REVIEW: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

After last week's disaster film I saw in Magnificent Seven, let's just say that I was pretty much willing to see anything. Well, this week, another film I was curious about came into theaters. The newest film by Tim Burton. And going into the theater I was nervous a bit. To me, Tim Burton is beginning to age on me. He hasn't really done anything recently to wow me. In fact, a lot of his latest films if you ask me are kinda...bad. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the endless roles he does work mad actor Johnny Depp. Maybe it's his focus on visuals more than actual storytelling. I really don't know. As a director, he's never impressed me. But seeing the trailer for this film got me a bit curious. I didn't know what to expect, but it looks like a fun Heroes-y, Harry Potter like story or something. Yeah. I wanted to take a look into it.

And the first thing I said after watching this movie was "......what?"

Honestly, what did I just watch? I might honestly go into another Tim Burton break after this because I'm once again unimpressed. I don't know how to describe this story. I really don't. And it's not that I wasn't paying attention, it's just that this movie seems to explain its own rules, before throwing them out the window completely. I didn't expect time travel to be a factor in this movie, but it is kinda, and it creates one of the most confusing movies I've ever seen, and has left me in a thorough state of....ehh. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was...adequate. It was an adequate mess.  Autumn movies this year's aren't starting out so hot, are they.

One thing Burton did nail as he usually does however, is the visuals. Credit where credit is due, there is some lovely, lovely visuals that will please the Burton fans. Wanna see it in 3D? I'm sure you'll get your money's worth. Some scenes are absolutely gorgeous, such as the underwater scenes. They're gorgeous. And though there's extensive use of CGI that can stand out, it's still done in a rather fun way. The visuals once more carry this film in ways that nothing else can. But I'm willing to bet that this trump card for Burton will wear off before too long.

The story focuses on a boy names Jake whose life is just one big joke to Peru much everyone in this film. No kidding. Literally everyone around him, except his grandfather, is a complete jerk. In ways that seem almost completely childish. Send Jake off the road so that he steps in a mud puddle and loses a shoe. Ha ha ha! We're assholes! It needs to be said that no one in this movie is developed enough for me to really connect with them. That's not to say that no one is interesting. Ask the children in this movie with these peculiar abilities are fun to watch in their own ways. And unlike other films that would have a lot of characters like this, each contribute a lot with their power. It's very fun to watch. More on this shortly. But as far as overall personality is concerned, I didn't exactly get a whole lot of development. The two main emotions that people seem to portray in this film, are worry/feelings for Jake, or straight up jerk personas, also aimed mainly at Jake. Would it kill someone to act...ordinary in this film? Not even Jake's parents seem to act loving of their son. His father is a complete jerk (I know I'm saying this a lot but it just happens so much in the movie), and his mother seems so very absent. Like what did she do in this movie? I guess I shouldn't question this too much since the parents in this film are dropped from the film like a dozen eggs.

The story is so convoluted and all over the place, that it's hard to follow. In fact, I genuinly don't understand why things were as they were. So much of this film is unexplained, that by the time the end rolls around, you're left with more questions than you want. Why does Samuel L. Jackson's character HAVE to eat eyeballs? How did he discover this? Why does it need to be eyeballs? Honestly I think Burton wanted an excuse to film someone eating eyeballs. It really makes no sense. On the subject of Samuel, you can tell he is having a lot of fun with his role. And though the film's climax is about as ransom and jumbled, and adds more unanswered questions to the unanswered questions pile, there is a charm in how very awkward, yet action packed it is. What I mean by awkward is that this huge fight involving monsters takes place in broad daylight in London, 2016. A battle involving cotton candy, snowballs, and powers the children have. It's absurdly kinda cartoonish now that I think about it. All set to this awkwardly played techno soundtrack. It's a mess I had a little fun watching. Even though the forced romantic ending is one I don't care for. Again, our characters weren't developed enough for me to care. In fact the ending is so clunky and rushed that it actually kinda annoyed me.

All in all this film is likely to please that peon of Burton fans who just go to the theater to see something weird. The film has Burton's name all over it. From the strange sets, to the eccentric characters. It's a big ball of weird that does have its moments, but not really enough to make me wanna recommend it to anyone else.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children earns a two out of four stars for me. I almost gave it a two and a half, but the more I think about what I just sat through the more I just keep questioning it. As bad as the Magnificent Seven was, it did tell a coherent story. One I could follow. The only thing it did wrong was tell it as terrible as it did. This film has a story, but it doesn't seem to focus on it. It just jumps all over the map and hopes you can keep up as it dazzles you with peculiar characters and nice imagery. Unfortunetaly, that's not going to help float the boat for me. Tim Burton's a wonderful visionary, but his stories need work, and this probably shows that more than any of his other recent work.

