Insidious rhetoric

  I am Tintin, I am a Geek who enjoys fantasy and Sci Fi, I review films, books and games as I see, read and play them respectively.  

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Bloodborne Review

Finished bloodborne a lovecraftian themed game similar to the dark souls group. This was a good game with beautiful and foreboding visuals and excellent entity design. The story and lore were very interesting and though they are more involved in the gameplay than darksouls (where the story is barely infered) i would have preferred if it was the central focus. However it is decently explored through your characters actions. The gameplay is challenging but very fun and feels tough but possible to accomplish without excessive luck.

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Castlevania Series 2

I finished watching Castlevania and it was stupendous. The animation was beyond gorgeous, the characters great with brilliant additions fully fleshing out the personalities and endeavours of the antagonists. The ending was epic and emotional as was the epilogue. I only wish the middle was longer and hope we have more to come.

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Netflix’s Sabrina

Finished Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Creepy, Horror, Sombre and yet with hope this was a very good series far different to the original.

It started off good and then grew stronger, though bizarre at times the story was intriguing and unusual as it follows not a party of heroes but a band who could easily be considered the villains given their source of power, though it comes down to how it is used and good intent may pave the way to wicked action.

The story is aided by an excellent band of characters well cast with good belieavble depth to them. I was concerned i would not like Zelda but she grew on me as the show went on though. My favourite characters were Nicholas, Ambrose, Hilda and Michelle Gomez' character although all the cast range from good to great,

The set design and props were good though i look forward to what the next series will offer now it has a successful legacy backing it's budget. Let us see where the path of shadows takes us.

PS: The intro is fantastic, visually stunning and setting the tone well.

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Tintin Reviews: Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

After a delay i finally completed Pokemon Alpha Sahpire. Gen 3 was the one i was familiar with as a child and i still believe Emerald to be one of the best two games so this remake was very conflicting. On one hand it adds many new elements to the mechanics... *The update graphics and beautiful and i appreciate how they kept most of the map identical *The inclusion of one of your pokemon against multiple others is a great addition *I like the inclusion of fairies, normal type always seemed overused and if we have a dark "evil" type why on a light "good" type. *Being able to fly with latios via a key item, this is awesome and very useful. I approve of removing the need for HM slaves. *New 3D character designs?; well some work well,while others become scary bobble head people.

But the flaws are dreadful and counterbalance these benefits. *The story is too easy, there is no threat or tension. Gen 3 was always my favourite since the legendaries feel like they earned that title, they are terrifyingly powerful forces in the world and yet; here a spot of rain and you can catch it with a single pokeball after riding on kyogres back for no apparent reason. It is pathetic, remember when they had an incredibly high level and you could not stop them yourself you had to get rayquazza to get them to back down. That was epic this is lame. *The gameplay is way too easy, best examples are kyogre being a one hit ko fight as his level is pathetic and then the psychic gym becomes an easy 3 pokemon fight, this fight used to be incredibly tough and they had a full team which would crush most pokemon. This dumbing down occurs throughout the game and is ludicrous. *The story becomes way to hand holding, you are told exactly where you need to go but then are told you need to go here first so this random character can tell you that you need to go where it was already highlighted to you in the first damn conversation.

On the whole it was a good lesson in cognitive dissonance, being appalled by stupid decisions one moment then being sated by new additions shortly afterwards. I will probably play it again and it has improved many things but it still pales in comparison to the original emerald which is a pity.

My team this time: Sceptile, Kyogre, Mightyena, Claydoll, crobat, hariyama, You did me proud.

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Tintin Review:

Seen The Incredibles 2 a long awaited sequel, it is clear the time was well spent as this in an excellent sequel and very good film.

Story: 80% The pacing though slow at first follows a logical pattern building up both the intrigue and suspense. Improving on the previous film this plot follows multiple characters in incredible and believable settings exploring expertly both the impact of superheros on the world and the impact of superpowers on family life.

Characters: 90% The cast is excellent, every family member and side character has great moments it is hard to pick favourites as they all excel exponentially. Notable merits should be awarded for how believable and immersive each characters perspective and problems feel despite the great range of character ages.

