04.08.2026: THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2026)
Right off the bat, a great film! Visually, stunning - I didn't know they could let you make movies that look this colourful throughout the entire runtime. I'm pretty easy to win over with toy movies, granted, but this felt really, really good. The action scenes are engaging, the soundtrack is great (there's only two real needle-drop moments, and they feel deserved, without undermining the scene), characters are likeable. There's been more than a few moments during the movie, where I'd jump out of my seat and start pointing at the screen.
The elephant in the room is, of course, Jared Leto. I can't say I'm the fun of the guy, but he sort of disappears into the role of Skeletor. I love the original cartoon's high-pitched voice, as delivered by Alan Oppenheimer, and they wouldn't be out of place in this portrayal; the mannerisms, however, are on point. Skeletor is, amusingly, very earnest about being an irredeemable villain - still, the movie adds some depth to him, with a scene where he expresses WHY he wants the Sword of Power, which I think is a nice touch, and definitely works better, than if they tried to give him a sympathetic motivation of some sort.
Script-wise, I think it's pretty water-tight, I've got nothing to say about any of the flaws in the writing, quite frankly. Well, maybe except for a single thing - there are a few moments, where the movie does seem on the verge of getting an irony poisoning, which definitely feel like remnants of an earlier, less earnest script. Those moments really don't undermine the scenes they're in, but they're a little grating.
The movie's not entirely just mindless action and comedy, of course, it does have things to say about things like self-determination, what masculinity should really mean, about who should have 'the power' and how they ought to use it, putting Prince Adam (and Duncan, by extension) and Skeletor in an indirect contrast.
Overall, I highly recommend it - I'm really hoping for the sequel.
Also, Skeletor is kind of really gay in this.
02.08.2026: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE, PART 7: STEEL BALL RUN
I've finally gotten around to watching the premiere episode of the new JoJo's. And I've got to say, it's a pretty good first impression. It's for the first time, more or less, that a JoJo part is free from the expectations of the previous ones, what's with the continuity reset, so it feels amazingly fresh. Gyro Zeppeli is a really intimidating presence, acting as both a protagonist and and antagonist. I'm kind of fond of the way that the episode's PoV kind of ping-pongs between a few characters, all of them getting to be a protagonist for a little while. Johnny is (was?) kind of a piece of shit. I wouldn't say he deserved what he got, but he definitely brought it upon himself, you know? Pocoloco is instantly endearing.
Presentation-wise, the episode is also really, really good. I'd say that the early JoJo parts, and even as late as Part 5, David Productions' series could look kind of... shoddy? Not bad, but sort of undercooked. This episode really shares no such aspects - it looks and sounds stellar. The only complaint I'd have, is that DP isn't very good at blending 2D and 3D, and it still kind of shows in some mass shots, or tracking shots with the horses. They look kind of obviously like cel-shaded models, which isn't a huge deal.
I'm pretty excited to see where this series goes, next. I do use the Internet, so I've already gotten spoiled on quite a bit, but I haven't read the manga, so there's still a lot for me to get surprised by. Let's hope the rest of the Part 7 is going to hold up to the bar set by this first episode.
