Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

Boy oh boy oh boy!!! We have a new ANIMATED Predator flick?! Holy mandibles! But it's no secret that this alien franchise has been dragged through the mud in recent years. So can this make up for, in my view, the last few disappointments?

Well this latest entry is an anthology movie consisting of three main stories that merge into one final act. The main plot for all three is the usual fair of course. A Predator is simply hunting Humans in different periods of our history, Vikings, Samurai, and fighter pilots in WW2. Is this original? No not really. I mean at this point it's one of the few things left you can do with this franchise other than go to the Predator home world. I do worry that we will get too many of these period hunts, we've now had Native Americans, Vikings, Samurai, and WW2.

All three initial stories are quite short and sweet as the main crux is for the finale. First up are the Vikings. Here we see a clan, led by a female warrior, going after revenge against another clan for the murder of her father. The female warrior Ursa is the main character here. Next up is Japan with two young rival brothers growing up and apart over the decades. One becomes a lord, the other a shinobi. Their feud attracts the attention of a Predator. And finally, the final story sees a young fighter pilot discovering a Predator ship is destroying planes on both sides.

In the finale act all three main characters are transported to an alien world where Predators force captives to battle each other and other alien creatures to the death. Here the three out-of-time characters must learn to fight together if they are to survive. Yup, we've seen this type of thing many many times before. But is this any good?

Firstly, there is little dialog for the first three parts. The most comes from the third WW2 set story. The other two stories are almost totally in visual mode only, which does feel very comicbook-esque, or graphic novel-esque, which is cool. The Viking story is a solid start but I couldn't help but feel it was overly violent and kinda silly. Ursa is so outrageously cruel, violent, and uncompromising that she quickly becomes somewhat unlikable really. This trait also continues into the finale. The Samurai story is easily the best part visually and action wise. The whole Manga/Anime vibe is predictably strong with this one. This period really does suit the Predator perfectly as you feel the Humans are some of the best highly skilled fighters in history, plus it all looks so damn gorgeous!

The WW2 story is for me the weakest simply because a Predator fighter ship should EASILY be able to take down WW2 fighters, come on! And why did the Predator ship seem to be only equipped with harpoons and nets for firepower?? I get they like a challenge but surely they must have laser cannons for quick kills? Anyway, there is more character development in this part as the young pilot is pretty much the audience surrogate for the finale. 

The actual finale is where things become much more generic and formulaic. The three characters are forced to fight each other. Predictably the young pilot doesn't want to, the Samurai is somewhat undecided, and the Viking has no common sense at all and tries to kill them both; because ending up on an alien world, in the future, with your life on the line, with only two other fellow Humans, surrounded by killer aliens, doesn't phase this female mammaboss, just another day of killin'.

Eventually, the trio unite against the predators after defeating a ginormous Rancor-type beast thing (and the young pilot cutting himself out of its belly Star Wars style). Then they go after the ultimate Predator warlord, the Chief, the daddy, the big cheese with fries...aaaand defeat him too. Because we're now firmly in generic action territory. In reality this HUGE predator would have/should have sliced and diced these guys, but no, some silly high jinks and they're escaping in a Predator spaceship. Yes the young pilot can fly a predator ship too, because of course he can. All the other Predators in the arena never thought to help their boss out? And why is the Chief SO bothered about these two Humans? To the point that he launches a fecking flotilla of ships after them when they escape! Didn't the Humans earn their right to freedom by beating him? Or is this Predator warlord a sore loser? 

Question is, where does all this tie in within the Predator universe? Well seeing as one of the big reveals towards the end is a certain character from a previous movie, it's presumably a sequel to 'Prey' and set before the original 1987 movie. The Predators are seen with various new weapons that haven't been seen before (in the original movies), but you could argue that Predators simply have lots of weapons and use different ones for different hunts. Ditto we now know there are various species of Predator, and we see different Predators here, so they could be from any point in the Predator timeline. Although one does look like the Predator from 'Prey'.

So the ending does neatly open up the entire franchise for many sequels with many characters returning for more action. Is this a good thing? Well kinda, it's animation so you can definitely get away with it and make a quality feature. On the other hand things could get way outta control, time will tell. But for this initial entry I am relatively happy with what I saw. Overall the entire feature looks great, although I would have preferred hand-drawn animation. The stories are generic and formulaic, yet the action is thumpin'. Some parts are slick and ice cool, some parts are just stupid daft cliched action guff. I hate how people just blindly attack these predators despite the fact they are massive and just wiped out a tonne of people right in front of them. Anyone with sense would feck off sharpish. I would have liked to see a more traditional Predator (ala the 87 version) instead of these neo-looking Preds. Other than that, this was solid stuff and yes I thought it was better than 'Prey'.