No spoilers but extra credit for the antagonist; though not perfect their dark sense of style and sinister nature were enthralling.

Visual: 85% The whole world comes alive with the smooth yet stylised animation that brings us both incredible detail in both mundane and eccentric settings. The action and use of powers/technology is brilliantly realised and the danger and threatening nature of both is expertly shown.

Drama/humour: 85% Not hilarious throughout but overall the film is very funny taking time to develop the setting and allowing the humour to be natural and character driven.

This story is filled with some quite sinister edges and excels at making the action seem both epic and threatening fully immersing you in what is an eccentric story but with realistic characters and some harsh edges that allows it to connect well with audiences,

Total: 86% An excellent film and a brilliant sequel. The short beforehand was also wonderful and emotive.

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Tintin Review: Deadpool 2

Seen Deadpool 2, a good sequel roughly on par with the original.

Story: 65% The pacing of the film is a little sluggish for the first third but as the plot progresses it is able to engage the audience into an enjoyable parody of several story cliches.

Characters: 75% A diverse cast ranging from the good to the great. Ryan Reynolds excellently portrays the humorous yet broken anti-hero Deadpool embodes and the rest of the cast is good but special credit to Cable and Russell Collins who all excel at showing both humour and emotional turmoil.

Visual: 70% As expected the action is well coreographed ranging from brutally realistic to comic book exaggeration. The film explores a variety of stunning locations and the incorporation of realistic cyborg technology and mutant powers is expertly accomplished.

Drama/Humour: 75% Though freqeuntly funny the jokes are not quite as poingiont or memorable as the first film but the film will inspire many laughs regardless even if a few music choices might cause irritation or cringes.

Despite being a parody of many stories Deadpool 2 manages to regularly maintain a sense of urgency and consequence throughout most of the film and the dark tones throughout the story and often enthralling to immerse yourself in. Though sometimes it might follow the cliche to strongly and not all sacrifices are executed well enough to invoke empathy.

Total: 71% An enjoyable story but i would aquint it to the difference between series 1 and 2 of Rick and Morty.

Both are good but while Deadpool 2 has a stronger story and greater character development (Like Rick and Morty series 2) the jokes are less memorable than Deadpool 1 (Same with Rick and Morty series 2) so although both are good which film people prefer may vary greatly.

On the whole i think the first one is more fun but this is a good followup.

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Tintin Reviews: Solo

Seen Star Wars: Solo. Not a prequel we needed but a fitting one that snuggly fits the Han and Chewbacca we know.

Story: 60% a little sluggish with some pacing issues the plot follows a logical pattern following Han through his desire to enrich his wallet doomed to failure by his hearts sway over his purpose. The story explores a variety of locations and has some intriguing implications for the franchises lore.

Characters: 65% the portrayal of young Han and Chewie was was excellent both from the actor and writing. I enjoyed the diversity in alien species we saw and well most characters we ok the stand out star was the crimson dawns chief representative.

-played by the same Actor as vision who gave us a elegant classy villianous portrayal which would make Jeremery irons proud.

Visual: 75% a variety of locations well rendered and a cast superbly outfitted but the visualation of the storm was exceptional.

Drama/humour: 60% there was very little humour in this which is surprising, the tone was decent but the odd joke here and there like in most star wars and marvel films would have stremgthed it without weakening the tone.

Overall the film has its moment but moments but mostly sadly lacks tension leaving you curious what will happen but not concerned and rarely excited.

Total: 65% A good prequel and a quite good film star wars fans will enjoy but not exceptional.

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New Mock the Week

The more I see of Mock the Week the greater the sense that James Acaster is Hugh Dennis' son.

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Tintin Reviews: Coco

Finally seen Coco Pixars latest work of wonder based not on anthropomorphic animals or items but on the mexican day of the dead festival.  

Story: 70% Initially i was not invested in the story but after a sudden twist everything changes and both the story and environments come to life in a well paced albeit bizarre adventure about family and regret.

Characters: 70% Those some seem simple at first the film handles a large cast and brings life and depth to all and credit to the protagonist and his voice actor since he did a wonderful job and really sold his motivations and persona to the audience.  

