RWBY (Season 7)

Season 7 of RWBY is easily the most ambitious season of the series, tackling interesting themes and ending on one of the show's biggest battles, albeit in a somewhat flawed way.

RWBY's seventh season has the teams finally arrive at Atlas to reunite with both General Ironwood and a rebuilt Penny! Team RWBY trains under Atlas's team, the Ace Ops, while Ironwood struggles with the increased paranoia and trust issues. There is a lot to this season, a ton of characters with their own motivations and arcs, but it manages to balance all of them incredibly well, from Qrow trying to lighten up, to Weiss confronting her family once and for all, to   The season takes a while to set things up, but the final three episodes have pretty much the entire cast and all of their lingering tensions and conflicts collide, and it's pretty amazing. Easily the highlight is none other than Ironwood himself, his slow descent into paranoia throughout the season is amazingly executed, and by the final episode, he's just too far gone. I also found the political aspect of Season 7 to be excellent, with a large conflict being about how to deal with the looming threat of Salem, whether to focus on saving Atlas and the relic or try to help the poorer Mantle as well. By the end, Team RWBY and Ironwood have entirely opposing views, but neither of them are necessarily wrong. I do feel like Team RWBY is pushed to the side a bit this season, especially compared to Season 6, but the other characters still manage to be entertaining.

All of this sounds amazing on paper, and it mostly is, Season 7 easily has some of the show's best writing. However, there are a bunch of aspects that hold this season back from being my favorite. First, there's the Clover incident. Honestly, I'm fine that Clover died, and I feel it wouldn't have made quite as much of an impact if the social media didn't point out his friendship with Qrow way too heavily, but the way he died is a bit shaky. On paper, it sounds cool, Qrow reluctantly teaming up with Tyrian. But logically, it doesn't really work. Like why wouldn't Clover prioritize restraining Tyrian? And why would Qrow even team up with the guy he hates more than anyone else? And how did he not expect Tyrian to kill Clover knowing how brutal he is? It holds back an otherwise amazing final arc. Speaking of which, while the first ten episodes of Season 7 have some good episodes, but most of the season is build up to that final arc, which means that by the time the season gets truly great, it's almost the end. Production wise, Season 7 is the best one yet. The visuals are just as great as Season 6, but the intricate cities of Atlas and Mantle are absolutely stunning. The action is top-notch too, even if there isn't much of it until the final four episodes. The best fights of the season are some of the best in the whole show, particularly the fights with Watts, Cinder, and the Ace Ops.

A Night Out: This episode is just plain excellent. It starts out unassuming with most of the cast going on a night out, Ren and Nora sharing their first kiss, and Robyn having a victory party. However, the tension slowly builds throughout the episode until everything goes to hell. Robyn loses, Watts shuts out the lights, Tyrian slaughters a bunch of people, and Penny is framed for all of it, it's an amazing buildup to a shocking final scene.

Gravity: Easily the best episode of the season, Gravity starts with the phenomenal gravity-shifting fight between Ironwood and Watts and it just gets better from there! I love the sequence where Ironwood and Team RWBY have the confrontation in his office. It brings the main conflict of the season to the forefront, signals Ironwood's descent, and finally lets Ruby and Salem have a conversation (a heartbreaking one at that). It's an excellent, emotional episode.

With Friends Like These: Despite my gripes with Clover's death, the fight between RWBY and the Ace Ops is my favorite fight in RWBY to date. It's fast-paced and exciting, giving everyone time to shine and is packed with creative uses of the characters' skills, not to mention the amazing music. This is how you do a four-way fight, it's everything the Battle Of Haven should have been.

The Enemy Of Trust: Despite the strangeness of having the finale not focus on Team RWBY at all, I think The Enemy Of Trust really works for being absolute cliffhanger insanity! Penny's the winter maiden, Cinder got the relic, Qrow's arrested, Salem's here, and so much more amazing set-up for Season 8. I especially love Penny and Winter vs Cinder, it's an excellent and tense fight with some great characterization and an excellent twist.

Overall, Season 7 is easily the most complex and thought-provoking season of RWBY yet and it boasts an incredibly strong ending. However, it doesn't nail all of its moments perfectly and suffers from a bit of a slow start.

4/5 Stars

Cobra Kai (Season 2)

The first season of Cobra Kai was a solid revival of the iconic Karate Kid film that ended on the strong hook of Kreese returning to Cobra Kai. However, given how standalone the rest of Season 1 was, it feels like this season wasn't really sure what to do now.

Season 1 had a clear end goal in mind from the start. Johnny wanted to rebuild Cobra Kai, get some new students, and join the All-Valley tournament to win once and for all. Season 2 doesn't quite have that same hook. Kreese is here and joins Johnny at Cobra Kai, but he doesn't do too much other than slowly corrupting some of the students from the background. Daniel making his own dojo is probably the highlight of the season, but even that just feels like it's ripped right from Season 1. It generally feels like Johnny and Daniel's rivalry is put into the background this season, which is a shame. Thankfully, the high school drama is way better this time around. While the melodrama and intricate romantic subplots are still there, the drama feels a bit more realistic. I like that some of the Cobra Kai kids are starting to get corrupted and become the bullies themselves, and it all builds into an explosive final episode that, while not as satisfying as last season's, is easily the craziest and most eventful episode in the whole show.

Generally, this is a far more character-driven season than the first, and it warmed me up to a solid amount of the cast. Kreese is still an excellent villain, his manipulation skills are on point, albeit hard to watch at times. I like the conflict between Hawk and Demetri as well, and it's interesting to see people who were previously interested in Cobra Kai to be pushed away into joining Miyagi-do as well. On the other hand, I think Miguel has gotten a bit less interesting since his budding mentorship with Johnny is pretty much nonexistent. Once again, the production values are still pretty solid for a YouTube Red show, and the fight scenes are also a lot of fun (though the blood seems a bit on the fake side at times). I didn't mentioned this in Season 1's review, but the choice of 80s music for key scenes in Cobra Kai is usually excellent. However, Season 2 definitely takes that to another level, the music choices here are just plain amazing.

