Input2 S8E4- Binge-watching Debunked
(03/27/20 3:24pm)
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by Katherine Simon Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for the ending of Dragon Quest: Your Story Dragon Quest is one of the most prolific franchises in all of gaming. Since the first game was released in 1986, the series has become a cultural phenomenon in Japan and the foundation for the JRPG genre as we know it today. The franchise has also maintained a decent cult following in North America, which is continuing to grow after the Hero’s introduction in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the success of Dragon Quest XI. Personally, I didn’t become a huge Dragon Quest fan until I picked up XI for the Switch and got sucked into the game’s world. While the Dragon Quest series doesn’t have the thematic or mechanical depth of most modern JRPGs, its simple mechanics and engaging stories help the series withstand the test of time and remain fresh while sticking close to its roots. But I’m not here to gush about how great Dragon Quest is, I’m here to talk about the recent film that dropped on Netflix, Dragon Quest: Your Story. Now, this film is very interesting for numerous reasons, the first of which is that it’s an adaptation of Dragon Quest V. DQV is one of the most influential and beloved entries in the series and is credited for helping popularize the monster-collecting mechanics present in other popular franchises like Pokemon. The other is that when the film was released in Japan back in the previous summer, audiences hated the movie (warning: spoilers in the link). Considering how much of a monolith the franchise is in its home country, it’s a pretty big deal to have a piece of Dragon Quest media that wasn’t well-received upon its release. So now that the film is available worldwide via Netflix, the question is, did the film deserve the insane amount of backlash it received, or was it a decent flick that hardcore fans were too harsh on? A disjointed story draws near! For those unfamiliar with Dragon Quest V, the story chronicles the life of the Hero, who is named Luca in Your Story’s canon. The film starts with him as a child traveling the world with his father Pankraz, who is on a quest to find his missing wife. However, after a tragic event, Luca is kidnapped and forced into slavery for 10 years until he manages to escape. After escaping, he sets out on his own quest to find his missing mother, and along the way encounters some old friends from his past and grows as a person in this classic coming-of-age story. Video games have always been a tricky medium to translate into film due to how much of a time commitment they are. Your average RPG can range anywhere from 30 to 100 hours of playtime, which really isn’t something you can condense into a two hour film without making a ton of compromises to character development. Unfortunately, since Your Story is a direct adaptation of the roughly 30 hour long Dragon Quest V, a lot of corners had to be cut in order to fit the story into the film’s nearly two-hour runtime. The most notable compromise is with the first ten minutes of the film, which is delivered through a quick exposition dump made up of clips from the original Super Nintendo game. The main purpose of an opening scene is to get viewers acquainted with the world and introduce them to the cast, which Your Story fails to do as a result of skipping over a lot of important events in the beginning. This is especially egregious when Luca’s childhood friend/love interest, Bianca, shows up later in the film and viewers are expected to already be familiar with her despite barely having three seconds of screen time at the beginning. It could be argued that because Your Story was made for Dragon Quest fans first and foremost, introductions aren’t entirely necessary as most of the audience is already familiar with the characters. While that might be the case, the film’s use of assumed audience familiarity as a crutch hurts the story’s value as a stand-alone product. Had the film been more newcomer-friendly, it could have acted as a great starting point for those curious about Dragon Quest and get people interested in the games. Think about how many Pokemon fans started off watching the anime series and then moved on to the games, or how the recent Netflix Witcher series led to more people buying The Witcher 3. Good adaptations that get newcomers acquainted with the world of their franchise can be a great avenue for creating new fans. While that might not have been Your Story’s end-goal, keeping that in mind would have helped the film stand out as its own product instead of as a companion-piece to an already existing narrative. This is a problem that persists throughout most of Your Story’s first half. It frequently jumps from one period of Luca’s life to the next, giving the movie a weirdly episodic feel as it jumps between various plotlines that have little to no relation to each other. The best way to describe it is that it feels like a long recap episode for a Dragon Quest V anime adaptation that doesn’t exist, which leads me to believe that this story would’ve worked far better as an animated series rather than a movie. Eventually, the film does settle into a rhythm around the halfway point, which is where it starts to become more enjoyable. The characters are actually allowed time to breathe and their personalities start to shine through. We see glimpses of fun character interactions and banter throughout the film that help give the cast of characters distinct personalities, but nobody really gets to shine due to the breakneck pace of the film not allowing them to become fully fleshed-out. Still, the latter part of the film puts way more emphasis on letting each character get their time in the spotlight, which makes it easier to get attached to them. I actually found myself getting really invested in what was happening at this point in the story and the film ended up hitting some real emotional high points. Not taking into account a certain event that unfolds towards the end of the movie, the story overall is fairly solid, if a little scatterbrained at points. A treat for the senses If there is one area Your Story absolutely excels in, it’s presentation. The film was animated by Shirogumi Inc., the animation company that’s best known for producing the Stand By Me Doraemon film. Your Story was also directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who directed the Doraemon movie as well as the animated Lupin the Third movie. It’s clear that the team behind this film are extremely talented in their craft, because this film is a visual treat. The environments look just as gorgeous as something from a big-budget console JRPG and the character animations are incredibly expressive and lively. The particle effects in particular stand out and give the iconic Dragon Quest spells a ton of visual flare. While some might be disappointed that Akira Toriyama’s iconic art style was pushed aside in favor of something that looks closer to a DreamWorks film, the characters still look great and translate very well into the new art style. While I personally would have preferred the Toriyama designs since they’re more visually distinct, that doesn’t stop the film from looking fantastic. The soundtrack is also really strong, mainly consisting of orchestral tracks from the game’s soundtrack composed by the legendary Hatsune Miku herself (no, we do not acknowledge Koichi Sugiyama in this house and this will be the last time I mention him by name). While there is a noticeable lack of noteworthy original tracks, fans are sure to get a kick out of the familiar Dragon Quest V tunes, and the tracks do a great job accompanying the film’s tone. If I’m being completely honest, considering how Smash Ultimate and the original PS4 release of Dragon Quest XI got the short end of the stick in terms of music quality, I’m just glad the original composer who shall not be named didn’t force the film to use low-quality MIDI tracks in an attempt to boost concert sales like he usually does. Unfortunately, this film ended up with a way worse problem than MIDI tracks, one that hampers the overall quality of the film and left a sour taste in my mouth... An ending that is really Whack From this point on, I will be going into heavy spoilers for the last few minutes of the film. I usually try to avoid major spoilers in these reviews, but considering that my main criticism of the film stems from how the ending was handled, it’s impossible for me to not bring it up. So you know how the film is titled Your Story instead of being named directly after the game its based on? Well, that’s because the title was alluding to the film’s big twist: it was an isekai this whole time. Near the end of the film, it’s revealed by a virus infecting the game that the whole story was actually a virtual reality game and that the film’s world wasn’t actually real. Luca is just a regular guy who’s playing a VR remake of his favorite nostalgic game and none of the characters were actually real. Luca eventually defeats the virus after giving a hokey “the game is real to me” speech that feels like it was lifted straight from Sword Art Online and is able to live happily ever after with his fictional waifu. Now, there’s a lot to unpack here with this ending, and the obvious thing I want to point out is how the twist just completely invalidates the story being told up to that point. Personally, when I’m told that the story I’ve been experiencing up to this point never actually happened within the film itself, any investment I had in the world or characters just completely vanishes as I realize that I wasted my time with a story that ultimately had no payoff. The twist in Your Story is literally just the “it was all a dream” trope, but even more insulting because it’s worked into the film’s climax and the film tries desperately to convince you to still care because… the game meant something to the protagonist? At that point you’re just showing me a glorified commercial for Dragon Quest V, and that just feels incredibly sleazy, even as someone who likes the game. The worst part of this twist is that it was completely unnecessary. If the film had just been a straight adaptation of the original game without the isekai twist, it definitely would not have received the backlash that it did. Aside from the slightly scatterbrained pacing, there wasn’t anything offensively bad or fundamentally broken about the film and I’m sure most fans would look on the film fondly if not for how it ended. The ending was also a bizarre choice considering that Dragon Quest is known for being an incredibly straightforward franchise that sticks with its traditional fantasy settings. Nobody goes into a Dragon Quest movie expecting isekai nonsense; they go into it expecting a fun fantasy story with an aggressive amount of wordplay and cute monsters that you feel bad about beating up for experience. The ending twist just feels incredibly tone-deaf to what fans wanted out of a Dragon Quest V adaptation and I’m beyond baffled that anyone thought including it would be a good idea. Images: IMDb Featured Image: IMDb
Hello, movie fanatics and welcome to a new season of InPut2! With the upcoming release of 'Sonic the Hedgehog' we're going to talk about modern video game movies. What does it take to make a great video game movie? How do our thoughts compare to what we've already seen? Get your answers to these questions and more in this season premiere of InPut2!
