rickothan Reviews

Sausage Party (2016)

Uh

[3/10 · 7 April 2024]

I... I don't... I can't... I... I uh... It's... I... Uh... I watched this sober with 5 high friends and I am. Just... I don't... There's like.... I cannot bring together more than 2 words to describe this movie.

On one hand, it's pretty funny. I laughed a few times. Funny puns. The one character saying things that tangentally sound like a food name was funny. But on the other hand, some things were a little too stereotype-ish for my taste, and believe it or not, some of the things in this movie do not suit an asexual. At the end of the day, I... I just... I am... I don't... It's... um... This... This was an experience. Certainly the movie of all time. If you've got a blunt this movie is probably good. Otherwise, only watch it if you're a fan of movies that aren't so good.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

A new Empire Strikes Back

[10/10 · 2 June 2023]

This film is a visual concert. The animation and character design neatly put me to tears. The opening of the film took an approach that shocked me, but it was fantastic to watch. Many of the jokes were in the trailers, but plenty caught me off guard in the cinema. Miguel even had a couple of funny moments. The presence of existing spider characters, such as snippets of the other films, did feel somewhat strange I have to admit. However, it is made up for in how incredible this film was. It was artistic, mature, adult, and profound. It leaves the viewer on a cliffhanger that shocked me. I thought I was an hour into the film, but it was the end. I implore everyone wondering if they should see this film to do so. Easily the best film I have seen in a long time and the best film to see in theaters. A true masterpiece.

The Owl House: Watching and Dreaming (2023) Season 3, Episode 3

As good as it ever could have been

[8/10 · 9 April 2023]

This episode has everything for an Owl House fan. The animation is gorgeous, the characters are all treated with care, and the way they handled The Collector felt very natural, it was Luz's final trial in my eyes. However, I do feel as though everyone got off a little too easy. For example, being able to freely travel between worlds felt almost too easy, but the Collector is there so it couldn't happen any other way, HUGE spoiler ahead so if you haven't seen it, SEE IT. Luz not dying genuinely and still living feels like a massive copout, but it is a show oriented at kids so I can see why they would go that route. Not only that, but Belos' defeat felt FAR too easy at the end of it all. In reality, the only issues is how efficiently and quickly it wrapped up its plot. I wish there was a bit more lumity, but this is everything I had hoped for and one of the best finales a cartoon has ever had. I'll miss you, boiling isles. Thank you for everything.

The Wingfeather Saga (2022– )

Preeeeeetty good

[8/10 · 18 March 2023]

It's got some really good animation, I love how the show looks. The concept of the world is very creative and unique and I like watching it all unfold. It's just, good. Nothing mindblowing, but there's plenty of potential for this show to become something excellent. The action is pretty solid, it doesn't talk down to its audience, and it handles its difficult subject matter pretty well. Granted, it is absolutely oriented towards a younger audience, but it handles it pretty well. If you're looking for something to watch with your 6-12 year olds, this will do pretty well, although there is a fair bit of violence and some blood. Nothing a child would be having nightmares over, and definitely something they will look back fondly on. Highly recommend for the family, as there's something for everyone in this.

My Father's Dragon (2022)

A fine movie, yet a downgrade from their others

[6/10 · 5 January 2023]

The average Cartoon Saloon movie is incredible. Gorgeously animated, wonderfully written, tightly paced, and overall an incredible experience. However, My Father's Dragon feels much more geared to a young audience than their other films. It has a similarly tight pace, as well as very good animation, but I can't help but feel that some of the heart that oozed from their other works is missing here. It's definitely not a bad movie, I liked the home conflict with the mom and grumpy housekeeper. In fact, I almost wish the movie was solely focused on that as an original film with light fantasy details and saving the concept of My Father's Dragon for a later date, as the home life vs island comparison is vast. If it weren't for how intriguing their other movies and the home life was, this could have been a 7 or even 8, but a combination of surrounding factors makes it feel worse by comparison.

