Guest Post -James M's review of Sonic Retold

Salutations people and today we're looking at another fan-made continuation of the pre-reboot Archie Sonic timeline known as... SONIC RETOLD!
Given that I review fanmade stuff sometimes, you think I would ignore this after I reviewed Archie Sonic Online a little bit. No way, Jose. I'm reviewing this. Why? I read it all, all of the first couple chapters. Anyways, let's get on with it.

As you may already know, after a legal battle between Archie and a former writer that had been going on for a few years, the Archie Sonic comics rebooted and 20 years of incredible and maybe not so incredible stories were trashed in favor of a new timeline that was in line with the games. However, a ton of people were not too happy and a handful have taken it upon themselves to give the old pre-reboot continuity of Archie Sonic a proper continuation and send off. The folks at Archie Sonic Online have been doing a fine job, but there is one group in particular that has been doing a fanmade continuation of pre-SGW Archie Sonic long before. The group in question? Well, its actually a dude who goes by the name of GLITCHER!



So, how does SONIC RETOLD play out? Well, it starts with the events of Sonic #243 and the Endangered Species arc and completely rewrites it all, no Thrash showing up to ruin everything and no dealing with the Krudzu Hybrid Hydra this time. Sonic and his friends save most of the echidnas in Albion and mostly drive out the Dark Egg Legion before they continue on with their mission to save Sally Acorn, whom Sonic soon has bad dreams about from time to time. In New Mobotroplis, on the homefront, Team Freedom deals with the Tails Doll as usual and there's still the whole Ixis Naugus and Geoffery St John plot that was going on before the reboot happened.



The fan comic does make a nod to the Worlds Collide Sonic & Mega Man 2013 crossover that lead to the reboot, this hints the crossover will happen at some point in the future but not right away. How does the nod happen? Silver is meditating and communicating with Mammoth Mogul's future self through the veil of time and gets a vision of events to come such as the aforementioned crossover. Even Eggman has plans to unleash the Genesis Wave again. Heck, at the end of issue one of this series, Eggman talks with Lein-Da (the hot and shapely echidna grandmaster chick) and cackles evilly as he says, "So Sonic is making his way north here. It won't matter, once I unleash the Genesis Wave, this world will be wiped from existence and a new one will be born in its place which I will be its ruler. The last thing Sonic will ever see will be his princess. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Glitcher does a fine job with the writing and the artwork, not to mention the tone of the story as there are times where it can be really light-hearted and family-friendly and then can be super dark on the same level as Sonic SatAM and most of the later Archie Sonic comics whenever the situation gets dark or we get a bit of a nightmare fuel body horror episode. For example, we actually see Eggman tear Mecha Sally apart just so he can upgrade her. What happens to most of her torn off robot body? Eggman incinerates it. While this comic/fanfic is enjoyable, it's almost nothing compared to Archie Sonic Online or other fanworks such as Sonic Travels to Jurassic Park the fan film or SonikkuFan94's fan comic Sonic Nova Unexpected Baby.

My thoughts on the fan comic that is currently on hiatus?
It's... really good. There may be issues with it that I cannot name, but overall, it's worth your time so go on Deviantart and read it all, this comic is full of hilarious moments, cringe-worthy scenes and some amazing action pieces from time to time.

The whole thing... gets a 9/10.
Overall, a fun read for anyone who loves comics, books, and Sonic, even if the works are fanmade.
Thank you for joining me as I review this piece of Sonic history in the fanbase.
Peace out!
-James M.

Guest Post -James M's review of Incredibles 2 (2018)

Hey there people, today we're taking a look at the movie people waited 14 years for, the long-awaited, super epic... INCREDIBLES 2!
Released June 15, 2018, Incredibles 2 was a big success among fans of the first movie and is well regarded as an all-time favorite in the eyes of some. This also comes at a time when Superhero movies are still popular and the Superhero Craze is still going in as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe have achieved massive popularity.
So whats the plot of the movie?

Summary/Plot:



The movie picks up right where the events of the first movie left off... with The Incredibles dealing with The Underminer, who burst up from the ground and wants to wreak havoc. "BEHOLD THE UNDERMINER!" He shouts, "I AM BENEATH YOU AND NOTHING IS BENEATH ME! SOON ALL WILL BOW BEFORE ME!" Sorry, I shortened his speech, but still, I already did it in my review of the first movie.
Bob, Helen and the kids all suit up like in the first movie and they go after the Underminer. Well, its mostly Bob, Helen, and Dash. Violet is left behind to take care of Jack-Jack, who actually has superpowers which he revealed at the end of the first film. Violet is frustrated and she ends up bumping into her boyfriend Tony, who asked her out near the end of the first and is in shock to see her in superhero attire to a point where he runs away.

The battle with the Underminer and his drill is almost what anybody would expect: Mr. Incredible and his wife pursue him, Underminer wrecks everything, Mr. Incredible tries to stop him while Elastagirl and Dash try to save as many people as possible. However, despite their best efforts to defeat this guy, The Underminer actually escapes, leaving his unmanned drill to decimate almost everything in the city. Frozone gets involves with trying to stop the drill. In the end, our heroes stop the drill but at a price, most of the city got ruined and Town Hall nearly got destroyed.

