penguin_holmes Reviews

The Incredible Hulk (2008 Video Game)

Half baked and a mediocre game!!!

[5/10 · 7 May 2023]

I am recently going through the backlog of my Playstation 3 games and trying to finish some of the games I have purchased over the years.

The Incredible Hulk seems to be fun at first, dives into mediocre & then gets bad. Depends on the levels & challenges you will get throughout the game, you will soon realise it's the same old same old & gets repetitive very quickly.

The Story is awfully bad, presented in even a worse way possible, it's a tie-in movie game of course, I have seen the movie, I can recall on what's going on or the the story that game is trying to present, but going in without seeing the movie, you will feel lost & wouldn't care much about it anyway.

The boss fights are between average to bad. Some missions are Average, others just bore you around. I was glad I was able to finish the game, despite of it's somewhat open world & challenge after you are finished with the game, can keep you going in for longer, but I doubt many would go back to play it again.

This game had potential, there are many things that need to be ironed out & if given more time, could have resulted in a better game.

All in all this is an average effort at best, some people might find the enjoyment in it, but majority would be put off half way through the game. 5/10.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Entertaining 6/10

[6/10 · 17 July 2022]

I really liked the first 2 Ghostbusters movies, the concept was new, the energy was really high, it was creative, most of all it was entertaining enough to become a classic. The Ghostbusters (2016) was just a below average movie to me.

Ghostbusters : Afterlife seems to discard the 2016 Ghostbusters movie (which it rightfully should) and continues the story after the Ghostbusters 2.

I have to say that the build up for the first hour was really slow, I watched the time and it took up almost an hour to set-up everything, before something really noteworthy started to happen, but once you are done with the 1 hour mark, the next hour is extremely entertaining. I find the ending to be done extremely well, which definitely makes me interested in seeing how it progresses next.

The movie of course is not without its faults, as mentioned previously, the build-up is really slow, some people like slow buildups, some people don't, that is definitely what is going to divide the Audience. The performances were done extremely well from the whole Cast.

This should definitely get a watch at least once, I am definitely excited to see the future of this Franchise (if there is one), hopefully they will improve upon the world they are trying to build and deliver more exciting stuff.

For me this is definitely a 6.5/10, if the first hour was balanced a bit better, I would not have any problems giving it a 7 out of 10.

Jungle Cruise (2021)

Fun Cruise!!!

[6/10 · 23 April 2022]

This movie is not going to win any Oscars by any means, you have seen this Plot many many times already. What this movie has as it's charm are the 2 leads, Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and Emily Blunt. The breathing visuals and CGI that look gorgeous.

The movie seems to be a blend of National Treasure with Pirates of the Caribbean meshed together. The bad guys are as generic as they can be. CGI overall was pretty darn impressing, at times, you could tell that it's a green scene but they were smart in cutting the scenes in short or showing form a different angle.

All in all this is a enjoyable flick, if you have time to burn this would do, I don't think you would be visiting this movie once you are done watching it, kids would definitely enjoy it for what it is.

My rating is a 6 out of 10.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Very Electrifying & Different

[6/10 · 14 March 2022]

I just got to see this movie recently. It is very entertaining and is different to the usual flair of movies you typically get to see.

The visual style is praise worthy, the performances are good, I never felt bored throughout the movie, but I do acknowledge that this movie might not be the typical taste of what people are used to. Either you love the movie for what is or you really don't like it, the reviews of these movies scattered throughout reflect this as well.

Scott Pilgrim faces 7 Ex Boyfriends of her soon-to-be-Girlfriend, there is not much point in trying to explain the plot as it is a visual treat. I would say give this one a watch, I like it for what it was, nothing more nothing less, it is something different than usual and I liked the energy the movie had throughout its runtime A Solid 6/10.

Snake Eyes (2021)

G.I Joe - Generic Idiocracy Joe

[5/10 · 28 November 2021]

Seen the previous G. I Joe movies, my expectations were not really that high going in this Snake Eyes movie. Good action sequences, run of the mill plot is what my expectations were, if you manage to defy that, you got a really bad movie on your hands, such is the case with Snake Eyes.

The first 45 minutes of the movie were awful to watch, there was no reason for this shaky camera movements, it was taking me out of every action scene which wasn't that enjoyable to begin with.

Make no mistake about it, this movie has got SOLID performances from the actors, but a bad script and bad direction cannot save this mess of a movie. The color pallet used for the movie was questionable to me as well, the dark scenes are really dark and the day scenes have some sort of a dark pallet to it as well.

