Yaiba), and if they’re too bad, then they’re an insufferable narcissist (like Ranta from Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash). If you couldn’t tell from the title saying Scum Arthur in it, this volume’s main protagonists fall into the latter.

Best Girl Luna is as scummy as her ego is large. Like I said before, Luna uses her Jack, Sir Kay, to extort money from the other students. Her eccentric, tomboyish personality makes her a blast to be with. Kay, unfortunately, exists to be the fanservice character. As the weakest of the Round Table knights, she doesn’t do much in battle, either.

But the same can’t be said for Rintaro Magami. They try to make him a subversion of the overpowered protagonist by having him be an outcast as a result of how good he is at everything. But as a result, he ends up being the “dejected guy who’s conveniently saved by the girl”. Fortunately, he has great chemistry with Luna. Plus, he’s got a great ego of his own.

I can’t say that the rest of the cast is particularly likeable. The only other character of interest is Tsugumi Mimori, the leader of the school’s Ethics Committee. She’s one of Luna’s many enemies, and it’s crazy to see how badly she wants Luna destroyed. But yeah… everyone else I’ve seen so far is kind of boring.

Last Round Arthurs looks a lot more like a manga than a light novel. The textures are simple, but the linework has a nice style to it. The coloring for the cover art is also pretty nice as well.

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Current Verdict: 8.75/10

Last Round Arthurs starts with a great first impression. It’s mindlessly fun, with a lovable pair of anti-heroes at the helm. I recommend it to fans of battle royales and shounen.