To make matters worse, the cops take the supers into custody and people boo them. Oh yeah, remember at the end of the first movie when Mr. Incredible and his family beat Syndrome's Omnidroid and people commended them and it looked like supers were legal again? Well, it turns out... SUPERS ARE STILL ILLEGAL! Well, that ruins the ending of The Incredibles. F**k! Anyway, Mr. Dicker, who's voiced by a different actor since Bud Luckey (his old voice actor) passed away, manages to get the superfamily out of their little predicament with the authorities and relocates them to a motel where they'll be staying for quite a while.

Good news? The Incredibles still have allies! The bad news. The Incredibles' failure to capture The Underminer and prevent any damage has caused the government to shut down the Superhero Relocation Program. Uh-oh. "It's been an honor to work with you, good people," Dicker says before Bob and Helen thank him for everything and the ex-agent drives off. That night, after dinner, Bob and Helen talk by the motel swimming pool about what to do with their lives and Bob does mention getting a new job. Remember people, in the last film, he used to work at an insurance company after retiring from superhero duty for a time and got fired by his aggravating boss Mr. Humph.

Frozone/Lucias, who actually got away with help from a guy near the end of the battle with Underminer and wasn't captured by the authorities, shows up to tell Bob and Helen about a guy who's pro-superhero and that he wants to meet with them. After Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl dress up in their old superhero outfits from the old days, they join Frozone on a trip to a huge building where the legit pro-superhero guy is waiting for him. Meet Winston Deavor, he's a huge fan of superheroes and wants to make them legal again. His assistant is his sister Evalyn Deavor. Evalyn Deavor? Oh boy, to give something away a bit early, Evalyn is the main antagonist of the movie hidden in plain sight.

Anyways, Mr. Deavor has a candidate for the make supers legal again campaign and the best pick is basically Elastagirl herself. As for Mr. Incredible and the kids, they'll be on the sidelines at a new home, which was set up by Winston himself. Elastagirl's first mission is to save a train, which is a big success. But then, things start to slowly go dark and south when a new villain known as the Screenslaver appears and starts to stirr-up trouble. Elastagirl goes to confront him and after a lengthy battle, she defeats and takes him into custody. Back home, Bob learns that Jack-Jack has superpowers and Edna Mode from the first movie gets involved with making super suits for the baby. Frozone shows up too and they spend most of the day trying to take care of Jack-Jack.

On Elastagirl's side of things, Evalyn reveals her true colors and takes her hostage, even making her a hypnotized servant. What's her plan? Make supers permanently illegal. Aw crud! She lures Mr. Incredible into a trap along with Frozone using some new superheroes who were in hiding for years. The day of the Legal Supers Act arrives and Winston is with everyone on his ship. After the signing of a paper, Evalyn launches her plan and has the supers say this into the camera...
"Years of mandated silence have made us bitter, we will no longer serve you."

Jack-Jack, Violet, and Dash get on board the ship using Mr. Incredible's old car and their stealthy abilities. After fighting their way through mind-controlled supers, they manage to free their parents and the final battle against Evalyn begins, the stakes are high as the yacht is going to crash into the mainland and cause damage. However, the supers defeat Evalyn in the end and stop the boat from wrecking everything, saving many lives in the process and making up for not fully defeating The Underminer way earlier in the movie. As a reward for saving the day, the supers are made legal again.

Violet goes out with Tony, who briefly lost his memory, to the movies before Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Jack-Jack and Dash have to go stop some bad guys and the movie ends with the supers going after the bad guys and everything ok.

Final thoughts/Conclusion:
Incredibles 2 is an amazing action movie and an epic continuation of the first movie, it is also worth your time. It gets a 10 for the flawless incredible-ness that it delivers in almost two hours. It was amazing to have most of the original cast return to reprise their roles and the newcomers are spot on.
With that, I happily close out the review.
-James M

Guest Post -James M's review of The Incredibles

Hey there folks, CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and today we're taking a look at a superhero movie. But it's not just any superhero film, it's the epic Pixar Disney Superhero action movie that's almost everybody's all-time favorites, THE INCREDIBLES!



"Showtime!"
-Mr. Incredible

Released in 2004, this film was basically a love letter to the superhero genre, serving as a combo-parody of both the Marvel and DC superhero multiverse but with its own original take. Directed by Brad Bird, starring the likes of actors such as the wonderful Samuel L Jackson, Holly Hunter, Craig T Nelson, the late Bud Luckey, Wallace Shawn of Toy Story fame, and Jason Lee as well as John Ratzenberger and with a 1 hour and 50 minute run time. This movie delivers.
So what's the plot of this movie?

Summary/Plot:

The movie kicks off with Mr. Incredible, Elastagirl, and Frozone (voiced by Craig, Sam, and Holly) being interviewed and talking about themselves. Frozone acts cool and talks about relationships between supergirls and supermen while Mr. Incredible talks about his desire to settle down and sums up the life of a super pretty well, "No matter how many times you save the world it somehow always manages to get back in jeopardy again. I'm just like the maid -can we keep this clean for like TEN MINUTES!?" As for Elastagirl, she scoffs off the idea of leaving the world-saving to male superheroes, "I'm at the top of my game up there with the big dogs. Leave the world-saving to the men, I don't think so."

After that and the title sequence, the movie really gets going when (in the late 1950s) we see an action-car chase sequence with some bad guys trying to get away from the police. On the other side of town, Bob Parr (actually Mr. Incredible's real name) is in his car, dressed in a tuxedo and on his way to his own wedding, when he learns of the police chase and is like, "Yeah I got time." After suiting up and his car turns in to the Incredible Mobile, he rockets off to the car chase only to be pulled over by an old woman who needs help getting her cat out of a tree.