If you came here for the action sequences, I think you would be disappointed here as well, there is nothing that stands out, add with the horrible dialogue between characters, it's a mess, making the movie 2 hour long didn't help it's case either, this could have been easily wrapped up in 90 minutes including credits and more creativity.

Avoid this one at all costs, for the effort put in the movie by the actors I am giving this a 5/10, whereas there is a 4/10 for me.

Injustice (2021)

Watchable nothing memorable though!!!

[6/10 · 14 November 2021]

Despite of knowing the story from the Video-Game, I was still excited to see this movie, seeing how the events turn out and what changes were made here.

To be honest the movie is only about an hour and 13 minutes long, but the themes inside were so heavy, moving from one scene to another, deaths happening left and right, it felt like I watched an almost 2 hour movie which was dragging it's plot for way too long.

I bought it on Blu-Ray which had 2 episodes from the Justice League cartoons called "Injustice For All Part 1 & 2" which was surprisingly more entertaining than this movie altogether.

It's definitely watchable, but nothing memorable here to look at.

My Rating 6/10.

Halloween (1978)

Not for me!!!

[4/10 · 31 October 2021]

There has been so much craze about the Halloween movies, I have seen a couple of movies here and there, but nothing really clicked with me.

I did a research on which of the movies were the best in the Halloween franchise and in every list, the original popped up as the best and believe it or not, the original I have not seen at all up to this point.

I gave this one a go and was also excited to see it, but after having seen it, I realise the Mike Meyer Halloween movies are not for me, I did not like the acting, the script was subpar, there is a lot of walking from one place to another without any dialogue.

Maybe my opinion might have been different had I seen it in 1978, but I highly doubt it.

Having seen the recent "Halloween Kills" did not change my opinion about the franchise either. For me there are far better slasher movies out there.

Halloween Kills (2021)

Boredom Kills!!!

[4/10 · 21 October 2021]

This movie is 50% screaming, 15% people running left and right aimlessly, 35% kills.

Throughout the entire runtime of the movie, you do not feel any tension, neither do you feel any connection to any of the characters nor do you feel any sympathy when they die.

Script was beyond comprehensively bad, it felt like it was written by an 8th grader who thought they were writing something Shakespearean deep.

There is a line in the movie "Evil Dies Tonight", to me it felt like "This Movie Needs to End Right Away".

I was constantly watching the time on when this movie was going to end, which is one of the many signs that the movie didn't capture my attention and was overstaying its welcome, plus mixed it with the ending of the movie, which was beyond horrible, it left quite a bad taste 4/10.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

Felt more like a Thriller!!!

[6/10 · 14 October 2021]

I was pretty excited to see the Conjuring 3, considering how well made the first 2 movies are.

The Conjuring 3 begins exciting, for almost a 2 hour movie, it definitely kept me glued & kept me on the edge of my seat on what is going to happen next.

For me personally it felt like a well made Thriller with Supernatural elements attached to it.

It is entertaining for what it is, I would definitely give this one a go, but it's not to be mistaken the bar set by the first 2 movies is pretty high to beat.

I would give this movie a 6.5/10.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

Entertaining

[6/10 · 2 October 2021]

It has been quite a long time since i last saw a Mortal Kombat live action movie & was also looking forward to see this one.

The opening tone of the movie is fantastic and it shines at it's fight scenes. It has everything for everybody, a little bit of story, fight scenes & fatalities. I believe a lot of thought process went into how to present it to the modern audience who are familiar with the recent video-games, I think it does a good job in entertaining.

The movie by all means is not Perfect, it has it's flaws, but it moves in such a pace that it never feels like it's dragging for too long.

I have heard that this is a part of trilogy, I am on board for the second one and i hope they improve on everything they put on display here.

Giving time to Sub-Zero & Scorpion is like a dream come true and the fight scenes are awesome, I would watch this just for entertainment, which is exactly what this type of movie should be.

Rating 6/10.

Vampire Princess Miyu (1997–1998)

An Interesting Vampire Anime!!!

[6/10 · 22 August 2021]

I previously watched Mini Series of Vampire Princess Miyu (1987-1998) which only contained 4 episodes. The Premise was very intriguing, but the outdated Art style put me off, as well as the German dub, which was horrendous.

Despite of all that, I was able to find this updated version of the Anime with 26 Episodes to boot through, I throughly enjoyed it, but the problem started to occur when I realised from each episode consisted of new monster that Miyu had to beat (Ep 1-19), by the time the anime decided to dive into our main characters (Ep 20-26) it was too late for me, that my interest became very low, but it did wrap things up nicely.

