Matt Zimmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
matt_zimmer) wrote2020-09-14 04:56 pm
matt_zimmer) wrote2020-09-14 04:56 pm
Entry tags:
"Castlevania" Season Three Reviews (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episode of Marvel Super Hero Adventures.
Castlevania "Bless Your Dead Little Hearts"
I liked the beginning very much. For such a profane and violent show, I like how slow-paced it is and how is allows for quiet moments like Alucard's routine. I feel bad for the dude and laughed at his effigy dolls of Trevor and Sypha.
I recognized Jaime Murray's voice as Carmilla immediately. She needs to get more voice-work.
Saint Germain is an interesting character and I like his voice.
The Prior Sallah worries me. He seems nuts.
Trevor and Sypha were fun this episode, first enjoying the demons, and then Trevor being stupid enough to insult their sex-life compared to beer. I would think a line that dumb coming out of ANY guy would sound implausible, but this was written by Warren Ellis, who doesn't actually treat women very well, so I'm unsurprised instead. Write what you know, and Ellis has the voice of the uncouth dirtbag down cold.
Solid, but to be honest this has never been my favorite show ever. ***1/2.
Castlevania "The Reparation Of My Heart"
Alucard is a good egg. Especially considering who his father was.
Isaac is both smooth and scary in equal measure. I was digging his story and look forward to his relationship with the Captain.
Enjoyable. ****.
Castlevania "Investigators"
I love Lenore's scene with Hector at the end. She's a diplomat so people confuse her for soft. Hector won't be doing that again.
I very much love the discussions with Isaac and the Captain, especially the Captain's idea of bettering humanity, and the fact that the Captain seems to take Isaac's overt evil in stride, and tries to get him to see another path instead. Unfortunately, I don't see this friendship ending any way but badly. Because Isaac is the precise dude who is not allowed nice things. While I agree with the Captain that humanity can be good, and that Isaac's view is wrong, Isaac is the precise type of person who is NEVER allowed to be truly proven wrong, even though he is. That's his entire shtick. So I think things WILL end badly for those two, even if I like what I see of the Captain so far. Things simply cannot go that well for Isaac ever.
Trevor and Sypha's scene with the Judge where he tries to feel them out was pretty great too and I loved the cute bit of her correctly telling Trevor that if he looked at her he'd crack.
As far as Trevor silliness goes however, I have to say, I don't think Richard Armitage is the caliber of actor who should ever be made to speak about flaming demon goat turds falling from the sky. I'm sure a bunch of this show's fans consider that a selling point of the series, but it still jars me a bit. Cut me a LITTLE break here. It took me a little bit to get used to Patrick Stewart on American Dad too. But since that was a comedy, the shocking things Stewart would say for money were part of the joke, and were frankly comedy genius, which suddenly made the project worthy of Stewart. Having Armitage say that in a series that sells itself as a drama however almost makes me feel like he's slumming instead. I don't want to ever hear Sir Ian McKellan say Samuel L. Jackson's classic Snakes On A Plane line either for the same reason. Give me some time here, folks. I might get used to it. Although it's season 3 and I still haven't yet. So I might not.
Pretty good but the ending was outright great. ****1/2.
Castlevania "I Have A Scheme"
You know, I DO think Isaac is a bit insane. But not for the textbook definition reasons he thinks he is.
The stuff with Lenore and Hector continues to be fascinating. Lenore is the one vampire who straddles the fence between monster and human. I love that upon his request for shoes without holes she calls him an effing aristocrat. Funny use of profanity there.
I share Saint Germain's concern over how crazy the Sallah and the Priory are. I am also amused that the Judge is entirely unimpressed with Trevor and Sypha's supposed guile. He could have asked dumb questions and gotten kicked out himself.
Good episode. ****.
Castlevania "A Seat Of Civilisation And Refinement"
I'm preemptively declaring this the best season of the show. Ironically, I bet not too many people will dig it. I imagine when people heard the episode count was bumped up to ten this season, they were like "All right! Even more gory demon and vampire battles!" In reality, what it meant is a seemingly endless stream of fascinating conversations between the characters. A lot of people might be disappointed at how talky this season has wound up being. Me? Fascinating conversations are the only real reason I watch drama at ALL. Action almost never interests me. I'm all about the characters, their motivations, and their relationships to each other. And that's ALL this season has been so far. And I'm loving it for that. Great stuff. *****.
Castlevania "The Good Dream"
Three things to talk about this episode.
1. Lenore and Hector. She is kind to him but still treats him like a dog. I see why she is getting in his head though. She is actually quite lovely isn't she? I love her explaining that the heated ducts are science. It reminds us that Dracula was very much a scientist before the events of the first season.