When one thinks of the arcade giants of the 1990s, some of the big names that might come to mind are Capcom, Namco, Konami, Sega, and Midway; however, one arcade innovator that always seems to be left out of the discussion—despite their innovations in the field—is Shin Nihon Kikaku (SNK), creator of the Neo Geo arcade cabinets and multiple successful game franchises, such as Metal Slug and The King of Fighters. Despite their early success in arcades, they’ve seemed to have fallen off the map after the shift to home consoles. The company’s recent titles still sell relatively well, and their characters are even showing up in the likes of Tekken and Soul Calibur, but they’re no longer the juggernauts they used to be during the golden era of arcades.
The early 2000s was arguably the peak of emo music’s popularity. While the origins of emo date as far back as the mid-1980s; the start of the millennium would be when the genre entered mainstream popularity, and the emo subculture as we know it today would be formed. This was due in part to the success of emo bands like Paramore, All-American Rejects, and arguably the face of the whole emo subculture: My Chemical Romance.
by Katherine Simon The early 2000s was arguably the peak of emo music’s popularity. While the origins of emo date as far back as the mid-1980s; the start of the millennium would be when the genre entered mainstream popularity, and the emo subculture as we know it today would be formed. This was due in part to the success of emo bands like Paramore, All-American Rejects, and arguably the face of the whole emo subculture: My Chemical Romance. Formed in 2002 by lead singer/songwriter Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelisser, MCR went on to become one of the most prominent emo bands of the 2000s, and is probably the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of the genre. If you were an angsty, hormonal teenager like me, chances are you spent a lot of time listening to their music and ended up resonating with their brand of angsty songwriting with surprisingly hopeful and positive messages. With the band recently reunited, I thought it would be a good idea to look back on their discography and see what made them stand out from the crowd. I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me My Love (2002) Starting off with MCR’s debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was a pretty rough start for the band. This isn’t to say that the album was bad—since it does have some genuine bangers—but it’s very obvious that the band was still trying to find their sound at this point in time. The best way to describe the album is that it has more of a messy garage-band kind of feel, compared to the more refined sound of their later music—which while not inherently a bad thing, led to the album having a very amateurish sound. To be fair to MCR, I Brought You My Bullets was recorded before they signed on with a major record label, and was given out for free on sites like MySpace (which was basically the early 2000s equivalent of Soundcloud rappers trying to get people to listen to their mixtape), so the lower production quality is to be expected. However, it can be jarring to go back to this album after getting used to the more refined sounds of their later work. Unlike the band’s later albums, I Brought You My Bullets didn't focus on one specific theme, and instead opted for a “throw stuff at a wall and see what works” approach, which makes it one of their most thematically diverse albums, for better and for worse. Since the album didn't tie into an overarching narrative, this allowed Gerard and the rest of the band to explore various subject matters and experiment with. Songs like “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” and “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” showcase some incredibly strong lyrical storytelling, and show off Gerard’s ability to work with creative song concepts. “Skylines and Turnstiles” stands out as the most interesting song on the record, as it deals with the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Gerard, which was what ended up inspiring him to form MCR. While I Brought You My Bullets does feature some great songs, it’s biggest problem is that a lot of the songs aren’t very memorable and end up blending together in my head. Arguably the greatest strength of MCR’s music is being able to write some insanely catchy hooks, which makes songs like “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Teenagers” really fun to listen to, despite the dark subject matter. Unfortunately, a lot of the songs on the album lack that hook and end up being kind of forgettable. Outside of maybe three or four songs, I could not tell you what a lot of the tracks on this album sounded like off the top of my head. The issue probably stems from a lot of the songs having a very similar style of progression and not doing a great job at building up to the main chorus, as well as the general messiness of the vocals and instrumentation. It definitely helps that Gerard decided to dial back on the screaming since Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, because most of the lyrics being screamed really didn’t help with the progression issues. I Brought You My Bullets is an interesting album to look back on, but there’s a reason it isn’t as fondly remembered as the band’s later outings. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge was really when MCR started to come into their own. It improves on almost every aspect of I Brought You My Bullets, and overall feels like a more refined and cohesive work. This was the band’s first album after being signed with a major record label, and was also the first of their albums to tell an overarching story (which would become a trend for the band’s work moving forward). Continuing the story setup in the song “Drowning Lessons,” Three Cheers focuses on a man who was separated from his lover by death, and ends up making a deal with the devil so he can be reunited with her. This deal involves the protagonist having to kill a thousand evil men and bring their souls to the devil in order to be reunited with his lost partner. Since the songs in this album contribute to a larger narrative, Three Cheers ends up feeling like a much more thematically cohesive album than I Brought You My Bullets. While the latter might’ve allowed the band more room to experiment, Three Cheers is more focused and does a better job conveying a message. Looking beyond the surface of the story, Three Cheers is ultimately about dealing with grief and not letting it take over, which is what ended up happening to the protagonist. Although not directly connected to Three Cheers’ storyline, the album’s opening track, “Helena,” perfectly encapsulates the message of the album by saying that losing a loved one can be tough; it’s okay to grieve, but it’s best to move on and live for their sake, in contrast to the protagonist who becomes more consumed by grief as the album progresses. The song was dedicated to Gerard’s late grandmother Elena, who was a huge creative influence for him. Even if the song doesn’t directly contribute to the plot, “Helena” still captures its thematic essence and provides a more personal perspective from Gerard as someone who had recently experienced a loss of his own. The production on this album is a huge step up from I Brought You My Bullets. The instrumentation on each song sounds way more distinct, and Gerard’s vocals sound much cleaner. It’s clear that MCR signing to a major label really helped the production quality and direction of this album. Aside from “Helena,” the album has no shortage of fantastic songs. “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” was the definitive mid-2000s emo anthem for a reason, thanks to its wonderfully catchy hook and poignant message about being open with one’s emotions. “The