Once again, there are still a bunch of really solid episodes in this season:

Take A Right: Johnny's storyline about spending one last day with the old Cobra Kai before Tommy died is an incredibly affecting and poignant plot (with a fun bar fight), but we also get a backstory for Tory and a surprising reference to the events of Karate Kid III, believe it or not.

Pulpo: Similarly to last season's penultimate episode, Johnny and Daniel hold a temporary truce that actually seems to stick this time around. We also get the hectic events at Moon's party where Demetri reveals Hawk's secrets and Sam kissing Miguel, setting the stage for...

No Mercy: While as a whole, this season is weaker than the first, No Mercy is not only the best episode yet, it's one of the most insane episodes I've ever seen. It starts with the long-awaited rematch between Daniel and Johnny, and that's just the beginning! All of the season's conflicts collide in the insane school brawl that leaves not a single character unscathed, it's intense, frantic, relentless, excellently choreographed, devastating, and boasts in an impressive long take. And even the aftermath is shocking, from Kreese taking over Cobra Kai to Daniel quitting Miyagi-Do to the exciting text from Ali. No Mercy destroyed me in the best way possible and I have no idea how Season 3 could possibly top this.

Overall, Season 2 is a solid, character-focused continuation with a strong ending, but it suffers to figure out how it's supposed to continue the show's main story.

3/5 Stars

RWBY (Season 6)

At the time of this review (post-Season 8), Season 6 is my favorite season of RWBY. It just feels like it strikes the perfect balance of everything I love about the show: Amazing action, strong character work, a fast-paced and adventurous feel, and some great emotional beats.

RWBY's sixth season mostly revolves around the titular team traveling to Atlas to show the relic to Ironwood. During which, they go on a crazy train ride, learn the truth about the relics, stumble on a haunted village, fight a mech, and defeat Adam once and for all. I adore the pacing of this season, especially in the first half. Rather than remaining in one location, Season 6 feels like a big adventure composed of several smaller arcs. It's willing to experiment with flashbacks, lore dumps, genre shifts, and jumps between relentless action and somber emotional beats nearly perfectly, and I never ever felt bored while watching it. Despite this, the season also manages to deliver some great character moments, from Blake trying to make up with Yang, to Qrow's drinking problems, to Ruby learning more about the Silver Eyes, to Jaune finally getting over Pyrrha's death. Season 6 also makes up for most of Season 5's faults. particularly when it comes to Ozpin. Not only do we learn just how information Ozpin has been keeping secret from his students, but he's given a far more flawed and morally gray depiction that makes the others' distrust of him far more realistic and understandable. Overall, Season 6 just feels so much more confident than the last two seasons

Halfway through the season, the pace slows down considerably as the team struggles to find a way in Argus. Compared to the amazing first half, this is definitely the weaker part of the season, serving as a bit of a build-up to a massive final battle with Adam and Cordovin's giant mech. However, it has its moments (the Pyrrha statue, the Silver Eyes scene) and I think the payoff is definitely worth it, as not only is the action great, but the season finale is easily one of the show's best yet. Speaking of which, Season 6 is the point in which RWBY's action starts to return to its former greatness. Pretty much every fight here is well-animated, fast-paced, and tightly choreographed. It's not as intricate as Monty Oum's work, but the shift to a more weighted feel works really well for the show. It's hard to pick which fight is my favorite this time, from the teamwork-heavy train fight, to the exciting fight between Cinder and Neo, to the tense Maria vs Tock fight, to the bombastic final battle with Adam. The animation is also the best yet, it's far more brighter and colorful than Seasons 4 & 5. As for the soundtrack, it's not as good as Seasons 1 & 4, but it's definitely up there with one of the best.

I love most of this season, but these are the best episodes for me:

Argus Limited: This was an amazing start to the season that felt like a breath of fresh air after Season 5. It's a fun and fast-paced premiere with amazing character moments (the goodbye at the train station) and some of RWBY's best action in years. The fights on the train show some excellent teamwork between the characters, and the big train crash to end things off bring the season to a crazy start.

The Lost Fable: This was such a unique episode for RWBY. It's way longer than your average episode, narrated by Jinn, and focused almost entirely on Ozpin and Salem. The art direction and transitions use RWBY's animation style to stunning results, and despite the abundance of exposition and lore, this episode manages to feel engrossing and fresh throughout.

Alone In The Woods: I want to see more RWBY episodes like Alone In The Woods. It's a standalone episode about the team fighting a Grimm called the Apathy which causes them to lose hope, and it works perfectly as both a self-contained story and an installment in the volume. I love how the episode explores Team RWBY's lingering feels of doubt at this point in the show while also just being a genuinely great horror story. The Apathy feel like the Redeads from Zelda in animated form, and they're a terrifying threat for Team RWBY to fight. If I want to show anyone why I still love RWBY even with its faults, I'll show them this episode. It's easily one of the best in the series, and I'd love to see more like it.

The Grimm Reaper: I love the opening flashback where we get to learn about Maria's backstory (speaking of which, Maria is absolutely awesome). Her weapons are cool, and the fight with Tock where she loses her eyesight is easily one of the most intense in the series. It's also great to finally see Teams RWBY and JNR reunite, Argus is a super cool and quaint location, and Jaune's sister is absolutely adorable. 

Seeing Red: I'm gonna be honest here and say that I don't really like Adam, I think he's a bad character and am glad he dies this episode. That being said, I'm also glad Adam went down with a fight, and this was one hell of a four-episode-long fight. Apparently some of Monty Oum's old animation was used here and its shows, this is easily one of the best and most intense fights in the series. We also get the final sequence of the mech battle, with Ruby pulling off one of the gutsiest movies yet: Jumping inside the barrel of the cannon and shooting it from the inside. 