2. Saint Germain's flashback dream of the corridor started off way groovy and amped it up to mindblowing and amazing by the end. The animation on the visual effects and his facial expressions were dynamite and striking. It was a phenomenal scene. This also hints that time travel is going to be a plot point of the series going forward.
3. That being said, Isaac's scene at the very end with the Demon who used to be a Greek philosopher told something very solid about the drama and all of the mesmerizing conversations this year: The voice acting does about 99% of the work in these types of scenes. I'm not saying the animation isn't great in the rest of the show. What I'm saying is that as far as the major character beats go, it's largely irrelevant. The surprisingly amazing cast seems to do almost the entirety of the heavy lifting there.
Another great episode. Best season ever. *****.
Castlevania "Worse Things Than Betrayal"
Barbara Steele. There's a voice that takes me back. To the Dark Shadows revival from the early 1990's. Dr. Julia Hoffman was quite mad too you see.
The Judge doesn't know what toilet paper is. I would not love to live in this era.
Profane monks being chastised by profane judges. What a world.
I very much like the moment where Germain reminds Sallah that he promised him to not treat him like he was mad and not to let him down. That was a very adult moment and more-so than any sex, violence, or f-bomb ever could be.
I liked this episode too. ****.
Castlevania "What The Night Brings"
Sneaking suspicion this is going to be the last episode of the season I REALLY dig. I think those thoughtful discussions are about at a close and the next two episodes will involve gory and excruciatingly messy violence to tie things up. I don't begrudge the show for that at all. That's what it's supposed to be be about. But I will very much miss this aspect of the season while they are paying things off with bloodspattering violence.
Lenore is not just lovely. She's utterly convincing. If you ask me, that makes her even more dangerous than if she wasn't.
I laughed at Germain's awkward appreciation and surprise over Trevor doing a nice thing for him. I like nice things too, and I especially like when nice things are appreciated, so I dug that scene too.
I'm getting a sinking feeling about Taka and Sumi. I seem to have been wrong about Issac's friendship with the Captain ending badly. I pray I also am for predicting bad things between them and Alucard.
So I liked that a lot. But I suspect my interest is about to check out at this point in the season. ****.
Castlevania "The Harvest"
Dracula?! WHAT?!?!
Okay, the last shot was bananas, and the animation in the landscapes leading up to it was amazing, but this is episode was simply not my speed. There are fans who like seeing people and demons explode like watermelons at a Gallagher concert, but I am not one of them.
Don't mess with Isaac. Lesson learned.
I think the set piece scenes for me were the explicit, graphically nude sex scenes between Alucard, Taka, and Sumi, and Lenore and Hector. This is the most nudity I have seen in an American animated project since Fritz The Cat. I found the stuff with Lenore and Hector surprisingly hot and erotic (and I am rarely moved by scenes like that). Unfortunately the Alucard stuff undid all that by being super gross. Aren't Sumi and Taka supposed to be brother and sister? Ick. Maybe this episode was Warren Ellis' final cry for help. Let's just say him turning out to be a creep after that is wholly in character.
But that ending was still pretty great. ***.
Castlevania "Abandon All Hope"
I didn't like that at all, but I didn't expect to, so I'm not going to complain too forcefully.
The stuff with the Judge made me sick. What really bothered me is how unnecessary to the season it was. It angered me for that reason.
Alucard's last scene made me unhappy too for obvious reasons.
As far Hector I don't see what he's mad about. He was essentially Dracula's slave before too, and here he at least gets to have a run of the castle and have frequent nasty sex with the ultra hot Lenore. His soul is already damned anyways. That is hardly an unfair ending for him.
As sickened as the gory battles made me, I will not deny the animation in the episode was fantastic.
Annoyed last episode's major cliffhanger wasn't addressed in any sort of satisfactory way.
So, yeah, the finale sucked, per usual. But the season was still overall great. **.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey Clobbers Crime!"
I don't like Thing's voice, but I like both the character designs and the colorful animation in this short. ***.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey & Human Torch Collab!"
Peter wearing a robe and slippers over his costume in the wraparounds is a funny visual but the Human Torch is obnoxious. **1/2.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey & The Fantastic Feud!"
So I'm wondering how Spidey knew how the Fantastic Four's conversation outside of the supermarket went when it happened before he got there.
I'm overthinking things again, aren't I? **1/2.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spider & Captain Marvel Save The City!"
Admittedly I don't follow the comic books, but isn't Captain Marvel generally more associated with stopping global and intergalactic threats? I mean, she was helpful in saving the dam, but I would think her hanging around to stop Rhino from creating mischief in a city park would not be a part of her specific crime beat. ***.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Birthday Fun With Spidey, Black Panther, & Shuri!"
Spidey says at the beginning that the kids bickering on the swings was exactly like the time he visited Wakanda with his friends Black Panther and Shuri. And as the cartoon went on I was like, "This is nothing like that." This show comes up with the thinnest and worst allegories ever. **.