As Mr. Incredible works to get the cat out of the tree, the car chase with the criminals and the police enters the area and soon as our hero gets the cat out of the tree, he uses the tree as a roadblock that stops the bad guys' car, allowing the police to catch them. As he accepts thanks and many commendations from the old woman and the cops, Mr. Incredible learns of a robbery and gets into his car. But just as he's starting up the engine...



"Cool ready for take-off."

Meet Mr. Incredible's number one fan Buddy Pine (the film's main villain), or as he likes to call himself Incrediboy. Incrediboy, aka Buddy, wants to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick and have a car ride with him, hence why he's in Bob's car. But Mr. Incredible, being who he is, straight up ejects him from the vehicle and drives off, much to the dismay of Buddy...



"I'm Incrediboy."

Fine, whatever!
Anyway, after ditching Incrediboy, Mr. Incredible confronts a robber on the rooftops of a building. The robber just robbed a bus and was sorting through the purse he just happened to steal when our hero caught him. Just as the two are about to fight, the robber gets a punch to the face from one beautiful female version of Mr. Fantastic known as Elastagirl, aka Helen Truex. Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl talk and flirt for a bit before Elastagirl heads off as she has a "previous engagement." To give something away a bit early, Helen/Elastagirl is Mr. Incredible's bride to be.

After chaining up the incapacitated robber and talking with Frozone, who asks the strong super guy if he should be getting ready for the ceremony, Mr. Incredible heads on into the Municibles Bank (while saving a guy who was falling off the roof) and comes face to face with Bomb Voyage, a mime-looking French villain who's in the midst of pulling off a robbery. Just as the two are about to fight, Incrediboy shows up again and packing rocket boots he invented. Mr. Incredible tells his young fan to go home, but Incrediboy insists that he's his ward and asks Mr. Incredible if he can fly, prompting this response from Bob.



"Fly home, Buddy. I work alone."
"Et ta tenue est ridicule," Bomb Voyage adds.

Buddy, insisting that he can help, runs toward the broken window so he can fly off and get the cops only for things to go south when Bomb Voyage plants a bomb on his cape. "STOP!" Mr. Incredible yells, pursuing Incrediboy, "There's a bomb!" Just as Incrediboy takes to the sky, Mr. Incredible jumps onto him, trying to get the bomb off the young would-be superhero. In the end, our hero does so, but the bomb ends up landing on a railway bridge that Mr. Incredible lands on. When the bomb detonates, the bridge is destroyed, just as a train comes around the bend. Thinking fast, Mr. Incredible jumps in the path of the train and manages to stop it in the nick of time, saving a ton of lives.

After the cops arrive on the scene, Mr. Incredible instructs them to take Incrediboy home while shoving him into a nearby police vehicle, much to the annoyance of the young boy. Bob tells the police officers about Bomb Voyage and that he got away before his watch goes off, notifying the superhero he's basically late. As he gets into his rocket car, the cops ask, "What about Bomb Voyage?" Mr. Incredible simply replies, "Any other night I'd go after him myself. But we'll get him! Eventually!" Arriving at the chapel, Bob changes back into his tuxedo and heads inside where Elastagirl is waiting at the alter, and she chastises him for being late even as the priest officiates.

Helen asks Bob if he understands that he's got to be more than Mr. Incredible if their relationship going forward will work. Bob's response just as the priest finishes his sentence, "I do." The deal is sealed, and we have a married superhero couple to the happiness of the guests, which include Frozone and an important character named Edna. After they kiss, Elastagirl says, "As long as we're together, no matter what happens."
  "Hey, come on." Bob replies, "We're superheroes, what could possibly happen?"

Well, things soon go south. Remember the people on the train whose lives were saved by Mr. Incredible when he stopped the train from derailing after the tracks got destroyed? Well, they got injured, and they sued Mr. Incredible for the injuries they received. The guy who fell off the building Bomb Voyage was robbing? He also got injured and sued Mr. Incredible. Everything really falls apart when the Mr. Incredible Lawsuit opens the floodgates for MORE superhero lawsuits, and it gets so bad, the government is forced to ban all Superheroes and the supers have to go into hiding.

15 years later, Mr. Incredible and Helen have long retired along with all the superheroes and have had kids. Bob, who misses the old days, has become a bit overweight and now works at an insurance company while Helen maintains the family, looking after their kids. Their son Dash who is eight or ten is at school, Violet, their teenage daughter, is in high school. As for Jack-Jack, the baby, he's not yet been educated. Given that Bob misses the old days, he goes out with his friend Frozone aka Lucias to do superhero stuff of Wednesday night under the cover of going bowling. One night, while debating on what to do, Mr. Incredible and Frozone catch wind of a fire and decide 'ah what the heck.'

However, things do go a bit awry while saving many lives from the burning building. The two break into a jewelry store, setting off alarms, and narrowly escape from the police all while a gal (who's obviously a secret agent) watches them. When Bob arrives home, he has a discussion with Helen, who quickly learns that her husband is reliving the "Glory Days" and chastises him for blowing cover and not even paying attention to his family. Their little argument gets the attention of their kids and they decide that its bedtime.