Please feel free to request and movie you'd like me to take a look at. Leave a comment down below existing your own thoughts on the film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 2/4

THROWBACK REVIEW: The Sword in the Stone

Growing up I fell in love with the legend of King Arthur.  In my adult mind, I can't exactly recall a lot of the legends and life of King Arthur. I watched plenty of movies though, like Quest for Camelot (which I barely recall), and of course...Monty Python and the Holy Grail which I can quote line by line from memory. But then again who can't? Then there was also this film, which I never owned, but certainly watched as a child, and enjoyed it to an extent. It wasn't my favorite Disney movie out there, but I had enough fun. Writing this ten, fifteen years later, my stance really hasn't shifted...much. And I say that last part because watching it as an adult, I can't help but ask myself of what the point of this film was.  The title event doesn't happen until the very end of the film, the film focuses more on Merlin than it does Arthur most of the time, and in the end, the film feels most like a compilation of Disney shorts than it does a feature length story.

It makes me think that this movie likely would have been much better off as just a small series of Disney shorts. Maybe a fun little television series of a young Arthur getting educated by the powerful Merlin.  The characters are most certainly likable enough. Merlin is voiced by the late Karl Swenson, and there were plenty of times I was chuckling over his bumbling attitude towards certain inconvieniances all around him, from his beard to no electricity (he apparently can travel across the temporal planes and has been to the 20th Century). Arthur is voiced by...three different voice actors. No joke, look it up.  This can lead to some noticable flukes in the film structure and whatnot. It can also get a little noticable and slightly annoying to hear recycled voice clips, or animation sequences ranging from Arthur simply yelling "Whoa!" To Arthur tripping down the stairs carrying way too many dishes. I'm also unsure but I'm pretty sure that the Jungle Book would use some recycled animation from Arthur stuffing his face with cookies, but I'm not entirely sure. And while I'm on the subject of animation it unfortunetaly needs to be said that this is far from an animated pinnacle. There are areas in this movie where I could easily spot sketches that seemed unfinished or unpolished. 

As I said above, the film's title event doesn't really come into play until the very end of the movie.  Instead, the film decides to focus on the educational experience and adventures of Merlin and young Arthur, which most of the time revolve around Merlin changing Arthur into an animal, and them living the lift of that animal.  I guess it's no one's fault that a fish is easier to draw than a person.  Each adventure tackles some different "lesson", and I put that in quotes because I gotta say that Merlin isn't that great a teacher, rather more than he is just plain...dickish at times. Arthur gets chased by a large fish in the moat that wants nothing more than to snack on Arthur, and Merlin just says "Oh you're on your own, use your brain to outsmart the fish." Great advice that I'm sure most teachers repeat nowadays (but then again a lot of them kinda do). Arthur is changed into a squirrel, and gets the attention of a female squirrel in a scene where he's told that love is perhaps the greatest force in the world.  And I'm not gonna lie, that is one depressing as hell scene. I never thought a movie could make me want to hug a squirrel of all things. Arthur is changed into a bird and learns that the power of logic is one that can triumph over brawn, but it seemed more like a cheap excuse to have Merlin battle a witch. Yeah, it's no secret that the plot of this story really isn't that focused. It jumps all over the place and since we're supposed to get the feeling that Arthur is our main character, it can be strange to see him take the backseat for Merlin who tends to take up more of the actual story. Heck, the film opens with Merlin.

