So! This is a half spoiler, half non spoiler review? I'm gonna have a read more where I discuss spoilers, but for the initial round if you haven't seen it and are reading to decide if you shoud you should be fiiiine.
Anyway, I'mma be real with you all. I thought live action Pokemon couldn't work. They already had inconsistent results getting the Pokemon world to work in the more flexible world of animation (as much as I think the anime's actually not bad, I swear) and fan attempts at blending real humans with CGI Pokemon just looked... Gross. When I heard there was a bidding war for the Western movie rights to Pokemon and Legendary won I had several concerns. Then trailers started dropping, and I was unironically fascinated. I thought this movie could be good. I WANTED this movie to be good. And hey, it was! It wasn't perfect, and I'll get to why, but it... it was fun, the same sort of cheesy fun I think the anime has but refined and honed for a western audience and it somehow worked? What helps is that Tim and Pikachu have this amazing dynamic, with Pikachu's quips bouncing off Tim in an entertaining manner, and that helps makes certain scenes comedy gold - like the Mr. Mime scene. The female lead is fun as well - a neglected intern that tries to mask her issues by being a perky reporter. Also Psyduck. For only having 50-60 Pokemon on display there was an excellent variety of them. A good chunk of them aren't even G1, and the non-G1s get to have some cool or funny moments. Video game movies routinely have a problem of not feeling like their source material, being off in just the right ways. This number feels like a goddamn Pokemon movie - it's spiritually similar to both the game it's based on and the animated Pokemon movies, and that's mostly a good thing! It bodes well for future live-action Pokemon movies and live-action video game movies in particular. Overall if you're a Pokemon fan and are considering seeing this movie please do. It's got some spoiler bits that are bit head-scratchy or eye-roll worthy (plus it's got a couple instances of -groan- toilet humor) but it's a good time overall. Heck, maybe if Pokemon is only a fringe thing for you - I went with my family and they were cracking up the whole time. (also for those in a certain RP with me the whole thing is very WAAPT and that is hilarious) Okay now we talk spoilers. TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET. -------------- Okay so what I say is the biggest flaw of the movie is the villain, Howard. He kinda feels like one of the more bog-standard villains of the animated movies and as much as the animated movies are cheesy fun for me and some of them even go further beyond that into being personally important and formative experiences... the villains tend to not be strong points. His actual PLAN is cool and one of the many more WAAPT-y things about the movie but how he gets there makes... no sense? Also the fact that he's supposed to be a plot twist but you can guess he's the villain so easy it'd make a mid-2010s Disney villain blush. (I liked Hans and King Candy for very specific and weird personal reasons but most peeps after that sheesh...) It's more insulting that it's so easy to guess since they actually bait and switch you from the original game, where his son was the original villain but just gets done dirty in this movie. On the more positive end, Howard's literal partner in crime is his Ditto. And his Ditto is SO COOL. The beady eyes are a brilliant and lovely touch and it's genuinely a good opponent for our protagonists in the climax. The twist that Detective Pikachu is Harry and his partner Pikachu merged into one entity is handled noticeably better, even if I could also guess it pretty early on. It's genuinely well foreshadowed! And also apparently based on stuff in the original game! Pikachu's issues are such an excellent mirror for Tim's and it adds to their dynamic and makes you go "wait a fucking minute here" One of my favorite scenes was the fight club scene since we get to see actual Pokemon battles going down and then there's the bit when the Magikarp evolves into a Gyarados and the Charizard's R wears off and Charizard has these huge panicked puppy dog eyes and oh my God it was hilarious. Speaking of the R! I like how it's heavily implied to be derived from the Berserk Gene like in the original game. Very nice mythology gag. Mewtwo was cool in general too, just wish it got more time to shine. Also. THE TORTERRA GARDEN. I got such a kick out of that scene and I'm not entirely sure why. But yeah the movie was good. Not perfect but really fun and very much a step in the right direction for video game movies. I assume you have already seen it if you are reading this section of the review, so tell anyone who hasn't to go see it for me.