By all means do have a watch, I think it deserves to be watched at least once, you would enjoy it, personally I like the development of the characters a bit more, it left me a bit desiring for me, hence the rating of 6.5/10, but most definitely an up from the original OVA.

Basket Case (1982)

This is interesting!!!

[6/10 · 4 August 2021]

This is quite a different type of movie, I think for an early 80's movie, this held up quite well.

I got the trilogy on Blu-Ray haven't watched the other 2 yet, but was surprised that the pacing of the movie was nice, the movie didn't overstay it's welcome and ended when it was suppose to.

The special effects do not hold up ...who can blame ..the movie is 39 years old now, so no surprises there. The acting was fine, this is a B-Movie at it's best. Either you will laugh at everything that is presented on the screen or you will enjoy it.

Seeing the rating of the movie, people quite enjoyed, so did I for what it was.

I had not seen any trailers to the movie nor did I knew what it was about, the cover was more than enough for me to know that it belongs in the horror genre, the less about the plot I say is better, it has its interesting twist and turns that I was not expecting, but the story did wrap itself quite nicely.

If you have nothing to do on a rainy day, have this one a go, you might like it or you might hate it.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021)

This is a fantastic show 7/10

[7/10 · 1 August 2021]

I just finished watching the first 5 Episodes released on Netflix (this seems to be a continuation of the 1983 He-Man series)

The first episode is action packed and between episodes 2-4 the story is balanced perfectly.

By the end of episode 5 I was at the edge of my seat. I loved the whole new & interesting ideas that are put together in the show.

I am most definitely a He-Man fan, I have the Original He-Man Masters Of The Universe complete set on DVD & also She-Ra : Princess Of Power from the 80's.

I also loved the reboot from 2002 and only saw a few episodes of The New Adventures Of He-Man from 1990.

I have not watched the She-Ra the princess of power from 2018 yet.

There is quite a bit of controversy about people not liking the show due to a certain decision that was taken. Many people are making noise on the internet, although there are some valid opinions, but most people are making Clickbait videos on Youtube and getting on the hate bandwagon to get more views.

If you ask for my opinion, the animation is crisp, the story is good, it kept me engaged that I was able to finish all 5 of the episodes, if they weren't I definitely would have dropped it.

Now to be fair, we have had shows with He-Man being the main star, in fact 4 times.

1. He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (1983 - 1985)

2. He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe Movie (1987)

3. The New Adventures Of He-Man (1990-1991)

4. He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (2002-2004)

And She-Ra starring in the following :

1. She-Ra And The Princess Of Power (1985)

2. She-Ra And The Princess Of Power (2018-2020)

If the goal of the show was to capture Female audiences and to empower them & if the Female audience does like it, well Kudos to them.

There is a thing that people don't understand about Marketing, if there is a show that is highly successful and widely known, in order to grab the viewers attention, you don't share much information in advance if you think there is going to be a controversy about it, rather they wait till the viewers have seen it, if people liked the new approach or not. The more people view it, the more profitable it is for them. You don't want to cut the share of the business by telling in advance this & that won't be in the show and slashing your profits with it.

People are criticising Kevin Smith that he should have mentioned that this was going to a Teela's show instead of He-Man, I can surely tell you, even if he did, there would have still been a backlash which would have been the same, but if the show is actually good, people would still want to watch it.

I know that Hollywood is trying to Empower Females a lot lately, I can give you a few examples :

1. The Ghost Busters reboot 2. Charlie's Angels 3. Recent Terminator movie 4. New Pirates Of The Caribbean movies to come with a female cast etc.

Some have political agenda behind it and some are just made for pure entertainment, I appreciate something when it's made good.

Maybe the next 5 episodes that would be released afterwards would make me change my opinion, but so far, I might be a minority, but I did like it. I would propose that you give this show a go and see if you like it, if you don't, i am pretty sure you won't be bothering with it anyway.

Update : Season 02

I just saw finished watching the Season 02, I have to say it was definitely not as entertaining as the first one. Despite of the animation looks crisp and clean, the dialogue and the story started to drag, the fight scenes became uninteresting, the melo-drama was just not needed at all. It started off great but was out of steam pretty quickly. I rated the Season 01 a solid 7 out of 10, but the Season 02 didn't do it for me, so I rate it a 6 out of 10 because of it somehow kept me engaged, but I could tell, this wasn't going anywhere interesting. Season 02 Rating : 6/10.