The Owl House: Hollow Mind (2022) Season 2, Episode 16

They're going hard

[10/10 · 26 April 2022]

This episode is genuinely on a similar level of quality and anxiety as Arcane's final episode, which I do NOT say lightly. I cannot believe they make this for "ages six to eleven," if I saw this as a kid I'd cry. It's horror. It's incredible.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Don't kill me please

[3/10 · 11 April 2022]

Look, I understand that this is one of the favorite animated movies in the public eye and I can mostly see why. However, I just don't feel the same way. Belle is a very bland character, her personality is just she like-a da books. She doesn't really have anything going on. The romance between her and Beast is extremely rushed and out of place, just like "haha stockholm syndrome now they kiss". Gaston is great, of course, as is his song, but the rest of the songs in this movie that DON'T include Gaston for some part of it are mid at best and annoying at worst. Be Our Guest gives me a headache with how little there is going on, and the animation has some spotty moments. The whole movie does in a way, some spots where you can tell the movie still has some of the old era of disney in it. Detailed backgrouns which clash hard with the simpler character designs, it just doesn't look good to me. It's obviously still lavishly animated, a good looking movie. I just wish this movie came a little later into the disney renaissance, the age in its animation shows more than I wish it did. Even outside of its age, a lot of the designs are slacking. LeFou is a whole topic on its own, but even outside of him some of the other background characters (AND EVEN HUMAN BEAST) look really bad. Don't wanna knock it for its visuals too much because it is quite fine in that department and it's not the movie's fault. There's one part of the movie that does genuinely exceed the rest, and that's the aforementioned Gaston. He's a perfect antagonist, contrasting with the story and characters in a way that makes him a threat and a perfect thematic match. I'm gonna rewatch the movie to see if the rest of the movie can match my thoughts on him, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

It's prrrretty good

[6/10 · 11 April 2022]

It's not amazing, it's not terrible. There's a scene near the end which was very cathartic, almost every twist the movie had was about as predictable as it gets, and it had some parts that could be cut for time, but would weaken the movie as a sequel. Nothing crazy, but worth a watch.

Flashpoint (2008–2012)

Poorly written, bland, and frustrating

[2/10 · 31 March 2022]

A really bad version of a well established TV show concept. It's easily the worst I've seen. Im watching it now and I'm pretty sure I've seen every cliché in the last 30 seconds when it comes to dialogue. This show is painfully awful. The acting is bad as well, overacting or underacting every single moment. It's just, really bad. It's a mom show that hurts to sit through.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Erased (2022) Season 4, Episode 8

WHY

[1/10 · 17 March 2022]

This is the absolute worst thing I've ever seen, it's not funny bad or quirky bad it's just bad. I hate this. I'm never watching TV again. I'm just gonna watch Surf's Up the rest of my life and never touch tv again.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Patel Motel Cartel (2022) Season 4, Episode 7

oh my god this is awful

[1/10 · 17 March 2022]

Everything about this is awful the acting is awful the concept is awful oh my god I'm losing my mind this is awful awful awful is the only word i can use this is deteriorating my brain I have a migraine now this show is so bad this episode is so bad the cgi is so bad wow it's awful.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: The Killer Inside (2022) Season 4, Episode 6

A new low.

[1/10 · 17 March 2022]

Today is the 1st day I've ever watched this show and this episode has broken down every conception of quality I've ever had in television. It's so bad. Everything is so bad. I want to stop watching. But I can't.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Teeth (2022) Season 4, Episode 5

Bleh

[3/10 · 17 March 2022]

Why why why are there so many bad episodes why am I still watching I am forgetting these episodes as I'm watching them I am deteriorating into madness this show is terrible this episode is so bland this is one of the worst experiences I've ever had just make it stop.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Teatime (2022) Season 4, Episode 4

A good episode!

[8/10 · 17 March 2022]

It wears its plot on its sleeve, it's super predictable, and nothing is too innovative. However, it doesn't try to be unpredictable and it doesn't try to be epic. It's a small scale, very well done version of a common horror trope. Not much in the way of true payoff to the horror, but it's still pretty decent. I especially thought the acting was on point, the main girl was full of personality, the kid stiff like a doll (ha), and the parents are eerie but earnest. Really, a good episode of television!

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Toxic (2022) Season 4, Episode 3

A slog

[2/10 · 17 March 2022]

Not at least watchable like Crush, not funny bad like Plant Life, this is just a bad episode. The start is pretty interesting, a good setup. But it could have been more of, let's say, a psychological horror. The boys kill their friend, they leave, 1 person kills themself, and they have to deal with that the rest of their lives. They never get caught, they never face repercussions. They just kill 2 people effectively. Then, it goes on about their life after. Instead, it's a bland and uninteresting story with ghoooooosts oooooo scaryyyyy except no it's just bland and uninteresting and very poorly made.