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Okay, as a successor to the trailer analysis it was only natural to do this, plus I did something like this three years ago for G7. This is where I extrapolate on everything I think we’ll get in Sword and Shield and everything I want to get. In no particular order:
-First off, I’m not demanding some Breath Of The Wild or Super Mario Odyssey-esqe leap forward like a lot of people seem to be doing, and I kind of side-eye those people (including some Youtubers I’m disappointed in because I know they’re better than that). That’s not sustainable for every single Nintendo franchise or hell every single video game franchise period. What I do want is a smaller advancement that keeps the franchise what it is while adding plenty that is new and interesting and not too gimmicky - to quote @enigma-boi on my Discord server more like the difference between Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 2. I want it to be like the breath of fresh air Unova or even Alola were. -On the note of those two please have a good plot. It’s not a dealbreaker but please. -Also less of a focus on gimmicks. Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves and such are cool but if you try to top them every gen things get… bloated. This is part of why I don’t like the Armored Evolution rumor. -There’s probably going to be at least one Eeveelution. Give me Dragon or give me death. -DITCH THE CATCHING TUTORIAL. LET’S GO HAD A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION THERE. PLEASE. -Hopefully HMs are gone for good too. I’m optimistic they are but. -Also put your PC in your bag like Let’s Go but make it more like the PCs from Hoenn to Alola. -Nicknaming your Pokemon on the fly should come back too. And LET US NICKNAME TRADED POKEMON FOR GOD’S SAKE -I feel we’ll get it but give us the Pokemon Amie equivalent. Let me pet my Arceus on my big-screen TV. -On that note. They said this would be a more handheld-oriented experience but I think when docked there will still be motion control some places like the Amie equivalent and in minigames, which are replaced by the touch screen and/or buttons in handheld mode. -I’m a little sad gyms are back because the island trials in G7 were a nice change of pace but given that weird logo that’s showing up everywhere I still have hope Galar’s gyms are unconventional. We’ll see. -Minor nitpick but I hope Pokecenters and Pokemarts are still merged here. I know they’ve only been unmerged in remakes of games predating that concept but still. -I’m pretty sure it’s not coming back this time but I want co-op to make a return. That was fun in Let’s Go, even if most of my experience with it was forcing a RL friend that knows jack shit about Pokemon to play with me. -Speaking of multiplayer! Go back to an online experience more like G6’s. Please. I’m begging you Gamefreak. -Regarding the Galar region and its UK-y nature my one wish is that we get a bunch of pesudo-Arthurian bullshit as part of the setting lore. If there is none I will be forced to make some (and probably do some silly Fate series crossovers while I’m at it). -References to UK pop culture would be delightfully silly too. -For the cover legendaries… the logos make me think twin wolves. There’s a rumor that it’s a metal snake and wooden horse and while I would be 100% down for the metal serpent and the inevitable Metal Gear Solid jokes it would attract that leaves the question of what the wolf heads represent so I’m currently banking on my first guess. -This makes me think the third legendary is a cat. Possibly a lion because Britain but we just had Solgaleo. Maybe a Welsh dragon instead. Or a third option of dragon cat. I suddenly want this. -As for other Pokemon… I’m not really picky as there’s no Pokemon design I outright dislike and I doubt that’s gonna change, so I’m cool with whatever. But I hope because of the setting we have lots of Dragon types. Also a gryphon/griffin Pokemon. Maybe with a hippogriff as a counterpart -Also this has nothing to do with the setting but I want a hummingbird and a dolphin -As for the final forms of the starters… I’m guessing/hoping Grass/Dark for Grookey, Fire/Electric for Scorbunny, and Water/Dragon for Sobble -On a minor note I hope they either make the Escape Rope a non-consumable key item or have a HM equivalent that lets you nope out of dungeons. -I assume Trainer customization is back but I’m gonna put it as a request anyway. Additionally, for when we do get it, diversifying hair and eye color beyond “natural” options as much as possible (if the NPCs can have blue hair why can’t we? We’re the protagonist! We’re supposed to be more special™ than they are!) Gen 7 had headway for this but I want MORE. Also a skin tone slider. -More events that let you catch and name the Pokemon yourself -There doesn’t seem to be a Dark gym on the map so… Give us a lore reason there’s not a Dark-type gym. (Is there some Defense Against The Dark Arts bullshit going on here? We need to know!) -This one is a bit weird but bring back something like the Friend Safari? That was fun. -Random encounters are back. Sigh. As a hope I hope we get a key item that replaces Repels and lets you toggle them on or off. -Upgrade a lot of the more held-item-based, out-of-battle-use only, or otherwise lackluster/situational Abilities to be less so. -Fill out the unused type combos. Especially the unused Fairy combos. GIVE ME FAIRY DARK AND DRAGON BUG -There will inevitably be cameos of characters from other regions and one of them is going to be Looker. Looker is omnipresent. Looker is omniscient. Looker is a being too powerful for this world. Arceus looks upon Looker and quakes in fear at what they have created. -And last but not least I think we’ll get at least one new hot female NPC and at least one new hot male NPC, because I am a bisexual mess. Whew! That was mostly hopes because I feel like we could get just about anything this gen but it was fun to write. But that’s about it. If anyone wants to throw predictions of their own at me feel free to do so. Because this was a more pleasant subject than some of the other Tumblr rambles I was considering.