Our Way: This was a great finale that wraps up all of the season's storylines in a satisfying manner. Obviously the highlight is Ruby's Silver Eyes scene where we see a beautiful series of flashbacks and our first glimpse of Summer as "Indomitable" plays in the background. However, we also get Cinder and Neo stealing an airship, Ozpin briefly returning, and the big cliffhanger of the teams arriving at Atlas. 

Overall, I love Season 6. I loved the sense of adventure it had, along with the great additions to the lore, the top-notch action, the strong character moments, the emotional conclusion, and some of the show's best episodes. It's still my favorite in the series and the perfect showcase of why I still love RWBY in spite of its several flaws.

5/5 Stars

Cobra Kai (Season 1)

Cobra Kai has an incredibly fascinating history. It's a reboot sequel of the Karate Kid that focuses on the "antagonist", originally airing on YouTube Red before being moved to Netflix for its third season. This could have been an absolute disaster, but I'm not gonna lie, Cobra Kai's pretty damn solid.

The Karate Kid is a great movie, but probably one of the things it's most known for is the massive debate over who's really the good guy. On one hand, Daniel was beaten up by the Cobra Kai gang half to death. On the other hand, Johnny had an abusive coach and was left completely humiliated by Daniel's victory. By having a sequel series to the original movie focus on Johnny's point of view, Cobra Kai runs the risk of going into retcon territory. Thankfully, despite the change of perspective, the show makes it clear that it's far more nuanced than that. As adults, Johnny and Daniel are both jerks. Daniel not only let his victory get to his head, but he's also an overbearing parent likely due to his experience with bullying. Meanwhile, Johnny may have had his life ruined by the loss, but he's still an asshole to everyone he meets and he's so stuck in the 80s to the point where he can be kind of offensive. It's fascinating to see the events of not just the original film but the trilogy in its entirety and how it came to affect both Johnny and Daniel. It helps that Ralph Macchio and William Zabka absolutely kill it when returning to their iconic roles, and every scene they share together manages to be immensely compelling. The show is packed with clever parallels to the Karate Kid without making it feel like it's relying on nostalgia, striking that ever elusive balance of building on and respecting the original. Given the general state of reboots nowadays, that's really hard to nail down.

However, in terms of the other characters, Cobra Kai is a bit more hit and miss. Obviously, Daniel and Johnny's rivalry is the most compelling part of the show, so I like all of their protégées particularly Miguel. I love the way his dynamic with Johnny grows like a distorted version of Daniel and Mr Miyagi. I also think Hawk is hilarious. However, we're forced to get to know the entire high school class and all of their own drama. These parts of the show aren't bad, per se, but they rely so heavily on misunderstandings and cliche. In particular, the bullies are so cartoonishly jerkish that it's kinda unrealistic, which is odd considering how the entire show focuses on fleshing out a "bully'. I'd complain that some aspects of Cobra Kai feel like tired cliches, like they're stuck in the 80s, but I also know that this is probably on purpose because that's how Daniel and Johnny feel. Similarly, there were a few jokes about PC culture that didn't sit the best with me, but the show balanced it out by making it crystal clear that Johnny's old-fashioned attitude isn't good either so I can't complain too much about that either. I was a bit worried about Cobra Kai being a show on YouTube Red given their somewhat low production values. Thankfully, this wasn't an issue. The acting and writing was pretty solid throughout this first season, and it never feels like shortcuts were taken during the production process. Sure, the karate fights may not be the most accurate, but they're exciting, dynamic, and a ton of fun regardless. My only other gripe are a few jokes about PC culture that didn't sit the best with me, but the show balanced it out by making it crystal clear that Johnny's old-fashioned attitude isn't good either so I can't complain too much either.

Despite the season's short length, there are a bunch of high points throughout:

Counterbalance: The second half of this episode packed some of the best scenes in the whole season. The big fight in the lunchroom where Miguel finally showed up the bullies was incredibly fun and satisfying, and the scenes where Daniel goes to Mr Miyagi's grave and takes up karate again is an emotional tribute to both the film and the iconic character.

Different But Same: Wow, this episode hurts. It was great to see Daniel and Johnny spend an entire episode reflecting on their past and just starting to find some common ground, only for Robby to completely ruin. And not to mention Miguel pretty much destroying any semblance of a relationship with Sam. It's a great penultimate episode that sets up the finale perfectly.

Mercy: This is how you pull off a satisfying season finale, with the big competition being a great way to bring all of the characters and conflicts together. I love how it drew parallels to The Karate Kid's ending while still feeling like its own thing, progressing the show's themes on the cyclical nature of revenge and the bittersweet nature of the original All Valley competition. Johnny won, but it doesn't feel like a victory. And I love that cliffhanger about Kreese winning, and he's mentioned often enough throughout the season that it would still be impactful even if you haven't seen the original film.

Overall, even if some of its story elements are a bit on the cliche side, Cobra Kai absolutely nails its core conflict and tells a satisfying story about two morally flawed characters in a lose-lose situation, solidifying itself as one of the most unexpectedly successful reboots of all time.

4/5 Stars

Star Wars Series

Star Wars is probably my favorite movie franchise of all time. The blending of genres, fun action, likable characters, and amazing score always keep me engaged during even the weakest films in the franchise. So, as of March 2021, this is a half-review, half-retrospective of my opinions on all of the Star Wars films.

A New Hope: This is my first Star Wars movie, and it's still one of my favorites. Its story is a simple but effective hero's journey that slowly introduces you to the unique and complex world of Star Wars, and it's packed with iconic scenes like the opening space battle, the Cantina, the escape from the Death Star, and the surprisingly tense finale. It's not as polished as most of the other Star Wars films, but there's a real sense of scrappiness to the whole production. I doubt most of the people working on A New Hope thought it would work out as well as it did, but they ended up making one of the most classic, iconic, and influential films in all of cinema.