The next morning at work, Bob meets with his boss Mr. Hump, who is greatly infuriated that his own employee has been helping customers get through legal loopholes, and they're now "penetrating the bureaucracy." During their chat, Bob notices a guy in the street getting mugged and attempts to go and help only for Mr. Humph to yell at him, "STOP OR YOUR FIRED!" The guy is a strict, selfish, and greedy little jerk. Completely losing his cool with his aggravating boss, Bob picks Humph up and throws him through several office walls, injuring him. Well buddy, you're screwed.
Later meeting with Agent Rick Dicker, Bob learns that he is fired. "Somebody's always in trouble." Dicker says, "And that means a month of trouble for me. We have to pay to keep the company quiet, erase memories, relocate your family. It gets harder every time. Money, money money. We can't keep doing this, Bob. We appreciate what you did in the old days, but those days are long over. Now, you're on your own."

Is Rick a jerk? Maybe, but he's a nice guy.
That night, after coming home from work, Bob goes to his office and is sorting out papers when he finds a technological communicator screen which activates, and Bob gets a recorded message from the gal we saw twice in the movie. Her name? Mirage!

"Hullo, Mr. Incredible. We know who you are." She says, "We're part of a secret government organization. One of our machines went rogue and is on a rampage and we need help stopping it. The supers aren't gone, you can still do amazing things." Remembering his old life as a super and reflecting on the old days, Bob accepts, and after lying to his wife that he's going on a business trip, he heads off to Nomasian Island to confront the Omnidroid robot. After being briefed by Mirage, Mr. Incredible is sent down to the island, and as he looks for the robot, he comes under attack from the Omnidroid. The fight takes them to a volcanic lava-filled crater. Thankfully the volcano's not gonna blow anytime soon.

Mr. Incredible seemingly gets the upper hand and tosses the robot into the lava... only for his back to give out and the robot to return unharmed. Bob attempts to keep fighting only to end up on the ropes, and as the robot tries to tear Mr. Incredible apart... it ends up fixing his back, allowing Mr. Incredible to actually defeat the robot. Watching the battle, Mirage invites him to dinner (under the advice of her employer). Now spoilers: Mirage's employer is Mr. Incredible's old fanboy Buddy Pine who has now taken up the alias of Syndrome, and the whole ordeal with the Omnidroid was set up by Buddy.

Arriving home, Bob spends time with his family and, while he waits for his next assignment, he works out to lose some weight and visits an old friend Edna Mode to get his super suit repaired. Edna decides against repairing the suit and gives him a new suit. Finally, after a few days, Bob gets a phone call from Mirage about his next assignment and tells Helen goodbye again before heading back to the island. However, not long after his arrival, things go south for Bob when a new Omnidroid attacks, and he finally comes face to face with Buddy/Syndrome, who's changed a bit since their last meeting.

Mr. Incredible narrowly escapes from Syndrome and soon infiltrates his hideout in the night. Getting access to Syndrome's computer, he learns the scope of the nutcase's plans about Operation Kronos and is horrified to learn that most of the superheroes have been picked off over the years. Mr. Incredible is soon caught and captured by Syndrome's enforcers while he attempts to get out of the lair. Meanwhile, back home, Helen finds a piece of hair on Bob's old suit and meets with Edna, who has been making suits for her and the kids. At that point, Helen phones insuracare about Bob's whereabouts and soon learns the truth that he was fired and has been out doing superhero stuff.

Helen packs her bags, gets her new supersuit, and borrows an airplane from an old friend, before heading out to the island and tries to leave the kids home alone. But Dash and Violet tag along and Jack-Jack gets a babysitter in the form of Kari, who's actually very nice. Back on the island, Syndrome confronts the held-hostage Bob about his activities and the fact that a plane has requested to land. It is at this point Syndrome launches a missile attack on the plane, which Helen, Dash, and Violet narrowly survive. They manage to reach the island and the kids camp out for the night while Elastagirl goes to look for Bob.

The next morning, Syndrome has launched a rocket that contains an omnidroid and is heading for Metroville. As for the kids, they're soon discovered by Syndrome's forces and an action-chase sequence ensues. Meanwhile, Mirage has become fed up with her employer and frees Mr. Incredible just as Helen arrives and nearly accuses Bob of not being faithful to her but Bob makes sure that he has not betrayed her as the couple share a kiss before Mirage informs them that their kids are in danger as Syndrome's forces have been deployed into the jungle. Bob and Helen rush off to go find Dash and Violet, who are busy dealing with Syndrome's troops.
The kids are reunited with their parents, and the super family joins forces to fight off Syndrome's troops in an amazing action scene that doesn't feel out of place in a superhero movie or a video game. However, Syndrome arrives and takes them hostage. At his lair, he reveals his plan: To have his robot attack the city, and when it looks all hope is lost, he swoops in and defeats the robot, becoming a superhero to many. Then after that, when he gets old, Syndrome sells his inventions so people can be superheroes only to not really be superheroes. Yikes!

In the city back home, the robot comes online and starts attacking with the military, unable to stop it. As for The Incredibles, they manage to escape, thanks to Violet's invisibility skills. They manage to find a rocket and plan on getting back home in time to stop Syndrome. Meanwhile, the robot's attack continues and the chaos is happening right by Frozone's place; he tries to get his suit... only to see it missing, leading to a very hilarious scene.

Frozone: HONEY!
Honey: What?

Frozone: Where's my supersuit?
Honey: What?

Frozone WHERE. IS. MY SUPER-SUIT?
Honey: I put it away.

