Tag: Science Fiction

Review: Alice in Borderland

Posted March 14, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Alice in Borderland

Starring: Yamazaki Kento, Tsuchiya Tao, Murakami Nijiro, Morinaga Yuki, Machida Keita, Miyoshi Ayaka
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 16
Genre: Drama, Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
Country: Japan
Director: Sato Shinsuke
Where to Watch: Netflix

Arisu Ryohei—a listless, jobless, and video-game-obsessed young man—suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive. In this strange world, Arisu meets Usagi, a young woman who’s navigating the games alone. After a dangerous game which tests Arisu’s limits, the two set out together to unravel one mystery after another as they risk their lives and confront what it means to live.

I have been meaning to watch this show for a while but never got around to it but when my friend DJ recommended it, I knew that I had to get it done, and while I didn’t end up loving it the way that everyone on the internet did, I still rather enjoyed it. It was crazy, it was thrilling and it was compelling as hell and I’m not mad at all that I watched it. I started watching it with my best friend, Theresa but after the third episode, we had to take a break because OH HELL NO, not the friends! Therese ended up not finishing it out, but I did.

The Story

This drama had some serious Hunger and Squid Games vibes with our cast playing deadly games to stay alive. I guess this drama was adapted from a manga that was loosely inspired by Alice in Wonderland. There’s a lot of violence, a lot of gory death, and let’s just say that this one ain’t for the kids. None of that bothered me and I think a lot of it worked well with the story being told. Our main characters, Arisu and Usagi are thrown into a world of deadly games where they have to keep winning games to stay alive. It was crazy that we actually saw the losers get eliminated from each game and that amped up my anxiety but also kept me invested. I needed to see both Arisu and Usagi succeed and take the gamekeepers down. That was where I was interested in from beginning to end.

The Cast

This is one of the first J-dramas that I watched so everyone was brand spanking new to me. I can’t say that anyone stood out to me. I was more invested in what was going on instead of who was who. I did enjoy Arisu and Usagi though. I also really liked Arisu’s friends from the very beginning but aside from them, nobody else stood out that much to me. I liked seeing Arisu, who I thought wouldn’t really amount to anything when we first meet him but holy cow did show me. With each game that he played, he kept right on impressing me. Same with Usagi, when we first meet her, I knew that she was going to be a big part of the game but I didn’t realize how much I’d come to love her character. She had a huge heart and when she wouldn’t leave that kid, I became a huge fan of hers. She was pretty great. Everyone else kind of reminded me of like a modern, fucked up version of Alice in Wonderland.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a solid drama. It wasn’t my favorite but I did enjoy the Arisu and seeing him battle day in and day out to survive. I don’t think that I could have survived that madness because each game was crazier than the last and I had hella anxiety watching because I had no idea how the hell Arisu was gonna beat the game. Both seasons were crazy and I’m glad that I watched them both. Did I mention how much I hate how Netflix splits up seasons? Cause I hate but lucky for them, I watched this when both series were already out so I didn’t have to wait to see how everything turned out. As solid as this drama was, the effects were pretty awesome but there were episodes that I struggled to get through and there were some characters that I didn’t care about but overall, I’m not mad that I watched it and I would recommend if you were in the mood for something on the crazy side.

Final Rating

3.5 out of 5

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Review: The Meg

Posted August 21, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Meg (2018)
Starring: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Release Date: 10 August 2018
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1:53
Movie Type: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Five years ago, expert sea diver and Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered an unknown danger in the unexplored recesses of the Mariana Trench that forced him to abort his mission and abandon half his crew. Though the tragic incident earned him a dishonorable discharge, what ultimately cost him his career, his marriage and any semblance of honor was his unsupported and incredulous claims of what caused it – an attack on his vessel by a mammoth, 70-foot sea creature, believed to be extinct for more than a million years. But when a submersible lies sunk and disabled at the bottom of the ocean – carrying his ex-wife among the team onboard – he is the one who gets the call. Whether a shot at redemption or a suicide mission, Jonas must confront his fears and risk his own life and the lives of everyone trapped below on a single question: Could the Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest marine predator that ever existed – still be alive … and on the hunt?

I’ve been pretty anxious about seeing this movie since I found out that it was coming out. As soon as it dropped, I knew that we were going to make a family movie night out of it and I wasn’t disappointed. This movie was cheesy and it was ridiculous but oh man was I entertained! I laughed, I jumped out of my seat and when it was all said and done, I had a big ol’ smile on my face.

Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered a big ass shark that dented the hell out of a just as big submarine that Jonas was brought in to rescue and when he abandons a few members from his team to save the rest of the people from that big ass shark, nobody believes him and he gets the boot out of the navy and his wife leaves him and he’s dishonored. Dishonor on his family. Dishonor on his house. Dishonor on his cow. Five years later, a new submarine carrying his ex-wife is at the bottom of the ocean and he has to go and save her and her team from…the very thing that nobody believed attacked him all those years ago.

Needless to say, he’s not happy about it and he has no interest in going to save anyone from that Megaladon shark…until he finds out that his ex-wife is down there and then he changes his tune and goes to get her.