But HOLY WOW. It happened! It finally happened! We have our first brand new Pokemon generation on a home console! It took Nintendo merging their home and mobile console experiences and we got a remake nobody can agree on if it’s a spinoff or not first but it happened. And I could not be happier. It looks so pretty. I know people wanted super-powerful graphics (more on stuff like that later) but Pokemon’s always looked nicer with that cartoony style (Detective Pikachu notwithstanding) and for what it is it looks gorgeous. I especially loved the way the water and the forests looked, and some of the effects. There’s this mysterious symbol going on with the gyms and the soccer/football jersey and even the game’s logos. I’m assuming it involves the Big Gimmick of this generation, the Mega and Z move equivalent. What it is, I can’t say. I’ve heard rumors but I don’t like any of them and have good reason to doubt most of them. But we’ll see. THE STARTERS. I love them all. I love Scorbunny the most though and I don’t care if it’s Fire Fighting I will love and protect it. I like the other two about equally, which is weird, since I can usually pin a least favorite even if I like all of them (which I always do). I just… want to hug them. Grookey needs more love though. Of course I need to see their evolutions before I make any final judgements but. The region looks really nice. I was surprised the UK rumors were true but I kinda like it. I especially like all the memes that have sprouted around this fact - particularly the female protagonist having all the essence of Groundskeeper Willie and Scottish Twitter stuffed into an anime girl’s body. I am a little disappointed in a couple things, and they’re both actually things I liked in Let’s Go. First off was the fact that classical random encounters are back instead of Pokemon appearing in the overworld. My ideal would have been that happening but you still fight them traditionally. I get the sheer amount of Pokemon that tended to appear at a time in Let’s Go might be weird to do in this engine, but it happening at all would make the world feel even more alive. Second is the lack of following Pokemon, which I was really hoping would be making a comeback. I just really hope all the genuine innovations in Let’s Go aren’t stuck there since this is more traditional - I want to nickname Pokemon on the fly and keep my PC in my bag and do co-op and stuff like that. I’m also a little disappointed we’re returning to gyms but there’s hints the gyms won’t be… conventional so we’ll see. That said… I keep seeing people who are disappointed in this game for kind of silly reasons? It’s like that Spongebob meme I did a bit back - you’re either happy this game exists at all or you’re disappointed it’s not some Breath Of The Wild or Super Mario Odyssey-esqe experience and the only in-betweens I saw were… like, three gaming and Nintendo Youtubers I follow. They outright said this was going to be more traditional, Gamefreak always takes baby steps, and, like, we’ve only seen less than seven minutes of gameplay so cool your jets on how “”“ambitious”“” or not this is. I did say on my main blog I wouldn’t mind this looking kinda like a Tales game and this is giving me kinda-sorta-maybe Vesperia vibes with how it looks and plays with camera angles so. On the note of getting more info, now begins the drip feed. The first couple months are always slow, but we’ll get more info eventually. I’ll probably go over my hopes and predictions for this generation in another post soon though. But yeah this year is a crazy one to be a Pokemon fan. We’re getting our first brand-new mainline game on a home console, we’re getting a remake of the first animated movie that’s also the first full CGI movie, and we’re getting our first live-action movie that has even weirder CGI than the full CGI movie. Shit’s wild man. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to hug all the new starters. As you can see, I originally made this page to handle some final assignments for an English class. However, with Tumblr getting vivisected by its new content policies I figured here would be a good alternative for any more personal posts. Stay tuned.
The assignment was a pitch, but to go the extra mile I wanted to write part of a very rough draft of a script to a spiritual successor to Mr. Rogers. Author's notes in parenthesis.