Ghost of You” is an emotionally powerful song that expresses the emptiness left by the death of a loved one, and “To The End” is an incredibly catchy song, which parallels the short story “A Rose for Emily,” of all things. While not every song is a banger and I personally find the second half of the album to be a bit weaker than the first, the quality of Three Cheers is way more consistent than I Brought You My Bullets, and is easier to recommend. The Black Parade (2006) If you have even a basic knowledge of MCR’s discography, chances are you’ve at least heard The Black Parade’s name mentioned once in your life. This is the album that MCR is best known for, and for good reason. The story of Black Parade follows the character of The Patient, a cancer patient who is on the verge of death and is recounting the memories and regrets in his life. The concept for the album was inspired by Gerard’s belief that death appears in the form of one’s fondest memories, which in his case is seeing a marching band as a child. While Three Cheers deals with grieving the loss of others, Black Parade takes a more personal approach and deals with coming to terms with one’s own death. I’m just going to get my personal bias out of the way here: Black Parade is one of my favorite albums of all time, if not my favorite. While Three Cheers did a decent job conveying its themes through its narrative, Black Parade shows Gerard’s lyrical storytelling at its absolute peak. While the overarching narrative might not be incredibly obvious on the first listen, repeated listens of the album make it clear that each song on the album flows into each other to tell the story of The Patient’s life, and how he ended up in a state of isolation and regret in his final moments. Just to list a few examples, “Teenagers” explores the narrator’s trauma with growing up around adults who felt resentment towards him, and both “The Sharpest Lives” and “House of Wolves” reflect on the patient’s self-destructive behavior that landed him a spot in Hell. As far as the songs themselves go, just about every track on this album fantastic. From the high-energy, yet dark tracks like “Dead!” and “Teenagers,” to more emotional ballads like “I Don’t Love You” and “Cancer,” every song on the album is incredibly memorable. Some stand-outs include “Welcome to the Black Parade,” which does an excellent job of painting a picture of Gerard’s inventive interpretation of death, “Teenagers,” a song that is especially poignant as discussions around generational divide continue to heat up, and “I Don’t Love You,” which captures the heartbreak of having to end a relationship. The closing track, “Famous Last Words,” is also a wonderfully bittersweet end to The Patient's journey that offers a hopeful message about finding the determination to see meaning in life. From start to finish, The Black Parade is an absolutely wonderful album that everyone should listen to at least once in their life, even if you’re not a fan of emo music. There’s a reason why this album is held in such high regard by many, and it is a prime example about how every genre of music—even emo—the appeals to angsty teenagers has artistic merit. Danger Days: The True Lives of Fabulous Killjoys (2010) Danger Days would be MCR’s last studio album prior to their reunion. The band continued to release a few singles until their dissolution in 2013, but this would be the last record we’d see from the band for quite some time. That said, Danger Days is a bit of an odd one out, to say the least. The album’s story takes place during the then-far-off year of 2019, in the post-apocalyptic Battery City. The album follows a rebellious group known as the Killjoys, who are trying to take down an evil mega-corporation who is controlling the city and keeping its citizens complacent. While some of MCR’s work featured political undertones before, this is easily the band’s most politically-charged album with its very anti-consumerist message. Danger Days is a very different album from MCR’s usual fare. That’s not to say that it’s bad, but it definitely has a lot more pop than something like Three Cheers or The Black Parade. It’s a much more upbeat album that shows the band having more fun with their music, which is actually kind of refreshing to see, considering the band’s reputation of producing angst-ridden music for sad teens. Despite the album having a pretty strong anti-consumerism message, Danger Days ironically ended up being the most commercialized of MCR’s albums. Between “Sing” getting a decent amount of airtime on the radio, their songs showing up more frequently in TV and video games, and “Na Na Na” making an appearance in The Sims 3 with Gerard singing the lyrics in Simlish, it’s clear that the band wasn’t shy about marketing during the Danger Days era. While I’m on this topic, the song “Vampire Money” was made in response to the band being asked to do a song for the Twilight film series, which they were adamantly against. If you need any other reason to stan MCR, them seeing The Sims 3 and Yo Gabba Gabba as more worthwhile endeavors than appearing in the Twilight soundtrack is a good place to start. While Danger Days’ departure from the emo genre might be a point of contention for some people, it’s still an incredibly solid album with some stand-out tracks. The lighter tone works well for the whole rebellious sound the album is trying to go for, and it’s clear that MCR had a lot of fun recording it. Songs like “Na Na Na” and “Party Poison” are incredibly fun and energetic songs that I would recommend for any workout playlist, and while 11-year-old me might’ve gotten sick of hearing “Sing” on the radio ad-nauseum, it does a great job at being an uplifting. While nothing in this album is as emotionally powerful as anything from Black Parade or Three Cheers, it’s clear that that’s not what MCR was going for with this album. As great as those are, MCR wanted to move away from the angsty music and show that they could create something fun, while still retaining the creativity of their previous albums—which they accomplished in spades. There’s a reason MCR tends to be more fondly remembered than a lot of their contemporaries, and that’s because of their ability to create timeless music that strikes the perfect balance of being fun to listen to and containing a lot of thematic depth. Even if a lot of people look back and cringe at their emo phase, it’s rare that anyone will look back at MCR’s music with embarrassment because of how well a lot of it has aged. With the recent announcement of MCR being reunited, it will be interesting to see what direction the band’s music will take next. Regardless of if they continue with the more upbeat tone of Danger Days, go back to their emo roots, or go in a completely different direction entirely, whatever MCR puts out next is sure to be great and will hopefully hold up as well as their other works. Sources: Genius, YouTube, MTV, Images: Amazon, iHeartRadio Featured Image: Katherine Simon