Two Sentence Horror Stories: Crush (2022) Season 4, Episode 1

Sooooo meh

[4/10 · 16 March 2022]

A really generic episode. The acting is okay sometimes, the cinematography tries too hard sometimes. Really mediocre concept. Kinda just meh. I have to fill out 150 characters but I have nothing else to add. I'm only talking about it to add another review for the show.

Turning Red (2022)

Pretty solid

[7/10 · 12 March 2022]

Not as good as the other 2 most recent pixar films (Soul and Luca) but still a lot better than most of their 2010s stuff. I the movie was funnier in the 2nd half since it was so funny in the first, and I wish some scenes were different (the cringe at the mart near the start wasn't to my heart), but it's a good time.

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Wait, this is good?!?!

[7/10 · 16 January 2022]

I actually really like this movie! I think Erik is a fun character, it expands on the world of the first movie pretty well, it has excellent VFX, And the Rex vs Spino fight holds up especially well in my eyes, giving the viewers a unique antagonist with Spino. The phone coming back near the end is just genius too, and honestly, the movie is good! It's not as good as 1, but I think people underrate it a ton. It's fun, check it out.

Rumble (2021)

Calm down y'all

[7/10 · 28 December 2021]

It's fun. It's not a pixar masterpiece, it's not an emoji movie level disappointment. It's a fun time, it's a well made movie, and it has the creativity behind its monsters to boot. Didn't disappoint for me. Sure, it has some corny moments and some moments that do not make sense, but it's a fun time. Check it out, it could be for you.

Centaurworld: The Last Lullaby (2021) Season 2, Episode 8

Had some potential

[7/10 · 15 December 2021]

Honestly, even though this is my favorite episode of season 2, it exasperates the main issue with the show best: The pacing. Really, if this show were to have been given another season to flesh out the characters, ESPECIALLY the general, becky apples, and the mystery lady, the show would have been incredible, maybe even better than TOH. However, it feels so unbelievably rushed with so much filler that it hurts. Good enough episode to cap off one of the worst final seasons of television I've ever seen. Barely better than RvBzero, and worse than SVTFOE season 4. Still better than GoT final season tho...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)

bland, but faithful

[5/10 · 4 December 2021]

It's got a decent respect for the original, but it still feels mostly bland and is basically the same level of quality as the original movie, just a different way. Most characters are pretty poorly animated with mediocre designs, animation that looks like south park's weaker brother, and pretty mediocre editing with the audio. This movie looks more like a youtube poop than an actual movie. However, can't knock it too much for the animation when it is faithful, moderately enjoyable as a personality. Even without visuals that are good... at all, it's got enough going for it that it's bearable. It's a tolerable 5/10, not like something along the lines of The Last Jedi, which is infuriatingly unbalanced. This might grow on me eventually, but right now, it's average.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021)

Horrible finale, mediocre movie.

[2/10 · 2 December 2021]

This movie just isn't very good. The characters are worse, it baits the viewers of the original series, it WASTES Steve, the BEST part of this movie is Aja, who's basically perfectly written. All the credit in the world to the writers on that one, well done character. Outside of her, however, it really wastes its characters. Jim doesn't do nearly as much as he could, the setups from 3below AND Trollhunters are dropped almost entirely, and the villains suck. Does this review seen unorganized? Poorly ordered? Wow so is the movie. I love the shows, and this feels like a slap in the face. It is mediocre, it is insulting, and worst of all, it is the worst followup in television history aside from MAYBE Surf's Up 2, but at least that movie had a NOTION of braincells put towards the previous movie's setups and characters. This? This is NOTHING. This movie WISHES it could be HALF as good of a sequel as THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. But Aja is perfect and amazing so that gives this movie like 3 points.

Arcane: The Base Violence Necessary for Change (2021) Season 1, Episode 3

Darkest a show has ever gotten

[10/10 · 16 November 2021]

Spoilers for: Arcane (duh) Bojack Horseman Love Death & Robots (Pop Squad)

So calling this the darkest episode of a TV show of all time is, on the surface, extreme hyperbole. However, watching it really proves it wrong. I will now compare it to the other 2 episodes I can think of Bojack horseman - View from Halfway Down In that episode, Bojack is assumed dead and while it is extremely dark and horrifying, it isn't accidental child murder, revenge plots, abuse, abandonment, disfiguration, and straight up murder. It is accepting one's fate, and while extremely dark in the presentation, the stakes are lower in darkness. The Showstopper is barely beaten out as well here.