Frozone: Where?
Honey: Why do you need to know?

Frozone: I NEED IT!
Honey: Nuh-uh, don't you dare go what do dares do. We've been planning this for two months.

Frozone: THE PUBLIC'S IN TROUBLE!
Honey: MY EVENING'S IN DANGER!

Frozone: YOU LISTEN HERE, WOMAN! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GREATER GOOD!
Honey: The greater good? I am your wife! I'M THE GREATER GOOD YOU'RE EVER GONNA GET!

Syndrome arrives and tries to fight the Omnidroid much to the amazement of the public, only for his plan to go south when his own machine finally rebels against him, and he gets knocked aside just before the Incredibles arrive. Bob, Helen, and the kids engage the machine, leading to an awesome final battle sequence. Frozone arrives and its five on one. But even if they stand a chance, the machine is a bit too strong. However, there is one advantage: Syndrome's remote. Mr. Incredible tears off the omnidroid's arm and uses the remote control to actually shoot the arm into the machine, finally ending its reign of terror. The citizens commend the supers.

Arriving home, the family encounters Syndrome one last time as he tries to kidnap Jack Jack. However, Bob and Helen save the baby while Syndrome gets sucked into a plane turbine and is defeated, courtesy of his cape. Yeah, there was a scene earlier in the film where Helen said that capes got superheroes in big trouble big time. In fact, this was foreshadowed at the start of the movie when Bomb Voyage put a bomb on Buddy's cape. Anyway, the plane explodes, and the Parr family's home is destroyed, much to the amazement of a young kid on a bike.

Months later, the family is happy and everything's OK. As they head home after Dash takes part in a relay race, things go south when a huge drilling machine emerges from the ground and a new villain makes his presence known; The Underminer himself. "BEHOLD! THE UNDERMINER!" He shouts, "I AM ALWAYS BENEATH YOU! BUT NOTHING IS BENEATH ME! I DECLARE WAR ON PEACE AND HAPPINESS. SOON ALL WILL BOW BEFORE ME! HA HA HA HA!" The family knows this guy must be stopped and the movie ends with Mr. Incredible, his wife, and the kids getting into their superhero attire as the credits roll, setting up the 2018 sequel as well as the video game Rise of the Underminer...

Final thoughts:
The Incredibles is an amazing film with superb special effects, voice acting, and soundtrack. When it came out, it was a hit among critics and a box office success. This movie is a love letter to the superhero craze that is going on to this day thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other superhero movie works that are popping up and it is totally worth your time. I saw this film when I was about six years old and it blew me away, it still does today when I often watch it again and again. Is this film pretty intense? A little bit! Is the film worth your kids' time? Yes.
Go ahead and watch it, either on cable or DVD.
As for the score of the movie? I shall give it a ten. Yes, a big ten out of ten. With that, I will see you people next time when I eventually review The Incredibles 2 (2018).
Bye for now!

-James M

Guest Post -Top Five Other Great Sci-Fi Movies

Hey people, James M here and today, I will be giving you the top five other awesome science fiction movies of all time. Let us begin!


5. Spaceballs
This one is super funny, spoofing Star Wars and Star Trek, totally worth a watch...


4. Independence Day
Best movie of the 90s ever!


3. E.T The Extra-Terrestrial
I got this one for Christmas and I love it to deth


2. Terminator Genisys
The Terminator is awesome and so is this movie!


1. The Cat From Outer Space
I saw this again recently and its legitimately good...

Guest Post -James M's review of Shrek (almost the whole film series)

Greetings bloggers, CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and today we will be taking a look at something hilarious, something awesome and something incredible. What is it? One word, Shrek!



"WHAT. ARE YEH DOING. IN MY SWAMP?"
-Shrek, the first film and in the fourth

In the year 2001, just before the third and final entry in the Austin Powers trilogy (starring Mike Myers) hit theaters, the world was introduced to a legend; A Scottish-accented, fiery-tempered ogre named Shrek, voiced by Michael Myers. The film he debuted in?



SHREK, what do you expect? Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow and Cameron Diaz, this 90 minute animated movie produced by Dreamworks was a blast. When I saw this for the first time as a youngster in 2009 at my Uncle Mike's house, it was awesome. My second viewing in February of this year (2019), still a blast. So what is the plot of this movie?

The plot (of Shrek 1):

Shrek is an ogre who lives alone in a swamp, spending his days scaring people off and just doing what he does best. Things eventually change when he meets Donkey, who is a talking donkey voiced by Ed Murphy. Not long after, Shrek's swamp becomes populated by fairy-tale people, leading to Shrek yelling the iconic and meme worthy, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP?" After learning that Lord Farquadd was behind the fairy tale people's exile from their own land, Shrek goes to have a chat with Farquadd himself, who resides in a very big castle and is a very short man. Why does a dwarf-sized man live in a big castle? Maybe he's compensating for something.

Shrek talks with Farquadd, after taking out his guards, who tells him to go save Princess Fiona from a castle surrounded by fire. Adventuring there, Shrek does get Fiona out of there while Donkey falls in love with the dragon, who is actually a female. On the way back to Farquadd's kingdom, they narrowly evade Robin Hood and his Merry Men, after Shrek gets an arrow to the butt, before stopping for the night at a windmill. That night, while checking up on Fiona, Donkey is terrified to learn that Fiona is an ogre, due to a curse she received when she was young.