Each adventure is its own thing, offering a fun unique adventure with different characters, and dangers, though in the same way, each plays out like the other a little too similarly at times. During the fish adventure, a frog takes a liking to Arthur, and follows them around the water before a large fish decides to chase Arthur around.  During the squirrel adventure, a girl squirrel of course takes a liking to Arthur, follows them around, and even saves Arthur from a wolf character that we saw at the beginning of the film.  The only difference with this one is that Merlin also attracts a friend of his own.  Then we get the bird example, where Arthur becomes a bird, doesn't get any friends, but still runs from a hawk, and Madam Mim in a cat form.  So literally, each adventure is just a different chase scene with different takes and endings and whatnot. Then when the final event of the film, which is focused on the sword begins to come up, Merlin gets angry for very little reason, disappears off to Bermuda until the very end of the film, and we get a climax which is rather...anticlimatic. There's very little jousting shown of the joust the film mentions, after Athur pulls the sword and becomes King, we don't exactly get much of a hint for what's to come in Arthur's time as king, and this ultimately leaves more questions unanswered than it does answer questions.  Despite the likability of Merlin and his owl pet, the rest of the characters feel a little too one-dimensional, so when the climax happens, and people act like they do, it's hard to really care, because all you know is that Arthur's older stepbrother is a jerk, his stepfather kinda cares, but obviously favors his actual son, and honestly, that's about it. I can barely remember any other character in this movie by name. 

One thing I must give say about this film is that the music is surprisingly well done. That's not to say it's flawless, Madam Mim's song is completely forgettable there, but Merlin's songs can actually be surprisingly catchy in the right way, and the music that plays when Merlin uses his magic to help Arthur clean the dishes is really fun. But that's really the only thing that stood out to me.  They had a decent musical score and a few fun musical numbers. But that's not enough to really carry this film if you ask me.  I'm not saying that the movie is bad, but...it's not exactly the best effort Disney ever did.  There are a lot of shortcuts taken, and it kinda shows here.  I had fun watching it, but it's hardly one I'll recommend or rush to watch again in the near future.

The Sword in the Stone just barely earns a two and a half star rating and honestly, that might be a little generous. It coul easily be a two.  But despite the lack of focus on its plot, and bland cast, the film is still fun to watch on multiple levels. Each little adventure presented is presented in a charming way, and will give you a reason to laugh or smile.  It's Disney, so it really doesn't have something that would make me condemn this film on a whole. It just needed a better direction.  If you're in the mood for some quick nostalgia, you'll probably have a good time, but it needs to be said that it likely spent a lot of time in the Disney Vault for a reason.  Heck for all I know, it's probably sitting in that dark place now.

Please feel free to suggest any films you'd like me to look at in the future.  Leave a comment down below of how you feel about this film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 2.5/4

REVIEW: Kubo and the Two Strings

Kubo and the Two Strings is a fun, and unique story that is absolutely gorgeous to watch. There I said it. Go watch it. Okay I'll get serious. I had very little expectations going into this movie. I didn't exactly know what to expect. The only reason it really caught my attention was that the animation in the trailers looked absolutely stellar. That and it had George Takei, and my inner Star Trek Nerd said I had to go see it. So I did. And I liked it. I guess I also liked how it was based on the culture of old Japan. I still have a bit of a samurai geek inside me.

Right off the bat, this movie wows you with its absolutely incredible animation. This movie uses its 3D rather well, so I'd recommend the viewing as such. And while some character models can appear rather dull at times, the constant movement in the environment and atmosphere of this film can be absolutely phenomenal. The movement of grass, the papers, and action are just so wonderfully done. It's some of the best stop motion I've seen, and the movie actually gives us a little glimpse at how they did it in the end credits. It's a little treat to stay for in the end credits. I also gotta say that the excellent blending of CGI and Stop Motion is practically flawless. I daresay this is the best animation of 2016, even beating out my beloved Zootopia in that retrospect.

I will also say that the casting is pretty well done. Though unless you're one of the main characters, you don't get a lot of screen time. So if you're a Takei fan, his part is very minor, and you might find slight disappointment there. But I did have a hearty chuckle when I heard them expertly throw in a classic "Oh my!" line. But each voice fits absolutely wonderfully with this movie. Not one voice sounds like it doesn't belong, and coming from a film portraying Japanese society, that is actually really well done.

The story, while fun, can at times be kinda predictable or hard to follow. One of the things I was asking myself by the film's...slightly underwhelming climax was why things happened in this film. That's not to say that the film doesn't do a good job explaining the here, now, or why, but one thing I would have liked out of this film would be a longer run time. At times the story feels rushed, or like it's explaining the full details. One thing I asked myself was who the Moon King was to the people. The villagers really aren't given much of a reason to fear the Moon King of the film, especially since the Moon King only seems interested in the young protagonist. But I must say that the antagonist's goals are actually pretty unique in a fairytale sort of way. Is it slightly clichéd? Sure, but it's not a bad thing here.  What shouldn't work, does manage to work, and despite the few questions I still have about the movie itself, it was wonderfully done. And I will say, the ending is open to interpretation, though it can be slightly deus ex machina.