Visual: 75% The animation seems good at first though nothing spectacular but when everything changes the screen comes to life with creativity and beauty from the lights and scenery to character design.

A further commendation is essential to note that mundane features of life such as water looked outstandingly real in this film. Finally i was very impressed by how subtle some changes in character designs were very much a case of show not tell.

Drama/humour: 70% Though not hilarious there was many moments where i laughed during the film but i lend more credit here to the plots success at pulling heartstrings and keeping you invested in the boys quest both due to the threat represented and his own burning passions.

There were a number of twists and turns in the plot that i either did not expect or was lulled into not expecting that keep the audience invested and shocked by the history of this family affair and the danger the past brings to the present.

Total:  71% An enjoyable emotional tale and a departure from Pixars other works. Many aspects reminded me of "the Book of life" but i feel the story it suitably different to stand on its own and this film offers far more heart and enthralment than the book of life. Go check it out 

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Tintin Reviews: Star Wars the Last Jedi

Seen "The Last Jedi" a good film with some great moments yet although very enjoyable several notable flaws hold it back from overall breaching the very good category.

Story: 60% Issues with pacing are not just because the story slows in parts, it needs to in these scenes; but more it makes no sense for there to be so many slow moments given the urgency and time limits set for certain events occurring elsewhere.

A lot of gaps and questions are left without suitable answers and we may never get them, sometimes this can add to the mystery but here we have taken such lengths to the extreme far too many times to be glossed over. This denies any grounding, intrigue or appreciation of developments as we know little of character motivations.

Characters: 60% Snoke stands out as a brilliant antagonist perhaps the best of any Star wars episode. The heroes vary with Ray and Finn being enjoyable but without sufficient depth to allow them to shine to highly. The rest of the cast have several good to very good performances but i will not discuss them individually. Kylo Ren though intriguing is far too weak.

Visual: 90% Where the film excels almost without question, we see so many great worlds and species brought not only observed but fully immersed into a beautiful menagerie of planets and locations.

Any space based tactics, manoeuvres or actions was wonderfully envisioned from the start to the finish and the utilisation of the force was handled with exemplar skill.

Drama/humour: 55% Here lies the greatest example of what makes this film a paradox. It has many excellent twists and ideas that keep you uncertain what direction the story will enfold in. But while many moments have this harsher tense atmosphere other similar scenes are far to favoured by the heroes often without sufficient consequence.

Kylo Ren suffers a might case of Loki-itis in this film, like Marvels loki he is far too weak to be considered a tense threat in a sizeable portion of the film; however other moments his foreboding aura and that of the First Order is well earned, the film basically feels more like a patchwork of tones and intensities rather than a well woven tapestry.

Most of the humour is fitting for characters especially in the first third but the latter segments have to much Porg, not a great complaint but a minor grievance.

Total: 66% Despite all these issues and more it speaks volumes that this film remains very enjoyable greatly aided by a vast array of brilliant moments, it is simply a pity they are scattered between mediocrity. I would recommend it to any star wars fan though to continue the story but it is likely not one to be re-watched again and again. I hope for better refined final chapter in the years to come.

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Tintin Reviews: Justice League

Seen Justice League. Wonder Woman was excellent so is this another lightning strike or a rainy day for DC? Well the film critics everywhere are calling terrible is.....quite good.

Story: 65% The plot is split into three sections, the first third is ok, the second third is quite good and the final third of the film is good. A few pacing issues in the first third hold it back where i think a lot of scenes were cut by idiots while the last two thirds work very well. The story is a simple team origin story but with a notable world threat as you would expect but a few tension creating twists mixed in. 

Characters: 70% Batman and Wonder Woman have great personality in this and their comradery shines through throughout the film. I was impressed by how intriguing and enjoyable cyborgs character was and all three characters mentioned have incredible dialogue. Aquaman is ok, fun but not the powerful concurring hero from the comics yet; the same can be said for flash but the latter i think causes a few issues with the film i will mention later.