LDR - Pop Squad This episode really stings, but has such a good ending which feels so positive that it keeps it out of the "darkest of the dark" conversation. It's extremely graphic in its subject material, being child murder and trauma. However, that's all it really has.

This episode, being The Base Violence Necessary For Change, is tragedy. It is betrayal. It is heartbreaking. It is graphic. It hurts. It's one of the best episodes of television I have ever witnessed and, without a doubt, the darkest.

Centaurworld (2021)

A tale of two halves.

[3/10 · 17 August 2021]

It sucks to delete my original review. It was over a thousand words, and ten times the minimum review length. But I have to rewrite it.

Centaurworld season one is a fantastic exploration of a phenomenon we understand as Barbenheimer. A culmination of the grim and the glow. The light and the dark. It mixes the jovial and comical tone with a slice of some real darkness. Eerie songs permeate the show, and there's a lot to see. It's flawed for certain. It's not exceptionally paced, the voices could be recast here and there, and a few songs aren't quite right. Overall though, season one was a funny show with a hell of a lot of personality

Centaurworld season two should be studied in a laboratory for how absolutely it failed the show. The tone set by the first season inherently flows magnificently into a second if capitalized upon. Season one started with a dark and edgy opening, moves into a sickeningly silly world, and forces the characters to adapt. Over time, after the guard has been dropped, it begins to reintroduce that edge and bleakness until a culmination in the finale, hinting at more to come. In an ideal world, season 2 would have carried that momentum forward. The centaurs in Centaurworld need to mature, just like Horse needed to ease up. There's a middle ground in which a character already exists; Wammawink. She has a depressing backstory and fits the tone perfectly. However, the rest of the main cast never matures. The rest of the season never matures. It stagnates in its childish tone, rather than challenging it. Nobody grows into the best person they can, taking the maturity of the human realm and the joy of Centaurworld to a place they can coexist, only the main character who did it in the first season.

Even outside of the lack of growth, the second season is just bad. It's not as funny, the arcs are mostly unsatisfying (minus like, one thing Durpleton does), and episode 2 is the most insufferable episode of a TV show I've ever seen, it sucks, I hate it. Not only that but, spoilers for the finale, it's not satisfying. Rider SHOULD have died to leave a lasting impact, y'know, show some balls please show, and Elktaur shouldn't have. He should have been forced to survive and attone for his sins, right the wrongs he caused. Both sides of him he became ended up as the worst of his personality. It shows how trying to live half a life makes the other half resent you, and you resent it back. Denying a part of yourself is self destructive. But he needs to pay. Even if he has to die, have the gaul to show it. Don't just show the spear of ANOTHER character who got NO development this season do it OFF SCREEN, commit to it. Kill him on screen. Show us. I know it's a kids show, but you can show Rider getting stabbed through the stomach here. You can kill a on screen.

Every problem this show has is proven and surpassed by a recent cartoon great, Amphibia. The villain isn't killed, but he has to attone. The characters got satisfying arcs. Character got stabbed through the chest and it actually had impact on the viewer. Hey, if I had a nickel for every time a female lead character in a modern western cartoon got stabbed in the chest by a character people used to think was a good guy and ultimately live thanks to some ex machina bs, I'd have two nickels.

You can say I take myself too seriously. It's a cartoon about magic bubble characters in a magic bubble world. But the show itself proves it wants to be MORE. Season one it shows much more. It has great music, good jokes, and a great premise. I wish I could give this show an 8, or even just a 7, but every year that passes the lower and lower this show gets. Season two had an ace and a queen and folded.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Victory and Death (2020) Season 7, Episode 12

Spectacular finale

[10/10 · 6 May 2020]

After a lackluster first few episodes, the season really kicked itself into high gear. The moment when order 66 was declared, I was almost at tears watching the troopers ready to fire at Ahsoka. I never expected this to happen the way it did. I want more, I feel empty, but in a good way. Not in a way like how Gravity Falls felt too short, but I feel like an old friend has passed and now I only have footage from the past. This show means so much to so many people, and this finale is almost perfect. This is one of the best finales I've seen in a long time, even better than Bojack's.