--------------------- -A man enters a small, peaceful-looking house as cheery theme music plays. He sits down and stares directly at the camera- Man: Hello there. Today we're going to take a look at what's going on with the residents of our neighborhood; their hopes, fears, dreams, and what makes them all special. (target audience is young children, but intended to be meaningful to anyone else who watches as well) -He pushes a toy trolley through a tunnel, and the camera cuts to it emerging in an elaborate setpeice, the center of which is a clock tower. A blue dog puppet pops out of the clock tower, covering its eyes- Dog: -sniff, sniffle- -A tall woman approaches the dog- Woman: What's wrong, Alec? Alec: I... I said something mean to my friend! And I don't know if they'll ever forgive me! Woman: Well did you apologize? Alec: Y-yes... Woman: Sometimes that's all you can do. Alec: But... What if it doesn't work? Woman: Sometimes it just doesn't. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes maybe the person doesn't want to be your friend. Alec: Oh no... Then what will I do? Woman: You learn from it, and look for people who really do want your company. Who like you just the way you are. Alec: Okay.. Will you still be my friend, Ms. Gudrunn? Ms. Gudrunn: -smiles- Of course. (Sometimes children need to learn about aspects of friendship that aren't 100 sunshine and rainbows, but the show needs to keep it optimistic.) -The trolley moves on to a castle, where a puppet with an animal skull for a head is sorting things- Skull Puppet: Prepare yourselves! The hurricane is coming! Survival of the fittest! -Another puppet, an owl, turns to a redheaded man leaning on the side of the castle- Owl: Excuse me Mr. Tom, what's a hurricane? Mr. Tom: Oh, uh... A hurricane. It's like... A really big storm. Owl: A storm?! Should we be worried? Mr. Tom: If it hits us, yeah. Hurricanes kill people! Owl: Oh no oh no... Why? Mr. Tom: I dunno. Nature's just like that sometimes. Owl: Oh no... What do we do? Mr. Tom: Help each other out! Don't be greedy and selfish like skullhead over there. You're better than that, Willow. Willow: Heh... Thanks, Mr. Tom. (current events: Hurricane Michael) -The trolley moves on, looping back to the house, where the man is sitting with the boy- Man: So, what did you want me to ask about, Aaron? Aaron: I saw two boys holding hands. Don't only boys and girls do that? Man: It's not really that easy. Sometimes boys like boys, sometimes girls like girls, sometimes they like both, or neither. It's a fact of life. Aaron: Really? So it's OK for people to do that? Man: Yes it is. Some people don't think so, but those people don't matter. All that matters is you being you and treating others kindly. Aaron: Okay... What if I grow up and I like boys? Man: Then that's good. Just keep being who you are. ------------------- (And that's all I could come up with; sorry if I butchered both the spirit of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and the assignment, I just really wanted to try this out!)
Ad to be analyzed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCsqABAQLjs
Questions: 1. What is the central purpose of the image? The purpose is to advertise Kmart shipping. 2. By what means does the artist achieve his or her purpose? Bad puns. Really bad puns. 3. Why does the image succeed or not succeed? It succeeds in the sense it is humorous. Alas Kmart is dead, so I cannot take advantage of this service. 1. What kind of angle is the picture or video taken from? It is taken from the side. 2. What kind of colors are used in the picture? Grays and subdued colors are used. 3. Outdoors or indoors? The ad is set indoors 4. How many people are in the visual argument? Who are they? How can you tell? There are several people, all KMart customers. I can tell because it's a KMart commercial. 5. What time of day? What season? Unknown; the commercial is set indoors. 6. Are there any words in the picture? If so, what do they say? Several words are said, mostly vulgar puns around the word "ship." 7. How close together or fall apart are the objects or people in the picture? They are scattered around a KMart store. 8. Are there any symbols visible? The Kmart logo is visible. 9. How do I feel as I look at the visual argument? How does the creator want me to feel? I am amused, as the creator wants me to be. 10. Are the objects/people in the visual argument familiar to you? No, they are not. Analysis: This ad, in a way, is crude. It makes use of the word "ship" and makes it deliberately sound like the much more vulgar "shit" over and over and over. It is a risky move for something that is being aired during daytime television, especially with a child involved in the shenanigans. That said, the only record I currently have of this commercial's reception is Youtube comments, which go as follows: "kmart is playing a dangerous game" "I just shipped my toilet" "Should have ended "Are you shipping me?!" "No."" "I can't wait to ship my pants dad" "Achievement hunter brought me here" "I just shipped my pants laughing out loud." "Shipped right out of business" At the very least, the commercial was a hit with the Internet. Too bad KMart went out of business. Honorable Mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKtzumUmmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxVH5sKUlPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Yec76fK3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZmdVglQs-Y |
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May 2019
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