by Katherine Simon When one thinks of the arcade giants of the 1990s, some of the big names that might come to mind are Capcom, Namco, Konami, Sega, and Midway; however, one arcade innovator that always seems to be left out of the discussion—despite their innovations in the field—is Shin Nihon Kikaku (SNK), creator of the Neo Geo arcade cabinets and multiple successful game franchises, such as Metal Slug and The King of Fighters. Despite their early success in arcades, they’ve seemed to have fallen off the map after the shift to home consoles. The company’s recent titles still sell relatively well, and their characters are even showing up in the likes of Tekken and Soul Calibur, but they’re no longer the juggernauts they used to be during the golden era of arcades. More recently, when Fatal Fury protagonist Terry Bogard was revealed to be the next DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a lot of younger, casual fans were confused and wondering who this ripped Pokemon Trainer look-alike was. Then, everyone immediately forgot about him as soon as Sans showed up and overshadowed literally any other announcement made that day. I love Sans Undertale just as much as the next person, but SNK and Terry Bogard have such a legacy in the arcade gaming scene, and they don’t deserve to be overlooked. To celebrate Terry's Smash debut, we’re going to go through the history of SNK, and hopefully bring light to the impact they left on arcade gaming. The start of a new Japanese project Before we get into SNK’s golden age, we have to go all the way back to the distant year of 1979. A relatively new company, named the Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation (Translated as New Japanese Project in English), released their first attempt at an arcade game, Ozma Wars. Originally established as a computer software company, the rapid growth of the arcade market inspired them to break out into the recently booming market. After Ozma Wars, they continued to work on various other arcade projects throughout the '80s, such as Psycho Soldier and Ikari Warriors (fun fact: the former was noteworthy for being the first video game with a vocal theme song, sung by former Japanese idol Kaori Shimizu), all of which had seen various ports to the Nintendo Entertainment System. While the NES ports were the primary source of their success, SNK wanted more people to pay attention to their arcade endeavors. During the late '80s and '90s, rival company Capcom had been dominating the arcade market with their CP System series of arcade boards. Created in 1988, these machines were incredibly innovative because, unlike a lot of arcade cabinets that were programmed specifically for one game, the CPS featured removable cartridges that could be freely switched out. Not only did it make arcade game development more cost-effective for Capcom, it also made the cabinets more enticing for arcade operators due to their cost-efficiency. After seeing Capcom’s success with their new arcade system, SNK decided to take the foundation Capcom laid out with the CPS and build on it for their series of arcade cabinets. In 1990, SNK released the Neo Geo series of arcade cabinets out into the world. Much like the CPS, the Neo Geo featured interchangeable cartridges that could support multiple games, but it had a few key advantages over Capcom’s golden goose. Outside of being more powerful than the initial CPS model, the Neo Geo featured up to six cartridge slots, compared to the CPS’ measly one. For business owners with limited space, this was a dream-come-true, since it allowed establishments to feature more games at a lower cost. Needless to say, the Neo Geo took off and became a huge staple of arcades everywhere, thanks to its economical design. The Neo Geo also featured a home console variant named the Arcade Entertainment System, which was released the same year. While initially only available through rental in Japan, demand from fans led to SNK making the console available for purchase. Since the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo were vastly underpowered compared to arcade machines at the time, people who wanted to play their favorite arcade games in the comfort of their homes had to settle for watered-down ports that looked and played worse. Since the AES uses the same hardware and cartridges as the arcade machines, the system was able to provide a 1:1 arcade experience from the comforts of any home. The AES was also unique in that it was the first home console to utilize memory cards, long before it became the standard for the fifth and sixth console generations. Unfortunately, the AES did have one glaring flaw that prevented it from becoming anything more than a niche product: it was ridiculously expensive. The console itself cost $650 at launch, and games usually ranged from $100-$300. To contrast that with its contemporaries, the Genesis cost $150, the SNES cost $200, and games for both usually cost around $50-$70. Unless you were part of the 1%, or were willing to evade your taxes in order to play your favorite King of Fighters game at home, there was no way in heck you’d be able to afford a Neo Geo. While the success of the arcade cabinets kept the console viable as a luxury item, the AES didn’t go far outside of the non-bourgeoisie market. Becoming the King of Fighters Of course, the Neo Geo wouldn’t move units with its fancy specs and economic design alone—it would need a library of entertaining games to go along with it. If there was one genre that dominated arcades in the '90s, it was fighting games. Since Capcom is a recurring entity throughout SNK’s history, it should come as no surprise that arcade fighters were Capcom’s bread and butter during that era, thanks to the overwhelming success of a little game called Street Fighter II. Created as a successor to 1987s Street Fighter, the sequel’s refined combo-based gameplay, and a memorable cast of characters set a new standard for competitive fighting games; it went on to sell 30 million units total across all iterations. Around the same time Street Fighter II hit arcades, SNK had been working on their own new fighting game franchise after headhunting the original Street Fighter creator, Takashi Nishiyama. Their first foray into the genre would be 1991’s Fatal Fury: King of Fighters. Fatal Fury’s playable roster consists of a measly three characters: protagonist Terry Bogard, his brother Andy Bogard, and their friend Joe Higashi. The three enter the titular King of Fighters tournament in hopes of seeking revenge on Geese Howard, a crime lord who killed Terry and Andy’s adoptive father 10 years prior. While this roster might seem pathetic compared to SF2’s eight-character roster, Fatal Fury set itself apart from other fighting games by allowing players to move into the foreground or background of a stage, in order to evade attacks. Keep in mind that this was the pre-3D era of gaming—before the likes of Tekken would flesh these mechanics out to great success—so Fatal Fury was definitely ahead of its time in that regard. While the first Fatal Fury might seem archaic and shallow by today’s standards, especially compared to the more complex SF2, the first game did well enough to warrant multiple sequels and various anime adaptations. As the series went on, more players would grow attached to Fatal Fury’s colorful cast of characters, and would appreciate the many gameplay refinements that SNK would add to the series. Protagonist Terry Bogard in particular stands out in the sea of stock martial artist fighting game protagonists, mostly due to his uniquely American aesthetic and quotable, broken English lines. Fatal Fury would continue to release new games up until 1999’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves, a post-timeskip story featuring Geese’s biological son, whom Terry adopted after the events of Real Bout: Fatal Fury, Rock Howard. After Fatal Fury’s success, SNK found a comfortable home amongst the arcade fighting game genre. Alongside continuing the Fatal Fury series, SNK would develop more fighting game franchises such as The Art of Fighting (a more traditional Street Fighter-esque fighter that was among the first to feature super moves), and Samurai Shodown, one of the first weapon-based fighters that also featured health-recovering items and stage hazards. In 1994, SNK debuted what would soon become its flagship franchise, The King of Fighters. Alongside its original characters, KOF would also integrate characters from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, as well as their pre-Neo Geo endeavors, such as Psycho Soldier and Ikari Warriors. Most of SNK’s biggest franchises were represented in KOF in some capacity, making this among one of the first crossover fighting games. Outside of