However, for a movie, which has a bit of a focus on a musical instrument, one thing I had to ask myself was would the films music deliver? I tend to focus a lot on the film's soundtrack because despite it being a background thing, the music can absolutely carry a film's mood, and tone. The greatest moments of fun need an appropriate soundtrack. And I'm proud to say that this film's soundtrack is an absolute treat to listen to. The instrument they feature, called a shamisen, is energetic, and never dull. It creates one hell of a backing soundtrack. And during the credits, despite my tenancy not to care for these updated covers, they do throw in a nice rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". It makes for one surprisingly fitting closing song.

With everything said and done, Kubo surprised me in more ways than one. I was kinda nervous going into this one. I'm not familiar with Focus Pictures and honestly wasn't sure what I was getting into with this. But once things start rolling with this film, it's absolutely dazzling. The action is surprisingly fun, the story is charming, the animation and soundtrack are absolutely stellar, Kubo and the Two Strings I am sad to say will be a gem that people will overlook this year. Is it flawless? No. As far as animated movies this year are concerned, I do believe Zootopia left me on a much bigger high, mainly due to the messages in that film, and stronger characters. But this is still very well done, and if you're reading this, do yourself a favor.

Kubo and the Two Strings earns a solid three and a half star rating out of four. The absolutely incredible animation and music more than makes up for the few shortcomings I feel it had in its story. The characters, though underdeveloped are still fun, and by the end of it all, you're left with a smile. It's been a while since I've seen a story with a fairytale feel like this and I have to say I'm very impressed with what I got. This will undoubtedly be nominated for the best animated feature this year.  And it well deserves it.

Feel free to request any film you'd with for me to review in the future. Leave a comment deceiving your own thoughts about this film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 3.5/4

THROWBACK REVIEW: Jackie Chan Adventures (Season One)

I loved growing up in the 90's.  Say what you want, but I firmly believe that some of the strongest cartoons out there formed in this little era.  I mean yeah, a lot of them were silly, pointless, and whatnot, but if you ask me, the late 90's and early 2000's house some of the best cartoons out there.  You can argue that cartoons that came out in the early 2000's shouldn't really be considered for the 90's generation, but I make a few exceptions as I wasn't in high school until about 2005.  But before those high school years, there was only one place I went for my cartoon doses.  And a lot of you with me in the 90's nostalgia will immediately agree with me.  Kids WB.  If you had Kids WB, your life was set.  Since I didn't have cable, I didn't grow up with Cartoon Network, but I didn't care.  Everyday after school, it was rush down to the television to see what Kids WB had going on, every Saturday Morning, it was Kids WB.  No FOX Kids, no ABC One Saturday Morning, it was all about the Kids WB.  Everything cool was on there.  Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Animaniacs, Batman Superman Adventures, Men in Black, The Zeta Project, Hysteria, Detention, do I need to go on?  I could go on and on listing some of the shows I loved watching.  Hell, it was where Pokémon Fever started in the US.  I didn't need Toonami!  In fact, Toonami moved to Kids WB for a while!  Why wouldn't they? Kids WB was on top of the world!  The WOOOOOOORRRRLD!!!!

But I will give praise to Kids WB probably another day.  For now, I'm just gonna focus on a show that I didn't think I would enjoy so much when it was introduced...and yet it surprised me.  I say that I didn't think I'd enjoy it, because the title character was a guy I wasn't too familiar with.  It was something more my nextdoor neighbor childhood friend loved, as he was into the martial arts and whatnot.  In fact, he still looks up to Jackie Chan as a bit of a life idol.  And who can blame him?  Back in the day, Jackie Chan was arguably the world's most famous stuntman.  Capable of doing insane stunts regardless of how difficult it looked, and of course, those fast fists were always exciting to watch.  He's become one of my favorite people to watch on screen.  So when it was announced on Kids WB that a new show, simply entitled Jackie Chan Adventures was coming soon, I'm sure a lot of people were excited.  Why wouldn't they be?  Jackie Chan in real life is awesome enough to watch, but as a cartoon?  The sky was the limit.  My only concern though would have been that Jackie Chan was the star of a lot of Kung-fu movies.  ANd while each is entertaining in and of itself, a lot of them are pretty dumb and forgettable movies.  In fact, there's only a handful of them that I really enjoy and would watch again. So how could they make Jackie Chan Adventures something that would make me want to come and watch it again?  Well...they did.  Because even today, I think Jackie Chan Adventures is one of the best cartoons out there.  It had a five season runtime, but I am gonna stick to the first season for now.  Maybe another day, I'll give the other seasons a review, but let's just stick to season one for now.