5/5 Stars

The Empire Strikes Back: Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie of all time, yet I always find it incredibly difficult to articulate why I love it so much. It feels like the perfect sequel, it gives us more of the characters and world we loved so much in the original and expands it. You may not realize it now given how long ago this movie aired, but it introduced so many beloved aspects of Star Wars. We got to see our first large-screen war of the franchise with the Battle Of Hoth, we were introduced to the bounty hunters, to Yoda, to the family ties that Star Wars is known for, and we got one of the gutsiest endings in a movie at the time. Empire Strikes Back may not be a perfect film, but it's packed with everything I love about movies, the special effects, the action, the character development, the plot twists, and it leaves me completely engrossed every time I watch it. And most important of all, it showed me things I have never seen before.

6/5 Stars

Return Of The Jedi: Return Of The Jedi has its issues, the overly long Jabba Palace sequence, the disjointed nature of the film, the overreliance on the Ewoks, but it's still an incredibly fun time. As an ending to the original Star Wars trilogy, it works pretty much perfectly, giving all of its characters a satisfying resolution and ending things on a bang. The Battle Of Endor is still one of the largest-scale battles in the series and it's still an absolute spectacle, and the climactic confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the emperor forms the emotional backbone of the whole film. I'm also a big fan of the Sarlacc pit sequence even if it is a bit on the goofy side, but hey, what is Star Wars if not goofy?

4/5 Stars

The Phantom Menace: Before I talk about the prequels, I just want to say that I loved this trilogy as a kid, and I still hold a lot of nostalgia for them today. They're all still fun watches, even with all of their flaws, and there's a lot of heart to these films that make them so appealing. But it's with all the love in my heart that I say that the prequels also aren't very good films. Oddly enough, I think The Phantom Menace aged the best out of all the prequel films despite it being the oldest. The CGI was blended with practical effects far better in this movie, the dialogue was alright at times, and some of the action scenes (Podrace, Darth Maul) were the best in the series. However, this is still a boring film to watch with a sluggish pacing, and some of its low points (Jar Jar, Young Anakin, Midichlorians) are the lowest points in the series as well. At its best, The Phantom Menace is amazing, but at its worst, it's really bad.

2/5 Stars

Attack Of The Clones: Even when I was a little kid, this was my least favorite Star Wars film, the romance subplot between Anakin and Padme was just so boring. This is the film where the prequels really started to dip in general quality for me, as the dialogue just became awful and hard to take seriously, the acting became incredibly stiff, and the overabundance of poorly-composited CGI made the film lose all of its stakes. It's a shame because there are some parts I do like, Obi Wan's fight with Jango Fett in Kamino and subsequent asteroid field chase was a lot of fun (not to mention that Seismic Charge is the most godly sound effect in all of cinema), and the Geonosian Arena fight was actually kinda tense at first. I just wish this movie had more of that fun stuff and less angst, poorly written, horribly acted romance scenes.

2/5 Stars

Revenge Of The Sith: The first forty-five minutes of this movie during the Battle of Coruscant is some of the best Star Wars content ever. The action (while CGI-riddled) is dumb fun, the banter between Obi Wan and Anakin is some of the best-written dialogue in the trilogy, and the pacing manages to be fast-paced and relentless without feeling rushed. However, the rest of the movie is far more indicative of the trilogy as a whole. Once again, the dialogue and acting is really bad here, and it feels worse given the darker subject matter. Sure a lot of these lines are funny and iconic, but it makes it hard to take the film seriously. You can tell that one of the movie's best scenes, Order 66, doesn't have any dialogue in it. Additionally, the action is poorly acted and is so cartoonish that it ends up losing its emotional impact (Obi Wan vs Anakin would've been great if it didn't turn into a video game halfway through). Scenes like Yoda going into exile or Palpatine slaughtering a bunch of Jedi should be intense and emotional, but they just feel goofy instead. There are some great scenes in this film, and I have a ton of nostalgia from when it used to be my favorite film in the series, but as time goes on, RoTS's flaws become more apparent. It's easily my favorite of the prequel trilogy films for its ideas alone, but good ideas can't save weak execution.

3/5 Stars

The Force Awakens: This movie had one major job and that was to make up for the failings of the prequel trilogy, and I'd say it pretty much succeeded. The Force Awakens, even with its fairly unoriginal plot, felt like a love letter to the franchise, almost like the Galaxy Quest of the Star Wars series. The characters both old and new were all super likable, the action was fun, the special effects were both practical and impressive, the dialogue actually felt somewhat natural, and the emotional beats were landed pretty much perfectly. This was the first Star Wars movie I watched in a theater (when it came out) and is still probably my favorite movie experience ever, and Han Solo's death probably hit me harder than any movie scene ever. I still absolutely adore this movie, even if it's not the most original.

5/5 Stars

Rogue One: Okay, let me start with the obvious stuff, Rogue One has one of the best final acts of any movie I've ever seen. The battle on Scarif is a massive spectacle that utilizes every single character and story element without feeling bloated or mind-numbing at all. The blend of CGI and practical effects is phenomenal, the gutsy ending where the main cast all dies is heartrending every time, and of course, that Darth Vader hallway scene is absolutely godly (though I'm not so sure about Disney's trending of recreating it nowadays). However, the first two acts are a bit on the weaker side due to the fact that I just don't care about a lot of the characters. Rogue One has six main characters and even more important side characters, so most of them aside from Jyn and Cassian don't get much fleshing out. As a matter of fact, I can't even remember most of their names even after seeing Rogue One multiple times. I also felt Donnie Yen was a bit wasted given how amazing his action scenes can be, just that's more of a nitpick. Rogue One is a fun movie with a strong ending, but if it wasn't for that phenomenally executed third act, it would easily be the most forgettable in the franchise.