Japan and North America, KOF would see great success in Latin American regions, thanks to the Neo Geo’s cost-efficiency, allowing the arcade cabinets to be prevalent in drug stores and arcades. The series would see yearly releases up until 2003, but it is still going strong today, with the upcoming 15th installment slated for a 2020 release. Seeing as KOF was created five years prior to the original Super Smash Bros., it features many similar mechanics such as roll dodging; it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that KOF might have been one of Smash’s main influences. This isn’t a baseless assumption either, as Smash director Masahiro Sakurai has even shared a story about how absolutely destroying someone’s girlfriend in KOF ‘95 inspired him to create Smash. If Sakurai’s recent 45-minute stream is any indication, it’s clear that the man loves SNK fighters and is incredibly happy to work with one of their characters after 20 years. Bankruptcy and future of the company While SNK did enjoy great success throughout the '90s, the turn of the millennium would not be treating the company well—for a multitude of reasons—ranging from the general decrease of interest in arcade gaming to the aging Neo Geo hardware not keeping up with the vastly more powerful 6th generation consoles. SNK was struggling financially and had to file for bankruptcy in 2001, with assets being bought out by Playmore Corporation. This would require them to outsource their Neo Geo games to other companies. Low morale within the company led to many of their developers either moving on to Capcom, or helping to create Dimps, a studio primarily known for developing the handheld Sonic the Hedgehog games. Around the time of SNK’s bankruptcy, Capcom also signed a deal with them to allow the two companies to make crossover fighting games with their characters. Capcom would work on the Capcom vs SNK series (which was really just Street Fighter vs King of Fighters, but including Darkstalkers’ Morrigan and Samurai Shodown’s Nakoruru), while SNK would work on some crossover games for their Neo Geo Pocket handheld, as well as their own console fighting game, SvC Chaos. While the CvS games did well critically and financially, Capcom got a majority of the profits, due to them being the primary developers while SvC Chaos didn’t do great financially, due to its mixed critical reception. Overall, it’s evident that Capcom was benefiting more from this deal than SNK, despite many Capcom fans getting into SNK through CvS. This would not be the last time SNK and Capcom worlds would cross over, as both Street Fighter and Fatal Fury antagonists Akuma and Geese Howard would appear in Tekken 7, while protagonists Ryu and Terry would make their way into Super Smash Bros. In 2003, the company would soon rebrand to SNK Playmore, and shift focus from Neo Geo development to developing for other arcade boards and home consoles. The Neo Geo console would cease development in 2004, with Samurai Shodown V Special being its final game. Even if SNK’s bankruptcy made the company’s future seem bleak, the longevity of the Neo Geo is nothing short of impressive and enough to give the PlayStation 2 a run for its money. In recent years, SNK Playmore laid low and wouldn’t have any noteworthy releases outside of the occasional KOF game and modern console ports of Neo Geo games; however, in recent years, SNK has seemed to be making an effort to become a prominent developer again. After being acquired by Chinese tech company 37Games in 2015, SNK Playmore would rebrand to the SNK Corporation in 2016 in an attempt to return to their roots. Since then, SNK would release many successful games, such as King of Fighters XIV and 2019’s Samurai Shodown reboot. SNK would also focus heavily on licensing out its characters for crossovers, which includes Terry’s Smash Ultimate inclusion, as well as other guest appearances in popular fighting game franchises like Tekken, Dead or Alive, and Soul Calibur. Needless to say, SNK’s future is looking very bright, and it’ll be interesting to see if Terry’s Smash inclusion will help push the company back into mainstream popularity. Sources: YouTube, Polygon, Kotaku, Source Gaming, SNK Corporation Images: Collector Vision, Fandom, IGN Featured Image: Katherine Simon
If there’s one thing video game enthusiasts can agree on, it’s that live-action film adaptations of video games are usually pretty bad.
Welcome to this week’s episode of Input 2! This week, we talked about the Disney Vault and the sheer amount of content coming to Disney+. What sort of incredible movies are going to be available? Are there any trends that can be discovered by looking at their full catalog? And what even is 'Operation Dumbo Drop'? Find out these and more in this week’s episode of Input 2!
by Katherine Simon If there’s one thing video game enthusiasts can agree on, it’s that live-action film adaptations of video games are usually pretty bad. While there are a few stand-out exceptions such as Detective Pikachu and the Ace Attorney movies, the bad examples vastly overshadow the few gems in the rough. Whether it be the hilariously awful Super Mario Bros. Movie or the 70 billion Resident Evil movies that keep getting made for some reason, video game movies are notorious for their low quality and complete disregard for what makes the source material work. With the infamous Sonic movie being on the horizon and a live action Monster Hunter movie that has nothing to do with the source material being in production, this trend does not seem to be dying anytime soon. While we’re on this dark timeline, let’s take a moment to think about what it’d be like if Undertale got the Hollywood treatment. While Toby Fox has yet to sell out his critical darling to the hands of Hollywood yet, I’d like to take a moment to think about what kind of disaster a live-action adaptation would be like. Frisk - Finn Wolfhard We start out with the only human character and therefore the only one who isn’t going to be an uncanny mocap abomination, Frisk. I’m gonna be honest, choosing an actor for Frisk was kinda difficult because I’m not too knowledgeable about what child actors are popular. I knew I wanted to do one of the Stranger Things or IT (2019) kids, but most of them are in their teens now and Frisk is very much a child, so I decided to go with a bit of a compromise and cast Finn Wolfhard as Frisk while aging them up to be about 14-15. As for why I chose Finn specifically, it’s mostly because he's the most recognizable young actor I could think of. I really didn’t think much of how he’d fit Frisk’s personality because the character is a blank slate to begin with, so you could probably put any actor in their role and they’d fit just as well. Just so happens that Finn is popular enough to Flowey - Nicolas Cage Now this is where the cast starts to get incredibly meme-y. For those who’ve played past the five minute mark of Undertale, Flowey is basically the game’s main antagonist in the Neutral and Pacifist routes, and is basically the only outright evil character in the game. He’s actually a pretty scary villain for a character that’s basically a cartoon flower, which is why Nicolas Cage would be the perfect casting for him. Cage is notorious for being incredibly over-the-top and hammy with his performances, and for a character that’s so not-subtle about his “kill or be killed” mentality, Cage would at least be an entertaining fit for the sinister flower. Just imagine the absolute nightmare fuel and meme potential that would come from Cage’s face being green-screened onto a realistic flower like some awful Snapchat filter. The only problem with this casting is that having a hyper-realistic Nicolas Cage flower screaming about genocide like an absolute madman is bound to traumatize any child in the theater, but honestly they’d be cowards if they didn’t go all in on Flowey. Toriel - Kiera