The show stars the titular Jackie Chan, a rather talented "amateur" archeologist, who lives with his...uncle named Uncle.  This is actually one of the show's biggest and most subtle joke.  Never is he referred to as any other name.  He's just Uncle.  Jackie's niece, Jade, even brings this up in season two, when her parents call him Uncle, when she asks "Is Uncle everyone's uncle?" to which they respond "He's actually our cousin...aren't you?" It's a subtle joke that is all around humorous.  Jade plays Jackie's niece, who is voiced ironically enough by Stacie Chan (though she is not related to Jackie Chan). And while I'm on the subject of voice actors, one thing that some people will complain about the show is that the titular character, Jackie Chan is not voiced by Jackie Chan himself.  Instead, Jackie Chan appears in short live action bits at the end of the show, where he answers questions that kids who watched the show would ask him, and would serve as the show's executive producer.  Honestly, the fact that Chan doesn't voice himself sits perfectly fine with me because if you've ever seen a movie with Jackie Chan, you will notice that he's not the best speaker of English.  It made sense for someone more clear in the language to voice the main character, it made it easier for kids to understand.  And strangely enough, it actually is a pretty dang good impersonation. So while some might find it annoying, I think it was one of the better moves. Anyway, back on track, Jade is the sidekick who always follows Jackie when he's off to collect an important artifact, or investigate something potentially dangerous, despite being told to stay where she is.  She's a thrill seeker, who is very much impressed by what her Uncle does off the record as an archeologist. And that pretty much covers the bases for our main characters.  

Jackie is recruited by a secret branch of government known as Section 13 for his knowledge in archeology.  Section 13, led by a man named Captain Black, is in charge of monitoring all major criminal activities in America, primarily those run by an organization called the Dark Hand.  Black informs Jackie that the Dark Hand recently began targeting historical artifacts, and they are hoping Jackie can help them find reasons to this.  The Dark Hand is one of the coolest things of the show.  You can argue that they're the clichéd villains who are always in over their head, but the show almost seems to just make fun of that.  The organization primarily follows three elite henchmen named Finn (a man who is all about the cool), Ratso (a buff, tough, yet innocent at heart guy), and Chow (who is a bit of a wise-guy).  In season one, they also had the large, big, and lovable Tohru as one of the main enforcers of the Dark Hand, though he would pull the classic bad guy gone good card in due time.  The boss of the group is a man named Valmont, who is your typical criminal mastermind, though he can be a bit incompetent at times, yet just as threatening when he needs to be.

We learn in the first couple episodes that the Dark Hand is after twelve Talismans, which supposedly have an incredible power.  The pacing of this is pretty impressive.  For a while in the show, you'll be scratching your head wondering if the Talisman's are just "supposedly" magic, or really magic at all. In fact the pacing of magic of this show is just all around fun.  The character Uncle for example, mainly starts out in the show as comedy relief, and kinda just a silly character.  But as the show progresses, it's revealed that he was actually the student of a powerful Chi Wizard, and as silly as that sounds, he actually becomes one of the most loved characters of the show.  Here, when each Talisman reveals just how much power they have, it's almost always satisfying to see.  Each Talisman is named after an animal in the Chinese Zodiac, and each one wields a different power.  Whether it's the ability to wield telekinesis, or travel super fast, or produce an explosive combustion blast, there is nearly always something cool in the Talisman lineup, though there are a few which seem relatively simple (which is again made fun of in season two, when Finn gets the three talismans which have "all the loser powers").  And each episode of season one is dedicated to a specific talisman, in which Jackie Chan races the Dark Hand to find.  While Jackie is kept in the dark as to why the Dark Hand wants all twelve Talismans, it is revealed to us that the Dark Hand is collecting them for a demonic sorcerer trapped in a statue form named Shendu, who would become one of the show's bigger antagonists.  Giving him all twelve would free him from his prison, and they would be rewarded with a large portion of treasure.