4/5 Stars

The Last Jedi: I have an interesting relationship with this film. When I first watched it, I didn't know what to think, it just wasn't what I was expecting as a followup to The Force Awakens. I was disappointed in the lack of a major lightsaber fight, or Finn not sacrificing himself, or the fact that the casino storyline never led anywhere. I didn't hate the film, mind you, even then the visuals, character arcs, action scenes, acting, and score were all excellent. However, as time went on, and I would continue to rewatch The Last Jedi, I would end up finding more and more things to love about it. I realized that Luke not having a full-on violent fight with Kylo Ren was the point of the scene, I realized just how futile Finn's sacrifice would have been, I realized how the casino storyline perfectly fits with the theme of overcoming failure. Were there some poorly executed moments? Sure! But this is Star Wars, every single one of its movies have these dumb scenes, and it doesn't take away just how much The Last Jedi made me think. I was still thinking about this movie's themes years after it first released, and I still am now. Even if it's not perfect, The Last Jedi has since become part of my Top 3 films in the franchise. It's unpredictable, surprising, though-provoking, thrilling, and absolutely beautiful, and I wish there were more films like it that had the guts to take Star Wars in directions that we wouldn't expect it to go.

5/5 Stars

Solo: Solo is an alright film. The cast is great, and Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover did an amazing job playing Han and Lando, striking the perfect balance between capturing their character while doing something new with them. Honestly, I'd be more than happy if we got to see more Donald Glover as Lando, he was amazing! The action scenes were also pretty inventive and fun, like the train chase and the Kessel Run, and it was super refreshing how the final battle was so small-scale compared to the rest of the franchise. However, the story is honestly kinda dull. It's all about seeing Han Solo become the man he is in A New Hope, so when you put aside all of that novelty, it's really just an origin story with not much else. Add in the murky color grading and you get a film that feels dangerously close to an MCU film. It's not bad at all, especially given the production issues, but it also doesn't really stand out in anyway. It's also the only Disney Star Wars film I didn't see on opening night which makes it feel even less special.

3/5 Stars

The Rise Of Skywalker: I'm still incredibly split on this film because of just how much of a mess it is. On one hand, some of the plot directions are incredibly dumb (like everything about Palpatine) and the pacing is insanely rushed. On the other hand, TRoS is still fun as hell. Even with such a MacGuffin-centric plot, it's fun to see the main cast of the trilogy go on adventures together and exchange banter. Even with all of the fan service, the emotional moments like Han's "force ghost", C-3PO's sacrifice, the Jedi voices, and all of the ships showing up in the final battle hit me hard. Even with the rushed pacing, the score was still amazing, the action was insanely fun, and the visuals are stunning. Even if this movie's plot is a mess, I still can't hate it because it perfectly captures that dumb fun adventure that I love so much about Star Wars. I always wish we got a better ending, but I do know it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

3/5 Stars

Ranking:

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. The Last Jedi (tied with #3)
3. A New Hope (tied with #2)
4. The Force Awakens
5. Return Of The Jedi
6. Rogue One
7. The Rise Of Skywalker
8. Solo
9. Revenge Of The Sith
10. The Phantom Menace
11. Attack Of The Clones

Overall, I still love Star Wars even with all of its flaws and weaker films/trilogies. It's just such a unique series that's unlike anything else out there! I never go into a Star Wars film expecting to be mentally stimulated or anything (which is probably why I was so surprised by The Last Jedi), I go in expecting to have a good time, and I pretty much always do no matter the film. Sure most (if not all) of the movies are a bit jank, but I kinda like that about them! It's why I also love stuff like LEGO Star Wars and that weird I'm Han Solo song from the Kinect game, there's just a dorky charm to the series with its bizarre mix of genres, tones, and ideas that I just adore. No matter how goofy or serious, exciting or slow-paced, cheesy or dramatic, Star Wars is fun, it always has been and it always will be.

Kirby And The Amazing Mirror

I've been on a bit of a metroidvania kick lately, I bought Touhou Luna Nights, replayed Super Metroid, and am in the process of trying to fully complete Hollow Knight once and for all (not an easy task, mind you), so I decided to try out Kirby's attempt at a metroidvania. Amazing Mirror is definitely an interesting and memorable experiment, even if it's also a relatively flawed one.

Kirby And The Amazing Mirror has you search a giant world called the "Mirror World" in search of the eight mirror shards that you can use to save Meta Knight, who has been trapped in a mirror (there's a pretty big mirror motif in this game). In general, Amazing Mirror's core gameplay is similar to most Kirby games. You can run, jump, swallow up enemies, and copy their abilities. It's just as fun of a gameplay loop as any other game in the series and works perfectly fine on GBA. You also have the ability to call on three other colored Kirbies to help you out for a puzzle or a difficult enemy or boss encounter, as long as you have enough batteries. It's an interesting concept and even supports multiplayer, but it's not required all that often in the actual game. However, it's a great stepping stone for later multiplayer Kirby games like Return To Dream Land and Star Allies.

The main thing that makes Amazing Mirror stand out from any other Kirby games is its large, open world and nonlinear nature. You start off in a main hub that takes you to the first world of the game, Rainbow Route. As you start exploring, you eventually reach a bunch of split paths and alternate routes, along with rooms that link to the main hub for fast travel. Each of the nine major worlds of the game has a complex, interconnected map, with certain rooms that can only be accessed with certain copy abilities, goal areas, and of course, bosses which hold the mirror shards that you're meant to collect. The concept of a metroidvania Kirby game is a really cool one, and at times, it's a ton of fun to explore the massive worlds this game has to offer. However, this is where my praise for Amazing Mirror's gameplay ends, because the open world nature of the game leads to a lot of issues.