Castlevania "Bless Your Dead Little Hearts"
I liked the beginning very much. For such a profane and violent show, I like how slow-paced it is and how is allows for quiet moments like Alucard's routine. I feel bad for the dude and laughed at his effigy dolls of Trevor and Sypha.
I recognized Jaime Murray's voice as Carmilla immediately. She needs to get more voice-work.
Saint Germain is an interesting character and I like his voice.
The Prior Sallah worries me. He seems nuts.
Trevor and Sypha were fun this episode, first enjoying the demons, and then Trevor being stupid enough to insult their sex-life compared to beer. I would think a line that dumb coming out of ANY guy would sound implausible, but this was written by Warren Ellis, who doesn't actually treat women very well, so I'm unsurprised instead. Write what you know, and Ellis has the voice of the uncouth dirtbag down cold.
Solid, but to be honest this has never been my favorite show ever. ***1/2.
Castlevania "The Reparation Of My Heart"
Alucard is a good egg. Especially considering who his father was.
Isaac is both smooth and scary in equal measure. I was digging his story and look forward to his relationship with the Captain.
Enjoyable. ****.
Castlevania "Investigators"
I love Lenore's scene with Hector at the end. She's a diplomat so people confuse her for soft. Hector won't be doing that again.
I very much love the discussions with Isaac and the Captain, especially the Captain's idea of bettering humanity, and the fact that the Captain seems to take Isaac's overt evil in stride, and tries to get him to see another path instead. Unfortunately, I don't see this friendship ending any way but badly. Because Isaac is the precise dude who is not allowed nice things. While I agree with the Captain that humanity can be good, and that Isaac's view is wrong, Isaac is the precise type of person who is NEVER allowed to be truly proven wrong, even though he is. That's his entire shtick. So I think things WILL end badly for those two, even if I like what I see of the Captain so far. Things simply cannot go that well for Isaac ever.
Trevor and Sypha's scene with the Judge where he tries to feel them out was pretty great too and I loved the cute bit of her correctly telling Trevor that if he looked at her he'd crack.
As far as Trevor silliness goes however, I have to say, I don't think Richard Armitage is the caliber of actor who should ever be made to speak about flaming demon goat turds falling from the sky. I'm sure a bunch of this show's fans consider that a selling point of the series, but it still jars me a bit. Cut me a LITTLE break here. It took me a little bit to get used to Patrick Stewart on American Dad too. But since that was a comedy, the shocking things Stewart would say for money were part of the joke, and were frankly comedy genius, which suddenly made the project worthy of Stewart. Having Armitage say that in a series that sells itself as a drama however almost makes me feel like he's slumming instead. I don't want to ever hear Sir Ian McKellan say Samuel L. Jackson's classic Snakes On A Plane line either for the same reason. Give me some time here, folks. I might get used to it. Although it's season 3 and I still haven't yet. So I might not.
Pretty good but the ending was outright great. ****1/2.
Castlevania "I Have A Scheme"
You know, I DO think Isaac is a bit insane. But not for the textbook definition reasons he thinks he is.
The stuff with Lenore and Hector continues to be fascinating. Lenore is the one vampire who straddles the fence between monster and human. I love that upon his request for shoes without holes she calls him an effing aristocrat. Funny use of profanity there.
I share Saint Germain's concern over how crazy the Sallah and the Priory are. I am also amused that the Judge is entirely unimpressed with Trevor and Sypha's supposed guile. He could have asked dumb questions and gotten kicked out himself.
Good episode. ****.
Castlevania "A Seat Of Civilisation And Refinement"
I'm preemptively declaring this the best season of the show. Ironically, I bet not too many people will dig it. I imagine when people heard the episode count was bumped up to ten this season, they were like "All right! Even more gory demon and vampire battles!" In reality, what it meant is a seemingly endless stream of fascinating conversations between the characters. A lot of people might be disappointed at how talky this season has wound up being. Me? Fascinating conversations are the only real reason I watch drama at ALL. Action almost never interests me. I'm all about the characters, their motivations, and their relationships to each other. And that's ALL this season has been so far. And I'm loving it for that. Great stuff. *****.
Castlevania "The Good Dream"
Three things to talk about this episode.
1. Lenore and Hector. She is kind to him but still treats him like a dog. I see why she is getting in his head though. She is actually quite lovely isn't she? I love her explaining that the heated ducts are science. It reminds us that Dracula was very much a scientist before the events of the first season.
2. Saint Germain's flashback dream of the corridor started off way groovy and amped it up to mindblowing and amazing by the end. The animation on the visual effects and his facial expressions were dynamite and striking. It was a phenomenal scene. This also hints that time travel is going to be a plot point of the series going forward.