The episode format is pretty simple, and it can be said that each episode of each season follows a certain formula.  That formula may be altered slightly with each passing season, but for the most part, Season One follows this simple formula.  Jackie finds a talisman, Uncle does research on said Talisman, the Dark Hand tries to get it, they might get it for a certain amount of time, Jackie goes to get the Talisman back, Jade tags along, they discover the magic of the Talisman, and give the Dark Hand what's coming to them.  For as repetitive as the formula is, the show does an impressive job of keeping it fresh.  You don't get bored watching these episodes.  Each episode presents different problems, different outcomes, and there are times when the Dark Hand wins. Heck, by the season finale, Shendu is of course resurrected when the Dark Hand acquires all twelve Talismans in one of the coolest ideas I've seen.  

Let's talk about the action.  It's easily the best thing about the show.  As over the top as it can get, it's beyond fun to watch.  And the show isn't afraid of pushing that over-the-top action, to the point where it makes fun of itself.  It does this in the first episode, when Jackie fights the Dark Hand thugs for the first time.  He's outnumbered three to one, his opponents have technologically advanced weaponry, and Jackie fights them off with fists and windshield wipers.  Valmont simply says "Three of my best men, armed with advanced weaponry, were defeated by an archeologist?" To which Finn replies, "Uh, did we mention he had windshield wipers?" It doesn't stop there.  It will push your limits of believability in some of the funniest ways I know.  Another prime example is when the Dark Hand blows up a bridge, when the train Jackie is on is bound right for it.  Anybody else would probably die.  Jackie?  He runs up a falling train on top of the cars, as the Dark Hand look on in absolute disbelief, before Jackie just barely makes it off the train as it falls into the gorge below, and Ratso delivers one of my favorite lines "No way he's human." Go Jackie.  But for as fun as all the action is, I gotta say I am honestly kinda disappointed in the season finale, because the final fight between Jackie and Shendu is honestly, underwhelming.  I mean yeah, it's still a fun fight in which Jackie is magically enhanced to remove the Talismans one by one from the walking breathing Shendu, who is preparing for a rampage that will destroy Asia.  But it is kinda clunky, and it keeps cutting away to the agents and Uncle who keeps delivering his famous "Magic must defeat magic" line.  I think it could have gone a little longer, but it's still a satisfying way to end the first season, and it does give us a satisfying way of showing us what we may be in for in Season Two.

The Talisman Hunts of Season One were arguably the strongest story arcs of this show, and one hell of a way to start a show that I love to this day.  Season Two was still pretty good, but there are some gripings that one day I will get to.  Season three was still enjoyable though it kinda recycled season one.  But afterwards, you could see the show starting to get a little tiresome, so I guess it's a good thing it didn't last too long. But for what this show was, it was more than impressive.  It was one of those shows that I couldn't miss after I got introduced to it.  A world with fun martial arts fighting, with almost just the right amount of supernatural in it to make it one very fun adventure.  Heck, in Season Two, there are episodes that I highly regard.  One is a two part episode, which honestly I feel should have been made into an entire season, in which Shendu possesses Jackie Chan's body to find a magic book that alters history.  It's a story that is beyond fun to watch, but deserved more than just two episodes.  Season two also revisited Season one for us by giving us a few adventures that take place in the Talisman Hunt, which are not only fun to watch, but one of them is probably one of my all-time favorite episodes of the show.  There was so much that this show had to offer, and even if it wasn't always serious in itself, it was always lighthearted fun and always left you on a high, wanting to pull off the moves that Jackie Chan could, and fight off evil demons or street thugs as he did.  And if you're one of those fans of Chan's work, there are several references to the film work that Chan is famous for.  And to all of you anime fans out there, the influence it takes from a lot of anime can be seen.

Jackie Chan Adventures Season One is a wonderful three and a half stars out of four. Sure there may be some clichés and whatnot in the show, but it doesn't detract from any enjoyability it has to offer.  The characters may not be as developed as I would have liked, but each are fun and memorable in their own ways that other characters from other shows are not.  If you didn't get a chance to see this show, I'd highly recommend it.  You can catch the first and second seasons of the show for free on Crackle, or just stream them on other cartoon sites.  Season's three through five are a bit harder to find.  And none of this is helped by the fact that the show is near impossible to find on DVD.  Why doesn't this show have it's own box set yet?   I will buy each and every season if it does find its way to home media, but until then, it does have a home on the internet, and in my heart.  I invite you to experience the thrill and adventure for yourself.

Please feel free to suggest a movie or show for me to review.  Leave a comment down below about your thoughts on the show, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 3.5/4