First of all, Amazing Mirror uses the same engine as Nightmare In Dream Land meaning that you lose your copy ability after getting hit by an enemy once. While this is fine in your average platformer, Amazing Mirror has tons of routes that are completely blocked off unless you have a certain ability like Missile. Sometimes, you get the copy ability shortly before the point at which you need it, but other times, you have to cross the entire map without getting hit to access certain paths which can make it incredibly frustrating if you happen to lose it and have to trek back to where you originally found the ability. Then, there are the goal rooms, which put you through a mini game before forcing you back to the main hub. It seems like an attempt at recreating the level-based nature of the other Kirby games but it doesn't work at all here. But my least favorite addition to Amazing Mirror is the fact that you need to go through every door in the game both ways to get 100% rather than just visit every room, which is particularly bad given that the Boss Rush, a staple of the Kirby series, is locked behind 100% completion this time around. Even worse, the map screen doesn't tell you which doors you need to go through, so you'll probably end up having to blindly scour for whichever door you forgot to go through twice.

This isn't to say that I hate Amazing Mirror, however. The core gameplay of Kirby is enough to carry me through anything after all, and the sheer novelty of an open world Kirby game is still super cool. I think the formula shows a ton of potential, and even a remake of Amazing Mirror with some quality of life improvements would be incredibly welcome. I also really like this game's boss fights, which are easily some of the most unique in the series. The fights with Mega Titan, Dark Meta Knight, Master Hand & Crazy Hand, and of course, Dark Mind, are definitely the highlights for me. The visuals are mostly taken from Nightmare In Dream Land, but they're still super clean and pleasing to the eye, especially in regards to the backgrounds. As for the music, it's pretty great too. I have a lot of nostalgia for Game Boy Advance music, even if its sound quality is pretty weak, and I think this soundtrack's melodies definitely carry it regardless.

Overall, Kirby And The Amazing Mirror is easily one of Kirby's most unique experiences and is worth playing for that reason alone, even if the core exploration needs a bit more polish. I think a remake with better visuals and music, more quality of life improvements, and fairer 100% completion could turn this game from good to thoroughly great.

3/5 Stars

Soundtrack Retrospective: Zelda

Continuing on with my soundtrack retrospective, this next entry is going to be on the Legend Of Zelda series. This video game franchise is well-known for its incredibly epic soundtracks, and has kept up an insane level of quality throughout:

Legend Of Zelda: Legend Of Zelda's first soundtrack is similar to that of Super Mario Bros as it's fairly simple and short, but it still manages to capture the grand, epic, adventurous feel of most of the other games in the series. I love how bombastic the overworld theme is, how mysterious the dungeon theme is, and especially how epic the title theme is. The only problem is that Zelda's soundtrack is just too short! There really aren't too many tracks here, even if pretty much every single one is a classic.

Highlight: The overworld theme. Do I really need to explain more?

3/5 Stars

Zelda II: Adventures Of Link: I may not like Zelda II the game, but its soundtrack is easily one of the best on the NES. The music is much more complex and elaborate compared to the first game, with some tracks even taking on an oddly sorrowful tone. Adventures Of Link's music feels so much more grand and emotional than the first game. It's as if even with how different this game is, this soundtrack still makes it feel like it's trying to be a larger scale adventure than the original, and I admire that a lot. This is an underrated batch of tracks and I highly recommend you give it a listen.

Highlight: The Temple/Palace theme is one of my favorite Zelda tracks of all time. It's dark, mysterious, and incredibly exciting. The original version is great on its own, but the Super Smash Bros Melee remix is what truly made me fall in love with the song.

4/5 Stars

Link To The Past: Composition wise, Link To The Past's soundtrack is great. It introduced a ton of iconic tunes such as Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, Hyrule Castle, and Dark World. It continues the trend of trying to up the epic factor and what results is a soundtrack that feels even more grand than the NES games. Soundfont-wise, however, I'm sorry but it sounds soooo bad. The instrumentation is muted, the trumpets lack energy, and none of the songs sound as good as they should and could be. The presence of Link Between Worlds' soundtrack, which blows this game's music out of the water in every concievable way, further solidifies this as one of the weakest Zelda soundtracks for me. Sorry to disappoint you all.

Highlight: I'm a big fan of the Dark World theme. It serves its purpose pretty much perfectly, it feels like a darker more sinister version of the overworld theme while still maintaining its sense of adventure and momentum. 

2/5 Stars

Link's Awakening: Unlike the first three Zelda soundtracks, Link's Awakening goes for an entirely different vibe to amazing results. There are some epic tracks on here (Tal Tal Heights especially), but it generally forgoes the sense of adventure for a more dreamlike (ha, get it?) feel, one that's more lighthearted, emotional, and even melancholic at times. This is a Game Boy game and yet its soundtrack is still one of the most nuanced I've ever heard, and the amazing Switch remake manages to elevate it even more. In particular, the remake's dungeon themes are breathtakingly beautiful.

Highlight: Easily Tal Tal Heights. It's the track that always comes to mind whenever I think of this game. It's such a grand, gorgeous, and chill-inducing remix of the overworld theme that manages to create a new identity all its own. And once again, the Switch theme manages to make it even better! Hands down one of my favorite video game tracks of all time.

5/5 Stars

Ocarina Of Time: Ocarina Of Time's music is simply iconic. So many of this game's tracks became a staple of the Zelda series, from the Lost Woods, to Hyrule Castle Town, to Song Of Storms. It's really the quintessential soundtrack and I'm sure it's the one most people think of when they think of Legend Of Zelda. Personally, I enjoy some of the later soundtracks (plus Link's Awakening) a bit more than Ocarina's, but it definitely captures the adventurous spirit that I love about the games.

Highlight: Gerudo Valley is probably my favorite desert theme ever? It's an insanely catchy Mexican-inspired tune with a simple but incredibly compelling hook that I will never get tired of listening to.

