Kubo And The Two Strings (2016) Review

Kubo and the Two Strings, another epic adventure and experience from Studio Laika

Like a refreshing breeze awakening one from the habitual blur of the mundane. Kubo and The Two Strings breathes life into this film season with its moving and sincere story following the adventure of a young boy who goes on a journey to locate 3 pieces of mythical armor/weaponry. Simple yet deep, colourful yet mature and all around full of fun and inspiration, you will without doubt find yourself smiling and inspired by the end. I recommend everyone to see this film, it is without question, a beautiful piece of cinema.

Suicide Squad Film (2016) Review

The cast from left to right: Slipknot, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Katana, Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Killer Croc, and El Diablo

Crazy, unconcerned and psychotically jagged, Suicide Squad will treat you to moments of fun but largely engulf you in an onslaught of hollowness and disjointed writing. By the end of the film, the main thought overriding my mind was ‘what was the point?’ Were the Suicide Squad really ‘bad guys’ and did they prove to the audience that they can be humanity’s salvation?

The film does follow on from the events of Batman v Superman and it does introduce new elements that set up or potentially sets up future stories in the DCEU, but they are kept largely minimal. Apart from the end and Batman investigating certain meta-humans, there isn’t much to take away from the film. Hell, we didn’t even get confirmation of who killed Robin in the film, David Ayer had to confirm it during one of his interviews that it was ‘the Joker’ who killed Robin.

Batman The Killing Joke (2016) Review

Must have been some joke!

Batman The Killing Joke explores the relationship between Batman and the Joker utilising the inevitable end the two can see in front of them to drive each of them to a point or in this case a moment where they have the power to change that end. Throughout the film you come to understand how each of the two central characters were bent into the people they are now and how in Batman’s case, the reason for why he wants to ‘help’ the Joker.

Within the story of Batman and the Joker, we have Batgirl who found herself caught up in the world Batman lives in. The first half of the film focuses on Batgirl and her reasons for following Batman and continuing to fight crime. At the same time as highlighting Batgirl and laying the foundation for a future role Barbara Gordon will play in the universe, her development and struggles also serve to highlight the weight Batman feels as he takes in a another side kick. Given what happened to Jason Todd, it is understandable why Batman concerns himself so much with the ‘Abyss’ he himself has sunk into.

One Piece Chapter 837 – Luffy VS Commander Cracker

Luffy VS Cracker

Oh, how satisfying it is seeing Luffy refusing to retreat and instead resolving to take the Commander of a Yonko crew head on. This is the New World and running away now will not serve any function besides proving that the Straw Hat Pirates are not ready, completely nullifying the past two years they have spent training and preparing themselves for these moments. Luffy NEEDS to face Cracker and Luffy WILL defeat Cracker. The Kong is out and the crumbs of biscuits are about to signal the arrival of a new force within the New World, one destined to pave forward the New Age.

One Piece Chapter 836 – Thousand Arms Cracker

He can grow additional legs as well? Or are those arms that serve as legs?

I had expected Luffy and Co to face some powerful opponents within Big Mom’s crew now that they are within her territory but to do so this early in the arc and one with a ridiculously high bounty relative to the bounties we have been exposed to so far? An 860,000,000 beli opponent! Oda-sensei means business for Luffy to be matched against such a high bounty opponent. It will be interesting to see if Luffy actually goes all out against Cracker or whether this battle will be deferred for a later time.

Bleach Chapter 686 – Death & Strawberry [END]

Goodbye Bleach! It’s been fun!

And with that the end of another major manga has ended. It took us until the last chapter, but finally we get some clarification on the motives of Yhwach and why he was so obsessed with merging the worlds together. It was because of the fear of death, he wanted to merge life and death into one existence to escape such an inevitable fate. We don’t get much explanation regarding the remnants of Yhwach’s energy remaining between the worlds but it may have something to do with the fear driving Yhwach. The major focus in the chapter is given to reintroducing the main characters and introducing the new generation of Shinigami – it was quite cool to see Ichigo’s zanpakutou passed on to his son.

One Piece Chapter 831-835 – The Wonderment Of Wholecake Island

Well they are sure having a ice time – yeah that was terrible

With the arrival of the Straw Hat Pirates (half) + extras on Wholecake Island, the mission to rescue Sanji and to retrieve an imprint of the Road Poneglyph has begun. Within the enemy territory and devoid of the element of stealth, the odds seem grossly stacked against Luffy and Co, especially now that they have encounter one of Big Mom’s daughters, Charlotte Brûlée’s, who possesses a dangerous ability, the Mira Mira no Mi. With Carrot entrapped in “Mirror World” and Chopper missing, Luffy and Nami will have to figure out fast how to deal with Brûlée and now Charlotte Cracker.

Bleach Chapter 685 – The Captain Of The 13th Division

In memory of the fallen

Yhwach has been stopped and with it the destruction of the worlds prevented. Instead of an immediate after effect of that result, we are reintroduced to events ten years later in Soul Society. We come to learn about the events that transpired ten years ago through the dialogue of the Captains and their divisions as they prepare for a ceremony about to be held, the Promotion Ceremony of a division member to Captain. We are made aware that Yhwach was stopped and for ten years there has been peace but the status of a lot of characters relevant to that battle have yet to be revealed, one of which includes Ichigo. With just one chapter left, it is going to be interesting to see exactly how the final chapter wraps up the series (especially with the current time jump) and what the important announcement next chapter is (Bleach X?).