The Hunt (II) (2020)

Watchable but nothing memorable

[5/10 · 16 May 2021]

You have seen these kind of movies in one way or another, the only thing you expect when going in is, does it have something different compared to the others? The answer here is most obviously no, it plays safe, it's not trying to win any Oscars here, it's just average entertainment.

The beginning of the movie was quite creative I have to say, I had no clue who the main protagonist was going to be and the constant switching just got annoyed me personally, till it settled itself down.

It is a very competently made thriller, people hunting people in creative ways. It is an exciting one time watch, but you are probably not going to remember in a couple of years and wouldn't want to revisit it again either, that is the type of entertainment this movie is.

Despite of some good performances and good locations and creativity, it is lacking something to make it a cut above. I would give this an average 5/10.

The Belko Experiment (2016)

Could have been more interesting given the premise it had

[5/10 · 16 May 2021]

Totally watchable, but it sets up a good premise and never really goes anything with it.

It sets its rules, plays it in a generic way, doesn't make any of it interesting and ends up with raising eyebrows for somewhat shock factor.

At some point you have to wonder, that if a little of character development and some carefully put interesting aspect might have totally changed the whole game, but they kept playing safe & by the end you just don't care for anyone anymore.

It's not the worse and not the best either, somewhere in the middle, wouldn't put this one on the top of your list to watch, whereas there are much more exciting content of the same genre that I would recommend watching. (Escape Room - 2019).

Dracula (2020)

Fantastic!!!

[7/10 · 16 May 2021]

This is most definitely a fantastic take on Dracula 2020. It's a 3 part Episodic series.

The first episode had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait what was going to happen next. A proper solid 7/10 right there.

The episode took the things in a new direction, I didn't mind the change as long as it was interesting, it was interesting enough to keep me watching all way through, but it was below the mark of the first episode 6.5/10.

The final episode gets a bit branched in way too many directions, many sequences happening left & right and you begin to wonder on how is this all going to end and quite a drastic departure from the first two episodes, I would rate this one a 6/10.

Dracula fans would love it despite of its shortcomings. The 2nd and 3rd episode don't quite hit the mark as the fantastic first one, but it holds your attention enough to make it entertaining.

The Mangler (1995)

Quite watchable but nothing more!!!

[5/10 · 16 May 2021]

I was hunting down some old Horror DVD's, the DVD cover and the information on the back was enough for me to be excited to purchase this.

I watched it last night, it's quite watchable, it is a very competently made horror movie from the 1990s, it feels cheap B entertainment at it's best. A Machine possessed by a demon, I mean it's pretty clear this ain't no Conjuring standard.

The acting was fine from all the leads, the director also did a good job in making a dark believable environment, nothing about this movie stands out as it's defining feature other than that it was made in the 90's and stars Robert England (Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger).

Surprisingly to my knowledge, this also spawned a sequel "The Mangler 2" from 2002 and "The Mangler Reborn" in 2005.

I don't think I would be checking those out anytime soon, but if you are curious like me, you can have a watch at least once.

Based on the reviews here, either people really loved it or just purely hated it, the rating reflects exactly that. It's definitely a 5 out of 10 for me.

Daylight (1996)

Watchable! But nothing more to it!

[5/10 · 12 February 2021]

I was very excited to see this movie, as a kid I saw the trailers on the TV & wanted to watch it but somehow never got to until now.

The movie is definitely watchable, there are certain scenes that keep you right on the edge of your seat and the others bore you to the death, some of the banter between the survivors and sly were flat around annoying.

On a rainy day you can watch this one, but then again you can also spend your time watching a better movie than this one 5/10.

Norbit (2007)

Just a few chuckles, that's it!

[4/10 · 7 February 2021]

Eddie Murphy playing 3 roles in the movie. He must have had quite a star power back then. This film is just bonkers and not in a good way.

I remember chuckling 1-2 times during the whole movie. The movie itself is very bland, the comedy is very low brow as well. The trailer of the movie looked funny to me, that is the reason I decided to watch it, there is nothing worth remembering here, I have seen better comedies.

Do not waste your time on this one 4/10.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

A perfect blend of courtroom drama & supernatural!

[7/10 · 31 January 2021]

This is a very well written, directed, acted with an engaging storyline that makes 2 hours go by quickly.

The supernatural elements combined with the courtroom drama on a lawyer trying to prove the innocence of a priest who may / may not be guilty makes for an intense situation.

