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When A Minecraft Movie Is Not All That Memorable

The big problem with A Minecraft Movie is that its various subplots don’t all come together nicely. Although Jack Black is entertaining in a musical sense, we’ve seen that character profile before.

A Minecraft Movie Poster I never fully understood the Minecraft craze, and after watching the movie loosely based on what the sandbox video game is about, I can say it certainly honours the spirit of creativity, building and … last-minute, isn’t this concept LEGO? The similarities between A Minecraft Movie to the storylines from Ninjago and A Lego Movie are blatant. This Dutch toy also introduced skeletons as one of the basic “enemies” and in Mojang Studio’s product, they’re also here too!

When this electronic game never had a properly defined mythos during its initial launch, I didn’t play for long. Other than creating random items for no purpose at all, I wondered when elements from Doom or Unreal Tournament would get incorporated. Thankfully, this cinematic treatment is quick to define all that because without a solid threat to face, and understanding the foundation this Swedish product developed from, not everyone will be interested in this film.

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The One Detail That Might Have Saved Borderlands from Being a Dud Is…

For the Sake of the Curious, Not Even Jack Black Can Save Borderlands from Mediocrity. What’s explored here is why I think it failed.

Lionsgate Films

Eli Roth should stick to making splatterpunk films than dabble with properties that he’s not likely to include his trademark scares with. The reason I like the Borderlands game is because of the archaeology. Those legends to explain why the tech exists are a lot more fascinating than the characters, and in this film, it’s lightly touched upon instead of gone nose deep!

Here, the idea concerns Vault Hunters in the search for artefacts from a forgotten civilization strewn around the world of Pandora. Any weapon they find can help “enrich” them in later missions. I liked the world building but didn’t feel I had to play through them all. The characters who populate this world are misfits. Some cry foul language, and there’s a bubblegum pop culture aesthetic which made the game come alive.

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A Word to the Wise, Kung Fu Panda 4 Marks Po’s Passing of the Torch

The big question I have concerning Kung Fu Panda 4 is whether another streaming series will get developed to fill in the gap while waitiong for the fifth instalment?

Kung Fu Panda 4 Poster Spoiler Alert

Although the story about Po (Jack Black) is not quite at an end in Kung Fu Panda 4, I’m sure the showrunners have something planned as this six-part saga is coming close to ending. While the first film is partially about enlightenment and seeing a Panda as the reluctant hero, this one is ready to put him on the path of becoming like Oogway. It’s unfortunate all the character and world development from the televised series are not canon. I really want to see Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong from Paws of Destiny again. Although not everyone will know these series are non canonical, it’s easy to spot the discrepancies.

For example, in Dragon Knight, Mr. Ping’s (James Hong) well-developed backstory is all for naught. Had he gone full on pirate, I’m sure he’d ruffle other feathers! Had he been determined, it would’ve surprised Po’s biological father, Pang (Bryan Cranston) and make for hilarious moments. These two stick around to provide the My Two Dads style comic relief.

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From Dragon Master to Dragon Knight. Can Kung Fu Panda Regain His Honour?

Kung Fu Panda The Dragon Knight is better than Legends of Awesomeness because we have a stronger ongoing narrative.

Kung Fu Panda Dragon Knight Poster Available to view on Netflix
Spoiler Alert

Po (Jack Black) has to make “The Journey to the West” in true Monkey King fashion if he’s to regain his honour. In the latest entry to the Kung Fu Panda franchise, he’s neither the Dragon Master nor the Dragon Knight (the title of this latest series) because his tomfoolery destroyed a village. Also, he let it lose its most precious protected relic to two weasels. If he can’t recover the stolen WuGao Gauntlet with Luthera of Landreth (Rita Ora), a bear from England, then he’ll have a lot more to lose. But this female knight has problems too.

If this plot sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen it before in Avatar: The Last Avatar and Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. It combines ideas from the early seasons. One is in finding your true potential all over again. To see Po wanting to see people to have faith in him is far more important than the other arc about saving the world from a Thanos level threat.

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Taking Jumanji to the Next Level …

To up the ante in what Jumanji

Spoiler Alert

The world of Jumanji is dangerous, and The Next Level proves just how vicious it can be. This third film of the series shows that “players” from our reality are not simply transported there for fun. It’s sentient and the reason is with how it recognizes select individuals and helps them out in crazy vicious ways.

When it was first discovered, it was a board game. But when it realizes that video games are the in thing, like a Motherbox from the DC Comic book world, it reconfigured itself so anyone finding it will try the game out. Usually those who are baited in discover for themselves how much life is better afterwards.

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TIck Tock, The House With A Clock In Its Walls Chimes in Tues, Dec 18th!

Not every trope needs to be explored in The House With A Clock in Its Walls. It’s essentially a movie about a haunted house.

Horror maestro Eli Roth proves he can make a family-friendly film and still remain loyal to his humble beginnings. When considering certain production elements gave the cast the creeps, I had to chuckle. This admission can be found in the bevy of extras (5 to 7-minute clips) included in The House With A Clock in Its Walls home video release. It’s already available on digital and can be bought online or purchased at media outlets come December 18th.

Fans of the 1973 novel by John Bellair and newcomers to his works can hear about how his book was adapted. Included are alternate opening and ending sequences which would have entirely changed the tone of the film. Though I have not read the book in years, I do know filmmakers record a collection of ideas, and work with editors to fashion the best narrative possible. Full details of deleted scenes and the creation of can be found listed at the end of this article.

Roth imbues this work with a lingering sense of dread. Screenwriter Eric Kripke is best known for creating Supernatural and to see him writing screenplays with that jovial camaraderie as the series makes this tale shine. The film even slimes it up Nickelodeon style! The terror is soft enough to give goosebumps and when I share the same sentiment as Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) for rustic looking porcelain dolls, I had to bite my lip. His goal is to find where that clock is and he gives this work the comic relief to make it just as fun as Robin Williams Jumanji. He is aided by Blanchett as Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan) is the villain, and he makes no bones about it; he wants to turn back time.

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