4/5 Stars

Majora's Mask: Majora's Mask is a game that lives and dies by its tone and atmosphere. It wouldn't work as well as it does if it didn't go for such a bleak and melancholic vibe, and Koji Kondo's phenomenal score plays a big part in creating that tone. Seriously, he knocked it out of the park here, so many of the songs here are so brilliantly somber and grim, even the ones that seem happy. Clock Town slowly gives way to Final Hours, Termina Field gives the series' main theme a more sinister turn, and Astral Observatory is just on an another level in terms of mixed vibes. Kondo goes all in on the weird instrumentation too, there's a surprising amount of techno tunes here, and he even brings back the Mario 64 soundfont for some songs to make things all the more dissonant. Oh, and the dungeon and boss themes slap hard, easily some of the best in the series. Majora's Wrath might just be the best Zelda final boss theme. The only complaint I could probably have about the soundtrack is how it reuses Ocarina Of Time tunes, but their unfittingness only adds to the dissonance so I think it still works for the game. Given how the game treats referencing its  predecessor, I'm pretty sure it's intentional anyway. Either way, I really think Majora's Mask is one of the best Zelda soundtracks, if not one of the best video game soundtracks ever. It hits so many emotional chords and still feels like nothing I've ever heard before. This is Koji Kondo's magnum opus, by a longshot.

Highlight: Final Hours, hands down. It's easily the best song Koji Kondo's ever composed. It's perfectly captures that bleak feel, when the Moon is just hanging over Termina and everyone's already accepted their fate. It's hopeless, emotional, gutting, and just plain depressing. Astral Observatory and Stone Tower Temple deserve mention though, fantastic tunes in their own ways.

5/5 Stars

Oracle Of Ages/Seasons: I'm gonna be honest, this Zelda soundtrack is entirely forgettable to me. But let me start with the high points. There are some great remixes of Link's Awakening tracks here, and the dungeon themes are easily some of the best in the game. However, there are a large amount of tracks that I just can't find myself remembering for the life of me. This isn't a bad soundtrack (soundtracks?), but it just doesn't manage to hold a candle to the heights that most of the rest of the series manages to reach.

Highlight: Tarm Ruins is an oddly beautiful theme that literally no one talks about. It's so calm and relaxing, while feeling mystical and solemn at the same time. I wouldn't mind getting an official remix of this one, none of the game's other tracks jump out at me as much as Tarm Ruins did.

2/5 Stars

Wind Waker: Wind Waker has easily one of Zelda's most unique soundtracks, and it wears its Celtic-influences on its sleeves. Like we literally get bagpipes and violins in the title theme alone. I just adore Wind Waker's music, from the calm island themes, to the adventurous Great Sea theme, to the jawdroppingly epic boss themes. The usage of leitmotifs is also really good, even for a Zelda game. For me, this game is the moment where Zelda soundtracks went from great to absolutely amazing, and we've barely had any drops in quality ever since. It shows how you can take on a completely different musical style while still evoking the same grand and epic feel of Zelda.

Highlight: Molgera, easy. This is my favorite boss in the series and it's probably 90% because of the music. From the immaculate instrument selection (bells, marimba, vocals), to the catchy hook, to the epic chorus, Molgera's theme is an absolute masterpiece and is up there with the best songs in the franchise. I also want to single out the aforementioned title theme for the fact that it squeezes Medli and Makar's prayer themes together foreshadowing the rest of the game. Just genius stuff.

5/5 Stars

Minish Cap: As much nostalgia as I have for it, the Game Boy Advance doesn't have the best sound quality, which means that even its best soundtracks don't sound all that clear. Despite this, Minish Cap's music boasts some amazing melodies that more than make up for the audio issues. The town themes are beautiful and peaceful, the overworld themes are exciting and epic, and the dungeon themes are easily some of the best and most eclectic in the series. There's not a single weak track on here and I'd easily give a remake with higher quality instrumentation a 5/5 if it existed.

Highlight: Temple Of Droplets is easily one of the best songs on the Game Boy Advance. It uses the game's bass-y soundfont to create an incredibly dark and atmospheric track that fits in with the icy environment pretty much perfectly.

4/5 Stars

Twilight Princess: Mahito Yokota worked on this soundtrack, and just wow, where do I even start with this one?! It's just so massive and diverse, ranging from western-inspired tunes in the villages, to intense synth-y beats in the Twilight Realm, to atmospheric hooks for the dungeons, to epic and exciting boss themes, yet it all manages to feel cohesive in just how uncanny a lot of it feels. Similarly to Majora's Mask, there's a sense of melancholy to a lot of these songs, even the more light-hearted ones. You can really tell just how much Zant managed to screw up Hyrule just from the songs alone, it really does perfectly capture the game's atmosphere and visuals.

Highlight: Okay, here it is, Hyrule Field, my favorite song in the series and one of my favorites of all time. This is the quintessential Zelda song for me, from the epic beginning to the sinister battle variation to the adventurous pre-chorus to the melancholy bridge. I even love the somber Midna's Lament iteration of the theme. Hyrule Field is an absolute masterpiece of a video game track on every level and the gold standard of Zelda music for me.

5/5 Stars

Phantom Hourglass: While I really like how much the soundtrack invokes the feeling of sailing the high seas, Phantom Hourglass's music generally has the same problems of Oracle Of Ages/Seasons, in that it just doesn't stand out to me at all. Most of its best songs are the ones that iterate from its predecessor (Wind Waker in this case), and even my favorite song in the game doesn't come close to the heights of most other games in the series. Once again, it's not a bad soundtrack, but it just doesn't live up to the series' lofty standards.

Highlight: Linebeck's character theme is excellent. It perfectly captures his character, from his love of adventure to his ego and greed. And I love how it gets a dark reprise when you have to fight him in the final boss.