The next morning, Prince Farquadd arrives to pick up Fiona and take her back to his castle in preparation for their royal wedding. Thats right, the stinking nutcase wants to tie the knot with Fiona. Shrek heads back to his swamp and Donkey reunites with Dragon, who still loves him, while Fiona gets ready for her wedding. Meanwhile, Donkey visits Shrek and they discuss his, Shrek's, feelings for Fiona before they fly off to Farquadd's kingdom so they can crash the ceremony which has already begun. Before Farquadd and Fiona can kiss, Shrek breaks into the church and admits his feelings for her just as the sun sets and Fiona takes on her ogre-y form. Yes, ogre-y is a word.

Enraged by this, Farquadd is about to have Fiona and Shrek arrested until Dragon flies in and gobbles him up, resulting in Farquadd's demise. This means he will not be a reoccurring villain in the next three installments, but to give something away a little early, Farquadd's actions in sending Shrek after Fiona will have a lasting impact as Prince Charming and Fairy Godmother will be the big bads of the second and third film while a certain mythological baby-snatcher will serve as the big bad of Shrek Forever After. Either way, with Farquadd defeated, Shrek and Fiona tie up the knot and head off on their honeymoon as the movie ends with a bit of a musical number by the wedding guests.

Thoughts on Shrek 1:

Before we move on to Shrek 2, I will give my thoughts on the first film. It is really good and worth a watch, regardless of any dirty jokes in the movie. But as long as any innuendos fly over the heads of younger viewers, thats Ok. Mike Myers sells it with the Scottish accent as the voice of Shrek, its better than Fat Bastard's pirate voice in Austin Powers. The movie gets a 9 for its plot and humor, now enough dawdling. Lets move on to Shrek 2 and last two films afterwards...



Released in 2004, Shrek 2 takes place shortly after the events of the first movie and is basically a part two, this movie is made by Dreamworks like the first and sees Mike Myers reprise his role as Shrek. Plans for this movie surfaced in 2001 not long after the first movie dropped and it took 3 years but the wait was totally worth it. I saw this movie months ago and it has its charms. Is it good? Of course Shrek 2 is awesome. So, whats the plot?

Summary:

The film begins with Prince Charming on horseback riding towards the tower where Fiona was at in the last movie, but when he gets to the tower, the only thing he finds is a talking wolf in a nightdress, much to Charming's fury. Meanwhile, Shrek and Fiona return to the swamp from their vacation/honeymoon and soon receive an invite from Fiona's parents the king and queen, who reside in the Kingdom of Far Far Away, so their marriage can be blessed. Donkey asks if he comes along and what follows is a bit of a hilarious road trip even though there are no cars as this is medieval times. How is it hilarious? Well, Donkey asks "Are we there yet" over and over., at one point getting a yes from an irritated Shrek who then says no when Donkey asks, "Really?"

The married ogre couple arrive in Far Far Away and soon meet King Harold (voiced by John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (voiced by the well-known  Julie Andrews). Fiona's parents are in shock that Fiona has married an ogre. At dinner, Shrek and Harold get into a little yelling match. This whole thing is understandable considering the fact people hate ogres. Fiona is not to thrilled about her husband and her father fighting so she goes to her room and Shrek worries that his relationship with her may have gone south real fast.

That same night, Harold goes to a bar known as Poison Apple and meets Puss in Boots, whom he hires to actually try and destroy Shrek. The next morning, while walking through the woods, Shrek and Donkey encounter Puss. After a little fight, Shrek and Puss become friends before the heroic and lovable ogre steals a Happily Ever After Potion from Fairy Godmother and drinks it to become human while Donkey becomes a horse. This also causes Fiona to become human again as well. Yes, she's taken the ogre form following the first film. As Shrek and Donkey head back to the castle, they end up becoming imprisoned by Prince Charming's minions while Fiona comes face to face with Charming himself who actually tricks her into believing that he is Shrek in human form.

The following evening, the royal ball (meant to commemorate Fiona's marriage) commences and Fiona ends up dancing with Prince Charming, whom she still believes to be Shrek. So what is the diabolical scheme of Fairy Godmother, who is presiding over the ball? Its to make sure Fiona gets Prince Charming instead of Shrek. Speaking of Shrek, he and Donkey manage to escape their imprisonment with help from Pinocchio and some other fairy tale friends  and they manage to get to the ball just in time to stop Prince Charming and Fairy Godmother's scheme. After a lengthy final battle, the two villains are defeated in the end and King Harold (who got turned into a frog) blesses Shrek and Fiona's marriage while apologizing for being a jerk. The human-ogre couple turn back into ogres as the happily ever after potion's effects wear off at midnight and the movie ends with everyone partying to rejoice the momentous occasion itself.

Thoughts:
Shrek 2 is quite fun, hilarious and action packed. If you have time, go and watch it. I don't have much to say, otherwise, we'd be here all day. Lets go summarize the last two films now!



Synopsis (of Shrek 3 and Shrek 4):
Shrek 3

Shortly after the events of Shrek 2, Prince Charming vows revenge on Shrek for his defeat in the last movie. Meanwhile, Shrek sets out to find King Arthur, who can rule Far Far Away, but not before learning that his wife is prego which causes him to have bad dreams. Prince Charming amasses an army of bad guys and they conquer most of the kingdom and take Fiona hostage along with other beautiful women. Shrek finds King Arthur and they head back to Far Far Away. Arriving back at the kingdom, Shrek and his friends have to deal with Prince Charming and in the end Charming is defeated and Shrek decides he would be a great papa. Film three ends with him and Fiona at the swamp with their three kids and everything's great, right?