7/10

Karate Kid: Legends (2025)

So the big question, for me at least, is where does this new movie fit in with the rest of the 'Karate Kid' franchise? Apparently this new movie takes place in the same universe as 'Cobra Kai' but simply happens at another time, not sure when. As for the 2010 'Karate Kid' remake with Jackie Chan, it seems as if that story is now also in the same universe, but presumably at another time again. So all these stories are occurring within the same universe at different times, it's up to someone to provide a timeline. Of course we all know the 2010 remake has been reconned into this when really it was supposed to be an entirely different franchise kickstarter.

Back to this new entry, what have we got? Well, it's the same old generic stuff, I'm afraid. Although it's hard to try and come up with something original for sure, but come on! So in Beijing, this kid, Li Fong (looks like a Hobbit), is moving to the US with his mum for a new job. Upon arriving within the US Fong quickly starts to become acquainted with American life. He gets to know the local area and meets a girl with whom he falls for. Alas this girl has an ex who doesn't like the fact she's now seeing another guy, despite the fact they've broken up. In a shocking twist that no one saw coming, the ex starts to bully Fong, which eventually forces him to enter a local martial arts competition to defeat this guy once and for all (although he really didn't need to). Luckily for Fong, his great-uncle Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) turns up to help him train, and for no reason whatsoever, so does Daniel LaRusso, because Karate Kid Cinematic Universe baby!

Okay so there's a bit more to this admittedly. Mr. Han runs a Kung-Fu school in Beijing where Fong trains, so they both know each other and Han arrives in the US to help due to lack of communication from Fong. Han drags LaRusso into the fold because he wants to train Fong in both Kung-Fu and Miyagi-Do karate. And of course Han knows Mr. Miyagi as their families go way back to a time when Han's ancestor taught Miyagi's Kung-Fu.

So here's the issue. Firstly, this plot is exactly the same as the original 'Karate Kid' movie from back in 1984 and pretty similar to the 2010 remake. This virtually feels like a soft reboot. Heck, they even have yet another dojo run by some maniac who is training the main bully character to be some kind of emotionless killer. We also don't get any background info on this guy and why he's like he is. He's just a low-key NYC mobster type, with thugs on hand, and he runs a dojo enabling him to create future thugs?

Secondly, there are sub-plots in this movie that are completely pointless and feel like padding. Fong's new girlfriend Mia works at a pizzeria run by her ex-boxer father. This guy owes money to the local New York thug who runs said local Kung-Fu dojo (where the bully also trains). To pay back this debt Fong agrees to train him so he can fight in one match against the thugs' opponent. He loses, gets injured badly (in typical 1988 'Bloodsport' fashion), and that's that, end of sub-plot. I'm not even sure if the money ever got paid back.

The fact that Mr. Han travels all the way to LA just to get LaRusso to come and train Fong also seems kinda ridiculous. It just screams of nostalgia bait in order to drag the LaRusso character back into the franchise. I'm not even really sure why Han needed to come to America in the first place! Just because he wasn't getting any calls? Really? Speak to his mother maybe?

Lastly, Fong's mother hires a personal tutor for him at one point, not a teacher, someone the same age (oddly). But yet again this little plot addition seems completely pointless. There is no reason for this character at all, he literally adds nothing, a truly bizarre decision. Plus there was also this tiny backstory about Fong's brother getting killed after a competition, in revenge, by his opponent. This being a rather weak way in giving Fong some emotional baggage for crucial scenes; but in the end it just felt unnecessary and terribly cliche. And speaking of pointless, there's a Johnny Lawrence cameo right at the end which is once again, you guessed it, completely pointless. Clearly it's just there for the 'Cobra Kai' watchers. It also looked weirdly as if Lawrence and LaRusso were partners living together in this one scene.

So end of the day this was...fine (shrugging emoji right here). Half the plot is cliche, the other half is pointless and goes nowhere. The REAL question is now, will the new character Conor Day get his own redemption TV series as Johnny Lawrence did? Karate Kid Cinematic Universe baby!

5/10

Here Comes a New Challenger (2023)

 

There was a time when the 'extras' that you would get on DVD's and Blu-ray's were a vital part of the entire movie owning experience. They were often a deal breaker when it came to which version of a movie you wanted, which company offered the best package. But with the advent of the internet and YouTube the once highly regarded extras have fallen to the wayside somewhat as content creators made their own. Of course these will vary in quality (and length), but overall with SO many options available at your fingertips, it kinda feels like you don't really need extras on a disc anymore, at least it's not essential.