Knightly Goat Mom was another character I had trouble casting at first, mainly because I couldn’t think of any good fits. Then one day I randomly started thinking about how awful Nutcracker and the Four Realms was and how Kiera Knightly really can’t catch a break between that film and the zombified corpse of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. She’s an incredibly talented actress as seen with her performances in films like Pride and Prejudice, but for some reason she keeps getting roped into bad movies. For this reason, I can see her being cast as Toriel. Also I couldn’t tell you why, but I’ve always imagined Toriel having a soft-spoken British accent in any kind of Undertale adaptation that required the characters to have voices, so I can totally see them casting a British actress for her role. Honestly, I’d rather Knightly star in actual good movies, but if her performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy is anything to go by, her take on Goat Mom will at least be entertaining. Sans - Danny DeVito If I’m being completely honest, Sans was definitely the easiest character to cast for this hypothetical adaptation. Danny DeVito is such a perfect fit for everyone’s favorite pun-happy meme-producing skeleton that I didn’t even have to give it much thought. Aside from his body type fitting the character well, DeVito’s comedic talent lends itself perfectly to Sans’ wit. His role as Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia alone proves that he can do the lazy comic justice. Not just that, but considering how much of a meme Sans is, casting arguably one of the most memetic actors in history would be a match made in heaven. As far as Sans’ role in the movie is concerned, I imagine this adaptation would be covering the pacifist run because that’s the more marketable story. However, they’re gonna want to have Sans play a bigger role in the story and do all the cool action stuff he does in the Genocide run since that’s what most people know about Undertale, so he’s probably gonna tag along with Frisk and be the wise-cracking sidekick that sometimes pulls out the Gaster Blasters and bone attacks during action scenes. Basically, just turn Sans into the 2012 Lorax to make him more marketable. Hey, after the push of getting DeVito to play Detective Pikachu didn’t pan out, getting him to voice another popular Smash character is probably the next best thing. Also, if they don’t find a way to work in an awful dubstep remix of “Megalovania,” what’s even the point? Papyrus - Adam Sandler Moving on to the other skelebro, this is honestly the casting that caused me the second most amount of pain because I really didn’t want to ruin my favorite character, but it makes way too much sense in terms of casting. Adam Sandler is known for playing obnoxious man-children in his movies, and Papyrus fits that eccentric child-like personality just well enough that I could see them running with it. Add that with the near inevitability of Sandler giving Paps an ear-grating voice, and you have an easy way to take one of the most charming and hilarious characters in the game and turning him into… well, your typical Adam Sander character. Which is to say, very annoying and unlikable. Undyne - Tessa Thompson Even as someone who doesn’t watch much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Valkyrie is one of my favorite characters in that franchise, and that’s mostly due to Tessa Thompson’s performance. She has a knack for playing strong female characters who happen to be bisexual disasters, which I personally relate to as a disaster bi myself. Considering that Undyne is an insanely powerful gay icon who can’t cook anything without burning her house down, Thompson just seems like a natural fit for the character. I honestly can’t picture anyone else playing the boulder-suplexing anime-loving fish lady quite like her. It’s honestly quite amazing that Thompson is able to fill a very specific niche and absolutely excel at it, which Undyne just so happens to fall under. Unfortunately that archetype might not live to its full potential, as seen with our next casting choice… Alphys - Mark Ruffalo You know how I said that Papyrus was the casting choice that caused me the second most pain? Well this is the first, not because of the actor himself, but because of the totally realistic prospect of Hollywood straight-washing the main canon queer couple. Undyne and Alphys’ relationship is one of the best examples of LGBT representation in gaming that I can think of, but I could totally see some executive deciding that a having a lesbian couple front-in-center in a kid’s movie would be “too controversial” and deciding to make them into a straight couple, relegating any queer representation to some rando background characters and still trying to act woke about it like a lot of companies tend to do (*cough* Disney *cough*). Though I guess if we're gonna genderbend Alphys, I suppose the best actor to portray her would be Mr. Hulk himself. I mean, he has experience playing a green science dude and he ain’t a bad actor, so I guess you could do worse for this scenario. Plus, I guess the casting of the couple would satisfy all five Valkyrie and Hulk shippers out there, so there’s that. Honestly at this point, any potential positives would be vastly overshadowed by the grossness of straight-washing the only gay characters in the story. Mettaton - Ryan Reynolds There’s no denying that Mettaton is absolutely fabulous. With his charismatic personality and legs for days, it’s kind of curious how Sans ended up being the character everyone was infatuated with instead of him. And who better to play a one-liner spewing looker of a robot than Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. There’s no denying that Reynolds has a natural charisma that makes his characters instantly memorable and entertaining to watch, which makes him a perfect fit for a charismatic celebrity with a massive ego. Even if Mettaton has some kind of Transformers-level overly-complicated CGI design going on, Reynolds’ performance should more than make up for it. Asgore - Jack Black Rounding things out with what is likely going to be one of the film’s major antagonists, we have none other than famous YouTuber Jablinski Games taking on the role of King Asgore. This is another Sans situation where this was one of the first casting choices that came to mind when writing this article. I mean once you look at them side-by-side, the casting makes absolutely perfect sense, even if Jack Black tends to be much quirkier than Asgore’s usual somber nature (not that that would matter to the producers, but I digress). Aside from that, Black seems like the most likely actor to accept a role in this film because he actually knows what an Undertale is. He’s been shown jamming out to “Megalovania” in one of his videos and was seen wearing a Sans shirt once, so I imagine he has at least a basic understanding of the source material. He definitely seems like the kind of guy that would accept the offer if he were approached for it, so at the very least we know he’d have fun with the performance. And that’s all I have for casting. Everyone else is either too spoiler-y to talk about or not relevant enough to the main story to bother casting. If you had a problem with my casting and think that my vision of a live-action Undertale sounds awful, then I did my job pretty well. Sources: Byte BSU, Polygon, YouTube, Esquire Images: IMDb Featured Image: Katherine Simon
Welcome to this week's episode of Input 2! This week, we cover the latest Netflix release, "Tall Girl." While the premise does is unique, does it live up to Netflix's constant advertising of its greatness? Find out all of this and more on Input 2!
Disclaimer: While this review does not contain spoilers for Steven Universe: The Movie, it contains spoilers for the events of Steven Universe.