Shrek Forever After
Quite some time has passed after Shrek 3, Shrek and Fiona are still happy together with their kids. But Shrek misses the old days as his swamp has become a tourist attraction. During the baby ogres' birthday party, Shrek completely loses his cool and ruins the party, even telling Fiona that he wants things to return to normal. He later meets Rumpelstiltskin who offers to help him. Shrek signs a contract and ends up in a terrible alternate universe where he never existed. The result? Rumpy has taken over the world. Shrek finds Fiona and teams up with other ogres to defeat the creepy little mother effer. The final battle unfolds in Rumpelstiltskin's castle and Shrek defeats Rumpelstiltskin in the end, he kisses Fiona and everything returns to normal, they end up back at their kid's party and everyone lives happily ever after.

The end.

Overall Thoughts/Conclusion:
The Shrek series is fun and has its charms, I for one enjoyed all the movies and do plan on playing some Shrek video games down the road, not to mention I would be honored to see all the movies again from start to finish. As if this report, a Shrek 5 is actually in the works and I for one am curious about what the future holds. Here is my ranking of the movies from top to bottom...
1. Shrek 2 -Awesome
2. Shrek Forever After -Great
3. Shrek 1 -Likable
4. Shrek 3 -Enjoyable
With that, I shall take leave again. Bye people!
-James M.

Guest Post -James M's Sonic Underground Review & Retrospective

Salutations friends, James M here and we shall be going over another Sonic cartoon, the one, the only... SONIC UNDERGROUND!

"Game over, Robuttnik."
-Sonic in "Virtual Danger"

In 1998-1999, as the release of Sonic Adventure (which saw SEGA's beloved mascot make the jump to 3D) got closer, the world saw the airing of a 3rd Sonic cartoon. The cartoon in question? Sonic Underground. The show lasted about one season and forty episodes before being cancelled without it getting a proper ending to the show's main plot, leaving fans disappointed and upset. Despite its abrupt ending, Underground has left behind a lasting legacy and is well respected by fans, even though a handful of people hate the show for various reasons.

So what is the show about?

Its very simple, Sonic the Hedgehog is a prince and has siblings, a brother named Manic (who is a green hedgehog) and a sister named Sonia (who is freaking gorgeous and pink just like Amy). Together they tour Mobius, fighting off the influence of the evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik and helping the resistance as they seek out their mum Queen Aleena. That's right, Sonic has family and is royalty. Remember, this well before SEGA established the whole "SEGA-Sonic characters cannot have family relatives" mandate some time after the Archie Sonic comics rebooted, so of course those who made Sonic comics and cartoons had creative freedom and could give the SEGA cast a family. Also, it wouldn't be Sonic without his nemesis Doctor Ivo Eggman Robotnik himself.

However, Sonic, his siblings, their mum and Doctor Robotnik aren't the only characters in the show. Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic 3 & Knuckles makes his appearance a few times throughout the series, his grandpa Athair from Archie does show up as well. Sonic's Uncle Chuck from SatAM and Archie does show up for in the first episode and he does adopt a younger Sonic, who loses his foster parents to Robotnik's forces. There's also Cyrus, who actually very briefly works for Robotnik due to being blackmailed until he really does join the resistance. As for Doctor Robotnik? He deploys Swatbots and roboticized Mobians to do his bidding. He also uses two bounty hunters named Sleet and Dingo to try and take out or capture the hedgehogs.

Now Sleet and Dingo are Robotnik lackeys and are considered the Scratch and Grounder of Sonic Underground, so expect the two of them to be comedic relief. As for the backstory of the show's plot? Its simple... Mobius was once peaceful until Robotnik took over, turned the city of Mobotroplis into Robotroplis and began roboticizing most of the population just like in SatAM. Sonic, Manic and Sonia were babies when that happened and their mum was soon visited by the Oracle of Delphius who spoke of a prophecy that one day the hedgehog royal family would become the Council of Four and overthrow Robotnik's regime. Until then, the queen must separate her babies and go into hiding.

Sonia is brought up by Madame Windmire, an aristocrat, and is athletic/acrobatic, great at the piano and has quite a personality. Manic ends up being raised by a thief named Ferrel. As for Sonic? You already know he was raised by a couple before being adopted by Uncle Chuck after said couple was captured. When both siblings are old enough, they reunite and join up with the resistance before setting out to find their mum and save Mobius from Robotnik, while getting into some crazy adventures along the way, not to mention doing some musical numbers here and there. In the final episode of the show, Virtual Danger, they thwart Robotnik's plot involving virtual reality and, after that one, the show is over. Robotnik's defeated, but will the triplets reunite with their mama?



In the years following the show's cancellation, fans have clamored to see a proper conclusion, to see what will happen next. In 2012, at Comic-Con, people were in for a surprise when Archie announced that the TV series would be concluded in the pages of Sonic Universe Issue 50. However, things changed. Due to behind the scenes complications and the upcoming crossover between Sonic & Mega Man, the Sonic Underground story was scrapped and replaced with a Metal Sonic story. Not long after, the Archie Sonic reboot happened and hopes for a Sonic Underground Epilogue seemed to fade when SEGA increased their mandates and labeled material from that show and others such as Sonic X off-limits. Even worse, there was the "Sonic can't have family" mandate.
A few years later, the Archie Sonic era ended and it seemed the possibility of Sonic Underground getting any proper conclusion are null and void. However, there is still hope. Many fans have taken it upon themselves VIA fanfiction to give the cartoon the conclusion it deserves. As for the comic-style epilogue to Underground, the folks at Archie Sonic Online have taken matters into their own hands and we are soon to get the long-awaited ending to Sonic Underground. As for the solicitation?