2/5 Stars

Spirit Tracks: Okay. so here me out. What would you get if you fused Zelda with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? Gold. Pure gold. Spirit Tracks's soundtrack goes for a more medieval tone and it works so damn well, from the abundance of lovely-sounding pan flutes, to the comfy village themes, to the surprising amount of haunting choirs. Toru Minegishi even brought some of that Twilight Princess eerieness to some of the darker themes, and they're as great as ever. The instrumentation and soundfont in Spirit Tracks is just on an another level, and it leads to some truly ethereal tracks. The whole soundtrack feels cohesive and consistent, creating a vibe all its own, and the way the endgame brings every single leitmotif together makes for quite possible the best end to a Zelda soundtrack in the whole franchise. Easy Top 3 for me, it nails what it's trying to do so well. 

Highlight: Full Steam Ahead is the easy answer here, right behind Hyrule Field as the best overworld theme of the series without question. It's catchy, beautiful, and uses the pan flute to astonishing results, really getting you hyped to go on a big train adventure. And similarly to Hyrule Field, it dynamically shifts as you explore the overworld, and it works so well with a train whistle that it feels like an instrument of its own.

5/5 Stars

Skyward Sword: I go back and forth between this and Majora's Mask, but Skyward Sword has always been a contender for favorite soundtrack in the series. I've raved about Super Mario Galaxy's music countless times, so how can I not absolutely love this soundtrack. Mahito Yokota goes full orchestral once again for a score that feels just as grand, epic, and soaring as the Galaxy games, and I absolutely love it. From the epic theme in The Sky, to the bombastic boss themes, to the beautiful overworld themes, to the many excellent leitmotifs, Skyward Sword's soundtrack is just so insanely good. But the real clincher for me is just how emotional this game's music is. At its best, Skyward Sword hits me harder than any other soundtrack in the series, and some of its best songs nearly elicit tears (which is super rare if you know me). And while I love soundtracks that are complex or catchy, there's nothing quite like a soundtrack that leaves a massive impact on you.

Highlight: How the hell am I supposed to choose?! The Sky is an easy choice, evoking the same bombast and energy that Gusty Garden Galaxy does. Or maybe the solemn and understated Lanayru Sand Sea is the best? Or maybe Fi's Goodbye, which is so emotional it makes me tear up just listening to it? Or maybe Koloktos's theme which is easily one of the most epic boss themes ever made? Or maybe it's just a four-way tie because there's no way in hell I can pick just one.

5/5 Stars

A Link Between Worlds: Hey, so remember how I said that Link To The Past's soundtrack was great but it just needed some better instrumentation to become truly perfect. Well, A Link Between Worlds proves me exactly right. Most of this game takes music from LttP, but manages to make it feel so much more dynamic with its more complex backing tracks and bombastic trumpets playing in the forefront. Pretty much every single remixed track is superior to the original, it feels so much more clear and exciting. And even more, this game's entirely original tracks are top-notch too, from Yuga's epic leitmotif, to the atmosphere dungeon tunes, to the absolute ear worm that is the Minigame theme. I adore ALBW's soundtrack, it takes an already great lineup of tunes and polishes it to near perfection.

Highlight: I already voiced my praise of Dark World, and its remix here is nothing short of godly. I also love the remix of Hyrule Field, but that was also in Link To The Past, so I think I'll pick Lorule Castle as my highlight. It manages to feel both sinister and heroic at the same time, and the way it slowly builds throughout the course of the final dungeon turns it into a complete masterpiece. It's easily my favorite final dungeon theme in the series.

5/5 Stars

Breath Of The Wild: Given how much I love Skyward Sword, it might be surprising that this is yet another one of my favorite soundtracks in the series given how understated it is by comparison, but that's why I love it so much! The music here is so different from your normal Zelda game, it feels isolating and empty at times, but if you take the time to listen to the music, you'll find just how beautifully composed all of it is. All of the game's tracks are nuanced and varied, from the synth-heavy Sheikh-related tunes to the calming and quaint town themes to the orchestral boss themes, and the fact that you hear them so sparingly makes it all the more impactful. It's genuinely stunning just how many tracks this game has, and it's even more impressive just how amazing they all are. I love Breath Of The Wild's music, it fits the game perfectly, and if you give it the attention it deserves, you'll find some of the most beautifully composed music in the series.

Highlight: While I really want to list the 2017 Trailer Theme or the Monk Maz Koshia theme, I decided to go for something from the game proper. So my highlight for Breath Of The Wild is Attack On Vah Ruta. It's epic, it's grand, it's bombastic, and the fact that it was the first traditional Zelda tune I heard just gave it so much more impact.

5/5 Stars

Cadence Of Hyrule: Yeah, I know this is a spinoff, but I can't not list this soundtrack. Danny Baranowsky's too good of a composer not to. This soundtrack manages to perfectly blend iconic tunes with Danny B's own iconic blend of intense chiptune and incredibly catchy rock, while giving said iconic tunes entirely new life. I didn't think I'd enjoy A Link To The Past's Lost Woods theme, but I guess I was proved wrong! And the original boss and dungeon themes are great too, all of which are fast-paced and get you pumped up for the fight. But even more, it's so cool to see these tracks shown through a new light like this, and I hope we can have more unique collabs like Cadence Of Hyrule in the future.

Highlight: The Lost Woods theme is easily one of the most impressive remixes I've ever heard in a game, taking an otherwise forgettable and repetitive tune in Link To The Past and turning it into an absolute banger. Danny B managed to completely transform the original theme into something new while also managing to maintain its identity, and that reprise of the Zelda theme in the second half is just godly. It's already my favorite song in Cadence Of Hyrule, but the fact that it's such an impressive remix makes it all the better.

5/5 Stars

Let's sum this retrospective up with my Top 10 soundtracks in the Zelda series:

1. Majora's Mask
2. Skyward Sword
3. Spirit Tracks
4. Twilight Princess
5. Link's Awakening
6. Breath Of The Wild
7. Cadence Of Hyrule
8. Link Between Worlds
9. Wind Waker
10. Ocarina Of Time

Next up, it's time to check out the excellent soundtracks to the Kirby series, my favorite video game series of all time...