by Katherine Simon Disclaimer: While this review does not contain spoilers for Steven Universe: The Movie, it contains spoilers for the events of Steven Universe. When one thinks of influential children’s cartoons from the 2010s, Steven Universe is one of the first that comes to mind. Since its debut in 2013, Rebecca Sugar’s brain child has been praised for its three-dimensional cast of characters, beautiful soundtrack, and wonderful handling of mature themes. Despite its inconsistent airing schedule and occasional rough moments, Steven Universe’s strengths really outshine its weaknesses and is easily one of the best children’s shows ever made. As is the case with most successful cartoons, a TV movie was pretty much inevitable, and what better place to do it than after the end of a major story arc? Being the show’s first feature-length outing, Steven Universe: The Movie is a phenomenal addition to the show’s narrative and does a wonderful job bridging the gap between the earlier seasons and the upcoming post-time skip season. Exploring the show’s themes deeper Steven Universe: The Movie takes place two years after the Season 5 finale. The diamonds have since ended their cruel dictatorship, and Earth is finally safe from their constant threat. Humans and gems are living in harmony, and Steven is finally able to live a normal life (also he finally grew a neck). However, this era of peace comes to an end when a mysterious new gem named Spinel comes to Earth with the intent of killing Steven and destroying Earth. Using her scythe, the antagonistic gem wipes the memories of the Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and leaves Steven completely powerless. Now it’s up to Steven to help the gems regain their memory and put a stop to Spinel’s plan before the earth is destroyed. Film adaptations of cartoons are usually kind of a mixed bag. Even if the show itself is good, there are a lot of cases where a show known for 11 minute self-contained stories just doesn’t lend itself well to a 90 minute format, so you have cases of writers unnecessarily raising the stakes to the point where it starts to feel like someone’s fanfiction. While there are plenty of stand-out examples of cartoon movies that maintain the charm of their source material such as The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, often times you’ll end up with something like the Recess movie, which is so divorced from the show’s usual stakes that it feels like the characters were plopped into a completely unrelated movie. Luckily, since Steven Universe is more plot-oriented and has more experience with long-form storytelling, the movie is able to avoid this problem and feels like a natural extension of the show. As far as the plot itself is concerned, it’s one of the best the show has to offer. A consistent theme throughout the show is that Steven’s mother, Rose Quartz, is not a very good person. A lot of the main conflicts in the show were caused from her recklessness, and she left her son to deal with the mess she left behind. This plot point is one of my favorite aspects of the show, because it explores the idea of parental figures not always being great people and coming to terms with that, which is a rare message to see in children’s media. The movie continues to run with this idea, as the central conflict here was also the result of Rose’s previous actions. Having a more mature Steven confront these issues again is a great way to explore this theme even further, especially seeing as he’s now dealing with someone who was personally hurt by his mom. Considering what Rose did to Spinel, it makes sense why she holds such resentment towards her. While in earlier seasons Steven would try to rationalize Rose’s behavior, he just flat-out admits that what his mother did was awful and that Spinel is justified in hating her. While some critics of the show dislike Steven for being too much of a pushover, that scene alone shows that he isn’t as naive as he was in the earlier episodes and understands that some actions can’t be easily forgiven. Same great characters, fantastic new villain Speaking of Spinel, she’s such a great antagonist for this movie. Her backstory and motivations make her an incredibly compelling antagonist that compliments the themes of the film well. Steven Universe does a great job at fleshing out its antagonists and giving them a ton of depth, and Spinel is no exception. It also helps that her personality is a ton of fun, too. Her design being based on 1920’s rubber hose animation gives her a unique gimmick that lends itself well to some fun comedic moments and creative action scenes. She’s the perfect balance of funny, threatening, and emotionally complex that the series is able to strike with most of its antagonists, to the point where I’m almost kinda sad that she’s a one-off character who might not have much of a presence in future episodes. I honestly hope she has some kind of presence in the later episodes, because she’s easily one of my new favorite characters. Aside from the deeper exploration of the show’s themes, the film’s plot is really enjoyable. Despite being in a much longer format than the usual 11 minute fare, the plot really doesn’t drag at all and keeps things going. It’s also really nice to see the other gems play a bigger role in this movie while the main gem trio is MIA. Lapis’ presence within the main group has been incredibly inconsistent throughout the show and Bismuth hasn’t been part of the main cast for super long, so seeing them in the spotlight gives me hope that they’ll play a bigger role in the later seasons. Featuring a lustrous soundtrack and visuals Seeing that Steven Universe is a show well known for its musical numbers, it should come as a surprise to no one that this film is a musical. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t do a full musical episode sooner, because the show really lends itself well to that kind of format. Just like in the show, the songs in the movie are incredibly well written and do a great job at fleshing out its main cast. To name a few standouts, “Other Friends” is a wonderfully catchy introduction for Spinel that fits her 1920s cartoon aesthetic, “Happily Ever After” invokes a feeling of nostalgia for the earlier episodes while showing how far these characters have come, and “Drifting Away” is an emotionally powerful song that explores the tragedy of Spinel’s backstory. I could go on about all the songs I love because there’s so many great ones, but this review would be as long as the film if I did that. If you love the show’s music, there’s a good chance you’ll also adore the movie’s soundtrack. On the visual side, the animation team did not skimp out for the movie. Being a higher budget project than the average episode, the animators had a lot more freedom to make the animation more fluid and deliver some more ambitious action scenes. The film looks absolutely stunning as a result, and is probably the best the show has ever looked. The climax in particular is wonderfully animated and features some of the best-looking animation I’ve seen from a TV production. A lot of this film’s exceptional animation can be traced back to Takefumi Hori, a Japanese animator from Studio Trigger who has worked on projects such as Little Witch Academia, Samurai Champloo, and even the “Mindful Education” episode of Steven Universe. His talent definitely shines through in this film, as he’s quite well known for animating incredibly fluid and fast-paced action scenes. Steven Universe has been somewhat inconsistent when it comes to visual quality, but when it’s good, it really hits it out of the park, and this film definitely exceeded expectations in that area. Images: IMDb Featured Image: IMDb
I’m sure by now you’ve already heard about the backlash the Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been receiving lately, most notably for Sonic’s uncanny design. Ever since the design was initially leaked, everyone and their mother has been tearing this naked man-hog apart. The mockery only increased when the trailer dropped just a few days ago and we finally saw Sonic with realistic human teeth and the proportions of a weird toddler-adult hybrid. Even Byte’s own Tanner Kinney couldn’t help but join in on the Roast of Sonic, and we’ll be following up on his thoughts with this feature.
Disclaimer: This article was written prior to Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct, therefore some of the predictions made might be a little outdated. There will be an addendum at the end of the feature reflecting on my thoughts towards DLC and how it affects my future predictions.
If you grew up during the early- to mid-2000s and regularly watched Nickelodeon, chances are you’re at least somewhat familiar with Dora the Explorer. It was a show that aimed to teach the Spanish language to young children, but failed to teach viewers anything beyond the bare minimum and had virtually no respect for the audience’s intelligence. Despite this, the series went on to see major success, with it being Nick’s second-most-merchandised show behind Spongebob Squarepants for a while. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone speak fondly of the show in retrospect, but that didn’t stop Viacom from seeing it as a potential nostalgic goldmine. In an era where Nick is exploiting ’90s and early-2000s nostalgia hard, they somehow saw potential in Nick Jr. nostalgia and decided to make a live action adventure film out of Dora.
