bonksix Reviews

Jellystone (2021– )

This Show Has Choo Choo

[8/10 · 19 April 2024]

Jellystone is a show that features a variety of classic characters, who all wish they were Choo Choo the cat.

Choo Choo is the leader of the Top Cat gang. She is a pink cat in a coat with a Bostonian accent, who cares deeply for her fellow felines in crime. She is also the most esteemed citizen in the town of Jellystone.

Jellystone has many fun and creative takes on familiar faces. Unfortunately, this review can only be an 8 out of 10, as these characters interfere in giving Choo Choo more screen time. That said, the existence of Choo Choo does still bring it to a largely positive result. Hopefully in future episodes they will fix this issue, and bring us the first ever show devoid of imperfections.

X-Men '97 (2024– )

Surpassing My Greatest Hopes, by Miles

[10/10 · 12 April 2024]

With only 5 episodes having aired so far, I'm already having trouble thinking of another show that rivals this quality lately. And I'm not exclusively talking about in animation either.

The animation is stunning. The characters are maybe even more endearing than ever. And the story is so incredibly meaningful and masterfully explored that I was engaged to the point of audible gasping, chills, and even tears at times.

I personally watch a lot of shows, animated and non. Disney has done plenty of fantastic shows, from Gargoyles to Gravity Falls. Yet I was still surprised by this revival existing at all, and blown away by its handling.

More like this, please.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Worse Than the First Try.

[1/10 · 17 April 2022]

While padding the original released movie out to four hours does allow for more characterization, it was already severely lacking on that front and has only moved from terrible to less terrible.

However, while they technically are developed more, that does not mean it's all for the better. Characters are more murderous just for the sake of Snyder's insatiable desire for brutalizing humans on screen. While brutality can be entertaining, it is at the cost of turning supposed heroes into barbarians, despite them already being established to be better than this.

Visuals have improved since the first attempt, yet shrunken down into an aspect ratio I can only surmise is to make the film seem more artistic than Snyder taking his action figures and slamming them tigether. It makes things seem only more obnoxious and oblivious, at least to me. Coupled with shots that are drawn out to degrees that should make any viewer question if this needed to be as long as it is; the opening sequence one of said scenes that goes on unbearably long while also being one of the most ridiculous, goofy looking and plotted scenes in cinema.

The only point of this film is painfully obvious; to appease those who felt Whedon corrupted Snyder's vision, despite him having little time to change much of the already completed script and mostly shot acting. This is also aside from some of the biggest grievances also appearing in the traikers, before Whedon was brought in. Aside from this, the other purpose was to plead for more movies by providing absurd, out of left field footage of an entirely different movie that will never be as one of the ending scenes, devoid of context but just enough to spoil most of any future premises, in order to entice a rabid fanbase of which the film is undeserving.

More watchable than Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad (the original) or Wonder Woman 1984 in terms of entertainment value, it still joins the ranks of DC Snyder films to watch just to be able to criticize it for fun in conversations from time to time.

Eternals (2021)

A Movie Deserving of a Far Better Reception

[10/10 · 10 November 2021]

Before the release of Eternals, it was being review bombed. While there are legitimate critiques to make of the movie, a majority was the result of the depiction of gay characters upsetting easily upset people who can't handle those sorts of depictions.

I saw the movie on opening day. While I felt that a good portion of the first act of the movie wasn't done well, and even poorly, it changed course and was a very fun and engaging ride for the remainder. Though most moght turn away from the thought of watching the movie long enough to see, if at all, thanks to the backlash from "anti-cancel culture" bigots trying to cancel it.

Batwoman (2019–2022)

A Very Strong Addition to the Arrowverse

[10/10 · 29 October 2019]

With Arrow leaving, the CW needed a new grounded hero series to break away from the metas, aliens and time travelers. This succeeds in filling that void, and even feels more like Arrow in its early days than its later, drawn out self. After a majority of a decade, it's not hard to see how it could have gotten stale, and in comes Batwoman to take the tool belt and zipline around a fresh new city with a seemingly higher budget to batboot.

It can be easy to see why some would despise this show, with it having a gay, female lead and an admittedly iffy/rushed pilot. To me, however, the show handles it well. She has relationships, because she's human, and occasionally touches on the issues facing someone who is attracted to the same sex, but it is never the focal point and it doesn't get brought up every episode. Her ex is a part of the story, so their dynamic is constant, but I wouldn't say that's being too aggressively progressive for the sake of it, as Supergirl can often be. It's good to be progressive, but not having tact can be harmful to the message, so it's refreshing that Batwoman shows itself capable of keeping it clear. If the gay, female lead alone is enough to make people upset, then they clearly weren't going to like anything the series would or wouldn't provide regardless.

It's still early on in the show's life, however what's come so far I'm enjoying more than I was with Arrow's past few years. I hope it can manage to not only hold the course, but add interesting ongoing side stories to diverge from just Alice in the future.