  The antagonist has a good design but like many Marvel villains he is merely suitable, he is a decent threat enough to justifiably bring the team together. There are other exceptional characters in this film but you will recognise their majesty for yourself when you see it. 

Visual: 75% The combat scenes are excellent, the skills of the heroes and destructive power of the villain are well highlighted and i have never seen a more enthralling vision of the worlds end. High quality to the cyborg and other characters outfits to. (Though i think flashes looks stupid)

Drama/humour: 65% A weaker part of the film since flash's character here causes a lot of issues with the film, he is always making jokes which seem out of place and awkward for everyone involved, they break the tension constantly but not in a way that seems natural for his character, it seems like a heavily and foolhardy revised edit. 

Despite this there are some brilliant jokes by other cast members which are rare as they should be but hit hard when they are delivered and seem natural for the characters. 

In spite of flash issues there are some unrivalled scenes of tension, a particularly exceptional moment lasts a hauntingly long time and significantly enhances the latter half of the film. 

Total: 69% i really recommend you see this film, DC have a troubled past but this product although not glowing like Wonder Woman represents several good steps in the right direction and is an enjoyable story that captures the feeling of a three part episode of the animated Justice League series.

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Tintin Reviews: Thor Ragnarok

Seen Thor Ragnarok, decent marvel film not one of the top 5 but enjoyable.

Story: 65% Picking up what thor 2 and guardians of the galaxy honed which is exploring the many worlds Asgard connects to as a new threat arises inspired (very loosely) on Norse lore. The plot travels across many settings with a slow pace for the most part but with some intriguing and significant developments envisioned.

Characters: 70% Thor has come a long way from the dumb jock he initially presented, he is far more enjoyable and getting closer to being wise. Loki is still as disappointingly pathetic as ever but with a good character arc. The antagonist like most MCU villains has some development and a decent design but not enough to allow her to really shine. The rest of the cast is decent and plays their roles well but none jump into the spot light excluding an exceptional jeff goldblum (yes he was cast well) and a hilarious comic relief former friend of Dug. My favourite development though was finally granting more personality to Hulk.

Visual: 70% A wonderful exploration of many worlds with great character and ship designs. The fighting is often standard quality for a sci fi or fantasy film but does well to incorporate both settings and there are a few infrequent but excellent quality fight sequences. However the rather unrealistic absence of blood or wounds despite so many stabbings (so so many) rather broke my immersion a lot, still that may just be me. I think had they shot it differently this would not have been so obviously evident enough to be distracting.

Drama/humour: 70% Not hilarious from the get go but the humour builds as the plot progresses-aided greatly by the inclusion of Dugs friend-but most cast members have their moments.

Though there are many significant developments the film never manages to immerse you in the tension for long as it often seems too safe and the odds may weigh in the protagonists favour too frequently for comfort.

Total: 69% A space yet fantasy adventure both fun and funny but i hope infinity war can dial up scales of threat and consequence

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Tintin review: Lego Ninjago

Seen Lego Ninjago (Last week, late review) a very strange addition to the lego series.

Story: 55% An unusual amalgamation of Power ranges and Mortal Kombat, the plot follows many superhero team tropes while subverting others ranging from excessively plain to refreshingly surprising. It is serviceable but little depth is offered.   

Characters: 55% The protagonist is fun and his origin and connection to the villain is the only continuous element in the film, this relationship is decently explored but is not sufficient to support the film alone. The voice actors are good but no characters particularly excel in this film besides the main villain who although not brilliant is enjoyable. 

Visual: 70% The greatest asset to the film like any in the lego series is the beautiful and creative world they bring to life allowing for a vast array of intricate wonderful settings and inventive fight sequences. 

Drama/humour: 50% Not all out hilarious most jokes are ok but a few hit heavy bullseyes; the knock on issue from the story though is the lack of drama, outside of family issues the film lacks tension and the sense of urgency and threat the other lego films and great films require. Apart from a few brief moments there is never sufficient peril to immerse the audience in the characters struggles, everything feels to safe. 

I know kids film ect... well kids films are fine but many "kids films" are loved by audiences of all ages because they have creativity, good messages, heroes, villains ect... but they also have a strong enticing sense of danger or consequence, sadly this is something lacking in this piece. 