by Katherine Simon If you grew up during the early- to mid-2000s and regularly watched Nickelodeon, chances are you’re at least somewhat familiar with Dora the Explorer. It was a show that aimed to teach the Spanish language to young children, but failed to teach viewers anything beyond the bare minimum and had virtually no respect for the audience’s intelligence. Despite this, the series went on to see major success, with it being Nick’s second-most-merchandised show behind Spongebob Squarepants for a while. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone speak fondly of the show in retrospect, but that didn’t stop Viacom from seeing it as a potential nostalgic goldmine. In an era where Nick is exploiting '90s and early-2000s nostalgia hard, they somehow saw potential in Nick Jr. nostalgia and decided to make a live action adventure film out of Dora. The mere concept of turning Dora the Explorer into an edgier action flick is so ridiculous that even CollegeHumor parodied the idea seven years back, but, if the Sonic fiasco is anything to go by, Paramount has absolutely no shame and will put out any crazy idea the executives come up with. With a premise so bizarre, the film has the potential to either be genuinely awful or so absurd that it’s fun. Ultimately, Dora and the Lost City of Gold leaned more into the latter category, being an average family movie with some weird moments, but not something to write home about. A sometimes entertaining, mostly predictable storyline The story follows the titular explorer Dora (Isabela Moner), who is now 16 years old. After her reckless means of exploring causes some concern from her parents, they send her off to California to live with her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) and attend high school. Due to her eccentric personality and encyclopedic knowledge, she’s constantly mocked by the other students and provokes the ire of class prep Sammy (Madeleine Madden). One day while on a field trip, Dora, Diego, Sammy, and nerdy student Randy (Nicholas Coombe) are kidnapped and find themselves in the jungle Dora grew up in. After reuniting with her pet monkey Boots (Danny Trejo) and learning that her parents have been kidnapped by a group of mercenaries, Dora and the gang must set out to rescue them while uncovering the mystery behind a hidden Incan civilization. As you could probably tell by the synopsis, Lost City of Gold is way beyond the scope of the usual Dora episode. For a film based on a sanitized preschool show with no stakes whatsoever, they sure aren’t afraid to put their characters into life-or-death situations and use realistic weapons. You’re probably already aware of Dora using a knife if you’ve seen any of the trailers, but the bad guys also have realistic guns, and I can’t for the life of me get over the fact that guns now canonically exist in the Dora the Explorer universe. There’s also a few other standout scenes of absolute insanity, such as a hallucination scene where the film suddenly shifts into the cartoon’s art style and a scene where Danny Trejo's Boots talks to Dora about puberty in his only speaking role. There’s a few other weird moments, but I’d rather not spoil them for anyone who might be interested in watching the film. Just know that the film can get pretty crazy at points and might be worth watching if you’re morbidly curious. Aside from the film’s eccentricities, it’s incredibly safe. If there’s one major downside the film has, it’s that the plot is super predictable. It’s easy to see every plot twist coming from a mile away, such as when they introduce their twist villain early on in the film. I generally don’t care if a film is predictable as long as the journey itself is interesting, but the plot itself is too bare bones and basic. It also doesn’t help that the jungle exploring stuff doesn’t start until about a quarter way into the movie and most of the introduction is just high school filler. There’s just not enough substance here to make this a compelling narrative, and I found myself getting bored at certain points. The bizarre moments keep the plot somewhat entertaining, but they can only do so much to make up for the otherwise mediocre story. The humor in Lost City of Gold is pretty hit or miss. There are quite a few good jokes that got a chuckle out of me, but there’s also many that caused me to audibly groan such as the instances of toilet humor. There’s also quite a few jokes that poke fun at the tired tropes of the original series, from the patronizing audience interactivity to Dora having a song for almost every conceivable situation. These can be pretty amusing, but considering that Dora has been parodied to death in popular media, you’ve probably heard most of these jokes before and are most likely sick of them by now. Personally, I think those jokes land most of the time thanks to the comedic payoffs and line delivery, but I can understandably see people finding those jokes stale. Easily, the funniest part of the movie is just the existence of Swiper. Every other fantastical element of the original series such as the talking animals and inanimate objects has been explained away as just six-year old Dora having an active imagination, with the exception of Swiper. Boots doesn’t even talk until near the end of the movie, but a walking, talking kleptomaniac fox voiced by Benecio Del Toro just exists in this universe and is working with the mercenaries. They don’t explain Swiper’s existence at all in this movie ,and his role in the story is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but it’s so ridiculous that I love it. The best part is that they kept all the cartoony sound effects from the show whenever he moves, which just adds to the wonderful absurdity of his character. My only problems with Swiper is that I wish there was more of him and that they didn’t give him some kind of absurdly in-depth backstory and character motivation. Maybe when the Nick Jr. Cinematic Universe finally takes off, we can get a Swiper prequel movie for all us Swiper stans out there. An unremarkable cast of characters If there’s one thing I have to commend this movie for, it’s giving Dora an actual personality. Dora in the cartoon really only exists to talk down to the audience, but Lost City of Gold Dora is made out to be a quirky young girl who doesn’t really understand most social cues. Granted it’s not a particularly nuanced or complex characterization and she does come across as one-note at times, but it’s something that makes the character somewhat endearing. As for Diego, he just kind of exists in this movie. The film has an arc with him worrying about Dora not fitting in at high school to try and give his character some depth, but other than that he doesn’t have a ton of defining personality traits. The original characters really don’t do it for me. Randy and Sammy feel like the same tired archetypes you’d see in your usual high school comedy movie. Randy is the weird nerdy comic relief guy while Sammy is the stuck up preppy smart girl and rival to the protagonist. None of these characters are all that inspired and feel like they were only added to give Dora and Diego someone to play off of. Though I will give credit where credit is due, the writers at least tried to give Sammy a character arc and flesh out her character. Granted it’s a pretty bare-bones redemption arc the preppy mean girl usually goes through, but it’s something. It’s better than Randy serving absolutely no purpose to the story and only existing as unfunny comic relief. Plus, she was the one who delivered the line about Dora bringing a knife to the field trip, so props to her for giving us the best joke in the whole movie. Surprisingly decent presentation The acting in this movie is surprisingly solid for something as seemingly cynical as a Dora the Explorer movie. Most of the actors did a wonderful job portraying their character and they work off each other incredibly well. The real stand out among the cast is Isabela Moner as the titular protagonist. She does such a great job bringing out Dora’s quirkiness and giving life to a character who initially wasn’t all that endearing. The only actor I had an issue with is Diego, whose delivery felt pretty stilted and awkward compared to Moner’s lively performance. The cast is especially impressive when you consider that most of the major characters are portrayed by relatively new actors. Most of these people just recently broke into the acting scene and they still did an excellent job. It would’ve been really easy for the producers to cast whoever was the biggest star at the time and use them to advertise the film to adults, but for the most part they opted to cast based on who fit the characters best and it really worked out in the end. Heck, the biggest stars in the cast are Danny Trejo as Boots and Michael Pena as Dora’s father, but even then the former doesn’t speak for most of the film and the latter doesn’t play a huge role in the plot. Based on their performances in this film, it’s clear that the actors are really talented and I would love to see them staring in more films in the future. The CGI in this film is also pretty well done. I don’t know if it’s because films like the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog and Cats movies have given me a higher threshold for what I’m willing to tolerate in CG character design, but characters like Boots and Swiper are implemented pretty well into the movie without looking like they came straight out of the uncanny valley. The designs aren’t amazing and the animation on them wasn’t anything extraordinary, but they actually turned out pretty decent all things considered. Images: IMDb Featured Image: IMDb