Myself, I watch LOADS of YouTube content from all sorts of people when it comes to videogames and movies. Many I follow with my own channel, many I stumble across purely by accident, and of course many simply lead on from a previous video I have watched as you fall (or spiral) into a potential, unintended, never-ending video watching binge.

So with that I come to this, the latest (Kickstarter) offering from one such YouTube creator I watch from time to time, Oliver Harper. Over the years I have watched Oliver's work progress from being more of a loose comedic look upon movies with his previous counterparts, to his now more Barry Norman-esque approach which I feel is a bit too laboured if you ask me (bit too obviously wanting to be the next Norman). Much like myself (although I am a bit older), Oliver clearly grew up loving movies and videogames whilst being highly influenced by them. Seemingly following the same route as myself in genres (JCVD, Arnie, action, & SF2 worship), and took that a step further into the world of YouTube (something I always thought I should have done, missed the boat I guess). Hence Oliver also has, or had, a videogame retrospective channel on YouTube where he often played games with commentary. 

Anywho, Oliver has been involved with other feature-length movie retrospectives (documentaries?) in years prior with the somewhat underwhelming 'In Search of the Last Action Hero' retro which spawned the EPIC 'In Search of Darkness' trilogy, and 'In Search of Tomorrow'. All of which turned out way better than the original 'Last Action Hero', oddly. 

But is this Street Fighter 2 retro worth your time? Well, in short, yes, yes it is. For starters the presentation is very nicely done with lots of SF2 visuals and sound effects slamming you in the face right from the get-go. Expected? Yes. Nice? Oh yes. Every step of the Capcom/SF2 saga is broken up into segments and delved into with much love and respect. The conception and origins of the game, character designs, soundtrack, stage designs, moves, specials, tournament culture, arcade culture, home conversions, animated series, movies, Manga, art, merchandise etc...It's all here, every detail is covered and dissected to some degree.

But it's not just about how the game was created; the retro also delves into how the game influenced everyone and everything around it. How Capcom's revolutionary game affected kids growing up at the time. How it went from creating a crazed phenomenon in the arcades to life-altering rivalries in bedrooms around the world. How this one game virtually spawned an entire videogame genre that in turn spawned masses of other fighters that themselves became phenomena in their own right. How the gaming industry was changed forever by this one single fighter from Capcom, and they tweaked it to perfection time and time again.

This Capcom Street Fighter 2 love fest is an admirable retrospective worthy of any fan's attention for sure. In all honesty, it might not offer lots of original insight into the game, that purely depends on how knowledgeable you are on SF2 and Capcom (or how many YouTube videos you've seen). Inevitably some things you will know already like any extra content, but I found most of this highly informative and engaging. Of course, if you're a regular YouTuber in the movies and videogame sphere, then you'll also probably recognise the little cameos from other well-known YouTubers (didn't see or hear Kim Justice though). 

Is this better than other retros? (docs?) Can you find better offerings on YouTube? Again, in all honesty, yes you probably can. This is a solid feature-length retrospective that covers lots of ground, BUT, I have seen many similar offerings on YouTube (that I didn't need to get a Blu-ray to see) for other games. In fact, I have seen some excellent, equally long, retros on 'Mortal Kombat' especially. So I wouldn't say this is a definitive look at Capcom's Street Fighter 2 franchise, but its not too far off. Like seriously, the only thing I can think of that they didn't appear to look into was who was behind all the audio clips throughout the game. Who uttered all those iconic quips? 'HA-DO-KEN!' 'SONIC BOOM!' 'TIGER!' etc...You can actually find some very interesting YouTube videos that explain and translate everything said in the game, did you know that? (gotta love YouTube).

So bottom line, if you grew up throughout the 80's and 90's and experienced the videogame revolution, then this is probably for you (depending on your gaming tastes of course). This is definitely for the fanboys (and girls) of the game only. If you grew up loving and playing 'Sim City' or whatever then maybe not. Youngsters of the current era may or may not engage with this because they no not of pixel excellence, something that bewilders me (pft! Kids). Gotta admit, I actually got a little emotional at times with the fond memories this brought back alongside the retrotastic soundtrack. Much like some movie experiences, the fact that we'll never see anything like this again is sobering. Definitely one of the best gaming retrospectives I've seen for some time. Fully appreciated the hard work put into it.

8/10