In 1999, the world was introduced to a very different version of our heroic, blue blur. As prince to the kingdom, and armed with the power of music, Sonic and his sister Sonia and brother Manic sought to find their mother, Queen Aleena, and defeat the evil dictator, Dr. Robotnik. Now, 20 years later, the story concludes in “Swan Song”! Robotnik has the royal siblings right where he wants them, with roboticizion a foregone conclusion. Who can save the young resistance leaders? It’s our first issue of Sonic Universe Online, and the milestone no Sonic Underground fan can miss! Featuring cover art by Riggo!

This is super promising and I cannot wait to read it as well as review it.
As for Sonic Underground's legacy? It is an honorable one, even though the show is long gone, at least we can all see it on DVD. As for the characters, their legacies will live on in reruns, fan art and many fan-made Sonic works such as fan fiction, fan comics and fan videos. As a Sonic fan, I intend to honor that legacy too and happily include anything related to Sonic Underground in some of my fan art and my fanfics as long as I continue to do any of that stuff until the day I decide I'm done.

I started watching Sonic Underground in 2012 and after watching the "Wedding Blue Bells" episode, I went on a Sonic Underground hiatus for almost a year before I dove back into the show and finished it. The show is still enjoyable and I often watch some of its episodes from time to time, I actually took it upon myself to write a little Sonic Underground Epilogue fanfic of my own in 2015-2016, but I also made it tie into another story I've yet to fully finish (as of this) known as Percy Jackson And The Legend of Zelda 2: Worlds Unite, which involves Sonia from Sonic Underground. Given that I have changed a bit as a writer, I need to edit my Sonic Underground epilogue a little bit, get rid of some... questionable stuff.

Anyways, I happily close out this review and I say thank you to Sonic Underground for being awesome. Bye guys...

-James M the CrazyGamerHistorian1999

Guest Post -James M's Review of Terminator Sector War

Hey there Terminator fans, James M here and we will today be looking at a Terminator comic book, but not just any comic book. We're looking at Terminator Sector War by Brian Wood and Jeff Stokely.
Like other Terminator novels and comics, this comic tells a story beyond the first film and is actually taking place during the exact same time as the first movie. So, what is the plot?

Synopsis:

After a nice little intro showing the war-torn future and that same message from the beginning of the first movie talking about the final battle of the War Against The Machines happening in 1984, we cut to New York City in 1984 where a T-800 arrives from the future in an alleyway VIA time displacement field. As usual, given the fact its naked, the first thing it does is go get clothes. So where does the T-800 get clothes? From a business man who was just using a phone booth. So who is the cyborg after? A female cop named Lucy Castro. Why Lucy? We'll answer that in a bit...

Anyways, Lucy gets a call from a guy and goes to his house only for the T-800 to show up and all heck breaks loose with the gal in the house getting K.Oed and the dude gets terminated while Lucy narrowly escapes with her life. Later, while she's recovering, we learn (much to her shock) that she's basically prego. She probably must've had a night-in with a guy a month prior and didn't take any pills. Oh crap, once her boss finds out, Lucy is so getting fired. With the Terminator on her tail, Lucy finds herself without a choice but to actually form an alliance with a gang of criminals run by a crime boss whom she's been working against for years.

After meeting with the criminal cartel and working things out with them, they get ready for the Terminator's attack. When the T-800 shows up, the thugs begin attacking with their firearms, the only result leading to the Terminator's living tissue being completely destroyed, revealing its robotic endoskeleton. Lucy comes face to face with the Terminator, who tells her, "I am Cyberdine Systems Model 101. You are formidable, Lucy Castro. Forty years from now, your daughter participates in a resistance attack on a Skynet defense grid which is successful."
  Lucy is shocked. "I'm going to have a daughter?"
 "Correct." The Terminator nods
 "At least let me see my daughter." Lucy begs.
 "Not possible, Lucy Castro. Prepare to be terminated!"

Lucy escapes from the Terminator and a chase ensues, leading into the finale of the miniseries where the two fight, it is a battle not just for the future, but for the survival of Lucy and her unborn daughter. If Lucy does not live, neither will the baby who is still stirring and forming in her belly. The battle ends with Lucy getting the upper hand and smashing the T-800 into a river with a crane. In the aftermath, Lucy is okay and so is the unseen baby. She heads back to the police station, takes a shower to clean off and gets changed before she leaves New York to head to L.A. That's right, she just heard about the attempted assassination of Sarah Connor and wishes to speak with her, sorta. The comic pretty much ends with Lucy walking away as she narrates, "I might reach Los Angeles in a few days, me and Sarah will have a lot to talk about."

Final Thoughts:
This comic is quite good, the folks behind it did a swell job capturing the tone of the Terminator films and making everything suspenseful. I enjoyed this myself and suggest you all read it eventually. For now, this is where I take my leave.
PEACE!
-CrazyGamerHistorian1999