The entire movie features a bunch of smart people discovering something new and getting excited about their discovery, only to get really scared when that new discovery starts attacking them and then having to destroy that discovery because it is pissed and starts killing hella people. I was here for it all. The cheesy romance, the cute little kid that ran all over the place and the big ass shark that was killing everyone and taking numbers. There were plenty of moments that I thought I would roll my eyes right out of my head but goodness, even those moments I was here for. I really love how many times Jason Statham took the shark on one on one and lived to tell the story. I also really love how calm he was every time he had to step up and save everyone from the big bad monster in the ocean.

This movie brought back memories of watching Jaws for the first time. I got scared, I screamed out loud and I cheered when all was said and done. I also thought a lot about the Black Sea Changelings from Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changelings series because these marine biologists live in the middle of the ocean in one of those underwater buildings like the one in Ocean Light.

The cast was great, the acting wasn’t horrible and overall, the movie was a hit for me. If you’re looking for a good time and love shark week, then this movie is probably for you.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

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Review: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

Posted July 10, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda
Director: J.A. Bayona
Release Date: 22 June 2018
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 2:08
Movie Type: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Three years after the Jurassic World theme park was closed down, Owen and Claire return to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs when they learn that a once dormant volcano on the island is active and is threatening to extinguish all life there. Along the way, Owen sets out to find Blue, his lead raptor, and discovers a conspiracy that could disrupt the natural order of the entire planet. Life has found a way, again.

This week’s Tuesday $5 movie was for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and it was another fantabulously enjoyable movie. Not even the entire row of tweens that sat in front of us that were rude, loud, disruptive and got on my hot damn nerves from the time the movie started until the very end, could ruin my enjoyment of the movie. It was that much fun for me. I enjoyed the dinosaurs so much and even though my heart hurt for that long neck dinosaur, I still liked the movie.

The human stuff in this movie was a lot more interesting than the last one and the dinosaurs were off the chains great. It was good to see Claire and Owen back in action again and I was surprised with how much more I liked Claire this time around. Owen was still the same goofy but dinosaur caring person that I adored in the last movie so his addition to this movie was great for me.

My favorite part of the movie was Blue comes to Owen and Maisie’s rescue. What a smart dinosaur Blue was and he’s my absolute favorite thing about these movies. I loved Baby Blue and Grown-up Blue is just as great for me. The bond he has with Owen is real and I enjoyed seeing them together again.

The action and the dinosaurs really made this movie for me. I laughed, I got mad and then I rejoiced throughout this movie so overall, it was a solid movie in my opinion. The characters were charming and there were plenty of them to like and seeing what Claire wanted to do for the dinosaurs was sweet. Seeing her and Owen try to right the wrongs of the humans to give these dinosaurs their freedom was something that I could get behind. From beginning to end, I was invested in what was going on and while there were some parts that I thought were cheesy or flat out dumb, I still enjoyed the movie and would recommend.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4 out of 5

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Movie Review: Iron Man

Posted April 5, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Iron Man (2008)
Starring: Robert Downing Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Leslie Bibb, Clark Gregg
Director: Jon Favreau
Release Date: 2 May 2008
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 2:06
Movie Type: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Son of legendary inventor and weapons contractor Howard Stark. When Tony Stark is assigned to give a weapons presentation to an Iraqi unit led by Lt. Col. James Rhodes, he’s given a ride on enemy lines. That ride ends badly when Stark’s Humvee that he’s riding in is attacked by enemy combatants. He survives – barely – with a chest full of shrapnel and a car battery attached to his heart. In order to survive, he comes up with a way to miniaturize the battery and figures out that the battery can power something else. Thus Iron Man is born. He uses the primitive device to escape from the cave in Iraq. Once back home, he then begins work on perfecting the Iron Man suit. But the man who was put in charge of Stark Industries has plans of his own to take over Tony’s technology for other matters.

It’s been years since I’ve watched this movie so because I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it, I re-watched it to kick start my Marvel Movies Project and while I enjoyed it, the Iron Man portion of the Marvel movies will never be my favorite.

The movie starts off with Tony Stark living it up and not having a care in the world. He’s a rich party boy who cares only about what’s in front of him and not much else. He’s also a genius that makes high power military grade weapons and sells them so he’s got fans but he’s also got haters. Things take a turn for Tony when he’s getting ready to speak at a weapons presentation and he’s attacked and wakes up in enemy lands with a car battery attached to his heart. Seriously.

This is probably only the second time that I’ve watched this movie and I’ve got to say that I enjoyed the movie a lot more this time around than I did the first time. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were a lot more fun this time around and seeing Tony trying to do right by everyone was so rewarding when he finally got into that Iron Man suit and started doing what he was meant to be doing.

The actual story for Iron Man isn’t that original but Robert Downing Jr. did the role justice. He was the perfect Tony Stark and his humor brought a lot of enjoyment to my viewing of this one. I enjoyed the slight romance between him and Pepper and I enjoyed seeing him take the bad guys down so I’m glad that I went back and watched this one. I liked this movie fine but I just like the other movies more. Now, I’m even more excited to watch the rest of the movies.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

3.5 out of 5

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