3. That being said, Isaac's scene at the very end with the Demon who used to be a Greek philosopher told something very solid about the drama and all of the mesmerizing conversations this year: The voice acting does about 99% of the work in these types of scenes. I'm not saying the animation isn't great in the rest of the show. What I'm saying is that as far as the major character beats go, it's largely irrelevant. The surprisingly amazing cast seems to do almost the entirety of the heavy lifting there.
Another great episode. Best season ever. *****.
Castlevania "Worse Things Than Betrayal"
Barbara Steele. There's a voice that takes me back. To the Dark Shadows revival from the early 1990's. Dr. Julia Hoffman was quite mad too you see.
The Judge doesn't know what toilet paper is. I would not love to live in this era.
Profane monks being chastised by profane judges. What a world.
I very much like the moment where Germain reminds Sallah that he promised him to not treat him like he was mad and not to let him down. That was a very adult moment and more-so than any sex, violence, or f-bomb ever could be.
I liked this episode too. ****.
Castlevania "What The Night Brings"
Sneaking suspicion this is going to be the last episode of the season I REALLY dig. I think those thoughtful discussions are about at a close and the next two episodes will involve gory and excruciatingly messy violence to tie things up. I don't begrudge the show for that at all. That's what it's supposed to be be about. But I will very much miss this aspect of the season while they are paying things off with bloodspattering violence.
Lenore is not just lovely. She's utterly convincing. If you ask me, that makes her even more dangerous than if she wasn't.
I laughed at Germain's awkward appreciation and surprise over Trevor doing a nice thing for him. I like nice things too, and I especially like when nice things are appreciated, so I dug that scene too.
I'm getting a sinking feeling about Taka and Sumi. I seem to have been wrong about Issac's friendship with the Captain ending badly. I pray I also am for predicting bad things between them and Alucard.
So I liked that a lot. But I suspect my interest is about to check out at this point in the season. ****.
Castlevania "The Harvest"
Dracula?! WHAT?!?!
Okay, the last shot was bananas, and the animation in the landscapes leading up to it was amazing, but this is episode was simply not my speed. There are fans who like seeing people and demons explode like watermelons at a Gallagher concert, but I am not one of them.
Don't mess with Isaac. Lesson learned.
I think the set piece scenes for me were the explicit, graphically nude sex scenes between Alucard, Taka, and Sumi, and Lenore and Hector. This is the most nudity I have seen in an American animated project since Fritz The Cat. I found the stuff with Lenore and Hector surprisingly hot and erotic (and I am rarely moved by scenes like that). Unfortunately the Alucard stuff undid all that by being super gross. Aren't Sumi and Taka supposed to be brother and sister? Ick. Maybe this episode was Warren Ellis' final cry for help. Let's just say him turning out to be a creep after that is wholly in character.
But that ending was still pretty great. ***.
Castlevania "Abandon All Hope"
I didn't like that at all, but I didn't expect to, so I'm not going to complain too forcefully.
The stuff with the Judge made me sick. What really bothered me is how unnecessary to the season it was. It angered me for that reason.
Alucard's last scene made me unhappy too for obvious reasons.
As far Hector I don't see what he's mad about. He was essentially Dracula's slave before too, and here he at least gets to have a run of the castle and have frequent nasty sex with the ultra hot Lenore. His soul is already damned anyways. That is hardly an unfair ending for him.
As sickened as the gory battles made me, I will not deny the animation in the episode was fantastic.
Annoyed last episode's major cliffhanger wasn't addressed in any sort of satisfactory way.
So, yeah, the finale sucked, per usual. But the season was still overall great. **.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey Clobbers Crime!"
I don't like Thing's voice, but I like both the character designs and the colorful animation in this short. ***.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey & Human Torch Collab!"
Peter wearing a robe and slippers over his costume in the wraparounds is a funny visual but the Human Torch is obnoxious. **1/2.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spidey & The Fantastic Feud!"
So I'm wondering how Spidey knew how the Fantastic Four's conversation outside of the supermarket went when it happened before he got there.
I'm overthinking things again, aren't I? **1/2.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Spider & Captain Marvel Save The City!"
Admittedly I don't follow the comic books, but isn't Captain Marvel generally more associated with stopping global and intergalactic threats? I mean, she was helpful in saving the dam, but I would think her hanging around to stop Rhino from creating mischief in a city park would not be a part of her specific crime beat. ***.
Marvel Super Hero Adventures "Birthday Fun With Spidey, Black Panther, & Shuri!"
Spidey says at the beginning that the kids bickering on the swings was exactly like the time he visited Wakanda with his friends Black Panther and Shuri. And as the cartoon went on I was like, "This is nothing like that." This show comes up with the thinnest and worst allegories ever. **.