Total: 58% Certainly weaker than the previous instalments but an excellent example of great creative world building. Not excellent but enjoyable nevertheless.

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Tintin Reviews Darksouls

At last dark souls is done after a long break due to a loss of all interest in the game after completing a ridiculous climbing challenge while dodging heavy archers in Anor Londo a long time ago. How was the game? Well a lot of people love it and in summary i certainly do not, so in just my opinion; it is ok.

It certainly has a lot of good elements like... *The settings are diverse and beautiful to explore *The enemy designs and variety is ingenious and keeps the game fresh as you progress *The boss fights are tough but most of them offer a good to very good challenge you feel ecstatic to overcome

Then there are two categories of faults i have with the game, the first are the drawbacks that would make it a great game

*The story though enriched and intriguing if you read the wiki; is barely whispers in the game. It is pushed so far into the back to make way for gameplay that it is practically nonexistent, yes i know people will say that is the point so you can explore and find it yourself and my issue with that argument and many arguments against the issues with the game is that just because that is what it is apparently trying to achieve does not make it good. It reduces it from what it could be, there is an excellent story here but it is not served justice when a wiki article would give you more depth than several playthroughs could scratch the surface of.

*A lot of the difficult comes not from the challenge the bosses and enemy's possess (which is fine a game can be enjoyable and very challenging) but from the mechanic of having to run back to where you were dying a lot on the way so you get frustrated and cannot easily learn from your mistakes, that is not a good way to make a challenge it is simply irritating and a good way to loose peoples interest in the game

*Most of the other issues add up to what i would class as design flaws (things that make you think "who on earth thought that would be a good design, did they even play test this game" ) especially environmental hazards that are ridiculously difficult to overcome despite them not needing to be anything like as such (e.g the aforementioned archers in anor londo) all this does is increase how much of your game experience is hatred for it rather than passion as you run again and again all the way back to where you were from a distant bonfire rather than closer save points like most modern games. That's the mechanic that makes it unique (bar bloodborne fine) but it is still a stupid mechanic that robs from investment in the game and promotes dissatisfaction

*Finally some very crucial elements can be easily lost if you have not read up on the game or played it once and being extremely careful around some npcs since the game locks of a crucial capability if a single npc is killed (i.e higher level upgrading) this npc can be accidentally provoked into attacking you resulting in your murder of him in panic as the game does not make it clear that there is a yield option (which is done by a lot of backtracking rather than a simpler option a new player could work out) this is not allowing good role play since the game pushes the story too far back and the stakes are always too high to enjoy the setting that much it just provides a massive barrier to player progress a good distance into the game that makes almost essential to restart casting aside all progress and investment previous done (i carried on without the smith so sod upgrades hail black knight sword +5 but still a stupid possibility that never should have existed as an option)

*PS. two minor issues, 1) why bother allowing such rich character design when you barely get the opportunity to be anything other than a rotting corpse as humanity is lost so readily, and 2) the character stat design is often useless since some stats do nothing and most of the time parrying tactics or hitting something render investing in a particular class (as other games would have it) pointless

PPS if you read all of this excellent i appreciate you bothering to do such a thing whether you agree or not, you're awesome

Plenty love this game, i do not and i never will. However i do not hate it, my issues with it i find infuriating and i would rank it below so many games i have played, as a whole i cannot say i enjoyed this game it has far too many moments of disappointment and design fuelled outrage compared to the small amount of genuine pleasure and intrigue; but i still think it is ok. Not a bad game but it could have been a great one, at least to many it already is. I may likely play it again some time where hopefully the amount of hours i spend on it will have a greater ratio of pleasure to disinterest.

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Tintin Review I.T 2017

Seen the new I.T, good film. More a thriller with horror elements than a true horror so you should like it if you would enjoy seeing a Stranger things sort of tone combined with more horror elements. Scary is relative to your fears but i would say this was certainly creepy yet enjoyable. 

I would say it is certainly superior to the tim curry version (despite how fun mr curry is) since this version is actually creepy and tense rather than a hilariously poor attempt to be scary.  