This movie is definitely going among one of my favorite movies, I would highly recommend it, especially if you are bored with your run of the mill horror movie that relies on jump scares, this is definitely a cut above your typical horror movie. 7/10.

Black Water: Abyss (2020)

Goes into "Abyss" real quick!!!

[4/10 · 29 January 2021]

The film starts off very promising, but goes downhill pretty fast.

It had all the right elements in order to make it a good movie, the trapped setting in a cave, the croc, the situations, but unfortunately it's all done in such a boring fashion where it sucks the enjoyment right out of it.

I have enjoyed watching similar movies like "Rouge" and the first "Black Water" which was made by the same director in 2007.

I personally was very disappointed with the movie, 4/10.

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020 Video)

Very borderline average!!!

[5/10 · 11 December 2020]

I recently finished watching the 7th movie in the Instalment Tremors : Shrieker Island.

Not so long ago, I watched the 6th movie Tremors : A Cold Day In Hell, I enjoyed it for what it was, a few chuckles here and there, my expectations were low and the movie was alright, considering its the 6th in the series with the low budget.

Now after watching Shrieker Island, I have to say I like A Cold Day In Hell better, the beginning of Shrieker Island is fantastic, the visuals, creatures, backgrounds, acting, it seems to be alright.

The story itself is kind of bonkers, a wealthy man arranging a hunt on the Island for the rich people by letting the Tremors loose, killing just for sport.

I have mixed feelings about this one, hence I have it a 5 star, what is more surprising is, that it has been 20 years since the first movie came out (1990), since then it was able to spawn 7 movies in the series and a TV show. I have caught up with all the movies, there is a TV series I haven't watched yet.

In all honesty, there is a not a whole lot you can do around a premise that a "worm" who hunts and kills people based on the sound / heat signature.

If my memory serves me correct, I had a lot of fun with the First movie, even the second memory was memorable as a child, after that it was a hit & miss.

If this is the last movie in the series, then the movie can pat itself on the back that went out with averageness and not with a bad a taste in the mouth, but that is just me, some people might not like that at all.

Bloodshot (2020)

Boring, Predictable and a mess

[4/10 · 7 March 2020]

I never saw the trailers, neither did I knew this was based on a comic-book. I just wanted to see a good action movie with Vin Diesel in it. I did not had my exceptions very high, but boy did it even went far beyond that.

This is your run of the mill action movie, even the action seems are uninspired, there is no redeeming quality about this movie, it was very generic and boring. Add that with wooden performances and the script was a total mess, it could be written by any Kid, it was that generic.

This movie does not stand out in any way from the other superhero action movies, it does nothing that distinguishes itself, neither does it do a good job in what it's trying to achieve, just random things happening here and there and you stop caring midway through.

I would say avoid seeing this one, not worth watching in the cinema at all or in general.

The Addams Family (2019)

Entertaining and quite enjoyable

[6/10 · 27 December 2019]

I went on to see this movie with quite some negativity in my mind, it was mostly based on the rating on this film, which currently is at 5.5, I read the review and expected the worse, but to my surprise the movie was quite fun, it is not going to win any major awards, neither is it competing with Pixar, neither it's aiming for an Oscar here, it's just a good time pass movie.

I have not seen any Addams Family movies or TV-Shows, the only thing I have watched are some cartoons back in the day, just enough to know the character traits of each and everyone. I think it was done quite well, the story is very generic, but it's done in an interesting manner.

This is definitely a one time watch, I don't know why people are very negative these days, bashing a film makes them feel superior about themselves, I enjoyed it for what it is. I would give this a 6/10.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Very generic Marvel movie!!!

[6/10 · 14 November 2019]

It seems to me like, Marvel has got the perfect formula that draws the audience, give the audience just enough not to feel bored.

The CGI is good, the character Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is portrayed pretty good, the fight scenes are very generic, with some sparks here and there.

It does just enough to make you entertained and pass the mark of the 2 hour movie, but I personally think that the characters weren't developed good, it basically felt like a 2 part cartoon with all its fights and generic character development.

I did not feel like Brie Larson was Captain Marvel, maybe it was the script? I understand not all the movies have to be dark like (The Dark Knight trilogy), but there has to be something there that makes you connect with the characters more.

The movie (of course) has been a big success, so here's to hope that Captain Marvel 2 would address the problems this movie had. All in all a fair movie, it's just about right, nothing more, nothing less, but I think Marvel movies need to change their formula a bit, because otherwise it's going to become stale pretty fast.