Story: 75% The lore surrounding I.T is more fleshed out allowing the strange cheesy lines from the original (and book i presume) to make a lot more sense to the world and build an eerie atmosphere. The plot surrounding a town that serves as the hunting grounds for a Harry Potter Boggart like entity (if the threat level was scaled up significantly) is tense and quite thrilling. 

Characters: 75% The main team of protagonists are well developed and very fun to follow, you care for their struggles and about what happens to them. The "I.T" is very well cast as  Bill Skarsgard gives a strong performance that at times drifts into silly but always manages to carry a threatening and very unnerving presence. 

The rest of the cast is decent, mostly jerks like any Stephen king story but credit that they added more depth to the central bully character. 

Visual: 75% The effects for the most part are excellent, the gore is immersive but not excessive and the horrors I.T presents are diverse and cater to so many fears. There is the occasional effect where the outline doesn't quite fit the scene but they are infrequent and barely noticeable. 

Drama/Humour: 75% This one depends a lot on what you seek. As a horror; the threat might be lacking but as a general thriller i find this to be an excellent blend of occasional frivolity with genuine peril. The immersion of the entity into the world is well achieved and the threat nearly always has a nearby presence. Scary for some, but certainly creepy for most. 

Total: 75% A very good thriller i recommend you try it out, i could list why it is better than the original but that would contain heavy spoilers so suffice to say enjoy but stay dry or you might float to...

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Tintin Review: Kingsman

Finally seen Kingsman: The Secret Service a truly enjoyable and very comic book style ludicrously eccentric spy thriller

Story: 75% The story is well paced and encompasses an intriguing and very epic sinister plot of insane ingenuity that would fit the offspring of a marriage between one of the eccentric James Bond Villains and the Master from Doctor Who. 

Characters: 75% A tremendous advantage to the film, the protagonist although not brilliant is certainly interesting and a rogue you cannot help routing for. Some minor characters are a little stereotypical but not enough to be annoying and most of the cast is brilliant; all bringing to life this intricate cast of villains, heroes and those all shades between.  Extra shout of to the main antagonist who has an enjoyable and novel personality for a mad genius/super-villain.

Visual/Atmosphere: 60% The action is often rather ridiculous but impressive to watch and somehow seems perfectly plausible in this world.  Nothing incredibly stunning, but decent visuals and enjoyable stunts. An extra credit for some of the music choices as they really help portray the villains personality throughout his final phase.

Drama/humour: 80% It is a credit to all involved in this project how well it handles it's tone since despite all the comic book gadgets and ridiculous fighting prowess the films tension remains as straight as a starched collar. Like many great films it has a good sense of wit but keeps the audience invested by keeping the stakes insanely high with a lot of casualties and sacrifices that promote the serious nature of the story all while having fun at the right moments.

Total: 74% An excellent adventure to view and be enthralled by with brilliant immersion thanks to an stellar cast.  Now remember two things "Manors Maketh Man" and "Hail Satan"

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Tintin Review: Wonder Woman

Seen Wonder Woman, i was sceptical when i heard someone say they found this better than all the marvel films. Nonsense? Heresy? While not THE best, this is one of the best comic books films i have seen, top five excellent film.

Story: 75% An interesting story not afraid to give it's own magic rich lore. The pacing was decent with my enjoyment exponentially growing throughout the film as it moved from good to very good to great.

Characters: 85% Marvel could pick up some tips here as the antagonist(s) is/are great; deep, sinister, misunderstood and foreboding all incorporated with sufficient power into a worthy threat. The rest of the cast it is fantastic, every side and main character was enjoyable and interesting and all seem fitting to the world.

Visual: 80% Most of the fighting was decent and the world war 1 setting is well realised but the stand out moments for me are the fights in the third part and the beautiful designs of the amazon world.

Drama/Humour: 80% The tone for this film is skilled at blending humour, tension, tragedy and wonder into a single story. At first this seems paradoxical but like all great films it captures that all these aspects exist in any great story for they are what make us human and more.

Total: 80% DC is coming out strong i hope this cinematic success will be the gateway to a future where DC films (excluding animated which are already great)